Letter #3241
[Ioannes DANTISCUS] to Stanisław HOZJUSZ (HOSIUS)Heilsberg (Lidzbark), 1547-10-31
English register:
Dantiscus trusts that the addressee remembers what he wrote to him previously and in the letter of 8 October regarding the widow of Georg Schewecke [Katarina Schewecke]. That which the widow was then fearing has now come to pass. Her husband’s heirs have consented neither to the transferring to her of the land estates – a passage right in Güttland (Koźliny) and a manor near the village of Orha (Orunia) – nor to accepting the sum of money due to them in compensation.
The widow summoned the heirs before the land court [of Dirschau (Tczew)], which, on the basis of the deed of endowment and its royal confirmation [by Sigismund I Jagiellon] issued in their presence, ruled that they should accept the due sum for the estates and not contest the confirmation. For many years, the matter was considered settled and met with no opposition from the heirs. Now, instead of first appealing to the Council of Royal Prussia, they have lodged an appeal to the king before a notary and witnesses.
Dantiscus has enclosed copies of the royal verdict and the recent land court decree with his letter to the king, so that the king, the bishop of Cracow (Kraków) [Samuel Maciejowski], and the addressee might better understand the matter should the previously sent transcripts have been mislaid. The widow fears that she might suffer the same fate as the city council of Elbing (Elbląg), namely, the admission at the royal court of an appeal lodged before a notary and witnesses. Dantiscus has already written of this matter in the letter recommending the secretary of the city council of Elbing; it is possible that the bearer of the present letter will reach the addressee before him. The widow has requested that Dantiscus approach the addressee in advance with a request to thwart the efforts of her opponents.
Dantiscus appeals to the addressee to intercede with the king, the bishop of Cracow, and the vice-chancellor [Mikołaj Grabia], to whom he has also sent a letter with copies of the royal decision and the ruling of the land court, as well as with other influential persons in the kingdom who have a decisive voice in the royal courts, to abolish the new custom of lodging appeals directly to the king. This custom stands in contradiction to the royal statutes and the laws of Royal Prussia. Such disorder in the judiciary is detrimental to the public interest.
Dantiscus expresses his conviction that the king will not issue a ruling contrary to his earlier decree. He asks the addressee to oversee this matter and to look after the widow’s interests, so that she might retain the endowment and not be summoned to the royal court because of it.
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Text & apparatus & commentary Plain text Text & commentary Text & apparatus
Venerabilis etc.
Quae antea et octava huius per nuntium meum in causa honestae
Nam, cum nuper eam ob causam, ut iuxta decret{r}um regium super ea donatione latum, dictis heredibus satisfaceret et se quietem redderet, eos ad
Adiunxi autem meis cf.
Quare plurimum rogo , cum donationem eam, quae inter
Nec dubito serenissimam
Cui omnia faustissima a Domino Deo ex animo precor.