25

25. Sigmund von Herberstein to Ioannes Dantiscus

Vienna, August 22, 1532.

Source materials:

1. fair copy – autograph: UUB, H. 154, f. 89r-90v; watermark type: Briquet No. 1008 (a.1533); fragment of the impress of a signet seal in red wax (type 1); next to the address, note in Dantiscus’ hand: 2 Septembris 1532.

2. copy: BCz, 1366, p. 76-8

3. copy: BCz, 48 TN, p. 109-110

4. copy: StB, ms Lat. Quart. 101, p. 18v-20v (No. 7)

5. copy: LSB BR 19, No. 15

6. copy: SUBH, Sup. Ep. 4041, f. 6r-v

7. copy: BO, 151/II, f. 8v-9r

8. copy: SLB, C 110, No. 123, f. 24r-25v (copy preceded by a Latin register)

9. copy: BPAU-PAN, 8242 TK, year 1532, p. 89

10. excerpt: BPAU-PAN, 8251 TK, f. 59v

11. register: BPAU-PAN, 8247 TK, p. 126

Prints:

1. AT, XIV, No. 401, p. 600-601

2. De Vocht, p. 156 (register)

Reverendissimo in Christo [patri] et domino, domino Ioanni Dantisco episcopo Culmensi[i], domino suo gratioso et observando.

Reverendissime Praesul, Domine observandissime. Post debitam mei commendationem. Cum Vestra Reverendissima Dominatio mihi suo mandato[1] iniunxisset, ut gratias agerem domino Rudolpho de Höhnfeld[2], quia recepisset Eam in domum suam etc. sollicitaremque, ut canem illum Anglicum deperditum acquireret[3], feci utrumque. Et primum quidem antequam haberem litteras[4] Vestrae Reverendissimae Dominationis, quia cum ipse hanc receptionem mihi narrabat, dixi illi in hominem gratum beneficium hoc contulisse, cum denique litterae illae mihi praesentatae et in praesentia sua eas legi. De cane autem ego egi, quae potui, et hospes ille diu dubitabat, an mihi illum mitteret, cum haberet a Vestra Reverendissima Dominatione in mandatis domino Rudolpho praesentare. Quem tamen antea miserat usque Olomuncium[5] post Vestram Reverendissimam Dominationem proprio nuntio, ut ipse asserit. Atque ita vicesima praesentis mensis missus est ille canis. Quem Vestrae Reverendissimae Dominationi praesenti nuntio mitto supplicando, ut hanc moram meae negligentiae non imputet, sum enim cupidissimus Vestrae Reverendissimae in omnibus obsequi, nollem etiam ingratus notari[6].

Quae[ii] autem apud nos aguntur, nollem quoque Vestram Reverendissimam Dominationem latere. Turcus[7] Guncium[8] obsidet quasi decem octo diebus[9], ignobile oppidum, nec causam possumus scire, cur suam potentiam illuc converterit; est quidem unum ex oppidis, quod Fridericus Imperator Tertius[10] ex manibus praedonum[11] Austriam devastantium eripuerat[12] et intra fines Hungariae hodie situm est. Forte ob commeatum illic inductum et exercitus suus fame premitur, utique ante biduum non potiebatur illo. Praeest illi strenuus eques Nicolaus Iurasitz Croatus[13], qui ante paucos annos oratorem apud Turcum agebat[14].

Nos illic obsidionem expectabamus et videmus frustra, provisi omnibus ferme necessariis. Forte ob id consilium mutavit, et cum falsus sit, sperans omnem Christianitatem in discordia et imperium ac Germaniam in tumultu offensurum.

Illustrissimus dux Fridericus comes palatinus Rheni[15] vicesima praesentis venit usque Khärneuburg[16] oppidum duobus miliaribus ab hinc. Quem die sequenti suscepimus – ipse heri huc venit et rediit. Meo iudicio omnes copias imperii[17] nunc in utraque Austria[18] esse. Coniungemus nostros exercitus, usque caesaris[19] copiae venient, quae et paucis diebus venturae sunt[20]. Tandem exsequemur[iii] voluntatem Dei nostri.

Dominus Petrus de la Cueva[iv], commendator vel granmaestro sui ordinis et magister curiae caesareae, orator[21] una cum duce advenit. Pro certo refert dominum[v] Andream de Orio[22] caesarea classe Bisantium[23] versus navigasse. Quae omnia Omnipotens dirigat sua gratia, Vestrae Reverendissimae Dominationi det sanitatem et omnem felicitatem. Quae me sua solita gratia prosequatur. Datum Viennae, XXII Augusti anno Domini 1532.

