ALl the worlde knoweth that theſe broyles of warre & commotions in gouernment haue not without iuſt occaſion been ſtirred vp, and that our enterpriſe in betaking vs to our armes, neither did nor doth ayme at the offence of any man: but was onely intended for the ſtanding vpon our owne garde, and the repelling of ſo many and ſo grieuous iniuries which heeretofore we haue beene ſubiect vnto. Neuertheles fearing leaſt our ſilence might be a preiudice vnto vs and brande vs with ſome blame becauſe of the weale-publike of Chriſtendome, we thought it conuenient, to acquaint you in fewe termes with the firſt motiues of theſe tumults, that (occaſion offring it ſelfe) you might the rather excuſe & iuſtifie our proceedings both to your neighbour Chriſtian Princes, as alſo to all others of the foreſaid Chriſtian common-weale.

You ſhall vnderſtand then that his ſacred Imperiall and royall Maieſtie hauing infringed the oth wherin he was bound and obliged vnto this realme, hauing violated and diſanuld all the rights, immunities, liberties & priuiledges which for ſo many eſpeciall merits & rare vertues had of a long time beene conferd vpon our predeceſſours by the holy kings of Hungary: hath notwithſtanding without either regard of our bodies, our goods, or reſpect of iuſtice, nobilitie or religion, as it were abandoned and proſtituted vs to the mercileſſe mercy of his men of warre, our bodies for the exerciſing of their cruelties, and our ſpoiles for the enriching of their bags: himſelfe lending a deafe eare to our ſo pitifull and ſo many ſupplications formed and preſented vnto him within theſe 20 yeeres at his Diets and general aſſemblies in Poſſonia: as alſo he lightly paſſed ouer thoſe relations and remonſtrances offred vnto him by Ambaſſadours ſent vp by the Eſtates of the realme for the ſame purpoſe. True it is that certaine yeeres paſt his foreſaide Maieſtie ſent to our ſuccour one George Basta accompanied with an armie of ſundrie nations, and amongſt them no fewe Wallons: but he was ſo farre from employing his force in our defence, that he graunted his ſouldiours abſolute commiſſion to put land and countrie to fire and ſword; as alſo to raunſacke, beate downe and leuell with the grounde the new-pilled and lately robbed houſes of the Noblemen. And although he had ſufficiently prouided for the moſt of his garde and ſuch as were nigheſt about him, yet was there no conſideration nor reſpect had at all: for the Wallons for all this ceaſed not to ſurpriſe, ſacke and ruinate whole Townes, Villages, Burrowes and Noblemens caſtles, whom they maſſacred without reſpect, as they did alſo the Miniſters of the worde of God, fleaing ſome of them as yet aliue. They likewiſe ſeconded their crueltie with all filthines and infamous beaſtlineſſe, raping and forcing women euen to death: and without all manner of regard of either youth or age, they ſpared neither yongue gyrles nor (which is more) women nowe ready to bee brought to bedde, nay nor thoſe which now they found in trauaile, whō they forced & rauiſht with a farre more than beaſtly crueltie. Moreouer againſt all right and iuſtice yawning and gaping for our goods and poſſeſſions, he tooke counſaile of his familiars and beſt-truſted friends, of many ſleights and tricks of legerdemaine, whereby he might either ſnatch and extort, or at leaſtwiſe confiſcate whatſoeuer we had. All which inuentions and miſchieuous practiſes he wrought by the meanes of his German captaines, whoſe ſeruice he likewiſe vſed in the tormenting of our perſons, and eſpecially of theirs of the Nobilitie, who poore ſoules tooke no reſt: for he caſting them into priſon for all the torments they endured was neuer vſed to releaſe them, before ſuch times as they bought their liberties full dearely. And his cuſtome was by the ſame meanes for the releaſing of their impriſonment to take of them a great and ſolemne oath that they would neuer bethinke them of that exceſſiue wrong they had endured, nor euer by iuſtice, lawes or any other way goe about to recouer ſome ſatisfaction, as likewiſe they ſhould neuer meddle with the