Letter #2434
Cornelis DE SCHEPPER to Ioannes DANTISCUSBrussels, 1541-06-12
English register:
De Schepper, as he already indicated to Dantiscus [IDL 2413], has not been called by the Emperor [Charles V] to the Diet of Regensburg for various reasons. He is receiving doubtful and even contradictory news from there, so he cannot answer Dantiscus’ questions. He regrets that he did not have an opportunity to speak with the King of Poland’s [Sigismund's I] envoy [Stanisław Maciejowski], of whom Dantiscus wrote that he was friendly. He bemoans the fact that there is no one at the imperial court with whom he can speak openly, as former acquaintances either are dead or have gone away. Godschalk [Ericksen], the brothers Wolfgang and Bartholomeus Haller, and Miklos Oláh have been sent by Queen Mary to her estates in Hungary. [Nicolas Perrenot de] Granvelle has recruited people for the Imperial Chancellery; though learned and honest, they are completely inexperienced. They have reported from Regensburg that everything is peaceful, that the German states will send an army to Hungary and that Buda has already been captured. De Schepper would like this to be true. The Archbishop of Lund [Johan Weze] was in Lübeck where he was ill for a long time, and then in Waldsassen at the Cistercian monastery of which he is the abbot. From there he was recently called to Regensburg by the Emperor.
De Schepper expresses approval of the character (ingenium amoenissimum) and poetic talent of Dantiscus’ young protégé, Eustathius Knobelsdorf. He reports that Knobelsdorf seldom visits him because Queen Mary’s court, and therefore De Schepper, is usually away from Brussels. The Queen did not arrive there until May and will stay only until the wedding of the King of Denmark’s daughter Christina and Francis, son of the Duke of Lorraine [Antoine le Bon].
De Schepper anticipates the success of the Diet of Regensburg and the siege of Buda. He has learned that there are Poles among the defenders, which he thinks is likely in view of the situation of Dowager Queen Isabella [Jagiellon]. The success of the defence depends on Turkish reinforcements; therefore the fate of the besieged is a foregone conclusion whoever wins – they will come under the rule of either the attackers [i.e. King Ferdinand] or the Turks. The Turks will not repeat the mistake of İbrahim Pasha, who suggested that the Sultan [Suleiman] hand over Buda to King John [Zápolya].
De Schepper’s wife [Elisabeth Donche] and daughter [Anne] commend themselves to Dantiscus. De Schepper sends greetings to Dantiscus and his siblings.
| received Heilsberg (Lidzbark Warmiński), 1542-03-22 Manuscript sources:
Auxiliary sources:
Prints:
| ||||||||||||||
Text & apparatus & commentaryPlain textText & commentaryText & apparatus
Reverendissimo et excellentissimo Praesuli et Domino, domino
In
Reverendissime Praesul, domine et pater honorandissime et observandissime.
Post ultimas cf.
Scribis ad me, ut certiorem te faciam de iis, quae in
Illustris
cf.
Principio tirones illi magna et speciosa scripsere ex aula, pacata scilicet omnia, quod maxime optandum, non spem solum verum et certitudinem esse certissimam,
Successum
Quod ad me attinet, experientia docuit quam minimum fidei ut
Eiusdem Reverendissimae Dominationis Vestrae humilis et addictissimus filius