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Letter #2000

[Ioannes DANTISCUS] to [Bona Sforza]
Heilsberg (Lidzbark Warmiński), 1538-11-26

English register:

Dantiscus is countering the slander being spread about him in connection with the tax, by sending the Queen a letter from the Council of Royal Prussia to the King [Sigismund I Jagiellon] that was sent from the Graudenz (Grudziądz) Diet. He underlines he has only one vote on the Council, and therefore he cannot be held responsible for collegial decisions. The King’s authority is extremely important to him, but in the face of the Queen’s disfavour he offers his readiness to withdraw from political life and occupy himself solely with diocesan affairs.




Manuscript sources:
1office copy in Latin, in secretary's hand, BCz, 245, p. 107-108
2copy in Latin, 18th-century, BNF, Lat.11095, p. 85 (b.p.)
3copy in Latin, 18th-century, BK, 232, p. 120
4copy in Latin, 18th-century, B. Ossol., 151/II, f. 113r
5copy in Latin, 18th-century, BCz, 56 (TN), No. 40, p. 277-278

Prints:
1STARNAWSKI 1995 O listach p. 28-29 (in extenso)
2CEID 1/2 No. 35, p. 154-155 (in extenso; English register)

 

Text & apparatus & commentaryPlain textText & commentaryText & apparatus

 

Serenissima.

Quod iterum Serenissima Maiestas Vestra contra me inducta delatoribus et certe iniquissimis credidit, fero patienter. Ut autem Serenissima Maiestas Vestra, quomodo res contributionis hic institutae omni ex parte habeat, certam habere possit scientiam, mitto exemplum litterarum iis additum ad serenissimam maiestatem regiam ex conventu Graudentino a dominis consiliariis terrarum et civitatum Prussiae datarum, inter quos non amplius quam unam, ut vocant, vocem habeo, quemadmodum ali[us] quispiam illorum. Quomodo ergo mihi potest impingi, quod ego omnia hic regam et ex mea auctoritate disp[onam] solus?

Ex qua revera, si pro non male factis m[alus] audire debeo, ex hoc hic consilio exauctoratus [esse] velim distractusque a prophanis (quod omnes episcopi iurant) res curare ecclesiae mihi commissae. Quod si Serenissima Maiestas Vestra efficiet, rem mihi faciet apprime commodam et saluti animae meae necessariam careb[itque] ea molestia, qua ab adversariis meis toties t[ur]batur, et tum mihi omnis ansa in rebus publicis ad aulam scribendi adimetur. Qua in re non q[uam] speravi gratiam, verum indignationem et malam de me opinionem assequor. Velim hic adder[e] quanti serenissimi et clementissimi regis et domini mei dig[ni]tatem ac auctoritatem facio, maxime autem eius serenissimae maiestatis salutem, contineo tamen me, ne forte vel verbulo animum in me Serenissimae Maiestatis Vestrae exasperatum exasperem gravius, candoremque et innocentiam meam optima fide firmatam Deo meo committo.

Quem intime oro, ut Serenissimam Maiestatem Vestram quam diutissime sospitet prosperetque in omnibus.

Cui me humil[li]me commendo.

Ex Heilsberg, 26 Novembr[is] 1538.