In 1549, on the 21st of September, the highly esteemed senator Bernardo Navagero (who later became a cardinal) was elected bailo to Constantinople by the Venetian Republic. He departed from Venice on the last day of May 1550, together with Caterino Zeno, who was sent as extraordinary ambassador to Sultan Suleiman upon his return from the Persian expedition. Navagero’s term as bailo lasted thirty-nine months, from the day of his election to his return to his homeland, where, about two months after his arrival, in February of 1553, he read the present report to the senate.

This report, says Foscarini in Book IV of his Venetian Literature, is one of the most valuable Venetian reports ever written, known for the abundance and faithfulness of the information it contains; and from the earliest times it was held in the highest esteem by statesmen.

Bernardo Navagero was born in 1507; he was elected cardinal in 1560; bishop of Verona in 1562; he died in 1565.

Subheaders were added by me, for readability.

Report

I return, Most Serene Prince, from Sultan Suleiman, the son of Sultan Selim, a prince aged sixty-two years, who has reigned since 1520, who in body and face shows himself to be melancholic, yet has a great deal of grandeur about him. He is master of a great part of the world, and holds it under his empire; for he holds all of Asia Minor (now called Anatolia), and proceeding southward, the ancient kingdoms of the Armenians, the Assyrians, and the Medes, and Babylon, which they call Baghdad1. From there it extends to Mecca, the sepulcher of Muhammad, encompassing Desert Arabia, where there are certain nations of Arabs who live without a leader and more by plunder than by anything else, keeping their dwellings in tents, which they carry from place to place, wherever is most convenient for them. These people are of very sharp intellect, and those who serve in the armies become valiant captains. From Mecca, the empire of the Grand Signor2 extends towards Mocha on the shores of the Red Sea, which is a port of call for the ships that come from the Indies; and it embraces Yemen, bordering the Indian Sea—a kingdom, so it is said, very beautiful and large in Arabia Felix. On the opposite side, he has Egypt, and there Cairo and Alexandria, great cities of much commerce; then it extends as far as Algiers and Tripoli, which the Turks have recently taken3; on which side the Sultan of Constantinople borders with the Emperor4 and with the Sharif5, of whom, in due course, I will say what is worthy of Your Serenity’s attention.

In Europe, then, where he has his seat of Constantinople, the Grand Signor possesses all of Greece, the two Mysias (which they now call Serbia and Bulgaria), Albania, Bosnia as far as the river Sava, and so great a part of the kingdom of Hungary that he comes to border near Vienna, having Alba Regale (Stuch-Vessemburg) and Strigonia (Gran) in his power. On the shores of the Adriatic Sea and of Dalmatia, he borders on all the possessions of Your Serenity; and having Cilicia and Syria so little distant from the islands of Cyprus and Rhodes, and the Morea6 and his seat of Constantinople not very far from the island of Candia7, it can be said that from every side he holds a commanding position over our maritime state; and his borders extending, as has been said, not very far from Vienna, from which place there is a very easy and very open transit through Friuli8, one may fear having him at our back through that entrance as well.

All of this state, although it comprises so many kingdoms and provinces in Europe, in Asia, and in Africa, formerly the seats of many ancient and renowned kings, lords, and republics, they distinguish with two names only, that is, Rumelia and Anatolia, including under the first name all the states that the Grand Signor possesses in Europe, and under the second all those he possesses in Asia and in Africa.

Revenues & Expenses

What the Grand Signor extracts from the aforesaid countries is a difficult thing to know in truth, because many speak differently, and some say fifteen million in gold a year, others thirty thousand ducats9 a day, which makes nine hundred thousand a month, which at a yearly rate would be ten million eight hundred thousand ducats. But what I have gathered from the books of the caznà10 sums to nine million in gold, twenty-two thousand and five hundred ducats. And first:

The caraz, which is the tribute paid by the Christians who inhabit the lands of the Grand Signor, amounts now to more or less 1,500,000 ducats.

The duty on public letters granted by the Grand Signor—that is, patents, privileges, briefs, commandments, and other public writings—for which each person is assessed according to his condition: 100,000 ducats

Goods and properties of deceased persons who die without heirs: 300,000 ducats.

The people of the sanjak11 of Argos who do not pay caraz of one ducat per head like the other Christians, but one ducat per hearth, yield: 200,000 ducats.

Egypt and all of Arabia give one million and eight hundred thousand ducats, of which half remains there to pay the wages of the men-at-arms who are kept in those parts, and who are paid in money, (while to the rest of the men are given assignments of villages and of tithes); so that only half goes to the caznà, that is: 900,000 ducats.

Syria yields six hundred thousand ducats; half of which likewise remaining to pay the men who are stationed for the defense of those parts, thus remaining only: 300,000 ducats.

Mesopotamia yields two hundred thousand ducats a year, from which fifty thousand are deducted for the maintenance of the men, so that for the caznà there remain only: 150,000 ducats.

All the mines of gold, of silver, copper, lead, iron and steel, salts, rock alums, and every other sort of mine, it is written that they give a year: 1,500,000 ducats.

All the duties on commerce of every sort which exist throughout the entire dominion of the Turkish Lord, amount to the sum of more than: 1,200,000 ducats.

All the tithes of grains and fruits: 800,000 ducats.

The tribute of Moldavia: 160,000 ducats.

The tribute of Wallachia: 12,000 ducats

The tribute of Transylvania: 10,000 ducats

The tribute of Ragusa: 10,000 ducats

The tribute of Chios: 10,000 ducats

The tribute of Nicosia: 8,000 ducats

The tribute of the rest of the Archipelago: 6,000 ducats

Total ducats: 7,166,00012

Although these monies are brought to the caznà of the Grand Lord, they are not however fixed, nor certain to reach such a sum each year, because in one year they amount to more, and in another to less; and most of the time the amount is much less, especially in time of war, when duties and commerce largely fail. And so it is written, as I have said above, in the book of the Grand Lord. In which it is also written that, besides the assignments for his captains and soldiers, which sum to two and a half million in gold, another six million in gold per year goes from these monies that enter the caznà for the expenses of his troops, so that about one million in gold per year would remain in the caznà.

Officers

This Grand Signor has few fortresses in all his empire, and the greater part of them were built by the Christians.

He has, then, in this empire two beylerbeys, which means lord of lords, one in Rumelia which is in Europe, the other in Anatolia, which is in Asia; and under the one of Rumelia there are two lesser beylerbeys, those of Buda and of Temesvar, which is the gateway to Transylvania, and under the one of Anatolia there are fourteen others. It is then considered a greater dignity to be beylerbey of Greece than of Anatolia. Under these beylerbeys, of both Europe and Anatolia, are many sanjaks, and, from what I have been able to understand, in Europe there are enough of them to furnish forty thousand war horses, and in Asia, eighty thousand. The sanjaks have from twenty to forty thousand ducats a year of income, which is paid from the money from duties and the kharaj13, and they are obliged to maintain first an alaybey, who is the lieutenant of the sanjak, and then timariots or spahis, who, under the command of the alaybey, are together with him subject to the sanjak’s obedience. The alaybey has half the income of his sanjak, and the timariots at most forty thousand aspers14, and at least three or four thousand; although due to their tyranny the revenues from the tithes are estimated at an eighth or a sixth, as will be told when this subject is spoken of in particular. I say that since the tithes are estimated at much less than what they actually yield, they are worth up to double to them, and in many places more, especially to the sanjaks. The obligation of these men is that for every forty thousand aspers they are required, whenever needed, both in time of peace and of war, to present a man on horseback fit for action. The timariots then, up to eight thousand aspers, are not obligated to present anyone beyond their own person—and many even up to nine and ten thousand, according to the grace that is granted to them. These sanjaks, alaybeys, and timariots, to satisfy the obligation of the men they must lead into the service of the Grand Signor, raise slaves and make use of their labor.

The number of sanjaks, from what I have understood, is between sixty to seventy in Europe, who, all together, with their alaybeys and timariots, can furnish about forty thousand horse. In Asia they say there are truly one hundred and fifty sanjaks, besides the fourteen beylerbeys under the government of the first beylerbey of Anatolia, and they can raise in all, from what is said, from eighty to one hundred thousand horse.

The procedure of the sanjaks during the time they reside in their sanjaklik is this: that to relieve themselves of so much expense, they distribute all these men of theirs throughout the country, both in the places assigned to them for their provision, and in those of the alaybeys and timariots, with the rank of soubashi, or ministers of justice; who, besides collecting the tithes, also condemn the peasants for every small thing very cruelly, and they have introduced the practice that the village at which the soubashi arrives with his men is obliged to pay his expenses for three days, so that in this way too the sanjak derives a benefit. If it happens that the sanjaks must leave the country for some other occasion, they sometimes leave some men behind in their place, but for the most part they sell their rights and privileges to private individuals until their return; who, buying them, seek to profit in every way to the extreme detriment of the miserable subjects.

The Seraglios [Palaces]

But because besides these forces, which I have spoken of until now, the Grand Signor also has his household, which is obligated in time of war either to follow his majesty, if he goes in person, or to go where he commands. It is not out of place to say something of this as well.

I find that the seraglios of the Grand Signor are four in number. One in Adrianople, another, called the old seraglio, in Constantinople, the third in Pera, and the fourth where his majesty himself resides.

These four seraglios are filled every time war is made, either by sea or by land, with the children of Christians of every sort, such as Bulgarians, Hungarians, Transylvanians, Poles, Bohemians, Germans, Italians, Spaniards, a few French, many Albanians, Slavonians, Greeks, Circassians, Russians, and in sum of every sort of Christian, except for Armenians, whom, along with the Jews, the Turks cannot, according to a testament made by their prophet, hold as slaves. If the Grand Signor is in Adrianople, said slaves are sent to the seraglio of Adrianople, and if in Constantinople, he sends them either to the old seraglio of Constantinople, or to that of Pera, so that they may learn the language.

These, as soon as they arrive, are dressed from head to foot in inexpensive cloth, such as boraccini, cloths of Salonica15, and shirts and caps of cloths of Bursa, and they are clothed twice a year. As soon as they are clothed, they are given into the hands of some talisman, who teaches them to read and write, and makes them understand their law. These talismen have a pay of eight aspers a day; but after they have served four or five years, they are made kadi, and they continue to rise in rank according to their exercise in letters, until they can be made mufti, that is, head of all the Turks in matters of faith, which is a most honorable rank. The talismen are for the most part Turks from Anatolia and Karamania, and are obliged to come every day to the seraglios, where they stay continuously until evening teaching the boys, who, once the talismen have departed, are then in the custody of some Saracen16, and white, eunuchs, the aga of whom (that is, the chief) has a pay of twenty-five aspers a day, and the others from three to seven, and the highest they can rise to is to become a sanjak, but this is very rare.

The pages all have a pay of one asper, and every two years the kapi-aga17, who is placed over all these seraglios, comes to visit them all one by one, and seeing them bearded he takes them out, and gives them pay from ten to twelve aspers a day, and they are called spahi; and those who seem to him most beautiful of body and of manners, and who have made the most progress in their studies, or whom good fortune guides, he takes them out of the seraglios, and places them in his majesty’s own seraglio, in which there are about twenty white eunuchs for the custody of the said pages. But four of these eunuchs are greater than all the others. The first is the kapi-aga, who has a pay of one hundred fifty aspers a day, besides the perquisites he holds, which are more than three thousand; the other is called the caznadar-bascì, who has a pay of one hundred aspers a day, besides the perquisites which are two thousand; the third is called chiltergì-bascì, who has a pay of fifty aspers a day, besides the perquisites, which are one thousand; and the fourth semi-aga who has thirty aspers, and few perquisites. All the other eunuchs have from ten to fifteen aspers a day, in addition to their garments all of cloth of gold and of silk.

In the said seraglio there are five houses:

The first is called the small house, where the young pages from six to fourteen years of age stay, who apply themselves to writing Turkish, Arabic, and Persian, and to shooting the bow.

The second is called the great house, where the pages from fifteen years of age until manhood stay, and these perform the same exercises as the first. Those of these two houses have eight aspers of pay per day, in addition to their garments, which are made of cloths not of the first quality, with certain caps of cloth of gold from Bursa.

The third house is called chilèr, where the chilergì-bascì resides, which means great steward of the pantry, and with him are from three to four hundred pages, all dedicated to the pantry of the Grand Signor, who also learn to shoot the bow, wrestle, jump, and run.

The fourth house is called the caznà, where the caznadar-bascì resides, which means great treasurer. In this house there are from about sixty to seventy pages; and when it is necessary to draw something from the caznà, a caznadar, which means an employee of the treasury, goes, together with some of the said pages, who hold their hands in check, nor do they dare make any sign, nor speak one with another, until the said caznadar says: “You there, take such and such a thing:” and he is obeyed at once. Those of these two houses likewise have eight aspers of pay per day; but they differ in that they are dressed in satins, damasks, and cloths of gold from Bursa, with coifs on their heads to the value of one hundred to one hundred fifty sequins.18

The fifth house is that where his majesty stays, and in it are the pages who serve him, and it is called cas-sodà, which means the most perfect room. The pages are in number from twenty-five to thirty, of whom by day and night five or six stand on their feet without raising their heads, nor speaking, nor making any utterance, and they are relieved in turn; but when his majesty sleeps, he is guarded only by four of these pages dedicated to this service, two of whom stand guard from the first hour until midnight, and the other two from midnight until daybreak; and as soon as the Grand Signor has gone to sleep, they sit under two torches of white wax which burn all night, and if it is cold they find two sable furs, which would be enough for two large men, and they take some book, and with it they pass the sleeping hours until it is time to change the guard; this is not done because of any suspicion of enemies, nor of anything else, but only for the necessary things that men require, such as if his majesty should wish to rise to say his prayers, or other necessary things. These four pages are changed every night from among those thirty who are within, and have a pay of thirty aspers a day, and are in the custody of the odà-bascì, which means chief of the chamber of the Grand Signor, and they are dressed in the finest damasks, satins, and cloths of gold, with wrought belts valued at one hundred fifty and two hundred sequins each. Among these are three more favored pages, one of whom is called silictar, who carries the bow, the arrow, and the sword of the Grand Signor: the second is called scudradar, who carries with him a pair of changes of garments for the Grand Signor; the third scarabdar, who carries the masdrahà for the drink of the Grand-Signor. And these three always rise from rank to rank, and become sanjaks, agas of the janissaries, beylerbeys of the land and of the sea, and even First Pasha19, according to their conduct and their good fortune.

With these five houses, it is customary to do the same as is done for the other seraglios, that is, every two years, when the selection for the other seraglios is made, the bearded ones are also taken away from these, and the manner is thus: Those four aforementioned chief eunuchs come, and from these five houses they take out those who seem to them the most bearded, and set them aside. Of those who then remain, the most handsome, lettered, and well-mannered are taken from the first houses, the small and the great, and are placed in the other two, that is, of the pantry and of the treasury, and those who likewise seem to them worthy of going to the service of his majesty, they place in that seraglio, until they come of age to go out. After this selection, the kapi-aga goes and says: “Sire, the time has now come when your slaves, who pray to God for the life of Your Majesty, must leave the seraglio.” The Grand Signor says nolà, which means let it be done; and immediately all those bearded ones who are to leave arrange themselves as best they can to kiss the hand of His Majesty, who, before the door of his chamber, upon a small square where there is a very large and very rich carpet of silk and gold, seated upon a Turkish-style chair, with great majesty, with one hand on his side upon his dagger, and the other upon his thigh, orders that those bearded ones be called, who come one by one, greatly cheerful and reverent, and some kiss his robe, others his feet, without saying a single word. After the Grand Signor has seen them all, he greets them, and they, bowing their heads to their knees, make a sign of thanking God and his majesty for having left the seraglio in good health; and upon their departure, each one is given his rank and pay, and by the kapi-aga they are directed to those aga, or captains, under whose governance they are to be from then on; of which aga they likewise kiss the hand, and the aga instruct them in the way of living outside, and place them in the hands of the older ones, who, in the manner of godfathers, instruct them in all things.

Their pay is as follows: those who leave the first two houses receive from fifteen to twenty aspers in pay; those who are eighteen years old are silictari, that is, those who ride on the left side of the prince, and those who are older are spahi-oglani, who go on the right side, and also have from twenty-eight aspers. Those who come out of the other two houses often have up to forty aspers in pay, and receive the title of casnigir, of whom there are up to the number of forty-five to fifty, and it is a very honored rank because they bring the food to his majesty. Those who leave the house of the prince have a greater stipend, rank, and honor. Of those three, then, who carry the arms, the clothes, and the drinking vessel for the Grand Signor, only one leaves at a time, and he leaves either as emiraor-bascì, which means grand master of the stable, or capigi-basci, which means chief of the gatekeepers: and there are four of these capigi-basci, and it is a very honored rank, and they have pay of one hundred and fifty to two hundred aspers a day, and an income of thirty to forty thousand aspers a year, and they keep rising until they become pashas, and they say the greatly favored Ibrahim20 was one of these, as well as Rustem21, who enjoys greater greatness and favor with this prince than anyone has ever had.

The Janissaries

Besides these forces, which consist entirely of cavalry, the Grand Signor also has a corps, or to speak more accurately, a legion of foot soldiers, who are called Janissaries, which means “new soldiers.” In this corps of the Janissaries, one sees what discipline and training can accomplish; and because a great part of the Turk’s strength is reputed to consist in them, it should not be unpleasing to Your Serenity to understand in detail the method used in selecting them, the hardships they endure before reaching this rank, the authority they have acquired, the pay the prince gives them, their arms and their clothing, and above all, their unity.

I say, therefore, that whenever, either due to the death of Janissaries or for some other cause, it seems fitting to the Grand Signor, or he is reminded, to provide some number of men for this militia, a command is always sent out, with a chief of the Janissaries, who is also given a scribe for company. In the command are written the provinces and the hamlets from which the Janissaries are to be gathered, and the number wanted; and the captain departs from Constantinople carrying as many new garments as the number of men designated to be chosen as Janissaries, and goes to the farthest borders of those provinces given to him by the command: where, having arrived, he summons the protogiro (“first elder”) of that land and the nearest hamlets, who has the heads of household of all the Christians in those places come forth, and commands that they immediately present all their sons; and for fear of the penalties imposed upon transgressors, who are immediately executed, everyone presents all of them. The captain of the Janissaries, together with the scribe, then chooses from each family the one who seems to him of an age and disposition most suited for that service, desiring them to be between twelve and fifteen years of age, and seeking the least ugly, the strongest, and the most able to tolerate fatigue.

If a father should have four or five sons, they take but one at a time; but they do not, however, spare one who has only a single son. They dress them all in a livery of cloth long enough to reach the ground, with a long cap with a plume on top, and call them “azam-oglani”, otherwise little Janissaries. They do the same in Constantinople as they do in the farthest designated borders, and when they have finished and gathered the number that has been ordered by the command, they no longer trouble any other place, nor other lands or hamlets, and they come directly to Constantinople.

There, on the day they arrive, all these youths are placed in family homes, as many as can fit, where they stay that night, and in the morning they are all led to the house of the Aga of the Janissaries, who makes it known to the Grand Signor, and the latter commands that they be brought before him in the company of the said Aga. Of these, if any seems suitable to him, and pleases him, he has him placed in his seraglios, and the others return to the house of the Aga of the Janissaries, who delivers them to two others called agas of the unpaid azam-oglani, who have the care of distributing them and giving them into the service of the great masters as many as are requested, but with a written record of how many, to whom, and where they are given.

The rest are taken to Anatolia or to Greece, and the aga of the unpaid azam-oglani of Greece has the charge of taking them to Greece, and giving them to Turkish citizens, one or two per household, to make them learn the Turkish language, and plow the land, and do every other service that the citizen might need; and the other chief of the unpaid azam-oglani of Anatolia does the same. These chiefs receive as payment from the citizen to whom they deliver the azam-oglani twenty-five aspers per head, and some secret present, because the citizens make use of them as slaves, although they have not bought them.

The azam-oglani stay for a long time in both Greece and Anatolia, and after two or three years have passed, according to the need for services in Constantinople, those agas of the azam-oglani without pay are sent to Greece and Anatolia to fetch a certain number of those who seem to them to have acquired good knowledge of the language and to be ready for service. Having gathered that number, they return and bring them to Constantinople. And this time the azam-oglani come willingly, knowing they have escaped from serving those citizens and have been raised in rank and put on salary. Of these, some have served the peasant for two or three years, and some for four, five, or six, because it is at the discretion of the one who goes to gather them, in Greece as in Anatolia, to take or leave whomever he sees fit.

Once brought to Constantinople, these azam-oglani are again presented to the great Aga of the Janissaries, then delivered to another aga of the azam-oglani with pay; and this aga keeps them under discipline and has them serve in all the building works of the Grand Signor and of the great masters, carrying lime, timber, and all those things that are necessary for the buildings.

These azam-oglani have a daily pay of one asper, and with that they cover their living expenses; and they have this arrangement: that every twenty-five or thirty of them stay in a dormitory and appoint a cook from their company, and each of them, from his own pay, collecting twenty-five aspri each, makes a pool, and with that money they buy rice, butter, hulled wheat, wood, candles, enough to suffice for a month for their living, and from month to month they save five aspri each, and with those, at the end of three months, they buy shoes. Their clothing is given to them by the Grand Signor every year, made of coarse blue cloth from Thessaloniki, and linen for their shirts. Their cook does not contribute, because of the duty he has of cooking, cleaning their clothes and shoes, and washing their shirts. These twenty-five or thirty have in each room an overseer, named buluc-bascì, and this man is permitted to wear a white hat, and always with a stick in hand he goes in their company, and never strays from them, so that they do not disturb the people while walking; and said buluc-bascì*is a kind of guardian, and has a pay of two aspri per day. These azam-oglani*wear on their heads a yellow cap a palm and a half long, pointed at the top and open at the bottom just enough to fit on the head.

Some of these azam-oglani are also assigned to the service of the palanders22, to the ferries from Constantinople to Anatolia and other more distant places, to make them work hard and learn seamanship; some are also sent to the prince’s gardens to hoe and perform all the services of vegetable gardens, gardens, and vineyards, so that they are never idle, except on the day of bairam, which is the Easter of the Muslims.

Of these azam-oglani, there are eight hundred in the garden of the Grand Signor’s seraglio; and these have a pay of two aspri per day. These also cover their own living expenses. It is true that they often receive gifts from the Grand Signor, especially when he goes hunting, and these men row the brigantine of the Grand Signor, and see him face to face; who, when he goes hunting, takes with him all the azam-oglani of his gardens, and each garden has its chief, and the gardens are about twenty in number.

The azam-oglani of all the gardens number two thousand, and all these gardens have a chief over the other heads, called the bostangì-bascì, who is the helmsman of the Grand-Signor’s brigantine. His chamber is in the garden of the Grand-Signor’s seraglio, and whenever the latter wishes to leave his chamber and enter the garden, he sends for this bostangì-bascì, who immediately approaches a door that is near the prince’s chamber, and there his horse is made ready, and the bostangi helps him to mount and places himself before him, walking on foot through the garden, and speaks with him about everything that his majesty wishes to know.

This garden is very large and is three miles around, and in the middle are the chambers of the Grand Signor and of the Lady Sultana, whose chamber is separate; and to go from one to the other one must pass through a small walled garden of the Grand Signor, and then through another walled garden of the Sultana. This chief of all the gardens, the bostangi-bascì, holds a very great office, for he is continually with the Grand Signor, and is much courted and given gifts, even by the pashas, like a great prince, because in speaking with the Grand Signor, he can cast words in favor of one and in disfavor of another, being a person well-versed in the things that are continually done in Constantinople, of the justices and injustices, and of the reasons why they are done, and of the injuries that the people suffer at the hands of the great masters and administrators. This bostangì-bascì later becomes a beylerbei, and most of the time a beylerbei of the sea.

Returning now to the azam-oglani, I say that when one of the Janissaries of the white cap, of the number of the twelve thousand who are under the great Aga of the Janissaries, is missing, either through loss or also through the advancement into other offices that some may receive, to maintain the complete legion of twelve thousand, they take from these aforementioned azam-oglani, and put them in the place of those dead or removed, and to these they give a pay of, to some three aspers, to others four a day, which little by little increases up to eight. Among the azam-oglani, those who come from the aforementioned garden leave with a higher rank than those who work in the workshops or on the ships, and can aspire to greater offices.

The Janissaries wear certain skullcaps so tight that the head can barely fit inside, and very low, into the inner part of which they place a certain thing of wood more than a span long, covered with gilded and worked silver, and from the back part hangs a white felt almost three spans long and one wide, which lends them great grace, and makes them known in every part and place to be Janissaries, and causes everyone to hold them in the utmost respect. In that front part, some who have performed some distinguished deed place a plume, and I have seen many so large, of eagle feathers, that they cause wonder and laughter to those who see them in Constantinople and in other places; but this they do only in time of peace.

When they travel, they go with certain staves three arm’s lengths long and quite thin, nor do they ordinarily carry other weapons, except for many of them a rather long knife for cutting bread, with its sheath attached to the side, and for an ornament, they then tuck it into the sash that girds them. They all call each other brothers, and if one is offended, all consider themselves offended and help him. Most of them live together near their Aga in various small rooms, under the governance of other Janissaries, who are their chiefs, and who, being Janissaries themselves, have acquired this title of chief through some distinguished operation.

They do not carry weapons on their person, as I have said, in time of peace, nor do they have any defense other than that cap on their heads, described a little earlier, which is sufficient to ward off any great knife-blow. In war they carry various sorts of arms, and they march in disarray without any order, as I will describe in particular when we come to the manner of forming the armies of these people, and of their marching when the person of the prince is present.

Their cry is “Padiscia!”, which means “Emperor, our father!” to whom they are so naturally affectionate and devoted that they would lay down a thousand lives a day for his greatness.

These Janissaries, for any great sin they commit the first time, even if they should kill or murder a man, have no other punishment than to be cashiered from the Janissaries, so that the second time they commit some error they are severely punished, and most of the time they are secretly bastonaded in their chambers by their chiefs, so as not to cause them that public shame.

With these men the Grand Signor seeks to honor ambassadors or other distinguished persons when they come to the Porte, commanding that a greater number of them be assembled in proportion to the honor he wishes to bestow upon that person.

It is they who rush to put out the fires when they break out in Constantinople and in Pera, and they serve on every important occasion, such as being sent with an army when it is to be made large; in sum, they are esteemed the sinew of the Grand Signor and his security. There have sometimes been more of them, sometimes fewer, but ordinarily it is believed that they number twelve thousand, although at times there have been only eight to ten thousand; and they are more willingly kept at this number, seeing that they possess such authority that it would be in their power to change whatever they wished in this empire; besides which, they took for themselves whatever share of other men’s women and property pleased them, without much fear of being punished. Now, however, I am informed that fifteen thousand five hundred and sixty-one are recorded in the books.23

Whoever has designed, or now designs, to make himself Lord after the death of another, has attended and attends to nothing other than acquiring the favor of the Janissaries, which is won with liberality, and by giving the impression of being a man of war, eager to undertake great enterprises.

To this attends Mustafa, the first-born of the Grand Signor, who has acquired the favor not only of them, but of all the Mussulmans [Muslims] with those two qualities that I have mentioned: that is, with money, and by causing himself to be esteemed as a man able not only to equal, but to surpass the glory of his predecessors. Of this I reserve the right to speak more particularly when I shall tell of the sons of this Grand Signor, and of the opinion that is held as to who ought to succeed him.

The Janissaries are not accustomed to go on horseback, except to the place where they have their business, and then they dismount; and when going to war, or on any enterprise, they take the horses of all without any respect, and pay ten for what is worth a hundred, and everyone bears it patiently, and many receive beatings.

Their power is born of their unity and military discipline, because in every need they are always ready, and having passed through so many hardships, they are reputed to be the best troops that the Grand Signor possesses.

These, at the time of a sultan’s death, are so many devils unchained, going to the houses and to the places where they think they can most easily enrich themselves, because they know that in any case, not only will any great evil they do be forgiven them by the new Grand Signor, but also many favors they ask will be granted, because it is they who conduct him into their midst in the seraglio and hail him as emperor. And I understand that when the present sultan Suleiman, the only-begotten son of Sultan Selim, succeeded to so great an empire without any contest and by the common consent of all (which must be reputed, in my judgment, as one of the many felicities His Majesty has enjoyed, and no small grace to have been made so great a lord without the blood and life of his kinsmen24), they asked as a favor that, since they always go on foot, His Majesty be pleased to command that no giaour, that is, Christian, could ride a horse through Constantinople, or that the few His Majesty permitted might ride a mule, which was granted and is observed by almost everyone, save for public personages.

Marching Formation

Your Serenity has been able to see, from what I have said thus far, the greatness, breadth, and borders of the states of this Grand Lord; the men he ordinarily has in Anatolia (or Asia), and in Greece (or Rumelia); the beylerbei, the sanjak, and the number of horsemen he can raise; the net income he draws from his states; and the infantry he possesses. It now remains for you to hear of the manner which the Grand Lord employs in arranging his men in formation and in battle, when he goes in person, and of the matters of the sea, which is what most concerns Your Serenity.

When the Grand Lord wishes to undertake some enterprise, he always sends a command to his beylerbei and sanjaks that in such a place, at such a time, they be in readiness according to the enterprise he designs to make; and having received the command, all put themselves in readiness most swiftly, and they come to where the whole army is to assemble, which marches in this manner:

Before all others march some six hundred bombardiers, together with the artillery upon some small carts, because the Grand Lord does not bring very heavy artillery. Then comes an advance guard armed with arquebuses and halberds, led by four or five sanjaks, which is followed by the corps of the Janissaries, divided under its squad leaders called buluc-bascè and captains called taia-bascè. The squad leaders are paid nine aspers and the captains twenty-three, and the Janissaries from three to eight. This formation is not, as is the custom among Christians, with so many per file, but they go in disarray, some here, some there; but then, at the time of battle, each one knows his quarter and leader, and immediately finds his place there. These squad leaders and captains are on horseback: all the rest are on foot. The Aga then, or colonel-general of the Janissaries, who is obeyed in each and every thing, is paid fifty aspers a day, and three thousand aspers a year from a timar.

Following these are the two cadileschièr, that is, judges of the army, one for the people of Anatolia, the other for the people of Greece, of whom the Grand Lord, if he is to fight, first has it asked if what he does is against the law and against justice.

After these come two tefterdar, or treasurers, who write down all the things taken as booty on behalf of the Grand Seignior, and they guard them. They have an income of three or four thousand ducats a year each, besides the perquisites which are twice as much; and each one has one hundred very fine and well-armed slaves on horseback, with lance, sword, iron mace, coat of mail, and a Turkish-style round shield.

After these go the casnigir, who are, as I have said, those who bring the food to the Grand Signor. They are forty in number, and all are persons of great authority and honor.

After these come the solac with golden coifs on their heads, and certain large and honorable plumes, all on foot with their captains, of whom there are four; which solac have a pay of eight aspers a day, and the leaders thirty. In their midst stands the person of the Grand Seignior, and they, like footmen, stand around him armed with a scimitar, bow and arrows, and are perhaps two hundred in number.

Immediately behind the person of the Grand Signor follow the three pages mentioned above, who carry the arms, the vestments, and the drinking vessel for the same.

Then follows the capigiter-chietcudascì, which means lieutenant of the gatekeepers, behind whom are two capigi, that is, gatekeepers; and this lieutenant is charged, if on the journey some sanjak or other person wishes to kiss the hand of the Grand Seignior, with having him dismount from his horse and instructing him in the manner of making reverence.

Afterward comes the emiralem, which means chief of the standards of the Grand Signor. He has three hundred aspers a day. Behind him come six standards of various colors, nor are they ever seen except when the Grand Signor goes to war in person. These standards are carried by six non-noble persons, who can have up to ten aspers in pay.

On the right side of these standards is a red banner, before which is the aga of the spai-oglani, which means chief of the young horsemen, who usually number two thousand, but now if they reach five hundred it is a great deal. Their pay ranges from twenty-five aspers up to forty, and the colonel has one hundred and fifty. They all carry a red banner at the tip of their lance, and they all seek to appear on good and very well-armed horses, all of whom deploy in the manner of a wing.

On the left side of the aforementioned standards is a yellow banner, before which goes the aga of the silictari, who likewise has one hundred and fifty aspers a day, and each silictari from fifteen up to forty, all with a small yellow banner at the tip of the lance, and they number two thousand. They seek to appear as honorably as the spai-oglani, and they too deploy in the manner of a wing.

After these on the right side, once the line of the spai-oglani has ended, follows a green banner, before which is the aga of the ulufegi, which means chief of the salaried horsemen, and he has a pay of one hundred aspers a day, and the ulufegi number two thousand. Their pay is from ten up to thirty aspers, all with a green banner at the tip of the lance, very well armed on good horses, but not so well as those of the first two colonels. These also deploy in the manner of a wing.

Alongside these, on the left, follows a half-red and half-white banner, before which is the aga of the solbuluk-ulufecis, which means the captain of the left part of the salaried horsemen, who has a pay of one hundred aspers, and the pay of his men is likewise from ten to thirty aspers, and these too are upon good horses. Atop their lance each one carries a small half-red and half-white flag, and likewise they extend in the manner of a wing.

It is to be noted that these four colonels are all renegade Christians, having come out of His Majesty’s seraglios, or sons of other colonels, or having been Janissaries and advanced thus for the good service they have rendered.

After these on the right side, after the salaried horsemen, comes a white banner, and before this comes the aga of the ciarcagis, which means colonel of the poor young horsemen, who also have a pay of ten to thirty aspers, and their colonel one hundred; and they are likewise upon good horses, and atop their lances they have a small white flag, and likewise they extend into a wing.

Alongside these, on the left, follows a green and white banner, before which comes the aga of the solboluk-ciarcagis, or rather, the poor young horsemen of the left part, who has a pay of one hundred aspers, and said horsemen also have from ten to thirty aspers, well armed and well mounted, with atop their lance a small half-green and half-white flag, and they extend in the manner of a wing.

After these on the right side, following the poor young knights, comes the major pasha, called the Grand Vizier, with a two-colored banner, made according to his pleasure, with perhaps fifteen hundred of his slaves, all having at the tips of their lances a small banner of the same colors as the large one, all excellently mounted, excellently dressed and armed; and with said pasha is a lieutenant who commands these troops behind him. This major pasha has twenty-four thousand ducats a year, besides the perquisites, which are innumerable and perhaps exceed sixty thousand ducats. The lieutenant has sixty aspers a day, and perquisites that amount to as much again; and of the slaves, there are some who have a pay of three to ten aspers, and others an income of four to twenty thousand aspers a year, besides food and drink, and oats and hay for the horse.

After the poor knights of the left side comes the second pasha, also with a two-colored banner, as best pleases him, with perhaps a thousand slaves, all also having at the tips of their lances a small banner similar to the large one; and they are in excellent order and excellently mounted, and he likewise has a lieutenant. The said pasha has perhaps twenty thousand ducats of income a year, besides the perquisites, which it is no exaggeration to say may be another twenty thousand ducats; his lieutenant has forty aspers a day, besides perquisites that amount to as much again; and the others have from three to ten aspers a day, food and drink, and oats and hay for the horse, and in the same manner they are arranged in a wing.

After these on the right side, after the Grand Vizier, comes the third pasha, also with a two-colored banner as he pleases, with perhaps a thousand horsemen, all carrying at the tips of their lances a banner similar to the large one, upon most excellent horses and excellently armed; and this pasha has the same, that is, twenty thousand ducats a year, besides the perquisites which are as much again, and these men also, like those of the other pashas, have from three to ten aspers of pay, and some from four to twenty thousand aspers of income a year, besides food and drink, and oats and hay for the horse.

With these, on the left side, behind the second pasha, comes the fourth pasha also with a two-colored flag of his own design (and it should be known that these flags are indeed all of two colors, but they do not resemble one another), with the same number of a thousand horsemen, who all have at the tip of their lance a small flag similar to the large one, they too well armed and well mounted. This pasha also has an income of twenty thousand ducats, and the perquisites which are perhaps as much again; and these soldiers also, like those of the other pashas, have three to ten aspers a day, and some from four to twenty thousand a year in income, besides food and drink, oats and hay for the horses: and also to all these the pasha gives horses and arms, and clothes them once a year very well according to their rank.

And it is to be noted that in the army described thus far there are slaves very well mounted and well armed, who are guarding the baggage train with some captains; and there are perhaps three hundred fine horsemen called Muteferrica, who have no other leader than His Majesty, and they never go to war unless His Majesty goes; and these have for pay from twenty to two hundred aspers a day, and they are persons much esteemed and honored throughout the entire army.

After the aforementioned come the two beylerbeys, that is, the one of Anatolia and the one of Greece. If the army were to go into Anatolia, the beylerbey of Anatolia would march on the right-hand side, and that of Greece on the left, and vice versa. The beylerbey of Greece has with him eight sanjaks who can lead some forty thousand men, all brave, well-mounted, and well-armed, who cannot wait to fight. The said beylerbey has an income of fourteen thousand ducats a year, and the rest of the men from three to eight thousand, and these likewise extend themselves in the manner of a wing. The beylerbey of Anatolia comes with perhaps ten sanjaks, and sixty thousand men on horseback, but they are not as good as those of Greece. This beylerbey has an income of twenty thousand ducats a year, and those sanjaks from four to eight thousand ducats, and these similarly have their large banners and extend in a wing. Each of the beylerbeys then has about fifty çavuş, or sergeants, who on every occasion go running at full gallop to inform His Majesty, and to hear what he commands: and if there is to be a battle, the first are the two beylerbeys, although in marching we have seen the Janissaries to be first.

Strategic Analysis

From what I have said thus far, Your Serenity can see that, besides the states and the income that this Grand Signor has, he also ordinarily has on his payroll, in time of peace as well as war, in Anatolia, that is, in Asia, one hundred thousand horse, and in Rumelia, that is, in Europe, from fifty to sixty thousand, besides his Porte which amounts to almost another twenty thousand horse, in addition to the adventurers who follow the camp, and the aid of the Tatars, Wallachians, and his other confederates. And if among so many men on horseback he has only one band of twelve thousand Janissaries on foot, it can be understood from this that his land forces must be more fearsome in open places and in the countryside than in sites where there are narrow passes to cross and fortresses to be stormed, and where there are many rivers.

It is also understood that far from home, having to lead so many horsemen, if the enemies were to burn the provisions, without any other encounter with them, the army would ruin itself. Another conclusion can also be drawn; that having no disciplined order either in cavalry or infantry, whenever he had to fight a battle with disciplined people, such as the Germans, the Spanish and almost all the Italians, an honorable victory could be hoped for; because it is clearly seen in ancient and modern histories, that whoever has trusted too much in the number and quantity of armies, and not in the quality, has always come to a bad end. And if he who has more money, more state, and more people, were always to be greater than the others, one would never have seen so many changes in the world as have been seen, since in every age there has always been found some prince, or king greater than all the others, who was then extinguished by others of much lesser strength, but of greater unity; and the examples are so many and so clear, that I will not weary your serenity by recounting them, and I will content myself with this sole one of the Ottoman house, which in the space of two hundred, or a little more, years, from the head of a faction, with the valor of its people, has now become master of almost two parts of the world.

These soldiers esteem the greatness of the Grand Signor as their own; and although the greater part are renegade Christians, they nevertheless profess to be greater enemies of the Christians than the others, and they all have the firmest opinion that by fighting a Christian and dying they go straight to paradise. It remains, however, that the Christians are greatly feared, and in their prayers that they make, both day and night, their ulema always pray to God with infinite humility and devotion that the Christians may never be victorious, to which all who are present respond with the same humility and devotion “amin, amin,” which means “so be it, so be it.”

To pay one’s people the same both in time of peace and of war would perhaps be an error, seeing that men, not having a greater stipend in time of war, would reluctantly accommodate themselves to the dangers and hardships, and to the expenses that war brings with it, if it were not for two hopes: the one of enriching oneself with the spoils of the enemy, the other of acquiring a more honored rank, always with virtue and through some distinguished operation that they perform in time of war. Because truly, Most Serene Prince, there is nothing that more inflames the spirits of all to do well, than the hope of being recognized and remunerated; and in all states where this has had place and force, marvelous proofs have been continually seen.

Maritime Forces

Having dispatched with these matters of the land forces, I will now speak briefly of those of the sea.

The arsenal of the Grand Signor, speaking of the main one, is found opposite Constantinople on the side of Pera, in a very convenient and appropriate place both for the land side and for that of the water, being in the extreme part of the great canal, where there is good depth. It has one hundred and thirteen vaults, and more could be made if one wished.

It has an abundance of large timbers, and is supplied without much difficulty from various parts and places, especially from Anatolia through the mouth of the Black Sea. They also have iron in quantity. They used to draw it from a place inland in Greece, but this was most inconvenient due to the distance: now they are supplied from Anatolia, which has perfect mines of pure copper and of steel, and they transport it conveniently through the mouth of the Black Sea. The gunpowder they make near the Seven Towers25, not far from Constantinople, and they have convenient mills, and forced craftsmen who make it. Thus for sails they are easily supplied by the flax they have in upper Greece towards the Black Sea, where, the place being humid, certain sorts of flax grow from which they make coarse cloths in abundance, and they are not without much hemp from our lands.

At present there is no other master shipbuilder except one who is quite good, of the Greek nation, born in Rhodes, named Michele Benetto. They might have three or four who would know how to design a galley, but all depend on this chief and esteem him greatly, and they have a salary of fifteen aspers per day. There are no other salaried masters, but there are others who do the heavy work on the timbers of the arsenal, both with ironwork and other things, and they may number three hundred.

Truly, when the fleet is being armed, by command they have people come from Gallipoli, Mytilene, Chios, Rhodes, and other diverse places to work, and of these, by using force, they obtain a great number; and while they work they are paid from eight to twelve aspers a day, and they are all Greeks, excepting some slaves, who for the benefit of their masters on the galleys take care of all necessary things.

As for the crews, for two or three months before the departure of the fleet, ciaus are sent with commands to the sanjaks and other ministers in the provinces, and each one, according to the levy they impose, is obligated to bring a certain number of men, or failing that, to give one thousand aspers per head; but they have difficulty in finding good ones. Many value the force of slaves accustomed to the chain, and also the adventurers they call marauoli, most of them from the Greek islands and Candia, accustomed to service on ships and galleys.

There is also Topàna26 where they cast the artillery, and where they have many pieces, but for the most part taken in various campaigns, and they have various masters of every nation who are forced to work.

Per galley there are from one hundred and eighty to two hundred men, when they do not put a greater number of Janissaries on board, and about one hundred and fifty oarsmen, and from thirty to forty ghimigi27, and about twenty bombardiers, who are always paid by the master, called the reis.

On a galley they have a fifty-pounder piece of artillery at the prow, and four smerigli, or muskets. The large piece has fifty balls; the other four, twenty balls each, depending on the campaign. They then bring along other vessels with munitions, powder, bows, arrows, and many other arms.

These reis used to number three hundred in total; this number was replenished upon a death, and was never lacking. But it seems to me that now, to reduce expenses, they do not wish for them to be replaced. They now have about one hundred and fifty, but only a hundred of them are good, for they are old. They are both replaced and approved as the captain of the artillery wishes, for he is the absolute master when at sea, and all depend on him. It is their custom, upon exiting the Castles28, that the general reads a command from the Grand Signor indicating where his course should lead, and the manner in which he is to fight and attack, having no certain knowledge of this beforehand.

In the first assault, these Muslims have a frightening cry, and they perform acts of great valor, saying that everything is predestined, and that they can walk among a thousand deaths, for if it is not their day, they will never be put to death.

A notable seaman at present is Dragut, who, having been a corsair, must certainly have some knowledge of seamanship. They also have the Sanjak of Algiers29, who also has some experience, and a renegade Genoese comito, called il Pezzuin, whom they greatly esteem. Also greatly esteemed by them is Piri reis, who was a corsair, and is in command of the guard at Alexandria.

It is their custom, once the fleet has departed, to prepare other new galleys for whatever need might arise, sometimes more, sometimes less. But one sees what the Grand Signor can do from what has happened in these past two years, for though he wished to make a show of force with his fleet, he has not been able to assemble in total but about a hundred vessels; and although diligence was used to set out in good time, and the Captain of the Sea, with the favor of his magnificent brother30, and by his own nature, was obeyed as the very person of the Grand Signor, and would have liked to set out as captain of a much larger and earlier fleet, yet he could not assemble a greater number than what I have said, nor set out any earlier: and it is certain that great things require strength and much time, and although the Turkish Lord is as powerful as I have said, he too has great difficulties.

The Captain of the Sea which the Grand Signor now has, has little experience in naval matters, because he has never had either command nor any practice in this service; he is however obeyed and esteemed more than any other captain would be, given whose brother he is [the Grand Vizier’s], nor does he suggest anything that is not executed, and he wishes to be recognized by all as the head. He is not very courteous and is little reserved in his speech, choleric, and to put it better, furious, so much so that there is no man, however much a friend he may be, who can speak to him in his first outbursts. He believes easily, and as he gives his word, he wants it to be so, and he can with difficulty be moved from it. He is avaricious like all the other Turks, whence it comes that by the subashis of Pera and by his ministers new troubles are raised every day, and new vexations imposed on all the inhabitants of Pera, which are then settled with money and with gifts.31 There is no Mussulman so vile, nor so abject, that is not in the right before him against Christians, and he says that a Mussulman would never say a thing that was not so; so that to negotiate with him requires great prudence and fortune.

He has always shown ill will towards the affairs of Your Serenity, and since Dragut has entered the service of the Grand Signor, this ill disposition of his has grown even greater; so that if the Turkish fleet was always to be feared, it is much more so now that it is in the hands of such ill-disposed souls, some of whom, like Dragut, have been personally offended32; nor could one ever be so in the right that it would have any force or standing with them. The Pasha his brother loves him extremely, and favors him beyond measure, nor can he bear to hear him spoken of ill; from which it follows that he does whatever comes into his head without any fear, and everyone keeps quiet, even when receiving great injuries, for it seems to them that whatever property or other thing they are left with is a gift.

He is a man of about forty years, as far as one can tell, tall and stout, with a dark complexion and a great vivacity in his eyes, and most diligent in the dispatch of his business. The galley slaves were quite content with him last year, as he insisted that they be well treated by their reis, and that they should lack for nothing for want of money.

Sultan Suleiman

But because in the preservation of empires it is not only necessary to have a multitude and variety of countries, and to have much money and many forces, both of land and of sea (for, as has been said, if that was enough, an empire who was once great would have continued its greatness), but good governments and counsels are necessary, and particularly the quality of the person of the prince, to which others then seek to accommodate themselves, and from which springs the love or hatred that his subjects have for him, therefore it cannot but be well that Your Serenity also be informed of the customs and character of this Grand Signor. Although he has already reigned for thirty-two years, so that from his actions one could form a judgment of him without any other report, and furthermore, there have been to His Majesty at different times so many bailios and ambassadors from this Most Illustrious Dominion [Venice], who in their prudent and detailed reports have instructed this Most Illustrious Senate from time to time; yet because years change the thoughts of princes, as do many other circumstances, such as finding oneself with grown sons, and having men for counselors of different natures, as he has had in the past, I believe it will not be unwelcome to Your Serenity to hear of his present condition, and the disposition of His Majesty’s mind, so far as can be conjectured, towards all Christian princes, and principally towards Your Serenity, not failing also to mention those among the infidels whom he seems to esteem, and who could greatly impede or delay his designs.

Sultan Suleiman, the present emperor of the Orient, is a man, to begin with this, of about sixty-two years of age, tall of person, exceeding the median stature, lean, of a dark complexion, and has in his face a wondrous greatness together with a gentleness that makes him amiable to all who see him.

He is very sober in his eating, rarely eating and little meat, and that of a kid goat that has red skin. Nor does he drink wine as it is rumored he did in the time of [the Grand Vizier] Ibrahim33, but very delicate waters, altered according to the seasons, always with respect to his infirmities, which are said to be two: one is gout, the other a disposition to dropsy, and from this it comes that he never stays still for long: because when he is in Constantinople, very often, indeed almost every day, he goes in his brigantines to various places, and the gardens of Anatolia, hunting and taking great exercise. For this reason also he greatly enjoys his winter stay in Adrianople, because he has a seraglio so situated that, upon leaving the gate, he is immediately in the hunting grounds and places of amusement; which delights him so much that he does it almost every day.

And to come to the parts that matter most, which are those of the mind, he has the reputation of being very just, so that when he is well informed he does wrong to no one. He is an observer of his faith and law as much as any other who has been of his house, in which they say he has studied and wished to understand particularly the principle of not breaking his word and his faith; nor can greater praise be said than this. He is a man who, through the continual practice he has had for the many years he has been in the empire, understands all things very well, and most of the time resolves on the best course. He has by his nature always been more inclined to peace than to war, and at present more than ever for being old and for having four now-grown sons, and for other reasons which, God willing, will allow him to enjoy the rest of the time he will live, while war could cause him many strange events.

From this it has come that, against the custom of his predecessors, he has left himself almost always in the hands of a counselor, such as Ibrahim was, and then Ayas, and then Suleiman — dismissed with art by Rustan, as will be told in its place — and lastly Rustan, who now finds himself in such greatness, and so established, that it can be said that he is the lord of the entire empire. I say his greatness is established, because never was a pasha found who had a daughter of the sultan for a wife, with her living mother nearby, who holds the reins of the Grand Signor’s will.34 Moreover, the pasha has become such a master of the Grand Signor’s nature that he knows very well, as soon as he has spoken to him of a matter, whether it pleases him or not, and he adapts to the situation, conducting all his designs by that path which he knows to be opportune. But of the pasha’s condition and the ways he maintains it, we shall speak a little more particularly when we speak of his person.

This Grand Signor has had two very dear women: one a Circassian, the mother of Mustafa his first-born; the other [Roxelana], whom, against the custom of his predecessors, he has married and keeps as his wife35, of the Russian nation, so loved by his majesty, that there was never in the Ottoman house any woman who had greater authority. It is said that she is pleasant, modest, and that she knows the nature of the Grand Signor very well; and the way in which she entered into his majesty’s favor I have understood to have been this: The Circassian, naturally proud and beautiful, and who already had a son, Mustafa, had heard that this other one had been enjoyed by the Grand Signor, whereupon she addressed her with many insulting words; and from words coming to deeds, she scratched her whole face and tore her hair, saying to her: “Traitoress, sold flesh, do you wish to compete with me?” It happened that a few days later the Grand Signor sent for this Russian to take his pleasure with her; she did not let this opportunity slip, and courageously said to that aga of the eunuchs, who had come to fetch her, that she was not worthy of coming into the presence of the Grand Signor, because being sold flesh, and having her face all ruined and almost without hair, she knew she would offend the greatness of so great a Lord by coming before him. These words, when reported to his majesty, induced in him a greater desire to have her come to him, and again he commanded that she should come. He wished to understand why she had not come, and why she had sent him those words. The woman narrated to him what had happened with Mustafa’s mother, accompanying her words with tears, and showing the Grand Signor her still-scratched face and many of her torn-out hairs; because of which the Grand Signor, angered, sent for the Circassian, and asked if what the other had said was true. She replied that yes, and that she had done less to her than she deserved; she, having once been in His Majesty’s service, believed that all the women ought to yield to her and recognize her as their mistress. These words, having so much more inflamed the Grand Signor, were the cause of him no longer wanted her, and he gave himself entirely to the love of this other, with whom he has had four male children — of whom one is dead, and the other three live — as well as one daughter, who is the wife of Rustan.

The first son that Sultan Suleiman had with this one was Sultan Mehmed who died. He was most pleasing to his father, and in the grace of all others who knew him, for having been very humane and liberal. The Grand Signor and his mother wished to honor him with a most beautiful and sumptuous mosque.36

The second is Sultan Selim, who lives five or six days’ journey from Constantinople. He has an income of three thousand somme of aspers, which is sixty thousand ducats a year. He professes to be just and good, but often becomes cruel. Under this pretext, he is reputed to be avaricious and a man given to debauchery, and that wine often makes him lose his senses.

The third son is named Sultan Bayezid, who has his seat in Karamania, five days’ journey from Constantinople, and has the same income as the other of three thousand summe of aspers, and is inclined to peace, nor is he a man of arms; and although he was born of the same womb as Sultan Selim, they nevertheless do not love each other much, and it is said that this Sultan Bayezid rather favors the greatness of Sultan Mustafa. This place of Karamania, where Sultan Bayezid resides, used to be the place and seat of the beylerbey of Anatolia; but through the work of his mother, to keep her sons closer to Constantinople for various reasons, it was given to Bayezid, and the beylerbey was assigned to Angora, from eight to ten days’ journey from Constantinople.

The last son born of this woman is named Sultan Cihangir. He is a little hunchback, but of a quick and lively intelligence. He is still in the seraglio with his father, although he is now of an age to leave it, and they say he is Suleiman’s principal solace, and this is a certain thing, because he always takes him with him to the hunt and on the brigantines everywhere he goes, and many times on certain occasions prompts him to say: “God give you long life, O Lord, but I am not yet without hope of become Grand Signor; and should this not happen, whoever the Lord may be, it will not displease me, because he will have nothing to fear from me.” And his father one day, sighing, said to him: “Son, Sultan Mustafa will be Grand Signor, and he will take the lives of all the rest of you.”

This Sultan Mustafa is the firstborn of all, born of the Circassian mother. He has his seat in Amasya, about twenty-six days’ journey from Constantinople, on the frontiers of the Persians. He has an income of four thousand summe of aspers, which is eighty thousand ducats a year. He has his mother with him, who uses all her diligence to guard his life from poisons, and reminds him every day that he has nothing else to guard against, and it is said that he holds her in infinite respect and reverence.

It could not be said how much he is loved and desired by all to be the successor to the empire. The Janissaries want him, and they let this be understood openly; nor is there a Turk or slave of the Grand Signor who does not have the same opinion and desire; for, besides being the firstborn, by which right it seems the empire should come to him, the fame he has for being valiant, liberal, and just makes everyone long for him.

No Janissary, nor other slave of the Grand Signor, passes through his country to whom he does not give a gift, and whom he does not treat with such kindness that he departs most content and satisfied; and thus he has been acquiring the great name that he has, and in all their needs the Janissaries have a place to turn, and from his government no appeals ever come to the Porte.

He often sends his father gifts of the most beautiful horses, and also holds in reserve for his father some thousands of ducats, which does not displease him.

One thing has been admirable in him so far: that with so much favor as he knows he has, it has never been suspected that he has attempted any novelty against his father, and while the brothers of the other mother are so near to Constantinople, and one even in the seraglio, he nevertheless remains quiet.

As I have said, it is the universal opinion that Sultan Mustafa should succeed to the empire. But there could, however, be various accidents of fortune that would make it fall upon Sultan Selim (for the other two are held in little consideration), and all the designs of Selim’s mother, who is so dear to the Grand Signor, and those of Rustan, who has so much authority, aim at nothing other than this end: to make, in case of death, Selim his brother-in-law the heir. Hence it is that the pasha seeks to place in important offices all persons who depend on him, such as the sanjaks, the Aga of the Janissaries, and the Captain of the Sea (who is his brother), whom he will have continue in this office for this reason — or, removing him, will put a person in his confidence there, because to prohibit Sultan Mustafa from the succession of the state, there is no surer way than to be able to block his passage with a fleet.

It is true that the proximity of Sultan Selim, and the favor of his mother should she survive, and of the pasha, master of the treasury and of the Grand Signor’s money, could in a sudden accident of death have Sultan Selim placed on the throne, and with money, with which all things are done, erase from the minds of those people the affection they have for Sultan Mustafa, and in this way preserve themselves; but the latter would not then cease with his own forces and with the help of others to recover what had been unjustly taken from him. But whoever may be the successor, everyone fears — and many, including the Turks themselves, say — that this inheritance will not be settled without difficulty and blood, and they fear that this may be the beginning of their ruin. Concerning this, it is a difficult thing to judge the inclination of the father’s mind, because although they are all his sons, he nevertheless has the Sultana continually with him, who seeks to put her own sons in his favor, and Mustafa in disgrace; but yet it is known that at the name of Mustafa he cannot help but be moved, and he likewise, even if he desired otherwise, has said that Mustafa will be Grand Signor.37

For these reasons, Sultan Suleiman, and because of his age, and for having accomplished so many deeds that he seems to himself a worthy successor to the virtues of his ancestors — having acquired Rhodes and Belgrade, driven the unfortunate king of Hungary from his kingdom and deprived him of his life, and having gained many places on the borders of Persia — it is judged, not without good reason, that his mind is set on peace. To this is added the fact that the pasha’s mind is the same, for he is inclined to quiet, and not without reason; because with peace he is sure to always maintain the same reputation he has at present, and to enjoy the greatness of that entire empire, as he does, and also because, planning for his brother-in-law’s succession to the empire, if the occasion were to arise while he and the Grand Signor were in the field, all his efforts would be in vain: and it was clearly seen that in this last war in Transylvania with the most serene King of the Romans38, the Grand Signor showed on several occasions that he regretted that matters had gone so far. In short, it is believed, as I say, and reasonably so, that this Grand Signor will henceforth abhor war, and that he will not wage it unless forced, neither by his own hand, nor in his own person, but by the hand of others, as he did this year when, having announced his intention to go to Hungary in person, he then resolved to send Achmet Pasha.

Attitude towards the Christian Rulers

But because it is not enough to have said of the Grand Signor’s mind in general that it is inclined to peace, I will also speak, although it is a difficult thing to know the secrets of princes, of the disposition of his mind towards the Christian princes, of whom there are five whom he holds in greater consideration: that is, the Emperor, the King of France, the King of the Romans, the King of Poland, and Your Serenity; for he makes little account of the Supreme Pontiff and of Germany, and the Turks say that the Germans are good for nothing, and that they have always been routed by them.

In truth, Sultan Suleiman bears an extreme hatred for Charles V, as it seems to him that he alone can stand in the way of his greatness, having seen how many important victories he has won, and having been told that in addition to the forces he possesses, he is very wise in counsel and courageous in his undertakings, and that he continually maintains a fleet of sixty galleys in his pay, and can build a much larger number of vessels. So that he hates the Emperor not only as a Muslim and an observer of his law, which implies a natural enmity towards Christians, but even more so because no other prince is more esteemed and feared by him than the Emperor himself; for this reason, when the first opportunity to make a five-year truce presented itself, he accepted it gladly, and was extremely pleased that the Emperor deigned to send him an ambassador.39 Thus, as long as Sultan Suleiman can avoid any occasion for going to war with him while he lives, he will do so.

