Letter #3409
[Ioannes DANTISCUS] to Samuel MACIEJOWSKIHeilsberg (Lidzbark), 1548-07-19
English register:
As commanded by the king [Sigismund Augustus], the City Council of Elbing (Elbląg) has dispatched envoys to Cracow for the funeral of the late king [Sigismund I Jagiellon], where they are also to settle city business with the king. As usual, they have asked Dantiscus to recommend them to the addressee’s care.
It is their conviction that the only way to clear the city’s name of the accusations made before the king and the royal council by ill-disposed people is for the addressee to provide assurances of their innocence. The envoys will supply the addressee with adequate evidence in the matter. Dantiscus asks the addressee to lend them support.
The city deserves protection against the injustice inflicted by the numerous individuals who incite the burghers to defy the council. Under their influence, many inhabitants have refused to submit to the council’s jurisdiction or to appear before the court. Having obtained the appropriate writs, they proceed directly to the court, where they present false accounts to the addressee. In this manner, they procure royal mandates and letters of safe conduct, which causes difficulties for the council and leads to disruptions of order in the city.
Dantiscus would not write this if he were not convinced of it. He begs the addressee to give credence to his words, and all the more readily to undertake the defence of the council, and to win the king over if he has perhaps been alienated by the insults committed by many. This way the council may continue to govern the community entrusted to it by his predecessors, in accordance with long-standing custom. If the addressee helps to secure this outcome, this will reassure the city community and win their undying gratitude.
Should the envoys arrive late for the funeral, Dantiscus asks the addressee not to blame them for the fact. There had been an expectation in Royal Prussia that the king would convene a diet before the Diet of the Kingdom of Poland. The City Council of Elbing was likewise awaiting it, which caused the delay. Dantiscus asks the addressee to excuse the envoys before the king in this matter and to vouch for them.
Manuscript sources:
Auxiliary sources:
| ||||||
Text & apparatus & commentary Plain text Text & commentary Text & apparatus
Domino Cracoviensi
Reverendissime etc.
Cum iuxta mandatum serenissimae maiestatis regiae spectabilis magistratus Elbingensis nuntios suos ad exequias regiae maiestatis senioris Cracoviam versus designassent et ibidem alia quoque negotia rempublicam eorum concernentia apud serenissimam maiestatem regiam expedienda haberent, a me, quod semper facere consueverunt, rogarunt, ut eos patrocinio Reverendissimae Dominationis Vestrae commendarem.
Norunt enim se ita per quosdam, qui civitati illi ob nullam aliam causam quam privatum odium malevolunt et interitum eius meditantur, apud serenissimam maiestatem regiam et dominos Regni senatores delatos esse, ut non nisi diligenti facta et serenissimae maiestati regiae, et dominis Regni per Reverendissimam Dominationem Vestram de eorum innocentia relatione a concepta de illis suspicione liberari possint. Quam eorum innocentiam hi eorum nuntii sufficienter Reverendissimae Dominationi Vestrae explicabunt. Illis ne deesse velit consilio et patrocinio suo, plurimum rogo.
Digna enim est et meretur haec civitas, ut a plurimorum iniuria defendatur, qui nihil quam seditionem in populo excitare et eum ab oboedientia, quam magistratui debent, deducere conantur. Unde iam multi de civibus eorum instructi nec ius ibi dicere, nec iudicio eorum se sistere volunt, sed ilico, impetratis quorundam litteris, ad aulam se conferunt ibi falsis eorum narrationibus Reverendissimae Dominationi Vestrae imponunt, eo modo mandata et salvos conductos obtinent, quibus non parum negotii magistratui facescunt et omnem civilem ordinem perturbant.
Haec non scriberem, nisi ea ita se habere certo scirem. Quare credat mihi Reverendissima Dominatio Vestra et tanto alacriori animo defensionem eorum suscipiat, quo alienatam fortassis serenissimae maiestatis regiae mentem multorum iniquis sugillationibus tandem benigniorem habere et commissam rempublicam iuxta consuetum et per praedecessores illis traditum morem administrari possint. Hoc si per Reverendissimam Dominationem Vestram effectum fuerit, multum tranquillitatem reipublicae huius civitatis confirmabit et omnium bonorum animos perpetua gratitudine sibi obstringet .
Quod si hi nuntii tardius forsan, quam ut diem exsequiarum attingere possint, advenerint, non illis hanc moram imputabit Reverendissima Dominatio Vestra. Non enim eorum culpa hoc accidit, sed quod omnibus nobis hic persuasum erat serenissimam maiestatem regiam publicum hic nobis ante comitia Regni indicturam conventum, quem cum magistratus Elbingensis exspectaverit, eam moram non tamen volentes commiserunt. Quare rogo, ut eorum nuntios ob hanc causam apud serenissimam maiestatem regiam excusare et eos illi commendare velit Reverendissima Dominatio Vestra etc.
Quam in multos annos feliciter valere et vivere opto.
Datae Heilsberg, XIX Iulii MDXLVIII.