recouering of ſuch heritages and reuenews which had been taken from them and beſtowed vpon ſtrangers. And which is more, his imperiall Maieſty for the ſpace of thirteen yeares, during which our warres laſted, neuer deigned as much as once to honour our Realme with his preſence: that after ſo many miſchiefes he might beſtow as it were a breathing ſpace vpon ſo many of his faithfull and poore diſtreſſed ſubiects: who in all their generall Parliaments, renewed euery yeare and very chargeable vnto them, had put vp vnto his Maieſtie ſo many and ſo earneſt petitions and ſupplications: inſomuch as many priuate men vpon their owne coſts were faine to make a voyage vnto Pragues and there to caſt themſelues into his Maieſties armes, beſeeching his mercy and crauing iuſtice: but their cries were little regarded, onely they were ſent to certaine Counſellours, who after a formall kind of iuſtice diſpatched them in the maner of anD'uneacquit. acquiting: ſo as the moſt part was faine to returne without ought doing, with ſtrange outcries and complaints for want of iuſtice. His Maieſty himſelfe altogether as oft as pleaſed him, directly againſt the cuſtomes and ſtatutes of the Realme, cauſed his iudgements to be done and put in execution out of the limits of the foreſaid Realme: to whom who ſo reſiſted (howbeit ſuch powers had been referred to common aſſemblies or parliaments) was preſently puniſhed. Witneſſes be the moſt honorable Lords, Steeuen Illyeszarye, now baniſhed and bereaft of all his reuenews vpon this occaſion: and Iohn Leo, a moſt honourable man and a great Iuſticier, with their Counſellours, Diazy, Bamfy, Sigiſmunde, Sarmaſagly, Ladiſtas, Gyolafy, Iohn Imrify, George and Valentine Homelay, as alſo the famous George Sabo, who, how they haue beene dealt withall, all men know. And making no account or eſteeme of a naturall Hungarian, he inueſted ſtrangers with all the offices and eſtates of the Realme: which is nothing elſe but to abaſtardiſe and violate the law and libertie of the Realme, a thing moſt violent and neuer put in practiſe in any countrey. Laſtly, to be briefe, our wiues, our children, our brethren, our ſiſters, our parents and allies and what elſe we poſſeſſed, lay at their commaund, and they diſpoſed of it according to their good will and pleaſure. Nowe with what hart-pearcing griefe we endured all theſe croſſes, we referre to the iudgement of thoſe who ſtripped of all affections be plaine louers of publique honeſty and zealous of the law of God. Yet haue we endured all theſe thinges with ſuch and ſo great patience as al our neighbour Realmes held vs in admiration: and for all this neuer enterpriſed any thing till we perceiued how they of the Clergie againſt all right and reaſon and the ordinances of the Realme, not content with their owne limits, wrigold themſelues vnto eſtates and offices, to the great diſparagement of the laity, and ſnatching the authority of Iuſtice, withdrew to themſelues all honors and dignities: wherewith not ſatiſfied they further pried how to depriue vs of our liberty, and which is worſe, haue aduentured to tempt our Religion, employing for that purpoſe diuers perſons to quaſh and quench in vs our Orthodoxall and true confeſſion of faith. Now the Eccleſiaſticall liuings which anciently were by his Maieſties Father and Grand-father, as alſo by the Generals of their armies and principall Chiefetaynes of warre, beſtowed for the reliefe of our publique neceſſities and the maintaining and managing of a continuall warre, and thereupon became impledgde and morgagde to our predeceſſours: are nowe become the pray and the bootie of Church-men. Who, by vnlawfull meanes, vſurpe and ſnatch them from the true owners and with their proceedings in Eccleſiaſticall courts, being both Iudges and parties, doe infinitely moleſt both the Nobility and the common people alſo, blind-fowlding and enueloping them with the puniſhment of excommunication; the onelie meanes of abſolution from the which, is to reſort fraught with fatte and honourable preſents, which in the end bringeth them to a moſt miſerable pouertie.