As for the King of France, the Grand Signor will always hold him in esteem, as he is a great king and a natural enemy of the Emperor, and since his states border the Emperor’s on all sides, he can, should the need arise, create a diversion and hinder his plans; a fact which his ministers do not fail to have mentioned often at the Porte, and which on every occasion they make clear to the pashas.

Of the present King of France [Henry II] however, they used to hold a poor opinion, seeing that he did not write to his ambassador, and it already seemed that the friendship they had maintained with King Francis was diminishing. Then, on the occasion of the differences that arose between the Most Serene King of the Romans and the Grand Signor over the cause of Transylvania, King Henry entered more than ever into Suleiman’s favor by making a league with his confederates in Germany and planning to make war on the Emperor. By saying he was doing this principally for the sake of this Grand Signor, so that the Emperor, being occupied, could not aid Transylvania or turn his forces to those parts, he has come into greater favor with His Majesty than his father ever was; and there is nothing so great that could not be obtained through the French.

The French set their armada in motion this last time and, joining it with that of the Grand Signor, attempted this enterprise of which Your Serenity knows.40 Last year it was also brought out with great promises from France, which, however, resulted only in the Turks gaining Tripoli.41 Yet for all that the French provide the armada, and the Turks maintain relations with them, the latter do not trust them completely, for they say that they are Christians, and that the common bond of a single law and a single faith is a powerful force.

They hold the most serene King of the Romans [Ferdinand I] to be a lord of little virtue in arms, and not very fortunate, so that from the defeats they have inflicted upon him they do not esteem him much, and the respect they have for him is solely due to the greatness of his brother [Charles V], whom they repute to be one and the same as him.

They hold in higher opinion the King of Bohemia, his son42, and are advised that he is much loved by the Germans and the Hungarians, and that he is the son-in-law of the emperor43, and they fear that he may have better fortune against them than his father has had.

Your Serenity and this Most Illustrious Dominion used to be in much greater credit and repute than they are at present at the Ottoman Porte, because the Turks, seeing an empire as great as that of Charles V, armed by land and by sea, and with a continuous course of so many victories, greatly feared that, adding to those the sea forces of this Most Illustrious Dominion, they could do them some harm. But they became clear on this matter in the last war; and every day there is no lack of people who constantly affirm to the Porte that they can do what they wish with this Most Illustrious Republic, because she tolerates every injury, however grave, rather than go to war another time; and that, being merchants, we cannot live without them; and that even if there were nothing else, the continuous need for grain is enough to allow them to do whatever they wish with this state. So that although the loss of the city, of people, and of money in the last war was great, I nonetheless consider this loss of reputation to be much greater. Which, although many, by every means, seek to take away entirely, yet they cannot do so much that the forces Your Serenity has at sea do not preserve a part of it; because besides those that are in this dominion, they are of the opinion that it is in Your Serenity’s power, in any time of need, to join them with those of the Emperor; which, speaking with the reverence that I owe to you, it is well that they believe. And in truth, although the magnificent Rustan has always heard me and spoken humanely, yet at the time when their armadas have been out, the favors he has done me have been extraordinary; and also the continuous traffic that is carried on in the lands of the Grand Signor by the galleasses and ships of Your Serenity, for the profit that the treasury and private individuals derive from it, cause her to be held in some respect, although as far as reputation is concerned, I do not know if more good or ill comes from this; and all the more so if it is true what these gentlemen merchants tell me, that for some time now capital has been lost rather than gained.

To hold back and not undertake voyages for some time would be nothing if not opportune; and would it please the goodness of God that these, our own lands, could provide sustenance and succor the needs of this city and our other territories, as it would be a matter of the greatest reputation for this our Most Illustrious Dominion not to request grains, nor to send ships to carry them away. And I promise Your Serenity, that if for only two years we could do without, we would have them afterwards just the same, and the Turks themselves would beg that they be taken, and they would not have the opinion that has been impressed upon their minds, that we cannot do without them. Besides, however fertile and abundant a harvest they may have, and however great a quantity of grain they may find themselves with, whenever a request is made of them, they wish to sell it as they please. And the magnificent Rustan on this occasion, under the pretext of not wishing other grains than his own to be sold, has them bought secretly for a very low price, and has them sold at excessive prices; and although they often boast of not wanting to trade with the giaours [Christians], as it is against their faith, yet so great is their avarice that they cannot wait to do it. And therefore, whenever the occasion should arise for this Most Illustrious State to need grain, one must not doubt being able to obtain it with money, but with greater or lesser advantage according to the manner and insistence of the request.

And so that Your Serenity may live in peace with the Grand Signor, should you desire to continue it, I reverently remind you that, not being his equal in strength nor able to prevail by the sword, you should seek to continue this peace with gold and with presents — which is a most certain path — while also increasing daily both the naval forces and that suspicion they have that Your Serenity desires peace with the Emperor; nor should you distrust him; since the pasha in his many discourses with me, as I have written from time to time, has never sought anything other than to make His Imperial Majesty odious to us. Considering which, I have always made the effort to say that Your Serenity has for many years been at peace with him, and wishes to continue in it; but that nevertheless no friendship, of whatever kind, would alter Your Serenity from continuing in the peace with the Grand Signor.

Attitude towards other Muslim Rulers

There are also among the Mohammedan princes two whom the Grand Signor greatly esteems: one is the Sofi [Safavid Shah], who is little less than adored by all his people, and whatever enterprises this Grand Signor has attempted against him have never succeeded in the way he wished. And I find that there are two reasons for which this Grand Signor and all the Ottomans will never have a greater enemy, and whose ruin they desire more than that of the Sofi and all his descendants. The one reason is that the Ottomans cannot yet forget that Tamerlane, from whom they say the lords of Persia descend, defeated Bayezid I, took him, and carried him away shut in an iron cage, keeping him for a triumph under his table when he ate, like a dog, and mounting upon the cage whenever he wished to mount his horse.44 The other cause of hatred is an important difference in their religion; for although they all believe in Mohammed, there is this difference between them: that Mohammed, having had four disciples — namely Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman, and Ali who was his son-in-law — the Turks hold all four to be of the same authority, but the Persians, taking no account of the first three, esteem only Ali, son-in-law of Mohammed their prophet.45 For this reason the Turks hold these Chizil-bas46 to be heretics and outside the true path; and lastly I have heard from a good source, that the Grand Signor has had an opinion issued by his Mufti, who is like their Pope, by which all Turks are given to believe that in killing a Persian they will have the same merit as if they killed a Christian, and that it is just as permissible to plunder the property of the former as that of the latter. But despite all this, in Anatolia the greater part of the Turks is inclined to the Sofi, because they see and hear how well his subjects are treated by him; for in truth, the affection all his people have for him is an incredible thing, and it is said that at the mere name of their lord, there is no man who would not gladly go to his death.

This Sofi is therefore greatly esteemed and feared, as I say, because from his borders he could on any occasion send his people as far as Scutari, a place in Anatolia opposite the Seraglio.

The Sharif [chief of the tribes of the Moors of Barbary] is also held in consideration by this Grand Signor, and by his men, because they see him becoming very great, having a volunteer army that follows him, and hearing that many important Moorish lords have joined with him; and at the Porte it was said that he had come as far as Tlemcen, which is the capital of the kingdom of Barbary, and even to a castle a fifteen-day journey from Algiers. He is a man of about eighty years, most liberal, from what is said, humane, and very grateful to his soldiers, and he greatly rewards those whom he sees perform some signal feat. He likewise dresses without pomp, nor is he given to any sort of luxury, but takes pleasure in seeing his soldiers well-dressed, and every day he lets them know that the duty of a good soldier is either to live worthily or to die.

He keeps for his guard fifteen thousand Moors in the likeness of the Janissaries, and, from what is said, of no lesser valor. These men, as I am informed by one who understands these matters, stay in the camp to kill all those who might flee from the battle; from which it arises that everyone would rather fight to the death against the enemy than flee, because in any case he knows he must die by the hand of his own men.

They had great fear of this Sharif the first year the fleet set out, fearing that, after taking Tripoli or even leaving it behind, he could come as far as Alexandria and Cairo, turning all of Africa upside down; and therefore it was said last year that the fleet was being assembled to relieve those parts, they being in need of it.

The Sultan’s Court

The Grand Signor ordinarily has four councilors who are called pashas, men of great authority with him, who advise on all matters of state, and make reports of them to the Grand Signor, and are called viziers, that is, councilors. These men, in the time of the other Ottoman lords, used to first counsel on matters together, with each one freely giving his opinion; and although the Grand Vizier has always had the charge of proposing, yet the others also often gave their opinion, and hence it was that although the first was of a higher rank, yet he who negotiated sought to deal with the others as well. But today everything is reduced to the Grand Vizier alone.

These pashas have an income of twenty-four thousand ducats a year, administered by ministers whom they call voivodes; and when it happens that grain is in demand, they extract much more, especially from the lands assigned to one who is in high repute, as the magnificent Rustan is now, for being good places and near the seacoasts, and everyone considers it a favor to buy from him at a higher price than the ordinary; so that from twenty-four thousand they very often reach fifty, and even sixty thousand ducats. These pashas are accustomed to appear very honorably, and to have from two to three hundred slaves each, with most beautiful horses.

The four pashas at present are, first, the magnificent Rustan, son-in-law of his majesty, of the Serbian nation, from a hamlet near the seraglio of Bosnia, a man of about fifty years. The second is Achmet, of the Albanian nation: and these two men are whole [i.e. not eunuchs]. The other two are Ibrahim the third, who is also from Bosnia, an old man of eighty years; and Cardar is the fourth, also Albanian. Who, although they are all pashas, can be considered as one, because everything that Rustan indicates is done, nor does anyone dare to contradict him, so that he can be considered the absolute master of that empire. And although against the custom of his predecessors, this Grand Signor has always allowed himself to be governed by one man alone, there was nevertheless never anyone who had greater authority with him than this pasha.

It is said that Ibrahim was so great that he did whatever he pleased, and only when it seemed fit to him did he say a word of it to the Grand Signor, who praised everything; with whom he was as intimate as Your Lordships are with His Serenity, and he would go into the seraglio whenever it suited him, and was a companion rather than a slave to the Grand Signor. But this current pasha, although he may not have such familiarity as to be able to enter within, and though he never goes to the Grand Signor except at the ordinary times, is said to have a more well-founded greatness and authority with him than Ibrahim had, because the latter, with the Grand Signor’s money and his own, sought to acquire the favor of the people, and especially of the Janissaries, while Rustan, by cutting the expenses which he deems superfluous and by increasing in every way the treasury, seeks to preserve himself by making greater in every way the grandeur of the Grand Signor. And not wishing that on any account the slaves should wear caps of gold, as do those of the other pashas, he seeks to flee envy; and he never does anything, however small, without making a request of it to the Grand-Signor, and he does it in such a way that he is certain to obtain whatever he asks.

He has, moreover, a foundation of great importance in the wife he has, who is most dear to her father and mother, and who goes very often into the Grand Signor’s seraglio to visit her mother; and both of them on every occasion seek to place the husband and son-in-law in favor. And I have learned from a good source that they have many times attempted to arrange for Rustan to be able to enter the Grand Signor’s seraglio as familiarly as Ibrahim did; to which he has answered them that it is enough to commit a folly once.

This Grand Signor has, however, introduced this practice: that whenever he has a mind to consult with Rustan on some matter of importance, and does not wish the other pashas to know of it, he orders a cavalcade through the city, and then, when the time seems right to him, he has Rustan approach, with whom he reasons and discourses on the matters he has in mind, and resolves what is to be done.

This pasha is rather small than large, red in the face, and his countenance is so flushed that it seems to have a leprous color. He appears outwardly of a very good physical disposition and robust, but it is said that he has some indisposition of moment. He shows above all a great quickness in his eyes, and that he was born to be a man of affairs. He is, moreover, most diligent and sober beyond measure, as it is said he has never drunk wine; his is most patient in his labors, because besides the affairs he treats with the Grand Signor, the whole week, Tuesday excepted, he gives private audiences, from a very early hour until sunset.

He has a great memory for things, and in particular for the forces of the Grand Lord, and how, and from what quarter, there is cause for fear. He has a reputation with many for being proud and choleric, but I have found him to be very humane and pleasant, nor have I ever refrained from stating the reasons of Your Serenity in his presence; by which, being convinced, as a man of judgment, he falls silent and retreats to some ground that seems to him substantial, and certainly with such amiability and manner that one can hope to obtain many things and make him understand the truth. He adapts to the time and the circumstances, and what he denies at one time, he easily concedes at another. He is ambitious beyond measure, nor can one do him a greater pleasure than to tell him that these Ottoman lords never had a wiser or more prudent man than he. He is most avaricious, and with money he can be induced to do whatever one wants. He is by nature as great an enemy of the Christians as any who has ever been, and says that one must not trust the giaours, but yet he shows more regard for those Christians who give him the most. With him are negotiated and handled all matters of importance, and he would be greatly scornful and would do many a disservice if he knew that things were not done through his hand. He is inclined to peace for this reason principally: that he knows there is nothing that could disturb the great happiness he has in this world except a war, to which, even if the Grand Lord were inclined, he would never advise him, as he did in that of Persia; in which, in truth, the Grand Lord having suffered, he acquired much greater favour, as the one who had dissuaded him.

Thus, with much discontent he has seen this occasion and beginning of a war arise between the Most Serene Lord of Austria and his Lord, and in many discussions that I have had with him, he has never told me anything more forcefully than that, it being his desire to remain at peace, Spain and Ferdinand have deceived him, the one concerning the affairs of Africa, the other concerning Transylvania, their ambassador, who is still detained, always affirming to him upon his own head that the Emperor would restore Africa, and that the King of the Romans did not want Transylvania. Yet for all this, on that occasion letters were sent by the Most Serene King of the Romans to his detained ambassador, a copy of which I sent to Your Serenity, whereupon it was resolved to send the secretary to the King of the Romans with that commission of which I wrote — who, had he returned in time, or had Spain and Ferdinand sent a new ambassador to the Porte, the truces would easily have been renewed for four years, if they had wished. But the Racanà came too late, because the army had already set out, and Achmet Pasha had ridden towards Hungary, and it had already been established what the Turkish army was to do together with the army of the Most Christian King [the King of France].

I have been, Most Serene Prince, speaking at length of the person of this pasha, because to preserve the friendship one has with the Grand Signor, there is no means more potent than to have the said pasha as a friend and favorable; nor can he be won by any surer and more certain way than with money, because besides being of a very greedy nature, it seems to him that in being presented with gifts, one shows regard for his person. This is the path taken by all those who desire some favor from him, nor could one say how many presents and of what great importance are brought to him every day; and his having told me so many times, as I have written, “I am a friend of the Signoria, but it does not know me, and will know me when it loses me” is a tacit asking, beyond the overt requests. And therefore, he being of such a nature, and having the authority that he has, which could not be greater, and Your Serenity designing to remain at peace with this Grand Signor, I reverently remind you, that if at certain times some present were sent to him, without being requested, either of cloth or of choice silk of some fine sort for his attire and that of the Sultana, which would not be of great expense, it would be a very pleasing thing to him, coming voluntarily; yet you are most prudent, and will do whatever you judge to be of benefit to your affairs.

This pasha often changes offices, such as sanjaks, and others of importance; because besides the benefit that comes to the treasury of the Grand Signor by reason of the letters and commands, he too receives very great utility from it, because there is no man who, upon receiving an office or a benefice from him, does not make him honorable presents — so that it is believed that, gaining so much by every means, and not spending much, he has an infinite quantity of money. He does not much esteem jewels, but gifted ones do not displease him. He has done and does everything to promote those silk and gold works of his from Bursa, and he himself sometimes likewise dresses in them. He is also vindictive, but with time, and with presents, he pardons.

Now, to say something of the audiences of the Grand Signor, I will first say that deputed to them are the four pashas, who always beforehand gather together with the others of the court in a room of the seraglio, where the beylerbeys, the kadıaskers [chief judges], the defterdars [treasurers], and the scribes of the court and other officials also convene. This room, worked with most beautiful marbles and most beautiful columns, has outside it benches to sit upon, where sit the çavuşbaşı [chief herald], the kapıcılar kethüdası [head of the gatekeepers], and some old çavuş [heralds / officials], and the other çavuş stand. In the said room sits the first pasha on the right-hand side, and after him the second, and then the third and the fourth; then sits the beylerbey of Greece, then that of Anatolia, and the last is the beylerbey or rather Captain of the Sea; and all these on one bench, at the turn of which sits the nişancı [chancellor], who reviews and reads all the commands written by the scribes, and finding them correct, he signs them, and makes those large letters that signify the head of the Grand Signor, and finding an error or indeed poor wording, he marks that place and sends it back to the scribes to make another. On Rüstem’s left-hand side, on that same bench, sit the two kadıaskers, and at its turn immediately sit the defterdars. Behind them, who sit almost three palms high from the ground, are all the scribes, who have charge of the Grand Signor’s revenues and expenditures, and of all that continually enters the treasury and all that is taken out; and these sit on the ground upon carpets. Next to them sit in that manner the caznadar, who have the duty of counting and weighing the ducats and aspers that are continuously delivered to the Porte, and of putting them in leather bags. The aspers are put fifty thousand per bag, and then the said bags are sealed. Then further on is a very large house called caznà [treasury], where are kept all the records of the Grand-Seignior’s revenues, and in many chests are placed all the accounts that are sent from all the provinces, and on each chest are written on the outside, and attached, the years, year by year, and the accounts of the various places, lands, and provinces. In that caznà are also put the ducats, and monies, and all that which is brought on the days of the divan [the council] to the Porte.

Also put in the caznà are the sewn garments of woolen cloth, of silk, and of cloth of gold, the furs of lynxes and of sables, and any other such sewn goods, according as it has been presented to the Grand Signor, or indeed purchased for the needs of his court. This caznà is opened on the four days of the divan, which are Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday; and besides being under several keys, and sealed with the seal of the Grand Signor (which is of gold, kept always with the first pasha ), when it is to be opened, the ciaus-bascì goes, and removes the seal in person, and shows that wax to the Grand Vizier, and does likewise to the caznadar of the divan. When it is then to be closed, the ciaus-bascì goes to take the seal from the Grand Vizier, who, taking it from his breast, first puts it to his mouth as if to kiss it, because the name of the Grand Signor is written upon it. Similarly, the ciaus-bascì, taking it in his hand, kisses it, and then goes to the caznà, and seals the door, and returns the said seal to the pasha, and first he kisses it, and then the pasha, taking it in his hand, kisses it again, and puts it back in his breast. Before the said room of the pashas, which is like the second audience chamber, is another place, which is called the first gate, where are the aga of the spahi, of the silictari, of the ulufegì, and outside, standing, are all those who seek justice from the pashas as well as from the cadileschièr and tefterdar, under the guard of eight or ten capigì. Who at the proper time let them go ten or fifteen at a time towards the pashas’ room, where there is another capigì who lets them pass one by one; and this rule is kept so that not so many go in together, in order not to disturb the pashas.

Food is given at the divan to all the grand masters starting from the first gate, to the agas of the spahis, of the silictars, of the ulufegì, and at the same hour to the pashas, to the beylerbeys, to the cadileschièr, to the tefterdar, and to the ni-sangi. These eat in that same place in the manner in which they find themselves seated. Then to the ciaus-bascì, to the ca-pigiler-chietcudascì, and to all the scribes. The same at the third gate, to all the grand masters who are on guard of the Grand Signor.

The pashas, both before and after eating, always give audience; and then, when the third or fourth hour of the day has come, as it seems fit to the Grand Signor, his majesty sends leave to the cadileschièr, by means of a capigì* that they may come to him. They immediately rise, accompanied by the ciaus-bascì and capigiler-chietcudascì, and go to the third gate. The ciaus-bascì accompanies them, but returns immediately to the pashas. The cadileschièr, having entered before the Grand Signor, have their petitions in hand, and begin to read matters of civil and criminal disputes one by one, and the Grand Signor gives the reply, and in almost every matter leaves the charge to said cadileschièr that it be done according to justice and the law and the commandment of God; and in some matters of importance, the cadileschièr answer the Grand Signor that in such a case the law commands such a thing, and the Grand Seignior replies to them: “Let it be done.”

When the cadileschièr have finished their petitions with the Grand Seignior, they return outside, and do not go to their former place to sit near the pashas, but go straight to the other gate, and sit down between the two gates (as each gate is double), and there they give some brief audience and then go to their homes. When the cadileschièr have left the chamber of the Grand Signor, the pashas immediately rise from the place where they are sitting with the beylerbey and *tefterdar*, and go to the third gate, and from there, accompanied by the capigì-bascì and other great masters, they go to the chamber of the Grand Signor; where, upon entering, first the beylerbey make their petitions in matters pertaining to their offices (having first given notice thereof to the Grand Vizier) and speak to the Grand Signor of what they have to do. When their petitions are finished and they have received the replies from the Grand Signor, with the counsel of the pashas, the beylerbey go out of the chamber, and from there straight to their homes, accompanied by their slaves on foot and on horseback.

The tefterdar having remained with the pashas before the Grand Signor, the tefterdar, in the presence of the pashas, make their petitions to his majesty (having already, before entering before the Grand Signor, made their petitions to the Grand Vizier in that place where the pashas sit to give audience), and there likewise in the presence of the Grand Seignior the first pasha, according to the cases, says what the tefterdar should do, and the Grand Seignior either confirms it, or commands according to his own opinion. When the tefterdar have finished their petitions, they make their reverence and go outside, and sit down on a bench near the gate of the caznè, where they discuss the matters that have occurred and what they have to do after the pashas’ departure from the Grand Seignior; after which the tefterdar*rise to their feet and make their reverence to the pashas, and walking with them, return to sit in their place with them.

The four pashas having remained in the chamber with the Grand Signor, after the tefterdars have departed, the first begins to make his petitions and the other three remain quiet, as he is the one who has managed everything; and so one by one, having finished making their petitions, and the Grand Vizier having received the answers to all of them, they return outside and go to their usual place to sit, and give orders according to the business received from the Grand Signor.

In the meantime, the food that is brought to the pashas and others is prepared, as has been better declared above. Then they again begin to give audience, until after midday, and when the scribes’ writings have been delivered, and the treasury sealed with the seal of the Grand Signor, which is always kept by the Grand Vizier, the divan is dismissed; and the first pasha, accompanied by his slaves on foot before him, and by the çavuş on horseback, and by the other grand masters, goes to his house, and after him the others.

The tefterdar do not enter the presence of the Grand-Seigneur except on two of the divan days per week, that is, the second, which is Sunday, and the fourth, which is Tuesday. This was the ordinary custom, but in the time of Ibrahim before, and now of Rustan, a change has been made in this as well, after their own fashion, as they are masters and lords of the entire empire.

The Grand Vizier

This Rustan Pasha, given up by his master — who held him as a slave— because he could not pay the caraz, and brought, as he himself told me, with rope shoes on his feet, was enclosed in the seraglio of Pera, and little by little brought into the chamber for the service of His majesty. It is said that the first degree of favor he acquired with the Grand Signor was that, when something or other fell from His Majesty’s hands as he stood at a window, and while the other pages ran by the stairs and through the doors to fetch it, this Rustan threw himself down from a window to be quicker in bringing back what had fallen from His Majesty’s hand. He, when the time came to leave the seraglio, left as emi-raor-bascì, which means grand master of the stable of the Grand Signor, a most honored rank. Afterward he was made sangak in Anatolia, and then beylerbey; and the Grand Signor having a daughter to marry, although the mother was inclined to give her to the one who is presently pasha of Cairo, who is a handsome man, and who, to disrupt this marriage with Rustan, had the physician Amon told underhandedly that he had the French disease [syphilis] and was in poor health, the Grand Signor nonetheless wished to give her to him, and was so advised also by Suleiman Pasha, who was then Grand Vizier; Rustan then, in reward for the good offices done for him, had him dismissed and took his place; and the manner was this:

There were at one time four pashas: the first Suleiman, the second Mehemet, the third Rustan, the fourth Usref. Rustan therefore first arranged, through the Grand Lord and the Sultana, that Mehemet, the second pasha, should cede his place to him and sit in the third, which was easy for him to obtain. Then he saw that Suleiman, who was Grand Viier, stood in the way of his total greatness; and knowing that he had been in Cairo, where he had gained much, and that Usref, who was not much of a friend to the same, knew many things about him, he tempted the said Usref to make them known to the Grand Lord; but as Usref refused to do so, Rustan obtained a command from the Grand Lord that an inquiry be made into the operations and government of the said Suleiman from the time he had been in Cairo: and thus, together with the favor he was beginning to have, he found a way to obtain what he desired. And because this did not seem to be enough for him, he again went to tempt Usref, that at least when asked by the Grand Lord if the things alleged against Suleiman were true, he should confirm them as the truth, promising him that he would always do great things for him. Thus he finally induced him; and one day that seemed convenient to him, he presented Usref to the Grand Lord, saying that Usref, there present, knew that all that was written concerning Suleiman was the truth. To whom the Grand Lord having asked if it was so, he replied: “It is so.” To which an angered Suleiman replied that it was not the truth, and that he had been and was a good servant and slave to His Majesty. To these words Usref, wishing to reply, and likewise Suleiman to his, the Grand Lord ordered that for speaking with so little respect in his presence, Suleiman should be deposed; and in this way it came to be that Rustan was made first vizier. And because Cardar, now fourth pasha, and then one of the four chief agas of the eunuchs, and a great friend of Soliman, having heard that he had been deposed for speaking with little respect, told the Grand Lord that the same should be done to Usref, so it was ordered that Usref too should be dismissed. There remained Mehemet who had renounced the place of second pasha to him: and this one too, as a reward for the courtesy he had shown him, he removed from his way by having him accused of rebellion; but ultimately he has had him given the sanjak of Bosnia. And because he saw that Cardar, being inside the seraglio, being most favored by the Grand Lord, and being able to speak to him always, could have done some ill office against him, he contrived, under the pretense of honoring him, that he should be brought out of the seraglio and be made fourth pasha; for although this gave him a higher rank, it nevertheless removed him from a position more dangerous to his own greatness, being able, as I have said, to speak at any hour with the Grand Lord.

From these things it now arises that everyone trembles before him, and the pashas themselves have told me many times, that in the divans they stand in the presence of the Grand Lord as witnesses to many false things.

Trade in Constantinople

Since, then, the principal charge of a bailo of Constantinople is the defense of the nation’s merchandise, I wish also to say a few words on this matter.

There are now few merchants in Constantinople, and it is a wonder that even those few are found there, because they all complain that they make little profit; and the cause for the decline in commerce is the great expenses for commissions, brokers, gratuities, increases in servants, warehouse rents, and devaluations of gold, which together amount to almost fourteen percent: all of which expense could perhaps have been tolerated at the time when the Porte bought, as in the time of Ibrahim, a world of woolen and silk cloths at an advantageous price and for ready cash. But now that the affairs of the Porte are so constrained that in two years not as much is dispatched as was then dispatched in a week, they are forced by necessity to negotiate with the Jews, who, if they pay for goods in cash, want to pay less than the capital cost, and if they sometimes engage in barter, they do it in such a way that it is ruinous for those who deal with them: and if there is anyone who wishes to sustain his capital, he finds no way to make use of it, so that in the end he too is forced to do the same as the others and to give away their goods for whatever they can get.

These Jews have ruined that trade entirely, also because they corner the market on all the wool and sell it as they see fit; and they have also taken over the trade in fine camlets [a fabric made from camels], which, by having them all made or buying them all themselves, they come to earn what the merchants who attended to this trade used to earn.

Then, besides the scant profits, or rather the certain and very significant losses, another cause for the lack of business is the fear of the Grand Lord’s death; in which case, due to the overbearing power to which the Janissaries have risen, everything is at risk of being sacked, and even a fire, which could very easily occur, can produce the same effect.

To these two causes is added a third which I deem of great moment: that since these who are masters, or factors, in Constantinople are young men, they cannot live without women; and to flee from greater dangers they resort to taking some women as cadin, that is, as wives; with whom, having children, should the father’s death occur, there would be no lack of entanglements even over goods that were proven not to belong to the father: and such justification is very difficult not only in private matters, but also in public ones.

These few things I have wished to say, which will then be given such consideration as seems fit to those merchant gentlemen who send their capital, and who, after deducting the expenses, must then make their accounts.

I have said many things of some importance thus far, but what I now prepare to say I deem of much greater importance, and this concerns the person and quality of the dragomans [translators]. And before I say anything else, I will say, would that God willed it that in an affair of such importance to Your Serenity as that of Constantinople, the ministers of this Most Illustrious Dominion could use their own tongue as the interpreter of their thoughts, and could understand what is answered to them without any intermediary, because certainly, things would proceed more straightforwardly.

An ambassador or bailo of Your Serenity will say, for example, words of efficacy and full of dignity, and the dragoman is then at liberty to report as much of it as he pleases. The pasha will sometimes reply with words upon which a great foundation could be laid, either one way or the other; which words, when reported, are either not the same, or if they come close, they lose their vigor and force. And therefore, among the many difficulties of negotiating at that Porte, I deem this to be one of the most principal and important, and one for which I find it difficult to find a remedy; because the bailos and ambassadors, being unable to know the Turkish language, must needs rely on what is reported to them. Foreseeing this, this most illustrious Senate has prudently ordered that two young men should come with my most distinguished successor to learn that language; of whom, however, Your Serenity will be able to make no other use than to send them as secretaries in due time with the ministers, provided, however, that they combine with the language those other qualities that befit a good and faithful secretary.

Now, to leave aside future matters, which may turn out well, I will say that I found two dragomans; one chosen by my most distinguished predecessor, who is Francesco of Negroponte, but of Genoese descent: the other is Gianesino, who has already served this state for more than twenty years, and is very well known to Your Most Illustrious Lordships for having been employed at various times in many important matters. Of Messer Francesco I made little use, not because I do not believe that he could have performed his office well enough, knowing and understanding the language, but because he was very new to that business, and he seemed to me of a somewhat vehement and contentious nature, and not suited to succeed with the Turks for the benefit of Your Serenity. Therefore, I decided on Gianesino, from whom, in truth, I have received such service that I could not have desired anyone more diligent. On all four days of the week when the Divan is held, from morning until they are dismissed, which is past midday, he always remained firm at the audience post, nor could anything be done that he did not know of, and if complaints about borders or other matters arose, he defended them stoutly. He is known and cherished by all, and he understands the humors of that nation very well. He is most welcome to the pashas, but especially to Rustan, with whom he has acquired such confidence and familiarity that he speaks without reserve and laughs with him. I believe him to be most faithful, and he has good cause to be so, as he profits in every way, and he recognizes that what he is, and the fortune he has acquired, have come to him from the grace and liberality of this state, after the most distinguished Messer Francesco Bernardo of good memory appointed him to this service. And certainly, Most Serene Prince, to speak the truth, as I am obliged to do, Your Serenity could not now find a man more suited to serve you in this office; his worth will be recognized when he is no longer available.

For this reason, one should not examine every matter so minutely with him, and I much praise the prudence of this Most Illustrious Senate in having given him, on two occasions, four hundred ducats so that he could marry off two of his daughters; of whom he still has two others, and I have always confirmed him in this hope, that as he continues to be a good servant of Your Serenity, you too will never fail to be benevolent toward him. And in truth I exhort Your Serenity, that since the affairs of Constantinople are so important for your own matters, and since Gianesino has been so long employed in them, knowing also all the secrets and public business of many years past, and, what is more important, not knowing which way to turn, nor on whom to rely, that you hold him dear and keep him well content, as, believing it to be for the benefit of Your Serenity, I myself have striven to do in the time I have been there.

And because he is occupied, as I have said, from morning till evening with public affairs, and sought out by all the merchants, by their council of twelve, without a single ballot to the contrary, a retainer was granted to a pupil of his named Pasquale, of forty ducats a year; who having now been for four or five years under his discipline, has been in the house of the baili, and handles the dispatch of the ships very well, so that in this there is little need of Gianesino himself. This Pasquale, because he is very poor and has a large family, desires to work hard and to get ahead; he applies diligence to learning to read Turkish; and to conclude, I hope that good service will be had from him. Granting him this initial retainer has been to the satisfaction of all; because, in truth, Gianesino could not attend to everything, and Messer Francesco knows nothing at all of the dispatch of ships and other such matters.

And since I am on the subject of dragomans, none has yet emerged with greater credit, nor through whose hands more important matters pass, than Ibrahim-bei, a Pole by nation, between twenty-eight and thirty years of age, a slave of Achmet Pasha. He is of a fine appearance, understands the Latin language well, and speaks it like a Hungarian; he understands Turkish, in which he reads and writes very well, and is learning the Greek and Frankish languages, so that in a short time he will be master of these as well. He was made a dragoman after the death of Janus-bei, through the favor of Achmet Pasha, and in a short time has advanced so far that everything passes through his hands. From him I have had much information, and many matters of importance sent to Your Serenity from time to time; and where it was necessary, I have sought to win him over by every means, and I have advised my successor to do the same. And it also seems fitting to remind Your Serenity that the Bailo, in your name, should have some present made for him, because he has told me many times that he has seen the book of Janus-bei, in which were written the presents given to him by all the princes, and others who negotiated at this Porte, where he had found that no one else gave as much or as often to Janus-bei as the Signoria of Venice; to which I have many times replied, that the Signoria is accustomed to treating its good friends thus. With him the ambassador of the King of the Romans spent a great deal of time before he was detained, and after him the ambassador of France, who with gifts, and with every office, has made him his own. I too have not failed to have my share, for after all he is a Turk, and for money will do anything.

Personal Affairs and Conclusion

I have had for my secretary Messer Daniele Buonrizzo, here present, of whose work and faithfulness it is not necessary for me to speak more than have his many travels in the service of this Most Illustrious Senate in Spain, in France, in Germany, in Rome with various most distinguished ambassadors, and most recently in Constantinople amidst so many dangers of plague and other diverse hardships.

He has written so much with his own hand during this bailiwick that it can scarcely be believed, and the letters that I have written to Your Serenity have reached ten quires, and duplicates have always been sent, besides so many documents sent from time to time. I leave aside his answering of so many commissions, in diverse places according to the circumstances, and his subsequent registering of all the letters written to Your Serenity. Besides the labors of the chancellery, he has never refused any sort of danger or hardship in the service of Your Serenity, and for all the affairs of this Most Illustrious State he has always had greater care and respect than for his own affairs.

He lost, Most Serene Prince, in Constantinople, his mother and a brother, who was the support of his house, but he has been constant and intrepid, having his sights always set upon the benevolence of Your Most Illustrious Lordships; and so have I assured him, and so I assure him again, knowing the quality of Your Excellencies to greatly bestow favors upon those who have served faithfully, as he has done.

Of myself, I know not what to say, knowing that I have done nothing of which I can boast in this Senate of having done. And although so much grain has been sent at various times, and many subjects of Your Serenity have been freed from famine; and that in the matter of the fisheries, having Rustan as an adversary, by making a petition to the Grand Signor, a command was obtained that no more trouble should be made for a thing that gives Your Serenity an income of twelve thousand ducats a year without spending a single soldo; and that I have freed more than two hundred and twenty slaves at various times, and not only kept the pasha from ruining Spalatro, but also settled the affairs of the Spalatrini as they desired; I have not, however, done anything of which I can boast, as I have said above, that should be spoken of here, because even if every citizen of this Most Illustrious State were to acquire a province for it, and make Your Serenity mistress of the world, he ought to say: “Domine, cum haec omnia feci, servus inutilis fui.” [“Lord, I did all these things as your useless servant.”]

Too great is the debt, Most Serene Prince, that one owes to one’s homeland, for which no one can do so much that he is not obliged to do much more, and it is the voice of a narrow and sordid soul to say: “I have deserved well of my country.”

In my time, two armadas have set out for two continuous years under a proud and avaricious captain, the brother of Rustan, and it has been necessary to present him, for the benefit of Your Serenity, with honors, in conformity with what I have found written in the books was given in the time of Barbarossa under the most distinguished Zane, since from that time until now no other armadas had set out; and with three armadas having set out since the peace, which has been twenty years, two have fallen to me in the two years I have been there.

I have dealt with that disturbance in the waters of Corfu, for which I was obliged to present Dragut with gifts honorably, and likewise on this occasion many others of the fleet were presented with gifts, all of which was done with a view to the benefit of Your Serenity’s affairs.

The Porte was in Adrianople for two continuous years, wherefore it was necessary, in order to follow it, to incur much extraordinary expense.

I departed from Your Serenity without a single coin from the public treasury, and in so many instances of expense, I have done the best I could. I confess to Your Serenity, out of the reverence I bear you, that to find myself in Constantinople, where everything is done for money, and to be most often without it when I was greatly constrained, caused me much travail, knowing I lacked a support with which one can remedy many disorders to the benefit and dignity of Your Serenity. I wish to reverently remind Your Serenity never to leave your ministers in Constantinople without a good sum of money, because that is a stronghold wherein in every need they can save themselves, and preserve the peace. Let care continue to be taken, as it has been until now, to send skillful men whose goodness and virtue have been proven (excepting in this part my own person, of whom let the judgment be as it pleases your Most Excellent and Illustrious Lordships).

I say again, let care be taken to send men who can be trusted, and let them not be left without money. And certainly the election of the most distinguished Messer Domenico Trevisano, my successor, I believe will redound to his greater eminence and to the great benefit of Your Serenity. Of whom, were it not for the love that has been between us for so very many years, I would speak more than I shall, content to say only that I seem to recognize in him all the qualities necessary for that office: goodness, dexterity, and liberality, with which he had already acquired the favor of many, but that of Rustan above all others, which is of the utmost importance.

I have left, upon my departure for Adrianople, as vice-bailo the magnificent Messer Leonardo Emo, a young man as prudent, skilflul, and diligent as Your Most Illustrious Lordships have been able to see from many letters sent to this Most Illustrious Senate. It pleased me exceedingly to see this election approved and praised in the letters from Your Serenity, and I hope that Your Lordships, having had proof of his worth, will make use of him; and I affirm that the greater the matters in which he shall serve this Most Illustrious Republic, the greater will be the service that she may expect from him.

Since the 1535 Report on France we just published, war has broken about between France and the Holy Roman Empire. The Italian War of 1536–1538 was fought over control of Northern Italy, particularly the Duchy of Milan (the previous report showed how likely such a war was). Marino Giustiniani, whose wrote the 1535 Report on France, was succeeded in the legation to France by Giovanni Basadona. Basadona, who returned to his homeland in 1537, was succeeded as ambassador by Capello, during whose mission the Republic, desirous of promoting a swift end to the hostilities that had renewed the year before between France and the Empire (an end all the more desirable for all of Christendom at that time, given how grave and imminent were the threats from the Turk), dispatched Francesco Giustiniani to the king for this purpose in the summer of that same year, 1537, although only (says Paruta) with the title of gentleman of the Republic and not of ambassador; who, after a brief sojourn at that court, returned quite comforted in the hope of peace, a peace eagerly solicited at the same time by Paul III, who, the following year, at the congress of Nice, personally completed the work begun by his legates.

Report

Most Serene Prince, most grave and most wise, my most honored Sirs, since Your Sublimity and Your Most Excellent Lordships, only a few days ago, received a true and detailed report on the affairs of the Kingdom of France from the most excellent Messer Gioan Basadona; if, now that, in order to observe the most sacred order of this Republic, I must render an account of the brief time I negotiated at that court in the name of Your Excellencies, I were to speak in order in this place of the revenues, the expenditures, the government, and the nature of the Most Christian King and of his kingdom (as is the custom of orators when they return from their ordinary duties), it would seem to me that I would be doing an injustice to Your Most Excellent Lordships, to the said most excellent Basadona, and to myself. Because, not having been ordinarily at that court, I would be taking upon myself more than is befitting me; I would seem to doubt that the said most excellent Basadona had failed to state everything in full, just as I do not doubt that His Magnificence has completely satisfied all points; and I would weary Your Most Excellent Lordships with the same things that they a short time ago, and which you keep fresh in your minds.

Therefore, having been employed by Your Serenity and by Your Most Excellent Lordships—more through your goodness than for any merit or valor of my own—solely for the persuasion of the Most Christian King to make peace with the Emperor; and this negotiation being, both for the greatness and extreme difficulty it entails, and more so for the most manifest benefit of the Christian world, and particularly for the preservation and security of this most excellent Republic, of such great importance as the prudence of Your Most Excellent Lordships clearly knows1, I will strive only, with a brief discourse, to represent to Your Serenity and to Your Lordships, not how the said negotiation has proceeded (because from time to time the letters of the most excellent orator Capello and my own have demonstrated it), but the reason why peace has not followed between these two lords; then, what are the impediments to the settlement; and finally, what hope remains for us of peace, or of an accord, or even of new truces. In this discourse, I will say only so much of the nature, governance, and forces of the Most Christian King and his kingdom as will serve to make clearer and more well-founded the reasons that I shall use in this discourse.

I say, therefore, Most Serene Prince, most grave and wisest Lords, that the peace desired by the Holiness of the Pontiff2, procured by Your Most Excellent Lordships with deeds and with heart, awaited with excessive need by Christendom, and negotiated3 by the agents of His Cesarean Majesty and of the Most Christian King at Locat, a place midway between Salses and Narbonne, has not succeeded between these two lords, because it is not judged to his benefit by the Emperor to give the state of Milan to the Most Christian King; nor can the Most Christian King, without Milan, make peace with the Emperor.

The harm that the Emperor may suffer by giving that state to His Most Christian Majesty, everyone in their prudence sees very well. First, against his nature, he would divest himself of a state that makes him great and secure in Italy. Afterward, he would invest with it his greatest enemy in the world. Third, that with that advantage, the King would bring war to the Kingdom of Naples, and to the state of Florence, which is also at his devotion. And in short, he would deprive himself of a great part of his own grandeur, to give it to one who, if not at present, certainly in time, would make his fortune from it, and perhaps take the rest from him. Wherefore, His Cesarean Majesty, being willing to leave the state of Milan, and wishing to secure himself against all these things, proposed to the Most Christian King the great conditions that Your Most Excellent Lordships have, through the letters of the most excellent orator Capello and my own, come to know, and perhaps also heard through other channels.

These conditions, because they took from the Most Christian King de præsenti his rights, and his forces, far more than the hope of the state of Milan gave to him; and His Most Christian Majesty finding himself with the advantage of holding the greater part of the state of Savoy4, Hesdin in Flanders, and of the war that the Turk wages against the Emperor (in which the Emperor, being occupied, will not be able to trouble His Majesty), he did not wish to buy peace at such a great cost to himself, as it seemed he would incur if he had ceded Burgundy5 to the Emperor, restored Hesdin, and the suzerainty of Artois6, Savoy to the Duke, and his state to the nephews of the late Monsignor de Bourbon7; and if he had ceded his claims to Naples8 and Milan, which are in the Treaty of Madrid; and finally (a thing which he reputed a great shame) if he had sent Monsignor d’Orléans his son to Spain as a hostage for three years, and had been forced to make war on the Turk for the benefit and greatness of the Emperor, and been constrained to the council by which he would lose the union of the princes and states of Germany and of other captains and Lutheran peoples9, all to hope in the faith of one who openly says that he has no faith in him in any matter.

Wherefore, for all the aforementioned causes, peace has not been concluded between these Majesties; which, although some believe it would have been made if a way had been found for one of these two lords to trust the other, I nevertheless, Most Serene Prince, my most wise Lords, from what I have been able to discern both from the King’s countenance (which is often wont to show the soul of a man), and then from his words and those of the Most Serene Queen of Navarre10, and of the other great men who are at this court, say that the Most Christian King would have trusted the Emperor if His Caesarean Majesty had waived some articles of the Treaty of Madrid. But because His Caesarean Majesty has stood firm in his opinion, the negotiation has been dissolved in the manner Your Lordships have learned, to the poor satisfaction of all Christians.

Now follow the other impediments to the settlement that is to be negotiated, which are many, and very great. Because Your Serenity and Your Most Excellent Lordships (who partly through learning, partly through custom and long practice, and your own excellent judgment, understand the ways of the world very well) know that just as friendships between private gentlemen are formed through the mutual correspondence of souls and the similarity of good habits, so among princes, friendships are made either for that same correspondence of nature, or by a judgment that it serves them well to be friends together, or truly by necessity and fortune, which against their will constrains them to remain united. Between these two lords (from what I have, in the short time I have been in France, come to know of the nature of the Most Christian King, and from what I have understood from various reports in this Most Excellent Council, and at the Court, and elsewhere of that of his Caesarean Majesty) I find there to be such and so great a discordance, that (as the Most Serene Queen of Navarre, who is the sister of the Most Christian King, a woman of great worth and great spirit who participates in all the councils, told me on this subject) it would be necessary for God to return to reform one of them in the image of the other, for them both to agree. Because, whereas the Most Christian King is loath to trouble himself with great thoughts or with business, and often goes hunting and to his pleasures, the Emperor never thinks of anything but affairs of state, and of making himself greater. Whereas the Most Christian King is simple, open, and most liberal, and quite ready to defer to the judgment and opinion of his counselors, the Emperor is very reserved, and tenacious of his own mind, and is hard in his opinions, governing more by himself than by any other. And so in all other things they are so contrary in nature, that the King himself said one day to the Most Excellent Ambassador Capello and to me, speaking on the matter of the truces, that he believed Caesar studied to be his complete opposite; because if he said that he wanted peace, Caesar would reply that he could not make it, but that he would make some settlement; and if he spoke of a settlement, he was answered that truces were better; so that they could never meet of one will. Whence one might conclude that, due to the different spirits and contrary natures of these two majesties, it is hard to believe that they will ever come to an agreement.

It would be necessary, therefore, that with judgment they should see how much advantage both would derive from the union they might have together. Which judgment, just as I believe it to be great in each of them, so it is manifestly seen that it is spoiled and blinded entirely by the offenses that have occurred between their majesties, by the cruel hatreds, and by the passions, that do not let them see their own good. For leaving aside all the other offenses, the capture of the Most Christian King11, the hostage of his sons, the capitulation of Madrid, the enterprise against France which was attempted two years ago by the Emperor, and lastly the opinion of the poison of the Most Serene Dauphin, from which infinite hatreds have been born12; which have so altered the spirit of His Most Christian Majesty, that he never speaks of any of such things without becoming all heated with passion, and with the ardor to avenge himself one day. And then the suspicion and envy that the one has for the other, lest he see the other become greater and more powerful, causes that, the Emperor knowing that the Most Christian King seeks with all his effort and ingenuity to reduce all of France under a single head, and that for this reason he is so fixated on the state of Milan (because by giving this to the Lord of Orléans13, he comes to place Brittany in the crown, which by obligation of dowry, the Most Christian King, having more than one son, he ought to give to the second son; and the peoples of that province with difficulty serve the crown, as they would wish to have a lord of their own; and this would bring the brothers into agreement and establish a foundation in Italy with the aforesaid state of Milan, which would be formidable to all), His Imperial Majesty seeks to disrupt these designs by refusing to give him said state; or, if he does give it, he seeks to have him leave Burgundy to Bourbon, which is like a ladder to pass from his own states and harass him in the Kingdom of France.14 On the other hand, the King, seeing how great the said Emperor has become, tries to secure himself on all sides; nor does he wish to relinquish anything he holds in Flanders, or in Piedmont, unless the Emperor gives him Milan, both to make himself equal in strength to the Emperor, and because any little thing he might relinquish would seem to him to add to the greatness of his enemy. The passions between them, therefore, do not let them see how much good it would do their Majesties to be united and at peace together, and what a benefit they would bring to Christendom if they jointly sought to relieve it from so much damage and misery that their discords and wars have brought upon it.

There remains the third part, which is fortune, or true necessity, which many times does what neither judgment nor nature have been able to do; as it did in the capture of the King, when that forced peace followed with the capitulation of Madrid, then the other of the accord of Cambrai, and at present the truces of Piedmont, which, both because of the necessity that the Imperials had, and because of the famine and need of all things that was in the camp of the Most Christian King, the said majesties were constrained to conclude.15 But to make a peace or composition at present between both of them, it is not seen that one or the other of these lords is necessitated to make it at a disadvantage. Because, leaving aside the Emperor with his fortune, the forces of the Most Christian King are now very united and very great. His Majesty has all of France from the Ocean sea to the Pyrenees, and to the Mediterranean sea; and furthermore all of Savoy, which is beyond the mountains; and also the greater part of Piedmont in his power and free dominion. In which [France] (as Your Most Excellent Lordships know), His Majesty appoints twelve governors, because it is divided into twelve provinces, from which he draws every year of ordinary revenue, between tailles, subsidies, the fourth on wines, salt, domain, gabelles, venal offices, and other minor revenues, the sum of fifteen million seven hundred fifty thousand francs, which is a little less than three million in gold. And although his majesty, in ordinary expenses for pensions to the Swiss, to England, to the German chiefs, and to the officials of justice of his entire kingdom, in guards for the castles, in the navy of the Levant and the West, in gifts, and expenses for ambassadors, in artillery, in hunts, in keeping a table, in household expenses, and in other unforeseen cases, and finally in two thousand five hundred lances which he continuously keeps paid, spends all the revenue or a little less; and although also in the enterprise which the emperor undertook against France, His Most Christian Majesty (according to the common voice of all that kingdom) spent more than three and a half million in gold, a good part of which he happened to have on hand, nevertheless the extraordinary mean that are always open to His Majesty are so great and of such a kind that whether with tailles or with gifts or with subsidies or with loans from the clergy (which is very rich in France, as is known to everyone), he always draws from them as much as he needs. So that for lack of money, it should not be believed that His Majesty would be forced to accept conditions of peace that do not seem to him useful and honest.

Nor should it be believed that, for fear that the Emperor might move war against him in France from the direction of Picardy or elsewhere, or indeed that the Most Serene King of England might be set upon him (who at other times has taken France from him and given him much to do), he would make the said peace. Because, besides the Flemings making war on France unwillingly, with whom they lose their commerce and consume their revenues, the Most Christian King keeps his frontiers of Picardy as well fortified as His Caesarean Majesty keeps his of Flanders, so that, from that quarter, there is not much advantage. From this side of Piedmont and Provence, the test that the Emperor made two years ago has indeed demonstrated clearly to all how hard and difficult is the passage. Then concerning the Most Serene King of England, His Majesty has no reason to fear him, because the English never crossed into France without the help and support of the Dukes of Brittany, or of some other prince of France, who are now gone, and all now reduced to the crown. There is, besides this, the close union and kinship that the Most Christian king has with the King of Scotland, which would always recall the King of England with war, and would disturb his designs, as it has done at other times, when he was not obliged to do so. To this is added the ancient constitution of France, which is that all the gentlemen of the kingdom never contribute to any tax or expense to be made by the Most Christian King, except when France is assaulted by war; in which case they are obliged to pay the entire expense made for the defense for three months. Whence it can be concluded that the Kingdom of France, reduced, as it is at present, to the obedience of a single head, is rather to be feared by everyone, than that it should have to fear the forces of others.

From all the aforementioned things (founded upon what I have come to know at the court of France, and upon my own weak and small judgment) although it may perhaps seem to Your Serenity and to Your Most Excellent Lordships that no hope remains for the need of Christendom, that these two princes might come to an agreement with a universal peace (which, if it were to succeed, one would have to say Domino factum est istud, et est mirabile in oculis nostris16, as the King himself said when he heard that His Caesarean Majesty had said he wished to give him the state of Milan, and make peace completely) nevertheless the necessity of the present times, and the good nature of His Most Christian Majesty, who feels with the utmost displeasure the damages and the ruin of the Christians, and then the persuasions of the Most Illustrious Constable17 (who just as he can do all with His Majesty, and just as he moves and governs that entire kingdom, alone, as it pleases him, nor wants any companion, so he knows that with peace he can be preserved in this his greatness, because peace is equally desired by all, both great and small, in France, who are now weary of the expenses and the toils of war, contrary to the nature of the French); and also the dexterity that His Holiness the Pontiff may perhaps presently be able to employ with the very persons of their majesties;18 and finally that light which is to be hoped that our Lord God will send before their eyes to show them the path to the preservation of his faith, will bring it about that even if universal peace should not succeed, at least some accord or composition may be made. For, the Most Christian King having, with the truces of Piedmont, and with the negotiation of peace, lost much favor that he could hope for from the Turk and from the Most Serene King of England (both of whom have most manifestly understood that His Most Christian Majesty would make an agreement with the Emperor even to their detriment, if the state of Milan were given to him); and His Majesty seeing that neither the King of England nor the Turk can any longer place any hope in his union, he, knowing himself to be left without these supports, it is to be believed that he will easily proceed to the composition, even with some disadvantage to himself.

And from what the reverend nuncio of the Pontiff told me one day19, it is certainly to be believed that if the Emperor were to remit some articles of the capitulation of Madrid, which seem too harsh to His Most Christian Majesty, he in all else would trust His Majesty. For, the said nuncio telling him one day that it seemed to him that peace was not succeeding between their majesties because they would not trust one another, wherefore it would be good if the fortresses of Milan were deposited either in the hands of His Holiness the Pontiff or in the hands of this Most Excellent Republic, until the other promises were fulfilled, His Majesty told him that, as His Holiness was too old, and upon dying could ruin any good work that had been started; and as Your Serenity was too powerful in Italy to be entrusted with this state, he wished to trust the Emperor, provided that he relax a few of the conditions he was proposing. And upon my departure from the Court, as I was taking my leave of the Most Reverend Cardinal of Lorraine, who is a most gentle lord and by nature devoted to peace, his most reverend Lordship told me that by means of a secretary of the Emperor, who brought to the Most Christian King the confirmation of the truce, he had sent word to His Caesarean Majesty in his own name, that if he would be content to abandon some of his harshness, he promised it would bring him peace.

To these things are also added two considerations that greatly move the spirit of the Most Christian King to make some accord with the Emperor. The one is, that the Swiss are unwilling to consent that His Majesty, by keeping for himself the state of Savoy, should draw so near to them that they must fear that he in time will want from them many places they hold from the aforesaid state, and the Duchy of Chiabletz (Chablais), in which there are very many lands, such as Lausanne, Thonon, Viviano (Vevey), Cologny, Geneva, which are places that the Swiss have occupied from Savoy but a short time ago. Nor would it do the King much good to be so near them, because he would either have to endure many injuries that the Swiss always inflict upon their neighbors, or he would have to make war with them, which would be of great harm to him, for he would be deprived of the service of that nation, without which His Majesty can hardly undertake any enterprise—having especially found the legionaries of France, once instituted with so great a name, not to succeed in that kingdom, both for being peasants born and raised in continual servitude, and without ever having seen, let alone used, arms, and because from them arose what must needs arise from swift changes made from one extreme to the other; for as from extreme servitude, they were at once placed in the license and liberty of arms and of war, they no longer wished to obey their masters, so that the gentlemen of France have complained to the Most Christian King many times, saying to His Majesty, that by giving arms to the peasants, and by making them exempt from the customary taxes, he has caused them little by little to lose their obedience and their privileges, and that in a short time the former will make themselves gentlemen, and they themselves peasants. Wherefore, both for this reason, and because in truth they were not good for any enterprise, the said legionaries are every day diminishing; and His Majesty, deprived of his own arms, is forced to have recourse to foreign and mercenary soldiers, among whom the Swiss, through so many experiences of times past, are always the most certain and best company he has.

The other consideration is the Holy League, decided by Your Serenity against the Turk20, which has given you in the Court of France so much reputation and such a name, that, if our Lord God gives you equal fortune (as is to be hoped), there never was a prince or republic in the world more glorious than this one. And in truth, Most Serene Prince, when, after the dissolution of the convention at Narbonne, the news came to this court that Your Serenity had refused the peace with the Turk, and had decided on war with the League (because the opinion of the wise and good government of Your Most Excellent Lordships is, as much as it can be, held in great repute in that court), it seemed that everyone turned their eyes towards the Most Christian King, and said that as much praise as should be given to Your Serenity for such a thing, so much blame should fall upon His Majesty, if with his name and his forces he did not aid so fine an enterprise. So that, both the most illustrious Constable and the King himself, when we then communicated the news to them, were taken aback, and were almost ashamed to say that they could not join with Your Most Excellent Lordships, because they could not come to an agreement with the Emperor. Whence it is to be believed that His Most Christian Majesty, seeing that during the time this Holy League will be occupied in making war on the Turk, if he were to trouble His Caesarean Majesty either in Italy or elsewhere (which would be to recall him from the said enterprise), it might happen that he would perhaps bring this League down upon himself, but he would certainly incur the hatred of the Supreme Pontiff and of this Most Excellent Republic, and finally of all princes and good Christians; and that, if any harm were to befall the aforesaid League, the whole world would believe that he is not worthy of the name he bears of Most Christian King, by giving the infidels the occasion and means to strike and ruin the Christians; and His Majesty, also seeing that if the League, with divine aid, were to obtain victory, the Emperor would become much greater than he is at present (who, being very powerful and victorious, would thus be greatly held in account by His Majesty, were he not at peace or in a truce with him), for all these reasons, and for many others besides which are very well understood by Your Most Wise Lordships, it is to be hoped, or rather to be certainly believed, that some agreement must be made between these two lords, which, although it might augment the states and forces of both, would nevertheless be nothing but useful and good for the present need of Your Most Excellent Lordships. Because on this occasion, and with your customary most wise provisions, and much more with the arm of our Lord God (who is the one who has ruled and governed this republic until now), you would be freed from the continual scourges that the infidels have inflicted and do inflict upon you at all times.

But should this accord not succeed, I can affirm to Your Serenity and to Your Most Excellent Lordships (I say affirm because I know it for certain), that the Most Christian King, for the same respects that I have stated above, will content himself with a truce of one year, or of whatever more shall please His Caesarean Majesty. Who, although he knows that it is to his benefit for the Most Christian King to remain at expense at the same time that he himself is at the expense of the war with the Turk, nevertheless, His Caesarean Majesty wishing to attend to this enterprise with a secure mind, and with all his forces united, I believe that he cannot nor should deny the Most Christian King to make it, being especially solicited by His Holiness the Pontiff and by Your Highness, for the common benefit of said League. Whence my conclusion is that if the Emperor does not stand firm in the confirmation of the capitulation of Madrid, peace could easily come to pass. But should he stand firm, the King will not fail to make some accord with some part of the state of Savoy. Then, should this accord not be made in this parley in Provence, certainly the King himself will make a truce for as long as it shall please the Emperor, and will not disturb the enterprise begun against the Turk.

