Luther reports that his journey to Amsdorf has again to suffer a postponement.
Handwritten in Aurifaber, Vol. III, p. 428. Printed in Schütze, Vol. I, p. 308 and in De Wette, Vol. V, p. 664.
Grace and peace. Venerable Father! D. Brück has returned and tells me from the Prince that it will happen that the Prince will come to Zeitz in two weeks, and at the same time he has summoned both of us to be with you. Therefore, I ask you not to take offense at this slight delay for the Prince's sake. For then we will surely come. For he says that the von Pflug are stirred up by a new bitterness against the prince; they could prepare repercussions for me to the prince's disgrace. Therefore, we will be there in a short time, both Brück and I. In the meantime, be at ease in the Lord. On the Tuesday of Pentecost [June 3] Anno 1544.
Your Martin Luther.
No. 31.21
King Gustav of Sweden to Luther.
Answer to a (Verlorne's) letter by Luther, which contained an intercession for a Swedish student in Wittenberg, and to the letter concerning Peutinger (No. 3106). About the Swedish-Danish relations in which the king has been maligned.
From a copy in the Weimar Archives, Reg. H. 389. 147, in Burkhardt, p. 443.
Our greetings and very gracious will before. Respectable, worthy, esteemed, dear special ! Shortly after each other, we have received two letters from your A. W., the first of which was a petition on behalf of a young journeyman that we would like to do him gracious help and tax, the other, concerning a Doctor Conrad, also how it should have happened to you how we should have undertaken feud and war against some of our neighbors by instigating and moving the Burgundians, with further contents, 2) both of their property graciously exempted and understood, whereupon we do not want your A. W., again with gracious benevolence, to hold your letter against us. W.'s gracious benevolence, that your letter is a special favor to us. And so much
1) The copy of this letter in the Weimar Archives has in any case incorrectly: 1541; for Luther's complaint about Conrad Peutinger (No. 3106), the correct dating of which has been certified to me by the Imperial Archivist Nordstrom in Stockholm, is dated April 12, 1544; consequently, this letter also belongs to the year 1544. (Burkhardt.)
2) In any case, the letter had a postscript that has been lost (Burkhardt).
Concerning the intercession (vorbiet) of the young journeyman, we are at all times obliged on account of your request, also that we can consider it necessary without that for the best of our realms, because we have to remember by divine grace, also know that God Almighty has for this reason chosen (provided for) us for royal government of these our realms and has mentioned that we should maintain there the holy Christian religion, also laudable police, which none without the help and assistance of learned 3) people may long endure, shall be maintained, protected, administered and continued, for which reason we are quite unburdened, indeed most graciously inclined, 4) so that we may now, also hereafter, have ours, 5) people in our realms, to do gracious help and taxation to the pious, diligent fellows, who honestly hold themselves of our 6) nation there with you at Wittenberg, have also recommended it to our councilors without delay. But what concerns the Doctvrem Conrad, whom we use as our War Counselor and Cancellarium, who has served us from the time of his service like an honorable and Christ-loving man, that we may graciously bear witness to in truth; But as far as his supposed former wife is concerned, we are not aware of anything else, except that on several occasions, not without justifiable and legitimate complaints, he has excused himself by telling us that he had meant her very badly and unfaithfully because of her lewd and unseemly life, and where it was possible for him to live with her without disgrace, he would very much like to be separated from her; However, dear Doctor, since we, and every true Christian lover, should regard every man's rightful excuse as just and should not condemn or judge anyone in his justified matters. Accordingly, we hereby graciously request you not to be induced to write anything before you have heard this Christian apology of our Council and Chancellor. 7) However, we do not want you to be induced to write anything. But what Ew. A. W., recently writing to our servant Balthasarn Funcken, reported, as that we are to be described and stated something in the German nation, as [as] if we had taken up feud by a Burgundian head against the
3) Burkhardt: "zuthue gelarte".
4) Here Burkhardt incorrectly has a semicolon, it seems, because he did not understand the following.
5) "sothaner" (== such) put by us instead of: "gedaner"; soon following: "mögen" instead of: "may".
6) "ours" set by us instead of: "they ours".
7) Burkhardt: "vornehmen".