Vestrae Reverendissimae Dominationis[vi] deditissimus Sigismundus ab Herberstain, liber.

[1] A reference to letter No. 23.

[2] Rudolf von Höhenfeld, see letter No. 23, footnote 3.

[3] Cf. letter No. 23-24 and 26.

[4] Letter No. 23.

[5] Olomouc (Ger. Olmütz, Pol. Ołomuniec), city in eastern Bohemia, capital of Moravia, bishopric from the 11th century.

[6] In his letters to Dantiscus Herberstein several times uses the imperfect conjunctive nollem in the sense I don’t want (without any connotation of the irrealis), which can be explained by the influence of vernacular languages.

[7] Suleiman I, see letter No. 13, footnote 24!!!

[8] Güns (today Hun. Köszeg), town and castle in northwestern Hungary on the borderland with Austria.

[9] The Turkish army corps, 80,000 or maybe even 140,000 strong, which marched towards Vienna under the command of Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha, in the end did not dare attack Vienna, nor Wiener Neustadt which also had strong defenses. After some offensive-defensive operations by the approx. 700 soldiers of the small Güns garrison, on August 10 the Turks began a regular siege upon orders from Suleiman I, which tied up the Turkish forces for three weeks. After a relentless defense, on August 28 Nikola Jurišić surrendered Güns to Suleiman I, who left it under Jurišić’s rule (AT, XIV, No. 362, p. 556, No. 451, p. 681-682, 684, footnote 3, 4, cf. No. 428, p. 639, No. 432, p. 644-645, No. 450, p. 679, No. 461, p. 703-704; KF, III, No. 657, p. 612-613, footnote 4; Herberstein 1560, f. D3r; Sepúlveda, II, p. 112-117; Hammer-Purgstall, III, p. 110-114; Clot, p. 83-85; Dziubiński, p. 88-89; Pociecha, IV, p. 156, cf. Kohler I, p. 221-222; Kohler II, p. 216-217).

[10] Frederick III von Habsburg (1415-1493), king of the Romans (1440), emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (1452-1493).

[11] Herberstein is referring to Hungary, or in fact to Mátyás Corvinus, king of Hungary (1458-1490), who – during the war over Lower Austria – took Güns (Köszeg) in 1483, which had been taken in 1445 by Emperor Frederick III von Habsburg after the death of Vladislav I Jagiellon, king of Hungary (1440-1444).

[12] Güns (Köszeg) was one of the towns and castles that were the subject of border conflicts between the empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. After the death of Vladislav I Jagiellon, king of Hungary (1440-1444), in 1445 it was taken by Emperor Frederick III. During the war over Lower Austria, Mátyás Corvinus, king of Hungary (1458-1490) took Güns in 1483, and after his death it was re-taken on behalf of Emperor Frederick III by king of the Romans Maximilian I (1490) (see Wiesflecker, I, p. 290, 303).

[13] Nikola Jurišić (Jurisics, Jurischitsch) (c. 1490-1545), Croatian nobleman, soldier and diplomat in the service of Ferdinand I from 1522. The mission to the sultan that he was to go on in 1528 ultimately did not come about. After that, he was an envoy in Constantinople in 1530 (cf. footnote 15). He was the commander of Güns (Köszeg). In 1537 he took command during the campaign in Hungary, after Johann Katzianer was imprisoned upon Ferdinand I’s orders (Dziubiński, p. 76-77, 80; Pociecha, IV, p. 75, 85-86, 111, 156, 166, 202).

[14] Most likely a reference to the mission to Constantinople on behalf of Ferdinand I, which Jurišić completed as the companion of Joseph von Lamberg from October to December 1530. The chronicler of Charles V, Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, notes that Ibrahim Pasha knew Jurišić as an envoy, which could have facilitated the negotiations on the surrender of Güns (Sepúlveda, II, p. 113, 115; Dziubiński, p. 80; Pociecha, IV, p. 85-86).

[15] Friedrich II (der Weise) von Wittelsbach (1482-1556), count palatine of the Rhine (Pfalzgraf bei Rhein), in 1529 and 1532 the commander-in-chief of the Reich army, Kurfürst von der Pfalz (1544). Dantiscus met him during the diet in Augsburg in 1530 in connection with the matter of Ducal Prussia’s status (cf. Letter No. 14, footnote 1). In June 1531 in Cracow (see letter No. 18, footnote 4!!!), Herberstein presented a plan for Friedrich’s marriage with Polish princess Jadwiga Jagiellon, by which the Habsburgs wanted to reward him. Dantiscus held talks with him on this marriage (which ultimately did not come about) from 1531, and hosted him at his home during the diet in Regensburg in 1532. In later years (from 1545), he supported and introduced Reformation forms of worship, which led the emperor to exile him (1546) (see AT, XIV, No. 32, p. 70-72, No. 42, p. 82-83, No. 113, p. 181-182, No. 154, p. 239, No. 182, p. 280, No. 191, p. 292-295, No. 195, p. 309, No. 202, p. 320; Pociecha, IV, p. 119, 145, 152-153, 159, 244, 262-263, 281-282).

