Letter #690
Cornelis DE SCHEPPER to Ioannes DANTISCUSLuxembourg, 1531-09-29
English register:
De Schepper thanks Dantiscus for his letter, which comforts him in his isolation. He gives more details on the plague epidemic that struck the city of Luxembourg and the surrounding area. Thanks to the healthier air around the castle, they were spared from infection. According to him poverty is a major cause of the epidemic. After three failed harvests this year there was again a rich harvest. The common people are incapable of dealing with this abundance; for De Schepper and his companions it means they are now well supplied with food and drink. They rarely leave the castle.
De Schepper finds consolation in reading, but he does not manage to write. The letters of the Emperor [Charles V] and of the Lord of Hoogstraten [Antoine de Lalaing] were full of praise for his work, and led him to expect to be recalled at short notice.
De Schepper hopes Dantiscus has transmitted his apologies to his Polish friends for not writing to them. He encloses a letter for his wife [Elisabeth Donche]. There is a shortage of paper. He ends his letter with an anecdote about a strange form of relic worship in the Benedictine abbey of Luxembourg. He interprets this as a symptom of religious decline.
| received Brussels, [1531]-10-03 Manuscript sources:
Auxiliary sources:
Prints:
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Text & apparatus & commentaryPlain textText & commentaryText & apparatus
Reverendissimo in C paper damaged⌈[in C]in C paper damaged⌉hristo Patri et Domino, domino Io paper damaged⌈[omino Io]omino Io paper damaged⌉anni Dantisco episcopo Cu paper damaged⌈[Cu]Cu paper damaged⌉lmensi, serenissimi Poloniae regi paper damaged⌈[regi]regi paper damaged⌉s ad caesaream maiestatem oratori etc. paper damaged⌈[etc.]etc. paper damaged⌉, domino et patri honorandissimo[1]
AAWO, AB, D. 67, f. 82rSalutem plurimam.
Quas ad me dedisti XXIII-a huius, eas hac hora accepi. Gratissimae written over um⌈umaeae written over um⌉ vero fuere in hac solitudine, quod ad nos rerum novarum nihil perferatur ob mestum contagionis, quae in urbe hac grassata est hactenus, nunc vero sensim flante Aquilone diminuitur. Proinde longe maximas gratias habeo isti humanitati tuae.
Quod ad nos attinet, in arce sumus eamque tuemur hoc securiores, quod toto tempore, quo multi mortales in urbe et agris interiere, nemo ex iis, qui in arce fuere, aliquod pestis sensit incommodum. Iacet enim in rupe undique exposita ventis, non illam paludes aut lacus circumiacent, sed montes et plana quaedam. Accedit et illud, quod longe maxima contagionis causa a paupertate initium habuit, superiori orig. superiore⌈superiorisuperiori orig. superiore⌉ enim triennio in hoc ducatu rarissimae sementes factae fuere. Nunc vero damnum id resarcitum est abunde orig. habunde⌈abundeabunde orig. habunde⌉, quo fit, ut vulgus sine iudicio a summa inopia ad rerum abundantiam orig. habundantiam⌈abundantiamabundantiam orig. habundantiam⌉ perveniens rationem in victu non servet. Nos vero huic rei peropportunum remedium nacti sumus, bonis enim cibis vinoque munimur adversus caeli orig. celi⌈caelicaeli orig. celi⌉ inclementiam, si qua est, quod minime arbitramur. Cernere est enim hic volantes milvios et haliaetos orig. halietos⌈haliaetoshaliaetos orig. halietos⌉, quod signum negant contagio affecti aeris esse. Quicquid id est, non egredimur, nisi rarissime, et ego interim solatium ex mutis, quod aiunt, magistris capio et voluptatem non mediocrem, nam versus scribere vix possum amplius, nescio qua ratione. Volui tamen in gratiam cum Musis redire, sed invita Minerva.
Exspecto orig. Expecto⌈ExspectoExspecto orig. Expecto⌉ indies revocationem, cuius rei permagnam spem fecere mihi litterae caesarianae et domini ab Hoochstrate, quae fuere perquam benignae, laudantes prudentiam et dexteritatem et si quae alia dici possunt. At praestat orig. prestat⌈praestatpraestat orig. prestat⌉ interim aliquod specimen industriae exhibere, quam in media plebe delitescere, utcumque non sit cum permagno commodo coniuncta provincia. Non dubito, quin litteris tuis apud amicos in Polonia me excusaveris, quo minus etiam rescripserim, indicaveris. Has autem ad uxorem meam Michaëli tuo tradas, precor et, s written over b⌈bss written over b⌉iquid
AAWO, AB, D. 67, f. 82v
sit, quod occurrat, scribere non graveris.
Laboramus hic penuria chartae, quo fit, ut brevior esse cogar. Glandium enim feracior est regio haec quam rerum aliarum. Unum vidi, quod referre non pigebit. Est monasterium sub arce Benedictinorum. In templi huius pariete lupatum pendet ferreum et magnum, ad quod osculandum rustici promiscue conveniunt figuntque magna cum veneratione. Monachi lupatum aiunt asini illius esse, cui insedit virgo mater, dum in Egyptum proficisceretur, aut certe illius, qui Deum written over us⌈usumum written over us⌉ Hierosolymam portavit. Feruntur et huius miracula nonnulla. Contra dolores dentium sane aiunt peropportunum esse remedium. Eo res Christiana deducta est paper damaged⌈[t]t paper damaged⌉.
Tu interim rectissime vale et me tibi commendatum habe. Salutat te collega meus.
Ex arce Luxemburg, XXIX-a Septembris anno XV-c XXXI.
Eiusdem Reverendissimae Dominationis Tuae humilis inservitor Cornelius Duplicius Scepperus paper damaged⌈[rus]rus paper damaged⌉
[1 ] Missing parts of the address supplied by the editor were written on a lost piece of paper through which the seal was impressed