Moreouer in this laſt Diet, they of the realm hauing preſented certain articles toSai ſerenite, meaning the Archduke. his Highneſſe (who was there preſent with all the power and puiſſance of his Maieſty as repreſenting his perſon) and his Highneſſe accepting of them, they of the Church notwithſtanding in a manifeſt diſdaine both of his Highneſſe and the reſt of the Princes, adding, paring, changing and blotting out many points contained in that bil of requeſt, did maime and corrupt it altogether.

Furthermore the Wallons ſet on by ſome of the Biſhops and ſuffring themſelues to be caried away with their owne paſſions, hauing, in a manner neuer heard of before, tormented the Miniſters of the word of God, in the end maſſacred them moſt bloudily: and paſſing further, fleſhing themſelues vpon their dead and now interred carcaſſes: vnburied and burnt them ſtarke-naked. And amongſt many moe, they ſpared not the dead bodies of the noble and illuſtrious Lord George, Earle of Bathor, his wife and his parents: and it is incredible how inhumanely they vſed the dead body of that honorable Counte Stephen Bathor. The armes of the Earle George Bathor found within his tombe are at this inſtant in the poſſeſſion of the aboue named George Baſta, and borne by him. In the ende ſetting forward to pull downe the temple of Caſſouia, to baniſh and chaſe out all the Miniſters and profeſſours of true religion to ſeaze violently vpon all the goods of the ſaid towne, and all this againſt the aduiſe of Iohn Iacob Barbian, Earle of Belioyenſe & Gouernour of high Hungary: as alſo of Francis Torgat, Chancellour and Biſhop of Niter. When we ſaw theſe ſtratagems: we, in the name of all the Realme, mette together at the generall aſſembly holden at Poſſonia, and there wrought all our endeuours by praiers and ſupplications vnto his Highneſſe, that hee would hinder that reſolution and ward of that blow, humbly beſeeching his Serenitie that for the conſeruation of peace, theſe affaires of Religion might be paſſed ouer and deferd vntill ſome other time: but for all that we did our vtmoſt deuoir, yet could we obtaine nothing at all, and thereupon at the very ſame inſtance we made our complaints with proteſtations in the preſence of his foreſaideSerenité. Highneſſe and the Eſtates of the Realme. But in ſteed of a good and curteous anſweare which we promiſed our ſelues, his Maieſtie quite contrary of his owne proper diſpoſition neuer acquainting the Eſtates withall: and in meere miſpriſion of their authority (a thing neuer heeretofore practiſed by any King of Hungary) dared boldly of his abſolute power to inſert a moſt pernicious and horrible Article among the reſt which menaced and threatned no leſſe vnto vs, than the vtter loſſe and confuſion of our ſubſtance, our poſſeſſions, our liues, yea and our very ſoules, with the quite aboliſhing and rooting out of all the Hungarian nation. And by this time for an earneſt pennie and a ſure teſtimony of his good will, he had already by his moſt rigorous briefes, proceeded in the baniſhing of the Archbiſhop of Coloarenſe, that by this means hee might with the greater facility make himſelfe maſter of the Temple, the Pariſh and the Vniuerſity of Lutchenien. Now to delay and allay the current of ſo many miſchiefes, ſetting before our eies all ſuch things as had paſſed as alſo thoſe flames which more began to worke our vtter ruine and confuſion: by authority of our common aſſembly called for this purpoſe in the towne of Galred in the preſence of the foreſaid Earle of Belioyenſe and of them of the chamber of Sepuſe, and he himſelfe of whom we ſpak aſſiſting: we ſolemnely ſwore to perſiſt conſtantly in that proteſtation which we had ſo authentically made in the Diet of Poſſonia: and that we would maintaine and defend our ſelues by thoſe decrees of Andrew, the ſecond, called King of Ieruſalem, which he enacted in the yeare 12.22. Art. 31. and they be of this ſubſtance. Now if either we or any one of our ſucceſſours in any time whatſoeuer, go againſt this our pleaſure, we licence our ſubiects and giue them all power to contradict and reſiſt vs, ſo as afterward they may neuer be branded with any note of treaſon or infamy for the ſame.

