After dew salutaciō I cōmēd me to you trusty frēd, lettīg you were, y t where in my last wrytinge to you I wrote, that (by the leaue of the bountefull grace and licence of the Imperiall maiestye) I wolde shortelye be wyth you, wherfore at y e tyme I wrote no neweltyes to you concerning this Imperiall parlament. But for as muche as thys purpose of myne is hyndred, & I am cōstrayned to tary here vntyll the returne of y e worshypful in god father the Cardinal & byshop of Tridēt which is sent to Rome with a spedy message, I wolde not leaue to certify you of some newes, so farre as I may do & becommeth me.
Fyrst as concerninge the articles proposed of the Imperiall maiesty to the estates of the Empyre, [Page] I trust year fully certifyed And though the answere vpō thē hath bē deferred, & specially that cōcerning the Religiō, yet at the length, by the grace of god, haue the States wyth one consente agreed and requyred, that the ordinance concernynge the Religion that is in controuersye vndeterminated, maye be determined in the generall, fre and christen concell that alredy is poynted, begō ne and continueth at Tridēt. The whych request y e Imperours maiestye hath also thought yt moost conuenient, christen and sure way to alaye all debate and controuersye: specially for as moche as the sytuacyon of Germanye is not greatly onmete for the purpose, nether can other nacions greatly grudge at the waye and distance [Page] frō Trident, wherby they myght pretende incommodite wher vpō the Emperiall maiestye trusteth that euery and syngular estate of the Empyre wyll agre to suche a generall councel, submytting thē humbly to it, acceptyng & redressyng thē after the ordināce of the same: In doynge of whyche, they shall folowe the footesteppes of the auncient fathers, which haue alwayes in doubtes of religiō or fayth, hadde theyr recourse to the councel as vnto a sentuary, & redressed them wyllingly after the ordinance of the same.
And that such a fre general coū cell haue the better progresse & continuance, & that noman nedeth to feare interruption of it or hynderaunce: the Emperours maiestye as a maynteiner of the churche, [Page] and defendour of the coūcell wyl godly helpe and busyly prouyde, that such a coūcell begon at Trident haue hys quick course & continuaūce. He wylleth also that it be visited augmēted & confirmed by y e presence of other christē princes & nations, specially Archbysshops. Bishops & other Prelates of Germany (as thē y t are & haue ben chefe aucthors or makers of thys debate,) or in theyr lawfull absence, by theyr wyse, learned & fully aucthorised deputyes.
It shalbe lawful also for y e States of the Ausborowesh cōfession safe cōduted to come to remayne & returne agayn frō this coūcel, & ther shalbe graūted to thē dew audience. By these meanes shal y e beginning y e whole treating of this general cōcel & cōclusiō be godly [Page] and Christenly (all affections and parcialite set a parte) accordynge to the doctryne of holye scripture and holy fathers, whereof maye folowe a christen reformation, by the whych peruerse doctryne and abuses maye be rooted out.
As for the pleatynges of the Imperiall chamber or hall, wyll the Imperiall maiesty continentlye reforme, and that wyth conuenient Iudges, Presydentes and Extraordinare persons, that iustice maye be comly executed, and ther to be no more lackes.
Ther are also other causes handeled in thys parlament Imperiall, as are of peace, of the Coine and suche lyke, which are come to suche a pointe, as is to be hoped no man can haue a iust cause to cō playne.
[Page]We do hope also that this Imperiall parlamente shalbe shortelye ended, whych myght be whan the worshypfull Cardynall and Byshoppe of Trident shalbe returned, who departed hence oute of Ausborowe the syxte daye of Nouember beynge sent to Rome vnto the Byshoppe of Rome, for the continuaunce of the Counsell of Trident, and to approue or alowe the reformation, how euery man shal be haue hymself, during the tyme of the generall counsell. The whyche came to Rome the eyghtenth day of Nouember, frō whence he hath wrytten: he wylbe shortelye wythe vs agayne, and bryng wyth hym al thynges that haue ben the requestes of y e Emperiall maiesty, and the States.
