Letter #2846
Cornelis DE SCHEPPER to Ioannes DANTISCUSHarderwijk, 1545-07-17
English register:
De Schepper describes his two-month journey with the court of the Queen [Mary of Hungary] from Brabant to Vollenhove, where he arrived on 10 July [1545]. That same day he received Dantiscus' letter dispatched on 11 May.
De Schepper cites the war as the reason for his three-year silence. The three letters he received from Dantiscus during this time were his consolation amidst hardships and danger.
He outlines the consequences of the war in the Low Countries: René [de Châlon], the Lord of Halewijn and De Schepper's brother-in-law Cornelis van Zegherscapelle were killed in 1544. In 1543 in the battle of Kempekoel (in agro Zittardiensi), De Schepper's stepson Matthias Laurijn was seriously wounded, but recovered and returned to service. At present he is accompanying imperial secretary Gerard Veltwijck on a mission to the Sultan [Suleiman the Magnificent].
De Schepper informs Dantiscus about the circumstances of Godschalk Ericksen’s death. He sends greetings from the few friends who are still alive: Maximiliaan van Egmond-Buren, Claude Bouton, Hendrik van Witthem and Petrus Clericus, who was a frequent guest of Dantiscus' at the time of the Emperor's coronation in Bologna [1530]. He suggests that Dantiscus reciprocate the greetings in his next letter.
He reports that peace currently reigns in the Low Countries, even though the two kings [Henry VIII Tudor, Francis I of Valois] are in conflict over Boulogne-sur-Mer. The Emperor is attending the Diet in Worms. It is the Emperor's wish to see harmony among the conflicted Germans. De Schepper seldom visits the imperial court; he only serves Queen Mary.
De Schepper's son [Cornelis De Schepper jr.] is studying in Leuven, and his daughter [Anne] is at home with her mother, while his stepdaughter [Catharina Laurijn] married [Wulfaert] van Borselle and has a son with him.
De Schepper received news from Poland from Theodoric [of Vollenhove]. He was surprised to learn of Dantiscus' return to the court. He had rather expected Dantiscus to concentrate on fighting against heresy. He reports on the crisis of religion in the Low Countries. He is particularly concerned about the activity of Jan Łaski [jr.] in East Frisia under the rule of Anna von Oldenburg, widow of Count Enno [Cirksena]. Under Łaski's influence, despite admonition from their neighbours from across the River Ems, they have stopped celebrating Mass and other services there. De Schepper outlines the doctrinal disputes of Łaski, Menno Simons and David Joris. He describes them all as Anabaptists and notes that their supporters continue in the error of their ways despite numerous death sentences. He compares the fight against them to fighting the Hydra.
De Schepper has heard that many of his compatriots, having shed their clergymen's robes, have fled to Prussia. He warns that the results could be disastrous, similar to those in the Low Countries. He senses that changes will ultimately win in Germany and expresses hope that they will not spread further.
He reports that atheism is budding in France under the influence of the Italians. He does not need to inform Dantiscus about the Spaniards. He is not fully aware of the situation in England. In Scotland, religious sympathies are divided. De Schepper asks God for harmony among Christian rulers and the spirit they need to deal with any disaster.
| received Schmolainen (Smolajny), 1545-10-13 Manuscript sources:
Prints:
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Text & apparatus & commentaryPlain textText & commentaryText & apparatus
Reverendissimo et illustrissimo Praesuli et Domino, domino
Reverendissime et illustrissime Praesul et Domine, domine et pater honorandissime et observandissime.
Praemissa paratissima oblatione servitiorum meorum.
Diuturno quodam veterno laborantem et magnitudine socordiae deplorata spe emergendi plane obrutum et oppressum expergefecere quasique e tenebris in lucem explicuere cf.
Quo tamen vultu, Pater, has aspicies? Neque enim aut ego dicere, aut tu credere potes, quam meum istud triennale silentium mihi pudori sit, utcumque magis infelicitati quam ulli meae culpae imputandum. Postquam enim aut Dei ira ita exigentibus peccatis nostris, aut fatali quadam ordinatione vicini principes in excidium patriae nostrae conspiravere nobisque
cf. Adagia 804 ⌊Diomedea necessitascf. Adagia 804 ⌋ imposita fuit ad defensionem cogitationes omnes nostras convertendi, protinus ita apud me excussa est officiorum amicitiarumque veterum memoria, ut quantumvis subinde conarer illorum
recordari atque ad solita scribendi munia redire, id tamen a me ipso imperare non potuerim. Quid, quod litteras ad te scribi inceptas iamque ad finem fere perductas non semel deserere coegerit importunum negotium, dum subito aliorum imperiis subiecto alio evolandum illaeque e manibus eiciendae erant? Ut interim taceam pericula, labores corporis atque animi, cladem domesticam et pleraque alia incommoda, quae a belli initio mihi inter paucos haurienda perferendaque fuere. Quo fit, ut non verear, Pater, apud te asserere, quantumvis in hoc genere officii delictum obmissumve sit, id nulla devotionis meae erga te diminutione accidisse. Etenim Deum testor immortalem tui apud me integram, perfectam sacrosanctamque memoriam, cf.
Ut autem paucis intelligas aliquantam calamitatum nostrarum seriem: damnanda haec bella novissima rapuerunt illustrem
Proinde ex veteribus tibi notis pauci supersunt, qui tamen honorificam tui mentionem iucundamque memoriam renovare non desinunt apudque me insteterunt, ut se de meliore nota tibi commendarem. Principio illustris dominus
Nos hoc tempore alta in pace versamur (quam diuturnam optamus) inter dissidentes duos magnis viribus potentiaque
Duos ex
De vestratibus autem abunde ex
Et certe non uno mali genere illic pluribusque aliis in locis laboratur, nam et
Quid apud vos in re simili fiat, haud satis scio, audio tamen refugium in
Haec ad te, mi Pater, confidenter, ut intelligas, quanto in discrimine versemur sic undique impetiti. Etenim in
Ex
Reverendissimae et Illustrissimae Dominationis Vestrae humilis inservitor et filius
[1 ] Cisamasam – on this (i.e. West) side of the
[3 ] ‘Battle at the Kempekoel’ (also written: Kemperkoel, Kempe(r)koul), also known as the ‘Battle of Sittard’ or ‘Battle of the Kollenberg’, 24 March 1543. The troops of Emperor Charles V, commanded by Philippe de Croÿ, were defeated by the troops of Guelders and Cleves, commanded by Diderik Hoen, Lord of Arcen. Kemperkoel is the toponym of a field near Sittard, a town in the Duchy of Jülich (now in the province of Limburg, the Netherlands) (OBERDORF)
[4 ]
[5 ] Count Enno II of East Frisia died on 24 September 1540