And in the firſt Epiſtle, the ninth Tit. of that Tripartite worke of the lawes of Hungary, he ſaith expreſly: Let this be the fourth and abſolute liberty, if any of the Kings or Princes happen to derogate from the freedome of the Noble men &c.

As it followeth in the decrees of the foreſaid moſt excellent Prince Andrew the ſecond entituled King of Ieruſalem: and for the more ſtrict obſeruation thereof, euery true King of Hungary, before his coronation is bound and accuſtomed to ſweare the obſeruance of the ſame conditions: to wit, To permit and conſent that men riſe vp in armes againſt him without any note of treaſon, in ſuch caſes: as when he goeth in any thing about to reſtraine from them their libertie. But in the Articles of the Diet held at Poſſonia, 1604. about the end there is one laſt of all which hath beene vnlawfully and forcibly added and couched in, and it goeth thus:

Laſtly, his ſacred Imperiall and royall Maieſtie hauing vnderſtood not without great diſpleaſure as well by reports woorthy of credit, as by two requeſts by which the forenamed high prince Mathias Archduke of Auſtria, his moſt deere brother, beſought him to take part with them, who termed themſelues the better and ſounder part of the eſtate and order of the Realme of Hungary (of the which vnuſuall and vncoth kind of ſpeech he much marueiled, as alſo for their complaints of troubling their exerciſes of Religion, waſting their Churches and reuenewes in expences, and chaſing away of their Miniſters and preachers: of the which they had heeretofore complained to his Highneſſe, both by writing and worde of mouth, as alſo by ample declarations, and alſo beſought him to be a mediatour vnto his Maieſtie for the reſtitution of ſuch thinges as had beene violently taken from them, that ſo they might heereafter liue freely in the profeſſion of their religion, who notwithſtanding ſollicited by his Highnes to declare more eſpecially, and to ſpecifie at large the ſubiect of their writing, and the authours of the ſame, could neuer be brought to ſay any thing, nor to giue any further declaration either of the profeſsion of their religion, or of what Churches, what reuenewes had beene taken away from them, of the which they onely complained in generall termes, not diſcending to any particulars) and that continuing in their male-contentednes, it was impoſſible to alter this their opinion: ſuch diſcord I ſay, being of no ſmall power to ſlacken and weaken the effects of al treatiſes in the Parliament, beſides that it is a great ſcandall and an ill example to other States of the realme, could not but much aggreeue his Highneſſe & his ſacred Maieſtie: who, all aſtoniſht cannot call to minde what iniuries or what faſheries they pretend to haue receiued in matters of religion, nor what Churches, what reuenewes, eſpecially hereditary or ancient, could be taken from them. His foreſaid Maieſty is likewiſe in doubt and can hardly bee reſolued ſeeing their tumultuous pretences, which make him thinke, nay halfe perſwade him, that by the meanes of their religion they haue practiſed ſome intelligence with the free cities of the realme, which be the proper demaines of his imperiall Maieſty as well knowen King of Hungary. Now euen as his ſacred imperiall and royall Maieſty in imitation of ſo many holy Romane Emperours and Kings of Hungary his anceſtours and predeceſſours, vnfaignedly embraceth with ardent zeale the Catholike Romane religion, ſo in like manner he purpoſeth and deſireth aboue all thinges, when hee hath purified and clenſed it of all falſe opinions and new-found doctrines, to make it to the glory and praiſe of the Almighty God, encreaſe and flouriſh in all his realmes and prouinces: but eſpecially in this realme of Hungary to maintaine and defend it with all his power, as by the bond of his owne vocation hee findes himſelfe obliged. Heereupon his facred imperiall Maieſty of his owne proper motion and of his royall and abſolute power doth confirme all thoſe ordinances, ſtatutes and decrees which heeretofore haue beene addreſſed for the aduancement of the aforeſaid Catholike and Romane faith, aſwell by King Stephen, the Apoſtle of the Hungarian nation, as by other deuout kings of Hungary his predeceſſours: all which conſtitutions he fully ratifies by this preſent Article, as if they had beene word by word heere ſpecified. And to the end that heereafter in generall Aſſemblies & Diets where are handled matters of great importance and conſequence concerning realmes, no man ſhall dare preſume vpon any incident coloured pretext to inſert any point or affaires of religion which might ſlacken the foreſaid publike affaires: his ſacred Maieſty wils and commands that vpon moſt rigorous paines ſuch a one eſcape not vnpuniſhed: but that immediately men proceede againſt him and all ſuch ſemblable brablers, louers and embracers of nouelties: and that without any remiſſion or pardon they bee ſeuerely chaſtiſed and puniſhed, following the decrees enacted againſt ſuch by our predeceſſours, the Kings of Hungary, ſo that others by their correction may learne and take example.

