Letter #3892
[Ioannes DANTISCUS] to [Samuel MACIEJOWSKI]s.l., [ca. 1543-01-01]
English register:
Dantiscus has recently received three letters from the addressee. He thanks him for his concern about his health. His ailments are still making it necessary for him to dictate his correspondence.
He notes the confusion in Danish affairs and how they have a negative impact on Polish matters. In his opinion, this comes from the actions of bad advisors. He advises the king [Sigismund I Jagiellon] against sending an envoy to Denmark, arguing that peace negotiations should be conducted with those who hold a stronger position. Instead, he proposes corresponding by letter with the king of the Romans [Ferdinand I of Habsburg], and the emperor [Charles V], who has been dragged into this war. Dantiscus has included more detailed suggestions in a letter addressed directly to the king.
Unless the subjects of the king [of Poland] can enjoy freedom of navigation in the spring, which has been abolished by Queen Maria [of Hungary], Dantiscus is convinced that all the king’s possessions will suffer irreparable losses, with the greatest harm falling on the people living along the banks of the Vistula River. The war with Denmark is being waged by the emperor, not by the subjects of the king of Poland, who shares a friendship with the emperor. The subjects provide much needed supplies, especially grain and other goods, to imperial possessions. If this message is conveyed to the emperor through the king of the Romans, the emperor will permit free navigation. The king of Denmark [Chrisitian III of Oldenburg] can be written to, urging him not to close the Danish straits. Nobles who are subjects of the king of Poland stand to suffer significant losses because goods floated down to Gdańsk (Danzig) would lose their value. The letter to the king of Denmark might add that a favourable response to the request of the king of Poland would facilitate peace negotiations with the emperor’s supporters. [Paragraph text damaged in many places].
Dantiscus encloses the materials requested by the addressee concerning the defendants [Barthel Brand, Tiedemann Giese Jr]. So far, the defendants have not decided whether they will appear [at the scheduled hearing]. However, they are sending a syndic [Konrad Lagus], who is expected to arrive before the hearing date. Presumably, he will not arrive empty-handed. Dantiscus recommends agreeing to the proposals which he will present.
Dantiscus has presented his opinion on suppressing the unrest [in Gdańsk] in a letter to the king. Accordingly, he provides a brief summary here. The syndic, the preacher [Pankratius Klemme], and the teacher should be expelled from the city, and the previously mentioned triumvirate must be brought under control in the defendants’ case. However, if the king shows mercy to the defendants and postpones the matter until the spring session of the Diet [of Royal Prussia], Dantiscus asks that his intercession not be overlooked. This way, free from suspicions [of acting against the town’s interests], in the future he will be able to learn more easily what is in the king’s best interest.
The addressee’s servant, Mikołaj Loka, will be able to take possession of the [Ermland (Warmia)] canonry during the upcoming [Royal Prussian] Diet in Marienburg (Malbork), to be held on Epiphany, a fact about which Dantiscus has already informed the king. [Further text damaged].
Manuscript sources:
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Text & apparatus & commentary Plain text Text & commentary Text & apparatus
Reverendissime in Christo Pater et Domine, frater et amice carissime atque plurimum observande.
Salutem et obsequiorum meorum officiosam commendationem.
Post eas litteras, quas nuper nuntius meus a Dominatione Vestra Reverendissima mihi reddidit, binas accepi alias. Quod in prioribus de incommodis valetudinis meae Dominatio Vestra Reverendissima commiserationem habeat, gratias ago benevolentiamque Dominationis Vestrae Reverendissimae, quam semper agnovi in me solidam, animo accepi gratissimo. Ceterum, quod Deus pro peccatis meis de me statuit, ferendum est. Cuius clementem castigationem in ea, quam ipse dat, patientia libenter suscipio. Hinc fit, quod adhuc dictaturam non deposui, licet ea dignitas invito accessit. Dabit igitur alieno calamo veniam.
