Letter #2459
Cornelis DE SCHEPPER to Ioannes DANTISCUSBrussels, 1541-07-15
English register:
De Schepper has no reliable news about the results of the Diet of Regensburg, nor about the situation in Buda, besides the fact that the Emperor [Charles V] has called for harmony and relinquishment of private animosity in the name of the public good, but the response has been slow, while there is plague among King Ferdinand’s troops besieging Buda and the Turks are drawing near. The Emperor is to leave Regensburg soon.
De Schepper informs Dantiscus that the wedding of the Duke of Lorraine’s son Francis with the King of Denmark’s [Christian II] daughter Christina took place in the Habsburg Netherlands. After the wedding the newly-weds visited the Prince of Orange [René de Châlon] in Breda and set off for Lorraine. The Prince of Orange went to Holland, of which he is the Governor. Maximiliaan [van Egmond], Count of Buren, has gone to Friesland.
Wilhelm, Duke of Jülich-Cleve, who was at the French court during this time, has wed the King of France’s niece [Jeanne d'Albret]. De Schepper cites different opinions on this marriage and its political consequences.
De Schepper reports that, from among Dantiscus’ former acquaintances, those who are still with the Emperor are [Claude Dodieu] de Vély, who continues to be the French ambassador, as he was in 1532, the Lord of Praet and the Baron of Montfalconnet. Rosey and Hourron are in the Duke of Orange’s service.
The Emperor is preparing a fleet and troops for a great expedition to Africa.
De Schepper is staying at Queen Mary’s court; he is seldom at home (something he is not pleased about) and travels a lot. He has long had no news from Jakob von Barthen and wishes all the best for him. Earlier, Barthen had sent him a certain young man’s introduction to Copernicus’ work [i.e. De libris revolutionum Copernici narratio prima by Georg Joachim Rheticus]. This introduction made Copernicus famous among scholars, including Gemma Frisius, who impatiently await the dissemination of the main work.
received Heilsberg (Lidzbark Warmiński), 1542-03-22 Manuscript sources:
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Text & apparatus & commentaryPlain textText & commentaryText & apparatus
Reverendissimo et excellentissimo Praesuli et Domino, domino
In
Zu
Reverendissime et excellentissime Praesul, Domine et Pater honorandissime et observandissime.
Non dubito, quin, qui istic estis viri boni atque amatores reipublicae Christianae, omnes magno studio teneamini intelligendi ea, quae vel
Iamque
Quae hic geruntur, breviter accipe. Superior[i] mense celebratae sunt hic nuptiae inter
Circa eadem tempora,
Dominus
Ego, ut de me aliquid audias, haereo in hac aula apud serenissimam
Interea felicissime vale et me meaque habe tibi commendatissima.
Eiusdem Reverendissimae et Excellentissimae Dominationis Vestrae humilis inservitor et filius
[1 ] De Schepper refers here to the plans of Charles V, concerning an expedition to Africa, which took place in autumn 1541 with the purpose of conquering Algiers. A few days after reaching the place, however, on the night of 24 to 25 October, the imperial fleet was destoyed by a storm, which forced the Emperor to retreat
[2 ] For more about the reception of Copernicus‘ teachings by Gemma Frisius, see WATERBOLK