I truly, Most Serene Prince, most grave and most wise Lords, knowing my duty, and the need of Your Serenity for a good peace between these two lords, have striven with all the strength of my small wit to make the Most Christian King be content to overcome, in so worthy a matter, the harsh difficulties that opposed the settlement. And finding His Most Christian Majesty disposed in the manner that, through letters from the most distinguished Capello and myself, Your Most Excellent Lordships have several times understood; I have also not failed in every suitable office with the Most Serene Queen of Navarre, with the Most Serene Dauphin (who, however, is not of great vivacity or aptitude for affairs), and with the Most Reverend Cardinal de Tournon (who is of the Grand Council, and of great repute), with the Lord Chancellor, and then with the Most Reverend Cardinal of Lorraine, with the Most Illustrious Lord Constable (who is the one that, as I have said above, manages all the affairs of that kingdom), and finally with Monseigneur d’Orléans, who, with peace, expects to be Duke of Milan—and he is well worthy of it for his virtues, because he is all activity, graceful, and gives great hope of becoming an excellent and valiant lord.

But how much my service has satisfied Your Serenity and Your Most Excellent Lordships, I cannot know, except by mirroring myself in my own conscience, and in the grace and benignity of Your Most Excellent Lordships. Because the latter consoles me that I have not lacked, in such a business, that desire and that diligence which every good citizen must have and use, as much as he knows and can, for the benefit of his lords; the former gives me hope that if I had failed in anything through my little prudence or little knowledge, they, pardoning me this, will accept a spirit full of good will, and of ardent devotion towards them.

Having been ambassador in the legation of France on behalf of Your Serenity for some forty months, I know my duty, according to the most laudable custom of this Most Serene Dominion, is not to give an account of all my actions during that legation, because day by day I have striven to keep Your Lordships advised of those matters that have seemed to me worthy of your notice: and therefore I shall not say a word about them, which will also be the cause of that brevity I desire. But I shall indeed endeavor to clarify for you, or rather to remind you of, certain things that are learned through long experience, worthy in my opinion of being understood by Your Most Excellent Lordships, although I am certain that so great is Your Lordships’ long experience in the public affairs of all human states, and therefore your perfect knowledge, that nothing can be noted by me that you have not already foreseen. But yet it will contribute greatly that a faithful servant of yours has noted in practice what you, with your reasoning, will have foreseen.

Territories

It is therefore my opinion not to consume the kindness of Your Serenity in vain and trivial matters, and I content myself, since I shall have to speak of the affairs of France, if you wish to understand its parts, to say that France is divided into Belgica, Celtica, and Aquitania according to Caesar, but according to others, into Narbonensis as well; which is the part that the Romans called the Province; and that Belgica is bounded on the west and north by the Ocean, on the east by the Rhine, and on the south by two most noble rivers, the Marne, alias Matrona, and the Seine, alias Sequana. But the Seine is swelled by two other rivers, the Marne and the Oise, which come from Champagne and Burgundy, which two rivers first make the commerce of Paris and Rouen very great, because they supply the farthest part of Belgica with all that which originates in the other extremity which is Champagne, and all the other places as far as the Rhine; and they then carry the same things, such as wines, grains, silks, cloths, to Ireland, England, Scotland, Flanders, Holland, Denmark, and the entire maritime region of Germany, and bring back salted fish—which is a very great commodity and of almost inestimable value—pitch, cloths, and tin from England, and money. In Belgica there are various provinces; Francia, which is that country where Paris is, a very good part of Normandy, because the Sequana passes through its middle; Picardy and Champagne, which also belong to the Most Christian King1; there is Calais, belonging to the King of England2; belonging to Caesar [the Holy Roman Emperor] are the counties of Flanders and of Artois, Holland, Brabant, Liège, and Luxembourg; there are then the duchy of Cleves, the duchy of Jülich, the duchy of Guelders, and the duchy of Lorraine.

In France is Paris, a very rich and entirely mercantile city, most populous and very large; yet in wealth it falls short of that of Venice by a great measure; nor does it have a greater population, in my judgment, of which they boast. For all the people who are within are seen at every hour, due to the custom there, that all the women and men, old and children, masters and servants, stand in the shops, at the doors, or indeed upon the street; then, through those streets through which men go, go all the animals, and all the carts, mules, and other pack-beasts are led: all of which, if seen together upon the streets of that city, would make the number appear much greater than it is. I conclude that there is a greater number there, but ours is a more honorable populace. That city is also not larger, because Paris has been circled by many in three hours or less, on foot, at a moderate pace; and at its extremities are many gardens.

There is a university there for philosophy and theology. It is said there are twenty-five thousand scholars, but there are not so many. For the most part they are boys, because everyone, however poor he may be, learns to read and write.

In Paris there is a parliament of one hundred and twenty councilors who are divided into different sections, who decide not only all the cases in the last instance from the Île-de-France, Picardy, and Champagne, but all the other cases dispatched in the other parliaments of all the other parts of France. These, like all the other councilors of the other parliaments, have two hundred scudi a year, and hold their office for life. They judge both civil and criminal cases ex lectura from the proceedings; nor are lawyers admitted to defend any of the parties, after the case is concluded. Only doctors may enter, but some are not learned; and it happens that now all offices are sold, for which reason the Most Christian King gives these offices to his servants, who then sell them.

In the region of Normandy is Rouen, which is the second city of that kingdom. It is very mercantile, and reputed to be very rich; it has four fairs a year, and is strong, being a land of importance. It has a port at the mouth of the river Seine, whose tide flows back with great violence as far as Rouen, which is about sixty miles. There are many vessels there, and at times I have seen two hundred sails in that port, but they are small ships. In Normandy much grain grows, not only for its own need, but for the use of many other countries. No wine is produced there, but what is brought in is drunk, and therefore it is expensive, as is the case in Picardy and Brittany, and the people drink beer of pears and apples. They pay a very great duty on wine and beer, because for all the wine that is drunk, and likewise the beer, a third is paid to the king. The governor of the province is the Dauphin3. In Rouen there is a parliament of sixty councilors.

In Picardy is Amiens, the principal city, not very rich, moderately large, but strong, as are all the other frontier lands on that side; it is barren and poor. The governor is Monsignor di Vendôme.4

In Champagne is Reims, a good city where the kings of France are anointed, third in rank, without commerce. There grows much and infinite hemp, both fine and coarse. The governor is Monsignor di Guise.5

Celtica is bounded on the north by the same two rivers, the Seine and the Marne; on the east by the Rhine and the Rhône; on the south by the Garonne and Narbonensis; on the west by the Ocean: the provinces are the other part of Normandy, Brittany, Anjou, Touraine, Berry, Poitou, Limousin, Saintonge, part of Languedoc, Lyonnais, the Swiss lands, and Bresse, which belongs to the Duke of Savoy.

The noble cities are in Brittany Vannes, who are the Veneti; Rennes and Nantes; in Touraine Tours; Orléans and Bourges in Berry; Poitiers in Poitou; Limoges in Limousin; Saintes in Saintonge; Lyon in Lyonnais, and Toulouse in Languedoc, which surpasses all the others of Celtica in size, population, and wealth.

This part has three most noble rivers: the Loire, alias Ligeris, which comes from the Auvergne, passes through Nevers, Orléans, Blois, Amboise, Tours, Nantes, and goes into the Ocean; the Saône, alias Araris, which passes through the middle of Burgundy, and near Lyon enters the Rhône, which goes into the Mediterranean near Marseille; and the Allier which also comes from Auvergne.

In the aforementioned lands much grain is grown, beyond their need, to serve other countries, and especially Spain, when the kings are friends.

From Languedoc is drawn much woad (madder), which they call pastels, wines and wools in good quantity, some saffron and oils; so that much gold is brought into that country because of the said merchandise.

In Toulouse there is a gymnasium in law, the second in reputation after Paris; in Poitiers one, in Orléans one, in Bourges one, all in law; and in Montpellier one in medicine, and surgery. In Toulouse there is a council of fifty councilors.

The governor of Languedoc is the Grand Master; of Auvergne is the Duke of Albany6; of Burgundy is the Admiral.7

Aquitania is bounded on the north and part of the east by the Garonne; on the east and south by the Pyrenees; and on the west by the Ocean, wherein are two provinces, Guyenne and Gascony.

In Guyenne is Bordeaux, a most noble city, at the mouth of the Garonne, from where much wine is sent to England, and pastels to various places. In Bordeaux there is a parliament of forty councillors. The governor is the King of Navarre.8

Narbonensis is bounded to the north by the Rhône, and by the other borders of Celtica; to the east by the Alps, which divide Transalpine Gaul from Italy; to the south it has the Mediterranean Sea; to the west the Garonne, and the other borders of Celtica. In these parts are two provinces and part of Languedoc, in which are Narbonne, Carcassonne and Nîmes. The two provinces are Provence and Dauphiné. In Provence are Marseille and Aix, and there is a parliament of thirty councilors; the governor is the Count of Tende9. In Dauphiné are Avignon, Saint-Esprit, Valence, Vienne, and Grenoble; and there is a parliament of fifty councilors, and the governor is Monsignor of Saint-Pol.10 These two provinces are not very fertile.

Diplomacy

Having spoken of those qualities of France that have seemed necessary to me, I will speak of the disposition of this Most Christian King towards and against the Christian and infidel princes, and especially of those who matter most, and consequently towards Your Serenity.

The Most Christian King holds this Pope11 in high regard, because His Holiness professes to His Majesty to be neutral between him and the Emperor, and therefore by this means the Pontiff keeps himself out of the league of 153212; by which it seems to the Most Christian King to have gained a great deal. Of all the pontiffs, His Majesty will be content if they are neutral, things being as they are. He has many friendly cardinals, whom he wins over with many ecclesiastical benefices; and he desires to have this credit with each pontiff: that no one can be elected who does not owe his pontificate in large part to him. And on this subject, I say, that the right of nomination13 that that king has, is much greater than that which he had before, because he has ten archbishoprics to nominate, eighty-two bishoprics, five hundred and twenty-seven abbeys, and infinite priories and canonries.14 This right of nomination gives him a very great subservience and obedience from the prelates and laity, due to the desire they have for the benefices, and due to the manner in which the king confers them. And in this way he not only satisfies his subjects generously, but also wins over many foreigners. And for this reason, many cardinals keep their agents at that court, to provide news to the Most Christian King from all parts.

His Majesty has made the same offer to the Pontiff as he made to Your Serenity: offering his forces for the defense of His Holiness and of his state, whenever he might be disturbed by the Emperor. The latter, as far as I know, has never replied otherwise than by rendering him thanks, and that, should the need arise, he would make use of his loving offers, but that for now he has no need, and does not believe that His Imperial Majesty is about to give him any trouble. That Most Christian King professes to be an excellent Christian, and has shown himself to be such in these movements of the Lutherans, which have infected almost all of France, because the King has caused very great severity to be used. In the beginning, all those who were found guilty of the offense were burned15, and all their goods were confiscated. Afterwards, they mitigated the penalty considerably, since they punished with fire only the Sacramentarians16; for, knowing, as His Majesty told me, that the Emperor in Flanders had suspended all executions by death against these heretics, he has also granted that against every sort of heretic one should proceed as before, but citra mortem17, except for the Sacramentarians. Nevertheless, His Majesty maintains the closest friendship he can with all these Lutheran elector princes, for no other reason than to support them as enemies of the Emperor. In the negotiations he has had with the King of England, he has always made an exception for matters of religion, although he was greatly pressured on the point.18 When he wants money from the clergy (for during the time of my legation he has received five tithes on two occasions), the first thing he does is ask for license from the Pontiff; who, if he has raised difficulties, has had all the obedient prelates assemble, and has had himself offered what he intended to have under the name of a gratuitous gift for the defense of the kingdom, having the cardinals make the offer first, which is easy because of his rights of nomination. And he extracts two hundred thousand ducats from each tithe.

This King has placed the matter of an agreement between himself and the Emperor in the hands of His Holiness.19 The current relationship His Majesty has with the Emperor is as follows: At the time I went to France, it seemed to me that his mind was entirely bent on the recovery of the State of Milan and the County of Asti, for the reason, he stated, that his sons had through Madame Valentina, legitimate daughter of Duke Galeazzo Visconti, married to Monseigneur the Duke of Orléans, for whose dowry the County of Asti was given to him. And he claims succession to the State of Milan, adducing also an investiture that Maximilian made to King Louis XII; although the Most Christian King renounced the Duchy of Milan and the County of Asti and all of Italy.20 In persuading the Emperor to this cession, smoothly and by agreement, he omitted no amicable means, through the delegates of both, and of Pope Clement, who several times through manifest nuncios attempted to persuade the Emperor, and through the Queen of France21, and that of Hungary22, and many others. And being unable to bring the Emperor to any condition, although the Emperor always gave good words, and never took away his hope (telling him, as the Emperor’s own delegate and many others have told me, that he could not satisfy His Most Christian Majesty at that time, because of the promise given to the Duke of Milan, but that when that state was in his hands, he would please him)23, not content with this, the Most Christian King, because it seemed to him that he was being given empty words, turned to threats, of which there was public talk. And as these too did not work, he resorted to deeds so cautiously that they never came to open war, but in such a way that everyone knew of it. And with this in mind he held the meeting in Marseille with Clement24, in which, hearing that Caesar stood firm in his deliberation, he arranged for the movements of arms in Germany under the pretext of wishing to restore the Duke of Württemberg to his home. In which, if God had not lent a hand through Caesar, who suddenly and with great skill, without the knowledge of the Most Christian king, made peace with the restitution of the Duchy of Württemberg25, all those troops would have come into Italy under the secret favor of Clement. This deed was also aided by the Grand Master, who, always working against the war, delayed the sending of money to Germany. This was also a cause of the peace.

And at the same time, he resolved to make the agreement with the Turk. And so, as the court was going to Marseille, Barbarossa’s delegate came to find the Most Christian King at Le Puy, and after the meeting, another delegate from the Turk came to Châtellerault, where the understanding with the Turk and with Barbarossa was concluded. These two operations, just as they were intended to put the Emperor in such a necessity that he would be forced to satisfy the King, so His Majesty later realized that they made him greater than he was: because the French then saw that the Emperor turned his mind to reconciling and confirming the minds of all the German princes; and then he arranged the marriage of the daughter of the most serene King of the Romans with the firstborn of the Duke of Bavaria, and reconciled himself with the Duke of Saxony, the Duke of Württemberg, and the Landgrave of Hesse. In this way, the Most Christian King saw himself stripped of all the favor he had acquired in Germany, after spending a great quantity of money, and of the hope of being able to have that quantity of good German infantry he desired, except perhaps for adventurers. And the King saw that the expedition of Barbarossa26 to Tunis, founded upon the friendship that the Turk had with his majesty, was the cause for the Emperor to go and ruin him by sea and by land in Africa; by which operation he sees so much reputation and greatness added to the Emperor, that he has begun to fear him.

Now that the Emperor is coming to Italy to hold the council27, the Most Christian King is pushed into greater doubt, and he suspects that the Emperor will make himself greater through the council; because just as the diverse opinions on faith have caused the heretics to obey the Emperor little, so by attempting the council, which can unite and reconcile opinions, he fears that it might also unite the Germans in obedience to him. And by such means the Most Christian King fears that the Emperor will become more powerful, not only with the German princes, but with the free cities, and with the peoples. Whence a great fear for his kingdom arises in him, into which His Majesty has fallen, reasoning thus: “The Emperor, besides his many and great states, has become victorious against the Turk, and has deprived him of a large part of his maritime fleet; he holds all of Italy, part his, part confederate; he will unite Germany by means of the council; he will take revenge against the Duke of Guelders, whom his majesty is bound to defend.”28 Then it is thought that he must move against the King of England, for the errors into which he has fallen.29 He also notes that the Emperor is intent on placing the Count Palatine on the throne of the kingdom of Denmark. And thus surrounded on all sides, he fears being forced to accept all the laws that the Emperor will wish to impose upon him. Hence has arisen such great fear in this Most Christian King and his lords, that whereas before they coveted the Duchy of Milan, now their primary concern is the greatness of the Emperor, and secondarily to Milan. And this is one of the reasons that he offers his forces to the Pontiff and to Your Serenity for their defense, in case the Emperor should wish to alter the states of the Pontiff and of Your Serenity, and so of the rest of Italy. This the king desires infinitely, because he judges that in such a case the Pontiff and Your Serenity would call him into Italy: and then it would seem to him that he would be freed from the fear of the Emperor’s greatness, and that he would gain the Duchy of Milan and the County of Asti. And therefore the Most Christian King hopes that the Pope and Your Serenity will begin to fear the Emperor, seeing him hold the Duchy of Milan30, and that perhaps he wishes to make himself master of the state of Florence, either with Duke Alessandro or with the Republic, either openly or secretly; so that the Pontiff and Your Serenity will become suspicious of the Emperor in Italy, and by this means he may be called there.

This fear is compounded by the fact that the Most Christian King knows well that he has violated the capitulation he has with Caesar, because he promised not to meddle with any of his subjects against him and particularly not to hire soldiers, and not only not to provision the Duke of Guelders, but, if it were necessary, to compel him by arms to remain in his obedience and capitulation; and nevertheless he knows that he has caused war to be moved in Germany by the Landgrave and Württemberg, his vassals, against the King of the Romans and Caesar; and that with his money he has come to an agreement with and paid the Duke of Guelders, on the condition of one thousand lances and fifteen thousand scudi of provision for all his men. Likewise, he knows he has offended Caesar in the understanding he has with the Turk, and especially at the time when he was going to Tunis. To this is also added his doubt that the Turk, his confederate, is so hindered by the Sofi31, that he cannot hope for him to impede Caesar and force him to an agreement, nor even for his help, should the Most Christian King himself be attacked. The firm conclusion, therefore, is, that the Most Christian king fears Caesar and holds him in hatred, both because of his greatness, and also because he holds a grudge against Caesar for the ill treatment of the Dauphin and of Orléans his sons, who were put in prison; besides the fact that he imposed upon him, as they say, too great an obligation for their recovery, and beyond reason.32

From all the aforementioned things, several doubts arise. If the Emperor wished to give the Duchy of Milan on the condition that the Most Christian King give him aid against the Turk, I judge that the King would willingly accept the proposal; because in this way His Majesty would have the Duchy of Milan; and whatever was recovered from the state of the Turk would be divided among those who bore the expense; and thus the Emperor would not make himself greater; and because in such a way it would seem to the Most Christian King that he would cancel and remove the stain contracted by his friendship with the Turk: indeed, this proposal has been made by the French to the Emperor. But if the Emperor wished to give the state of Milan to the Most Christian King in order that he would permit him to ruin the King of England, I say that he would not accept the proposal. And this is no mere conjecture, for the Admiral has repeatedly told both of us ambassadors (which has also been confirmed by the Most Christian King) that he is not about to let the King of England be ruined, and that against those who would wish to offend the King of England with temporal arms, he is ready to oppose them with all his forces, and with his own person; though he did say that, should the council determine something, it would be another matter. Because if that king were ruined, the kingdom would fall to whoever was the husband of Madame Mary, daughter of this king and of Queen Catherine, or else to the King of Scotland, son of one of his sisters. Madame Mary could be the consort of the Dauphin, but the emperor would never tolerate it, because in such a case France and England would belong to the King of France; and then France would have Flanders so surrounded that it would easily be made a subject of France; a place that Caesar loves above all his other lands. If she were given to another, as they would be English and not French, the Most Christian King could never bear it; because whoever had her would acknowledge the consort and the kingdom as coming from Caesar. And then, the Most Christian King could not have any King of England with whom he could be on the same terms as he is with the present one, who, due to his alienation from the Church and the repudiation of his true consort, is so naked and deprived of friends, that out of necessity he remains a friend to the Most Christian King, and adheres to him almost as he wishes. As for the King of Scotland, although he is a very great friend and confidant of this king, yet, were the King of Scotland to be King of England, he would take on the same sentiment against the French that the English have; and then the King of Scotland, being also King of England, would be too great a neighbor not only for France, but also for Caesar. And if the Most Christian King now fears the King of England alone, he would much more fear the King of Scotland were he joined with the kingdom of England. Therefore, the King of France cannot abandon the current King of England, and holds for certain that the ruin of the latter would be the eve of his own.

As for the words of the admiral to us ambassadors, that his majesty wishes to defend the King of England against anyone who with temporal arms would wish to ruin him, even if it were Caesar, but that should the council determine anything, it would be another matter, I say that this exception of the council has been made because in truth this is the principal article that is now being treated between the King of France and the King of England. The King of France makes himself difficult, because it seems to him truly a difficult undertaking to defend a heretic against the decisions of all the Christian church, and perhaps a dangerous one; or because with this article so important, made so difficult by His Most Christian Majesty, he might draw the King of England to more generous terms; or perhaps that exception was made because saying that he wishes to defend the King of England against pontifical decisions seems to him a monumental, and perhaps not very religious, thing to say, and therefore he wishes to mitigate it with that exception, that should the council determine, it would be another matter. It could also be that he had specified that exception of the council, hoping that one would not be held. But if Caesar were willing to give the Duchy of Milan to the Most Christian King, with the pact to abandon the defense of the King of England, he would accept it, not minding for this end the ruin not only of one but of all the Christian princes of the world, including also Your Serenity, provided, however, that with that accord Caesar did not make himself disproportionately greater than the Most Christian King, so that France would not have to fear the Emperor. And this is for the great desire that the Most Christian King has to provide for the Duke of Orleans, his second born, for whom the duchy of Brittany is expected according to the matrimonial pacts made between the Duke of Brittany and King Charles, who was the first husband of Queen Anne, and King Louis in a second marriage: because he fears that this Orleans, after his death, will want that duchy, of which he has had the dauphin crowned, and that for this reason great confusion and war may arise in France between these brothers, with the help also of foreigners, such as the Emperor and the King of England.33 And therefore he is so keen to place Orléans in the Duchy of Milan. But should the said arrangement make the Emperor disproportionately greater than him, and maintain him so, he would not accept it except with the intention of deceiving him. If now the arrangement were proposed to give Milan to the Most Christian King for a very large sum of money, certainly the King of France would give him a great, and perhaps inestimable, quantity of it.

I will now speak of the relationship between the Most Christian King and the Turk34, because it seems to me that after the discussion we have had of what transpires between the King of France and the Emperor, it is opportune to speak of that with the Turk.

I say, therefore, that the Most Christian King, designing to diminish the greatness of the Emperor and to put him in the necessity of asking for his help, so that through that negotiation he might satisfy him regarding the state of Milan, and not wishing to do this openly, while negotiating an understanding with the Germans against the Emperor35, also began to negotiate one with the Turk, who sent him a delegate of his own, or rather under the pretext of Barbarossa, who came to Le Puy when the Most Christian King was on his way to Marseille in July 1533. Then in December 1534, another of his delegates came to Châtellerault, with whom the understanding between them—that is, France, the Turk, and Barbarossa—was concluded; in which the French stipulated a truce for three years. This, in my opinion, which is based on countless grounds, I judge to be an understanding to help the Most Christian King obtain all that he claims from the Emperor. And I judge that such an understanding was likewise deliberated in Marseille with Pope Clement, as was also the one with Germany. And until the Most Christian King saw such great preparation by the Emperor against Barbarossa for Tunis, he judged that he had compelled His Imperial Majesty to ask for his help, and consequently to give him the Duchy of Milan. But since he has seen that Barbarossa’s sally and the taking of Tunis was the cause of making the Emperor known to be so powerful that not only has he routed and beaten Barbarossa, taking from him his naval fleet and his artillery, but has also made himself master of that place, it seems to him that the Emperor has grown so much in reputation that he has cause to fear him. So that he now maintains the friendship of the Turk, because it seems to him he can have no one who could more easily diminish the greatness of the Emperor. Hence it is that he keeps in Constantinople La Foresta, one of his ambassadors, who keeps him advised of every event. This the Most Christian King himself has confirmed to me openly with these words: “Ambassador, I cannot deny that I desire the Turk to sally forth powerfully; not indeed for his own benefit, for he is an infidel, and we are Christians; but to keep the Emperor at expense, and with so great an enemy as to weaken him, and to give greater security to every other potentate.”

And hence it is that with the greatest eagerness he desires that the Turk settle his affair with the Sofi and return to Constantinople, because, once he were there, not only would he consider himself secure from the Emperor, but he would hope to put him to such expense and consequently in such necessity, that he might condescend to some settlement regarding Milan. And it seems all the more necessary to the King to keep the Turk as a friend, because he knows he has attempted many things against His Imperial Majesty in violation of the capitulations; wherefore he may deservedly be wary of His Imperial Majesty, having, especially thus far, no prince of importance as a friend in whom he can trust. And because this friendship with the Turk seems to the French to bring them some infamy (and it is already manifest), they strive to excuse this understanding by saying that defense is admitted and granted to everyone in every cause, for every reason both natural and canonical, and that consequently it is honorable to take aid from anyone, even from infidels, adducing many texts in their favor and refuting those to the contrary. These words were said to me by the admiral. And this understanding of his, the Most Christian King makes out as honorable by the example of many Christian princes who have truce and peace with him; and of others who have sent ambassadors to the Turk himself to have it, by whom it was refused; and that he can more honorably accept an understanding sent to be offered to him right in his own kingdom.

This Most Christian King is necessitated to maintain a close friendship with the King of England for several reasons. First, because he could not undertake any enterprise of war that the English, if they were not his friends, would not disturb, for that people is greatly feared by the French (and in effect ten Englishmen are worth twenty Frenchmen), and because they have in other times subjugated France, such that nothing remained to the King of France but Orléans;36 and from this comes the title that the King of England has to France, because having acquired Paris, he was crowned there to the Kingdom of France; and because the English returned Normandy to the Most Christian King, he gives them fifty thousand scudi a year as census, or rather tribute, perpetuis temporibus. The other is that the great sums of money he is said to possess make him a good partner in any war. Therefore the Most Christian King desires him; the common enemy joining these two kings. For it is already known that the King has no greater enemy among princes than the Emperor, as has already been said; and likewise the King of England, who has not only offended him, but expects war at home from the Emperor at any moment: which makes these two kings ally themselves easily. The opportunity of the place, in which these two kings can offend the Emperor, unites them; for France and England can trouble and win Flanders with the friendship of the Duke of Guelders, which is most dear to the Emperor. Then the scarcity of friends that both have makes them friends with each other; because the Most Christian King forsook his allies at the agreement of Cambrai in 1530, when he recovered his sons; and the King of England lost his for the repudiation of Queen Catherine, the Emperor’s aunt, and for his alienation from the Church. The fear that both kings have of the Emperor’s greatness, and the interest that the Most Christian King has in Milan, joins them against a common enemy to make a greater opposition to him. But between these two kings a distrust arises: for the King of England fears that by allying with France, the Emperor, in whose power it is to give him the Duchy of Milan, may whenever he pleases separate one from the other. And the same suspicion may now be in all other princes who might wish to adhere to France, and not to the Emperor. And therefore this English king, and these lords who govern, desire to make this marriage between Angoulême37 and this daughter of this new queen38, wishing with this marriage to give the King of France such an interest in the kingdom of England that that king may no longer fear that the Emperor might contaminate or corrupt the Most Christian King with Milan. And therefore Winchester, Bryan, and Wallop are ambassadors in France, who are negotiating this closer friendship. And in effect, from what can be seen, the English would want war with the Emperor if the French were to commit themselves fully; because it suits the English, rather than waiting at home for the Emperor to bring war to them, to start the war against the Emperor first, alongside the French. And it is said that the English would want it in Italy and in Flanders; and would contribute a third. The Most Christian King seems to enter this war reluctantly, and is proving difficult. What the cause may be, whether to extract from him greater and broader conditions, or to wait for a better opportunity, is not clear: except that the English see themselves constrained by the Pope, who wishes to proceed against them39, and by the Emperor who wishes to execute the said sentence; for which it is necessary for them to ally with France.

The respect that the Most Christian King truly has for Your Serenity is such that he holds Your Serenity in great repute and love, both because your name is as esteemed as it ever was, and because you are reputed to be the sole foundation for maintaining that liberty which is now found in Italy40, and the Italian name is esteemed wise, faithful, and powerful both in money and in state. Everyone confesses that your prudence and wisdom have guarded you from misfortunes, and after so many wars have brought you to the state in which, by God’s grace, you find yourself, from which any other would have been vanquished and overcome. Your Serenity has increased its credit with the French themselves, by not having wished to heed the propositions made to you by that King, which thing the Most Christian King confirmed to me upon my departure, who told me that he greatly loved Your Serenity because his love was natural, for preserving you, and that of others (meaning to imply Caesar) was to command you; and that he knew that in the reply Your Sublimity had given him in the last propositions, your Most Illustrious Lordships could not do otherwise because of their faith.41 The estimation of power is also attributed to Your Serenity; because they reckon that in these past seven years, you have arranged your affairs in such a way that money cannot be lacking, and that your state is so strong that each of your lands could withstand a defense of two years. So that it seems to them that an enterprise against Your Serenity would be of infinite trouble: and thus the good fortification of your state not only secures the state for you, but also makes princes wary of disturbing you; whence such fortification generates for you a longer peace. They add to your strength, that your peoples are so faithful, that neither fire nor plunder can change their spirit, nor can death itself strike terror into them: and they confirm this strength with your having placed Sforza, Duke of Milan, in his state, and maintained him in it, saying openly that no one can hold the state of Milan except with the good will of Your Serenity.42 That king also loves Your Serenity because he says that the love he bears for you is most natural, and useful for both. And he has affirmed to me that he has never experienced any companion and confederate who has gone further on the great road, that is, who has proceeded more sincerely than Your Serenity; and that he has never done well except when he has been with you. And to me, out of respect for Your Serenity, along with all those lords, he has shown me the greatest honor. And he desires nothing other than to strengthen the friendship with Your Serenity, because with that he would reckon that the greatness of the Emperor would not be so great, and consequently he would not fear it; and with you he would retake the Duchy of Milan and the County of Asti. And he seeks to reassure Your Serenity, saying that he would secure you in every possible way, and that he would never leave you for any deal that the Emperor might offer him. And I am certain that he would come to any agreements that this state might wish. Nor is he troubled by the fact that Your Serenity is allied with the Emperor, although this fact has been most irksome to him; because he admits the reason that Your Serenity has done so out of necessity.

And because the affairs of Milan have a certain connection with Your Serenity, because, in one way or another, they can alter your fortune, I say that although the Most Christian King has for his principal object the greatness of Caesar, he nevertheless does not depart from the claims of succession that he says he has in the state of Milan and in the County of Asti: adding to this the great desire he has to place Monsignor d’Orléans in that state, for the fear he has that the latter might wish to have the Duchy of Brittany. For the recovery of the state of Milan, His Majesty has had various hopes. One was in the death of Caesar, through which he hoped to have it, having a lesser adversary; the other was in the death of the Duke of Milan, at which time he esteemed that Your Serenity’s confederation would be broken and that Your Serenity, should the death of the Duke occur—by which Caesar would enter into possession of that state—would move vigorously not only to consent that the said King come into Italy to take the Duchy of Milan, but to call him as well: judging that it must not please Your Serenity that to the so great power of Caesar, the Duchy of Milan should also be added. Whence it has come that, the death of the Duke of Milan having occurred, the Most Christian King says he is waiting for Your Serenity to call him, and that he does not wish to move otherwise.

Wherefore, if I were asked whether the Most Christian King, uncalled by Your Serenity, would come into Italy, I would say that his Most Christian Majesty will maintain this reputation of not wishing to come into Italy unless called, until such time as he agrees with the English king to defend his kingdom of France, should the need arise, and until he sees that the Turk is in Constantinople ready and prepared to assault Germany by land, and Italy by sea, whereby the enterprise would be made easier. And he already repents that he did not assault Italy at the time the Turk went into Germany, and the Emperor to its defense, or when the Emperor went to Tunis. And the Grand Master was in large part the cause, who, because he agreed with the opinion that he ought not to go into Italy at that time, has received some charge and blame from the Most Christian King. For if the matter of the Turk could not favor him, but the English king were confederated with him, as is said, I would believe that in such a case he would come, if not with the hope of it being agreeable to Your Serenity, then with the judgment that what you are unwilling to do before he is powerful in friends and army, you would do upon seeing him accompanied by the English king and already armed in Italy (due to the interest he judges Your Serenity has in Milan not being added to the greatness of the Emperor); and if the Pontiff also concurred in wanting the Most Christian King in Italy, then I am certain that he would come, presupposing he would more easily win over Your Serenity. But should Your Serenity not call him, and make it known that it is not to your liking, but rather that you wish to oppose him with arms, I am certain that His Majesty would not come, unless with the help, and no small amount, of the Turk.

With the most illustrious Duke of Savoy, who was the brother of the late mother of this Most Christian King, he takes no account of friendship, for having received the County of Asti from the Emperor, which the Most Christian King claims belongs to his sons. Nor does he admit the Duke’s excuse, who says that it is a lesser evil for that county to be his, who is his relative and servant, than for it to belong to the Emperor who is so great. Likewise, for having given his son to the Emperor43, which seems to him to be a most secure pledge of his feelings towards the Emperor, and a certainty of his alienation from that majesty. This ill disposition was increased by the refusal to give him Nice for the meeting between Pope Clement and his majesty, which was later held in Marseille.44 Whence it proceeds that the differences which the Most Christian King had have grown—that is, to have back Nice, Villafranca, and other places, as the Most Christian King told me, pledged by the Count of Provence, where no prescription has ever occurred because they have been frequently demanded.45 It has also been brought up that the Most Christian King wants a certain portion of the movable goods belonging to his late mother; with equal secrecy, a jurist of the crown insinuated a protest to the same effect, when the ratification of the treaty was registered in the parliament of Paris. With this artifice, unworthy of a king and destructive of public faith and the mutual trust on which pacts between nations rest, this king, who for many is a synonym of honor, thought he had conscientiously freed himself from the obligation to respect his given word, and maintained his right to those possessions. And he has several times planned, as compensation, to take from him his country upon the Saône, which is called Bresse, bordering Lyon and Geneva, which is very strong, and to which he claims a right of succession from his mother. He also has his eye on Geneva46, and has already sent there Monsignor di Vera, a Savoyard, his gentleman of the chamber, who seems to have a reputation in those parts. This man, having requested from the lieutenant of the province the company of Signor Renzo, of eighty men-at-arms and one hundred fifty archers, with letters of credence from the Most Christian King to the same, they were routed by the countrymen and some soldiers of the Duke who were besieging the territory of Geneva, guarding the narrow passes, so soundly that not one hundred fifty horses returned. All the others were taken prisoner, so that more than two hundred horses and eighty good men were captured.

For which reason, the gentlemen of both sides having gone to the Most Christian king and to the Duke of Savoy, the king, by means of instructional letters to Monsignor de Chalant, Marshal of Savoy, made it known that he had known nothing of these men of his having to go to Geneva. The Duke of Savoy has shown that he believes him; and has decided to return the men, and to excuse himself for not being able to also return the horses, which are already dispersed in such places that they can no longer be recovered, and that should it please his majesty, he will pay for them. And with this order the Count of Chalant has gone to tell him openly that he did not want war with His Majesty, who is his kinsman and master. I, now, in the mountains, encountered six hundred foot soldiers who were passing through to go to Geneva. And in conclusion, as long as the Duke of Savoy adheres to Caesar, he will always be an enemy of France; he, due to the weakness of his state and his poverty, cannot contend with the King of France: e stantibus rebus sic, if the king is to begin a war against Italy, it is the opinion of all that it will begin in Savoy. And already, either as a demonstration of war, or to be able to make peace on better terms, the Most Christian King has sent Signor Marcantonio Clurano (Clauran) to the Duke of Savoy, to make him understand that His Majesty wanted everything that belonged to him and that he was occupying; and that for this reason he was sending Monsignor Poieto of his royal council, to whom he should give an immediate reply: because otherwise, if he did not give one, he would proceed to recover what was his by other means.

This Most Christian King maintains as close a friendship and understanding with the Germans as he possibly can. The reason this friendship is nurtured is that the King knows that although the German princes are allied with the Emperor, and departed from the confederation they had with France47 (from which they excuse themselves, claiming not to have defaulted, because they say the confederation they have with the Most Christian King is only for mutual defense), nevertheless it seems to His Majesty that, seeing the Emperor as too powerful and fearing for their liberty, it is in their interest to remain friends with the King of France, who alone could defend them. Furthermore, he knows that these German princes are avaricious and poor, and he wishes to be very generous with them. But Württemberg and the Landgrave of Hesse, who are in effect evil men, and fear the Emperor for the many quarrels they have had or could have, cannot but always adhere to the King of France, as he is the one who maintains their state and reputation. Hence it is said that the Most Christian King, by a tacit promise from Württemberg and the Landgrave, is to have sixteen thousand German infantrymen, and others say more, because they have many captains, and among the other principal ones, Count Wilhelm von Fürstenberg, who has a very great reputation among the German soldiers. These men have no states of their own, and consequently have no fear of losing them: they live in the free lands, and do not fear those commands that forbid German infantry from entering the service of any foreign prince. And at the court of the Most Christian King is the son of the Duke of Württemberg, honorably maintained by His Majesty: and he has six thousand francs a year.

The Most Christian King does not trust the Swiss, nor does he love them, because he considers them not very faithful, and a disobedient people in an army. But still it behooves him to stay on good terms with them, because they are neighbors to his Burgundy, which, as they have done at other times, they could assault, and also trouble all of France. And therefore he keeps them provided for, both publicly and privately. Publicly, I say, because he ordinarily gives to each canton one thousand five hundred scudi a year; of which there are thirteen, which makes nineteen thousand five hundred scudi. Privately he gives pensions to individuals: which at other times, before these Lutheran sects, amounted to more than sixty thousand scudi a year, but after these sects appeared, some cantons do not want individuals to take pensions, and so now the private pensions do not exceed forty thousand scudi, which in total, with the public ones, sum to sixty thousand. Besides these, he also gives them a good deal of money every year, on account of old quarrels. These have been settled at a certain amount per year, so that in a few years they will be paid off. And because this king would not want them in any army, because he does not trust them, nor does he trust leaving them at home while his army is outside of France, because they would without fail assault France, he has decided to have four or five thousand of them and no more, so that there are not so many that they cannot be governed in the army. And it seems to him that in this way he secures himself against them.

The Most Christian King maintains friendship with the King of Portugal48, who guards it with the greatest diligence and observance. The ambassador of Portugal has told me that his king greatly fears Caesar, for which reason he desires the greatness of France. The King of Portugal, as is known, in the lands of the Indies49, which he has made his ex veteri occupatione, not only wishes to have superiority, but does not want any other man, whoever he may be, to go to those places. And since Frenchmen from Normandy, Brittany, and Picardy have gone many times to Brazil, they have been very badly treated by the Portuguese, so that great quarrels have arisen in France against the Portuguese. And yet the French and others who go there also wish to maintain this right.50 And so this matter rests in a very long negotiation, on the part of the French with the admiral, and on the part of the Portuguese with their ambassador, who, with great presents that he gives to the admiral, draws the matter out. To this is then added that in Portugal there is a daughter of the Queen of France, who was married in her first marriage to the predecessor of this King of Portugal51, which daughter is very rich, because she has a dowry of four hundred thousand scudi; and the profit that this dowry has made in the Indies amounts to one hundred thousand; and then her mother’s dowry, which is in France, of two hundred thousand scudi, for which the county of Lorraine is obligated; and then all her garments and jewels, which are in effect of an inestimable value. This daughter, the King of Portugal offers to the King of France for the Dauphin; and the matter is much urged by the Queen of France, her mother; and with so much the greater insistence since they cannot give her to the firstborn of the King of the Romans, because it seems they are saving that prince for the Emperor’s daughter, whom they do not want to go outside the House of Austria, because they fear the weakness of the Emperor’s son, and in such a case, the daughter would succeed. Which is also the reason why he will never allow the marriage of the Emperor’s daughter to the Dauphin.52

Portugal will therefore want, with this marriage of the Dauphin, to put an end to the quarrels over Brazil; that is, that the Most Christian King should bind his people not to go there. But the negotiation is drawn out, because in effect the marriage does not please the Most Christian King.53

The Most Christian King bore no love for the most illustrious Duke Alfonso of Ferrara54, because he knew in effect that he followed the Imperial party. And therefore he issued an edict in his kingdom that all those who held assets of the French crown, by whatever title, should relinquish them as assets that could not be alienated: so that all returned to the crown. And the greater part were restored, except for some estates that the Most Christian King had given by instrument to the said Duke, at the time when Duke Ercole took Madame Renée as his consort55, from which he drew perhaps ten thousand scudi a year. The Duke of Ferrara was a creditor for money and munitions given to the French camp when it was in Italy; nor has the king ever been willing to actually repay the duke, although in words he has never denied it. Upon the death of Duke Alfonso, the French raised very great hopes that Duke Ercole his son, as one who had Madame Renée for a consort, would proceed more reservedly with the Emperor; and with this opinion the King has procured with all his power to reconcile him with the Pontiff, because he hoped that, once he had reconciled him with the Pope, he would be obligated to him. And so he promised him the ninety-one thousand scudi which he owes him. But since he has gone to Caesar56, he has fallen into very bad standing with the French. And from what I understand, Monsignor della Matteglia, who was the King’s diplomat to the Duke, says that Madame Renée is not very well treated. So that, the assignment of the money for this whole year that began this January having already been given, and the necessary papers drawn up, the resolution seems to have come to naught.

Forces

Concerning the power of the Most Christian King, I esteem him to be stronger than any other King of France has been for a long time; because his realm of France is larger, and he holds it more obedient and more united than any of his predecessors. For he has joined Brittany to the crown, along with the other states, something no other king has achieved. He has also incorporated the Duchy of Bourbon57; and with the death of Queen Mary, who was the consort of King Louis58, he has saved thirty thousand scudi a year. He used to have three thousand lances, and six thousand light horse, which they call archers; but although these archers were all under the command of the captains and men-at-arms, the king made little use of them. Now he has reduced them to two thousand lances and three thousand archers, who have been very well paid for the last year and a half; they are very well armed and in good order, from what I have seen myself, and from what is said. He has seven legions of his countrymen, of six thousand infantry each, making forty-two thousand infantry; some are good, such as those on the frontiers of Burgundy, Gascony, the Dauphiné, Champagne, and Picardy; and some are inexperienced, such as those of Normandy, Brittany, and Languedoc. Of all these, the King plans to use only three legions in his army: the rest he intends to keep in France. He also has his guard of gentlemen, who are obliged to serve him at their own expense for a month and a half, numbering ten thousand, who are for the defense of the kingdom. He has now resolved to create a company of one thousand gentlemen on foot for war. From what was known at court upon my departure, this Most Christian King already had the said German infantry in his pay. He can have as many Swiss as he wants. On the side of Flanders, he has the Duke of Guelders, who can always raise seven thousand foot soldiers.

He also has plenty of artillery of all kinds in order; for, besides the rest, I have seen a battery of artillery pieces newly made in Paris, of one hundred double cannons and culverins, and they are of a softer metal than ours and consequently not as brittle. And for this reason they use less metal; which yields two benefits: one that they cost less, and the other that they are transported more easily and at less expense.

Therefore I judge that in a month and a half at the most, he could assemble an army of two thousand lances, three thousand light horse, eighteen thousand French, Gascon, Picard, Champagne, and Dauphiné foot soldiers, sixteen thousand Germans, and five thousand Swiss (because he wants no more of them), and five thousand Italians59, of whom he likewise wants no more; which in total would make forty-eight thousand foot soldiers. It is true that, if he wished to wage war in Flanders as well, even though he had other legions, and had the seven thousand of the Duke of Guelders, and the English also joined in, I believe it would be necessary for him to take from this number of forty-eight thousand.

By sea, he has thirty galleys, of which only twenty-six are in order, and the other four could quickly be put in order. They are manned by convicts; but they do not have a reputation for being very good. They cost the Most Christian King four hundred scudi each per month, with the king providing the convicts; the captains provide the galleys and all other expenses. In Normandy, in the port of Grasse, he has that great ship of his of great tonnage, which has over sixty pieces of artillery, so they say; of which thirty are of metal, and are double cannons and culverins. He has five galleasses, both old and new; and they are shorter than our great galleys, taller, and wider, with two decks and two banks of oars, one per deck; the inner ones are twenty-four feet long; the upper ones thirty-six; but they are of little use, as they can serve for nothing but turning, and rounding a cape, and similar things. They carry a great number of artillery pieces. He also has four galleons.

He certainly has many fine fortresses, and has had them repaired with the fines from misdeeds, which are applied to the King, who, besides the power of arms, also has money and obedience.

Revenues

I say that His Majesty has an ordinary income of two and a half million. I say ordinary, because if he wishes to increase the taxes on his people, however great the levies he imposes, they pay him that much without any objection.

On this subject, I will say that the peasants, upon whom the burden of the levies falls, are very poor, so that any further burden he might place on them would be unbearable. But in this matter another thing is to be understood: that, although it is said that the Most Christian King has great obedience throughout his kingdom, nevertheless this proposition is both true and false: true because on those upon whom he is accustomed to place taxes, he can place as many as he wishes; it is false, because no gentleman of all France pays any levy, not only on feudal property, but also on that which they acquire, provided they have it worked. Thus, almost none of the principal lands of France pays levies, an exemption they have had from the kings in times past: such as Paris, Rouen, Amiens, Lyon, Loches, Blois, Dijon, Châlons, Vienne, Nevers, Narbonne, Toulouse, and all the others. It is true, however, that sometimes the King asks for a gift. For if the King could place the ordinary taxes and increase them on the gentlemen and the exempt lands, his revenues would increase most greatly.

His revenue of two and a half million in gold is: which he draws from Normandy (which is his most useful country) five hundred thousand scudi; from Languedoc (which contains many other places and countries), four hundred fifty thousand; from Brittany, two hundred fifty thousand scudi; from Picardy, one hundred fifty thousand; from Champagne, one hundred thousand; from Burgundy, one hundred thousand: from the Dauphiné and Lyonnais, one hundred thousand; from Provence, two hundred thousand; from Bourbonnais, fifty thousand.

There are then the casual profits, which are confiscations for crimes, heresies, vacant offices, foreigners who die without an heir, which amount to the sum of two hundred thousand scudi. Of which an order has presently been made, that for a time they may no longer be given away, but that all should be sold and accumulated. These used to be given away, and with them to gratify the lord gentlemen and all the king’s servants. These casual profits are so great, that for three consecutive years they have paid with them all the ordinary pensions, excepting those of England, the Swiss, and the Germans.

There is also the salt, the woods, and some revenues that are proper to the King, which are called of the domain, which are now more now less, according to what the King gives, and when those to whom he gives die. All therefore, in sum, amount to two and a half million.

Expenses

His expenditure is as follows: First, two thousand lances, I put, by the best account, at two hundred thousand scudi a year. The archers, one hundred fifty thousand scudi. The maritime fleet of thirty galleys, at a rate of four hundred scudi per month, about one hundred fifty thousand scudi. The fleet of Normandy costs him sixty thousand scudi.

The pensions for England, one hundred thousand; for the Swiss, sixty thousand scudi; for the Germans, it is not known; the pensions for princes and gentlemen, condottieri and captains are put at two hundred thousand scudi, including his officials: because the Duke of Guelders has five thousand scudi; Monsignor de Vendôme, the King of Navarre, the Queen of Navarre, the Duke of Lorraine, have twelve thousand scudi each; Monsignor de Saint-Pol, Guise, the Grand Master, the Admiral, Boisy, the Marshal of Marseille, Aubigny, Madame de Vendôme, Madame de Nevers, Aluigi Monsignor de Nevers, have five thousand scudi a year each.

They put for artillery and munitions twenty thousand scudi a year.

The King then has two hundred gentlemen of the household who serve in rotation, who have two hundred scudi a year, which makes forty thousand scudi. He then has four hundred forty archers in his guard, who have fifty scudi each, with other allowances for horses and pages, which amount to eighty scudi a year per man, making the sum of thirty-five thousand scudi. He has one hundred Swiss who have fifty scudi each, which makes the sum of five thousand a year.

Twenty-five thousand scudi a year are put into private buildings, and as much into public ones. And this is understandable; because when the King undertakes a building project, whether public or private, salaried supervising officials are appointed from the households of the governing lords, and these are never again dismissed. And hence it happens that no project once begun is ever finished.

His hunting and venery are estimated to be worth forty thousand scudi; the stables, twenty thousand scudi. For minor pleasures, which also include the purchase of jewels, especially diamonds, and public gifts made to the ladies of the court, for which ninety-six thousand scudi are allocated, he spends one hundred thousand, and one hundred and fifty thousand. And in this the king has no measure whatsoever.

The carts and mules that follow the court are set at ten thousand scudi. Then there are the expenses for letters, couriers, and gifts for ambassadors, which amount to about ten thousand scudi a year.

There are then the salaries of one hundred and twenty councilors of the Parliament of Paris, fifty of Toulouse, forty of Rouen, thirty of Burgundy, thirty of Grenoble, thirty of Aix-en-Provence, twenty of the Grand Council; which makes the number of three hundred and twenty: at two hundred scudi per person, they make in all sixty-four thousand scudi; and with the presidents who have six hundred scudi per person, they make the number of seventy thousand scudi.

There are then the expenses for the clothing of the king and queen, sons and daughters; and so for their living, which amount perhaps to seven hundred thousand scudi, although they say more.

So that about four hundred thousand scudi are saved per year from all the revenue, although they say that the king saves eighteen thousand scudi a quarter, which would be only seventy-two thousand scudi.

The Royal Family

This Most Christian King has three sons: the Dauphin, who is named Francis, the Duke of Orléans [Henry], and Monseigneur d’Angoulême [Charles]. He has two daughters: Madame Madeleine and Madame Marguerite.

The Dauphin is twenty years of age, and is of a melancholic complexion, and devoted to manual works and to arms. He shows love for the Italians and hatred for the Spaniards, because he says he remembers his imprisonment and the ill-treatment he received. He would like for a wife the daughter of the King of England, Madame Mary, daughter of Madame Catherine; but there is no arrangement for this marriage to succeed, given the king’s marriage to this new queen, and his alienation from the church. The King, for his part, would like to give him the Emperor’s daughter, hoping by this means to obtain the Duchy of Milan. But even if Caesar and the King of France were in agreement about Milan, Caesar would not, however, agree to give him his daughter as a wife, because Spain would never support a daughter of the King of Spain, who has a right of succession to those kingdoms, deficientibus masculis, entering the house of France. There is also the match with Portugal still under consideration, as has been said, which openly pleases neither the Most Christian King nor the Dauphin.

Monseigneur d’Orléans is sixteen going on seventeen years old; and he too is melancholic, but is held to be wiser. He is married to Madame Catherine de’ Medici, to the great dissatisfaction of all France, because it seems to everyone that Pope Clement has tricked this Most Christian King. Yet she is very obedient; and the King, her husband, the Dauphin, and the brothers show great love for her.60

Angoulême is fourteen going on fifteen years old; he is a handsome, cheerful, and very courteous prince. For him, it is planned to give the daughter of the Queen of Navarre, who has a dowry of sixty thousand scudi, between her and her husband. Although there is also talk of marrying him to the youngest daughter of the king of England.61

It is not known for certain to whom Madame Madeleine should be given, whether to the King of Scotland, whom she would like, or to the son of the Duke of Lorraine, or to the Prince, son of the Emperor. The latter is too young: the one from Lorraine she does not want, because she says she wants no one but a king. And so the matter remains in doubt.62

Madame Marguerite is planned to be given either to the son of Caesar, or to one of the sons of the King of the Romans in case of friendship and understanding, or else to the son of the Duke of Savoy, in case of reconciliation.63

Court

Those who are in high standing with the Most Christian King are the Cardinal of Lorraine64, who knows all the secrets of the Most Christian King, and especially since his return from Italy, because he enters into all the secret councils, and this man can do everything; but he does not negotiate, nor does he take on any office. Then the Admiral65, who also can do everything with the King, and is so intimate with him that he speaks to him more freely than anyone else. And if he wished to negotiate, he would have all the offices; but he does not have the constitution for so much business, and he is pleased to keep himself thus without much business, because he cannot be judged, and he judges others. This man is very rich in money, movable goods, and revenues. He has made for himself a personal income of fifteen thousand scudi. But the King lets him enjoy a world of revenues for life. The Grand Master66 also has a very great reputation; indeed, the respect between the Grand Master and the King is of greater importance, and he has all business in his hands. Monsignor de Tournon67 is a man of reputation; and is esteemed wise and of a calm intellect. Then enter the council the Chancellor68, and President Poyet69; but they do not yet have a reputation in the practice of statecraft, and the entire government is with the Grand Master and the Admiral. The Grand Master has always been inclined to peace with Caesar, nor has he ever allowed war to begin, nor has he ever wanted friendship with the Germans.70 The admiral, although he has not been very keen on war, has not, however, been far from it: and he has been the one who advised the Most Christian King to friendship with the German electors, England, and the Turk.

My legation lasted forty months, which God willed that I should spend entirely in travels, because shortly after arriving in Paris, the Most Christian King set out on the journey to Marseille, and passing through Bourbonnais and Lyonnais, we went on to Auvergne and Languedoc and Provence in that excessive heat. And the meeting71 was so prolonged that, just as when we departed from Paris, everyone judged that it should take place in summer, so it was held in November. Wherefore it happened that the ambassadors, having brought with them nothing but summer clothes, had to have winter clothes made; and we paid for the furs half again as much as they were worth. And on that journey I was bitten by a horse and a mule.

After leaving Marseille we went through Provence, Dauphiné, Lyonnais, Burgundy, and Champagne, and arrived in Lorraine for the parley which the Most Christian King held with the Landgrave of Hesse; and from there we returned to Paris. It was a journey of a year; during which, having always been traveling, I promise Your Serenity, by the faith I bear you, that I spent of my own, besides the salary that Your Serenity gave me, six hundred scudi, reckoning the exchanges which at that time rose from Lyon to Venice by ten percent for that occasion, because everyone made use of that market; and Pope Clement drew forty thousand scudi.

Having finally arrived in Paris at the same lodging as my most illustrious predecessors, eleven of my horses and all their harnesses burned in a stable: from which only my mule was saved. This loss cost me more than four hundred scudi; because I had striven to be honorably mounted. But this loss was followed by another inconvenience; for, as the King was about to depart, I was obliged to mount myself again and repurchase another ten horses, at a time when His Majesty had commanded that a review of his rear-guard on horseback and in arms be held—which caused me to pay very dearly for them. For which, waiting in vain for some assistance from Your Serenity, I was forced to sell some of my silver.

Afterwards, the Most Christian King (for never in my time has the court stayed so long that I could judge it to be in one place for fifteen days) went to Lorraine, Poitou, and other parts of Belgica, then to Normandy and France, and from there once again to Normandy, Picardy, Champagne, Burgundy. And this continual wandering was the cause of an excessive expense and my intolerable loss, not only for me, who am a poor gentleman, as everyone knows and is aware, but it would have been so for any other rich man as well.72 And so, to conclude, I reverently beseech Your Serenity to deign to hold me in your favor, showing some sign by which I may know that my service has been pleasing to you.

Report

Revenues

Having particularly and distinctly narrated all that was to be considered regarding the person, qualities, and conditions of the Emperor [Charles V] and his states, it does not seem unbefitting our purpose to make the same discourse concerning the person of the Most Serene King of the Romans, his brother, and all of his affairs, since he is a prince worthy of great esteem, especially before your serenity, both for the strength of his own states and those so long near to ours, as well as for the imperial dignity newly added to him.

The said Most Serene King, therefore, who is now twenty-nine years of age, possesses by hereditary jure, as his own inherited states1, the Archduchy of Austria, the counties of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, and the county of Tyrol, which, by the division and agreement made between the two brothers, have fallen to his share, the Emperor having ceded to him all the rights he had in them. He has since gained the Duchy of Württemberg, having driven out its duke2 with the help of the Swabian League3 because in past wars he took the side of the King of France and committed many insolences both against the neighboring states and lands and against his own people; for which he was by Imperial Ban deprived of the rights to that duchy, and these were granted to whomever might win them by force of arms.4 After the death of the King of Bohemia and Hungary, his brother-in-law5, he acquired by election of the barons of the province, according to their usual custom, the kingdom of Bohemia, and with it jointly the provinces, that is, the duchies of Silesia and Moravia. And not only on account of his wife, who it seems should remain, jure successionis ab intestato, heir to her dead brother, but for various other reasons he also lays claim to the kingdom of Hungary, of which he possesses a part, and for the rest is in contention with King John6, for which cause so great a war has occurred, that it has caused a large part, and perhaps the best of it, to fall into the hands of the Lord Turk, and the rest, along with a good part of Austria, to remain almost destroyed by Turkish incursions, depredations, and fires; and its outcome, with perhaps little hope of any good, is still in doubt. There is also in Silesia a duchy, called the Duchy of Oppeln, which, after the death of its duke, who is very old and without any heir, is, as a royal fief, to devolve to the crown. Of this duchy, at the request and with the authority and consent of the late King Louis of Hungary, Margrave George of Brandenburg, uncle and tutor of the said king, was instituted heir by the said duke; but King Ferdinand never having been willing to confirm for him either this institution, or the donation of certain castles and places in Hungary, after much controversy, late last year they came to an agreement between them that the said Most Serene King Ferdinand is to pay the said margrave two hundred and fifty thousand Rhenish florins7 within a term of two years, and retain the rights to said places, so that after the death of said duke the said duchy of Oppeln shall be acquired and become his own. To this has finally been added the imperial dignity, for being elected and crowned King of the Romans, once His Majesty the Caesar of Germany has departed and gone to Spain, he will govern all the affairs of the Empire.8

From all these his states he draws a good sum of money in revenue and many services; although his revenues, if not perhaps all of them, as some say, at least for the most part, are either pledged or obligated to his various creditors.

From the revenues of the county of Tyrol, when they are free, between the salt that is made there and the duties, a total annual income of four hundred thousand Rhenish florins is usually drawn.

From the duchies of Austria, Styria, Carniola, and Carinthia, something has likewise been pledged, but when all the revenues are free, four hundred thousand Rhenish florins can be drawn from them each year.

From the Duchy of Württemberg he has so far drawn nothing, because its revenues have been obligated to pay the debt contracted for the expenses incurred by the Swabian League in its acquisition, which amounted to a great sum, which his majesty has undertaken to pay upon becoming lord of that state; but when this payment is finished, of which it still seems some part remains, it is said by some that he will have an annual income of two hundred thousand Rhenish florins, but most put it at only one hundred thousand.

From the other aforesaid states that he at present holds and possesses, he draws no ordinary revenue, except for the services of men and money that he obtains from them according to his needs. But beyond the aforesaid revenues, he has that the Emperor, by agreement between them, and by the testament of the Catholic King who left him heir to the Kingdom of Naples and other things acquired by him with that condition, is obliged to pay him every year from the revenues of said kingdom, sixty thousand gold ducats, which come to make eighty-four thousand Rhenish florins.