Letters from the year 1544. No. 3121.
K. It is far too inhospitable, indeed, violent and unjust, for us to allow the introduction and movement of our dignity to trademarks by our detractors, who otherwise, without cause, solely out of an envious mind and heart, seek and practice our undeserving with unsaved effort. For although we may demand that which is owed and obligated to us and our rich for good (vor gut) in addition to all equity (gepilligkeit), and cannot at any time yield to the unpleasant (vnliderliche) disadvantage to us and ours, we want to consider [that] on account of this we can with justification neither be proclaimed (nor) Burgundian or French, shouted at or called upon, because of this, that by reason of our royal office it is due to us 1) to postulate what our kingdoms 2) are entitled to postulate, and not 3) to yield to any one (idern) all the way (as has ever happened, about which our kingdoms 2) have been oppressed not a little, less than rightly) 4) that we may well promote the same with good Christian equity. However, we are sufficiently aware of where these and similar prescriptions 5) come from among the foreigners. We therefore (can also call upon God, and many honest, pious, impartial people, who know about the subservience trade, [testimony,] 6) as we highly thought of, our friendly dear Lord neighbors at any time meant) testify that such things (sodans) are imposed on us and measured out to us much too unkindly, for we may well say and write (however unpromoted) with steadfast truth, that we S. L. in her highest, most extreme and most severe distress and challenge, since it is not a little, but crown, kingdom, country and people, with sisterly, brotherly, neighborly tax and help on water and land, and blood, from which we still have to bear noticeable damage, disfavor and disadvantage, that we should and would rather not refer to anyone than to the same of their lords. ourselves. But what (Wes) now
1) Added by us from the following "will gebühren".
2) "Reiche" put by us instead of: "rethe". The same reading error is also found in No. 2793.
3) "not" put by us instead of: "with", which will be read from "nit".
4) Here Burkhardt mistakenly has a comma.
5) "Prescribed" == adverse speech, like "promise" - speaking disparagingly of something.
6) Added by us. The round brackets are set by nns. The text is in a mess here at all.
7) Burkhardt: "nobody's".
against which we, in turn, with the subordination and exclusion of our crowns and kingdoms, with special demands (? furdregen) completely burdening us, with the elevation and continuation of our renegade, runaway, disgusting hirelings (? Aufhabten) and promises, by which we together with the 8) 9) at great futile expense, of which we could have been more cheaply seen to have been overburdened, is known to men, even partly to our detractors. How kindly now, dear Doctor, it happens to us that, if we complain about such things in a friendly way, or have them done to us, we are now Burgundian, now imperial, as it was done by one, called Petrus Palladius, who was, after all, a Doctor of the Holy See, who, as he wants to be a doctor of the Holy Scriptures, should spare ours with mischief, has cultivated such with untruth enough in your country, in a foreign nation, where we can hardly ride to further responsibility. A. W., as the highly competent, and otherwise to every impartial person, to judge and consider for himself, the whole confidence that the K. W. will be able to find a solution in the long term. to Dennemarken in which the length even of the fee with us therefore friendly negotiation to know to compare, so that errors (irunger), feud or war excitement, for which we have given nevertheless all our life long ever no cause, also unwillingly want to give without need uncaused, well may remain of our hope of unnecessary; Thus, at the time of our regiment (regementen), we neither knew nor sought anything better than to maintain peace and unity with each of our neighbors, nor do we (God knows) seek anything else than to protect ours in goodness out of decency, 10) in the right knowledge of God and good politics for the common good. In opposition to this, as if we were bound to each other by a Burgundian head 11) (which we do not know), by which the Papists might have something to enjoy, also 12) to recover, no honorable and Christian-loving man should (God willing) be able to impose or ascribe anything to E. A. W. with reason of truth. But what those who thus call us, seek and mean, than by this other lords and potentates, after from the East and the West, from all eternities, have come to us (praise God) as in a pleasing, open, free kingdom with due
8) Burkhardt: "the".
9) Burkhardt: "raises see, mucht".
10) Burkhardt: in gueten raus am anstandt.
11) Cf. no. 2793.
12) "also" put by us instead of: "still".
No. 3122.