But leaue we theſe thinges as others, which to endure longer is impoſſible, iudging by the former that there remaines no ſpeedier meanes to ridde vs of this inſupportable yoke, than the taking of armes, which we will imploy vpon ſuch as practiſing againſt our religion and libertie, endeuour to roote out the Hungarian nation. Now to the end men ſhoulde not take vs for Apoſtates from the Chriſtian faith, or beleeue that we of ſet purpoſe bandied or emploied our forces againſt any that profeſſed Chriſtianity, we thought it good to giue your thriſe illuſtrious, reſpect woorthy, Generous, Magnificent, and noble Lordſhips, our good and ancient neighbours a taſt of our intention and of the cauſe of our commotions: to the end you might vnderſtand that neither pride, nor ambition, nor hatred conceiued againſt any Chriſtian prince moued vs to the taking of armes, but an holy deſire of protecting and defending our ſelues againſt the oppreſſors of our freedome and our true and Orthodoxall religion. As touching the aid we haue from the Turke and the Tartar we reſerue them for no other end, but to let the king of Poland and Moldauia ſee, that wee want not wherewithall to ſerue our ſelues in time of need; it being in our power to ſend them backe againe when it ſhall pleaſe vs. Now although wee know that of all antiquity the Duchie of Siliſie doth appertain as an inheritance of the realme of Hungary, yet were we willing to entertaine their good neighbourhood, liuing in good peace and amitie, which heeretofore we haue kept inuiolably. Wherefore we thought conuenient to inform you rightly of our deed, & likewiſe to eertifie you that we perſwade our ſelues you haue no ſiniſter opinion of vs for employing our powers in ſo good and ſo iuſt a cauſe, which certainly is yours alſo, both being in very deed as it were embarkt in the ſelfe ſame veſſell: nay wee further are of this beleefe, that you calling to minde our auncient league of amitie, will rather commend then diſpraiſe, our iuſt and reſolute enterpriſe: Concerning which point, wee humbly pray you to let vs freely vnderſtand of your aduiſe, deferring vntill ſome more conuenient time to make you an ample diſcouerie of our deliberation, which neither was nor is to warre vpon the kingdome of Bohemia, nor Sileſia, nor the Marques of Morauia, vnleſſe they giue vs too much occaſion: howbeit wee know very well they haue heeretofore beene vnder the crowne of the realme of Hungary. But as heeretofore wee haue often tolde you, our deſire is to employ all our forces againſt thoſe deſtroiers, firers, murtherers and maſſacrers of our brethren, with which inſtruments the houſe of Ametria, hath ſo long to our great miſchiefe, reard vp his creſt. Wee thought it therefore neceſſary and conuenient (moſt famous, magnificent and noble Lords) to certifie you of theſe things in few words to whom (for a concluſion) we wiſh all goodneſſe and happineſſe. Dated at our royall Citie of Caſſouie, the 24. of Aprill. 1605.

The ſeruants and friends of your moſt Famous, Reuerend, Generous and Noble Lordſhips: Nicholas Signoy, Stephen Egidi, Michael Bengalithi, Iohn Beteoffy, the Generals and Chiefetaines of that moſt excellent Prince and Lord Stephen, by the grace of God, King of Hungary, Tranſyluania, Tranſalpina and Earle of Sicilia.