For the imperial dignity, the Emperor Maximilian used to draw an annual income of about two hundred thousand Rhenish florins, which was drawn partly from the pensions that go to the fiscal chamber from condemnations in the imperial lands, and partly from certain profits of the chancellery; but now it seems that a large part, due to the Emperor’s absence and perhaps the negligence of those who had charge of it, has gone to ruin, so that not half of it is drawn, which is left, I believe, by the Emperor for the King to enjoy with the charge of the dignity; and I have heard that it does not exceed the sum of seventy thousand Rhenish florins.

From the aforesaid Duchy of Open, when it will be his, it is said that he is to draw twenty-five thousand Rhenish florins a year, which makes in sum one million and seventy-nine thousand Rhenish florins.

Besides the aforementioned ordinary revenues, he often asks of these his states, according to his needs, aid in men and money, and places upon some, such as in the county of Tyrol, and in the duchies of Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, such impositions as he sees fit, from which he draws a good sum from time to time through these means, which sometimes amounts to a quarter of the revenues. Thus, during the time I spent in Germany with His Caesarean Majesty, while we were in Innsbruck, in a diet held by the County of Tyrol, it was resolved to pay for his needs in the war in Hungary five thousand infantry for five months, for the expense of which he thought to take the money and to spend half on infantry and the other half on as many Italian light horse. And with this thought, having arrived in Augsburg, he hired Pavolo Luzasco9, who began to raise the horses, but then, due to a certain difference in the conditions of the contract, he did not come; nevertheless the king paid with the said money other people whom he sent, both Spaniards and Germans, with Captain Roccandolfo, to Hungary, and the sum of this money, which has been granted to him again this year, was about one hundred thousand rainos.

He has also had from his Holiness the Pope the grant of the tithe of all ecclesiastical benefices, and besides this, the indulgence, both in all his states as well as in many others in Italy; from which tithe and indulgence he has drawn no small sum of gold, although how much this has been is not said.

From his states of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, not only does he draw, as I have already said, no ordinary revenue, or if any, very little, but he also does not have in them the authority to levy impositions at his pleasure, as he has in his other states, except what he can obtain for the urgent needs of war from the barons and the men of the government of the kingdom and of the other two said provinces; who, not by any obligation they have, nor out of obedience to their king, but by their own free will, sometimes grant a good number of foot soldiers and horsemen, which are of good quality, especially the foot soldiers from that province. His Majesty expects that he would have from these three provinces, in the present need, forty-five thousand combatants, because he says that in other times of need he has drawn from them before, and especially in the year the Turk came to Vienna, a notable sum of troops paid by them, both infantry and cavalry. And I have heard from a person who would know it well and is very credible, that this year, so far, he has obtained from them one hundred and twenty thousand gold ducats.

Of the places he now possesses in the Kingdom of Hungary I include nothing, because from these, due to the contention he has for that kingdom with King John, he has rather very great expense than any revenue.

He could also, from the free imperial peoples or lands, if he were to make himself more their friend, draw some sum of money by way of gifts or subsidies, as Emperor Maximilian did, who from these with skill, through the favor he had with them, now in one way and now in another, obtained gifts of no small sum of money, with which were often paid the debts he had contracted both with his court and with those where he had once lodged with his retinue. This the present emperor has never been able to do, for having been absent from them; but the King of the Romans, who will always be near them, will perhaps be able to do it if he knows how or has the means to maintain relations with them, so that he is not, on account of the erroneous opinions many of them hold against the Catholic faith, by chance refused.

His ordinary expenses could not be well stated, because until now he has never limited them; but both because he found the revenues of his states mortgaged, which he first attended to recovering, and because of the continuous dispute he has since had over the kingdom of Hungary with King John, he has spent sometimes more and sometimes less, according as he has been more or less constrained by the war, so that nothing certain can be said. However, because he always spends lavishly, and keeps a good and well-ordered court, and dresses most splendidly, the expense he incurs is such that he is always seen to be in need, and not being able to support himself so well from his own revenues, it is necessary that he seek to help himself as much as he can with the impositions he places almost continually upon his states.

Court

In his government he keeps many councilors near him; but four especially are the principal ones and of most esteem, who are of the privy council; namely the Cardinal of Trent, the Count of Ortenburg called Salamanca, Captain Roggendorf, and Don Johann Hofmann.

The first10 is his grand chancellor, who in truth is now of greater authority than any other; but it is quite true that because he is Italian11, and knows he has to deal with a people full of suspicion (such as the Germans), he treats them with the greatest respect, and proceeds very reservedly, so that he does not willingly grow as heated in the matters that are discussed as he might. He is a most humane lord, and always directs his works to a good end and with much prudence. And because he thinks very well of the government of this Most Excellent Republic [Venice], and it seems to him that he has received from her at various times many favors of which he keeps a memory, he shows himself to be not a little affectionate towards her, and where he has been able, I have always found him desirous of pleasing her and ready to act so that her requests might be satisfied; for which reason I reverently exhort Your Serenity to keep him always benevolent with every office you can, because you can expect from him nothing but the best assistance with the King in your affairs, which arise from the proximity of the states.

For the second, who is a Spaniard raised with him in Spain, he has much affection. This man formerly had the title of treasurer, and the King was accustomed to govern through him, so that he did almost everything (and in truth he is an esteemed and honored man, of quick wit, wise, and very shrewd); but because he was not pleasing to the Germans, and it seemed they could not bear the sight of him, the King was forced to send him away from the Court; so that he has given him some castles above Villach, which give him an income of perhaps eight thousand florins, and made him Count of Ortenburg, where he stays for most of the year, and he now meddles little with the government.

Captain Roggendorf, who is his grand master, is German; he has long served in Spain and in the Italian wars, and is reputed to be a man of courage, and one who understands matters of war better than any other German, and therefore the King gave him command of all the troops he had in Hungary and made him captain of that entire enterprise.

Hofmann, who is now the treasurer, is also German, and is in high favor with the King. But in truth the most reverend Cardinal of Trent is the one who has more authority over him than all the others, and he is almost always by his side.

Besides these, he then has his councilors of justice, among whom is Count Leonardo Nogarola, a gentleman from Vicenza, who was the son of Count Girolamo, formerly banished for rebellion by Your Serenity. He is greatly loved, and much employed by the King. Having known him first in Augsburg, and then at the court of the emperor, which he followed in Flanders as the King’s ambassador, he has always seemed to me a very prudent and modest gentleman.

Of him, both in Augsburg and in Aachen, the King spoke to me several times, urging me with such zeal and affection that I should recommend him to Your Serenity, to an extent I cannot describe; but in truth, he acted in such a manner that, as I wrote in my letters even then, he showed that he was extremely fond of him: for which reason I believe it could only greatly benefit the affairs of this Most Excellent Dominion to gratify him, if possible, at least in some part of his petitions. This is he who is now sent by the said Most Serene King as ambassador to the Turkish Lord.

The king, moreover, has several others with him, whom he frequently uses in his councils. But with the former alone he deals with all matters pertaining to peace and war, and with these others then only matters of justice. Of these matters, however, many that seem to him to require greater instruction and more diligent examination, he always sends, before dispatching them, to be seen by his councils, of which he keeps one in Vienna where all matters of the counties of Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola are judged, and the other in Innsbruck which has to conclude all matters of the county of Tyrol. These councils hear, consult, and report on the matters referred to them by the king, according to their opinion; and having received their report, he either follows it, as he is accustomed to do in the majority of cases, or, modifying it as he then sees fit, handles it in his own fashion.

He, just as the Emperor does, wishes to be informed of all his own affairs, nor does he delegate any to others, save for those of a routine nature, and he does this with the utmost diligence, for every day he has his appointed hours for audiences, which are ordinarily early in the morning, and for two hours immediately after the midday meal, and so too for the council, which convenes after the audiences are finished. As a result, his business is dispatched much more swiftly than the Emperor’s, wherefore it is a matter of some wonder to see two brothers, so closely joined in spirit and will, be almost entirely contrary and different in both temperament and habits. Both are wise, prudent, and very knowledgeable in all matters, but the Emperor is more deliberate, more reserved, and more grave; this one is more prompt, more effective, more expeditious, and of a very lively intellect. He speaks of all matters of state and government most resolutely, and also of other things that arise daily in familiar conversations, well and with good discourse, so that he seems ignorant of nothing; and he entertains quite familiarly all those lords who happen at times to have dealings with him.

He not only has the German, French, and Spanish languages very readily at his command, as the emperor also has, but Italian and Latin as well quite easily, so that he understands and speaks both quite comfortably, although he does not use Italian so frequently or so willingly, and of Latin he wittily says that he speaks it in the military fashion, and that if he sometimes gives Priscian12 a few cuffs, he believes this is permissible for him, as it does not seem to him that Priscian had the authority to impose laws upon a king.

In his audiences, he willingly listens to everyone, and then responds to them on every point with brief words and quite resolutely. It is quite true that, being of a choleric complexion and a hotter nature, it is necessary for anyone who must present his case to him to speak with even more caution, and not to say so freely something that might sting him, for he would not be so patient in hearing it, nor would he perhaps respond as meekly as the Emperor; but by presenting the pertinent business to him in a suitable manner, he responds to every point in such a way that he sends everyone away well satisfied.

In his way of living he is quite magnificent, and in his dress and that of his retinue, who receive their garments from him, he appears very distinguished and shows himself more richly when he goes out in some pomp, than does the Emperor. But in acts of liberality (having found his revenues mortgaged by the Emperor Maximilian, and the treasury laden with debt, and having always, because of the wars that have followed until now, been burdened with expenses, so that it has been necessary for him at all times to procure money by extraordinary means, imposing new taxes on his subject peoples), he has never been able to make such a demonstration as would be fit to form a certain judgment of him in this matter. Except that having succeeded the Emperor Maximilian, who was most lavish with all that was his, and took little care to preserve his things, and having on the contrary attended with all diligence at the beginning of his reign to recovering alienated properties, and to diligently examining his rights with everyone, he then acquired something of a name for being a miser, and it did not seem that for this he was very pleasing to the Germans. But yet if it is not found that he has given to many, he has however given to some, and almost without measure, nor does one hear of anyone who complains of him or accuses him or calls him illiberal; rather the people complain that because he gives too much, they are then burdened by him with daily taxes. He is held to be a diligent governor of his own affairs, so that it is thought that he knows better how to make use of what he has, than the Emperor of what is his.

It is said by his own people that he is just and a great observer of the laws and of his promised word; but yet in this he is no little suspect to the Germans, who say this is not much observed by him, especially where matters of jurisdiction and state are concerned, and they adduce as an example that in the uprising of the peasants13 he did not give the aid he owed to the Bishop of Salzburg, besieged by them, nor did he behave in the manner that was hoped, and almost showed that he was not displeased to see him in that danger; for which reason it does not seem that the said bishop holds himself very satisfied with him. And to this they add that, the Bishop of Augsburg having at that same time entrusted to him a very strong and important castle of his, as it seemed convenient for the expeditions against these risen peasants, the said bishop had, once the war was finished and all the tumults settled, no little trouble in getting it back, so that it was then necessary for him to be aided by the entire Swabian League, which took up the fight for him, and the King was constrained to restore it to him.

And in truth he is a prince of great spirit, and ambitious for honor and desirous of being regarded and esteemed no less than is his due by everyone; so that he greatly resents the offenses done to him, or the lack of respect sometimes shown him, and shows that he takes it very ill, as he showed when, without the knowledge, nay, against the orders of Your Serenity, the powders which he was having brought from Ferrara to Germany were detained from him in the Veronese territory; for as soon as he heard of this he first sent one of his councillors to me, and then he himself made a grave complaint to me about it, signifying to me with somewhat disdainful words that he too would have cause to do the same: and telling me that he knew you had been unaware of it, and had been displeased by it, as I was telling him, he added that the guilty parties should be punished in such a way as to be an example to others. Although, after hearing of the release of the powders, he told me that he had not only clearly recognized the goodwill of this most excellent dominion, but also that the error of those who detained the powders had proceeded from simple ignorance, as I had told him before, and that they were worthy of pardon, and that I should therefore pray Your Serenity to forgive them, so that for such a sin they might feel no punishment.

He still always thinks of great things and shows himself not a little desirous of greatness and state, so that he misses no opportunity that comes to him to increase his state and to make himself greater. And thus he has acquired the Duchy of Württemberg in the manner stated, and sought to have himself elected their king by the Bohemian barons; in which petition Duke Ludwig of Bavaria and Duke George of Saxony also competed. Nor has he ever been willing, as I have said, to grant to Margrave George of Brandenburg that Duchy of Opole in Silesia, nor the castles of Hungary, which had been given to him by King Louis. In short, he has always shown himself hard in not wishing to relinquish his jurisdictions to the Patriarch of Aquileia14, nor has any plea that was made to him in this matter been of any avail, even from the time we were in Augsburg, by the Patriarch himself, nor by the Pontiff; which jurisdictions it seems are still held occupied by his agents. And perhaps for these and for others still, which are occupied by these agents of his in various places of Your Serenity, the complete nomination of the judges who are to determine the differences over the occupied territories between him and this Most Excellent Dominion may have been so long delayed, and he has suffered himself to forgo the twenty-five thousand ducats a year, which he is to collect from Your Serenity until the complete payment of the two hundred thousand ducats, so as not to be by chance constrained to release some place that is held occupied by his men against the order of the capitulations, because it seems to him perhaps important to his state, for its jurisdiction, or for its site. And for such a desire, being a prince, as I have said, of great spirit, it is not believed that he will ever by agreement leave the kingdom of Hungary to King John, even if for that he were forced to endanger all the rest of his affairs, esteeming himself not so desirous of peace that for fear of war he would leave anything that he reputes in some way to have rightfully come to him, and to be his.

And because he is reputed to be as I have described above, his greatness is suspect to all the princes and lands of Germany, and they do not look upon it favorably; on the contrary, they oppose him as much as they can; whence I recall that when arrangements began in Augsburg to have him elected King of the Romans, it was understood that his election was not welcome not only to the other princes, but also to the electors themselves, some of whom, even among those who later agreed to the election, showed to some of the great men at court in whom they confided that they were utterly opposed to it and would in no way consent, although they later allowed themselves to be won over and persuaded by the others to agree. And there were other princes of the Empire as well, who, because I had visited them on occasion and had thus become somewhat familiar with them, when they heard that the electors had agreed to nominate him, could not help but reveal to me the indignation they had conceived at this; so that I was first told by some of their councillors and secretaries, in conversation, that these electors were generally blamed by everyone, and then that the Most Serene King Ferdinand had been and was a very great impediment to the business being discussed concerning the faith, as if to infer that out of his desire to be elected King of the Romans, and to have the obedience of all, he and the Emperor alike had proceeded with more deference than was due towards the Lutherans; and finally that his greatness was odious to all of Germany, and therefore his election was welcome to no one; so that they expressly told me that even if he were elected, he would nevertheless not have the obedience due from Germany. Then these same princes, during a visit I paid them upon departing from Augsburg, insinuated the same to me with their own mouths, which seems to have been later confirmed by the results; for when the Emperor was asked to dispose the minds of the princes and states of the Empire to render due obedience to his brother, elected King of the Romans, at the Diet convened in Speyer, the Lutherans, having first gathered together in a Diet of their own, among the other conditions set forth in their response, placed this one: that is, that they did not wish to be obliged to recognize any other as superior save His Caesarean Majesty, and then some of the other princes resorted to subterfuge, excusing themselves with various pretexts from coming in person to the said Diet, so that it was manifestly known that there was not much inclination for this; and for this reason especially it is believed that there was such a delay in coming to this Diet, and that in the end it was abandoned and postponed to another time in Regensburg.

The Emperor, perceiving this opinion of which I speak, and perhaps fearing that the mind and will of the Most Serene King of the Romans, his brother, might be suspect to the other princes and states of Italy, and especially to this Most Excellent Dominion, just as it was to those of Germany, and there being therefore in them some diffidence of him, I have understood more than once that when, in the petitions that were made by Your Serenity, it happened to speak of his person, he sought with me to remove all suspicion of him, and almost of his own accord, without my in any way requesting it of him, or even saying a word to him that might show that you had any doubt, he would tell me that I should, on his behalf, exhort you to have the same confidence in the King his brother that you had in himself, because both were of one will, of one mind most inclined to observe inviolably what had been concluded in the peace of Italy, and to gratify and please you always in all those things that were possible. I do not know if he did this moved by this sole cause, perchance, that seeing himself at times requested by you for something that pertained to his brother for his own states, it seemed to him that this might proceed from Your Serenity having less confidence in his brother than in him, or whether, spurred on by this general opinion, which he seems to see in everyone, he was induced to perform such an office with me.

In truth, Most Serene Prince and Most Excellent Lords, so great is the union of the minds of these two brothers and the supreme reverence that the King of the Romans shows for the Emperor, as is understood by everyone, that it is believed that as long as the Emperor lives, he will never depart one bit from his will, but will always follow his wishes as if they were the firmest laws for his own government and life, and must at all times have for friends or for enemies the very same who are such to the Emperor. And therefore, His Caesarean Majesty being joined in friendship and confederation with this Most Excellent Dominion and with all the other states of Italy, and with that goodness and faith, and desire for peace and quiet that I have stated above and which is known to everyone, for this reason alone, even if there were no other, I do not believe it is to be feared that the King of the Romans, whom I judge to be a constant and faithful prince, will fail to observe the same, and to hold firm and dear the friendship that he and his brother have together with this Most Excellent Republic, and to attend equally to preserving all of Italy and its states always in their present quiet and security.

It would seem well to me, with all my due reverence, to exhort Your Most Excellent Lordships that you seek with all your effort, not so much to maintain the union that you have with said Caesarean Majesty, which I do not think will ever end while he lives, but rather the friendship with the Most Serene King, seeking always to cultivate him not only with the observance of things promised, but also with every possible office of affection and reverence; both because you could do no greater pleasure to His Caesarean Majesty, who desires this above all measure, and also because you must consider that this prince, besides his own forces, which are indeed to be greatly esteemed, once the Emperor has passed into Spain, is to have the entire care and government of the Empire alone, and that all the states of Germany, which border in every part almost from one end of Italy to the other with your state, are in his hands and his own; from which how much trouble, harm, or danger may be expected when they are enemies, and, on the other hand, how much convenience and utility both to this renowned city and to its others on the mainland, they being friends, you may well know from what you have experienced in both cases, and still experience.

His Caesarean Majesty took great pleasure when Your Lordships wrote to him and to the King of the Romans, congratulating them on the said election, and recognizing and honoring him in a fitting manner; and he himself took the letters addressed to the king to send to him; and although he would have felt much greater pleasure if such a duty had been performed with some more express and manifest demonstration, yet the spirit they showed in this, most inclined to hold him in that due honor that was fitting, was, as I understood, most dear and pleasing to him, and I think he was easily persuaded that some most important consideration held them back then from making a greater demonstration in such a duty, hoping and expecting that when an occasion arises for them in which that greater consideration is no obstacle, they will yet do so. They, therefore, having well considered the above-mentioned conditions of both majesties and of their states and qualities, do well and will always do well to hold them in such esteem, and to seek to treat them with that honor and reverence which befits their dignity, and the preservation of such a useful confederation and friendship for the benefit of this Most Excellent Republic.

Having dispatched what was to be said of the conditions of two such great brother princes, which seemed worthy of consideration, as they possess in Germany no small part of their own states, and also that universal authority and dominion over the whole which the imperial dignity at present brings them; and as Germany is a province especially so near to this our Italy, it seems no less fitting to consider likewise its notable conditions, as has been done for its princes.

Territories

This province, then, of which I speak, Germany, is very large and populous: to the north it has the Ocean, into which it extends with some of its parts so that it reaches almost as far north as the island of England. To the east, the Vistula, a river that flows through Cracow, a royal city of the King of Poland. According to the ancient borders, it used to reach the Rhine to the west, and the Danube to the south, but not pass beyond them. Now, in truth, it has extended so much that to the south it is joined with Italy, so that it occupies all the Alps, and to the west it crosses the Rhine from the Ocean to the Alps, comprising almost all of Gallia Belgica and part of Celtica with Basel, Constance, and finally the Swiss; who, although not all now give obedience to the Empire, yet generally use the German language, and each one has no small respect for the Emperor, and recognizes him in a certain way as superior, and is careful not to take up arms against him. But leaving aside the lands and places of the Swiss, and those few states beyond the Rhine that do not hold themselves subject to the Emperor and do not concur with and obey the deliberations of the imperial diets, Germany is divided into two sorts of dominions: that is, of princes or lords, and of free or imperial lands. The states, then, or orders of these dominions that enter into the diet are five: the first is that of the prince-electors, both ecclesiastical and secular; the second, of the other secular princes; the third, of the other ecclesiastical princes; the fourth, of the counts and barons; the fifth, of the free or imperial lands. Of these, how much authority each one has in the imperial diets, and in what manner they proceed both in the deliberations they make and in the execution of them, I will not now endeavor to declare, so as not to be too long, and perhaps also tedious to Your Most Excellent Lordships, who have at other times had a particular and distinct account of all these orders, without tedious need for it.

But of the forces of all this Germany united, and also in particular of some part of it, and of the diverse wills, opinions, and dispositions that are found in its princes, cities, and peoples, I will briefly say all that I have been able to find worthy of note and consideration.

The forces of that province truly, if they are united, are very great, and it can be said for certain, were the whole of it of one same will, formidable indeed, because it is a province most populous with men of a fierce nature, and all dedicated to arms and always exercised in them, and in addition most copious in war horses; which, by the deliberation made in the last diet of Augsburg, it was concluded should give and maintain for the emperor, if he were assailed by the Turks, as he was when they came to Vienna, in his defense, eight thousand horse and forty thousand foot, which are judged few compared to what it is estimated could be done if all were willing to make their greatest effort; for of this last sum, it fell to Nuremberg and Augsburg, which are among the most powerful lands of Germany, for the eightieth part that they always pay of any quantity of men that is decided upon in a general diet for some enterprise, no more than one hundred horse and five hundred foot for each; and to the dukes of Bavaria, who are among the first princes and of greater income and larger state, but two hundred horse, and one thousand and fifty foot: whereas when Germany moved to relieve Vienna besieged by the Turks, the said dukes, being closer, prepared, as it is said, from their own state alone, three thousand horse and twenty thousand foot; the marquis Joachim of Brandenburg, elector, sent his son with two thousand of his own horse, and […] foot; the duke of Saxony, elector, put in order two thousand horse and three thousand foot, and by the imperial lands alone it was decided to send in aid fifteen thousand foot, of whom they made captain Duke Ludwig of Bavaria; and likewise by the other princes such provisions were made that, as is held for certain, the good men-at-arms who were directed to that relief surpassed in all the number of one hundred thousand, who however, because of the sudden withdrawal of the Turks, remained behind. And in sum it is reckoned from what the Swabian League is accustomed to do, when it wishes to make its greatest effort, that all of Germany could put into the field more than two hundred thousand foot, and forty thousand horse to send on any enterprise.

A union of the diverse princes and cities of this province was formed many years ago, called the Swabian League, of which I speak, which possesses no small forces, and is much renowned, and of no small esteem and reputation throughout all of Germany. This was first concluded in the time of Emperor Maximilian, in February of 1489, among only certain imperial cities that are in Swabia and thereabouts; nor did they then, I believe, exceed the number of twelve, but now they are twenty-seven, and it was made solely for their defense against whomever wished to molest and disturb their liberty; in such a way that although they are surrounded by diverse princes, whose domains reach for almost all of them up to their very walls, they have nonetheless from that time to this preserved themselves unharmed and in their liberties with such a reputation, that many of the foremost princes have since, from time to time, sought to enter it. Thus Emperor Maximilian himself first entered it as Archduke of Austria and in no other capacity, and he has been succeeded by the most serene King Ferdinand for the said duchy, and for the duchy of Württemberg; thereafter, there entered at diverse times the dukes of Bavaria, the landgrave of Hesse, the Margrave Casimir of Brandenburg, the Counts Palatine, the archbishop of Mainz, the bishop of Würzburg, the bishop of Eichstätt, the bishop of Bamberg, that of Constance, and that of Augsburg, then many other free counts, knights, abbots, and others of that sort in great number. The last of all was the bishop of Salzburg, who entered in the year 1525 to free himself from the siege of his peasants, so that it has become very powerful, and therefore all of Germany holds it in no small respect.

The portion of troops to be given by each of the confederates is different, more or less, according to their greater or lesser forces; but the proportions of all together ordinarily amount to two thousand horse, and twelve thousand foot; which sum, according to the times and needs, can be multiplied up to double, triple, quadruple, or quintuple; thus far, never more than double the aforementioned sum has been assembled, that is, four thousand horse, and twenty-four thousand foot.

In the diets of this league, when some deliberation is to be made, all the confederates enter with their votes, yet not all those of the league have a vote, because some are accepted without a vote; but of the twenty-four or twenty-five votes that there are in all, the free cities have eight, the princes eight, and the prelates, free counts, knights, and others mentioned above have eight.

Nor is the burden of the expense, not only of each individual but also of each of these three estates, or orders, equal, like the authority; because in the simple sum of two thousand horse and twelve thousand foot soldiers, it seems that to this last order or estate of the prelates, counts, and knights fall no more than fifty horse and one thousand foot soldiers: to the order of the free cities only two hundred and seventy horse, and two thousand nine hundred foot soldiers: and the rest, which would come to be one thousand six hundred and eighty horse and eight thousand one hundred foot soldiers, to the order of the princes; whence it follows that, besides some other particular reason that perhaps moves some of them, this so great a disadvantage that the princes seem to have, causes some of them, as it is said, to want to withdraw once the time of the last confirmation of the league, which ends in 1534, is finished; among whom I have heard named the Counts Palatine, the Landgrave of Hesse, and Margrave George of Brandenburg; which, should it happen, is considered a matter of no small moment, because it is believed that, as the ferocity and insolence of many are suppressed by the authority and force of this league, its dissolution would give birth, both among those who were formerly confederates and among the others, to so many differences and dissensions, that they would plunge a large part and perhaps all of Germany into war and into greater confusion than the new division of faith has done so far.15

Of the particular forces and dominions of each prince or free city, besides it being difficult to know, it would be too long to narrate, but by choosing the principal ones from both sides, something can be said.

Of the free or imperial cities, therefore, few are there that have any dominion beyond that of their own land; indeed, some of the most principal ones hold jurisdiction for no or very little space outside their walls, as everything outside is held by the neighboring princes; such as the city of Augsburg, which has the dukes of Bavaria who come with their dominion almost to its gates.

The ordinary income proper to each is, then, very small, for although they do collect some duties, these are nevertheless so few and so meager (which is a general condition throughout Germany, which is very free of such burdens) that they can in no way amount to a large sum. On the other hand, they do not have many expenses, because they do not ordinarily maintain any troops, but all the guarding of their own land is done by the citizens and the people themselves, according to their established orders. And if they must make some extraordinary expenditure, whether for a particular need of the land in fortifying it or defending it from some external violence, or to pay its share of some enterprise, or for another expense made generally or in common with another, each one imposes its own taxes, and with these it satisfies the need; which are the more robust and of greater effect the richer the lands are, and such can be reputed Nuremberg, Augsburg, Strasbourg, and Lübeck.

Of the ecclesiastical princes, among the electors, the greatest in revenue and in state is reputed to be the one of Mainz, who is archbishop and lord of Mainz and of many other lands, and has an income of seventy thousand Rhenish florins: he used to have a greater one, but the cardinal, who spends prodigally, has diminished it considerably, as they say.

The second is the Archbishop of Cologne, who is not so much the master of Cologne, with which he has much controversy, but is indeed of many other lands, and has an income of fifty thousand florins.

The third is the Archbishop of Trier, who is likewise master of Trier and of other small lands, and in income can hold around forty thousand florins.

Of the other prelates, the Bishop of Salzburg, who is a cardinal, used to have before the peasants’ war an annual income of one hundred thousand florins, but now, due to damages suffered in said war, it does not exceed eighty thousand florins; he has his state between Bavaria and the states of the King of the Romans, and has that land of Salzburg, very strong both by its site and nature, as well as by artifice. This man was the primary counselor of Emperor Maximilian, through whose favor he obtained that bishopric, even though he was not of that order of nobles required in Germany, and he is a very prudent and highly reputed man, as should be well known to Your Serenity. There are other very rich bishops in Germany, but not to be more lengthy, it is enough for now to have spoken of these, as the principal ones.

Of the secular princes, among the electors, the greatest is the most serene King Ferdinand for the Kingdom of Bohemia and its conjoined states.

The second is the Elector Palatine, who has an income of more than one hundred thousand florins; besides him are Duke Frederick his brother (who, two years ago now, came to this land, where he was so honored by Your Serenity that he still cannot have his fill of thanking and praising you), and the sons of another brother, all of whom have their own separate ordinary incomes, though not of a great sum.

The third is Duke John of Saxony, who from his own income has one hundred fifty thousand florins.

The fourth is Marquis Joachim of Brandenburg, who has an income of eighty thousand florins.

Among the other, non-elector princes, the brothers Dukes William and Louis of Bavaria are the greatest in state, and the richest in income of any other prince in Germany. Their state comprises almost all of that province besides the county of Tyrol, between the Liscus, the Eno, and the Danube, which by the ancients was called Vindelicia, and also no small part of the neighboring provinces. It contains within it, besides the other good lands, as they call them, thirty-two cities, and yields an income of, some say one hundred fifty, some two hundred thousand florins, without the special levies, which, as all the princes of Germany do, besides their income, they extract from the people in times of war. Of which levies it is said that when the aforementioned relief was to be sent from Germany to Vienna, they drew, with a very light tax, nine hundred thousand florins in cash to pay the men they had planned to send as such relief; which, as it was not then necessary to send the men, remained in deposit. And when I was in Augsburg, I heard that they offered them to the Emperor, as he wished to make war on the Lutherans, and I learned that they had treated with the Duke of Mantua to have a way to lead a thousand light horse from Italy, in case war were to be made in Germany; but since no need for war has arisen thus far, deducting seventy thousand florins that were taken from these to honor the Emperor when he went through Bavaria to Augsburg, the rest is held in deposit for such needs.

These are close relatives of the Emperor, and of the most serene King Ferdinand, being born of a sister of Emperor Maximilian; but now it does not seem that they are too friendly to said King for many reasons, the first of which is that during the war of the Count Palatine, Maximilian occupied certain lands that they claim to be theirs.16 The second is the rejection that the King had given to Duke Louis when he vied in the election for the Kingdom of Bohemia. The third is the indignation conceived by Duke William over this new election of the King of the Romans, in which, it not being held now in the presence of the Emperor, he himself, should the case arise, had a great interest, and was not without good hope for it, for which reason he showed himself very reluctant to consent to it. As a fourth, one can add the Duchy of Württemberg, held by the King of the Romans, which by succession ought to come to a nephew of theirs, the son of the exiled duke and of one of their sisters.

Besides these, there is the Landgrave of Hesse, who has his state upon the Rhine, which gives him an income of some eighty thousand florins, not including the not inconsiderable revenue he now derives from the occupied churches. He is young, and vigorous in both body and mind, and one of the staunchest Lutherans that exist, for which reason he is held in great account by his neighbors; whom he has, in past years, so troubled that he compelled, among others, the Cardinal of Mainz to give him sixty thousand florins, the Bishop of Würzburg forty thousand, and the Bishop of Bamberg twenty thousand; and by force he still occupies an estate of the Count of Nassau near Mainz, with an income of twenty thousand florins.

There is Duke George of Saxony, uncle of the Elector and father-in-law of the said Landgrave, who has an income of seventy thousand florins, and is, in contrast, a very Catholic prince, who has never allowed any heretic to enter his country, so that although his state is near that of the Elector, and almost entirely surrounded by Lutherans, he has nonetheless kept his peoples entirely pure of this stain.

Margrave George of Brandenburg, of whom I spoke above when I discussed the affairs of the King of the Romans, was the second brother of Margrave Casimir, and therefore, as guardian of the son of his deceased elder brother, although he has other brothers and his old father is still alive (the latter being of a decrepit age), he holds, governs, and possesses the entire state, which gives him an ordinary income of seventy-five thousand florins. He is a man of considerable repute, and was also guardian to King Louis of Hungary. He is not without the stain of the Lutheran heresy, especially in his seizure of church revenues, in which opinion he is contrary to his father and brothers, who are most Catholic. He, however, notwithstanding the controversy I mentioned above with the King of the Romans, has always been naturally inclined, as are his father and his entire house, toward the House of Austria and closely joined with it, nor has he ever consented with the other Lutherans to anything that might be to the prejudice of the states and dignity of the Emperor or of King Ferdinand.

There are then many other princes besides these, of whom it seems I should not speak more particularly one by one, so as not to be too lengthy, having already said enough of the principal ones, and of those who in the present times are most renowned; besides their incomes, it is to be considered that from their subject peoples, and from the nobles who are their feudatories, and therefore obliged to serve them with arms and horses both in peace and in war, they draw in service, but especially in times of war, a great many men and much money, as I have narrated above with the example of the Dukes of Bavaria.

Having seen thus far how many and of what kind are the forces of all of Germany together, of the Swabian League, and finally of each prince and imperial land, I come now to speak of the dispositions of the minds and wills of all, as can be most clearly understood from the words, movements, and actions of each.

One sees, therefore, in Germany that same effect and passion that exists in all other provinces: namely, a desire among all the princes to aggrandize themselves, and to make themselves as great as they can in both state and dignity, and likewise a jealousy that one has of another, lest he become so great as to be able to hold the others beneath him. So too in the lands there is a desire: for those that do not have it, to attain liberty, and for those that have it, to preserve it. From this it arises that the princes are always little friendly and concordant, both among themselves and with the imperial lands, in the deliberations they make. And there always exists a perpetual difference and controversy between some lands and their bishops, who were once or are now their lords, with the latter claiming and seeking to recover their lost dominion or to maintain themselves in it, and the former seeking to maintain their acquired liberty, or to acquire it by withdrawing from their dominion. This controversy is especially seen between the Archbishop of Cologne, the Bishop of Speyer, the Bishop of Worms, and the Bishop of Augsburg, each with his own land. It was due to such controversy, difference, or jealousy that the Swabian League was first formed by those few free lands, and then, four years ago, the league I have mentioned of all the imperial lands.

Religious and Political Turmoil

In these imperial lands there are, then, various forms of government, but in almost all of them the common people still, in some more and in some less, have authority and a part in it, such that the nobles have no share; and in some the citizens have little more power than the artisans and all the other lower classes, and in some others the lower class has become so powerful that it governs alone, as has happened in those lands which, due to the similarity of their government and their proximity, have since become Swiss cantons, or have allied with them; and thus some have withdrawn from the Empire, to which, as imperial lands, they were formerly named and subject, such as Bellinzona and Basel which became cantons of the Swiss, and then Constance and finally Strasbourg and some others which allied with them, and there is perhaps no small reason to fear that other neighboring lands will do the same from one day to the next.

And as in all these, the people always seek to take control of the government, so in all of Germany there seems to exist, in them and in the peasants, an almost natural hatred against all princes and nobles of every sort, to whom they lament being so subject as they are; and for this reason so great a multitude rose up in past years, as Your Most Excellent Lordships must remember, which threw all of Germany into the greatest confusion, and put all its princes and lords in extreme peril. And if it had shown itself only against the ecclesiastics, as it did at the beginning, and as the lords and nobles of Germany believed it would, and had it not so soon after revealed itself also against almost all of them, it would have obtained what it wanted, and seized everything; but as soon as the lords and nobles realized this, whereas before they had laughed and almost consented to such an uprising, content that the prelates should be beaten, they grew resentful, so that all of them, united and in agreement, took up the fight; with the result that that multitude (although almost infinite, but disorganized and without leaders, and lacking any instrument of war or any soldiers), being destroyed in diverse parts in a short time, was for this reason forced to come and ask for pardon, so that, with the leaders punished, it all dissolved. But Germany was left, because of the killings in various places, deprived of many people, and with spirits so offended and ulcerated, that it would be an easy matter for such uprisings to arise again at any time for the slightest reason.

Then, beyond the aforementioned dispositions, the opinions of this province regarding ecclesiastical dominion and authority, as well as in many matters of faith, are so contrary and so diverse and confused, and so harsh and obstinate, that one could scarcely believe it.

There is first, in every class of person, a general disposition, among the ecclesiastics as well as the laity, contrary to the Roman Church and to pontifical dignity and authority, against which some feel one way, and others another.

It is universal among all the princes that they complain greatly of the constitutions and orders of various pontiffs, and of certain chancery rules, observed, as they say, to the great detriment and prejudice of their subjects, and they would like that the many and enormous disorders that occur every day be remedied, and, in short, that in the conferring of benefices, and in the litigations that arise from this, the power of the apostolic see be diminished and theirs be increased; which can be seen expressed in the grievances issued some years ago by all the princes and states of Germany17, and newly presented again in this last Diet of Augsburg, where complaints are made of many things, and their correction, change, or total removal is demanded.

These grievances were all seen and well-pondered by the most reverend Cardinal Campeggio, apostolic legate in Germany, so that, as he is most learned and most prudent, and of excellent will and supremely desirous of satisfying, as honestly as possible, the security and convenience of all Christians, in responding to many he demonstrated the error in which they found themselves, and the little reason they had in their petitions; and to some he showed that the disorder proceeded not from the constitutions and orders, but from the malice or ignorance of those who execute them; and for many he not only promised correction in the name of the Holy Apostolic See, but also, to gratify all of Germany, broader concessions than even those they enjoyed, which already gave them more authority than any other province has, so that it was thought they ought to remain content. But as no resolution was made on the other articles concerning matters of faith, this too has remained suspended until now.18

Besides this general disposition, there is another special desire in all the bishops of Germany, that each one would like to have in his own diocese, both in the conferring of all benefices and in judgments, an absolute power that would not be in any way subject to the pontifical authority, nor dependent upon it; rather, that they alone should be like pontiffs in all places subject to their church, saying that the authority of binding and loosing given by Christ to Peter was granted to the other apostles as well, and thus no more to the Roman church than to any other. This would be the desire of all; but there are some also who go further, who, also having a temporal state as bishops, would like to seize all the revenues and ecclesiastical goods, and make them their own, and, taking a wife, reduce everything to temporal dominion, like dukes, or marquises, or counts of their states, in the same way that the Grand Master of Prussia has done.19

There is, finally, an almost equal hatred on the part of the princes and temporal lords as well as of the people against all the bishops and their other prelates, and generally against every sort of religious person, of whom, because of their habits—to tell the truth, quite dissolute and of bad example—they have a very poor opinion, which removes the reverence that they ought to have, and were accustomed to have, for them; and for this reason they are easily moved to any persuasion made to them by anyone who has even a little reputation for learning and audacity, and a way of speaking or writing against these persons. Hence not only have some of the princes been induced to drive out abbots and other prelates, to strip the churches of every ornament, and to occupy the revenues of abbeys and other opulent monasteries, but many of the people also have been and are seen every day doing the same, to the ruin of all the churches and sacred places, and the destruction of all divine worship, as the people of Lübeck and other cities have done during the time I have been in Germany, making this change after the Emperor’s arrival in Germany. This arises from the hatred they bear for all persons of the church, aided not a little by the avarice that incites the people to plunder, and the princes and lords to the occupation of ecclesiastical revenues, by which many enrich themselves, and then, having occupied them, they relinquish them most unwillingly, and therefore become every day more harsh and obstinate in their evil opinion.

This disorder is general in all those who by any way have deviated from the ancient Catholic rite, who, although many may dissent from some of Luther’s articles, yet because he was the first seducer, and followed by the others, each one adding something new of his own, are all called by the general name of Lutherans. But these who, as I have said, all agree in the destruction of sacred persons and places, and usurp their revenues, are then divided into different sects.

The first is that of Luther, who besides removing entirely every preeminence of the pope and pontifical power, condemns the general confession of all mortal sins, establishes communion generally for all adults and non-adults under both kinds [bread and wine], removes all merit from every good human work20, does away with every religious vow, so that he wishes that all priests and religious of whatever sort may, while still remaining priests, take a wife, and sacred nuns a husband; he does not wish that Christians be obliged to any fast from any food, nor to observe any feast; he destroys all images, and removes many other rites and constitutions of the church both in divine worship, and in the Christian way of life, which it would be long to narrate in full; and it is enough for now to have stated the principal articles.

The second is that of Zwingli21, who, among other things, adds as a principal article of his own that he entirely removes the transmutation of the host and wine into the blood and body of Christ, and says that the words of the Gospel and of Saint Paul on this article must be understood only figuratively; this sect is especially found among the Swiss and in neighboring lands, and was followed by Oecolampadius in Basel.

The third is that of the Anabaptists, who want all Christians to be baptized as adults and not as infants, and that those who were baptized in swaddling clothes, as is the general custom, must be rebaptized.22

Finally there is the fourth, worse than all the others; of these, some say that according to the life of the apostles no one should possess any private wealth, but all goods must be held in common, and that such should be the life of all Christians; and this is the sect that the peasants followed; to which others, who call themselves “spirituals,” add that a man’s appetite moves him to do is lawful for everyone to do; from which it follows that not only property, but also women, are common to all, and moreover every incestuous and bestial lust is permitted, provided that someone has the desire to practice it.23

In short, it seems that these peoples have come to such licentiousness in some places, that they wish it to be lawful for everyone to speak and preach of the faith, and to raise up new sects, according to their own pleasure, which thing brings extreme confusion to every place. And these seducers, in order to spread their opinions more widely, not being able to preach everywhere, as this is forbidden to them in many places, have written and had printed all their opinions in their own vernacular tongue, so that all of Germany is full of them; and where they cannot go, these books go, which are read in every house, at least secretly, and every base and vile person, every woman, wishes to dispute about the Gospel and the epistles of Saint Paul and the faith; and in this way they have done such a work that, although through the care and study of many Catholic princes the ancient divine worship and rite of Catholic living has been kept intact and pure in many states, so that in this no change has been made, nevertheless, such a disposition has been made among the peoples that most of them willingly incline, when not forbidden, to one of these sects for the license of living more freely and according to the inclination of their own appetite, and for the greater liberty that each one grants them, naturally desired by everyone. This is understood when speaking with various people in almost all the lands that are held to be Catholic: so that one may well with reason doubt that if our Lord God does not in some way place His hand upon it, this whole province will soon become Lutheran, that is, that in one way or another it will be removed from the usual rite of Christian living; and not only one city from another, but in the same house people will become of different faiths among themselves, and then, going from time to time from bad to worse, all religion will be utterly lost, and we shall return to the ancient savagery of life, because every day some land is seen to turn away, and those already fallen to increase their error, and to become of a worse and more enormous sect, and many of the princes, not only secular but also ecclesiastical, waver, so that little is wanting for them to fall headlong. And if one of these should once begin, as is already murmured of some of the chief among them, I fear that all the others will then be seen to follow them precipitously to the same ruin, which I believe will bring such confusion to the Christian religion, and to the states and peoples of that province, that one day we shall see or hear of it being turned completely upside down; and God grant that from this ruin there does not then arise such a catastrophe as to fall upon some neighboring country.

From all these passions which I have narrated above, one can easily conjecture what may follow in the said province, and how much the other neighboring states have to fear from her. For being so diverse both in matters pertaining to dominion and in those pertaining to religion, it seems impossible that they should agree together and jointly undertake any enterprise that touches specifically upon the particular greatness of any one of its princes; for besides the fact that jealousy does not allow them to consent to their neighbor becoming greater, and being, moreover, so contrary among themselves in the matter of religion, it is more to be suspected that war will arise among them, than to be feared that they will wage it together against others. Thus at the Diet of Augsburg they would not consent to any aid for the Most Serene King Ferdinand for the recovery of the Kingdom of Hungary, nor for the preservation of any part of it, but only to the Emperor against the Turks, either in defense of Germany, or also in offense, should a general enterprise of all Christians be undertaken. They say furthermore that they do not wish in any case to consent to their portion, if first they are not assured that the others will not wage war upon them or molest them in their own lands; because in truth, apart from this religious doctrine, all these show that they hold the greatness of these two brothers in no little suspicion, nor would they wish to see it greater. Which greatness, however, they would more willingly, and with fewer reservations, grant to the Emperor, because he seems to them more a friend of quiet and peace, and less ambitious of greater power and of state, and is, after all, far away from them, than to the Most Serene King of the Romans, who must always be near them, and seems more lively and effective, and of greater spirit, and more desirous of augmenting both dignity and dominion; which was manifestly seen in this election, as has been particularly said above.

It is indeed true that if both Their Majesties were to promise the Lutherans not to be their enemies, and to consent that they hold their opinions and live freely in their own fashion, they would have from them, as is said, whatever they wished (and it is understood that on several occasions the latter have, on such conditions, offered the former in any of their enterprises against anyone a good number of men paid at their own expense), but they have never yet been willing to lend them an ear. And even when the peasants’ revolt occurred, it is said that they offered King Ferdinand to make him sole lord of all Germany if he would become their captain, and together destroy and drive out the other princes and lords of Germany.

Therefore, it seems to me, as I have said, that it is not to be feared that this province, while it remains so divided, will deliberately undertake any enterprise against another prince or state or external people; but it can well be believed that among the Germans themselves there may first arise some great and confused war, which would bring extreme ruin to cities, lands, and peoples of every quality and condition, from which many dangers could then come to others.24 And the first will be that, should they take up arms against themselves, if the heretical party were to prevail, destroying and sacking the others, the victors could become so insolent that they would then wish to impose laws upon neighboring countries as well, subjugating them and compelling them to live in their manner; which intention has been seen expressed among the Zwinglian Swiss, who not only attempted to compel the Catholic cantons by arms to join their sect, but also wished, such was their arrogance, that the Duke of Savoy be forced to admit their preachers into his country. And I have likewise heard the ambassador of the Most Christian King, who is now with His Imperial Majesty—a most prudent and wise man—express the same fear, that they might perhaps one day do the same in the neighboring lands of France; but the Lord God has willed that the very opposite should happen to them. For if by ill fortune it had come to pass that the Catholic cantons had consented to their wicked will and joined with them, or had been defeated, it was certainly greatly to be feared that they would not have contained themselves within their borders, but would have made some inundation elsewhere: nor was Italy secure that such a ruin might not yet be unleashed upon her, seeing especially that many of the Lutheran imperial lands of Germany are allied amongst themselves, and that perhaps all the princes of this sect have an understanding together.

It would also be no small danger that, as has happened many times in ancient days, the banished party, whichever it may be, being deprived of its own homeland and possessions, would be constrained to seek new lands, and to deprive the proper inhabitants thereof, sacking them and driving them from their homes, or disturbing them in order to settle themselves there either alone or among them. But finally, a greater danger would be if a new uprising were to occur, whereby the peasants and the common people might find some prince as their leader to conduct them, instruct them in warfare, and give them the instruments of war of which they are deprived; which danger, although it would first harm its own body, as it has done before, nevertheless the neighbors would not be safe from having to experience the like in various ways themselves, either at the same time or a little after.

For this reason, Most Serene Prince and Most Excellent Lords, it seems to me that the study, care, and diligence of our fathers and ancestors is supremely to be praised, with which they have always kept their own land and their entire state purged of such a plague, not permitting anyone who was not of lauded doctrine to preach to the people on matters of faith, and driving out and punishing those who sought to create new sects or to sow words that could scandalize the soul of anyone against God and against the present state and dominion. And no less are your most excellent lordships to be praised if, following in the footsteps of your ancestors, you strive with all study and diligence for the same, not only by driving out or not permitting such people, but also by forbidding all their writings; because truly these too can do nothing but great harm, for they secretly at least infect the minds of many, who every day become worse, and with bad examples and also with words spoken in secret, they go about infecting others all day long. Thus, like a fire that has been dormant for a time, it can go on creeping so secretly that one day, unexpectedly, it may kindle such a blaze that in an instant it engulfs everything, nor can it then be extinguished, when one might wish to.

Nor is it to be believed that this plague touches religion alone—which, however, above all other things, every good Christian must strive to preserve pure and unharmed, and not be confused with new heresies, and especially so for this Most Excellent Republic which was born Christian, and has always until now kept itself clean of every stain. But it is to be noted that it tends no less to the destruction of all dominion, by giving to the peoples every license little by little: who, as soon as they have begun even a little to spurn the laws because of some license granted to them, no longer wish to feel the rein, but taking it with their teeth, or throwing it off, they carry their governor against his will, or they cast him down and trample upon him, inflicting upon him grave and intolerable torments. As for this reason has happened in many lands of Germany, where the peoples, having deposed the nobles or the ancient citizen governors of the dominion, and having placed in it tailors, cobblers, and other such artisans, these, with the plebs, became more insolent every day, and trampling upon every law and ancient good order, they disposed of everything according to their own favor, resulting in an extreme confusion of life.

The War Against the Turks

Now returning to the consideration of the other things said above, and of what I, from the treaties concluded and dispatched, and from the orders already largely given by these two princes, have been able to comprehend, it seems to me that one can reasonably discourse upon the forces that can be expected both by sea and by land from these two princes against so many Turkish preparations that are being heard of, and to say something about it with considerable foundation; which I believe that your Most Excellent Lordships, above all other things, perhaps now expect to hear.25

Therefore, in this regard, there are to be considered their own forces, in whatever manner, as well as the external ones they await from elsewhere. Their own forces I call thus those that they will have of men paid with their own money, as well as those that will be supplied to them by their subjects. External forces, then, I truly call those which they are to have from external friends and their confederates, such as from the princes and states of Germany, from the pontiff, or from another friendly prince or state.

And beginning with the forces at sea, His Majesty the Emperor currently has armed of his own fifteen galleys of Prince Doria, two of the Lord of Monaco, six of the Kingdom of Sicily, and two of the Kingdom of Naples. Furthermore, he has twelve galleys armed in Spain, which he keeps continually for the custody and security of those his seas from the infestation of Barbarossa and other corsairs; nor does it seem that there is any thought of moving these twelve from there for other enterprises. But besides the said galleys of Doria, Monaco, Sicily, and Naples, which are twenty-five in all (having now no means of being able to arm other galleys for himself), he has resolved to arm in addition up to forty ships, of which he can have as great a number as he wishes; and already for this purpose he dispatched, before my departure from Ratisbon, Messer Erasmo Doria and Messer Giovanni Reni, our Venetian citizen, but for a long time now a servant of the Catholic King, and always employed by both one and the other in such expeditions, both of whom he sent with such an order to Genoa.

Besides this armada of his own galleys and ships, His Holiness the Pontiff adds to it another twelve galleys, and the Grand Master of the Order of Saint John five, which would make in all forty-two galleys and forty ships. And if Barbarossa should join his forces with the Turkish armada, likewise His Majesty will have the twelve galleys from Spain come and will join them with the rest of his armada, so that in that case he would have fifty-four galleys well-armed and well-furnished.

By land, His Majesty has always said that he wishes to pay for thirty thousand infantry with his own money from among the Italian and Spanish peoples, and others he wished to raise from Germany, for which he has been retaining the captains for many weeks now.

He further affirms that besides the four companies of his men-at-arms he has with him, brought from Flanders, of six hundred horse, he wants to newly bring four thousand Burgundian horse and two thousand Italian light horse; nor does he for now lack the means to meet this expense, because besides that million scudi I mentioned in the first part of my discourse, he may still have in hand a good sum from the payments received thus far of the one million five hundred thousand ducats from the subsidy had in Flanders and joined together, and of the six hundred thousand from the subsidy of the aforementioned kingdoms of Naples and Sicily.

Furthermore, should he need it, he will be able to make use of all the following payments from said subsidies, paying some interest to whoever would serve him immediately with cash, besides the two hundred thousand ducats that the Pope has offered him, along with however many others he can always, with his authority, draw from every provision.

Then, no small forces are supplied to him by the states; for from the county of Tyrol he has been offered one hundred thousand florins, which would pay for six thousand infantry for four months, nor are Austria and the counties of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola to give him any less. It was also firmly promised by the Most Serene King of the Romans, in addition to these subsidies, that the kingdom of Bohemia and the duchies of Moravia and Silesia would pay for no fewer than forty thousand good fighting men to be led forth for the present enterprise in defense of the affairs of their king, for as long as was needed.

Finally, they await external subsidies from Germany, namely the forty thousand infantry and eight thousand cavalry resolved to be given to him at the Diet of Augsburg, all of whom, it is estimated, would be had if the Lutherans did not fail in their duty; but should they fail, it is believed that two-thirds of them will be had, or perhaps even fewer. Nevertheless, both for the common danger and for the respect that the imperial lands have and must always have for the Emperor, it is hoped that they will certainly not be wanting. Because of this common danger, although there was still some disagreement among the Catholic princes, and hidden and open hatred of some toward the King of the Romans, yet it is not doubted—rather, it is held to be certain—that none of these shall fail in his duty. And of the Dukes of Bavaria especially, notwithstanding any controversy or enmity of theirs with the said King, it is estimated without any doubt that, being closer to the imminent danger than the others, they will promptly send their portion of men, and even more besides.

All these forces, by the number and quality of their men, may be estimated to be great, and fit both on sea and on land not only to withstand the onslaught of the enemy, however great it may be, but also to fight with them and perhaps overcome them. Nor is anyone found who doubts that there will be at least enough of these forces present to garrison in time the places that are to be held on the enemy’s frontiers on the borders of Hungary, among which are named principally Vienna, Neustadt, Pressburg, and the castles of Strigonia and Altenburg, with which it is especially thought to prevent the Turkish fleet from being able to pass upstream in conjunction with its army. And of the other forces, up to the said sum of men to oppose them in the field, it also seems that there is no little hope; which, although they might not yet be so ready upon the arrival of the enemy camp before any of the said towns, yet it is held that shortly thereafter they would all be assembled together in such a way that, with the delaying action that the garrisoned towns and that part of the men that had assembled first could provide, one would arrive in time to be able to relieve all the places, and, if needed or desired, even to engage in conflict with him to their advantage. It is true, however, that of all these men, no part is yet seen to be assembled in Germany; but because it seems the enemy is still leaving them time, not being able to be upon them so quickly, due to the length of the journey and the multitude of impediments he brings with him, and it is seen that this province has a very great convenience from the abundance of good men it has in every part, from the vicinity of the places to be garrisoned, and from the ease of sending them by way of the rivers to each of these, so as not to throw money away without necessity, but to save it only for times of need, the dispatch of the provisions is delayed, and these are only now being ordered, so that in time they may all be had ready and prepared.

Of particular captains they have as many as they wish, because they have almost all the good ones now to be found among the Christians at their disposal, and besides these, they have resolved, by the Diet of Augsburg, to send Duke Frederick Palatine as captain-general of the German troops; but they were seeking a single principal chief, and above all they desired the Duke of Urbino, captain of this most illustrious dominion, for whom they have the highest esteem, so much so that it was not enough for the Emperor to have asked Your Serenity for him several times, both in Bologna and in Flanders, as was signified to you both by several of my letters and by his own orators, but that when I was taking my leave of him, he expressly commanded me that I should once again, on his behalf, make an appeal that Your Sublimity might be content to serve him in some honorable way in such a need.26

Not being able to have him, they will call upon Antonio di Leva27, of whom they also hold in much esteem; but as head of the entire enterprise there will be the Most Serene King of the Romans, or the Emperor himself, who has affirmed many times to the most illustrious legate, to me, and to many others, speaking on this subject, that if the Turk comes in person, he too will wish to go in person to meet him, it not seeming to him, as he said, that he could spend his life better in any other enterprise than in this one, where, both in winning and in losing, he would gain; because by putting his life in the service of Christ and of his faith, he would not remain without praise, and in leaving the earth he would gain the Kingdom of Heaven: and if he won, besides the merit he would acquire with God, he would extend the empire of the Christians perhaps to its ancient borders, and would live gloriously in the world, leaving then to posterity eternal fame and glory of himself. Which he always said with such feeling, that he was seen not only to be ready for this enterprise, but almost to burn with desire that such an opportunity might come to him that he could honorably expose his person to such a fortune.

These are all the things that have seemed to me worthy of being reported to your Serenity concerning these two most serene brothers, who are not only great in forces and in state, but also in reputation and in the felicity of their successes, as great as has been enjoyed hitherto, I say not by their house, but by Germany since the imperial dignity was transferred to it. Although these things may perhaps be known for the most part to the older Senators, nevertheless it has seemed to me also my duty, upon returning from this legation, to report them anew, so that they may be made known to the younger ones who have not heard them before, and so that the others may either be confirmed in what they have previously heard, or recognize how much has changed in the present times from what it was. Wherefore it seems to me that your Most Excellent Lordships can certainly promise yourselves, that as long as the friendship and confederation they have with these two princes is preserved, you will have perpetual peace, and will enjoy the entire state, quiet and secure, with as much dignity and reputation among all princes and peoples as you have ever had in any condition of times, and with that security and tranquility of your own citizens and of all your other subjects that could ever be desired by any people as the highest felicity. In which state I pray our Lord God that He may deign, through His immense goodness, to preserve Your Serenity, and all Your Most Excellent Lordships, happy for many years, and this Glorious Republic under His protection and His holy grace for eternity.

Personal Matters

Now then, how much I have satisfied Your Serenity in this my legation I cannot know: this I know well, and can certainly affirm to all, that I have served you with extreme affection; wherefore I pray that it may not displease you to hear also a few words in my excuse, and to understand in what condition your servant finds himself.

I wish, therefore, that Your Most Excellent Lordships know for certain that since I reached the years of discretion, I have always had in mind to render all the service I could to my homeland, it seeming to me that every good citizen was obliged to do so both with his means and with his own life; but to tell the truth, I have always found fortune contrary to this my desire, because when I would perhaps have been more able, the opportunity to do so did not arise; and when I was less able, I have been compelled to it.

After my father’s death, fortune had kept me wearied with a long and damaging persecution, but then for a very brief space had left me in some quiet, when, having been deprived of all leisure, it became necessary that I too, although entirely inexperienced in such business, should take care of the recovery and management of my family affairs; which, with much effort and diligence, were brought to a point where they began somewhat to be set in order, and the almost-shipwrecked vessel to take refuge from the past storm, when that same adverse fortune, soon repenting of having shown itself in some part benign to me, then assailed me all at once with greater impetus, for at almost the same moment it took from me my wife and my mother, leaving me with three small children, the eldest of whom had not yet completed his fourth year, and my house without any governance. This put me in such travail that, it being necessary for me alone to take thought for the domestic affairs I had never before had, and together with my brothers to begin to make new disposition of our maternal inheritance, which alone was our entire estate and was in greatest need of it, I could no longer apply my mind, let alone my labor, to anything else.