Res Danicae satis perturbatae, quae etiam per malos consultores usque ad nos se extendunt, quomodo pacari debeant, nondum video. Neque profuturum puto, si a maiestate regia quispiam in Daniam mittatur, cum de pace cum eo, cui potiores vires sunt, tractari soleat. Quin potius expedire existimo, si cum serenissimo Romanorum rege et caesarea maiestate, quae hoc bellum suscipere coacta est, per serenissimum regem nostrum litteris ageretur illius sententiae, quam serenissimae maiestati regiae descripsi.
Quodsi subditis serenissimae maiestatis regiae ad vernum tempus libera navigatio, quam serenissima regina Maria interdixit, non permittetur, omnes diciones serenissimae maiestatis regiae, maxime autem regnicolae ad Vistulae ripam, irrecuperabilia damna sentient. Si caesari bellum est cum Danis, qui illud excitarunt, ipsi viderint. Non igitur subditi serenissimae maiestatis regiae, quae cum caesare mutua amoris et necessitudinis [observantia] iuncta est, damnum patiantur, qui caesareas di[ciones] ... multis, quibus illae egent, et praesertim annonis su.... Quod si per serenissimum Romanorum regem caesareae [maiestati] [observantia faci]le declarabitur, non solum subditis serenissimae maiestatis [regiae] ... [li]beram navigationem permittat, verum etiam ...orabit. Regi vero Daniae a serenissima maiestate [regia] ... [scribi] [po]sset, ut angustias freti Danici [subditis serenissimae maiestatis regiae] non occluderet, alioqui grande in se ...s ordinisque equestris Regni ... angustiis illis occlusis, cum ...ias Gedanum advehant, per vilitatem illorum ob istiusmodi occlusionem intolerabilia detrimenta percipiant. Tales litterae, si serio et his argumentis, quae ad eius rei promotionem pertinent, scribentur, eo addito, quod hinc facilius cum caesariani{a}s de pace agi possit, non puto Daniae regem serenissimae maiestatis regiae voluntati reluctaturum.
Quod Dominatio Vestra Reverendissima a me postulat in causa citatorum, his mitto adiunctum. Ex eo, quae videbuntur, Dominatio Vestra Reverendissima colligi committat. Citatos vero non esse venturos, nondum apud illos certo statutum est, sed praemittitur huius rei fax syndicus, ut anticipet terminum, neque, ut arbitror, vacuus veniet. Quae offerentur, accipienda sunt.
De reliquo non est, quod Dominationem Vestram Reverendissimam commoneam. Consilium meum de sedando tumultu serenissimae maiestati regiae scripsi fusius, quod hic Dominatio Vestra Reverendissima tribus accipiat verbis. Syndicus, contianator(!) et ludi magister ex urbe pellantur triumviratusque , de quo prius scripsi, in citatis compescatur. Ad eum modum omnia in ea civitate erunt pacata et tranquilla. Si tamen serenissima maiestas regia gratiam citatis facere voluerit et (quod adhuc censeo) causam hanc in comitia nostra veris proximi reiciendam committendamque putaverit, commendationis meae prius pro his citatis interpositae non velit oblivisci, quo suspicione solutus in posterum, quae in rem regiam erunt, commodius expiscari possim.
Servitori Dominationis Vestrae Reverendissimae Locc{c}a canonicatus apud ecclesiam meam possessionem tradi ... conventu pro festo Sanctorum Trium Regum M[arienburgi] ... futurum praenosco serenissimae maiestati regiae descripsi. Terr... [Dominatio Vestra] Reverendissima de regiis scripsit n[egotiis] ... non deberent, non posset f... perturbationem, summopere sc... mutua inter nos fide ... quam partem sentit ab eius ... et quae magis illas infectas esse eu.... Cui cupio commendatiss[imum] ... alios multos ... [omnia precor fau]stissima.
Datae ut [supra].