Nother can I wytholde to certyfye [Page] you / that the maiestye of the kyng of rome Ferdinādus sent y e last yere an embassadour / named Lord Gerarde Veltwick to Constantinople to the greate Turke / for to demaunde truce for .v. yere the whych request the Turke dyd easely graunt / partly for drede of the Emperiall maiestye / whome he nameth a vanquysher / & Lord of Europa / partly because of the Assaultes of y e Soldane or kinge of Perses / whych combreth hym wyth warres: but vpon that condicion: yf the Imperiall maiesty wyll holde / consent & agre to the same truce. The Romane kinges Embassador lord Veltwick hath agreed to that condityon / & promysed to busye hymselfe to cause the Imperiall maiestye consente to thys truce: doutynge not / but [Page] trusting, y e emperial maiesty wold not refuse it for the tender loue he oweth to his brother. And vpon y t is y e forsayde lord Veltwick come hether wyth the Turkes messangers, desyringe to know, whether the Emperiall maiesty wyll agree to this truce of fyue yeres, or not: that these forsayde messangers of the Turke, may bringe theyr lord an answer. Vpō y t whych hath the Emperiall maiestye answered on this wyse: Though it becommeth not our maiestye, to make any appoyntmēt with the enemy of oure religiō, nother hath y e Godly maiesty euer left vs aydelesse hetherto but alway prospereth & helpeth vs to vanquysh our enemyes: so that noman ther is, whych can auaunce and say: I haue ouercome Charles in battayll. For so much [Page] also as almyghtye God hath endued vs wyth so greate puyssance ryches, men of warre & captaynes so that we nede not to be afrayed of any mā in the world: yet for the tēder loue that we owe to our brother the king of the romanes, Hō gary & Bemes we cōdescēde, alow & ratifye the truce of fyue yeares but vpō that cōdicion, y t the Turkysh Emperour do sende vs hys letters & specificayō concerning this peace. Whā the Turkyshe messaungers had receaued thys coragious answere of the Emperiall maiestye, they are returned to theyr Lorde, which continently sente ouer the foresayde letters, in the whyche he calleth the Emperours maiesty a Lord of the christen worlde. These letters came here to Ausborowe the .xxi. day of [Page] Nouember, whyche I haue both handeled and sene. These be wrytten wyth greate and vnsemely letters, and on the top sygned wyth the great Turkes armes of gold. I doubte whether I euer haue sene any suche lyke, they be nother Chalde nor Hebrue letters, the Lord Gerard veltwick sayth they be Arabyck letters.
Ther is also tydynges come oute of Hungary that a Lorde of the Kynges counsell, called locētz whych fauoured more the Turkyshe partye than hys own lyege Lordes, nether hearde gladly the truce made: for his enterpryses in manye poyntes were hyndered.
This same as he sat vpon a tyme at hys table, and hys seruauntes about hym, one of them began sodenly to crye: Come death & haue [Page] me awaye. And sodenlye he caste an horrible syght wyth turnynge of hys eyes, raygynge and crying hugly with a loud voyce: The deuyll is in me, and hath possessed me, nother wyll he leaue wyth me, but more of you must daunce this daunce. The other seruātes wold haue bounde hym, but he spewed frome hym, and behaued hym so woodlye: afterward cast he out at hys mouth the stomack, bowele, lyuer, harte, and all hys entrayles by peces. After that begā an other of the seruaūtes to rage and waxe woode, cryenge & howlynge piteously & hugly: I am possessed of y e deuyl. The same dyd they binde, & Lozentz sent cōtinētly for his parson to coniure the euyl spryt. But before the priest came, y e thyrde seruaūt begā to rage also, which was [Page] boūde as the other. With y t begā Lozentz to be greatly a frayed: & though the priest prayed moch ouer hym, yet begā he to rage lyke the other & crye, so y t he also was cōstrayned to be boūd. And lay of this wyse in his house w t his two seruaūtes (for the fyrst dyed) xiiii. dayes before. In the meane whyle swaged the woodnest, & he was lowsed of his bādes: but hys coū tenaūte is yet so horrible & dredeful, y t nomā dare approche hym.
