Kasza Péter (szerk.): Stephanus Brodericus - Epistulae (Bibliotheca Scriptorum Medii Recentisque Aevorum, Series Nova XIV., Argumentum Kiadó - Magyar Országos Levéltár, Budapest, 2012)

1522

ex Florentia, quo eum concessisse Vestra Maiestas non ignorat,10 11 rediit. Communi igitur opera et consilio omnia aguntur et agentur.

[3.] Expensas ego nullas penitus habeo. Deus immortalis scit, quod non solum vehementissime angor, sed et supra modum admiror, quod Vestra Maiestas ita me sine 25 expensa reliquerit. Maiestas Vestra scribit11 et item reverendissimus dominus cancellarius12 ex voluntate Maiestatis Vestrae Fukaros13 mihi satis expensarum daturos, ab eis ne obolum quidem habere possum. Immo derideor ab eis, qui orator Maiestatis Vestrae existens ab eis sumptus mendicem. lam si Vestra Maiestas ad tot meas supplicationes nihil mihi suppeditat, Deus scit, nescio quid faciam, nisi forte, ut vendam 30 omnia, quae mecum habeo, habitu mutato redeam cum uno famulo ad Vestram Maie- statem incognitus cum extrema ignominia mea et damno non parvo Vestrae Maiestatis. Videt enim Vestra Maiestas totam rerum suarum summam hinc pendere.

[4.] Nam quod Maiestas Vestra scribit mihi de legatione Gallica obeunda, ea, ut video, esset valde necessaria. Immo credo nihil magis necessarium ad res Maiestatis 35 Vestrae et totius Christianitatis. Sed quomodo ego illuc irem, qui iam a tot mensibus ne hic quidem unicum obolum a Vestra Maiestate habere possum.14

Me et mea servitia in gratiam Vestrae Maiestatis recommendo, quam altissimus conservare dignetur diutissime felicem et incolumem. Ex Urbe E Septembris 1522.15

Eiusdem Vestrae Maiestatis

40 servitor et capellanus

Stephanus praepositus Quinqueecclesiensis

On the outer side: Sacrae Regiae Maiestati Flungariae et Bohemiae etc. domino meo gratiosissimo

10 Marsupino arrived in Florence around 8 August. He practically fled there from his creditors because he had not received money from Hungary for months. See IvÁNYl Béla. Adalékuk a nemzetközi érintkezések történetéhez a Jagelló-knrhnn, Történelmi Tár, 1906, 341-342; and MÓL DL 25313.

11 We do not know the referred letter by King Louis.

12 This may be a reference to Archbishop of Esztergom and High Chancellor György Szatmári, a long-time patron of Brodarics. Because of the title Chancellor it is possible that László Szálkái wrote the letter mentioned.

It is a reference to the Fugger banking house, which was one of the most important financial institutions of the era that gave credits. They had several branches in Hungary too. More on their activities: Richard Ehrunui rcí. Das Zeitalter der Fugger. Geldkapital und Creditverkerhr im 16. dahrhundert, Jena. 1963.

14 Brodarics’ planned legation in France did not happen.

15 In the first part of the letter Brodarics says August is the current month, yet the date at the end of the letter is 1 September. This highlights the nature of diplomatic letters: they are summaries, and writing them often took several days as suspected here.

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