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Letter #6229

Ioannes DANTISCUS to Bona Sforza
Heilsberg (Lidzbark), 1544-03-27

English register:

Dantiscus thanks the queen for making it possible to present the matter, whose essence was shown by witness testimonies, to the members of the [Royal Prussian] Council, as he had recommended in his letter to the queen.

In accordance with the queen’s instruction, Dantiscus conveys such news as has reached him, though it remains scant and uncertain. The king of England [Henry VIII] is raising an army on behalf of the emperor [Charles V of Habsburg], and he is recruiting at his own expense both cavalry and infantry in Germany. The king of Denmark [Christian III of Oldenburg] continues to enforce the blockade of the Danish Straits, which is causing considerable harm to the Kingdom [of Poland] and to Royal Prussia. He has dispatched four envoys [Johan Rantzau, Anders Bentsen Bille, Caspar Fuchs, and Peder Svave] to the emperor with the aim of securing peace. The matter is also to be addressed at the Imperial Diet in Speyer by the landgrave of Hesse [Philipp I der Großmütige], the duke of Mecklenburg [Heinrich V] and the duke of Lüneburg [Ernst I of Braunschweig-Lüneburg der Bekenner]. In Dantiscus’ view, unless the king [Sigismund I Jagiellon] shows serious involvement in the matter by dispatching an envoy of his own, the efforts already undertaken will prove ineffectual.

The returning defendants and mayors of Gdańsk (Danzig) [Barthel Brand, Tiedemann Giese Jr] have received a victors’ welcome from their many supporters. What Dantiscus finds even more troubling, however, is the rumour that a royal prosecutor supposedly hid under a bench, not daring to face the defendants. Dantiscus is concerned that royal authority should remain intact in a city already marked by religious divisions. He has no wish to bring harm to anyone with this written report, but rather desires his native city to prosper.

If any news reaches him once the ice has melted and navigation has been resumed, he will forward it promptly.




Manuscript sources:
1copy in Latin, 16th-century, BJ, 6557, f. 397v-398r
2copy in Latin, 18th-century, BCz, 61 (TN), No. 31, p. 163-165
3copy in Latin, 18th-century, BCz, 274, No. 253, p. 502-503
4register with excerpt in Latin, Polish, 20th-century, B. PAU-PAN, 8244 (TK 6), a.1544, f. 8r-v

 

Text & apparatus & commentary Plain text Text & commentary Text & apparatus

 

BJ, 6657, f. 397v

Ioannes Dantiscus Episcopus Varmiensis Bonae Reginae Poloniae

Serenissima Reginalis Maiestas et Domina, domina clementissima.

Humillimam servitiorum et orationum mearum commendationem.

Serenissimae Maiestati Vestrae Reginali supplices gratias ago, quod in causa, cuius ratione testium picturam vidit, se adeo clementem ad meas commendaticias exhibuerit effeceritque, quod huc ad dominos consiliarios sit remissa. Haec, quali affectione tractabitur, exitus docebit. Per me non stabit, quominus id fiat in hoc perplexo negotio, quod mera iustitia postulat. Creverunt in his novissimis temporibus conscientiae vinculo observantiaque religionis soluta, qua plurimi modo neque Deum, neque homines verentur, tam perversae mentes, ut difficile sit cognitu, cui tuto credi possit. In hac tamen causa, licet satis obscura videatur, sunt non dubia, quo se referat aequitas, indicia; quae utcumque aliquando opprimitur, semper tamen in lucem erumpit.

Deberem quidem Serenissimae Maiestati Vestrae, ut mihi iniunxit, nova, quae huc afferuntur, scribere, verum pauca et ea in<c>erta admodum hic accipimus. De serenissimo rege Angliae narratur, quod numerosum congerat pro caesare exercitum, quodque non paucos equites et pedites suis stipendiis in Germania conscribi faciat. Rex Daniae occlusas tenet freti sui angustias et neminem per eas transmittere statuit, quod non parum rei publicae regni et hic nostrae incommodabit. Dicitur tamen, ut pacem assequi possit (qui prior bellum indixit), ad caesarem quatuor oratores misisse, et quod eam Spirae in comitiis Imperii illustrissimus lantgrabius Hassiae cum Meckelburgensi et Lun ms. c(!) ⌈nn ms. c(!) ⌉enburgensi ducibus tractandam susceperint. Quae tractatio, nisi opera serenissimi BJ, 6657, f. 398r regis nostri per allegatum eo nuntium serio fiet, cassa mihi futura videtur.

Neque hoc novum tacendum duxi: citatos proconsules Gdanenses cum magna pompa per non paucos obvios eius societatis equites quasi re optime confecta susceptos civitatem intrasse. Quod quidem ingratum mihi esse nequit, hoc tamen non item, quod vulgo iactatur, instigatorem regii officii sub scamnum se abscondisse et in citatorum aspectum non fuisse prodire ausum, velim enim auctoritatem existimationemque regiam in ea praesertim civitate, ubi in religione non parum variatur, integram esse. Sed haec his pro fide mea addita nolim cuipiam esse offendiculo vel detrimento, qui nihil cupio ardentius, quam quod locus is mihi genitalis, in quo primam vidi lucem, per divinam atque Serenissimae Maiestatis Regiae gratiam cresceret fieretque in dies in omni felicitate auctior.

Si quid postea resoluta glacie navigabile mare factum attulerit, cum primis Serenissimam Maiestatem Vestram non celabo.

Cui me suppliciter commendo et a Domino Deo aetatem diutissime prosperrimam et fausta omnia precor.

Ex Heilsberg, XXVII Martii MDXLIIII.