Whā the foresayde truces were in hāde / a shyp was spoyled vpō our borders & soncked which passed in valure .xx.M. gold gyldē / and al they that were in her were drowned: but the dede doers are yet vnknowē whether thei be christē or Turkes that ioyne vpō the borders. Cattiās brother in lawe [Page] hath slayne two hūdreth Turkes that passed the borders, and inuaded oure men, wherwyth he hath apeaced & stylled the other. These tydynges came here to Ausborowe the .xix. daye of Nouember, but ther was no credence geuen to them, vntyl ther came more surer certificatiō from the Kynges Maiestye and other Lordes.
The .xxvi. daye of Nouember last past came hether thre wedowes, namelye my lady Mary quene of Hungary and Regente, the Duchesse of Loren, and the ladye Princesse of Orenge of Brabant: whome met the Kynges grace of Rome, the Archduke of Austriche hys sonne, and the electours, namelye of Colens Saxonye and Braundeborowe, be syde a greate nombre of Byshops, Dukes, and [Page] Lords, so that they entred at Ausborow syxe hundreth on horsebak
They of Ausborow also haue made peace wyth theyr Lorde the Byshop, whereof the condicions be, that for the force, spoyling and iniuries they haue done him, shal in recompence therof geue him fyue & nyntye thousande golde gyldens and for the spiritual rentes that they haue receaued thyrtye thousande golde gyldens.
Ther is here such a nombre of Lordes and Princes / as neuer hath ben sene in any parlamente imperiall.
The moost worshypfull in god father and Lord Adolyshe archebyshoppe of Colen & hath yesterdaye whych was Saynte Nicolas euen receaued of the Imperiall maiestye hys dignitye.
[Page]Muche were to be wrytten of the takyng of the Duke of Saxony elector was, and the Landtgraue, but the shortenesse of thys letter, and also the tyme wyll not admytte it. Yet can not I wytholde you that Landtgraues wyfe with her chyldren, haue delyuered a'great byll or supplication to the States of the Empyre, wherein they sygnified, that those articles whych were delyuered at the yeldyng of the Landtgraue, were fulfylled, expyred and accomplyshed: requyred al the States of the Empyre to make sute for the Landtgraue to the Emperyall maiestye y t he myght be delyuered. Some of the Princes gaue consent therto, but some toke deliberation vppon it. In the meane whyle as thys was in hande: was the Emperiall [Page] Maiestye aduertysed of thys. And whan the Princes were nowe consultynge and takyng theyr aduyse, dyd the Emperiall maiestye sende them a farre other certyfycation of the matter, than that of the Lādtgraue specyfyēg the causes why it were not expediente, nether for the commune peace, nor the contry, that he shulde be released and set at liberte.
It declared also playnly, that the articles of the Landtgraue submyssion or yeldyng, were not proposed aryghte nor lawfullye: yea were not executed nother of the Landtgraue. The Emperoures maiestye also answered so euidētly, and wyth so manyfest demonstratyons to these thynges that were proposed the Princes by the Landtgraue, that they all ceased of [Page] makynge sute for hym, but were of a contrarye mynde. Wherfore he was remoued from donwerte, to Norlinges, wyth duble warde whych thynge doth greatly greue and displease hym, complaynyng bewayling and lamētyng to be so remoued from place to place.
Duke noritz of Saxony elector is departed from hence nowe of late, of whome the fame goeth, that he is gone to take vp men of warre in the name of the Emperours maiestye, the truth wherof, I cannot wryte for a certaynte.
Thys is of a truth, that here are many doughty captaynes, & that moche artillery is sent towarde y e costes to Switcherland. They of Berne are afrayed, and haue ofte sent to the Duke of Sauoye, requyrynge to haue peace with him [Page] What ende these matters shal haue, can I not shew at this tyme.
I trust your gentlynesse wyll take thys wrytynge in worth, as I shall come by you, (the which I trust shalbe shortely) I shall shew you more newes by mouth Fare well
¶Wryten from August the syxt daye of December. The yeare of oure Lorde. M.D.Xlviii