But even then it seemed fitting to Your Serenity that I should abandon everything and go to Pesaro to bring back the Most Illustrious Lord Duke of Urbino to your service, and to restore him as soon as possible to the command of the army in Lombardy, which, to confess the truth, for the reasons stated, was very grievous to me; and yet, for the ancient desire I had to serve you, and having been specially promised that I would not be detained on such an expedition for more than a few days, I could not refuse; and it was the good fortune of this Most Excellent Republic, the supreme prudence of Your Serenity, and the goodness of that Lord, that having secured with new provisions his state of Romagna, of which he was much afraid, he not only returned easily and willingly to service, but before two months had passed, as was desired, he returned to his usual charge in Lombardy. This, for the benefit of my homeland, was so gratifying to me that few things could have been more welcome at that time; but it availed my family affairs and me little, for in that time I lost my father-in-law, to whose care I had entrusted and left my children, and I myself, having just arrived, was struck by such an illness that it nearly brought me to death: which, after having kept me oppressed for many days, finally left me, but in such a condition that for the entire following winter I could not recover my former vigor, and I still feel its effects.

Then, having recovered but a little of my natural strength, when I had scarce begun with my brothers to set our affairs in order, behold, Your Lordships willed once again, though you had many better and more able than I, to compel me to a new charge and to send me not merely to a place near my home, and for two months only, but to wander continuously, following the court of an Emperor through diverse countries most distant from our own, without knowing when I was to see the end of this my pilgrimage. Nor was I granted the time of even a single week, I do not say to be able to leave my affairs in some good order, and provide for the care of my poor children, but even to furnish myself—with less damage to my meager means—with those things that, to honor at least moderately this Most Excellent Dominion, were necessary for me, who was utterly unprovided; so that I was forced to leave our affairs interrupted and all in confusion, and my own then with almost no order at all, and to abandon my children once again, and to leave them, lacking any other means, to the care of one who had so great a burden of his own that he could scarce sustain it.

How harshly I suffered this, I believe none could imagine who has not experienced it; but I know well that I experienced it, and can truly say that it was so bitter to me that death itself is little more so, seeing myself thus assailed on a sudden and forced to abandon the things most dear to me, and to leave them almost entirely in the hands of fortune. Yet drawn by force by that same will and desire, I knew not how to refuse such a burden again, but putting my shoulders, though quite weak, beneath it, I set myself on the road with many tears, as best I could. In this my pilgrimage, I must indeed say, for it is the truth, that I feel I have suffered greatly in my person from the many discomforts endured on long and arduous journeys, and from being away from my home at my age, which is no longer so young; and I find I have had to spend excessively, first in outfitting myself with all necessary things, and then in living, whether on the road at the inns, or while staying where the courts of a pope and an emperor were gathered, with an army and most or nearly all the nobility of Italy, or where the Emperor himself was in arms with a king and almost all the princes and states of Germany together, in a time of such a dearth of both lodging and all necessities, the like of which no man can recall a greater in Germany.

These causes have made my expenses of such a sort that they have by necessity consumed the provisions received from Your Most Illustrious Lordships, and also so much of my own fortune that, for its meagerness, it was a great deal; and finally, I have learned that my affairs here at home (due to the poor order in which I was able to leave them, and to the illness that befell my brother who was managing them, and to the other burdens he bore, both of his own affairs and of our common ones, for which he alone could not suffice without me) have suffered no small detriment. Nevertheless, for this once, I have borne and still bear all this not only patiently but willingly, feeling that I have at least this satisfaction and contentment in my soul: that I have not been a forever useless servant to my fatherland, but have at some time rendered it my service, whatever it might have been—if not very fruitful, indeed of little value, then at least as much as was possible for one of its diligent and faithful citizens.

But now I find myself truly come to such a point that it is impossible for me to think any longer of being able to leave my home. And therefore I beseech Your Serenity, and all Your Most Excellent Lordships, on my knees, that you be willing to consider that the fatherland is no less obligated to strive with all care to preserve the fortunes and the children of its citizens, than they are to lay down, where necessary, both the former and the latter for her; and, measuring only the affection, as great as it can be, with which I have rendered this my service, and not my little knowledge and weak forces, may it please you to hold it in good grace and to be content; since fortune has taken from me the means of being able to serve you any longer in such offices, having left me with household burdens of such a sort that I can no longer abandon them without the ruin of my house, and the perdition of my children.

Let what I have done suffice for my part, holding me excused for the future and seeking to make use of those who—many of whom exist in this Most Excellent Republic, by the great goodness of our Lord God—are perhaps equal to me in affection but are most certainly of much superior strength, wit, and knowledge, and are held oppressed neither by children nor by the distress of their household affairs as I am. This I say because my interests and necessities are such that I could certainly not express them with words, and against my will they constrain me to speak and act thus; not to flee every public charge, and to live idly in my house, for I think no charge will ever be imposed upon me by my fatherland that I would refuse; and though I were to do nothing else but attend with all my diligence to the good education of my children, who certainly now have need of a father’s assiduous care, I hope even in this way to render a not un-useful service to our common fatherland. For if I shall strive with all diligence to educate them, and to instruct them in letters and good morals as is fitting, and if I shall not be impeded from doing this, and if they can turn out to be such that in their time, in the following age, they may perhaps be not inept for the service that can be expected from every good citizen in honor and benefit of his land, and if the father will not have known how or, due to his impediments, been able to do more than what he has done, they, making up for what I will have lacked, will pay both their own and their father’s debt together. And with this, as earnestly as I can, I commend myself to Your Serenity and to Your Most Excellent Lordships.

Background

Between 1526 and 1529, the Venetian Republic fought alongside Pope Clement VII, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of France as part of the League of Cognac against the Hapsburg dominions of Emperor Charles V, in a failed effort to drive the Emperor out of Italy. At the end of 1529, Charles V arrived in Bologna to conclude the conditions for the general peace of Italy with Pope Clement VII. “Once these were signed, the Venetian Senate, intent on securing it, resolved to send its ambassadors to the Pope and to Caesar1 to attest to both the great pleasure felt at their concord and reconciled spirits, and the desire that friendship and peace should be maintained between them for a long time. Elected for this embassy were leading men of the republic, renowned for their own qualities and for the many offices held at home and abroad, namely Marco Dandolo, Luigi Gradenigo, Luigi Mocenigo, and Lorenzo Bragadino, to whom were also added, to make the embassy more solemn, Antonio Suriano, elected as successor to Gaspero Contarini who was with the Pope, and Niccolò Tiepolo who was to remain in ordinary residence with Caesar. All six, therefore, set out together for the city of Bologna at the beginning of the year 1530”. (Paruta, Venetian History, Book VII.)

The following is Niccolò Tiepolo’s Report. The embassy lasted twenty-eight months, and Tiepolo followed the emperor into Germany, and in his retinue visited many of its provinces. It also appears from two places in the Report itself that no Venetian embassy to Germany had taken place for many years (perhaps fifteen or twenty or even more).

Report

I have always esteemed it true, Most Serene Prince and Most Illustrious Lords, that knowledge of the nature, qualities, strength, and customs of diverse princes, cities, and peoples is of great benefit in the government of republics to those who are placed in such administration; for from this knowledge they can (by imitating the virtues, if any should be found in others which are not in their own, and by shunning the vices and errors that are seen in them) correct or better establish the state and government of their own affairs; and also (learning from the same knowledge how much more or less to esteem each one) more easily know how best to comport themselves with friends, to prepare against those who are suspect, and in sum, to proceed in their consultations more soundly and with greater foundation, and to arrive at deliberations that may be more expedient and more secure for their republic. And because this knowledge can be had from no one more perfectly than from those very men who, negotiating for their fatherland, spurred by the common good and that of each individual, diligently investigate and faithfully report what they have found. For this sole reason, as I believe, our ancient forefathers most prudently either established by law, or by long and lauded custom introduced and observed, that each person who returns from any legation should come before this most wise Senate, not to give an account of his actions (which can be clearly understood from the very letters written by him from time to time) but to report if he has, through negotiation or other investigation, learned anything of the country whence he comes that is worthy of being heard and pondered by prudent senators for the benefit of the fatherland.

This office, many of this Senate, both past and present, have been accustomed to perform before me, to their not inconsiderable praise, among whom there have been some who, having negotiated with that same prince from whom I now come, have reported copiously and distinctly of him and his and of his affairs as much as was seen by them, so that little, perchance, should remain for me to say more thereof. Nevertheless, not because I think I can even add to, let alone surpass them, but because the affairs of princes and human states are day by day changing in diverse ways; and I have had to negotiate not only with Caesar, but also with his Most Serene Brother2, in the assembly of nearly all the princes and states of Germany; from which I may well have understood something new worthy of reporting.

Today I have come to perform this office, to declare as briefly and distinctly as I can to Your Most Excellent Lordships what I have been able to learn in the twenty-eight months I have been in your service, concerning the state of an Emperor,of whom Christendom has not had a greater since Charlemagne, if all his qualities are well considered; of a King of the Romans, his brother, joined to him no less in valor and loyalty than in blood, and inferior to none of his greatest predecessors in state and in strength; and of a province3 that has always, both for the breadth of its borders and for the multitude and ferocity of its peoples, been an object of esteem and of terror not only to its neighbors but to those afar as well. This province is so near to our state that, by means of the domains of these two brothers, it borders us for the entire extent of our own state in Italy. In this endeavor, if Your Most Excellent Lordships will lend me a little of your customary benign audience, I hope to be not only not tedious, but perhaps even welcome.

Charles V’s Revenues, Expenses, and Forces

The present Emperor, therefore, who is now thirty-two years of age, holds in Spain all of its kingdoms, so that, except for that small part which is the kingdom of Portugal, he possesses all of it and has it all subject to his dominion; in Italy, he holds the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily; and in Germany, besides those which he leaves under the dominion and governance of his brother, the states of Flanders and the conjoined provinces.

Of his kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, which comprise all his states in Italy, it does not seem necessary for me to say much, since Your Sublimity and Your Most Excellent Lordships have ample notice of them (due to their proximity and the long experience of both of the consuls whom you have continuously kept in both kingdoms, and of your own merchants who have had and continue to have commerce in Sicily, in Naples, in Puglia, and in every part of these lands). But still I shall say this little of his revenues and expenditures, in sum and as if in passing: that from these kingdoms, after deducting all the necessary expenses for the government and custody of their peoples, places, and things, there remains little or no ordinary revenue.

Of the revenues of the kingdom of Sicily, a great part was mortgaged by the predecessors of the present emperor, so that, after the said expenses are made, ordinarily little remains for him; yet from the revenues from wheat and other things, of which nothing certain can be said, he draws a rather good sum of money, and extraordinarily, from subsidies and mandates, he also draws something from time to time, according to his needs; and this past year, under such a title, this kingdom has consented to pay him two hundred fifty thousand gold ducats over three years. Among the said expenses, besides the salaried men who are kept in various places, there is that of the six galleys, which his majesty keeps continuously for the custody of the coasts of the island and of the kingdom of Naples and the security of their vessels, of which two are paid a provision of six thousand ducats each, and are those of the lord of Monaco, and the other four in the manner of those of Spain (the island being required to find convicts for the oars) at three thousand five hundred ducats each, so that the annual expense comes to twenty-six thousand ducats, without including the expense of building and furnishing them.

Of the kingdom of Naples, both by his predecessors and by his majesty himself, many things have likewise been mortgaged or sold entirely and alienated, so that after deducting the ordinary expenses not only does no ordinary revenue whatsoever remain in his hands, but rather he must add something of his own, and it is ordinarily of some expense to him rather than of any surplus. It is true, however, that extraordinarily, from subsidies and mandates, he draws a great deal at times, according to his needs, as he has done this past year, when he has drawn a subsidy of six hundred thousand gold ducats, to be paid, however, in three years.

Among the expenses that are made from these revenues is the pension of sixty thousand ducats that the emperor must pay his brother each year according to the will of their maternal grandfather, the Catholic King4, who left these two kingdoms and all the other states acquired by him to the emperor with this condition of a pension, which they also confirmed by agreement between them when they divided the states of Germany.5

Besides this, there is the expense of the ordinary cavalry that his majesty maintains, which are six hundred men-at-arms and eight hundred light horse; and this, paying the men-at-arms eighty ducats and the light horse forty ducats a year, amounts, with the pay of the captains, each year to the sum of perhaps one hundred thousand ducats.

Finally, there is the expense of the galleys, of which this kingdom keeps two continuously armed in place of the five it used to keep before, which, paid like those of Spain, can bring him an expense per year, for the wages alone, of seven thousand ducats, which three expenses alone amount to the sum of one hundred sixty-seven thousand ducats.

His kingdoms of Spain are Valencia, Catalonia, Aragon, Castile, and Granada, and besides these, Navarre, which is understood to be joined with Castile, of all of which kingdoms, both by King Don John (the father of the Catholic King), and by the Catholic King himself, and by the present Emperor, many revenues have been pledged (it is said, however, with the option of redeeming them, at seven and a half percent); yet they say the remaining revenues have grown so much that the sum of those which remain free to the crown now seems to be no less than that of all of them before any part of them was pledged.

Said kingdoms pay their ordinary service, but when some new necessity arises, this is made greater, so that for the wedding or marriage of the Emperor6 the two kingdoms of Castile and Granada alone paid at one single time four hundred thousand ducats.

The masterships of the three orders of Saint James, Alcantara, and Calatrava, since the time the Catholic King took them upon himself, making himself head and grand master of all, yield an annual income to his majesty of two hundred thousand ducats.

Of the Indies, nothing certain can be said, because reports on it vary greatly; in some years the revenue has been worth one hundred and fifty thousand ducats, and in some years it has not exceeded thirty thousand ducats, and so more or less according to how much gold and other things have been brought from there by the navigators, which pay the fifth to the crown; but for this, one might set the figure, taking one year with another, at one hundred and fifty thousand ducats at most, as is estimated.

And so his ordinary income may amount to the sum of one million ducats.

Of extraordinary revenue, then, by many ways, when he has had need, he has drawn no small sum; first from the subsidy of the three kingdoms of Valencia, Catalonia, and Aragon, when it pleases him, and then from the cruzada7 and tithes of the ecclesiastical benefices when they are granted to him by the pontiff.

From the said subsidy, which is imposed according to need, he extracts sometimes three hundred, sometimes four hundred, and sometimes five hundred thousand ducats in three years; so that by estimating it at four hundred thousand ducats every three years, one would come to the figure of, more or less, one hundred and thirty-three thousand ducats per year.

From the cruzada he extracts every three years, if it is renewed for him by the pontiff, six hundred thousand ducats and more, which would come to be two hundred thousand ducats per year.

The tithe is said to be a quarter of a benefice’s revenues for one year, which, however, is not to be paid except over three years; nor does it seem that the clergy is compelled to pay according to the terms of this tith, but rather an arrangement is made with them and some gift is taken on that account, as in the year His Majesty departed from Spain, in which he requested of them a gift of two hundred thousand ducats; and already eight years before, the bishops with the clergy, as if of their own accord, were moved, knowing his need, to make him a gift of one hundred and fifty thousand ducats; and it seems that these gifts were then put to the account of this tithe, the revenue of which can be set at one hundred thousand ducats per year.

And these are all the extraordinary revenues, which amount to four hundred and thirty-three thousand ducats a year, which he can extract from all his kingdoms of Spain; although he has also by other ways, in his needs, sometimes drawn a good sum of money, as before he departed from Spain he had from the king of Portugal four hundred thousand ducats for his rights of navigation to the Moluccas Islands, which he granted to him freely for some years, so that the Emperor for that many years could not have any of his own vessels sail to the said islands, but the said king would have all the navigation in his power alone.

How great the particular expenditure he draws from these revenues of his might be difficult to say, and especially that of the salaries of the permanent officials, councils of justice, castellans, and other such ordinary and necessary ministers throughout the kingdom, which is very great; but of the others that he ordinarily makes both in his own living and that of his household, as well as in the custody of his person and of all his kingdoms, which is also important to know, I will say what I have been able to learn from reliable sources.

His Majesty thus spends, first, on his table, his chapel, and his hunt, much more than the Catholic King did; for where the said king never reached fifty thousand ducats in such expenditure, his now exceeds one hundred and fifty thousand, and in some years reaches two hundred thousand; including, however, in this expense the money for the provisions of the table which he is wont to give to some of his household who keep a table, where various knights and gentlemen who follow the court go to eat every day, as he gives to his Grand Chamberlain, to the Grand Master, to the Grand Sommelier, and to the Grand Equerry, or Master of the Horse (and he used likewise, besides these, to give to the Grand Chancellor as well, when he was alive); and this entire expense can be set at a minimum of two hundred thousand ducats.

He pays to the Duke of Calabria and to Queen Germana8 his consort an annual allowance of thirty thousand ducats.

To Madam Margaret9 he used to pay (and will now likewise pay to Queen Mary his sister10, who has remained in the government of the states of Flanders in place of the said deceased Madam Margaret) sixteen thousand ducats.

His majesty keeps and pays for his continual guard one hundred archers, to whom he gives eighty ducats a year each; one hundred Castilian and one hundred German halberdiers, whom he pays forty-eight ducats each per year, so that the wages of all these, without the allowances for the captains, amount to seventeen thousand six hundred ducats.

Next, he keeps one hundred gentlemen, who always follow and serve him as men-at-arms, some with four, some with eight, and some with ten horses, and they have an allowance of at least two hundred ducats a year each, and are for the most part lords and knights, so that these allowances amount to a sum of at least twenty thousand ducats a year.

He then pays certain men, who are called squires of the retinue, up to the number of four thousand, who serve partly as men-at-arms and partly as light horse and jennets11, and they do not serve continuously, but stay in their homes, and are not obliged to ride except in times of great need in Spain (for they cannot be compelled to serve abroad), and therefore the men-at-arms have only sixteen ducats, and the light horse twelve ducats a year each: and they are not always paid from year to year, but if there is some need for war outside of Spain, as has happened in past years, the payments to these men either increase or decrease; because as their service is little, and sometimes for many years nothing at all, so they are also sometimes paid late, so that they are sometimes owed eight and sometimes ten payments; nevertheless they are content for the title of having vassals and for certain other preeminences that they have. But being paid as they are when there is no war abroad, these expenses amount, for the men-at-arms, of whom there are set two thousand five hundred, to the sum of forty thousand ducats, and for the light horse and jennets, of which one thousand five hundred remain, to the sum of eighteen thousand ducats, which makes in all fifty-eight thousand ducats a year.

Besides the above-mentioned men, he also keeps for the guarding of the frontiers of the kingdom of Navarre against France two thousand foot soldiers, who are not, however, as well paid as they would be if they were to leave Spain to serve, and despite this, even veteran foot soldiers and squad leaders and captains willingly join these ranks when they return home from some war, because although the pay is little, they are thus maintained with something, until from them, in times of war, are drawn either captains or squad leaders or other sorts of leading men. The captains of these foot soldiers are sixty in number, twenty of whom are obliged to always be at court; the foot soldiers have for their pay about two ducats, and the captains about eleven ducats a month each for their maintenance, so that the pay of the foot soldiers would come to forty-eight thousand ducats, and that of the captains about eight thousand a year; and in sum among all, fifty-six thousand ducats.

He also keeps one thousand men-at-arms, one thousand light horse, and six hundred jennets for the same defense of these frontiers and for other needs of war, because he also makes use of them in wars outside of Spain, as he has done in the past wars of Italy, and their numbers are also increased or decreased according to need. He pays the men-at-arms eighty ducats, the light horse fifty ducats, and the jennets forty ducats per year for each one.

The captains of these troops do not seem to have any, or little fixed, provision, but serve in hope; because when they have served two or three years, his majesty grants to some an annual income of two, to others three, to others four, to others six, and to others ten ducats on several occasions. The pay of these troops alone, without the provision for the captains, truly amounts for the year in total to one hundred fifty-four thousand ducats.

He used to continuously keep at least nine armed galleys for the guarding of the coasts of Granada, but now he keeps twelve, which do not indeed cost him as much as the same number would cost Your Serenity, because they are crewed for the most part by convicts, and are not kept armed all year round: nevertheless, he spends on these three thousand five hundred ducats per year for each one (and this much he gives to the captains of each, for their pay, without any other expense on his part except for the hulls of the galleys, which he provides furnished with equipment and with all the artillery and munitions of war, which must then be similarly returned by the captains so furnished in every case, except if they have suffered by misfortune or in combat with the enemy) which comes to a total of forty-two thousand ducats.

Finally, from the same revenues, he pays for the fifteen galleys of Andrea Doria12, giving him for all expenses and for his own stipend six thousand ducats per galley, for which he receives his very prompt payment in Barcelona. But besides this provision, he also had another of six thousand ducats until he was provided with an estate promised to him in the kingdom of Naples that yielded as much income, so that with this second provision the total now amounts to ninety-six thousand ducats per year.

These are all the notable expenses that can be computed as ordinary for the Emperor from his revenues of the kingdoms of Spain, which alone amount to the sum of six hundred eighty-nine thousand, six hundred ducats.

Lastly, he pays a great deal in giuri13, which is the name they give in Spain to certain pensions, which from the same obligated revenues are given to various persons, and are similar to our monti. These are paid partly to some who have bought so much revenue from the Kingdom of Castile at fourteen percent profit, with the condition, however, of being able to recover it by returning the capital paid for it, and partly to others for provisions granted to them by the Emperor himself as a gift, as he does every day; for not having at times another way to be able to reward one who has served him, he gives from these revenues such a pension as seems fitting to him for an annual provision, and thus the expense of these giuri grows more each day, although it could also be diminished, if they were to be recovered. It is now, however, so great that it amounts to and perhaps exceeds the sum of one hundred fifty thousand ducats, which with the other aforementioned expenses make the sum of eight hundred thirty-nine thousand, six hundred ducats.

Of no other expense made from such revenues can it be firmly said that anything certain is known, except, in sum, what has been said above concerning salaries and provisions for the various ministers who are necessarily maintained for the affairs of justice, government, and the rule of all the places in these his kingdoms, along with some others that he makes, such as building galleys and furnishing them with all the arms, artillery, and munitions, and likewise artillery and munitions for other needs and other similar things, which cannot be so named, and which are so many that, as is certainly understood, of all the said ordinary revenues, no more than two hundred thousand ducats reach the emperor’s hands clear of the aforementioned expenses; which, however, are then all spent by him on gifts or in other diverse things that cannot be so certainly expressed, so that should any need of war or other extraordinary circumstance arise, as has happened to him several times in the past, it is necessary for him to resort to the extraordinary provisions mentioned above, and to all the others that can be found at the time of such necessity.

Besides the ordinary and extraordinary services and provisions mentioned above, his majesty also has from these his kingdoms other advantages and services of no small moment.

First, holding the position of grand master of the three orders, he confers all the benefices of those orders that fall vacant from time to time, which are many and of great revenue. Furthermore, partly through ancient privileges and partly through those he himself obtained from Pope Adrian14, and which were later confirmed by the present Pontiff15, he also has the power to nominate whomever he wishes, not only to the royal patronages, but also to all the bishoprics of whatever kind, none excepted, and to the consistorial abbeys of Spain, the revenue from all of these bishoprics and benefices is very great. The income, indeed, of each of these of the second sort, while the vacancy lasts, belongs entirely to the Pontiff, besides his annatas16 which are greater or lesser according to whether vacancies occur more or less frequently, or whether they are filled sooner or later; from which His Holiness receives considerable profit, especially from the present king, because of the great tardiness he shows before nominating the persons he desires, so that for some of these the vacancy lasts a year or two or more, during which time all the revenues are collected, as I have said, in the name of the Pontiff, by a collector whom His Holiness keeps continuously in Spain for this purpose alone.

It seems that according to the pragmatic ordinances of Spain, the positions of the commanderies should not be conferred except upon the Spanish nation; nevertheless, his majesty sometimes gives them to someone of another nation, but he does this very rarely. The same occurs with the bishoprics and other ecclesiastical benefices, to which he is not accustomed, except on the rarest of occasions, to nominate anyone who is not of the Spanish nation; and with the bishoprics he proceeds with even greater caution than in any other matter, so as not to displease the nation by breaking the ordinances of Spain, a nation which always resists in every way it can, but most of all in the case of bishoprics, as these are of such great importance.

From the collation of the commanderies, His Majesty receives for each one a year’s revenue, which could be called the annate for his table, which, for the convenience of those who must pay, is paid to him over two years. But from the collations, or nominations, of the other ecclesiastical benefices he receives no profit or benefit for himself, except that in this way he remunerates many who have served him, and satisfies various lords and nobles of Spain, to whom by granting these favors he obligates them, so that by many he is well served, either in the hope of such benefices, or because they have already obtained one for which they feel obligated.

His Majesty also makes use of the said kingdoms in various other ways; because when there is war in Castile all the lords are obliged to serve with a certain number of lances, or light horse, or jennets—some with two hundred, some with more, some with less, according to their status—for as long as the war lasts, with His Majesty paying each man-at-arms with two horses no more than forty maravedis per day. Outside of Spain, they are not truly bound to serve in any war, neither with troops nor in person, if they do not wish to.

Likewise, the cities and the kingdoms are not obliged to pay or serve with men in any war outside of Spain, beyond the ordinary tribute. But if their own cities or kingdoms were to be besieged or harassed by enemies, without other new payments or subsidies, they are constrained by the orders of Spain and move of their own accord to take up their own defense; in which case they provide themselves with cavalry as well as infantry, according to their need and strength; and it is said that women have at times been seen to take up arms for the salvation not only of their own homeland, but even of a neighboring city.

Furthermore, if he needs infantry in Spain, the communities provide them, his majesty paying only thirty maravedis per day per man, and these communities are obligated to find said infantry, because the stipend being small, and they knowing they are to serve for a short time and cannot steal or gain anything by other means, it is very difficult to find those who would come to serve willingly. But if he wishes to make use of them outside of Spain, he has them raised by the drum, and finds as many as he wants for this stipend of thirty maravedis a day, which is the rate only until they are brought to the place of the engagement or service they are to render, where they are then paid otherwise, as has been done with those who from time to time have been led abroad; how long they last and what they are worth then in every engagement, Italy, among other provinces, has long felt to its great detriment, and your lordships have also seen proof of it many times.

His Majesty has such an abundance of ships and of most excellent men for them throughout all of Spain, and especially in Biscay, that of these he can raise whatever number he wishes; but of galleys he does not have such means, as he has few, and men not very skilled in the handling of such vessels: yet at present His Majesty possesses, including those recently built in Barcelona, twenty-two galleys, without counting those of Genoa, Naples, and Sicily, with which he has at times calculated he could have, whenever he wished, forty well-armed galleys at his service; and this is all that I have been able to understand of the affairs of Spain that has seemed to me worthy of reporting.

Now, coming to the states that the Emperor holds in Germany, and leaving aside those which, in the divisions made, he has granted to his brother, of which we will speak when we discuss the Most Serene King of the Romans, he holds on this side and that of the Rhine and between its mouths many states, of which those beyond the Rhine, although by Caesar and other ancients were placed in Gallia Belgica, I nonetheless place in Germany, because after Caesar, those regions having been occupied at various times by different peoples of Germany, the German language has remained in almost all of them (although some of the great lords especially still use French along with it, which is not, however, the ancient Gallic, but a corrupted Latin, as is also our Italian), and for this reason later writers have called almost all that part beyond the Rhine, where these countries are located, Germany.

He holds, therefore, beyond the Rhine the duchies of Brabant and Luxembourg, the counties of Flanders, Artois, Hainaut, Namur and Malines; between two branches of the Rhine and the sea, Trajetto [Utrecht], acquired with part of the land of Overijssel and Holland; and before the mouth of the Meuse and one of the Rhine, the islands that are called Zeeland. On this side of the Rhine he holds, on the sea coast, the rest of the land of Overijssel, and the most western part of Frisia, which, as is said, is larger and more fertile than the the other two, which the Count of Frisia and the Duke of Guelders now possess. Of all these states, Flanders and Brabant are the principal and the largest, and all are situated and joined together in such a way that one can pass from one to the other without touching the state of any neighboring lord. It is true, however, that Guelders and the land of Cleves are squeezed tightly between Brabant and Holland, and especially the state of Guelders, which is not only contained between the Meuse and the Rhine, but also passes between the branches of the Rhine.

In this state of Guelders the Emperor, as testamentary heir of the grandfather of the present duke, who disinherited his son, claims many rights; for which both Duke Philip17 and Duke Charles18, who was the father-in-law of Emperor Maximilian19, also held the entire duchy until their deaths. But after the death of Duke Charles, the disinherited father of the present duke returned, and he in his lifetime, and then his son after him, have possessed it until now, but almost always at war with King Philip [the Handsome], and with the present Emperor; until the agreement was made in which they are now, in which the said duke, having lost some of his important lands, was finally constrained to cede the duchy in this manner, that, should he die without a male heir, it would pass to the Emperor and his descendants; and from that time on it was arranged that the people recognized him as their hereditary lord, swearing obedience to him. For which reason his majesty hopes to enter into possession of it after his death; but many doubt that this can happen without war, as the Duke of Lorraine lays claim to it, being the son of the only daughter of the said Duke of Guelders, and it is thought that he will also have on his side the Duke of Lulich and the Duke of Saxony, as the former is his father-in-law and the latter’s son is his brother-in-law.

Besides the said state of Guelders, it is held almost for certain that the Count of Friesland, who holds its most eastern part, is about to become a vassal of the emperor, in order to possess his state more securely against the Duke of Guelders with such protection.

Nor are there lacking, similarly, those who say that the same will happen to the state of Liège as happened to Utrecht, that at least after the death of the cardinal, the said majesty is to have temporal dominion over it. If all these things were to come to pass for him, his majesty would make of these said states a most ample state, and so strong and powerful, both because of its location and on account of the wealth of its many good lands and multitude of peoples most adept at war, that it could perhaps be compared in strength to any other Christian kingdom.

In all the said states there are indeed still many lords who have lands and estates of considerable income, but all are nevertheless subject to the emperor as Duke of Burgundy and lord of these lands, though some more and some less; and whenever he demands some service of money from the subjects of all these, without in any way diminishing the revenues of their lords, it is paid in proportion to that state to which they belong.

He does not have much ordinary revenue from all these states of his, because both by Duke Charles first, and then by King Philip, and finally by the emperor himself, many alienations have been made from time to time, so that from his original states he does not draw more than one hundred and fifty thousand ducats of ordinary revenue, of which about eighty thousand ducats are spent on judges, notaries, and other similar ministers for the entire governance and administration of them, so that only seventy thousand ducats remain net.

From the newly acquired state of Utrecht he now draws no net revenue; on the contrary, this, for the garrisons that must be kept there, and some fortresses that he is having built, is rather an expense to him; but once these fortresses are finished, it is believed that he will be relieved of the expense in such a way that he will draw a good sum of money from it.

It is quite true that the Emperor, making use of these his states no less than the Most Christian King20 does of his peoples and vassals of France, both of men in time of war and of money at all times, extraordinarily draws much money from the subsidies that he requests from time to time; and this time he has obtained from Brabant and Flanders principally, and then from all the other states, one million five hundred thousand ducats, to be paid to him in six years, which would come to be two hundred and fifty thousand ducats a year.

From such subsidies, which are requested from time to time according to need, are usually paid all the men-at-arms and archers that the Emperor keeps in these his states, and also all the expenses of the wars that might arise in these countries; just as in the past wars they have had with both the Duke of Guelders and the Most Christian King on their borders, they have continuously acted in such a way that these states, without any other expense from the emperor, have borne the entire burden of the cost alone. Of such fighting men thus paid by these states, the Emperor not only makes use for the needs of the wars in Flanders and its conjoined states; but when these are not troubled by war, he also uses them for his needs in wars everywhere else abroad, as Your Lordships have seen in past wars when these men-at-arms and cavalry called Burgundians have come many times to Italy, among whom were the companies of Monsieur de Roeulx, who was called ‘Della Rosa’ in Italy and was once a prisoner in this land, and of the Marquis of Aerschot. Likewise, of such monies, he also makes use, when he wishes, in other places where greater need compels him. This he has also done in the past wars of Italy, where he has taken and spent on them the monies that were given year by year from the subsidies for the payment of such men, who for that reason had remained in arrears for their pay, some companies for two, some for three and even for four years; and this time it has been necessary to settle all of them with the money from the latest subsidy. For such expenses incurred in their own wars as well as in other provinces, it is said for certain by the Flemings—which I heard especially from Monsieur de Croy, who was one of the three orators sent to Your Serenity from Bologna—that His Majesty has drawn from these his states, since he went to Spain, a great sum of gold, which perhaps seems difficult to believe, because it exceeds the number of more than six million.

These men-at-arms and archers, who are ordinarily maintained in the aforementioned manner, consist of six companies of men-at-arms with one hundred archers per company, in the same manner and order as the French troops, the men-at-arms serving with three horses apiece, and the archers with a single horse each.

The men-at-arms indeed have a salary of one hundred and twenty-eight ducats per man per year, and the archers sixty, which amounts to a total annual expense of seventy-four thousand four hundred ducats. The captains of these companies are the Count of Bures, who is captain-general of them all, the Count of Nassau, Monsieur de Fiennes, the Marquis of Aerschot, Monsieur de Beaurain, and the Duke of Guelders.

The said captain-general has for his provision three thousand ducats a year, and all the others have for theirs one thousand five hundred ducats a year each, computing in these the provisions for the chiefs of the archers, who are each appointed and paid by their captain; so that the sum of all these provisions would amount to ten thousand five hundred ducats a year.

The Duke of Guelders has, besides this provision, an annual pension from the Emperor, by the last aforesaid agreement, of twenty thousand ducats, which brings the sum of all the above-mentioned expenses to one hundred and four thousand nine hundred ducats a year.

The said duke was given his company at the same time as the agreement, and it is used in the emperor’s service like the others, and is continually paid better than the others; and as all the companies were still owed a good sum of their past wages when the emperor came to Flanders, his majesty sought every possible means to have them settle for half, and although they would not consent to so much, they nevertheless were content to forgo a third, and to receive then half of the remainder, and the other half in the two following payments that these states are to make from the promised subsidy: but the company of the duke of Guelders was not, however, included in this agreement, out of the respect in which he is held, and it was paid all its credit in full.

Your Most Excellent Lordships have thus heard thus far how many and what are the revenues and expenses, both ordinary and extraordinary, and likewise all the sea and land forces that the Emperor has, separately from all his states; which, in the opinion of persons by whom they have been particularly known, if they were better governed and dispensed than they are, would be capable of producing much greater effects than have been seen from them. But whether for this reason, or for the great interest suffered in the obligations made to the merchants, who paid him the promised sum in cash at the time, or that the great burden of the wars he has had has brought this about, it does not seem that all the aforementioned revenues together have been sufficient for the expenses. Indeed the Emperor, besides all those, upon his departure from Spain, received from the King of Portugal, for the agreement on the aforementioned navigations, four hundred thousand ducats: having come to Italy, he received from your lordships, in the peace that was made, one hundred thousand ducats; from the most illustrious lord Duke of Milan likewise three hundred thousand ducats; from the lord Duke of Ferrara for the sale and investiture of Carpi one hundred thousand ducats; having arrived in Germany, of the one million two hundred thousand ducats he received from the Most Christian King21, he has spent two hundred thousand ducats: in Flanders, from the states left to him in pledge by the same22 for five hundred thousand ducats, he has had sixty thousand ducats; from the silver and gold found upon the death of Madame Margaret, which he had struck into coin, fifty thousand ducats; all of which makes a total of one million two hundred and ten thousand ducats. Nor have these yet been sufficient for all the debts he had with his men of war, and with other princes and private lords, among whom he remains a debtor of three hundred sixty-one thousand five hundred ducats.

For the payment of these debts and other expenses he had for paying and clothing his court, it was necessary for him to ask his states for the large sum of money he requested of them, and in addition to this, to persuade them to be content not only to pay him then in cash the portion for one year, but also that the portion for the following two years could be obligated, to be paid in due course to those who would then serve him for the entire sum in cash; in which they showed themselves very difficult, saying they wished for the following payments to remain uncommitted, so that, should some need for war arise, with these they could meet the expense without making other new provisions of money: and so he could obtain nothing other than that the provisions be paid every six months in advance.

These debts being paid in the said manner, Your Lordships can see how His Caesarean Majesty is left with so many of his ordinary revenues, and with those other faculties of finding extraordinary monies freely for all his needs, as I have said; which are such that, if for some time he is not hindered by war, it is estimated that by applying diligence to better govern them and more carefully dispense them (to which it seems he is much inclined to attend), in a few years he should be able to set aside a great sum of gold in his treasury. But in addition to this, it is known that he presently has in hand one million scudi placed in deposit, and he does not wish it to be touched for any need, as he says, except in the case that war must be made with the Turk, or that war be initiated against him by the Most Christian king. That money is the remainder of the one million two hundred thousand ducats taken from the Most Christian king.

Furthermore, it is seen that his ordinary maritime force currently in his pay consists of thirty-five armed galleys, between those of Spain, Sicily, Naples, and of Captain Andrea Doria. Lances in Spain, one thousand; in the kingdom of Naples, six hundred; and in Flanders, three hundred, which make in all, without the guard of his two hundred gentlemen, and without those of the household, one thousand nine hundred ordinary lances. And light horse in Spain, without the said household troops, but counting the six hundred jennets, one thousand six hundred; in the kingdom of Naples, eight hundred; and in his states of Flanders, six hundred, which make in all an ordinary number of three thousand horse. And finally, an army in Italy of elite veteran infantry, trained in all past wars, which, between Sicily, the Kingdom of Naples, and Lombardy, are perhaps no fewer than ten thousand.

This truly is the sinew of all the Emperor’s forces that he is found to have at present, in effect, without other addition, though he can always hope for a not insignificant one from the Most Serene King of the Romans, and from the Empire in any of his urgent needs; which sinew and power is of such a sort, moreover, that without other augmentation it seems to me that it must be to his friends a source of the highest hope and security, and to his enemies, however great and formidable they might be, a matter of the highest estimation. And then, should some greater need arise, he can with the extraordinary revenues he has, as I have said above, so increase it, that there is no one at present, I believe, among the Christian princes and states who by himself has or could have greater; which, knowing that it is most excellently considered and known by your serenity, I will not labor to express it at greater length, so as not to be, without need, too long and perhaps tedious in my speech.

And therefore, leaving this matter, and coming to the other parts no less worthy of consideration, I shall narrate in what manner the government of His Majesty is ordered and arranged, wherein are considered the qualities and condition of those he has with him, and finally his own.

Charles V’s Government

As for the government, therefore, His Majesty in the beginning had Monsignor di Chièvres23, who was held in such respect by him, for having been the one who had educated him from his infancy, that he himself did everything. He was succeeded by Monsignor di Gattinara, Grand Chancellor, who was later a cardinal24; who, although he did not thus do everything, was nevertheless of such authority and so esteemed by both Caesar and the others, that Caesar deferred greatly to his counsels and opinions, and to him alone were referred all matters, both those to be granted to others and those requiring deliberation; which matters he, without the petitioner speaking otherwise to the Emperor, took upon himself the charge of dispatching, and he dispatched them himself. To him alone did all the ambassadors address themselves and negotiate their affairs, and when on a journey, matters were always initiated with him before they passed to the court, which was very convenient for all negotiators to better negotiate, and then to await a swifter and more excellent dispatch. He being dead, the emperor has not wished to appoint another grand chancellor to whom all matters should be addressed; but has divided the duties so as not to give so much authority to a single person, and nothing is dispatched at present, of whatever nature or condition it may be, that His Majesty does not wish to know and understand and state his will upon it; from which it often comes that dispatches are delayed more than is estimated, or than their need would require.

His Majesty has with him many councilors, besides those who have remained in Spain, but four especially who consult on matters, and enter into all his councils: the Secretary Covos, Grand Commander of León, a Spaniard; Monsignor de Granvelle25, a doctor of law from Burgundy; Don Garzia di Padilla, Grand Commander of Calatrava, a Spaniard; and the Archbishop of Bari, a Spaniard; besides whom there are also the Count of Nassau, Grand Chamberlain, a Fleming; Monsignor de Beaurain, Grand Master, a Fleming; Monsignor de Praet, second Chamberlain, a Fleming; and Monsignor d’Anicarm, Grand Sommelier, a Fleming: but the first two handle and give dispatch to all matters, since to these two alone His Majesty always entrusts them all.

To the Grand Commander Covos is given the charge of expediting all matters of Spain, and also those of the Kingdom of Naples and of Sicily, except where matters of justice, or pragmatics, or statutes of the provinces must be reviewed; because in these cases, the Grand Commander of Calatrava shares the charge of Spanish affairs with him, and Monsieur de Granvelle has charge of the other states; and all these matters, once they have been consulted upon, before being signed by the Emperor, must be subscribed by his own hand as Grand Chancellor, and in the name of the Grand Chamberlain, who is the Count of Nassau, who, although he has the title and authority for this, nevertheless never takes on the task, but leaves it all to these particular councilors.

To Monsieur de Granvelle is given the special charge of expediting all matters of Flanders and its conjoined states, and of Germany, and in addition to this, all the other aforementioned matters that have to be seen to with justice and according to the dispositions and orders of reason in all the states; in all of which his own signature must be affixed before they come to the Emperor for his signature.

The Grand Commander of Calatrava and the Archbishop of Bari do not have another special charge assigned to them pertaining to the Grand Chancellorship, like the two aforementioned, except that they are ordinary councilors, and they meet with these two to consult on all matters, and then they enter the Emperor’s council.

Of the others, none meet to consult on matters with these men, but they all enter the council where the Emperor is present; of whom the Count of Nassau has more favor and authority with His Majesty than any other, both of these latter and of the former, and he would have even greater authority if he were willing to take on the burden of government and use the power he has with him, since the Emperor loves him greatly and holds him in high regard; but he does not seem to care to take on any burden of the affairs of government, except that he attends the councils where His Majesty is present in person, and freely gives his opinion.

Monsignor du Praet is a man who depends greatly on the said Count, and is esteemed to be of great worth. He has been employed by Caesar in many dealings, and lately in those with France, where it is said he is not very welcome, since, as is understood, he has never been willing to accept from the Most Christian King either a pension or any gift. He is much loved by the Emperor, and by him, during the celebration of the festival of the Golden Fleece in Tournai, he was given the Order26, by which, as he was not a man of high estate but only a simple gentleman, he was considered to be greatly honored.

Monsignor d’Anicarm does not seem to be much employed, nor does he dispatch business.

The Marquis of Aerschot and Monsignor de Beaurain are captains of men-at-arms, as has been said, and they enter the Emperor’s councils, but especially those concerning matters of war. The first of these two was the nephew of Monsignor de Chièvres, and therefore he and his brothers have been much favored by the emperor; for to one of the brothers, who is now dead, he once gave the archbishopric of Toledo; to two others he has given the bishoprics of Cambrai and Tournai; and to the Marquis himself he gave the Duchy of Sora in the Kingdom of Naples, which was taken from the Duke of Urbino; and being reputed a very kind, courteous, and prudent lord, there has also been a rumor at times that he was to be made Viceroy of Naples. The second was the son of Monsignor de Roeulx, who in Italy was called ‘Della Rosa’, and was once a prisoner of Your Serenity; he has much favor with the Emperor, but never involves himself in any business.

None of these councilors, however, is now of such authority that he does not always speak to the Emperor with great respect in his affairs, because His Majesty does not defer to others in any matter, except in matters that follow the ordinary course, but in all others he himself wishes to understand them well, and he gives thought to all of them, and does not let any of them pass without his intervention or knowledge; and of such matters, when it seems to him that they are of some importance, he keeps a note of them by him in little memoranda in his own hand. In all things, he hears the opinion and counsel of his men—in such a way, however, that no one’s authority, but reason alone prevails with him; moved by it alone, in whatever manner of terms, he makes deliberations in his own way, which he also wishes to be believed by everyone; and he demonstrates this all the more since he knows that it was held in the past that he was governed in everything by Monsignor de Chièvres in his time, and afterwards by Gattinara the Grand Chancellor, also much loved by him.

It did not seem before, as they say, that he was esteemed to be of great intellect, perhaps because he deferred a great deal to those I have mentioned; but now he is reputed by all, and so I have found him in all his actions, to be very prudent, so that it is held among his men that there is no sounder counsel than his own. He is seen to always move on excellent foundations, and he seeks to proceed very justifiably in all his affairs, in which, when he confines himself to negotiating with someone to whom he wishes to give an account, he gives it in such a way that everyone must be satisfied, because he makes it known that he understands it very well, discoursing upon it, speaking, and responding with brief words, but so prudent, grave, and of such substance, that he leaves everyone who negotiates with him marveling, who perhaps had previously thought otherwise.

In his deliberations he proceeds very considerately, so that if they are made slowly, as indeed is seen to happen in almost all of them, they are at least done in such a way that it seems they are then lauded by everyone.

Protestantism

He then demonstrates in all his actions, besides great prudence, much piety and goodness. He holds the Apostolic See in great observance. Of the person of the Pontiff and of the Roman church he speaks with great reverence on every occasion; and for every religious order, especially those of an exemplary life or of some esteem in doctrine, he has no small respect, and he honors them greatly, and listens to them in matters that most pertain to religion; for the honor and dignity of which he has placed in Germany extreme care and effort, with all the princes and states of that province, to compose the differences of the faith, trying to reduce the erroneous opinions of many to the first and true Catholic rite. Nor in this has he omitted doing anything that from a most Christian emperor, most ardent for the honor of the faith and of the church of Christ, could be expected or desired, except that he has not wished to take up arms against those obstinate and stubborn in their perverse opinions for such a cause.

He held the Diet in Augsburg [1530] for this reason, where he willed that those who felt differently in faith from the ancient true opinion of the Catholic Church should propose their confessions regarding all the articles in which they dissented.27 To this, he had many most learned Catholic doctors, with their counsel and study, respond one by one according to the foundations of the sacred scriptures, so that, seeing in this way in what they agreed with the Church and in what they dissented from it, their error could be better corrected. Then, having narrowed their doctrines to only those few which were more than a mere difference in words, but contrary in the sense of the articles, he willed that a few chosen from each side should confer together, to see if they could yet retract from error those especially who spoke ill not of ceremonies and abstinence from foods, but of other more important things.

This not being achievable, he finally offered, for the decision of the whole matter, a council, with only this condition: that while living in their own way until its celebration, they should at least abstain from taking the goods and revenues of the churches, and cease to have their new opinions preached, and from compelling the monks and nuns, who still lived in religion, to leave the monasteries and marry and abandon the rites and ways of Catholic life and belief against their will. And to induce them to consent to so good an effect, he employed the mediation of many princes connected to them by kinship and confidence; and he himself, first exhorting them with sweet and humane words, as if he had been a brother or father to them—then, these not availing, with grave and threatening ones, as befitted a most Christian emperor—he attempted to bring them to this agreement.

But finally, when he saw them more unyielding and obstinate, he had the diet make a determination on the matter28, threatening to proceed against the disobedient with the penalty of the Imperial Ban.29 Yet nothing has ever availed with any of these, who, although they have shown some regard for the penalty of the Imperial Ban (and have therefore several times supplicated the Emperor to be content to suspend the ban’s publication until the celebration of the council, although the emperor, without taking any action to the contrary, has never said he wished to suspend it), have nonetheless always been most obstinate in their opinions, and some lands have since revealed themselves to be Lutheran, and other Lutheran ones have declined into an even worse sect and heresy.

Seeing this, his majesty, to make a final attempt, resolved to hold the second diet, which he first summoned to Speyer, where, since the place seemed inconvenient to many of the princes due to the distance from their lands, and since some of the Catholics were also not much inclined to consent to the election of the Most Serene King of the Romans30, of which some mention was also to be made in the diet, and since almost all the Lutherans were disposed neither to this nor to any good settlement of religious matters, it could not be convened.

In such contention, time so passed that it was then decided by the said Majesty to order it for another time and in another place; and the rumors of Turkish preparations beginning to grow heated, and Ratisbon being in the middle of Germany on the Danube, not very far from Vienna, he wished, both for the convenience of the princes and for the dispatch of the needs of the war, to choose that city. Having arrived there on the twenty-eighth of February, and finding there the Most Serene King his brother, and a few other princes, after waiting some days for the arrival of some others, he began the diet; and in the meantime another diet of Lutherans having gathered in Schmalkalden31, he sent there the most illustrious Count Palatine, and the most reverend Elector of Mainz in his name to dispose the minds of those Lutheran princes and lands towards some honest conclusion.

And in such a state I left matters upon my departure from the court, that, as the Lutherans still seemed firm in their will to believe and live in their own way until another determination was made by the council, and unwilling otherwise to consent to any contribution of men, it was believed that due to the imminent danger of the war, which was seen to be very great, these controversies still being alive, the suspension of the Imperial Ban made against them would be granted to the Lutherans, and permission to remain in that opinion of theirs until a new council should establish what ought to be believed concerning all their doctrines, and how all Christians ought to live.

His majesty has always demanded this general council32 with the greatest insistence, as this seems, as judged by almost everyone, not only the safest, but the only remedy for this malady; so that without it no other remedy can be of use, unless perhaps one were found by Divine Providence, cuius causa agitur.33

He has endeavored with the Most Christian king, and with the other Christian princes and states, to exhort them all to consent to this promptly and willingly, and although many have opposed him on this, among whom one especially who showed how, were this general [council] to be held, it could easily bring some harm, indeed no small prejudice, to the Crown of Spain, nevertheless in this, his will, His Majesty has always been most constant, nor has he ever wished to accept any of these contrary arguments, which might impede the council entirely or even just place some delay upon it; indeed he has always made it understood that this is his firm opinion, that for no reason should such a necessary remedy for so great an evil be in any way passed over, saying that if this evil were not remedied with such an expedient, he saw it going from bad to worse, and from day to day growing greater, so that it was much to be feared that, being thus scorned, it might perchance proceed with such force, that when one later wished, neither this nor that nor any other remedy that was merely human would then be sufficient to overcome it. This he has always made understood to be his firm will and opinion; but yet, because perhaps not all correspond to him in so just and holy a desire as they should, it does not seem that a firm conclusion has been reached in this matter.34

He has not wished to take up arms against these heretics—although he was urged by some to do so, and it was judged by some that they could not otherwise be brought back to the right path—for many and, as it seems to me, most prudent reasons, which I have at times heard from some of his men when discussing this matter. For besides the outcome of wars being ever doubtful and perilous, His Majesty knew manifestly that he by himself would not have been sufficient for so great an undertaking; and therefore it was necessary that either the other Christian princes, or at least the Catholic princes of Germany, should concur jointly and employ all their forces in such an expedition. Now, of the other Christian princes and states, he saw none who would willingly involve themselves in such a war; indeed, it was suspected of some that they would rather have lent favor, if not openly at least secretly, to his enemies, out of hatred and jealousy of his too-great power. The princes of Germany, when approached by him several times, either openly denied their aid or answered so coldly that he understood no good work could be expected of them: and they all exhorted him to proceed with skill, and to use every other path rather than that of arms, either because they truly felt this to be the best course, or also because they were suspicious of the greatness of these two brothers, and would not willingly see them grow greater, especially with their own help.

He also distrusted the inconstancy and infidelity of his peoples, seeing them all easily inclined to these heresies because of the great license they grant to their way of living; for which reason, even if all the Catholic princes were united with him in such an enterprise, where the Lutherans would always find in war the most ready and most faithful service of their peoples, the Catholics, on the other hand, would find theirs neither ready nor faithful. Finally, the consideration of the Turk made him more cautious, which seemed to him of much greater weight than all the others, seeing the enemy most ready, armed, and near, who aspires to nothing other than the destruction of the Christian name. And reasonably fearing that if the Turk had not hesitated to come into Germany35 when it was not yet divided but at peace to attack its cities and destroy its lands with plunder and fire, he would be all the more moved to assail it now, finding it torn apart by the bitter mutual hatreds of its own princes and states, and it would be far easier for him to enter and desolate it entirely, either called upon by one of its own princes (as has always happened in every war of the Christians neighboring his state), or moved by the mere opportunity of such a cruel dissension among those very ones who ought to defend it.

For these reasons especially, it has seemed best to him, in the curing of this malady, to imitate the prudent physician, who, where from strong remedies one might fear some danger—either the death of the sick man or the destruction of some limb—always begins with the easiest and least dangerous ones, reserving the strongest for the end, when he sees the first do not help and that without these extreme measures no hope of health remains. Thus the Emperor has wished to use in this matter every skill, and to try every remedy rather than that of arms, to which one can always resort, and when he does so, he will be at all times excused before everyone, for not having failed to first use every paternal office to lead the misguided to the path of their salvation, but that they themselves, with their own harsh obstinacy, have provoked his wrath against them; which counsel was once highly commended by your highness.

Finally, for the love of the religion and faith of Christ, his majesty shows himself to be very desirous that an enterprise be undertaken against the infidels, in which he would not refuse to take part in person if it were undertaken jointly by all Christians. And if this were not to be done by the Christians, but the Turks were to move nonetheless, either by land against the states of Germany and of the Most Serene King of the Romans, or by sea in Italy, or in some other part, he always says that in such a need he will never abandon either his brother or the Christian religion, but would rather leave his own affairs and put all that he has to the defense of his brother and to the service of Christ.

Charles V’s Personality

His majesty does not seem very familiar or affable, entertaining people in diverse manners as it is said the Catholic King used to do, except that when he is among his own people, and with the Flemish especially, he is, they say, most familiar. With everyone, however, he is most humane, and very patient in his audiences, so that not to only ambassadors or nuncios of princes and any gentleman who has some business to set forth, going at the appointed hours, does he listen kindly—with attention and the utmost patience, for as long as they wish to speak, without ever interrupting them in the slightest, and without ever being seen to become perturbed by anything that is said to him, or to burst forth with any ill word unworthy of so great a prince—but to every lowly or poor person who wishes to lay before him or supplicate him for something, when he comes out of his chamber, he stops, readily lends an ear and offers his hand, taking their supplications himself, so that everyone is permitted to set forth his case to him boldly, and with whatever freedom he wishes to speak to him and openly tell him his grievances, without fear that he might take offense at anything in the least, or drive him away with some harsh reply.

He then replies to the propositions made to him so distinctly, and with so grave, prudent, and gentle a form of words, that everyone must necessarily depart supremely satisfied with him, it seeming to them that at least their reasons have been well heard, and that they may expect, sooner or later, that dispatch which it is fitting to hope for from a just and gracious prince.

And, as far as one can see, he is very just, and most observant not only of the laws in matters of justice, but also of promises made and faith given to everyone, and finally, most intent on that alone which pertains to his dignity and honor; which he always places before all other things, in such a way that not only does he take care never to break his word, but even where he has not made a promise, he wishes that one always keep in view what is honorable to him, and, always turning to that as to a true sign, that all deliberations on current matters be made. Of this, I believe, two things can above all testify to the whole world: first, the restitution he made of Como and the castle of Milan to the Duke, which was made by His Majesty for no other reason, against the expectation, perhaps, of many and against the advice of some of his chief men36; then, the conclusion he brought to the controversy between His Holiness the Pontiff and the Duke of Ferrara, in which, although he had the greatest desire to please him in everything he could (and for this reason also granted him, beyond the term of the compromise, as many delays as possible, and in all things did his utmost, by praying and exhorting and proposing all scenarios so that His Holiness might be disposed to accept some agreement), nevertheless, knowing in the end that he could not with his honor do other than to arrive at a resolution of this controversy by means of a judgment, and that this, in justice, could not be made except in favor of the Duke, and once made must be executed, he did not hesitate to displease him and give him cause perhaps for discontent and to distance himself at least a little, if not alienate himself entirely, from his friendship.37

As for acts of liberality and magnificence, he is not seen, in truth, to be very splendid, either in his own dress or in that of his court, but rather quite frugal, so that he commonly wears clothes of no more than silk; and those to whom he gives his livery have at times been left with their old garments, waiting for the new ones longer than seemed befitting his greatness.

Moreover, many who hope for something from His Majesty, either for services rendered or for other reasons, wait a long time before they can obtain it, so that it seems that such people are not very satisfied with him in this, or they consider him not to be liberal; among whom there are not lacking those who say that when someone who has been his servant dies, however great or dear he may have been, he no longer remembers the service after death, it not being seen that he makes to the deceased’s family, in memory of the dead servant, that demonstration which such great service and affection seemed reasonably to warrant, so that this, as they say, remains entirely dead. But in truth, these same people cannot then deny that he still spends on his own table and that of his retainers, on hunting, and on his other ordinary expenses, and in gifts, much more than the Catholic King, who is so praised by everyone, ever did; nor does he fail to remunerate in some form all those who have served him, which he does when he can or when the occasion to do so arises, either with bishoprics, abbeys, commanderies, or with some state, or with various provisions, or with cash, although in such remuneration he seems to be more prompt and more generous towards the Flemish than towards the Spanish or Italians, for in truth, being born and raised among them, as they say, he has a more natural inclination towards the former than towards the latter.

He also gives a great deal to various lords, and ambassadors of princes, and to other similar persons, and I know from one who has handled his accounts, that on his departure from Bologna he made a gift to a great many Spaniards who returned from there to Spain of more than three hundred thousand scudi; and in Brussels this past July an account was drawn up of many extraordinary expenses made by him, from the twenty-first of March 1530 when he departed from Bologna until the following twelfth of July, which amounted to the sum of two hundred and seventy thousand scudi, nor were there expenses other than donations made to various lords and gentlemen and other such persons, for which reason it does not seem that he can be called illiberal. But if indeed that parsimony I have mentioned is seen in his dress and that of his retinue, it may be said that, aside from some other prudent reason, he practices it because, having been obliged to bear for many years the continuous and excessive expenses of war and other matters, which it seemed to him he could not avoid without detriment to his dignity and perhaps the ruin of his affairs, and for this reason having contracted many debts, it has then seemed right to him to attend to those matters and then to pay his debts, rather than attending to other things that could have given him only a little splendor, only to then have to neglect his more important and incumbent duties; whence, spending what he has with the aforesaid measure, it seems right to me that he can be called not prodigal, but not, in this, illiberal.

Regarding rewards, truly, so many are those who await them that, his means not yet being sufficient to provide for them, and remuneration and gifts also being much delayed due to his natural custom, it causes these people to judge and speak of him otherwise. This tardiness, in truth, which he seems to employ as much in dispensing dignities and benefices of every sort and in granting favors and gifts and paying rewards, as also in bringing to conclusion his own affairs of great moment, causes not only those who seek and await their dispatch, but even his own counselors and ministers to murmur not a little against him, and it is said in this that he gives little satisfaction to those who have served him, and brings no small disarray to his own affairs. Nonetheless, whether this proceeds from his natural complexion, which greatly abounds in phlegm, or from the multitude and gravity of his business, which, requiring much consultation, keeps him long and greatly occupied, in the end, however, he is seen to be most prudent in his deliberations and quite generous in his concessions, so that he who awaits a favor or reward obtains for the most part what he asks, though what he obtains he does not esteem as a favor, because of the tedium of the excessive wait; but in whatever manner His Majesty governs himself in this, these two things alone cause not only many outsiders, but also his own people, to say something against him, and cause the Spaniards especially to complain greatly that he is not as prompt nor as generous with them in the remunerations or favors they await as he is with the Flemings; these two sole things aside, they can find nothing else in him that is not worthy of much praise.

