Letter #56
[Ioannes DANTISCUS] to [Samuel MACIEJOWSKI]s.l., [shortly after 1544-09-25]
English register:
Dantiscus has recently outlined his position in a letter from Marienburg (Malbork) together with the castellan of Elbing (Elbląg), Stanisław Kostka, following the conclusion of his work on the royal commission concerning [the recovery of] the town of Putzig (Puck) [by Sigismund I]. He has no idea what better counsel he might offer. He did not raise this matter in his letter to the king as he was aware that the current primate bishop [Piotr Gamrat] will be present at its reading, a man entirely devoted to Constellatus [Johann von Werden]. If the said disobedience goes unpunished, which in his view it will, he will be freed of many thoughts that occur to him regarding the king’s matter. Other thoughts will occur to him if he sees any respect for the king, let alone for the Royal Council, entirely extinguished among our people [the inhabitants of Royal Prussia], a state of affairs which the addressee has himself had occasion to observe in recent times. Should a more lenient penalty be determined, Ioannes Dantiscus favours a fine of ten thousand florins. Should possession [of the town] be maintained by force, however, it will be necessary likewise to recover it by force. He considers that those appointed to the Diet of the Kingdom of Poland ought to be summoned together with Constellatus [Werden], as he has previously written to the castellan of Elbing. Should they fail to appear, appropriate measures will need to be taken.
Dantiscus awaits the arrival of [Peter] Papuschka. He requests that the addressee inform him and Papuschka of any news which the imperial envoy [Alfonso d’Aragona] has brought concerning his fellow countrymen [the inhabitants of Gdańsk (Danzig)]. By this means one may learn many things that might prove useful in time.
Dantiscus asks for instructions as to what the king wishes he should do with the document pertaining to the city of Gdańsk and concerning the six thousand florins left in his keeping by the commissioners [appointed for the recovery of the estate of Puck by Sigismund I, namely Jan Sokołowski, Johann von Baysen (Jan Bażyński) and Paweł Płotowski]. The document has been seized in the king’s name by the castellan of Elbing. In Gdańsk, complaints are being made against Dantiscus to the effect that he seized the document by force. This view has been disseminated among the common people, who heap curses upon him.
Manuscript sources:
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Postscript No. 1:
Reverendissime mi Domine.
Consilium meum cum generoso domino Stanislao Kostka Elbingensi castellano ex Marienburgo nuper scripsi, postquam regiam commissionem in negotio Pucensi absolveram. Quid aliud consulere debeam commodius, non habeo. De eo in litteris ad serenissimam maiestatem regiam nihil attigi, scio enim primatem adfuturum, quando legentur, qui Constellato totus est addictus. Quodsi ea temeritas et rebellio impune transibit, quemadmodum fore existimo, liberabor a multis cogitationibus, quae in rem regiam mihi incidere solent. Et longe aliae mihi incident, videns auctoritatem regiam prorsus apud nostrates elevatam, et multo magis senatus regni, quae qualem modo hic habeat, experta est Dominatio Vestra Reverendissima, existimationem. Si tamen indulgentior aliqua animadversio statui debebit, non inconvenientem esse puto, ut multa decem milium florenorum exigatur et retineatur ob crimen laesae maiestatis, pro redemptione pecunia deposita. Quodsi vi occupata manserit possessio, quid aliud restat, quam ut vi recuperetur, sed in iis non est meum consulere. Non incommodum esse puto, quod prius cum domino castellano Elbingensi scripsi, ut designati ad regni comitia cum Constellato vocarentur, qui si, ut priores, se non sisterent, ex re capiendum consilium etc.
Exspecto cupidissime Psitatum meum. Si forte cum illo me certiorem fecerit Dominatio Vestra Reverendissima, quid orator caesaris de gentilibus meis seorsum detulerit, eo habito, multa hic expiscari possint, quae aliquando usui sint futura etc. Me iterum atque iterum commendo.
Postscript No. 2:
Quid cum litteris Gdanensium super sex milia florenos agendum sit, quas domini commissarii apud me reliquerunt, de mente regia me edocere velit. Dominus castellanus Elbingensis nomine regio eas arrestavit. Gdani contra me clamatur, quod vi eas ceperim. Ea opinio plebi est inducta, quae imprecatur etc.