Letter #5379
Ioannes DANTISCUS to Sigismund I JagiellonHeilsberg (Lidzbark), 1542-11-09
English register:
A valet returning from the Duke in Prussia [Albrecht I von Hohenzollern] delivered a letter from him to Dantiscus. The duke informed him that he had learned from the king [Sigismund I Jagiellon] that the king of the Romans [Ferdinand I of Habsburg] had approached the Polish monarch with a request to appoint commissioners to resolve a dispute concerning those Prussian lands which are subject to the Polish crown and the grand master of the Teutonic Order [Walther von Cronberg], in accordance with the resolutions adopted at the Imperial Diet in Regensburg. The duke requested that Dantiscus share his opinion on the matter with both him and the addressee.
Dantiscus has considered the conduct of the grand master, as described to the king by the duke, during the most recent Imperial Diet in Nuremberg. He advises that, once the commissioners have been appointed, the king should approach the king of the Romans with a request to present such terms for resolving the dispute as would be acceptable to the grand master. In Dantiscus’ view, the responsibility for formulating such terms lies with the grand master, since he is the party lodging the complaint.
If the request to present such terms is rejected, as the grand master had already done during the Imperial Diet in Nuremberg, then incurring expenses for commissioners and organising a meeting will be pointless. However, if the request is complied with, it will be possible to consider the substance of the proposed terms, which will give some extra time.
Dantiscus presented his opinion in order to comply with the duke’s request. Owing to the weakness of his hand, he did not write the letter himself but dictated it to his secretary, as he had already explained in the letter sent to the king by the valet the day before yesterday.
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Serenissima Regia Maiestas etc.
Humillimam perpetuae servitutis meae commendationem.
Rediens cubicularius hic ab illustrissimo domino duce in Prussia, vicino meo, reddidit mihi ab eo litteras. Quibus scribit se a Serenissima Maiestate Vestra accepisse, quod serenissimus Romanorum rex Serenissimam Maiestatem Vestram rogaverit, ut quos posset ferre, in causa terrarum Serenissimae Maiestatis Vestrae Prussiae cum magistro ordinis Teutonici commissarios indicaret, quemadmodum in conventu imperii Ratisbonensi pro conciliatione illius causae constitutum habetur, postulans a me, ut si quid mihi in ea re esset consilii, id Serenissimae Maiestati Vestrae et sibi notum facerem.
Cuius licet pro hebetatione mea nihil, vel admodum parum, mihi inesse agnoscam, ut tamen eiusmodi postulationi vel aliqua ex parte satisfiat, perpendens ea, quae ipse illustrissimus dominus dux Serenissimae Maiestati Vestrae nuper in conventu imperii Nurnbergensi a magistro ordinis facta et ducta esse descripsit, non abs re esse putarem post designationem commissariorum, quos Serenissima Maiestas Vestra ad eam causam adhiberi velit, ut a serenissimo Romanorum rege posceret modos et articulos, quibus magister ordinis per placabilem tractationem sibi satisfactum iri petat. Ad illum enim pertinet, cum actor sit, proponere, quibus de rebus commissarii inter se deliberare et transigere debeant.
Iis propositionibus habitis, consilium inire suaeque partis commissarios, quid facto sit opus, exacte instruere Serenissima Maiestas Vestra posset. Quae, inquam, propositiones si negabuntur, ut iam in conventu Nurmbergensi magister ordinis declaravit, ignorabitur, quid agendum tranctandumve sit, supervacaneaeque expensae et commissariorum inutiles conventus fierent; sin vero Serenissimae Maiestati Vestrae dabuntur, tum primum consultandum erit, quid per commissarios partis Serenissimae Maiestatis Vestrae per eiusdemque nuntios opponi responderique oporteat; in eoque cum temporis decursu non parum temporis causa lucrabitur.
Quod pro mea simplicitate ad postulationem illustrissimi domini ducis, cui morem gero libenter et obsequor, non praescribendo, quod manus mea praestare nequit, veluti ex meis, quas per meum tabellarium nudius tertius a<d> Serenissimam Maiestatem Vestram dedi, intellexit, sed dictando fideliter et sincere in notitiam eiusdem Serenissimae Maiestatis Vestrae deducendum existimavi.
Cui me supplicissime commendo et a Domino Deo aetatem valetudinemque prosperam atque omnium felicium successuum perpetuam precor accessionem intime atque animo cupidissimo.
Datae Heilsberg, IX Novembris 1542.