[16] Korneuburg – town on the left bank of the Danube, about 10 km northwest of Vienna.

[17] According to present-day estimates, the imperial forces gathering and moving towards Vienna in August and September (including Spanish and Belgian forces) numbered about 100,000-120,000. Charles V’s chronicler, Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, speaks of over 120,000, while Stanisław Górski mentions about 140,000, and he also states that Suleiman I’s forces (today estimated at about 200,000) numbered 500,000 (see Fernández Álvarez 2002, p. 451-457; Kohler I, p. 221; Kohler II, p. 216-217; Pociecha, IV, p. 144-145, 155, 157; AT, XIV, No. 362, p. 556; 452, p. 684-685, cf. No. 379, p. 572-574; letter of Cornelis De Schepper to Ioannes Dantiscus(?), August 8, 1532, copy GStAPK, HBA H, K. 760, IV. 11. 18; Sepúlveda, II, p. 109, cf. Herberstein 1855, p. 300).

[18] A reference to Lower Austria with Vienna and Upper Austria, lying to the west, with its capital in Linz.

[19] Charles V, see letter No. 13, footnote 2.

[20] From February 29 to September 1, 1532 Emperor Charles V was in Regensburg, and only set off to join the gathered forces on September 2; traveling through Passau and Linz, he ceremonially rode into Vienna on September 23, when Suleiman I was already in retreat (see Cadenas y Vicent, p. 225-226; Fernández Álvarez 2002, p. 451-457; Pociecha, IV, p. 156-157; see also AT, XIV, No. 420, p. 630, No. 428, p. 639, cf. No. 432, p. 644-645, No. 461, p. 703-706, No. 466, p. 716).

[21] Pedro de la Cueva (d. after 1544), grand master of the Military Order of Alcántara, chief steward to Charles V, soldier in his service (before 1523). In 1530, imperial envoy to pope Clement VII on the matter of calling a general council. In April 1532, he was one of the emperor’s envoys to the Hungarian estates on the matter of organizing a defense against the Turks, and in late October of the same year he was again sent as an envoy to the pope (Keniston, p. 138-139, 174; Fernández Álvarez 1975, p. 92; Fernández Álvarez 2002, p. 433-434, 666; AT, XIV, No. 196, p. 311-312; KF, III, No. 636, p. 550-554, footnote 6, No. 639, p. 558, No. 666, p. 632, 633-634, footnote 3; Sepúlveda, I, p. 67, 89; Sepúlveda, II, p. 109-110; CDCV, II, No. 279, p. 235).

[22] Andrea Doria (de Oria; Auria) (1466-1560), Genoan condottiere, initially in the papal guard, then was in the service of various Italian dukes, from 1503 in the service of Genoa, he gained fame as the commander of the Genoan fleet (1512-1522) fighting against the Turks and pirates on the Mediterranean. In 1522 he joined the service of Francis I, and after the battle of Pavia – the service of pope Clement VII, and became the commander of the League of Cognac’s fleet. He later returned to the service of Francis I, but in 1528, at the price of the restitution of the Genoan Republic, he returned to the service of Charles V and was active as his chief admiral on the Mediterranean and actual administrator of Genua (officially censor) until 1555. In 1532 Doria received from the emperor the title of duke of Melfi as well as orders to prepare the fleet in view of Turkey’s growing sea forces. The news about Doria’s fleet, armed for battle at sea and on land, setting off for Epirus to halt the Turkish forces there, also reached Dantiscus from Alfonso de Valdes writing from Regensburg on August 8. Doria’s operations on the coast of Greece were meant to hasten the Turks’ withdrawal from Austria and Hungary. After taking Patras on the Gulf of Corinth and Corone (Koróni) on the Messenian Gulf, Doria was called back to Italy (see Gravière, p. 203-205; AT, XIV, No. 93, p. 154-155, No. 141, p. 223, No. 379, p. 573, No. 416, p. 571-572, No. 452, p. 685, No. 462, p. 707, No. 470, p. 723, No. 528, p. 807, No. 549, p. 839).

[23] Constantinople (today Tur. İstanbul), originally Gr. ÂőćÜíôéďí, then Ęůíóôáíôéíďýđďëéň. From the Middle Ages, the latter Greek name was used most often, in its Latinized form: Constantinopolis.