But I, in order not to be too lengthy in narrating his virtues one by one, will speak of two only, although they seem to me the principal ones and those that should be most esteemed and held dear by Your Serenity, which are very connected to one another. The one is that His Majesty is not seen to be very covetous nor greedy to occupy new states, and to add to himself or to his successors, to the detriment of Christian affairs, greater grandeur; and the other that he loves peace supremely. To which effect, when he passed from Spain to Italy, Your Serenity well knows how immediately—where it indeed seemed that for the many victories he had and for his forces, increased not only with new men but also with new allies taken from his own adversaries, he should have wished to impose laws at his own pleasure and to give conditions to everyone—he was nonetheless easily induced, against the will and opinion of some of his own ministers and contrary to the expectation of many others, not only to forgive every offense he had received from any prince of Italy, but to consent to his possession of the very rights he was reputed to have forfeited, in order to leave this province not only placated and quiet, but content, to the satisfaction of all its princes and states, and especially of this republic, which supremely desired such a grace and with every affection requested it.

Afterward, having passed into Germany, and having recognized that in that province, due to the absence of the ruler, disorders arose daily which brought very great ruin to that same province, and no lesser danger to the other Christian states and affairs, he not only consented, but procured that his brother be elected King of the Romans, suffering to deprive his own succession of such a dignity with that election, so as not to leave so important a province without its ruler, but in it, he being far away, to place there another himself, who, as consort in the Empire, would have to rule and govern it in his absence. For this reason also, always shunning as much as he can every occasion for war, he is seen to sometimes endure something that perhaps seems against his dignity, rather than to come to arms, as has perhaps been seen in the affairs of Germany, and no less in the ruin that the Duke of Savoy, his brother-in-law, has had with the Swiss, in which matters, his majesty having been requested with great instance, he has never been willing to lend him aid, and has suffered not only that he should suffer for it, but, with Geneva being occupied by the Swiss, that some prejudice also be done to the Empire, rather than, by taking up arms for him, a new war might perhaps be kindled in Italy.38 And so every time that something is proposed to him that carries the suspicion of some beginning of war, he shuns it like fire, nor does he wish to attend to it in any way. Which he especially observes in the affairs of Italy, which with all his care and study he seeks to preserve in its present quiet and peaceful state, into which it seems to him he has placed it with inestimable expense, effort, and danger to his states, and travail of his own person. In which opinion he shows himself most constant, both because of such natural inclination of his, and because he still esteems himself in this way to be as the sole master of it all, having all the princes and states of it either as subjects, or joined by such friendship and confederation that everyone observes him and is most ready to please him; and by doing otherwise, another prince being introduced there, this new prince could not only make himself lord of part of it, but even of the whole, and perhaps become master either with him or alone. It is for this reason that, having been tempted many times and in diverse ways by the Most Christian King regarding the affairs of the state of Milan, although he perhaps had the desire to gratify him in all that he could in the affairs beyond the mountains, and had commissioned Monsignor di Prato, when he last went to France, that in every other proposition made he should press the negotiation, nevertheless concerning that state he has been unwilling, I do not say to please him, but even ever to hear a word of it; rather, he has willed that in every accord that they have treated together, this condition should always stand firm, that he [the King of France] should in no way have a part in this state, and of this he not being content, not only was nothing concluded, but all negotiation was broken off; which alone was perhaps the reason that the said Monsignor di Prato returned then from France without any conclusion.39

And as I have heard from a good source, one of the most powerful reasons that induced him to grant the County of Asti40 to the Duke of Savoy was to free himself from the continuous entreaties and urgings that his sister, the Most Christian Queen,41 made to him that he should restore it to the King her husband, to which he has never been willing to consent, so that the said King should in no way have a foothold in Italy which would always give him a readier opportunity to disturb it. For the same purpose, he maintains relations not only with those Christian princes and states with whom he is friends or allied, always performing every friendly office that occasions might call for, but also with others with whom he has no such express alliance, often dissimulating something that might perhaps give, to one who wished to take notice, cause for war, so as not to break with anyone; wherefore it will perhaps be opportune to understand what disposition His Majesty has toward each one.

Charles V’s Diplomatic Relationships

And so beginning with the most important, the present Pontiff, with whom he is joined in close friendship and confederation, he keeps himself as closely united as possible, and in all things that he is permitted to do with honor and dignity in his support, he always seeks to please him; and for this reason, not only has he kept his army stationed always before Florence until he forced that city to accept the House of de Medici42 and bring in all the exiles (as he had perhaps obliged himself in the convention of Barcelona), but he has honored Duke Alessandro, his nephew, and aggrandized him and his descendants as much as he could, giving him the superiority and power of government that he has given him both in the cities and in all his state.43 Likewise in asking for and seeking to bring about the council, although he has always been firm in his opinion that it should be convened as a general council and soon, nevertheless in this he has at all times proceeded with every reverence and respect towards him, promising him with all possible earnestness to always keep under his protection and that of his brother the Most Serene King of the Romans, the dignity and state of the Roman Church, of his own person, and of the entire house of de Medici, so that in said council no detraction, injury, nor offense of any kind would be done to him. And it has indeed happened at times that he has not been without suspicion that His Holiness might become alienated or distance himself a little from him and draw closer to the Most Christian King, especially when the Cardinal of Gramont, Monsignor of Tarbes, was in Rome, both because of the close negotiations that were held for the marriage of the young Duchess de Medici44 to the Duke of Orléans, second-born son of the said Most Christian King, and because of the great honors done to him by His Holiness, and the supreme and much more than ordinary intimacy maintained with him; it seeming certain to him that such a union and close bond sought by the Most Christian King could not be but for the disturbance of the present state of Italy. Nevertheless, for a time at the beginning he concealed this suspicion, praising and saying that this marriage was not displeasing to him, and showing that he paid no mind to such dealings, nor believed otherwise than what the Pontiff always gave him to understand: namely, that he would never conclude anything that he saw might tend toward the slightest alteration of the state of Italy, and to disturb his own quiet or the peace of the Christians. But yet in the end he showed that these negotiations did not please him, and indeed, on the part of the king at least, that he held them in suspicion; so that the pope afterwards proceeded more cautiously in it, with the result that nothing was concluded.45

With the Most Christian King, he maintains, in words and in every outward act, the closest friendship, and uses every term of affection and honor befitting such a close kinship, for which he has always shown a ready intention to please him in all those things that would not break the present peace and quiet of the Christian states, and especially of Italy. His Majesty shows in speaking that the said Most Christian King is of the same will and united with him, nor does he distrust him in the least; but in secret, he truly has little confidence in him, because it still seems to him that he thinks of nothing else but the affairs of Italy, seeing that this is always being treated of, and hearing it said expressly by him that although he had ceded in convention or pact the rights to the state of Milan, he had not, however, ceded nor could he cede any rights, other than his own, which pertained to him during the lifetime of his first wife, and that in this way he could not have prejudiced the rights of the Dauphin, to whom alone they belonged, by inheritance from his mother, nor could he likewise now prevent the Dauphin from wanting and demanding his state, even if he himself were to remain silent.46 And because, besides this, it seems to him that he is always trying by every means to stir up something, and cannot in any way remain quiet in the present state of affairs, every movement of his seems to arouse his suspicion.

The King of England, on account of the controversy over his aunt’s marriage47, His Majesty does not hold as much of a friend, as is known, nor does he seem to make much account of it; on the contrary, without any respect, he has always procured that the case be pursued and decided in Rome without delay, and not be remitted in any way to England, as that king extremely desired, and with pleas, entreaties, and threats urged to be done. And he has always said that he did not fear at all that said king would ever dare to take any action against the queen, as if wishing to infer that he would have a way of making him repent.

As to how things stand with the Most Serene Kings of Portugal and of Poland, perhaps not much should be said, being brother-in-law to the one48, and a good friend to the other49, and with neither the one nor the other being much taken into consideration in any war waged in the parts of Italy and France. Yet it is not out of place to know this little, which I have understood through several channels: that His Majesty holds the King of Poland, in the controversy that the King of the Romans has for the kingdom of Hungary, in some suspicion; and because it seems to him that in this matter he leans toward the party of King John, he does not show much confidence in him: which has meant, as his ambassador has sometimes told me, that the said King of Poland has always proceeded in the negotiations for the accord with the greatest deference, nor has he ever dared to state his opinion openly, even though both parties requested that he propose the method that seemed best to him. And through more than one certain channel I have also learned that His Majesty secretly feels greatly offended by the King of Portugal, knowing that he had some of his caravels, which he was sending to the Moluccas, sunk, and held his men prisoner; but he conceals this with every possible artifice, and although some of these prisoners, having escaped, came to find him and revealed the whole affair, he nonetheless, having had some money given to them, sent them home with the express command that they keep silent, and pretends—as the said king persuades himself he ought to believe—that his ships were sunk by a mishap at sea. For which reason, it has sometimes been hinted to me by some of his men that the friendship cannot last, and since the Emperor has it especially in mind, once he is in Spain, to attend with diligence to such navigation, a rupture between them must one day ensue; which, as it seems important to me, I believe ought to be kept silent.

In Your Sublimity and in the Most Illustrious Lord Duke of Milan, he has the utmost confidence; whom he is persuaded will in no case ever fail him in what they are obliged to by the capitulation made, nor ever remove themselves from his friendship; not so much because the said Duke and all his people have always been naturally inclined towards the Empire, of which they call themselves vassals, and this most excellent republic has always, by its custom, kept faith with every prince with whom it has been joined in friendship and confederation, as because it seems to him that this union, being of the highest benefit to both—as it is the principal foundation for the preservation of their own states and their liberty, and that of Italy, which has been procured with so many perils and expenses—ought to be by them supremely desired and held dear. And although there was some murmuring at court when the said Most Illustrious Duke came to Venice, such murmuring was not made by His Majesty, but only by his men. Nor did they show displeasure because they suspected that anything was being negotiated or considered against the said capitulation, or against the honor and dignity of His Majesty, but rather because it seemed that the Duke, by making such a show of deference to this most illustrious dominion [the Venetian Republic], and it being suspected that he sought, for his greater security, to bind himself even more closely to it, was giving the impression that there was some disagreement with His Caesarean Majesty, for which reason he might wish to depend more on the said dominion than on him. But once it was understood that this was done by the said Most Illustrious Duke solely as a demonstration of gratitude for so many expenses incurred—with grave harm and no small peril to the affairs of this most excellent republic—only to restore and preserve him in his state, and that this had been nothing other than a simple act of gratitude, all murmuring ceased at once, nor has a word been said of it by anyone since.

Of the Most Illustrious Lord Duke of Ferrara, likewise, he promises himself everything, and is persuaded that in any case he will always follow his wishes against anyone, it seeming to him that, besides being his vassal, he has by the sentence passed on his affairs obligated him and his posterity in such a way that he can never fail him, and the said Lord Duke having, with letters in his own hand, and by nuncios sent for the purpose, and in every other way, clearly expressed to His Majesty this great obligation he feels he has for that reason, and his firm will to always expose his state and the lives of himself and his sons, since he recognizes that he owes all to him, in his service.

Nor is he persuaded otherwise of the Most Illustrious Lord Duke of Mantua50, he being also his vassal, and His Majesty having always treated him with affection, both in honoring him with the dignity of his captain general and in granting him the marchioness for a wife, with the firm hope of that state which he so desired and sought to obtain.51

With Genoa, he seeks to maintain it in its present state of liberty, by which, separating it from the Most Christian King, he keeps it in his devotion, and binds it most closely to himself, in such a way that from that city he makes such use of its fleet that not only does he keep the Barbary corsairs beaten (thus maintaining, with the highest reputation, his kingdoms and all the surrounding seas safe from their usual depredations), but he also expects, in any need of war against the Turks, to be able to increase this fleet to such an extent that it would be considered of some esteem.52

With the union and friendship of all these states of Italy, His Majesty is so secure that, as he has clarified to me on some occasion with his own mouth, he does not fear that as long as it lasts any external lord will attempt to stir up trouble, or that if attempted, anything could be achieved. But among all these, his principal foundation is seen to be placed in this most illustrious dominion [Venice], judging that for its own forces and the fortresses of its entire state, and for the reputation it has on sea as well as on land with all the princes of the world, it is truly the sinew of Italy and perhaps even of all Christendom; so that it must lend the greatest weight to whichever side it favors in any war, and ultimately, give it victory. For which reason I do not doubt that he will always maintain its friendship with all diligence and study, nor ever depart from it, and that for this reason it is likewise to be hoped that as long as he lives, war will not be seen in Italy, unless it is procured by one of his same Italian friends and confederates. This not seeming reasonable, I believe that everyone can firmly count on a long and certain peace, having such a prince for its procurator and protector, who, as can be seen from all the discourses made of him, has so many ways to find men and money that these can never fail him.53

The second half of this report covers the dominions of Charles V’s brother Ferdinand I. Since this report was so long, I split it up into two parts and will post Part II in a couple days.

Background

This report is from an anonymous eyewitness. The following background appeared in the original 1840s compilation of Venetian Relaziones.

The readers will not, I hope, be displeased with me for this Relation, which, although not by a bailo [ambassador], nor read in the Pregadi [Senate], being however by a Venetian who was a witness, and perhaps also a participant, in the events narrated, I have thought could be fittingly included; and all the more so as it is rich in curious and important information, and beautiful above all for three descriptions: that of the miserable end of Mustafa, son of Suleiman, that of the city of Aleppo, and that of the pompous entry of the Sultan into said city.

Report

I write of the things which happened in the war that in the year of our salvation 1553 Sultan Suleiman, the present emperor of the Turks, waged against Tahmasp1, King of Persia and of Armenia, called the Lord Sofi: a task to which I have set myself to pass the time that my business affairs allow me, to refresh my spirit, and also to satisfy, as I hope, the desire of some of my dearest friends who wish to understand and to know these things. It may perhaps occur that to some who read my writings that, according to the accounts of other persons or notices in letters, the things of which I write have been written or reported otherwise than as I will narrate them—which person, if he be a man of judgment, will not for this cause condemn, nor hold to be false, my narration, because every person of sound mind knows very well that oftentimes things reported, in passing from person to the next, become so corrupted that it very often happens that a thing reported by the fourth or fifth who repeats it is so dissimilar from the account of the first who reported it, that not only does it not seem the same, but for the most part contrary. This, I esteem, must arise from the variety of the affections in the spirits of diverse persons, who, as I believe, allowing themselves to be carried away by these, go about in their reporting arranging with words what they have understood in the manner which most pleases their affection, increasing or diminishing that which to their taste renders a better flavor.

He who knows, then, that the handling of important matters by these Turkish lords proceeds in so secret a manner, that until the outcome of things is seen, rarely can those who are not part of these dealings, however great they may be, know beforehand what is to follow, and what is ordered and what is being treated; and that this nation of the Turks holds to this custom, good and convenient for itself, that when anything occurs that is to the detriment of its side, it seeks with all industry to hide it, striving to make it appear to the contrary of what has happened; and he who knows that these people do not follow the style that is used in our parts—that is, of keeping posts and couriers, who from the armies to the cities, and from one city to another, run from hour to hour with news of what is happening—and besides this, that the roads which remain behind the armies, and especially in the parts of Greater Armenia, are so beset by robbers that it is not safe to go forward or backward except in very large companies, so that every day in the cities some news is heard, which is spread not only among the common people but also among great persons; such a one, I say, will recognize that he who writes such information day by day will not be at fault if things do not always turn out to be true.

I write while in the city of Aleppo, in which I dwelt while the war of which I am writing had its beginning and end; which city is so situated that I have had with time great opportunity to penetrate to the truth of those things of which I write, which, before I resolved to write of them, I wished to know and confirm as true by all means that were possible for me.

In this city, the person of the Grand Turk wintered, with all the people of his Porte2, and with a great number of other people of his army, for which reason I did not lack diverse means to learn what I desired of the things that had happened before he came; and of the things that happened afterwards, I have had such information through many good channels, that by their corroboration I can hold the account to be true. Now what I have understood, and what in part I have seen, I faithfully write for the pleasure of those who may wish to read this writing; to whom, in order to give a full account of the events of this war, it seems to me necessary first to make clear the borders of the one and the other lord.

I say, then, that from Mount Amanus to the Persian Sea, the jurisdiction of the one and the other lord is divided by the river Tigris, with the western part remaining in the dominion of the Turkish Lord, and that of the east in the power of the Sofi. It is true that some castles in the mountains which divide Mesopotamia, now called Diarbekir, from Greater Armenia, are in the dominion of diverse lords who go by the name of Kurds, and some hold for the Sofi, others for the Turk. Further to the north the Georgian peoples hold dominion, the greater part of whom are Turks.

As the country of the Turks has been described many times by many authors, it is not necessary that I now take upon myself the labor of describing it, especially as it is not greatly needed for the understanding of this war. However, to say something of the country of the Sofi does not seem to me amiss, for the satisfaction of those who, this lord being most remote from our lands, have not heard which countries are subject to him.

I say, therefore, that the country that gives obedience to this lord is bounded on two sides by two seas, the one the Persian Sea and the other the Caspian Sea. The latter marks the northern boundary, and the former the southern. On the east it is enclosed by a chain of mountains called the Caucasus, which extends with one end to the Caspian Sea and with the other to the Persian Sea; on the western side by the river Tigris with the Euphrates, which is the line I have described above, as far as the country of the Kurds and the Georgians. Within these borders are included more than half of Greater Armenia, all of Media, Hyrcania, Parthia, Karamania, Susiana, and part of Assyria; of which provinces, each by itself has held empire, and he who has read the ancient histories will have understood what power each of these possessed, and how great their lords have been, and how much trouble they gave to the power of the Greeks and the Romans. And therefore it will be no wonder if a king who now has dominion over them all offers as much resistance as Tahmasp does to Suleiman, the greatest of the Grand Lords that has yet been of the Ottoman house, who on two previous occasions, with the full force of his power, has attempted to take his kingdom from him3, and now that he had moved against him with the greatest force that ever was, has been compelled to return, having done him, as you will see in my description, little harm.

Before I enter upon the start of this war, it is necessary, so that those who read may see everything more clearly and in order, to begin from an earlier point, by stating the causes which were its origin. I say, therefore, that the Grand Turk, during another expedition which he made against the Sofi in the year of our salvation 1548, having taken the city of Van, and in the following year, being already in those parts, having resolved to abandon that enterprise on account of the affairs in Transylvania and Hungary which troubled him, so as not to leave his own country on the Sofi’s border without a good guard, and to preserve what he had acquired, placed in Van a beylerbey, giving him a company of soldiers sufficient to keep the city well defended. He placed another in Carahamid4, which city is situated midway between Van and the river Euphrates. This name, Carahamid, is Turkish, meaning that the place is black, and so it truly seems, for this city is encircled by a wall of black stones: although it should no longer be so called, for the Lord Turk has had it whitewashed all around, in such a way that from black it has been made white. The Lord Turk therefore also placed a beylerbey in this city, and in Erzerum he placed another, with a greater garrison than the other two; and because this place was of greater importance to his affairs and more harassed, he placed there a man of valor, called Scander-Agà, to take care of providing all things of importance for the needs of the army; a man who had always conducted himself in such a way that his every deed met with great favor from Suleiman, who, having recognized his valor, gave him this province to govern, placing under him eight sanjaks, who along with their people were to give him obedience.

The Grand Turk having departed, and the Sofi also having returned deep into his country, this beylerbey of Erzurum, desirous of increasing the dominion of his lord, set about making raids into the enemy’s country, every day laying waste, ruining, and plundering this place and that. And with these raids he treated those borderlands so badly that for a good stretch of the way neither house nor person could be found dwelling there, because some had been killed, some made slaves, and a great part had retreated inland to flee from the evil vicinity of that beylerbey. He, seeing that great expanse of country empty of people, resolved to build a fortress in a place that seemed to him to be a strong and convenient site, in which he desired to install himself with a good garrison so as to more conveniently push the cavalry further forward to raid, thinking by this means to occupy much more enemy country.

This design having been discovered by the Sofi, and he having determined to ensure that this fortress, designed and begun by the Turks, should not be built, he gave, in the year of Our Lord 1552, to a very valiant second-born son of his, who bears the name of his grandfather Ismail, an army of fifteen thousand chosen men on horseback, ordering him what he was to do. Ismail went as he had been commanded by his father; he suddenly assaulted those who were working on the begun fortress, and laid everything to ruin. Guarding them were three Turkish sanjak-beys, who with their people wished to make a defense, but were in a short time put to rout, with the greater part of them killed; many were taken, and among them the three sanjak-beys, whom Ismail had cruelly put to death in various ways: one roasted on a spit, another quartered alive into four pieces, and the other sawn in half.

After this enterprise was done, Ismail pushed further forward with his men, heading towards Erzurum, in which city the beylerbey Scander-Aga was stationed with a number of cavalry. He, having heard of the sudden assault that the Safavids had made upon those who were building the fortress, and not knowing what number of men they were, did not venture out of the city. Ismail, desirous of accomplishing some fine enterprise, set an ambush with the greater part of his men, and with just a few appeared in sight of the city, hoping by this means to draw the beylerbey out of the city and into the open country. He succeeded in what he had planned; for as soon as the beylerbey saw that the men who appeared in sight of the city were few, he came out, so as not to let them damage the country, and of the men he had with him he formed two squadrons, keeping one with himself, and sending the other, under a sanjak, out by another route to catch the Safavids in between—who, when they saw the Turkish forces come out and advance toward them, they put themselves in order to fight; and after engaging in a skirmish, in a short time they feigned flight. The Turks, believing they had routed them, pursued them, and the Safavids drew them on so far that they led them into the ambush. Then the Turks, being caught between so many soldiers, who outnumbered them by a third and were incomparably more valiant, were for the most part cut to pieces. A few prisoners were spared, as was the beylerbey, who fled wounded and badly battered with seven other valiant soldiers, who defended him until they saved themselves by throwing themselves into the city’s moat, because they did not have time to enter by the gate. The Safavids, having accomplished their enterprise, made camp before the city, and seeing afterwards that they could not take it by storm, and seeing winter coming upon them, they set about laying waste to the entire country, where they did immense damage, leaving nothing that was not burned and ruined, and carrying away as many men and animals as they could take. After they had laid waste to that country, they came raiding toward Ardgis5, where, as they were around the city, the castle collapsed due to an earthquake, killing many of those within. They likewise laid waste to the country of Van, and raided even further, ruining other places; then when they were near Baghdad they turned back, returning to their own country. This city that is now named Baghdad is, in the opinion of some, Babylon, which was once the royal seat of the Assyrian kings, and some others maintain that it is a modern city built near the ruins of the former, and this opinion they hold to be the better one.6 The breadth of country laid waste by the Safavids was more than thirty days’ journey in length, and about eight in width.

The beylerbey of Erzurum, having been apprised of the aftermath of this destruction, and of the damage the Safavids were causing, and likewise of the state of fear in which the people of those frontiers found themselves, and fearing that the Safavids might raid further inland, infesting other parts, and that also with some foray, the countryside being open and trackless, they might trouble the land of Damascus, gave prompt notice to the Grand Signor.7 The latter immediately dispatched the Grand Vizier Rustem Pasha,8 as well as his son-in-law, from Constantinople with an army of fifty thousand men, giving him for company the Agha of the Janissaries, and sent him towards those parts; who departed from Constantinople in the month of September, if I am not mistaken. But because the desire of the said Pasha had always been not to distance himself from the person of the Grand Signor—which he desired in the hope that, in the event of the latter’s death, one of the sons that the Grand Signor had with the woman now in his favor9 would ascend to the dignity of the crown (which by right belonged to Sultan Mustafa, the first-born, who was born of another woman and for various reasons was a great enemy of the said Pasha); for these reasons, the Pasha was so unhurried in his journey, lingering now in one place, now in another, that he barely reached Iconium10, a city of Lycaonia, in the month of November—which province, together with Cilicia, is now called Karamania, and in this city of Iconium the beylerbeys of Karamania ordinarily reside for a great part of the year.

Two days’ journey before one arrives at Iconium coming from Constantinople, one finds the road that leads to Amasya, a city of Cappadocia, in which Sultan Mustafa, then the first-born of the Turk, resided. When the Pasha reached this pass, the greater part of the army having already passed ahead towards Iconium, the janissaries who were with him said that they wanted to go and pay their respects to Sultan Mustafa, their future lord. The Pasha, immediately understanding the matter and fearing some danger to himself, gave the command that no one should leave him, but that everyone should go with him towards Iconium. But this command did not prevent the janissaries from doing as they had resolved, and so they all set out on the road to Amasya. The Pasha, with the Agha of the Janissaries and with the other people who had remained, set out on the way to Iconium.

When the janissaries arrived in Amasya they went to kiss the hand of Mustafa, by whom they were very well received and cherished, and they received many provisions from him, and a gold ducat for each one; then the following day they set out for Iconium, in which place, upon arriving, they found the Pasha with all the rest of the men, who had arrived some time before. During this time, he had received letters from Constantinople with the news that Sultan Suleiman was gravely ill, and in such a condition that there was little hope for his recovery. Sultan Mustafa likewise received this news, and as soon as he heard it, he prepared what he would need to ride forth in the event that the death of his Lord Father should follow. It was said that he had a hundred thousand men at the ready, and that with one sound of a trumpet they would have mounted their horses to follow him; nevertheless, this was not the truth. But it was a rumor raised by order of Rustem Pasha, who from this took the grounds to procure the death of the unfortunate lord, who at that time did not have with him more than five thousand men on horseback, but all of the finest quality, who were worth three times their number.

It is quite true that the entire army that was with Rustem Pasha would have followed him, and neither the Pasha nor the Agha of the Janissaries would have been able, either with gifts or with promises, to prevent all the men from doing so; because Mustafa was so beloved by all the soldiers of this empire that everyone desired nothing but a swift opportunity for the empire to fall to him. This sentiment proceeded from nothing other than the rare virtues possessed by that lord, through which he compelled the souls of people to esteem him, love him, and revere him, and especially because of his great liberality, and of his great humanity, with which he had made every soldier his slave. And certainly, neither the favor of the mother of the other brothers, which is very great, nor their own presence, nor the favor and help of Rustem Pasha, who is most powerful in money, which in his long time as Grand Vizier he has striven to accumulate by every means, both direct and crooked, would have been sufficient to cause the other brothers to offer him the slightest opposition, let alone take the kingdom from him.

The Pasha, who saw the commotion of the janissaries, and who well perceived the entire army to be fond of this lord, feared that some sinister accident might befall himself, and so he resolved not to remain in Iconium. Concealing what he had in his mind, he had it announced in the army that the Safavids were more powerful than he, and that for this reason he did not wish to go further until he had first sent notice of this matter to the Sublime Porte, and until a reply had returned from it with a command of what he should do. And he wrote, and the reply returned with a command, that he with the entire army should return to Constantinople. And because it was not suitable, with the Safavids under arms and powerful in the field, and upon the lands of this Grand Signor, to remove an army from those parts, leaving the country empty of men, it can perhaps be clearly understood that in the letter he wrote to Constantinople, something else was conveyed than what he had announced he had written, and perhaps with these letters he began to have a hand in the shedding of the blood of him who will be spoken of further on.

I shall leave this discourse for now to continue my narration. The Pasha returned to Constantinople, where the Sultan improved and recovered his health. What the Pasha discussed with him at that time, I do not believe there is any man who knows.

It is certain that some Vlachs11 were immediately dispatched—who are those sent with celerity here and there for important matters—with orders containing what had been commanded to be done. Said Vlachs came to these parts of Aleppo, organizing the people here, and giving orders for those preparations that were to be made, and most principally that all the frontiers be supplied with a great quantity of grain, imposing a levy for it upon the peoples of the country, beginning from the furthest parts of Syria which border Egypt, up to the parts of Greater and Lesser Armenia. This levy was imposed in this manner: that for every so many heads, they should pay for a camel’s load of barley and wheat, including the entire expense of its transport to the assigned places. One of these loads here in Aleppo was then worth, including the entire expense of transport, about twenty-five gold ducats, for the payment of which fifteen heads were assessed. The more distant places had a greater expense to pay, for which I believe a greater number of persons was assessed. Everything that was ordered was carried out, and a great sum of grain was placed in Erzurum, in Van, and in all the places of importance.

After this, the Grand Signor in Constantinople had war proclaimed against the Sofi, to which he said he wished to go in person; and perhaps this was designed to produce another effect. Before he set out, he settled his affairs with the King of the Romans12 through an agreement of truce.

The Sofi of Persia, who understood very well that the Turk wished to make war on him, had prepared for his defense with all diligence; and to delay the Turk’s affairs, he sent a Turkish sanjak, whom he held prisoner, to Constantinople to treat for peace. The Lord Turk gave his attention to this, and sent the sanjak back to the Sofi with the request that he should send a man with the authority to treat for said peace and bring it to a conclusion—not, however, ceasing to make provisions for war. The Turkish sanjak reached the Sofi, who, having heard the Turk’s request, immediately sent an ambassador to Constantinople, giving him an honorable present to offer to the Turk and to his entire Porte. This ambassador arrived in Constantinople on the 19th of the month of August; he made his present, and kissed the hand of Suleiman, and was graciously received by him; but he was given no time to treat of any matter, save that he told the lord pashas for what cause he had come. On the 28th of the said month, Sultan Suleiman departed in the manner and pomp with which he is accustomed to depart when he is about to go to war, and crossed over to Anatolia to a place called Scutari, which is opposite Constantinople; in which place, by his prior command, all the men of his Porte, and those of Europe together, were assembled. On the 29th, he set out with the entire army, giving the order to winter in Aleppo, a city in Syria, so as to be, in the new season, more proximate to the enemy Sofi; and having reached the pass that leads to Amasya, he sent some of his chaushes to summon his son Mustafa, informing him of his intention to send him on the expedition against the Sofi by way of Erzurum.

The poor and unfortunate lord, having received his father’s letter and understood the request, made it known to his dearest confidants, who advised him that by no means should he go; this came to the ears of his mother (who, since this son of hers had left the seraglio, had always dwelt near him) and she was of the same opinion as all the others, and advised him against this journey. But for all the counsel he was given, he would not refrain from going where destiny drew him, saying that in all things he wished to obey his father. And having resolved to do so, and having prepared an honorable present for the aforementioned Grand Signor his sire, he set out on his way.

I must not fail to tell of the unhappy omen that two of his horses gave him at the hour he wished to mount to depart. Having ascended a platform an arm’s length high from the ground, of the kind these lords are accustomed to use to mount a horse more comfortably, his miriacuba13 sought to lead before him a very beautiful horse that he was often accustomed to ride; which, as if foreseeing what was to befall its master, would not approach the place where he had ascended, nor did the great efforts of several of his grooms avail to make it draw near. When Mustafa saw that the horse could in no way be made to approach, he ordered that one of the others, which were saddled to be led by hand, be brought to him; which reacted in the same manner as the first. Seeing this, the poor lord dismounted from the platform, and approaching the horse that was held by his grooms, he vaulted upon it, and set out on the 6th of the month of October, and came to the camp, which was encamped on this side of Iconium in a place called Arach.

There his pavilions were pitched two miles away from those of the Lord his father; and as soon as the walls of the pavilions were raised, an arrow was shot from the camp, to which was attached a written note, warning him that he should not present himself to his father, for he intended to have him killed. Nevertheless, he was determined to go, judging this to be a ruse by Rustem Pasha, designed to make him fall into disgrace with his father. His closest servants, who had heard everything, did not fail to tell him that he ought to consider the matter more carefully, and that if he truly wished to present himself to his father, he should do so on horseback in the open field, where he would be seen by everyone, for then the Grand Signor would not have been able to do him any harm, as he could easily do within his enclosed pavilions, into which none of his own men would enter with him, who might have given him aid had he needed it. The unwary lord would not assent to any of this counsel, and said to those who advised him that he knew of no wrong he had committed against his father for which he should be put to death, and that he would never believe that anyone could have made him so hated by the one who had begotten him that he would have him killed. And he said: “If it is indeed true that my father wishes to take my life, he who gave it to me may also take it away.” And having fully resolved to go, he at once sent his present ahead, which consisted of some fur linings, several very beautiful horses, and other honorable things befitting his station. Then he himself set forth, dressed in white and silver above, and in crimson satin below, upon a magnificent horse all adorned with jewels; and as both he and the horse were splendidly turned out, and he himself most handsome in body and countenance, he was a very fine sight to behold.

When the unfortunate Mustafa arrived at his father’s pavilion, he dismounted from his horse, leaving it in the hands of his miriacuba, which in our language means master of the stable, and then he unbuckled his sword, leaving it in the first pavilion; this he did because no one is permitted, when going to kiss the hand of the Great Lord, to approach with arms at his side. From the first pavilion, he passed into the second, in which he found no one, and then entering the third he found the capigiler chietcudascì, who said to him: “Wait, my lord, for you shall now enter.” He did not wait long before he was bidden to enter. Having entered the fourth pavilion, he saw his father, who was seated and held a loaded bow in his hand, and he made him reverence, to which his father responded, saying, “Ah, dog, you still have the heart to greet me!” And at the same time he turned away, which was the sign he had given to those whom he wished to kill him. Immediately the capigiler laid his hands on his throat, saying: “Do not move, for I do what I do by order of the Great Lord.” And all at once three mutes, who were present, fell upon him, throwing a bowstring around his neck to strangle him—which cord broke as they tightened it, and in the meantime the poor wretch slipped from the hands of those who had seized him, some of whom he had thrown to the ground, and he turned to flee. But in doing so he tripped over the front of the robe he wore, which entangled his feet, and he was about to fall to the ground; and at that same moment the capigiler seized him by a foot and brought him crashing down. The Great Lord, who saw this, had the others close in on him, who, assailing him with another cord in hand, placed it around his neck; but he put his arm between the cord and his neck at the front, so that as the cord was tightened he could not be strangled. The Sultan then said: “Take the cap from his head, for as long as it is on his head you will never be able to kill him”—which this lord said, because the Turks wear a certain kind of small cotton cap, which they keep under their turbans, with written characters, which they are persuaded by their superstition to be of such virtue, that while these characters touch a man’s flesh, he can never be violently killed. The capigiler then tore it from his head and handed it to the Grand Signor, who placed it to one side of the pavilion, and the mutes threw the third bowstring around the neck of the unfortunate one, and it was the last they had, because they had one each, from which the poor soul defended himself by drawing his beard to his chest. But they raised his head by force and made the cord fall upon his neck; with which, tightening, they took the life of him who was of such promise that, in everyone’s judgment, he would have surpassed in virtue and valor every other scion of the Ottoman house, because he was adorned with all those good qualities that befit royal and imperial majesty, nor did he lack anything to be a perfect king and emperor except for the faith of our lord Jesus Christ.

As soon as the capigiler had performed the said office, he left the pavilion of the Grand Signor weeping and was seen by many, who judged what had been done. Immediately then, the Grand Signor sent to take the royal seal from the hand of Rustem Pasha the First Vizier, and sent it to Ahmed Pasha, who sat in the second place, making him sit in the first, and at that same time he sent word to his own miriacaba that he should take the horse of his dead son and lead it to his stable, where the other royal horses were—who with his own hands took it by the reins from the hand of the dead man’s miriacaba, and through the midst of the army led it to the royal stable.

When the men of the army saw the horse of the unfortunate dead lord being led away, a very great uproar arose in the camp, for all at once they ran out of their pavilions to see that spectacle, which was an indication of what had occurred. The Grand Lord, so that the janissaries would not make some disturbance on the belief that Mustafa was still alive, immediately had the body of his dead son placed outside the pavilions upon a carpet, in a place where everyone could see it. Before the body of the dead man was placed outside the pavilions, there was found in his pouch the letter that had been shot to him in the pavilion with an arrow, which the Grand Lord read then immediately sent word to depose Cardar Pasha-Vizier; for which reason some have later judged that the Grand Lord suspected that Cardar had written that letter. But they are mistaken, for if he had fallen under such suspicion, he would have lost his head. Afterwards, two guards led the dead man’s miriacaba and his chief standard-bearer before the pavilions of the Grand Lord, and there their heads were cut off. These were the lords whom Sultan Mustafa held most dear and in greatest affection.

The chief standard-bearer was a Venetian gentleman of the House of Michiel; who, being a cabin boy on a galley, was captured along with the galley by the Turkish fleet during the last war that the Turk waged with the Most Serene Republic of Venice, which was in 1538. This man was the chief among all the other slaves of Mustafa.

The funeral rites for the dead man were performed throughout the camp by order of the Sultan, and afterwards the body was placed upon one of the royal carts, and the other two likewise in two others, and they were carried to Bursa to be buried. All the people of the army were in greatest sorrow for this death, and more than all the others the Janissaries grieved, who spoke very loudly against the Grand Signor, blaspheming and cursing him, and with injurious words blaming him for having done this unjustly—which they said with such loud voices, and being so near to his pavilions, that he himself could hear them. And because it was the common opinion among all that Rustem Pasha had been the author and counselor of this death, his life was on the verge of being lost, because the Janissaries wanted to kill him. But the Grand Signor freed him from this imminent danger, by giving out that he wished to put to death four of the principals of his Porte, among whom the Janissaries judged that Rustem Pasha must be, who had already been deposed as Pasha; and therefore they made no other sound, remaining suspended in this hope. But when night came, Rustem departed with some of his men, nor did the Janissaries know of it until the next day, when they saw that some were taking down Rustan’s pavilions. Some Janissaries approached them, and seeing them empty, they cut the ropes that held them up, as a sign of their intention to do the same to him whom they had hoped to find within them.

There has been seen throughout the whole army a general great sorrow for this death of Mustafa, proceeding from the great love that all generally bore him, which was of such a sort, that some great men of the army who depended on neither one side nor the other have assured me that if poor Mustafa had come out alive from his father’s pavilions, when he escaped from the hands of those who wished to kill him, the greater part of the army would have gone to his aid against the Grand Signor his father.

After these things were done, the Grand Signor commanded that the army should break camp at Arach and set out towards Caisarieh, which was formerly called Caesarea Magna, which city is distant from Arach by a two days’ journey; and having arrived in this place, he had the ambassador of the Sofi summoned, and through Cardar Pasha he had him told the articles he required for making peace with the Sofi, the tenor of which was that the Sofi should cede to him the province of Sirvan, and that he should remove those who in his kingdom continually blasphemed and cursed the name of Ali, whom the Safavids hold for a heretic, and that he should have the doctrine of this man read and preached in the mosques, and have it observed, promising that if the Sofi would consent to these conditions, in his view most just, he would then show him such great courtesy that a greater one had never been heard of one lord showing to another; but that should he be unwilling to consent, he promised him war until he had driven him from his entire kingdom. The ambassador, having heard the articles, said that he had no authority to conclude peace on these conditions, but that he would return to his lord and report to him what he had heard from the lord pashas in the name of the Grand Signor, who would then make the decision for war or for peace. With this he was dismissed, and given an honorable present, and was made to understand that he should return with the decision to Aleppo, in which place the Lord Turk intended to spend the winter.

After some days had passed, he had the army depart from that place, setting out with his Porte and a good number of other fighting men towards Aleppo, and the rest of the troops he arranged in various places to winter. He had already sent the Beylerbey of Anatolia towards Erzurum with sixty thousand horse and two thousand Janissaries, and the Beylerbey of Greece to the parts of Caesarea and neighboring countries with another like number of men on horseback, that they might winter there. The Agha of the Janissaries and all the other people of the Porte remained with his person.

Sultan Selim has always followed him, never being more than two days’ journey from the person of the Grand Signor his father, who sought many times before he came to Aleppo that he should come into his presence; but he would never come until after the Grand Signor was in Aleppo, as will be recounted in its proper place. Many were of the opinion that he did not wish to do this fearing lest what had happened to Sultan Mustafa should befall him.

With the Grand Signor has always been Sultan Cihangir, the fifth-born, who was a hunchback and much loved by his father who, after the death of Sultan Mustafa, wished to give him the sanjak of Amasya, where he had resided, but Cihangir refused it, saying that he did not wish to leave his father’s person until he died at his feet, as later came to pass. But he refused to leave his father’s person for no other reason than the hope he held of succeeding him in the kingdom, which, had he found himself beside him at the moment of his father’s death, would have easily come to pass for him, his other brothers being far away, and he being loved by the soldiers and by the Janissaries much more than his other, older brothers; and this because he was of a very easy and pleasant nature, and sought with fine manners to please everyone.

Selim, who is now the first-born, and to whom the empire is due, is of a harsh, terrible nature, and without any good manners to endear himself to others.

Sultan Bayezid, then, is of a melancholic nature and professes to be devoted to study, and because until now he has done little to win the soldiers’ affection, he is therefore held in little account among them.

Fate did not wish for Sultan Cihangir to be put to the test of acquiring the kingdom, for he died, as we shall say in its proper place. It was said that he grieved beyond measure at the end of his brother Mustafa, and that when he received the news he was about to take his own life, which is very hard to believe; for besides life being most precious—such that we see men every day, in order to preserve it, care little for the lives of their fathers, mothers, and children—for him, with his brother’s death, a very great hope of ruling this very great empire opened up.

Description of Aleppo

Now let us cease to speak of this matter, and return to our subject. The Grand Lord arrived with the aforementioned troops near Aleppo; which city, according to the common opinion, is situated in the province of Syria, and in the opinion of some in that part of it which is called Commagene, and by some others in the part called Cyrrhestica, which two parts are divided by Ptolemy14 with the river Singas, which leaves Commagene to the north and Cyrrhestica to the south, and they say that Aleppo is the city that Ptolemy named Heropolis. There are some others who would have it that Aleppo was anciently called Ispernia, and others, leaving aside both of these opinions, say that this city was built by Alappius, a captain of Tiberius Caesar, in Commagene, and that he gave it his own name. If this were so, it would be necessary for those who travel from Aleppo to Tripoli to cross the river Singas in some place; but I, who have made this journey many times, have never found any other river that I needed to cross, save for the river Orontes, which passes through the middle of the city of Hama, which is closer to Tripoli than to Aleppo, and therefore it must be said that the city of Aleppo is not in Commagene. As for those who say this is Ispernia, I hold that they should not be heeded, since in no author, historian or cosmographer, have I ever seen any mention made of any city of such a name; therefore I will say nothing of this opinion, save that it may be they are mistaken in the name of the city, because six or eight miles distant from the city are the vestiges of a ruined city which the people of this country call Old Aleppo, and they say that a great number of years ago it was ruined by the Tartars, who, descending from Scythia, came to ruin these parts, and that after the Tartars had withdrawn, those remnants of people who had saved themselves from the ruin by flight, returned to the nest and set about building the city of Aleppo that is seen today.

And I believe that its first founders chose this site, where they have made it, as a stronger site than that other, where the first city was; because in its middle is seen a small mound one and a half times higher than the tallest towers that are beside the mosques, where the talismans cry their prayers, which are very high. Around which mound there is a moat at least fifteen paces wide, which is man-made and carved with the chisel, because the mound with its moat and the outer bank are seen to be of a single mass of rock, which like tuff is soft to cut. Upon this mound, where the castle now stands, I believe the building of this city was begun, and at that time I believe the place was sufficient for the dwelling of those who began to build, but that later, due to the convenience of the site and its location, many people gathered to live there, who, unable to fit within the castle, went about making houses around it, and little by little these grew in such great number, that it was then necessary, for the safe living of their inhabitants, to enclose all those houses with walls, and make them into a great walled city, as is now seen.

In its beginning, neither nearby nor inside did the water that now runs there flow, but to live they made use of water from hand-dug wells, of which the whole city is full; but after it had grown, they have brought the waters that are now seen inside and out, which are brought from the north and descend to the south, one part by a small man-made river that runs outside the city, and another part through another conduit that enters the city underground, and serves a great number of public and private fountains, with pipes that carry the water everywhere. These waters are taken three or four days’ journey from the city from a watercourse, which descends from some hills that lie to the north of this city; which water forms another branch that goes eastward toward the river Euphrates, and it could be that this is the river Singas; but then one would be forced to say that Ptolemy had erred concerning the origin of this river, since it would not rise from Mount Pietra, which is near Alexandretta.

This city, as I have said, is encircled by a high wall with its towers at intervals, which watch one another, and for hand-to-hand combat would make an honorable defense. Three hills, besides the fourth upon which the castle stands, are enclosed within these walls; in which walls there are eleven gates that serve the suburbs and the roads of the territory. The suburbs are large, among which there is one that is a third of the size of the city. In the middle of it, as I have said above, is the castle, which is half a mile or a little more in circumference, and it is furnished all around with a wall of mountain stone, with some small towers, now larger and now smaller, according as it seemed fitting to those who built it. One enters it through a single gate of a small turret, which is at the beginning of the moat, and then by a bridge that is on an incline, which is built upon seven vaults that are high but not very wide. Near the gate there is a great tower, which is built outside the castle walls and goes down almost to the moat, and on the other side of the said castle, diametrically opposite this one, there is another like it, which one enters from the castle by a covered way. These great towers and the walls are furnished with artillery throughout, and to guard the castle there is an agha with two hundred janissaries, who performs the office of the castellan; and besides these, the number of other people who live in the said castle can be up to the sum of two thousand.

The number of people in the city, together with that of the suburbs, is great, and I intend to explain it in no other way than by saying that in the year 1555, more than one hundred and twenty thousand people died in the town and in the suburbs in three months of plague; nor for this, afterwards, once the disease had passed, was any great sign of such a lack of people seen. And let no one think that I dare to affirm that so many died by my own judgment, though I was present, nor by the judgment of others who might judge it so; but I say it with true knowledge, because of all the bodies that were then carried to be buried each day, the kadi and the beylerbey wished to have an account, and to this effect they kept men at the gates of the city and of the boroughs who each day made a particular note of them, which I have seen, and therefore I know what I say to be the truth. By this sign, therefore, one may judge that the number of inhabitants of this city is very great.

The city is not adorned with public edifices except for mosques, of which some are quite beautiful, with their towers as high as our bell towers. The structures of the houses are made of hewn mountain stone, and all the inhabited houses are of one story, covered with stone vaults, and made in a very beautiful form, with many ornaments of gold and fine stones within, with floors worked with stones of diverse colors, with a beautiful pattern and arrangement of clusters, and with designs made in the arabesque style. The other household furnishings of persons of some condition are very rich, and all the others, according to their rank, are accustomed to having their houses adorned with beautiful furnishings. Only the Turks who are in this city in the service of the Grand Signor are an exception, since they must always be ready to go where their lord commands them; who gives them their offices in such a way that the term is never determined, and whenever he has the will to remove them from one place and put them in another, he does so without any regard. For this reason, therefore, the Turks, not knowing if their stay in this or that part is fixed, are not accustomed either to keeping the buildings in good state, nor the rooms well adorned with furniture; nay, the greater part of the houses inhabited by the Turks are falling into ruin. The Turk’s moveable property is nothing other than slaves, arms, and horses with their furnishings, and for the rest he has only what he wears, and the money he has in cash.

There is in this city of Aleppo a very great number of fondachi15, which in that language they call cavi, which serve as dwellings for the many foreigners who flock there for the great commerce that is carried on; these are all built of vaulted living stone, with their corridors running all around the inside, both on the ground floor and on the one above, for they are built on two stories: in the middle there is a courtyard, and inside, all the lodgings are furnished with some care. The place where all the merchandise is sold is completely covered, and is locked up at night, and in their language they call it a bazaar, which is the same as market in our language. Similarly, the streets that pass among the shops that sell foodstuffs are covered, and in these shops is kept everything that is needed for human sustenance—which was done at first for the convenience of the foreigners, who cannot make use of inns, for there are none. Every household, however, cooks its own food, except for bread, which no one makes at home, but all use what is bought. Provisions there are most abundant, so that nothing is ever lacking, and the abundance that existed in the said year when the army wintered here made clear the ready availability of victuals; this abundance was such that not a single thing became more expensive with the arrival of so many people than what it was accustomed to be worth at other times. The wheat that grows in this country is in great abundance and very good, since it makes a bread similar to that which is made in the Paduan region; the wine is most excellent and wholesome, but a little dear. Around the city are very large and very beautiful gardens and vineyards, which must be watered in the summer, for in that season it never rains.

Those gardens that are on the riverbank have easier access to water, which they draw from the river with certain wheels turned by the strength of animals. Those that are far from the river are watered with contraptions, drawing water from wells, which they have dug by hand, with the strength of animals. A great abundance of figs, peaches, pears, and plums also grows there, among which are some of a goodness the like of which I have not tasted in Italy. Pistachios and melons grow there in great abundance, and the best watermelons in the world, also in very great abundance, which are sent all over the world. The grapes are most marvelous. All the fruits, however, are very expensive compared to other things, and this is because all the people of the country eat a very large quantity of them.

The air there is light, and as healthy as can be; the winter is cold, but not harsh, and does not last long, and it provides a sufficient amount of rain. The summer brings great heat, which is tempered by the sweetness of a most healthy air that blows from the west and the southwest, but it never rains. Everyone, small and great, old and young, from the beginning of September sleeps in the open air, and for all that a man suffers from the heat of the day, he is restored by the coolness of the night. The dew that falls is of no consequence and is not harmful; but one must, both in summer for the sun and the night air, as in winter for the cold, keep one’s head well covered, for otherwise one suffers, and especially in the eyes.

The merchandise trade that is conducted in this city is very great and marvelous, and such that only those who have seen it can imagine it. This is because the site of this city is in such a place that it is convenient to all the east, the west, the south, and the north, from each of which parts people are seen almost every day, coming or returning. Our Venetian nation brings there every year, at the least, goods from the west to the value of three hundred and fifty thousand ducats, and brings back an equal value of goods from the east. The French nation brings every year a value of eighty thousand to one hundred thousand ducats, and takes away as much. From Cairo and Egypt, every year the merchants of those parts bring goods to a value of two hundred thousand ducats, and take away goods of as much value, carrying them away by sea. Every year, from the said city is taken the value of one hundred thousand ducats of silk work made there, and other goods to the value of five hundred thousand ducats. An equal value in diverse sorts of goods used to be brought from Baghdad; but now that that route is in ruin, only a value of eighty to one hundred thousand ducats’ worth is brought. If that route were restored to its former state, the profit of Aleppo would grow greatly, because this route corresponds to the goods of the Indies, from whence come all the spices, which are one of the primary foundations of the trade in our parts. Furthermore, as I understand, from the places subject to the Safavid come silks to the value of three hundred and fifty thousand ducats a year, and drugs, musk, rhubarb, and other things to the value of forty thousand ducats a year, and all this is traded in Aleppo. From Turkey come goods to the value of sixty to seventy thousand ducats, and are traded here; and a much greater sum’s worth is taken away bound for those parts.

In this city and in this territory, soaps are made to the value of two hundred thousand ducats a year, and all of it is sold to foreigners, who carry it throughout both the Armenias and to Turkey, and to Persia, supplying a great quantity of countries that make use of them. Good woolens are made and in such number in this city, and in this territory, that every year the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand ducats’ worth is sold. The art of silk is great, and beautiful, and they make crimson velvets, most beautiful cloths of gold, and of silk, worked in many colors, and in great abundance, and worked better than those that are made in other parts. Of other arts the city is well supplied and in such abundance as is needed for a large and populated city, such as this one is, for a comfortable life.

I have wished on this occasion to make this little digression concerning the conditions of this city, because it seems to me to be a thing worthy of being understood by every person who desires to understand the worthy things that exist in the world.

The Sultan’s Entrance

But returning to our subject, I say that the Turkish Grand Signor reached this city of Aleppo, stopping a little way off, on the 4th of November, and on the 5th he made his entry. It may occur to many who will read what I write, that when they reach this passage, a desire may arise in them to understand the order of this entry, judging it a most celebrated thing, and worthy of being understood; whence if I were not to make mention of it, I might by such people be blamed. Therefore, so as not to give occasion to anyone to complain on this account, with the forbearance of those to whom the reading of such a thing might bring tedium, I will say of it that which I have seen.

On the 5th of November, as I have said above, in the morning, before the rays of the sun had yet appeared, this entry was begun by men on horseback from the prince’s squadron, the order of which is called the silictari, and whose number might have been about two thousand. This order of men is large, and of a much greater number, but they did not all appear together then, however, because the greater part of that order had already entered and taken up its quarters.

These two thousand marched without any formation, and the majority seemed to be travelers: however, a few of them appeared armed, whose armor I shall describe for the understanding of those who may not know the manner in which these people arm themselves. The majority of them, for body armor, wear coats of mail, and there are some who wear a round iron plate before the chest, and another behind, which are attached together with mail, and this mail arms the rest of the body. Some wear iron vambraces16 with something of a pauldron17, and on their heads they have a great sallet, which is round and ends in a sharp point, and covers the nape of the neck, the ears, and a good part of the cheek-guards. On the front, they have no other guard for the face, save for an iron bar half a finger thick and one wide, which is so arranged that they can raise it or lower it as they wish, fastening it with some other iron pieces made for this purpose; this bar comes straight down from the helmet over the nose. Next to this bar, they have a plume-holder, in which the majority of them wear a very large plume; and in place of a targe18, all the peoples of Asia carry a rather large round shield, made of Indian canes full of pith, of the thickness of a little finger, arranged in a circle one next to the other and bound tightly with a silk weaving that holds them very securely. These round shields have in the center a piece of very well-tempered iron in the fashion of a small buckler, on which, when they fight and must parry, they strive to receive the blow, because on any other part they could not withstand it, and for defense against arrows they are said to be very good. For offensive arms, they carry the lance, which for the most part is of very thick Indian cane, and those who do not have one of cane carry one of wood of the same thickness. They have at their side the scimitar, and the dagger which they call a khanjar, the iron mace, the bow, and arrows; and many, in addition to these, also carry a German-style estoc19. In this manner are all the peoples of Asia armed. Those of Europe arm themselves in the same way for the body, but the majority of them carry a very thick wooden lance, and carry a larger targe, which covers almost their entire person.

Behind these silictars were the slaves of the Pasha-Viziers, who are called councilors, who made a very fine show of themselves, and would have made a finer one had they been in formation. These men wear on their heads a hat or cap very similar to that of the Janissaries, covered in red felt, the length of which might be a span and a half, or a little more; and from the part where it is put on the head up to where it begins to form the crest, it is entirely round with drawn gold thread, worked in such a way and with one thread joined to the other that nothing but gold is seen, and it is of a respectable thickness. On the front, they have a gilded silver plume-holder, which is as long as the hat, in which they wear a plume. This cap may be worth from one hundred to two hundred ducats. They all wore garments of silk, some with gold. In their hands they carried the wooden lance, with a small red and yellow pennant at its tip, and at their side the scimitar and the khanjar, completely fitted with silver and with a very good blade, so that at times they are worth a very good price. They also wore a belt entirely covered in silver, a quarter of a braccio wide, some more, and some less, and all were upon good horses; and it is judged that as these slaves ride, they have on them more than a thousand gold scudi, and their number was four hundred and fifty.

Behind these began to enter the squad leaders of the Janissaries, called butuc-bascì, who may have numbered about four hundred, all on horseback, with lance in hand, with the red and yellow banderole at the tip, and the scimitar and the khanjar at their side. On their heads they had a hat like that of the Janissaries, different only in not having the felt that hangs down behind, and the top being pointed and not round. On which top they wear a plume of white feathers a braccio long. The front of the hat, and so all around, is worked with drawn gold, like that of the pashas’ slaves. Along with these were the Kapicis of the Grand Signor, who are the gatekeepers, who on their heads wear a cap like that of the Janissaries, differing in no other way except that the felt thing that hangs down behind them is somewhat narrower and shorter. Behind them walked five sanjaks with their slaves, all on horseback, well-ordered, without armor, who all together may have numbered about three hundred. After them was the beylerbey of Karamania with his slaves, who may have numbered about sixty; and behind him the beylerbey of Aleppo, who is the son of a sister of Sultan Selim, the father of Sultan Suleiman, who appeared in better order, and better dressed than him, and his people with all the others could have been about three hundred men on horseback in good order. Behind these walked a squad of forty leaders of the Solak20, called Solak-bascì, all dressed in silk and gold, with the lance on their thigh, and all packed closely together, making a most beautiful squadron; for besides being very well-ordered, they were all chosen men of very fine appearance. Behind them were the Janissaries, all on foot, who walked in a mass, without any order of file. Some of them had polearms, that is, pikes, halberds, billhooks, and spontoons, and others had the arquebus: each one had the scimitar and the khanjar at his side, and under his belt. Their number was eight thousand, and in such a great number there was not even one who had his match lit; still less is it to be believed that they had their arquebus loaded. In the last rank, which may have numbered about three hundred, all had very large plumes on their heads, some of one sort, some of another, which made them a most beautiful sight. They say that all those who perform some fine deed in war are permitted to wear this great plume, and to stand in this part of the rank as the most valiant, and that to the others such a license is not given. Behind all of them was their Agha upon a most beautiful bay horse, dressed in crimson velvet, and he walked somewhat apart from the others. Behind him was Sultan Cihangir, son of the Grand Signor, who graciously went about greeting the people on one side of the street or the other whom he saw paying him reverence.

Behind them were the grooms of the Grand Signor, fifty in number, whose attire is different from all the others. They wear a silk robe, short in the front so that it reaches just below the belt, and in the back extending to the knee, and underneath a multi-colored silk shirt that reaches below the knee; and on their legs they have cloth hose, and on their heads a cap a third of a cubit in length, made of hammered silver plate and all gilded, with a plume-holder in which they wear a white plume. All of these had scimitars, the khanjar, a battle-axe, and a few arrows in a small sheath. Their captain was richly attired, that is, dressed in gold, with his cap all adorned with jewels, and likewise his scimitar. Behind these were the huntsmen of the Grand Signor with their dogs beside them, numbering forty, and behind these was the fine squadron of the Silahdars21, all on foot, who are four hundred armed men, who on their heads wear a hat like that of the squadron leaders of the Janissaries, with a large plume on top of the same sort of feathers as worn by the Solak-bascìs, but made in such a way that they are distinguished from the others. They wear a long tunic of white cloth reaching to their feet, but they had tucked it under their belts so that their legs were not impeded by the fabric. Underneath they had a white silk shirt that went below the knee, and on their legs, cloth hose. For arms they carry the scimitar, the bow, and a few arrows in a small sheath which they tuck under their belts. This squadron always marches on foot, and whenever the prince marches with the army, it stands as his personal guard. Their order is to march closely packed and without any rank or file.

