Letter #3309
[Ioannes DANTISCUS] to [Maximiliaan van EGMOND-BUREN?]s.l., [1547]-04-26
English register:
A kinsman of Dantiscus, burgher Jacob Lehmann, has come from Gdańsk (Danzig) to pay him a visit. Knowing about the friendship between Dantiscus and the addressee, he has asked him to write favourably to the addressee about a matter which will be attended to in those parts [the Netherlands] on his behalf by the bearers of the present letter, Gerhard Vilkens and Gerhard de Closter, burghers of Amsterdam. Through Dantiscus’ intercession, the addressee is being requested to send a letter to prevail upon the town council of Middelburg or the judges there to resolve the matter as promptly as possible.
The matter is as follows. In the previous year, the kinsman, while staying in England, entered into an agreement with a ship’s captain named John Cutte. He entrusted him with money for the purchase of salt, which, after crossing from the port of Dartmouth to France, he was to load to half the capacity of the ship and then transport to Gdańsk. Upon arriving in France, however, the captain accepted a freight charge from a certain French merchant, loaded the ship with his salt, and undertook to transport it to another region of France, retaining the kinsman’s money in his possession.
When Cutte set sail, he left France, swindled the French merchant just as he had Dantiscus’ kinsman, and sailed to Zeeland instead. There, he sold the French merchant’s salt and took refuge with his ship on the island of St Martin’s. The French merchant pursued him, apprehended him, and instituted legal proceedings, as a result of which the captain was to remain in custody until he had made restitution for the wrongs he had caused. By way of compensation, he handed over to the Frenchman a small vessel he had purchased in England. He was furthermore required to stand surety for his sailors that they would sail from the island in the ship previously hired by Dantiscus’ kinsman directly to the port of Le Havre in France. The captain was to remain in custody until confirmation arrived that the sailors had reached their destination. The sailors, however, punishing their captain for his deceit, sailed to Zeeland instead, thereby condemning him to continued imprisonment.
As soon as Dantiscus’ kinsman’s agents learned of this, they seized the ship with the intention of selling it for parts and using the proceeds to compensate for his loss. A hearing concerning this seizure is now to take place before the judges in Middelburg.
In Dantiscus’s view, the right clearly lies with his kinsman, who was deceived by the captain. His agents are merchants, who are generally not well versed in the law. Taking both these circumstances into account, Dantiscus requests that the addressee, who is acquainted with the local law and custom, lend his support to his kinsman, a stranger in those parts, and to his agents, so that the matter may be resolved as swiftly as possible out of regard for Dantiscus.
He promises to repay the favour together with his kinsman.
Manuscript sources:
Auxiliary sources:
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Text & apparatus & commentary Plain text Text & commentary Text & apparatus
AAWO, AB, D. 70, f. 267rMagnifice etc.
Venit huc ad me ex Gedano superinscribed⌈ex
Quae ita se habet: Convenit superiori anno dictus
Tandem, cum vela soluisset, 
AAWO, AB, D. 70, f. 267v
Hoc ubi procuratores
Quamplurimum rogo, cum haec causa sit iustissima et
Quod ego ut una cum
Quam prosperrime superinscribed in place of crossed-out felicissime⌈felicissime prosperrime prosperrime superinscribed in place of crossed-out felicissime⌉ cum omnium rerum felicissimo successu valere opto ex animo.
Dat(ae) or Dat(um)⌈Dat(ae)Dat(ae) or Dat(um)⌉ XXVI Aprilis.