Letter #4853
Cornelis DE SCHEPPER to [Ioannes DANTISCUS?]Regensburg, 1532-08-08
English register:
The original of this letter is lost – only a contemporary excerpt, sent by Dantiscus to Prussian Duke Albrecht von Hohenzollern, is preserved.
De Schepper describes the unexpected support he has been able to obtain from the German towns, especially Nuremberg, Ulm and Augsburg, for the military enterprises of the Emperor [Charles V].
The Turkish threat in the Danube region seems to be decreasing: they have turned back to Styria. The Turkish navy lies before Methoni, the imperial navy in nearby Sicily. The Turks will avoid a confrontation at sea; the imperial forces should be aware of the possibility of Turkish actions on land.
De Schepper boasts about the fighting spirit of the German soldiers, their support for the cause of the Emperor and the military equipment at the disposal of the imperial army.
The Lutherans and other Protestants are regaining their senses. The Lutherans are meeting with the Zwinglians about theological issues. At the moment, the imperial retinue is fully engaged in preparations for war, but when the Emperor renounces a confrontation with the Turks, the fleet can be used for a crossing to Naples, to spend the winter there.
Manuscript sources:
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Text & apparatus & commentaryPlain textText & commentaryText & apparatus
GStA, PK, HBA, H, K 760, No VI.11.18
Numquam credebam fore, ut urbes Germanicae tam se exhiberent paratas ad obsequia caesaris, quam se mihi suae maiestatis nomine exhibuerunt. Plura enim, quam petii, obtinui et longe plus, quam debuere, exhibuerunt, videlicet, cum Nurenbergenses obligati essent ad pedites 500, equites 58, misere ad mille; Ulmenses, cum ad 300, equites 50 50 exhibuere ad mille et centum pedites lectissimos; Augustani ad 300, pedites miserunt mille. Idem fecerunt et alii, cuius rei ego sum oculatus testis.
Quod ad Turcas attinet, videtur refriguisse impetus ille per Danubium. Scribit doctor Prantnerus eos converso itinere a Danubio in Stiriam profectos. Turcharum classis venit Methonem Peloponesi, nostra in Siciliam vicina ad loca, priorum dicitur esse triremium septuaginta biremium et myo ms. ra(!) ⌈oo ms. ra(!) ⌉paronum incerti numeri. Id autem pro certissimo habemus minime congressuros nobiscum Turchas mari. Quid terra facturi sunt, periculum faciemus!
Non credidissem tam feracem esse militis Germaniam et in hoc numero sunt longe plurimi veterani, omnes animati ad congrediendum et conserendas manus. Munitionum bellicarum, bombardarum, pulveris et omnis apparatus plus habemus, quam ego arbitrabar, adeo permulcet animos Germanorum assensus caesaris in tranquillitatem imperii.
Lutherani et id genus innovatorum incipiunt resipiscere. Zwingliani in signo et signato, ut vocant, convenere cum Luteranis, et de sacramento verbo non est ambiguitas, quid in corde sit, nescio. Omnes sumus in apparatu bellico, forte si visum fuerit caesari non sequi Turcam, quod nos remur excursionibus magis quam iusto bello usurum, poterimus hibernare Neapoli.
Ex Ratispona, VIII Augusti 1532.