After these had passed, from one side and the other of the road came the chaoushes of the Grand Signor, all on horseback, with their iron maces resting on their thighs, and many of them had silver ones, as were the saddles of the horses and all the trappings. The robes they wore were all of silk and many of gold, with fine fur linings. These were one hundred and thirty in number, and they made the people clear the road so that it would be spacious for the passing of the Grand Signor. In the midst of the solaks were four on horseback who each carried a staff in his hand with a horse’s tail attached, and behind these were another four who carried a mace of an umbrella, or rather a baldachin, all of gold, covered in red cloth. Then came twelve men on horseback, each leading a horse by his right hand, all very richly furnished with jewels and pearls.

Behind these were Ibrahim Pasha22, and all four of the kapici-basci23, who are great men. Behind them was the mirahor, who is the master of the stables, after whom walked Ahmed Pasha dressed in crimson velvet, lined with lynx fur. Immediately behind him was the Grand Signor upon a black horse, adorned with jewels and pearls which were worth a treasure, and he was dressed in crimson and gold satin, with a small cap on his head, and a white handkerchief at his neck, which these lords wear as a sign of a cuirass. His countenance was so wan that he seemed rather ill than well, and perhaps it was so because of the melancholy over the death of his son. As he passed along the road, he inclined his head somewhat toward the people who on both sides were making reverence to him. Around him were four Solaks dressed all in gold, two of whom walked one on each side at the horse’s head, and two behind on each side of the horse’s rump.

Behind these, a little apart, were three young men on horseback most magnificently dressed in gold, with a lock of hair hanging from their temples, reaching below the ears, and the rest of their heads shaved; one of these carries the Grand Signor’s sword, another carries the bag with cloths for changing, and the third a vessel to give him drink: all three are sons of great men, but Christians, who were taken as boys.

Behind these followed seven men on horseback, each with a standard in his hand, three of which were unfurled and four furled; and then followed the players of the army’s martial instruments, of which there are three hundred in all, but not all were in this procession, where there were only thirty, of which ten at a time were playing. Some played castanets, some a drum made in their fashion, some steel plates, and some played shrill trumpets. Then followed a squadron of chosen men, indeed of the highest rank of all, called the muteferica, which is an order subject to none but the Grand Lord.

Some distance from these were three eunuchs on horseback, abreast of one another, not at all out of line, but so far from one another that they took up the whole street, in which ten horses could have comfortably ridden abreast. Behind these was the Kapi Agha24, who holds a higher rank than all others of the Porte, except for the Pasha Vizier25. He was in the middle, having on his right hand the caznadar-bascì, who is the great treasurer, and on his left the odà-bascì, whose office is to always be with twenty youths in the service of the Grand Lord. Behind these three great men was a squadron of two hundred youths aged eighteen to twenty years, there being not one who was younger or older, all dressed like the three who went behind the Grand Lord, with the same headdress and with a white plume in their plume-holder; and they were upon very fine horses and marched in a tight mass, which made a most beautiful sight. These youths are those of the Grand Lord’s seraglio, who are so raised and trained that many of them leave that place as great men. This squadron made a most beautiful sight, and had behind it about twenty falconers with falcons on their fists, with whom the order of this entry concluded.

In every rank of people there was a silence so great and solemn that not a single person could be heard speaking. All the people who entered took the same route, entering through the Banchessa gate, and walking towards the house that was prepared for the dwelling of the Grand Lord, which is a palace situated below the city’s castle, in front of which is a small square that widens out below the castle for a good space. In this place, all the people who entered formed two wings, between which the Grand Lord was to pass; who, as he appeared in view of the castle, was saluted from it with fifty cannons, and having reached the square he entered between the two wings that the people had formed; where, as he passed, he was saluted and revered by all, and he, turning from one side to the other, answered the salute by bowing his head. So too did Sultan Cihangir, who had passed before, and at the passing of the one and the other all the people, saluting them, bowed to the very ground to pay reverence.

Before the gate of the palace courtyard, all the sanjaks, the beylerbeys, and all the great men who had passed before the person of the Grand Signor, dismounted hastily from their horses, running ahead around the court, and accompanied the Grand Signor to the palace gate, where he dismounted from his horse, and having paid him reverence, they departed. The Grand Signor then went to sit upon his seat, and as soon as he was there, he declared Mehemet, beylerbey of Aleppo, to be beylerbey of Cairo, in place of Ali Pasha who had been in that post but had now been chosen to be his Pasha Vizier at the Porte. At once, one of his slaves carried this nomination to the beylerbey of Aleppo, who gave him a gift of five hundred gold scudi. Afterwards, all departed, each going to his own dwelling. The miriacuba mounted the horse that the Grand Signor had ridden, and on it went to his lodging. Then entered eighteen of the prince’s carriages, which are made like the coaches of Italy, with scarlet covers, and one of a blue silk cloth.

Before the Grand Signor had entered the city, many soldiers had entered, and many entered afterwards—the number of whom, including those in the procession, from what can be judged by the lodgings that were prepared, might have been from twenty-five to thirty thousand. In the villages near the city, some twenty thousand may have been lodged. The number of animals, then, for the service of the men of this war, was so great that to lodge them the city of Aleppo was not sufficient, nor that of Amasya, and it was necessary to send them as far as Tripoli, which is a good five days’ journey from Aleppo.

The Sultan at Aleppo

On the 19th of November, the most illustrious Luigi Malipiero, who was then residing in Aleppo as consul for our Venetian nation, went to make reverence and kiss the hand of Sultan Suleiman, and he took with him four of the principal men of the nation, among whom it fell to me to be one. His Magnificence brought an honorable present of forty robes of both gold and silk of different kinds and colors, and we went accompanied by our entire community on the day that the public audience is given, for at no other time is one permitted to go for such a purpose. We entered the court where audience was given very early in the morning; and before we were admitted to the Grand Signor, dinner was given to the lord pashas, to all those attending the audience, and to everyone who was in the court. The tables that were set up for the pashas, for the kadiaskers, and for the other grandees, were prepared upon wooden benches ordinarily used for sitting; and the victuals were roasted hens cut into pieces, boiled mutton, rice soup made in three ways, and bread. And there were some who served water to drink, carrying it in leather skins. At the pashas’ table were the kadiaskers, the tefterdars, who are the governors of the revenues, and he who signs the commands of the Grand Signor. Outside the audience hall, all the others ate; those who were of rank, at tables laid out like those of the pashas, and the others standing, or sitting upon their heels. And in a moment, all had finished eating. Afterwards, food was brought to the Grand Signor. Twelve men dressed in gold, who in their language are called chilergi, which is to say table-servants, each took a dish from the prince’s kitchen, in which nothing is cooked but his own food, and one after another they brought the dishes to the Grand Signor. They were all of silver, but covered so that I could not see what was inside them.

As soon as the Grand Signor had finished dining, we were led in to him—the most illustrious consul, the dragoman and ourselves; the others remained outside. When we reached the door of the room where the prince was, two capigì-bascì took up the most illustrious consul, each holding him by an arm, and led him before Sultan Suleiman, whose hand he kissed, and then they set him aside; they did likewise to the dragoman; then they came to us, and in the same manner led us before the Grand Signor, who was seated at the head of a not very large room upon a chair wrought all of gold, and furnished with many jewels, and it was so large that three men, side by side, could have sat upon it comfortably. Near him the pashas were standing, not very far off, and throughout the room there were very beautiful carpets of silk and gold upon the floor. None of us remained inside; but as one exited, another was led in by the capigì-bascì, who held each of us by an arm, but in such a way that they barely touched us, and they led us to the feet of the Grand-Signor, where, bowing to the ground, we took the hem of his robe and placed it to our foreheads or in our mouths, and in returning, we went with our faces always turned toward the Grand Signor. Afterwards, when we had finished entering and exiting, the dragoman said: “Sovereign Lord, this is the bailo whom the Most Illustrious Signor of Venice, confederate of Your Majesty, keeps here in Aleppo, who on behalf of the said Most Illustrious Signor has come to pay reverence and to greet Your Majesty, and prays the Lord God that He may make you ever happy.” He did not move, nor did he answer anything. Then the most illustrious consul, having performed his reverence to him, exited, and we all came out into the court, and all together we returned to our house.

That same day, an ambassador of the Tartars came to kiss his majesty’s hand, who brought as a present some sable furs; and as far as was understood, he had no business that was pertinent to this war.

On the 29th of the said month, Sultan Cihangir died. His malady was a sharp pain in the side, which finished him in four days; and because outside of the seraglio nothing was known of his illness, when the news of his death came out, it was thought that the Grand Signor had died, and this news spread in such a way that it was believed in various parts of the city, wherefore in some places looting began. The bazaars, which are the places where merchandise is kept, were all in turmoil, and the matter was about to go from bad to worse if Ibrahim Pasha, departing from his dwelling and riding in haste, had not gone to the Grand Signor to inform him of the importance of the matter, requesting that he come out to show himself to the Janissaries who were already rioting. The Grand Signor, just as he was, went out immediately, and stopped at the door of the house with a stick in his hand, upon which he was leaning. When the Janissaries saw him, they grew quiet, and thus the tumult made by the many people who had run to the prince’s house to learn the certainty of the matter proceeded no further. And all the chaushes were dispatched to various places in the city to quiet the tumult that was still being made there. For us, the affair began with great fear, for we feared losing our property and our lives, but it suddenly came to a quick end with very little harm to anyone, because many of those who had taken things returned them, so that very little was lost.

The same day after the midday meal, the funeral rites of the dead sultan Cihangir were held in a small mosque that is near the prince’s house, into which the body was carried on a bier, supported at the front by the two Pasha Viziers, Ahmed and Ibrahim, at the back by the two kadiaskers, and in the middle by the Agha of the Janissaries and the master of the horse. Behind the bier were all the other great men of the Porte who accompanied the Grand Signor, who himself also followed the dead man on foot together with the others. Having entered the mosque, several ulema performed the prayers customary for the dead, and after the Grand Signor and the others had left the mosque, the body was placed in a coffin, and that was placed upon a carriage of the prince, and with a small company, by order of the Grand Signor, it was carried to Constantinople.

Some days later, ambassadors arrived from Queen Isabella, who had been the wife of King John of Transylvania26, sent by the said queen and by King Stephen27 her son; who, having appeared in the presence of the Grand Signor, set forth their embassy, the tenor of which was that, in the name of the aforementioned queen and king, they requested aid from his majesty to conquer the country that the King of the Romans28 had taken from them, narrating how the said king and queen, having been expelled from their kingdom, had no supply of money, nor of anything else pertaining to war, save for the good spirit of the barons and peoples of their kingdom, who, not content with the dominion of the King of the Romans, called upon them, exhorting them to take aid from His Majesty; which aid they requested, supplicating that he not deprive them of it on so fine an occasion, promising him that, having recovered the kingdom, they would give him that obedience and that tribute which they had agreed to with his majesty at other times: and they then added that he should write to the King of Poland (the brother of the said queen), urging that he should hold her in reverence. These ambassadors obtained all that they had requested, and with celerity several Vlachs were dispatched with commands to the remnants of the people left in Greece, and to those of Hungary, and to those of Wallachia, and of all the borders in those parts, that with celerity, at the new grass29, they should ride into Transylvania to undertake this enterprise; and an order was given that one of the cities that the Grand Signor holds in Transylvania should be given to the queen and the king for their habitation.

A few days later Sultan Selim came to pay reverence to his father; who was conducted by the beylerbey of Damascus, whom the Grand Signor had sent for that purpose. The day he arrived in Aleppo, the Grand Signor went out to a garden a short distance away, in which Sultan Selim came to kiss his hand, accompanied only by three of his own men, having sent ahead a present of greyhound dogs and falcons. Having come before the Grand Signor and made his reverence, he was received by his father as a son, nor did he wish him to depart until he had been with him in the city for some days, where they came together, and he was given a separate chamber.

In these days, the Grand Signor resolved to go to Jerusalem, and the day of departure having been appointed, on the day before, Vlachs arrived, sent by the beylerbey of Van, who by his letters sent word of how Ismail, son of the Sofi, with eight thousand horse had made a sudden assault on Van, and had taken many men, and killed many of those who were found outside the city, and that after having sacked the nearby villages and done great damage, feigning to turn back, he had placed himself in an opportune spot to assault those who might come out of the city to attack some of his men, who seemed to be scattered throughout that territory. This, he said, had not succeeded for him, because six of those stragglers were taken, from whom the design of the Sofi’s son had been learned; Ismail, seeing then that those of the city would not come out, had departed. Together with the said Vlachs, he sent two of the stragglers he had taken, so that from their own mouths the Grand Signor might understand what his letters contained.

I found myself present in the house of Ahmed Pasha when the Vlachs and the two prisoners came, whom the Pasha had brought before him and interrogated as to what he wished to know; and they spoke in such a way that it seemed they made little account of being prisoners, or of their lives. The Pasha, out of contempt, had the red cap they wore on their heads taken from them, which extends half an arm’s length from the head, and is of red cloth, and so thick that it may be squeezed in one hand. Then he had them taken to the Grand Signor, who was outside the city in a garden, who, having them brought before him and having spoken with them, gave the order that they be led into the camp and there have their heads cut off, and so it was done. And with that, the hope which all had that the ambassador of the Lord Sofi would return with peace, failed; indeed, it was learned from these prisoners that upon the arrival of the news of the death of Sultan Mustafa, all the Safavids had held a great feast, and celebrated with much revelry for eight continuous days; and of the demands which the Turkish Lord then made for the conclusion of peace, they had made great mockery, saying that they would never make peace unless the Turk first gave them Van, Erzurum, and Baghdad, and they also said that the Sofi was preparing with all diligence to make war come the new season, wherefore it was judged that the Grand Signor, on account of this news, would have to postpone the journey to Jerusalem.

Nonetheless, the Grand Signor departed on the appointed day to go to Jerusalem, and along with him Sultan Selim and all the people commanded for this journey, and they set out. But on the second day it snowed so much that all the fields were filled with snow, and for this reason the journey was postponed, or it was pretended to be postponed, converting it into a hunt that lasted for about twenty days; and after the hunt was finished, the Turkish Lord returned to the city, and with all diligence both the pashas, and all the people, set themselves to the preparation of the campaign. Wherefore the soldiers, who until then had held it as a certainty that peace would be made, and that the Grand Signor did not care to make war, lost their hope of returning home, and the travails of making preparations to go to war increased, to which there was not even one in such a great number who did not go unwillingly. By order of the Grand Signor it was publicly announced that on the 9th of the month of April his person would take to the field, and that all the other people should have left their lodgings and set out on the road to Bir30, and that on the twentieth of the said month a bridge should be made at Bir over the Euphrates for the entire army to cross to the other bank.

Shortly before the Grand Seignior came to this city of Aleppo, some of our merchants received news by way of a ship that had arrived in Cyprus, that a Turkish personage had been seen in the Gulf of Venice, passing himself off as an ambassador of Sultan Mustafa, who had let it be understood that his lord, seeing the great illness of his Most Serene Father was such that he judged his life must be short, and desiring that the peace which the Most Illustrious Signor has maintained with him be preserved with himself, was sending him to Venice to confirm it in perpetuity with the same terms and conditions with which it is now observed. This thing had placed in the minds of some of our countrymen a certain fear that it might result in some harm for the fatherland, they judging that the Grand Signor must come to know of all the handling of this affair, either by way of the same man who had gone, or indeed by means of letters. And upon this matter, several of them on more than one occasion set to discoursing and reasoning; among whom one always held the conclusion that for such a cause nothing sinister could ever befall the fatherland, basing this on the judgment and wisdom of those most distinguished senators who govern our republic, who, being of such wise foresight, this one judged that they would have foreseen everything that could have occurred in any case, and that therefore with their prudence they would have conducted themselves in such a manner, that even if, either through the man or through letters they had written to Sultan Mustafa, the Grand Signor came to know what they had done, he would not have found anything to displease him, and similarly they would have satisfied Sultan Mustafa. In this, this man was not at all mistaken, because the same man who went to Venice was taken, and the letters that the Most Illustrious Signor was writing to Sultan Mustafa were found, and were sent by the governor of Constantinople to the Grand Signor; which arrived one morning when I had gone into the divan (for so the place of audience is named) on some business of my own; and these letters were presented into the hand of the Pasha, who, as soon as he had read the letter from the governor of Constantinople, (who was the brother of Rustem Pasha), rose from the audience, and going in to see the Grand Signor, informed him of the matter. They immediately sent to find Ibrahim Bey, the chief interpreter of the Grand Signor, so that he might read the Signor’s letter. This he read to the Grand Signor, who was most pleased with its tenor, as I later learned; and all our countrymen who had been in doubt took great comfort that this affair had come to such a conclusion.

At the beginning of the new year, Ottoman, the beylerbey of Baghdad, went out into the field with his people, all chosen men, resolved to launch an assault on a castle that lies between Greater Armenia and Diyarbakir; but he then had no means to do what he had in mind, because the castle’s defenders became aware of it with enough time to be found ready. Seeing that his plan had not gone as he desired, he resolved to lay siege to the place; and because he knew that some of the defenders had gone out to raid a Turkish hamlet, he decided to take them by deception, lying in ambush to wait for them to fall into his trap—which likewise did not succeed according to his design, because those men had notice of what he was planning; and accompanied by some others of their faction, who are in those mountains, they came to assault him, having first charged one of their own to go to the place where the said Ottoman was, telling him that the son of the most serene Sofi was coming with eight thousand horsemen to the aid of those in the castle, and that he was shortly to arrive in that place. Ottoman gave faith to the words that the man spoke to deceive him, and thus he immediately took to flight, leaving behind the pavilions and all the baggage within, and riding in single file as fast as he could, he hastened to get out of the narrow passes of those mountains, which were poorly known to him, in order to save himself; through which passes those people I mentioned, falling upon him, cut off his path and battered many of his men. The beylerbey saved himself, although he was among the last to flee, but from the grief of this rout he fell into an infirmity, which then took his life in midsummer.

Meanwhile, from various parts, news arrived daily of some damage that the Sofi’s people were doing on the Most Serene Turk’s borders. It was likewise understood in various quarters that the Sofi had made such preparations to sustain the war that in the new season he would field an army of one hundred thousand men, all select troops; and by letters written by Scander-Aga, the beylerbey of Erzurum, who was on his way to Van, all this was confirmed—with the addition that the Sofi, whenever the Turk should approach his lands to damage them, would come to do battle with him.

In the month of March, Ali Pasha, who came from Cairo, arrived in Aleppo. Believing that the persuasion of Rustem Pasha upon Sultan Suleiman had been what had driven him to put his own son to death, he suspected that due to the long-standing enmity between the two of them, Rustem had also advised the Sultan to do the same to him; whence he came with some fear that the Grand Signor would have him put to death. And so before he reached the Porte, he had made his will and arranged his affairs. Having arrived in Aleppo, he sent the Sultan the most honorable present that anyone ever made, which I will not describe so as not to be tedious. This present was received by the Grand Signor with good will, and he held it in great esteem. The pasha came after the present into the divan, and sat himself down in the third place of a Pasha-Vizier, awaiting the hour to enter and kiss the hand of the prince, as is the custom for all those who come from such a place. But the divan was dismissed without his being given a chance to enter before the Grand Signor, and he returned to his pavilions which he had pitched outside the city. Because of this unusual act, he spent all that day and the following night in very low spirits. The second day he likewise went to the divan, and just like the first he returned without being given a chance to enter. The third day he likewise came to the divan, and finally at the proper hour he was made to enter, where at the feet of the Grand Signor, having placed himself with his knees on the ground, he said: “Behold, Sovereign Lord, at your feet is your most faithful Ali, who has governed, in the name of Your Majesty, Cairo and all the province of Egypt with that faith and love that a most faithful servant ought to show. Command, Lord, what is to become of him, and if he is to serve Your Majesty, command what place is to be his.” To which words the Grand Signor replied: “You are welcome, and know that I am as glad to see you as you have been faithful in serving me in the charge I have given you. Of you I ordained, before you departed from me, that upon your return you should sit as my pasha: now why do you ask me what your place is to be?” The pasha replied: “I ask, Lord, because when I came here with this intention of sitting as Pasha in the service of your majesty, as you had ordained, upon arriving at your happy Porte, I was placed in the spot where the Pashas of your majesty sit, but I did not know myself to be a Pasha, because I was not given a way to come into your presence, as do the others who come for your service; whence I feared I had lost your grace, which is so dear to me that I could never have lost it through any fault of my own in not having served with a good heart, but the malignity of my enemies, for the hatred they bear me and for the envy they have that my service is pleasing to Your Majesty, could well contaminate it by falsely accusing me that I have not served you well, and that I am not faithful to you. But if Your Majesty will diligently inquire into the truth, you will find that in me there has always been true faith and true love towards you, my lord. I am here at your feet, do with my head what pleases you, but do me this grace of first seeking the truth, so that then you, my Lord, may know that whoever has spoken ill of me to you has not told you the truth, and in your mind may remain clear the spirit of the faith with which your most faithful servant Ali has always served you.” To which words the Grand Signor replied: “I have always held you to be a good servant; and because I have loved you as a son, and as a son I have always esteemed you, it would therefore seem a strange thing to me if you were not faithful to me, as I know you are.” And all at once he embraced him, and kissed him on the forehead, raising him from the ground. How welcome this act and these words together were to the pasha, let him judge who can know how welcome it is to snatch one’s life out of where one expected death.

The pasha afterwards withdrew to his place where the other two pashas were, and the Grand Lord entered into discussion with them concerning the matters of the war, and they concluded that the enemy’s country should be assaulted from three sides in this manner: that the beylerbey of Anatolia should enter the province of Shirvan, the beylerbey of Greece should enter that part which lies between Shirvan and Tabriz, and that the Grand Lord should push toward Tabriz from the direction of Van. This deliberation they made in order to cause the Sofi to divide his forces, sending part to one place and part to another for their defense, so that they might then be able, in some way, to trap one of these separated parts and cut it to pieces. This being established, it was also decided that on the 9th of the month of April the person of the Grand Lord should take to the field, as had previously been announced to the troops. They also decided that two thousand janissaries should be sent to the beylerbey of Greece, so that he too might have some, like the beylerbey of Anatolia had; and these departed with the greatest celerity. On the appointed day, the person of the Prince took to the field with the pomp and ceremony that he observes when he goes forth to war. Upon his exit from his palace, the janissaries saluted him with their muskets, and likewise the castle with fifty cannons, and seven standards were unfurled, which seven men on horseback carried behind his person; one of which was all white, and was in the midst of all the others; on the right side were three: one green, one red, and one red and green; on the other side the other three: one green, one red and green, and one red and yellow. For the rest, the procession was the same as that seen at the entry.

When the Sultan arrived at his pavilions, the direction that the army was to take was announced, and having remained until the twentieth day to gather the troops, the Sultan set out, heading towards Bir (which is a place three days’ journey from Aleppo), where a bridge was conveniently built for the passage of the troops—which they feared they would lose because of the great force of the waters at that time, which had swollen on account of the melting snows. Before the Sultan departed from the pavilions, he ordered that Ibrahim Pasha, with the greatest possible diligence, should go to Constantinople, giving him orders as to what he wished him to do; this pasha departed the day after the Sultan departed.

Four days later, the Sieur de Codignac, ambassador of the Most Serene King of France, arrived in Aleppo, and after resting for three days, he set out again to find Suleiman and to complete his embassy—whom he reached on this side of the city of Carahamid, and on the way went to kiss his hand. He was received by him with great humanity, and then, having heard the king’s request, who asked him for the fleet against the Emperor, for the coasts of the Kingdom of Naples and for the other coasts of Italy and of Corsica, he granted all that he had asked; and men were immediately dispatched with diligence to Constantinople, with orders to the captain of the fleet, who was Dragut, as to what he was to do.

The Campaign

Having arrived at the city of Carahamid, the Grand Signor did not wish to enter it at all, but stopped outside for some days until all the troops could gather together, and when the time seemed opportune to him, he had the army set out marching in formation, which until this place it had not done. A day’s march ahead of the camp marched a squadron of five thousand horsemen, with whom were the pavilions of the Grand Signor, of the pashas, and of all the great men, and those who designated the places for all ranks of persons when the camp was to be lodged; and when they arrived at the place that was designated for the camp to halt, the pavilions of the prince and of the other great men were erected by those who were charged with erecting them; who had another set, which, while the said great men were in their lodging, they sent ahead for the lodging of the following day; and thus it was done every day for the great men. The others then had but a single set, and when they lodged they pitched it in the place that had been designated for them, and when they struck their pavilions they carried them behind, but outside of the formation. The camp marched in an order of three squadrons: in the first were twenty thousand men on horseback, all very well ordered and a most fine company, under a green banner; after whom, but outside of the formation, were twelve thousand adventurers who ranged ahead. The second squadron was of six thousand janissaries on foot with the artillery, who marched in a square formation; and behind that formation was a squadron on the right flank of four thousand horsemen, all in arms and very good men, who marched under a yellow banner. These accompanied the very fine squadron of the Solaks, with which was the person of the Grand Signor, who too had his sword at his side, and arrows like the others. On the left flank was another squadron of four thousand horsemen, similarly as good as the first, who marched also under a yellow banner. In the third place then was another squadron of twenty thousand men on horseback under a yellow and red banner; and after, outside of this formation, were the slaves and the boys with the baggage and the horses, which carried the things that were necessary for the army.

Having marched the first day, and made the first camp, the Grand Lord ordered that on the following day they should not march; and having had a very large open pavilion prepared for that day, he had the pasha lords and all the principal men assembled, both of the horsemen and of the Janissaries and Solaks, and being seated upon a chair that had been placed under that pavilion in an eminent place, where he could be seen by everyone, he began to speak, saying: “Now, as you can see, we have arrived at a place where little of our own land remains for us to walk upon, and very soon we shall enter the country of the perfidious Tahmasp, enemy of God and also of us, against whom I have not been moved to make war either by an ambition that I have to rule his country, or by a lust for glory, which many hold to be the ultimate prize for the toils of war and for the dangers that are run in battles. By the grace of the Lord God, under my empire are so many kingdoms, so many provinces, so many cities, and so many peoples give me obedience, that I ought rather to be content with what I have, enjoying it in peace, than to seek to take that of others with war; which if it must be troublesome to anyone, to me it must be most troublesome, because I am now grown so old and so burdened by infirmities that my soul desires rest and quiet much more than new dominions with toils, with travails, and with wars. I would repute it a greater glory for myself, if this little life that remains to me I could pass in peace, with the grace of our Lord God, preserving the empire in that state in which it is, and you with the riches you possess, and with the security that you and your children might long possess them, than to conquer in battle a king set in the narrowest corner of Armenia, who under him has nothing but deserted mountains, woods, and for the most part a country empty of people and wild. But it is not lawful for me to remain in peace, tolerating that the most cruel Tahmasp, ever more perfidious in his perfidy, should continue in his offenses against God; nor is it honorable that I should suffer him to go about every day like a thief, raiding along the borders of our empire, damaging by plundering of property, by burning of houses and possessions, and by killing of our subjects. It is not fitting that I, who am your Prince, to whom it belongs to guard you and avenge you upon your enemies, and especially upon those who seek nothing other than to sate themselves on your blood, should endure any longer that he who in the past has inflicted every sort of cruelty upon the blood of your brothers, and with every effort seeks to sate himself on yours, should remain in power. Since it is neither lawful, nor honorable, nor fitting that I should endure such a thing in order to live in peace, I am moved to make this war, in which I hope to be victorious if you will resolve to do your duty as well. There is no man, however great or small, who does not owe such a debt to the Lord God that he is not obligated to spend his possessions, his blood, and his life in defense of His honor; but you who are illuminated by Him, through His clemency, with the true faith, by means of that great prophet of ours, through whose goodness He has promised to make us enjoy all the good of the next life, and in this one has placed us in such good fortune that every other nation envies us, you are more obligated to Him than all other men who are on earth. Will you then be so ungrateful, taking no account of the many blessings He has given you, that you would not willingly undertake a little hardship for the defense of His honor? I shall never believe that of the debt you owe Him, you would not now wish to repay with me a minimal part; all the more so since in doing this you will also defend the dignity and majesty of your Prince, who, loving you all as children, has ever sought to do you good on every occasion, and seeks to do so now more than ever. And furthermore, you will take vengeance for your own blood, and you will free yourselves from the affliction that your enemy could bring upon you, were he to remain in his power and station. All these things ought to move you to undertake this enterprise with me willingly, and all the more so since I desire this undertaking to be dispatched with the least possible inconvenience to you. I have taken care that you shall not lack those things which you most need; and you need not doubt that you will lack for grain, for such provision has been made that it will last us for the entire time we are to be in the field, the cost of which will not rise to a price that any man cannot comfortably bear. Nor should you fear a lack of money; for I have brought with me from my own treasury, for your service, as you can see here, a hundred loads of gold. And all of it is for your service, and I hold it as your own, ever at your command; therefore, let any among you who now has, or in the future shall have, need of money, come and ask me for it, and he shall be supplied by my treasurers with all that he may require. Having therefore cast aside the fear that you should lack the necessities for this enterprise, with good courage prepare yourselves, and prepare the others who are under your command, for all to do their duty, so that we may avenge the injuries done to God, defend the blood of our brothers, and all free ourselves from the tribulations of this perfidious enemy, against whom our Lord God will be with us, who with His favor will make every difficult enterprise easy and light for us, and in the end will give us the victory; of which you will reap every fruit, since I desire nothing other than your love. Yours will be the spoils, yours the lands, because from among you will be elected those leaders who will govern the provinces, and you will enjoy their fruits, and to God alone will be the glory.”

When the prince’s address was finished—which had brought great wonder to everyone, because these Turkish lords are not accustomed to making any public address—Ahmed Pasha, and then Ali Pasha, and so the others in turn, all offered themselves to him, ready in this enterprise and in any other to willingly spend their blood and their lives. And afterward each chief, having returned to his post, made the Prince’s words known to all those of his order, so that, the speech having spread throughout the army, great voices were heard from every side, crying out on high, lauding the Prince for the work he wished to do, and they thanked him for having well provided for the needs of his soldiers.

Afterwards, the Grand Signor made a gift to the entire army of a thousand silver aspers per soldier, which is as much as seventeen and a half gold ducats; which gift was in addition to the ordinary pay. On the appointed day, the money was distributed to the chiefs of every order of soldiers, and the chiefs then made the division among the soldiers. The army then set out towards Van, which army, in the manner that it marched, could not make that journey from Carahamid to Van in less than twenty-five or thirty days. But they did not continue the journey to Van, and keeping to the left, after some days’ journey they came to a place full of springs of fresh water, where the army rested for several days, and afterwards set about to cross a mountain by a narrow, difficult, and arduous path, on which many animals perished, and those that passed it suffered greatly, wherefore it was necessary to rest the army another time. After leaving that place, they set out towards Erzurum, which is far off the road they were taking, because as their journey was from west to east, they turned, proceeding from south to north. The reason they did so was that they learned that the Sofi, having heard of the coming of the army—in which was the person of the Grand Signor—towards Tauris by way of Van, had sent his son Ismail, a very well-disposed and valiant youth, with fifteen thousand horsemen toward some mountains. These mountains lie between the road the Grand Signor was to take and that which the Beylerbey of Greece was to take. By holding the middle ground of these mountains, they, knowing the passes very well, could conveniently move against either army, and with few men and little effort, prevent one army from giving aid to the other; and the Sofi, in the meantime, was preparing to confront whichever of these armies he pleased. Wherefore the Turks, fearing that the Sofi might do to them what they had planned to do to him, changed their purpose, and resolved to join together and proceed united against the enemy, who let it be known that he wished to give battle. And since the Turkish army could be better supplied with victuals, fodder, and other necessities from the direction of Erzurum than from that of Van, the Grand Signor therefore resolved to go and unite with the others, rather than have them come to unite with him.

This, then, was the cause for which they changed from the road to Van and took that to Erzurum. In which place, by command of the Grand Signor, the other two armies had already joined together before he arrived. Upon the arrival of the Grand Signor, the entire army set out together, and after two days’ march halted in a valley surrounded on all sides by hills, resembling a theatre; in which valley the whole army encamped, covering it completely with men, animals, tents, and pavilions, which was a stupendous sight to behold.

I have spoken with a friend of mine who, to feast his eyes on so beautiful a marvel, climbed one of those hills from which the whole army could be seen, so that he could conveniently view it well; he told me that it is impossible for a man to imagine the greatness of so numerous an army, which resembled four cities as large as Constantinople, all full of men, animals, and the things necessary to maintain them. And because this person is a man of judgment, every detail he related is worthy of account. And truly, whoever considers well the things that must be considered, will find that the number of this army could not have been less than what I heard this man say it was; for he said that it exceeded eight hundred thousand persons. It is known, in fact, that for this enterprise one hundred and twenty thousand horsemen had been commanded, who are called spahis, who have their income from lifetime estates, which they call timars, which incomes are assigned in greater or lesser amounts according to the merit and condition of the men to whom they are given. The poorest of these has three horses and one slave; very many are those who have four horses and two slaves, and great is the number of those who have six horses and four slaves. Then there are the men of rank who have many slaves and many horses each. There is the squadron of the Grand Signor, which is the fortress and stronghold of the army, in which there are forty thousand horsemen, ten thousand janissaries, the solaks, the kapicis, and the others of the Porte, who amount to a great number; along with them in this army were eighty thousand adventurers. There were also fifteen thousand sappers and a great number of muleteers, for every six camels requires at least one man, and the like for every three mules. Then there were the merchants who brought the things necessary for the army, whose number may be judged by those who can judge the number of the others, for the number of merchants must be as great as is needed to serve the greatness of the rest. He who discourses on this with judgment, and who knows how these armies are ordered, will find that the judgment of this man I mentioned above was not mistaken, and if he made an error, it was in saying less than the truth.

The Grand-Signor in this place, before he departed, once again spoke to the captains and the men of rank, as he had done at Carahamid, striving to encourage the soldiers for the enterprise, offering them what he had offered before, and likewise he gave them another donative of one thousand aspers each; which donative was only for those who drew daily pay, for to those who have the timars he gave nothing at all. Afterward he wished to ensure that the provisions, which were sent from Cappadocia to the camp, would suffer no hindrance. And because the Georgians and the Kurds, each time the army moved away from Erzurum going into the country of the Sofi, could easily block all his provisions, which would have been of great danger, either causing the army to be lost or forcing it to turn back immediately, it seemed to him that an opportune remedy was to leave a guard in that region. And so he arranged that several sanjaks with a large squadron of men should remain there. Besides this, it seemed good to him to inquire again as to the Kurds’ loyalty; and therefore he sent some of his men to receive from them an oath of fealty, and they received it from a great many of them; and to do the same with the Georgians he sent a man of standing with a sufficient number of horses to this effect.

At this time Ibrahim Pasha, who it was said above the Grand Signor had sent to Constantinople, having arrived in Bursa, once the capital of Bithynia, had the son of the dead Mustafa taken, who was there with his father’s mother, and had him strangled, and afterwards buried near his father’s tomb; he then set out towards Constantinople. Having arrived in that place, it has not been heard that he has made any changes. The cause for which the Grand Signor had ordered the death of the son of Sultan Mustafa is not known to be other than that in the army, the soldiers who were fond of Sultan Mustafa were saying that, although Mustafa was dead, his son remained alive, who, in spite of those who did not wish it, would be their prince; which words were spoken without any respect, and were publicly discussed everywhere.

Once the Grand Signor had received the allegiance of many of those Kurdish lords, and hoping to receive it similarly from the Georgians, so as not to lose time while this was being obtained, he set out with the army, making his way towards the Sofi. He, having heard of the coming of the whole army, moving at the same time from the interior of his states, had marched for five days towards the Turkish camp, having with him eighty thousand horsemen divided into three squadrons, of one of which his son was the leader, and he himself of the second, and a very valiant captain of his of the third. The Turks, having made several days’ journey through the enemy’s country, which was all deserted, had already fallen into a scarcity of fodder. A horse’s provender was worth twenty aspers, which is as much as a third of a gold ducat; a small loaf of wheat bread was worth four marchetti31, and the men were already feeling the effects, fearing that from day to day the price would become greater. Partly responsible for this increase were those who sent the provisions from Cappadocia, because they did not use due diligence; the Grand Signor later had their heads cut off.

When the Sofi reached a great river, he sent word to the Turk that he should not trouble himself to come with such haste as he was making to find him, because as soon as he had crossed that river, he would come to face him; and he had already made one of his squadrons cross the river, not truly because he intended to do what he appeared to want to do, but to hold up the Turkish army, which for its part was marching in formation as if it had to fight at that very moment. Its vanguard was led by the Beylerbey of Anatolia according to his custom, because every time the Turkish Lord rides with the army in the parts of Asia, the vanguard falls to the Beylerbey of Anatolia, and every time he rides in the parts of Europe, it falls to the Beylerbey of Greece. As the army marched, this was the order: on the left wing was quartered the Beylerbey of Anatolia with all the horsemen of Asia, and on the right the Beylerbey of Greece with all the horsemen of Europe. Between these two beylerbeys, that is, at the front, was quartered Scander-Agha, the Beylerbey of Erzurum, with twenty-five thousand horsemen, who hold their timars in Greater and Lesser Armenia: behind them was the artillery guarding the Janissaries, who followed in a square formation. Behind the Janissaries was quartered the Most Serene Great Lord with the guard of the Solak, around which were the elite squadrons of four hundred armed horsemen each, and on both sides, and likewise behind, were all the spahi and silictari of the Sultan’s squadron, in which on the right side was Ali Pasha, and on the left Ahmed Pasha.

This entire squadron of the Prince, and likewise the artillery and the Janissaries, was enclosed all around by a double iron chain, which a great number of camels carried, which upon setting it down, would halt in the very place where the chain was laid out. Behind the prince’s squadron was then the countless number of camels and other animals that carried the baggage and other things necessary for the army. The caznà, that is, the treasury of the Grand Lord, was placed under the guard of the Janissaries; and the watch of the army by night was given to the Beylerbey of Damascus and to Scander-Agha, who took it for one night each, and as one was on guard, the other was quartered in the army in his place—which place was at the front, as I have said before. All the adventurers were divided, one part under the Beylerbey of Anatolia, and the other under the Beylerbey of Greece. The artillery was arranged in such a way that it could be used in every direction, and orders were given to the squadrons as to how and when they should open ranks, to give it room to perform its function.

The man who had gone to the Georgians to receive their oath of fealty in the Turk’s name, as was said above, obtained what he had sought; but on his way back, having reached a forest on those borders, he was attacked by forty unknown men who killed him. Nor did they do any harm to those who were in his company, from whom they only took the letters that the lord of the Georgians had written to the Turk. When the Turk heard this news, he began to suspect, as was indeed the case, that the Georgians would create some hindrance for the provisions coming from Cappadocia, and so he sent another beylerbey with some sanjaks and a good number of horsemen into the land of the Georgians, commanding them not to do any damage, but only to remain on those borders. This he did so that the Georgians, for fear that those men would damage their country, would not dare to make any new move. He, however, continued to march with the army, heading towards the Sofi, hoping to soon come to a day of battle, in which he had placed all his hope for a swift end to the war. This did not happen, because the Sofi, who understood his disadvantage in battle very well on account of the artillery, of which he was deprived, did not wish by any means to fight or come to a feat of arms. But seeing that the enemy’s army was enormous, he judged that there was no better way to fight it than to draw it into a place where it would suffer such a lack of provisions that it would be forced to turn back, or else die of hunger, and by keeping it continuously troubled with hardships, making it keep constant watch, and march along difficult, tiring, and deserted roads, where no comfort could be found, so that, as indeed happened, various sorts of infirmities entered the ranks and consumed them. The Turk had provided against the first difficulty before he departed from Erzurum, for he had caused enough barley, wheat, and flour to be placed in the army to suffice for two months; which things had not been touched until they departed from Cappadocia.

The Turk arrived at the great river that the Sofi’s squadron had crossed, as was said before, and found that the Safavid troops had already re-crossed, and had withdrawn all together, and positioned themselves in an open plain, making it known that they wished to engage in battle there with the Lord Turk; which the Turkish army learned from some villagers whom it had found in a hamlet near the said river. The Turkish army crossed the river and set out towards the plain where the Sofi was encamped, and upon arriving there, found that the Safavids had already departed two days before, and had gone further on, heading between west and south, wherefore the Turks set about to follow them. And having arrived at the place where the Safavids had been encamped, drawing closer to their army each day, they thought for certain to reach it in two days and engage it in battle, but this they never managed to do, and for more than twenty continuous days one army encamped in the evening in the lodging that the other had left in the morning; and no matter how much the Turks hastened each day to march more quickly, to set out earlier, and to make longer day’s marches, they never managed to reach even a single man of the Safavid camp; nor did one army ever see the other, although many times they were but half a day’s journey from one another.

On account of the fatigue of the march, and the hardships, and the excessive heat, and the foul waters they drank, the men of the Turkish army contracted grave illnesses, and especially fluxes of blood, whereof many died. Wherefore the Turk, seeing these illnesses advance further each day, and the number of the dead and the sick grow ever greater, and being unable to reach the Safavid camp, resolved to pursue it no longer, and ordered that the army should set out towards Nakvan. Having arrived at this city, they found it entirely empty—not even a single man was within, and all had departed, having carried everything with them. Nor was anything left but the empty houses, which were for the most part ruined. This the Safavids had done on purpose, so that the Turks might not do worse. The ruins they had made were such: they had caused the beams of the houses to fall, upon which beams they use much packed earth for a covering, in such a way that the waters cannot pass through it; this earth, having fallen together with the beams, had buried the ruins so that they could not be seen. This they did to save them from fire, as indeed happened, since the Turks did not set fire to the ruined houses, but rather to those that were whole. After having therefore commanded that fire be set to the houses that were whole, the Great Lord sent the army towards Erivan, but first he sent a beylerbey towards Sirvan with the order that he should go to Kors and see if that place could be built up and made into a fortress. He went, and having found the place destroyed, made it known to the Great Lord, who commanded that he should return to the army. The beylerbey arrived at Erivan, where the Great Lord with the whole camp had arrived first, and finding the city in the same state as Nakvan, he likewise had fire set to it there, which burned it all down.

The men of the army diminished more each day, and the Turk, seeing that a very great famine of victuals and of all things had already come to pass, at a time when he had found nothing in those two cities with which to refresh the army, as he had thought he would, and that winter was already drawing near, resolved to return to his own country. But before he departed from there, news was brought to him that Ismail, son of the Sofi, with a great number of Georgians, had attacked three thousand camels laden with victuals which were coming to the camp from Cappadocia, and had carried them all away, and cut to pieces all those who were guarding them. This news was most bitter to the Turks, who with these provisions might have been somewhat restored from the hunger they had endured for many days. At this news, the Grand Signor fell into such a rage that he was on the point of turning the camp toward the country of the Georgians, from whom he well knew all that harm had come, because the cavalry that was with Ismail was all, or the greater part, Georgian; nor did he refrain from doing so for any other reason save for the great nearness of winter, which in those parts is exceedingly cold; and as a better course, he resolved to return to Cappadocia to winter there, planning in the new season to take his revenge on the Georgians before undertaking any other enterprise.

Thus he had the camp set forth towards his borders, where before he entered them, an old Safavid man presented himself in his camp, and from his appearance, he seemed to be a man of high station, who said that he wished to speak to the Majesty of the Prince on a very important matter. He was conducted into the presence of the lord pashas, to whom he said that he did not wish to speak with anyone but the majesty of the Grand Signor, with whom he had to discuss very important matters. The lord pashas made the man’s request known to the Grand Signor, who had him brought before him. When the Safavid was before him, having kissed his hand, he began to speak most ornately in the Persian tongue, which is very well understood by Suleiman, first magnifying the Ottoman house, and one by one he named all those lords of it who for some great work had been made most illustrious, and more than all the others he magnified the deeds of Suleiman himself, making mention of all those enterprises that he had happily accomplished; and then he turned his speech to religion, and with admirable feeling stated all the qualities that ought to be found in a perfect prince, and all the actions that it was necessary for him to do, and those from which it was necessary that he abstain, among which he placed as the worst of all that it was not lawful for a prince of the Mohammedan sect to destroy the men of that sect, nor to ruin the cities that are dominated and inhabited by them, affirming this with the authority of the writings of the prophet, and of his learned men; and he continually presented a book, in which he said was written all that he alleged, affirming that not only in those writings was it forbidden for princes to do this, but it was commanded that they do the very opposite; and in this his discourse he made mention of the many ancient and modern writers who said how through non-observance of these commandments many great misfortunes had occurred, and he said that to Suleiman himself, so long as he observed all these precepts, everything had succeeded happily, but since he had set himself to ruin Persia many misfortunes had occurred in his own family, and in his own blood; and he said these words with such art that he induced Suleiman to weep. At the end of his discourse he exhorted him to make peace with Tahmasp, King of Persia, in so fine a manner that Suleiman decided to desire peace; and he asked him if he had authority to make peace with him. He replied that religion, which he had professed all his life, had moved him to exhort both of their lordships that they lay down the arms taken up one against the other, so that they might be used for the increase of the Mohammedan sect, and not to its detriment; and he said that before he had come to his majesty he had been with Tahmasp, with whom he had performed the same office, and that he had found him most disposed to make peace—provided, however, that the dignity of Persia was not offended—and he offered to use his influence with him so that, should Suleiman be of a mind for it, Tahmasp would send him an ambassador with authority to bring the peace to a conclusion. After this, the Safavid treated of the terms of the peace. Suleiman, to preserve the Turkish reputation, desired certain conditions by which the dignity of Persia would not be preserved. In the end, this man argued so well that he persuaded Suleiman that the Turkish reputation and the dignity of Persia would both be preserved if the peace were made on the condition that each of these lords should keep what he possessed at the beginning of this last enterprise, and on the condition that all the subjects and tributaries of the one be respected by the other. And so Suleiman gave his word, and he especially pledged that neither now nor after the peace was made would he give any trouble to the Georgians.

This decision having been made, the Safavid promised Suleiman that within a month, Tahmasp would send him an ambassador with authority to bring the peace to a conclusion, and with this he took his leave of Suleiman, to whom he gave the book he was holding in his hand while he spoke with him, the value of which is said to have been sixteen thousand gold ducats. In return, Suleiman gave him double the value. The Safavid having departed for Tauris, Suleiman moved the army, sending it towards Amasya in Cappadocia, where he had ordered that the ambassador of the lord Sofi should come. When he arrived in Erzurum, he sent word throughout the province announcing his return, and that peace with the Sofi was about to be concluded, and for this reason in Aleppo there was celebration day and night for eight continuous days. When Suleiman arrived in Amasya, he dismissed the greater part of the Janissaries, who all returned to Constantinople, and likewise for all the men from the provinces hereabouts, that is, of Lesser Armenia, and of Syria, and of other nearer and more distant provinces, he arranged where they were to be quartered until the peace was concluded; and he with the rest of his Porte took up his own quarters in Amasya, awaiting the embassy as had been ordered. He also gave orders that all the troops should be provided with everything, so that if it came to pass that a new campaign had to be undertaken, should the peace fail, everyone would be ready to ride at the first command.

The month’s time that the Safavid had given for the Sofi’s ambassador to come to the Turk passed, and not only had he not come, but no news of his coming was heard: the cause of this were two Turkish beylerbeys, one of Van and the other of Baghdad, who, after Suleiman had turned back, moved from their positions, each with a band of horsemen, and entering the enemy’s country, they plundered and raided for a great distance. Whereupon the Sofi, being informed of this, wished to prevent them from doing greater damage, and so he on one side, and his son Ismail on the other, each with a good number of men, went to oppose the enemies. As soon as they had news of what their lord had decided, they returned to their lands, and sent their men to inform Suleiman of what they had done, excusing themselves by saying that they had gone to damage the enemies before they had news of the peace talks. Their excuses were accepted, and in good time, because the Sofi did not fail to send men to the Turk to inform him of what these men had done, and to ascertain if they had done so on his orders. These men made it known to him that the ambassador would not come unless Suleiman first promised that arms would be suspended on all sides, which he did, and he strongly urged that the ambassador be sent to him. He did not come, however, until the month of March in the year of Our Lord Jesus Christ 1555.

This much-awaited and desired ambassador came, and when he arrived in Erzurum he found those whom Suleiman had sent to meet him, who told him that he was to come to Constantinople after Suleiman, in which place the peace would be concluded. But the ambassador made it known that he had no more than twenty-five days’ time to return to his lord, wherefore if Suleiman wished to conclude the peace, it was necessary to wait in Amasya, and conclude it there. Suleiman desired to bring this ambassador to Constantinople to show him his splendors, because he had remained in Amasya with few men; and in the days just before, a terrible fire had broken out in that city which engulfed a great quantity of its houses, so that the city being more than half ruined by the fire, it did not seem to him a fitting place to receive such a personage, who was one of the greatest men of Persia. But when Suleiman understood the Safavid’s resolve, he welcomed him in Amasya. To receive him, as great a number of men as could be gathered rode out to meet him, and together the three pasha-viziers went half a day’s journey to meet him. At the entrance of the city, along the entire street through which this ambassador passed, a wooden wall was built on both sides, so high that a man on horseback could not see over it, and this was done so that the ruins of the city would not be seen. This ambassador appeared with eighty other men on horseback very superbly dressed, and as a present they brought to the Turk a very beautiful field pavilion, superbly worked in gold and silk, with the pole that supports it worked in gold and jewels, and with it a set of carpets and cushions of gold full of jewels, which these Turks use for the furnishings of their rooms.

In that same hour that he entered the city, he went to pay reverence to Suleiman and to kiss his hand, and thereafter he was led by the pashas to a lodging that had been prepared for him, outside of which neither he nor the others ever went, except when they departed. Two days later the peace was concluded with the conditions mentioned above: that is, that each should keep what he had, and the tributary and confederate subjects of the one and the other were to be understood as included in the same peace. Two days later the ambassador departed, very richly dressed with all his men, and with an honorable present; nor did another two days pass before Suleiman set out on the road for Constantinople, but with such slowness that he arrived in Constantinople only at the time of his festival, which was held at the beginning of the moon of the month of August.

And this is the end of the great motion of war that Suleiman made in the year of our salvation 1553, to free himself from the complaints his subjects made regarding the damages they received from the Safavids, or rather to free himself from the suspicion he had conceived that this man could be the one who might, with less difficulty than any other, take the empire from him. Which thing, as far as one can judge with sound judgment, would be a work permitted by Our Lord God to deliver Christendom from an extreme ruin that threatens it in the future, and perhaps also to debase the spirits of these Turks, so terrible to our people, who for many years now have always broken us in battle, or put us to flight, so that the Turkish name has become so formidable that at its very sound the entire West seems to be dismayed. And indeed we must not forget to consider our own affairs, because the spirit of Suleiman is such that, should he see an open opportunity to advance his own affairs through the discord of the two greatest princes of Christendom, he will not fail himself nor his own interests, and all the more so now that he is free from suspicion of his own people, and from wars with people of his own sect, which have always kept him in such suspicion that when he has in person undertaken other enterprises and led great armies in diverse parts, he has always had need to keep a watchful eye on those regions. Now that he has no one else to deal with but our own people—against whom he will be able, whenever he wishes, and free from all other cares, to lead the greater part of his forces—I do not know who will be able to resist him, with Christendom so divided, and so embittered within itself that not only does it not seek to cover and defend itself from the blows of its cruel enemy, but, uncovering itself, it does not care about being wounded by him, being intent only on striking some fine blow upon itself.

The occasion for this embassy was the succession to the crown of Castile by the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Handsome, son of the Emperor Maximilian I, following the death of Queen Isabella on November 26, 1504, whose daughter Joanna, heiress to the kingdom, the said prince had married. Since Philip the Handsome died before this report was delivered, the report focuses mainly on analyzing the government and peoples of the Duchy of Burgundy, as well as England and Spain, to which the ambassador travelled with Philip’s retinue.

This report was read in the Venetian Pregadi (Senate) by Vincenzo Quirini in 1506.

Report

Nothing, Most Serene Prince and my most excellent Lords, is of greater benefit to a well-established republic than to understand in particular the government, power, and disposition of all the great lords and princes of the world, as well as the character of their provinces and of the peoples within them. For this reason, I believe that our wise and good forefathers have established it as a custom in our republic, that all the ambassadors who return to their homeland from different parts of the world give an account to the Senate of that Prince to whose court they have been on legation; and I, being one of these (not through my own merit but by the kindness of this Senate) whose duty it is to perform such an office in this great assembly, have come today to this illustrious council to observe this ancient custom, observed by all other orators to the present day.

At the end of the month of February 15051, Most Serene Prince, with the good leave of Your Serenity, I departed from this city, and crossing the harshest part of Germany I arrived in Argentoratum [Strasbourg] at the court of the most serene King of the Romans2, where I set forth what Your Serenity had commissioned me; and upon leaving him, I encountered at a small castle the unfortunate King of Castile3, who was coming towards those parts to meet with his father,4 to whom, with the best form of words that I could, I made abundantly clear the reason for my coming, and what I had been commissioned to do by this most excellent Senate. Beginning on that same day, I accompanied his Highness, always following his path; nor did I ever, from that time until the very last of my departure, distance myself from his Highness; I have always followed him by sea and by land, as was fitting, for many months. During which time, what I have been able to comprehend that is worthy of memory and of coming to the ears of Your Serenity will be this.

And because death, which has respect neither for nobility of blood nor for any prosperity, has recently taken from me the principal subject of this my Report, I will say only a few things of his qualities, leaving aside the governance of the now-dead king, and his disposition towards all Christian princes, and then I shall continue with those of the his queen consort5 and children, and of all the countries subject to them.

The King of Castile, most noble of blood, on his father’s side descended from the emperors of the House of Austria, and on his mother’s side from a second son of King Louis [the IX] of France the Saint, called Philip the Bold, first Duke of Burgundy, father of Duke John, who was the father of Duke Philip and grandfather of Duke Charles, who was succeeded by Madame Mary, wife of the King of the Romans Maximilian, father of King Philip. This King Philip, in addition to the nobility of his blood, was one of the most powerful lords of the Christians. He was twenty-eight years of age, having completed them this past twenty-fifth of June, handsome of body, vigorous and prosperous, skilled at jousting, adroit in riding, diligent and vigilant in war, and strong in enduring every hardship. He was of a naturally good spirit, magnificent, liberal, affable, benign, and so familiar with everyone that he did not maintain royal decorum, a lover and executor to the best of his ability of justice, religious, and of a single faith when he made a promise. Lastly, he was of a most beautiful intellect; he learned every arduous subject well, but was slow in responding, and not very resolute in executing, and always deferred in every action to his council, in which he placed great faith in all things, being naturally inclined to believe what was told to him by those he loved.

To this prince so great and noble, and so virtuous, was given for a wife a jealous woman (although quite beautiful and most noble, and the heir to so many kingdoms)6, who with her jealousy so troubled her husband that the poor and unhappy man could not be entirely content with her; for she did not speak with many people, nor did she embrace anyone; she always remained confined in her chamber, and consumed herself with jealousy; she loved solitude, shunned feasts, amusements, and pleasures, and above all, she wanted no company of women, neither Flemish, nor Spanish, neither old, nor young, nor of any other rank. She is, however, a woman of good intellect, and easily grasps what is said to her, and the few words she replies, she speaks with good manner and in good form, maintaining that gravity which befits a queen; which I was able to comprehend when in the name of Your Serenity I paid her reverence and briefly set forth what I had been given as my commission.

To this king and queen have been born four daughters. The first is between ten and eleven years old, called Madame Eleanor; the second, Isabella, between six and seven years old; the third, Mary, about one year old; the fourth, Catherine. The also have two sons. The first is Prince Charles7, between six and seven years of age, very handsome and of a good disposition; in all his actions, he shows himself to be very spirited and fierce; he resembles the old Duke Charles of Burgundy. The second is about four years of age; he was born in Spain, and is still there, named Ferdinand or Ferrando.8 The residence of Prince Charles is in Brabant at Mechelen, and he is so well guarded by the people that they would all sooner let themselves be cut to pieces than let him leave the country; and now by the death of his father he will remain lord of all Flanders, and will later succeed to the kingdom of Castile upon his mother’s death, and to the King of the Romans in the archduchy of Austria. He will be a great lord, and will reasonably maintain such a court as his father and his other predecessors; who ordinarily maintained a great chamberlain, a great master of the household, a great squire, and a chief sommelier, as they were called by them.

The great chamberlain must keep twenty chamberlains under him, who have every month from the lord forty gold ducats9 each; and in addition to these, four chamber servants, who have ten ducats a month each.

The great master of the household keeps five carvers under him, who have fifty ducats a month each.

The great squire keeps under him twenty squires who give the duke drink, and seventy who set the table, and seventy who cut the meat, and seventy others who have care of the lord’s horses when he rides: each of these has twenty ducats a month. The great squire must also keep under him twenty-five young men, some of whom are always obliged to accompany the lord, and they have ten ducats each a month. And in addition to these he must also keep twenty boys all clothed, and to clothe them and pay their expenses he has one hundred ducats a month.

The chief sommelier10 must keep under his office two sommeliers who attend to guarding the duke’s garments, and they alone handle and manage them, and they have fifty ducats a month each.

Besides these there are also in this duke’s court three called chief quartermasters, and they have the authority to give lodging to all those who follow the court, as they see fit; they have forty ducats a month, and under them they keep ten quartermasters with ten ducats a month each, who help to give lodging to everyone.

There is also with the duke a confessor, a friar of Saint Dominic and a bishop, and a chief chaplain; this chaplain has twenty-four under him: singers, Mass chaplains, and organ players, who have ten ducats a month each.

Also in the pay of the lord duke are six secretaries and two physicians at seventy ducats a month each; six heralds who bear the lord duke’s arms, two mace-bearers who carry silver maces before him, twelve battle trumpeters, eight trombonists and fifers, two lute players, four with violins, one hundred archers for his guard, four accountants who keep the accounts of expenditures (all of whom receive ten ducats a month each), and one hundred halberdiers who always go at the lord duke’s stirrup at eight ducats a month each, and they are all Germans; and when any dispute arises among all the aforementioned, the masters of the household are those who administer justice.

Besides these salaried men, the Duke of Burgundy ordinarily spends on two hundred men-at-arms11 twenty ducats a month each, and on two thousand Germans six ducats a month each; which men are always stationed on the frontiers of Guelders to guard the country. He also spends on other, lower offices for the court, such as porters, cooks, cellar-keepers and the like, about one hundred ducats a month.

All these salaried men, officials, and men-at-arms sum to about three hundred thousand ducats a year, which are ordinarily paid every three months. In addition to this, the said Duke spends on food expenses (between his table and the horses, and providing board and lodging to the household officials, where his gentlemen may go to eat) about forty thousand ducats a year; and on the court of his wife and children (if he has any) about twenty thousand ducats. Besides these ordinary expenses, the Duke is also accustomed to spend in giving pensions to all the lords who exist in the country subject to him, each year about fifty thousand ducats; and on ambassadors and on some other offices, which he pays from his own funds, for lands, castellans, and fortresses, and to keep them supplied with victuals and artillery and other necessary things, from about fifteen to twenty thousand ducats.

All these ordinary expenses each year make the sum of about four hundred and forty thousand ducats, without many other extraordinary ones that occur from day to day. This is what, Most Serene Prince, can be said about the governance and the expense of the court of the Duke of Burgundy.

The dominion of the Duke of Burgundy is all one continuous territory, very large, and has for its borders on one side France, on another that part of Germany which is between Strasbourg, Trier, and Cologne, on the third Frisia, and on the fourth the sea. Within these borders are ten provinces: Flanders, Brabant, Artois, Hainaut, Zeeland, Holland, Namur, Luxembourg, Guelders, and part of Picardy. Some of these provinces are situated on the plain, some in the mountains, some by the sea, all are populous, rich, and full of a great abundance of cities, castles, and towns, among which all are found in total one hundred forty-three walled towns, between small ones which can be counted as large castles, and large ones that lack nothing but a bishop to be called cities. Of these, the medium-sized ones have from three to five thousand hearths, the large ones from six to twenty-five thousand: Bruges has twenty-five thousand hearths, Antwerp from twenty to twenty-five thousand, now richer in merchandise than any other whatsoever; Ghent has twenty thousand, Brussels twelve thousand, ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Mechelen eight thousand, Leuven ten thousand, Arras and Amsterdam in Holland from six to seven thousand; all beautiful and strong in their location, for the most part situated in lowlands that can be easily filled with nearby waters, and also all adorned with monasteries and churches. The streets, squares, and houses are full of people, and rich because all the citizens are merchants, and the common people artisans, of whom the greater part devotes itself to weaving cloths and tapestries, and the rest to the other things necessary for a city.

There are also found in said country, besides the aforementioned towns, one thousand five hundred villages, and some with a small wall around them; and the largest of these are in number about one hundred fifty, with from two hundred to three hundred hearths each; in which cloths are also woven by men as well as by women, because few work the land, there being little soil and many people to work; yet there is always enough wheat, but not of wine, because not enough grapes grow in the country to make sufficient wine.

There are also in these lands and in the countryside many ecclesiastical benefices, which have an income from tithes of seventy-eight thousand ducats a year, and between monks and nuns of Saint Benedict, Saint Bernard, and Saint Augustine, and Carthusian friars, there are monasteries with one hundred sixty-two thousand ducats of income a year; the largest of which has ten thousand ducats, the medium-sized ones from seven to eight thousand, the small ones from one thousand five hundred to two thousand; and the monks of this country are not of as reformed a life as they should be.

In said country, three things are of supreme excellence. Exceedingly fine and beautiful linens in abundance in Holland; most beautiful tapestries with figures in Brabant; the third is music, which can certainly be said to be perfect.

By these inhabitants, four things are continually consumed for their living: namely, beer, salted butter, herring, and peat, which is a certain sort of earth full of little roots, which, being in pieces, is burned as coal is. Which four things are consumed and used by those peoples in such a way that a family would not call itself satisfied if it were not supplied with all these things for the year; and for this they are called the four elements of Flanders, and of all the other aforementioned provinces.

The inhabitants of said countries may be in all about two hundred thousand households, in which number are included many lords of walled lands and villages, who may be about fifty, the greatest of whom is the Count of Nassau, who has an income of fifteen thousand ducats a year: the middling ones have from six to eight thousand, and the lesser ones from two to three thousand. They are all subject to the duke, but not obliged to give him anything of their revenues; rather, the duke gives pensions to all from the revenues of the duchy. It is true that when their lord calls them to war, they go; and, according as each one is able, he brings men-at-arms at his own expense. These lords are accustomed to being not very pompous, both in dress and in being accompanied on the street, but in their own houses they live magnificently and spend more than their income; and it is their custom to spend greatly on eating and drinking, and to keep an open table for any of the duke’s gentlemen who wish to eat; who have no other care than to go to dine or sup with the aforesaid lords, because to do otherwise would be a great shame for them.

The peoples of all these countries are of a good nature, they love their lord, are good Christians, not proud in conversation, nor also in dress. The men all give themselves to commerce, they sometimes visit the taverns, nor do they take so much delight in any other carnal pleasure as in eating and drinking. They are prone to rise up when their lord is absent, and especially against governors, and for this it will be an easy thing for them, upon the recent death of their king and duke, to rise up against the government—if they are not troubled by the French, in which case they would all be united in defending themselves, and would accept favors and governments from anyone, and principally from the King of the Romans, who, to defend that country of his nephews from the French, would reasonably go towards Flanders; but after he had defended them and things were quieted, it would befit him to return to Germany, because those peoples would not want to be governed by Germans.

Truly, despite all this, they can be called good, for one does not find among them lust, nor larceny, nor blasphemy, nor envy, nor hatred, as is found in many other places, nor disbelief in the faith, nor even jealousy, although the women are generally beautiful and exceedingly domestic. The attire of these women is a black cloak over their head in the manner of our pious women, and they never change from this. They are all of a cheerful disposition, and all the time that remains to them, after their chores, they spend in dancing, singing, and music, and do nothing else but give themselves to pleasure. They then manage their houses and all family affairs without the husband’s concern. It is the custom for all of them, when they are married, to put their dowry and the husband’s property together as one, and when the husbands die, half remains with the women, the other half goes to the children, or truly to the relatives, if there are no children; and if the woman dies before the husband, the dowry remains with the children, or with the husband if there are no children, and after his death, it goes to the wife’s relatives. It is the custom of the women of the whole country to place their daughters, until the age of marriage, in certain monasteries called Beguiozzi12, where there are many small houses and where women live who have not wished to marry, and many who are about to marry: each one lives on her own means, and they all do a great deal of work with cloth, and many of them become rich. They live honestly, both because of the watch they keep on each other, and also because the women and men of this country are frigid, and very distant from lust, and much more so than any other nation I have seen. And let this suffice concerning the customs of those peoples, which are in essential things all of a similar fashion.

The principal towns, which are not subject to others, have a burgomaster for each, and twelve aldermen who administer justice in civil and criminal matters, and all together they are called the Lodge.

These are appointed each year by the Duke, who sends each year to each of his principal towns two commissioners from among his secretaries to appoint these burgomasters and this Lodge, and they can be confirmed from one year to the next, or changed at the pleasure of the said commissioners, who do not have the authority to give similar offices to anyone other than the towns’ own citizens, nor for more than one year.

These burgomasters and aldermen judge summarily in criminal cases, and they quickly execute justice with all rigor and severity; but in civil cases they are lengthy, and the litigating parties suffer before they deliver their sentences.

Besides the aforementioned judges, in every town there is one called the sculteto appointed for life by the duke, who has twelve secretaries under him, and has the office of apprehending wrongdoers, and of executing the sentences passed by the Lodge.

Besides these offices there are many other particular ones according to the needs of the towns and peoples; which towns govern the countrysides subject to them with the same justice with which they themselves are governed, and they then send governors throughout the places of the entire countryside, whose sentences are appealed to the principal towns to which they are subject, and all the expenses in paying those who administer justice in the town and countryside are charged to the income of the town’s community.

There are also, in addition to those who administer justice in the towns throughout the country, four principal councils: one is in Flanders, another in Brabant, the third in Holland, and the fourth in the community of Burgundy.

Each of these councils has a head, under whom there are about twelve councilors, all paid by the country where they the councils are; these are on the council for life, and have the authority to annul or uphold all sentences passed in the towns, which can be appealed to the said councils, and they are extremely slow in judging.

These are, Most Serene Prince, the characteristics of the lands and countries subject to the Duke of Burgundy, and the customs of the peoples, and the government that they maintain among themselves.

The revenues, indeed, that are drawn on account of the towns, and which are spent on public affairs, are so great that it would be difficult to state them. Antwerp alone, which at present does more business than Bruges and other towns, having two free fairs of three months each, draws from duties one hundred and fifty thousand ducats a year. Bruges one hundred thousand, Ghent one hundred thousand, Brussels thirty thousand, Mechelen forty thousand, Holland with all its towns and villages some three hundred thousand, Zeeland with its eleven towns some one hundred thousand, and from the rest of the country one hundred and fifty thousand ducats a year can be drawn. Which revenues sum to about a million in gold, and of these revenues the towns are obliged to give an account to the Duke each year, and also of the public expenses.

This was instituted of old by the lords, with the consent of the peoples and principal men of the lands, so that both could participate in said revenues, from which the Dukes of Burgundy cannot ordinarily take anything; and this has continued since the time when the peoples of Flanders and Brabant ransomed with their money the Duke and the country, which had been taken and subjugated by the French.13 For which reason the said peoples remained free and exempt from any imposition that had been established by the lords; and not only did these remain free and exempt, but all the other provinces that under this same condition have come to the House of Burgundy, whose income, for this reason, has remained very small for such a prince, since it does not exceed one hundred thousand ducats a year across all these countries; and, as has been said, all this has been since that ransoming. Which income might perhaps in the beginning, when the countries and their prince were ransomed from the French, have been sufficient for expenses; but then, the lords seeing that this income was quite little for the great daily expenses that occurred, began to ask the peoples, who were very rich, for aid for their living, and then they asked for aid for the wars that occurred, and the peoples became accustomed to giving a certain aid to the lord every six years, which could be about three hundred thousand ducats from all the countries. Afterwards, the lordship having come by succession into the hands of Duke Philip, father of Duke Charles, he began little by little to increase the demand for aid to make war on the French, and he received from the peoples about one hundred and fifty thousand ducats more every six years; in the process of time, in his old age he came to make the demand every four years at the rate of two hundred and fifty thousand ducats each year: and Duke Charles his son, who was greatly loved and revered by all, brought the peoples to pay every four years one million four hundred thousand ducats of aid, which came to be three hundred and fifty thousand ducats per year, which was a great deal. And from that time until now, these demands are so well established that this extraordinary sum of three hundred and fifty thousand ducats a year can now be demanded almost as an ordinary thing, the peoples having already become accustomed to it.

Nor will the said peoples give this money if the duke does not go in person to the principal lands every four years. But if by chance the lord wished to undertake some just war that was to the satisfaction of all the peoples, besides the said money, they would give him great aid, as they did for the war against the Duke of Guelders in days past, for which he received from the peoples one hundred and fifty thousand ducats in addition to the usual aid.

This, most excellent sirs, is all the information that I have been able to obtain, in the ten months that I have been in that country, on all the peoples and lands subject to the Duke of Burgundy, and their revenues. From which lands, the war of Guelders having ended, with the majesty of the late king, and with all his court, I boarded a ship on the tenth of January in the company of forty ships, and with very great fortune, well known to your serenity, I arrived in the kingdom of England. Of which kingdom it seems fitting to me to say something briefly, having found myself in it for a long time, due to the bad weather and contrary winds. Briefly, therefore, I shall thus begin.

England is a very rich and great island and kingdom, which on the north side is joined to the kingdom of Scotland in such a way that on foot, when the waters are low, one can pass from one side to the other: towards the northwest lies the island of Hibernia [Ireland], a day’s journey distant from the coast.

This island of England is divided into three principal parts, namely Anglia, Wales, and Cornwall; and each of these parts has a language so different that the people from one do not understand the others. In which three parts there may be in all about twenty-two cities and fifty walled towns, both small and large, and about one thousand three hundred villages; and in all these places there may be about two hundred and thirty thousand hearths. All of which places are now peacefully subject to the present king of England14, a man of fifty-four years, of a rather fine presence, wise, prudent, not hated nor even much loved by his people; who has a single heir, the Prince of Wales, named Henry15, a youth of about sixteen years, by natural disposition an enemy of the French, and married to a daughter of the king of Spain.16 He was born in the year 1491 on the twenty-eighth day of June.

This king of England draws first, from revenues pertaining to the crown, from duties and other things, one hundred thousand ducats a year. Then, from the duties of all the lands and provinces of the island, four hundred thousand ducats a year. He obtains besides this, from tithes that he imposes every three years on the clergy, and from the temporal goods that go to the crown on the death of bishops, one hundred thousand ducats, and also, for holding in wardship the orphans of the nobles of the country, one hundred and fifty thousand ducats per year. The present king also possesses the revenues of the principal dukes and lords of the kingdom whom he, in his time, has had put to death, for about five hundred and fifty thousand ducats; which revenues all sum to about one million three hundred thousand ducats.

This king does not spend, between court expenses, men-at-arms, and fortresses, more than half a million ducats, and counting every other extraordinary expense, his spending does not reach two-thirds of his revenue; and for this reason all judge that, having reigned for so long, he is the richest king of the Christians, receiving also, besides these ordinary revenues, many extraordinary funds which always accrue to him.

This very rich king has under him in all his kingdom nineteen secular lords, among them dukes, counts, marquesses, and princes; and he formerly had many more, but to secure himself in the kingdom he has now reduced them to such a small number. Those who remain have an income, between them all, of about three hundred and eighty thousand ducats; among whom the greatest are the Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Northumberland, who each have an annual income of thirty thousand ducats; the lesser ones have an income of nine to twelve thousand, and the middling ones from fifteen to twenty thousand.

Besides these, the aforesaid king has in his realm twenty-two very good bishoprics and two archbishoprics, which are all conferred by him, and which have a combined income of two hundred and ten thousand ducats: the largest are of thirty thousand ducats, the middling of fifteen to twenty-four thousand, and the smallest of two thousand to ten thousand. The king also has in his country, between monks and nuns, fifty-six monasteries of the order of Saint Benedict and of Saint Augustine, which among them all have an income of four hundred thousand ducats a year: the largest from fifteen to twenty-four thousand; the smallest from one thousand to three thousand, and the middling from five to ten thousand. In addition to these, there are on the said island fifty monasteries of the order of Saint Bernard, which yield a total annual income of sixty-seven thousand ducats. Besides these are three monasteries of Carthusians, and two houses of the Knights of Rhodes17, with a total annual income of seventy-two thousand ducats. There are, besides these churches, five thousand two hundred parishes, and about ten thousand priests in all of England, who among them all may have an income of one hundred and twenty thousand ducats. All these ecclesiastical revenues sum to about eight hundred and sixty thousand ducats.

The rest of the wealth of England lies with the merchants, of whom a great many are found throughout the country.

The inhabitants of the kingdom of Wales are truly of fine stature, strong in arms, and of a haughty nature, given more to war than to any other exercise. In England they are of a gentler condition, richer, and given to commerce. In Cornwall they are wilder, more ferocious, and poorer than all the others on the island; they are easily roused to rise up of their own disposition against their king, and are always desirous of new things; they naturally hate the French, and hold them in very low esteem in war. They are courageous, almost all go on foot with bows and a great many arrows, and these bows they handle better than any other weapon.

From this kingdom of England, Most Serene Prince, his majesty the King of Castile departed on the 22nd of last April with all his company, and with a prosperous wind arrived in four days at the port of Corunna in Galicia, where we stayed for a month; then we went to Castile and made that journey which I informed Your Serenity of by letter, with all the dealings that occurred between the one king and the other18, for the space of two months.

Therefore, it seems to me appropriate to briefly expound to Your Serenity what I have been able to comprehend of the kingdom of Castile and its inhabitants, and it is this.

The crown of Castile, then, holds a great part of Spain under it; its borders are on one side the Sea of Spain, on the other the Mediterranean Sea and the kingdom of Aragon, on another end Portugal, and on the other Navarre with part of the Pyrenees mountains. Within these boundaries, on the coast of the Sea of Spain are first Gipuzkoa and then Biscay, Asturias and the kingdom of Galicia: on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea are Andalusia, the kingdom of Granada, and that of Murcia. Between these two parts of the ocean and Mediterranean seas are the kingdom of Toledo, Extremadura, and the kingdom of Leon and also the kingdom of Castile, which borders Navarre. All these kingdoms and provinces may have around thirty-two cities, and one hundred and fifty walled towns both small and large, and about fifty castles of all sorts, and around two thousand villages; and although the country is of great size and very long and wide, yet because it is not very inhabited it does not hold, between cities, towns, and villages, more than two hundred and fifty thousand hearths.

All these peoples are by nature prone to every uprising against their lords; they are also ugly of body, both men and women, and all full of jealousy. They are naturally intelligent, but do not apply it to learning or to any study. They live miserably at home due to the great poverty among them, and they practice extreme thrift to save, and all that they save in a year they then throw away in a day to appear greater than they are. The lords are also similar, although they are more courteous than the others; they are lavish in public matters and in things that appear to all, and they do not believe that any other gentility, nor any other nobility, exists in the world outside of their own.

Among these great men there are, in the kingdom of Castile, thirty-two between bishops and archbishops, the greatest of whom is the archbishop of Toledo, who has an income of forty thousand ducats a year; the lesser ones reach from one thousand to four thousand, and the middling ones from five to eighteen thousand, such as the archbishop of St. James19 and that of Seville, and the bishop of Burgos. The revenues of these thirty-two churches sum to one hundred and eighty thousand ducats a year.

There are, besides these, eight dukes subject to the said crown, two admirals, seven marquises, thirty-six counts, seven adelentadi20 and twenty-three knights, who are noble and have a worthy income without any title. Among these lords the greatest are the constable, who has an income of fifty thousand ducats a year, the Duke of Medina Sidonia forty thousand ducats, the Duke of Medina Celi thirty-five thousand ducats, the old admiral thirty thousand ducats, the Duke of Recos thirty thousand ducats, the Count of Benavente twenty-seven thousand ducats, the Duke of the Infantado twenty-five thousand ducats, the Duke of Alva twenty-five thousand ducats, the Duke of Mian twenty-two thousand ducats, the Marquis of Vigliena twenty thousand ducats, the Duke of Agen seventeen thousand ducats. Of those named, the constable and the Duke of Medina Sidonia have the most money; the Duke of the Infantado the most men, the Duke of Agen more renown in arms and more beloved by the people (and he is truly more generous than all, although he is poor in comparison to many others), and the Marquis of Vigliena more knowledge, and he is the one who governed the now-deceased king and now governs the entire kingdom of Castile.

These great men, both prelates and secular lords, have all together an annual income of eight hundred thousand ducats, and they are not obliged, neither they nor the bishops, to ordinarily give to their king anything from their income. It is true, however, that when they are called by the king for any war whatsoever, they all go in obedience to the king at their own expense, and serve the crown in his needs, each one as honorably as he can, so as not to be esteemed in the kingdom to be lesser than the others. All these great men, both secular and ecclesiastical, can put into the field, at every request of the king, between men-at-arms and jennets21, about fifteen thousand horse, and about twenty-five thousand picked infantrymen; and these great men could sustain the war from their own means for about three months, spending on those troops much less than is done in Italy, because the men-at-arms, who are obliged to keep two horses and one pack mule, do not receive more than six ducats a month; the jennets, who are light cavalry, receive four ducats; and the infantrymen between one and a half to two ducats; which payments are then made by these lords so lightly, that most of the time they serve the king more by promises to their men than with payment. Among all those lords, it is the natural custom to be always divided, and at every new succession of a king, they all form new factions and new divisions, nor are they ever united together in the will of their lord. And although between one house and another there are ancient enmities and offenses, nevertheless the friends of one king become enemies under another, and enemies, for their own convenience, become friends among themselves, in such a way that, just as in other things those lords of Castile are of a mind easily given to every change, so they are also quick to make friendships and enmities among themselves; which are great and most cruel while they last, if no intervention is made by the king.

There are also, besides the prelates and lords, in the kingdom of Castile three orders of knights anciently instituted for the wars that the Castilians continually waged against the Moors. The first is Santiago, and its Grand Master has forty thousand ducats a year; it has under it one hundred beneficed knights, who wear a red sword upon their breast, named commanders, who among them all also have forty thousand ducats a year of revenue. This order holds fifty thousand vassals in its domain. The second is Calatrava, and its Grand Master has an income of thirty-five thousand ducats a year, and fifty commanders of the same order hold as much among them all, and they wear a red cross upon their breast; in whose domain and the Master’s there can be some five thousand horse. Alcántara is the third, and its Grand Master holds thirty-six thousand ducats a year of revenue, and its twenty commanders have another thirty thousand together; they wear a green cross on their breast. This order has some five thousand vassals under it.

Besides these orders, there is in Castile the Prior of the Order of Rhodes, who holds an income of fifteen thousand ducats a year, and its fifteen commanders who wear the white cross on their breast hold an equal amount; and the order has ten thousand vassals under it.

In these orders there are other knights who have only the habit, and live on a pension of eighty ducats per person a year, which the master of the order gives them, until he provides them with a benefice. All those who hold the habit are obliged to say a certain number of Our Fathers, and to observe the religious vows, except for those of Saint James who may marry, but not more than once.22

Those first three orders are all subject to King Don Ferdinand of Aragon by concession of the pontiff23, and he is grand master of all three, and he dispenses the knighthoods as he sees fit, and gives their habit, and the pension of eighty ducats to whomever he pleases. The aforesaid King Don Ferdinand holds in Castile the revenues of said masterships, and also thirty thousand ducats for his table from the duties on the lands subject to the masterships that belonged to the crown, and he also holds about fifty thousand ducats, which is half of the income now drawn from the Indies, one year compensating for another.

Truly, the rest of the revenues of the crown of Castile all belong to Queen Joanna, wife of the late King Philip, and the ordinary ones, among all the provinces and kingdoms subject to said crown, can be from about five hundred fifty thousand to six hundred fifty thousand ducats per year.

From these revenues are ordinarily spent about one hundred forty thousand ducats upon seven thousand Castilian men-at-arms, who exist for the preservation of the kingdom; and these men-at-arms are obligated to keep a horse and a mule; they are not too well-equipped, nor skilled in arms. One hundred thousand ducats are also spent on continuous pensions to two thousand Castilian gentlemen, at fifty ducats per man per year. These are obligated in time of war to arm themselves as jennets or as men-at-arms, and for as long as the war lasts to serve the crown for the salary that the men-at-arms and jennets who are raised in time of war receive. Besides this, seven thousand ducats are spent on fortress guardians throughout the kingdom, artillery, and munitions. Fifty thousand ducats are also spent on governors, corregidores24, alcaides25, and alguaciles26 who exist in the realm. Fifteen thousand ducats a year are spent on public buildings and alms.

Beyond all this, Prince Charles, upon becoming King of Castile, in order to do things in the Burgundian style, it is believed, will spend every year in pensions to all the grandees of the kingdom, who may be about eight hundred titled nobles, more or less one hundred thousand ducats. The queen, by his father’s counsel, will be content for this to be done, both to follow what her husband had already decided in order to please the lords of Castile, and also to be able to reign more freely if by chance some of those grandees were to openly demand lands or towns from the crown.

These, Most Serene Prince, are the revenues and expenditures of the crown of Castile, which revenues, together with those that Duke Charles holds in his country of Flanders, may be over a million gold ducats, and the ordinary expenditures in Spain and in Flanders about nine hundred fifty thousand ducats, without the gifts that are usually made to courtiers as well as to others, which can be so much that I truly believe that this lord, heir to the King of Castile, will have exhausted his revenues by the end of the year; and if it were not for the extraordinary income drawn from the kingdom of Castile, I believe that at times this lord will be in greater need than is believed. This extraordinary income comes for the most part from the marranos27, who are daily being discovered throughout the kingdom, against whom rigorous proceedings will be taken, and already up to this time several persons have been taken from among the marranos, who have wealth, among them all, of about two hundred thousand ducats; and at present for every subject province there are two or three inquisitors or more, according to the size of the province, who make inquisition against those who descend from Jews and in secret live as Jews, while showing to the world and in public that they are Christians. Of which inquisition your most excellent lordships having had notice at other times, I will not elaborate further, except that the said King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella28 his consort deserve before God and the world, if for nothing else, at least for this, eternal praise; and it was meritorious to destroy this sect, which deserves above all others to be hated and persecuted. This inquisition was more than necessary, because it is judged in Castile and in other provinces of Spain that a third are marranos; a third, I say, of those who are citizens and merchants, because the common people are true Christians, and so is the greater part of the grandees.

Besides this inquisition and justice that is carried out against the marranos, justice is also administered in civil and in criminal matters in this manner: The king of Castile places in every land that is not subject to another, a corregidor, who must be of the Castilian nation, but not from that land nor its surrounding territory; and in Galicia he places a governor, who has the same authority throughout Galicia as a corregidor in his own land, and more so, for he can command fortresses and men-at-arms like the king, which the corregidores cannot do. These corregidores and governors administer justice in civil and criminal matters, and the sentences they give are not definitive, but can be appealed to the chanceries, of which there are three in the entire kingdom of Castile, arranged in the manner of councils; one in Valladolid, another in Granada, the third at the court. These chanceries, or councils, each have a president and seventeen jurists from among the best in the kingdom, salaried by His Majesty, and they also have one or two public advocates, who defend the causes of the poor and of the people. Appeals from all sentences go to these three councils; not indiscriminately, but part of the kingdom goes to the council of Valladolid, part to Granada, and to the one at court for those who so choose, as it is the most noble.

Besides these councils, there are also three alcaides for each council, who are judges and are always at these chanceries: before them go the sentences given by the aforementioned corregidores in criminal, not civil, matters, and they rule upon them. The parties may appeal to the president of the council, to whom also go the appeals of sentences given in civil matters by the corregidores; which president refers the case to one or two jurists of the college, who are to hear it and then report to their colleagues, and from the determination of the council the parties may not appeal, except by depositing one thousand five hundred ducats, to be forfeited if the council’s determination is confirmed; and if someone does deposit said money, he may appeal the sentence given by the council to the president of the chancellery, who is always with the king; and what he determines is without appeal, nor is anyone above those determinations but the king; who by way of grace sometimes interferes in them, but not often, so as not to break the ordinances of the kingdom, and not to give everyone occasion to ask for grace against the determination of his councils.

And this is, Most Serene Prince and Most Excellent Lords, all that concerning the kingdom of Castile about which I have come to narrate to Your Serenity and to your Most Excellent Lordships.

This short background on the report was included in the compilation of Venetian Relaziones that was put together in the 1840s.

The Barbary corsairs had for some time been infesting the Mediterranean when, in 1533, the provveditore of the Venetian fleet, Canale, while escorting merchant galleys to the Levantine ports to ensure their safe passage, encountered at sunset on All Saints’ Day some vessels, which he, believing them to be corsairs, proceeded to attack and disperse. And the defeat of that squadron was already complete when the provveditore realized he had fought not the Algerians, as he believed, but rather ships of the Sultan, which the son of the Moor of Alexandria, a captain of Suleiman, was leading to stand guard over Barbary. In this emergency, “it was resolved by the Venetian Senate to send to Constantinople Daniello de’ Ludovisi, secretary of the Pregadi, a prudent man and experienced in other affairs, so that he might in person justify to that court, and to Suleiman himself, the events that had transpired, demonstrating the necessity that had led the Venetian captain—out of suspicion for the armed vessels that had come so near to him, and in the darkness of the night—to fight friendly ships, while, on the other hand, the immediate restitution of the galleys and the good treatment subsequently afforded to their captain could serve as true proof of the good and sincere will towards the affairs of that lord.” (Paruta L. VII). Ludovisi, having quelled these disturbances in Constantinople with great public dignity, upon his return home read in the Senate the following report on the matters which, by its command, he had observed during the course of his legation.

Report

I, your humble servant, being obliged, Most Serene Prince1, most grave and most excellent Lords, in obedience to the command of Your Serenity, to observe the most laudable institution of this most excellent republic in giving an account and making a report of my proceedings on this journey to the Most Serene Lord Turk2, it seems to me fitting first to supplicate Your Serenity and Your Most Excellent Lordships, that you may deign benignly to receive my words, and with your humanity, so far surpassing what is due my humble station, grant me the favor of your gracious audience, so that I may with a more confident spirit set forth those things which, gathered in the short space of time I have been in Constantinople, I have judged worthy of the understanding of Your Serenity and of Your Most Excellent Lordships; it being my intention for my part to employ every effort to set aside all that is superfluous, to so condense my speech that it may not prove odious to you. And as I have not failed in my letters, together with the most illustrious bailo3, to give notice of all that has occurred, both of the satisfaction expressed by the Lord Turk for this service performed by Your Serenity in sending me to him on the occasion of the conflict between the most illustrious provveditore of the fleet, Canale, and Captain Moro, and of the reassurance all have received of Your Serenity’s friendly disposition, I shall forbear from repeating what has been written. Rather, it having been enjoined upon me in my commission to obtain the best information that I could concerning Turkish affairs, I shall not fail to make a brief report of those matters which I was particularly able to learn and understand during the short time of my legation. In this report I shall narrate the dominion and the forces of the Lord Turk, and in what manner he avails himself of them and may dispose of them, particularly with respect to other princes; I shall speak of the diligence or negligence of the ministers, the form of the government and of the council, together with many particulars worthy of being heard by Your Most Excellent Lordships, who may then form such judgment on this matter as seems best to your supreme wisdom.

The dominion of the Lord Turk, as is known to Your Serenity, comprises a very great territory in Europe, in Asia, and in Egypt. In Europe, he holds Thrace, wherein lies Constantinople, with the Chersonese, which contains Gallipoli; he holds all of Macedonia, which crosses the Aegean Sea, where Thessaloniki is, as far as Epirus opposite the island of Corfu, and Achaea where are Athens and Thebes, most famous cities, and the Morea and Negroponte: all of which country is subject to and governed by the beylerbey4 of Greece, or captain-general. The Grand Seignior5 also holds in Europe Wallachia, Bulgaria, Transylvania, and Hungary (except for that part of it possessed by the Most Serene King of the Romans6), and Belgrade, and Serbia, and Bosnia, and part of Croatia and Dalmatia up to the borders of Your Serenity in those parts.

In Asia, he has a much larger country divided into six parts under six beylerbey, and another beylerbey he holds in Egypt. And first, passing the Propontis and the Hellespont, is Anatolia, which extends from the Greater Sea (Black Sea) to the Lycian Sea beyond Rhodes, and stretches for twelve or thirteen days inland, which is Asia Minor, where are Pontus, Bithynia, Lydia, Caria, and Lycia. The second part is Karamania, which is Cilicia, situated opposite Cyprus, and Pamphylia; the third is Amasya and Tokat, which is Galatia and Cappadocia, up to the Greater Sea, including within it Trebizond; the fourth is the country of Aliduli, in which (if I have been well informed by those familiar with the area) is Lesser Armenia: the fifth is Diyarbekir, which is Mesopotamia, with part of Greater Armenia (the other part belonging to the Sofi7 of Persia, and to the Kurds, a mountainous and warlike people who are Christians and live in the Greek manner); the sixth is Syria and Judea under the beylerbey of Damascus. Then there is Egypt, also under a beylerbey, as stated above, to whom is also subject all that the Lord Turk holds of the Arabias, where Mecca is.

The greatness of the said countries of Asia and Egypt, without descending to a more minute description, can be measured in this way: from Constantinople to Trebizond, by the Greater Sea, is a thousand miles; from Constantinople passing through Anatolia and Cappadocia, and reaching as far as Erzerum in Greater Armenia, which is the last domain of the Lord Turk in that part on the border with the Sofi, is forty days’ journey by swift horse; from Trebizond, crossing through Armenia, Syria, Judea, and Egypt to Cairo, is another forty days’ journey; from Aleppo to Baghdad, which is in the farthest corner of Mesopotamia, sixteen days’ journey; from Damascus to Mecca, fifty days’ journey, and from Mecca to Cairo about the same.

All the aforementioned country belongs unreservedly to the Turkish Lord, and there is no other lord who rules in any part of it, and all those peoples are his slaves and subject to his will, and all are so destitute and broken that there is neither strength nor vigor in any of them. There are no fortresses of importance in the said country, but dominion lies in being masters of the open field.

The neighbors to all the aforementioned countries are: your Sublimity with the provinces you hold in the gulf; then the most serene King of the Romans with Croatia, Austria, and Moravia, considering Hungary and those other provinces as belonging to the Turkish Lord; then the King of Poland, after whom follow the Tartars above the Black Sea and the Maeotian Swamp, on one side and the other of the Tanais, in whose country, however, the Turkish Lord holds Caffa in the Tauric Chersonese, and Tana above the Maeotian Swamp. Then follow in Asia, upon those shores, the Circassians and the Mingrelians, who are Colchians, as far as Trebizond; then the Georgians who border Greater Armenia, and the Kurds as far as Erzerum; from which place as far as Arabia borders the Sofi, for a distance of fifty to sixty days’ journey. In Egypt, the Turkish Lord borders towards Ethiopia with the deserts, and for the rest, with peoples of Africa of little power and importance; and all the rest of the aforementioned countries are beside the Mediterranean Sea.

The Grand Turk commands in the said dominion a very great number of people, as is well known to Your Sublimity, divided partly between his Porte8 and partly distributed throughout the countries, which possess conditions and qualities partly good and partly bad; and these Your Most Excellent Lordships must consider, because good people win and preserve states, and when on the contrary, either through negligence or other causes, they become disordered or debased, they are apt to ruin them.

The good qualities of the Grand Turk’s people are that they are not mercenaries, that is, taken from foreign domains for a time on his payroll, as when some prince hires Swiss, or men of any other nation, nor are they given to him by other princes in aid, in which two sorts of people there are many inconveniences and dangers of disobedience, infidelity, and arrogance; but all the people in the service of the Grand Turk are his own, not taken in multitudes from any one country, but from diverse places gathered in childhood, and with continuous pay and discipline in his own way made his own: from which comes the great benefit of obedience and fidelity, and that the people and their leaders know one another. To this is added that they are all united together in one language, which helps a great deal. The bad qualities, then, become known in two ways; one by considering and comparing the military of other princes, and especially of the Christians, with the Turkish one; the other by seeing the bad government and disorder that is presently not only in the governance of said people, but in all other things of the Grand Turk.

Arms, Most Serene Prince, in all times have been better and more usefully employed by the infantry than by the cavalry; and this has been known in diverse times and places, and especially among the Romans. And if in times closer to our own, the men-at-arms9 have been held in high repute in Italy, this has proceeded from the ill will and wicked intent of the condottieri10, who, by suppressing the infantry and depriving the princes of good troops, drew all reputation to their men-at-arms in order to make themselves arbiters of Italy, and this was to the ruin and desolation, and in large part to the servitude, of that land. Now a remedy has been applied to this; and what has most effected it has been the great and small artillery, grown in great number, which cannot be operated by cavalrymen, and the foot soldiers are more able to defend themselves from them, and therefore the military of the Christians is now more reduced to infantry than in other times. This sort of soldiery is entirely lacking to the most serene Lord Turk; and I say entirely, because the Janissaries have neither order nor discipline, nor that cunning which is proper to the Christian infantry. So that, in comparing the soldiery of the Christians with that of the Turks, I say, that should equal armies come to a confrontation, there ought by right to be a great disadvantage for the Turks. And if now recently, when the Turk went towards Austria11, his ill counsel, or rather the good fortune of the emperor, had willed that they should come to a conflict, I think that this would have been known by experience, it being the universal opinion that the Turks would have been overcome, and vanquished. Nor should their conflicts with the Safavid and the Mamluks be cited as evidence to the contrary, since they also had no infantry, and the Lord Turk moreover had artillery; nor the captures of Belgrade and Rhodes, the disproportion of forces having been too great.

Nor has the Lord Turk any way of having disciplined troops, because there are none, neither in his own country, nor in his other tributary and compliant ones. And some have been mistaken, it seems to me, in holding that the Turkish Lord could, with discipline, give good order to his subjects from Anatolia, who are of large and robust stature; because good order must be natural, and it is seen by clear and certain experience that the Spanish, although they are well-disciplined and skilled in warfare, agile of body, and of admirable dexterity, cannot for all that be compared nor equaled to the Germans, who carry this good order from their mother’s womb. Furthermore, it is the opinion of some that the Grand Turk, even if he could, would not wish to instill such ferocity and valor in his people, fearing that they might perchance escape from his obedience and aspire to their own liberty, having since the time of Osman always maintained the practice of humbling his subjects and keeping severe dominion over his own military.

Another evil then which, besides what I have said, exists in the military of the Turks, is caused by the negligence of the Grand Signor, who is not (to tell the truth) of that prowess which would befit so great a dominion, and by the proceedings of Ibrahim Pasha12, who with those arts which he used to rise, and with those he continuously uses to maintain himself—that is, not only humbling, but arranging for the death of those whose virtue and exaltation might be suspect to him—comes to strip the Ottoman militia of good leaders and the court of good counselors. Thus he had the head of Ferat Pasha, a most valiant war captain, cut off; and was the cause of the ruin and rebellion of Agmar Pasha, who rebelled and was beheaded in Cairo; and he removed Piri, an old, wise man of good counsel, from the position of First Pasha13, and is also accused by some of causing his death by poison. It is also to be noted, in this regard, a thing which recently came to pass: that since the Emiraor, or master of the stable of the Grand Lord, a very virtuous young man named Rustem14, had become quite familiar with the Grand Lord himself, who willingly and often listened to him for his intelligence, Ibrahim, having been advised of this while in Aleppo, gave him a governorship very far away in Asia Minor; and when this Rustem complained of it to the Grand Lord, asking not to leave his majesty, the latter was evasive, and said: “When Ibrahim comes, I will see about having you return to my side.”

For this reason, the army remains without leaders and the court without counsel, except for that of Ibrahim alone; and if there is anyone of knowledge and worth, out of indignation and fear they hide their knowledge and valor. Now let your most excellent lordships consider how much that military is thereby becoming disordered and unnerved, and that state weakened; and although I am certain that this is known to Ibrahim (who is of good intellect, but not of such virtue as to be able to remedy so many inconveniences), yet the love he has for himself, much greater than that which he has for his lord, makes him prefer to be alone in a dominion that is not very strong, compared to what it could become through diligence, than to be one of many companions in a firmer and stronger one. From this, however, comes great benefit to your Serenity; for in order to remedy so many disorders, he applies all his efforts to maintain good relations with you, as I have been well able to judge, knowing that losing your friendship would perhaps, on some occasion, be to the detriment and ruin of that state.15

Within the Porte are the household of the Grand Signor, the deputies of the government, and the squadrons of soldiers. The household consists of six pages with their chief, who serve in the sultan’s chamber; three eunuchs, a treasurer, a porter, and a steward with fifteen other eunuchs under them; then four to five hundred boys in the seraglio, who are disciplined in various studies; then three to four hundred gardeners who tend to the seraglio garden, and to the oars of the two foists16 in which the Grand Signor goes for recreation; then those who have charge of the plate and provisions of the Grand Signor and the seraglio, and confectioners and cooks and others: and to these may be added the other seraglios for the pages, one of which is near Pera and two in Adrianople, and that of the women in Constantinople, in which are housed both the slaves of the Grand Signor and his unmarried female relatives, numbering perhaps six hundred. Then there is the stable of eight to ten thousand horses, mules, and camels, with their chiefs and the great number of men who tend to them; and two hundred and fifty capigì, that is, gatekeepers, with three chiefs called capigì-bascì; and eighty muteferica, or chosen lancers of the Grand Signor, with no other chief than him, obliged to carry the lance and ride about him; and two hundred footmen, and many deputies for fishing and hunting, who are, however, drawn from the squadrons of soldiers.

The deputies of the government are two cadileschièr, that is, superior cadi, empowered to administer justice throughout the cities and lands, four pashas as councilors (although there are at the moment only three), two tefterdar who govern the public revenues, and the nisangì who signs the letters of the Grand-Signor as grand chancellor; and these members of the government hold the timari, that is, assignments of revenue, and not only in money.17 There is then a great number of officials under the said ones: secretaries, chancellors, scribes, weighers; and there is the caznadar who governs the private treasury of the Grand Signor, and others.

The squadrons of soldiers are first twelve thousand Janissaries on foot with their chief; I say that there should ordinarily be so many, but now Ibrahim Pasha has sent them to various places to take away their excessive power, after they rose up against him18; three thousand sipahi-oglani, or young horsemen, who ride on the right hand of the Grand Lord; three thousand silictari, who ride on the left; two thousand five hundred ulufegì with two chiefs, who ride half on each side of the Grand Lord; and about two thousand capi-oglani, likewise divided in two squadrons. There are then one hundred ciaus, that is, sergeants of the army, and there is the emiralem, who carries the standard of the Grand Lord, the masters of the artillery, and many others. For the ordinary pay of all the above-mentioned, besides the vestments that are given to them each year at the expense of the seraglios, and besides the timari that some possess, and besides the charcoal and hay that is given by the territories for the stables, more than twelve thousand ducats19 are disbursed daily from the caznà of the Grand Lord, as can be known by considering the expenses of each squadron one by one, of which now, so as not to weary Your Lordships, it is not for me to give a more minute and particular explanation. These expenses the Grand Lord covers from his revenues amply, and with a surplus; inasmuch as the caraz, which is the personal tax of his subjects who are not Turks, yields a million and a half ducats or thereabouts; the duty on livestock, seven to eight hundred thousand ducats; the mines, about six hundred thousand ducats; then the other duties, salt taxes, commands, property of the deceased, and that which comes to him from Egypt sum up to so much, that he has a surplus rather than otherwise.

The other part of the troops, much greater in number, is distributed throughout the provinces and territories, and is paid by them.

In Europe, over all the provinces possessed there by the Grand Signor there is one beylerbey with a timar income of sixteen thousand ducats, who has under him thirty sanjaks with timars from four to twelve thousand ducats, four hundred soubashi with one thousand ducats on average each, and thirty thousand spahi, with two hundred ducats each on average; and each one, for every hundred ducats, is obliged to maintain a man with a lance for combat, and one is not called a spahi who does not have one hundred ducats; then also twenty thousand timariots with less than one hundred ducats each. The allotment for said troops amounts to seven million ducats and more, but each one draws more than his allotment. There are also sixty thousand arabagì, that is, carters on horseback, registered throughout the country with some exemptions, and when the Grand-Signor calls them to the army, the towns and cities provide them with their livelihood.

In Asia there are six beylerbeys; one of Anatolia with a timar of fourteen thousand ducats, twelve sanjak with four to six thousand ducats each (except for the sanjaklik of Magnesia, opposite Chios, which belongs to the first-born son of the Grand Signor, and has an income of thirty thousand ducats), and ten thousand spahi with one hundred to two hundred ducats; one of Karamania with ten thousand ducats, six sanjak, and five thousand spahi, with the timars as I have said above; one of Amasya and Tokat with eight thousand ducats, six sanjak, and four thousand spahi; one of Alidule with ten thousand ducats, five sanjak, and seven thousand spahi; one of Diyarbakır, which is on the borders of the Grand Signor’s states, with thirty thousand ducats, twelve sanjak, and ten thousand spahi; one of Syria and Judea with twenty-four thousand ducats, twelve sanjak, and twenty thousand spahi; and then the beylerbey of Cairo and the Arabias with thirty thousand ducats, sixteen sanjak, sixteen thousand spahi, and three thousand Janissaries. And then a beylerbey of the sea has been newly added, or captain of all the maritime forces, who is Khayr al-Din, called Barbarossa20, whereas before, the captain of the fleets had been the sanjak of Gallipoli.

Speaking of these maritime forces, it must be said, as of the land forces, that they are in part of good quality, but for the most part of poor quality. The good is that in the great dominion held by the Turkish Lord there are ample means to supply the necessary things to build vessels, there being on the Black Sea and in other places most beautiful forests; iron also and pitch are not lacking; as for hemp, although they do not have very good quality, yet with money they can find it; besides this, the country being large, they have the means to supply many men for the oars, so that, as far as galley-slaves are concerned, they would always have the means to create any great fleet. The bad, then, is, first, with regard to the building of the vessels, that they have no masters, or very few, there being in the arsenal only twenty-four among shipwrights, caulkers, and others, among whom the persons of note are Reteppo who is a Turk, the brother of Giovan Bappa, who serves on the galleys of your highness, and messer Gioan Francesco Giustiniano, of whom I will speak later: and when they wish to have much work done, they send to fetch masters from Chios, and from various other places. But nothing else is of such benefit in an arsenal as keeping the men continuously paid, as Your Serenity does. Then, as regards the arming of the galleys, besides the galley-slaves they have, one might say, no sailors or others skilled in naval warfare; and I say this of the leaders, as well as of the inferior officers. The cause of these shortcomings and disorders is partly due to the custom and profession of that country and dominion, and partly due to the present negligence and poor governance, in the manner I have stated above regarding the land forces.

Good discipline and expertise in maritime affairs originate in trade and commerce, in which men, by practicing for gain, become skilled and able to command and even operate warships; for which reason Spain has the means to avail itself in any sudden need of a great number of seamen, as do other places more or less according to their greater or lesser engagement in maritime trade, and so especially Your Sublimity. But the Turks are not merchants, and those who are have not yet grown so bold as to commit themselves much to the risks of the sea; and if from Anatolia, or other places of the Lord Turk, foists of corsairs do sally forth, who in this way acquire some expertise in maritime affairs, they are nevertheless a disordered and confused people, upon whom, apart from their idle robbing, a prince could not build much foundation. Besides this, the military profession of the Turks has principally been in land affairs; and therefore, since less importance has always been given to maritime matters, the men have not cared to show their valor in them. To all these ills may be added, as I have predicted, the negligence of the Grand Signor; who, wishing to remedy this, would need to see with his own eyes, and cause greater care to be taken in provisioning and labor, and with greater rewards make the men more valiant and studious. But with the conduct of Ibrahim added to his negligence, there is little hope of finding the remedy that a valiant and virtuous lord could apply to the present state of affairs; for, as is wont to happen with those who fall into disorder, the men have strayed too far down the other path. And this is shown by his having placed the entire fleet in the hands of Barbarossa; who has always been a corsair, and not nurtured in obedience and loyalty to the Lord Turk, and only for the interests of his own domain of Algiers, fearing on land the lord of Tlemcen and at sea the fleet of Spain, has now accepted the offer of the Lord Turk, not having wanted it before, although he had been previously summoned; and having now placed all his own men over the fleet as captains, it will be at his sole discretion.

The Grand Lord and Ibrahim have begun to think that it was not intelligent to trust so much in Barbarossa, as no other fleet remains in Constantinople, save for the most wretched vessels from which very little can be gained; and therefore they say they wish to build two hundred galleys, but one hundred with more haste, for which they will still have to wait a good while, there being no other timber available than that cut for five galleons at the behest of Messer Gioan Francesco Giustiniano for the enterprise against the Portuguese navigation in the Indies; and as Ibrahim wished to use said timber for the galleys, the aforementioned Giustiniano had written to him so as not to let the order for the said galleons be changed. Those that are truly in the arsenal are thirty-nine hulls of large galleys, in the worst condition, and one might say in a shambles, without boats or any other rigging of any kind, and twenty between light vessels and bastard galleys, likewise in poor condition.

The said Barbarossa, who has had fourteen thousand ducats from a timar over Mytilene, Rhodes, and Negroponte, with the title of Beylerbey of the Sea, myself having met with him, seemed to me very haughty and proud. He is fifty or more years of age. He has with him a brother of the king of Tunis, whom he keeps to make use of on some occasion to overturn that kingdom, and he also has Cacciadiavoli, a Turkish corsair. His fleet will be poorly armed, without soldiers of the Porte, with few sailors—and his own also, from what is understood, are not very capable. The order given to him by the Most Serene Lord Turk cannot be known with certainty; and although it was said that he was to attack the lands of the Emperor21, and of every other, save for those of the Most Christian King22 and of Your Serenity, nonetheless it seemed that the will of the Grand Signor was rather to secure his own position; and I have been told for a certainty that the order given was not to enter into conflict with the fleet23, unless his own were superior by double the number. Regarding the true designs and intentions of this Barbarossa, it is considered by many that he has his eye on the affairs of Barbary, and many think that this fleet committed to him, or a large part of it, is not to return to Constantinople; because although this Barbarossa will not commit open treason, nevertheless he will want to have the galleys always at his disposal, and thus will always give advice for his own benefit to the Grand Signor, who will be forced to accept it, finding himself naked and stripped of other galleys and fleets, for which Barbarossa would have cause to be more obedient.24

The Most Serene Lord Turk, of whose dominion and forces, both on land and sea, I have spoken so far, finds himself with respect to the other princes who presently rule, in various positions to be able to offend, or be offended; and because in the greatness of the world there are many who do not now come into consideration as far as it may pertain to the interest of your highness, I will omit speaking of those—among whom, speaking of the Christians, is the Most Serene King of England.25

The Most Christian King26 truly can be said to have a common desire with the Lord Turk, that is, that the greatness of the [Holy Roman] Emperor not be so great, and for this reason they proceed together with some demonstrations or offices of friendship, the Most Christian King having sent men to the Lord Turk, and the Lord Turk always giving orders to his agents, as he has presently done to Barbarossa, not to offend the affairs of that majesty. What other true understanding may be between them, I have found no indication of it, and it does not seem reasonable, as there can be no faith in any important communication between them; because if the Emperor were by such a convention forced by necessity, he would make the most Christian King an offer that would be accepted by him, notwithstanding any convention with the Lord Turk, and in such a way the union of the Christians against the latter would come to pass.27

The King of Portugal28 is taken into consideration by the Turkish Lord either concerning matters in the Mediterranean Sea, where he is united with the Emperor, or those in the Indies, both for the aid that said king could give to the Sofi by that route, and for the enterprise the Turkish Lord could undertake to destroy Portuguese navigation in those parts. This enterprise, from what I have been able to understand and comprehend, does not seem, due to many other intervening considerations, possible to put into effect at present; but at Suez on the Arabian Gulf, a place in Egypt, there are a good number of galleys, that is, the timber prepared for them, and there is timber cut near Constantinople to build five galleons and send them by way of Gibraltar, according to what is discussed by messer Francesco Giustiniano, who shows that he greatly aspires to this enterprise, which he professes to understand well. This Giustiniano, from what I could gather in speaking with him (for I have had no other dealings with him), seems to me of good intelligence, and by his speech he demonstrates great experience in those navigations, of which I cannot offer other testimony, having no knowledge thereof. He spoke to me with a demonstration of great affection for Your Serenity, lamenting the meagerness of his fortune that causes him to wander in search of a way to raise himself from it, having too great a spirit to remain in such a low state. He has requested and urged that I tell Your Sublimity that if in any matter, should the said enterprise against the navigation of Portugal come to pass, he could be of service to Your Serenity, that you be pleased to make your intention known to him, because in accordance with it, he would not fail as a good servant to do everything possible, for the supreme desire he has to do something pleasing and of service to Your Highness.

The King of Poland29 is at peace with the Turkish Lord and remains neutral, as has been promised to him by the said Lord and by Germany, it seeming to both that it would not be to their purpose to do otherwise; and it is to be considered that such neutrality is in favor of King John of Hungary, whose preservation is desired both by the Turkish Lord and by the majority of the German princes, who would not be content for that kingdom to fall into the hands of the most serene King of the Romans.

Of the Tartars on the Black Sea, this can be said: that they are dependent on the most illustrious Turkish Lord, who keeps with him a brother of the one who rules over them.

Of the other Tartars, truly, who are more inland, those who are presently named are the Gisilbasci, that is, of the green bonnets, who go by the name of Tartars, and border beyond the Caspian Sea with the country of the Sofi; and they come under consideration by the Turkish Lord for the trouble they give or can give to the Sofi, which, however, does not seem likely to be very great, but only of raids and tumults, which can easily be put down by the Sofi, provided he is not, however, troubled by the Turkish Lord, as it has been understood to have happened these past few months; for the said Tartars of the green bonnets having entered the country of Khorasan, the Sofi’s men went against them, and have repulsed and driven them out.

The forces of the Sofi are of such a kind that it seems he cannot contend with the Lord Turk unless the said Lord Turk has trouble from another quarter, or the suspicion of it. For, from what I have been able to understand, the number of men the Sofi can raise is one hundred and twenty thousand horsemen; that is, his household troops of forty thousand valiant and well-armed men, whom he keeps on his payroll in Persia and Armenia, sixty thousand who are distributed in Khorasan, and twenty thousand on the frontier of the province of Baghdad. He has no infantry, nor artillery, save for a few pieces, and a certain number of arquebuses which are said to have been supplied to him by the Portuguese, but he has no men who know how to use them. The greatest defense, and offense, that he can mount against the Lord Turk is in this manner: his country being very large, and in some places not abundant in provisions, should the Lord Turk advance with a large army (for with a small one he could not win), the Sofi can retreat and clear the country of provisions. Marching through it with many men, the Lord Turk’s army, with such a lack, would become disordered and weakened, so that the Sofi, with fresh troops, would then be better able to enter into conflict, and with the favor of fortune could even win. But should the Lord Turk, free from other suspicions or troubles, be able to attend to that enterprise alone, he, in my judgment, could overcome such difficulties.

Of the Georgians and Kurds, no further mention need be made, for they are peoples of little power and consequence, and likewise for those who border Egypt.

As truly pertains to his Imperial Majesty, to the Most Serene King Ferdinand30, and other German princes and states, and other Christian states that adhere to them, or could adhere to them against the forces of the Lord Turk (leaving aside his Holiness the Pontiff, because with his own particular interests intervening, or some understanding he may have with the Most Christian King, or fear of the Emperor’s greatness, I would not be sure of being able to speak of it with any foundation), for these, I say, one can consider war by land or by sea.

The land war, I think that, given the present state of world affairs, it should not be judged that it could easily occur between his Imperial Majesty and the Grand Turk, because as for the Grand Turk, he, with troops of the quality I have foretold, would not be sufficient to force Germany, it being well furnished with the best soldiers in the world, and who would always be most united in its own defense; and if the Grand Turk has twice attempted that enterprise, and it has always been more to his detriment and shame than to his benefit and honor, I think he well knows the error and the danger in which he had placed himself. Germany, moreover, with the greater part of it not wanting the King of the Romans to be King of Hungary, just as it would be ready for defense, so it will never want to give men and other aid to go beyond its own borders; and one may think that among the other reasons for which his Imperial Majesty—the Grand Turk having, so to speak, tumultuously withdrawn—did not proceed into Hungary, was so as not to contravene the wishes of the German princes.

As for the war by sea between the Emperor and the Grand Turk, it seems to me that greater danger and greater harm for the Grand Turk is recognized; because if Prince Doria last year, with a small number of galleys, in the face of the Turkish fleet, relieved Coron31, his Imperial Majesty, understanding at present the poor quality, which I have foretold, of this fleet that sails with Barbarossa, should wish to make an effort to quickly assemble a good fleet (as, if some new cause did not prevent it, reason would wish that on such a great occasion he should do) it could perhaps be that the Turkish one would be vanquished; which happening, the Turk would find himself in dire straits, having no way to quickly rebuild it, and much disorder and confusion could follow in his state. Whether it would therefore be good for the Emperor to be warned of this, so that what I have foretold should come to pass, or not, I leave the judgment thereof to your most excellent lordships.

Yet it seems to me that another consideration must be had: that as the Emperor could be induced to make peace with the Lord Turk through regarding his forces as greater than they are, it would be well to declare them to him, or to take other measures so that such a pacification does not follow. And this I say, demonstrating the reason that from this would follow harm not only to His Imperial Majesty, but to all of Christendom, and to each one in particular; because if the Lord Turk could be made secure from the Christians, he would be free to undertake the enterprise against the Sofi with greater forces, and although the outcomes of wars are ambiguous, yet there would be greater reasons to believe in the victory of the Lord Turk; who, having obtained it, reordered his affairs, and built some number of galleys, would be more apt to offend the Christians. Nor can one be assured (this being in the hands of the Lord God, and of the natural course of things), that the Emperor might not come to die, and his dominion and forces thereby be divided: whence, lacking the good fortune of His Majesty, the Lord Turk would no longer have the respect that he presently has for Your Serenity, which between the said Grand Signor and His Imperial Majesty not only preserves itself, but continually grows in reputation, both for what the forces and firmness of our state is worth, and for the increase that proceeds from its friendship with the one and the peace that it has with the other.

How Your Highness truly stands with the Lord Turk, Your Most Excellent Lordships can know better than I, both from the present state of affairs and of the world’s princes, and from the qualities and conditions of his state, forces, and good government. I do say that in maritime matters Your Serenity is in great repute, it being held for certain at the court of the Lord Turk that should you join with the rest of the Christians to the detriment of the Turks, they would find themselves in a perilous situation.

At the head of the principality and government of the domain I have described above is first the Most Serene Sultan Suleiman, whose qualities, of body as well as of soul, and of fortune, having already been declared on other occasions, I think I have little cause to say more of them; yet I will not refrain from briefly saying this little.

This Emperor Suleiman is about forty-four years of age, of tall stature, thin, with an aquiline nose, of an earthy complexion, healthy, choleric, melancholic, more given to leisure than to business, orthodox in his faith, and of not wicked morals; as for his intellect, as is commonly said, it is not very sharp, nor does he possess that prudence and virtue which would be fitting for so great a principality. This is clearly known not only from experience with him, but from His Majesty having given the government of the empire into the hands of another; for the Sultan, with all the pashas and the entire court, makes no important decision without Ibrahim, and Ibrahim alone does everything without the Grand Signor or any other company; and for the reasons I have stated above, that domain is wanting for good counsel, and its armies for good leaders. For if the Grand Signor were of such prudence as to recognize these disorders, and of such virtue as to have the spirit to remedy them, his affairs would proceed on a better course, because many would demonstrate their valor and good service to His Majesty; and if it were said on his behalf that he knows everything, but wishes it so for the great love he bears Ibrahim, of this his love and affection one could not speak with praise, but only with much blame.

The said Grand Signor has a son of about sixteen years, older than his other three, named Mustafa, of whom it is said that he is of a good and generous nature.32 He holds the sanjak of Magnesia near Chios, and with him is his mother, who is Albanian.33 The others are still in the seraglio, born of another mother from Russia34, who is still with the Grand Signor, who has taken her as his wife according to their custom.

He, then, who is the principal, and as I have said is at the government of the entire domain, is the lord Ibrahim Pasha, of whom having discoursed at length above, and not having met with him myself as he had gone to Aleppo, I will leave it that Your Serenity have other information of him from others who have had more dealings with him than I. I will say this, however: that I seem to have understood that he is most disposed to the preservation of the friendship and peace that is between the Sultan and Your Highness, this aligning very aptly with his own greatness, by which he comes to give some counterweight to the many other disorders that he has caused and continues to cause.

Of the other pashas, who are Aras and Kasim, little can be said, because they are like servants of Ibrahim, and do not show much valor; and so it is with others who do not depend on Ibrahim. Of those who truly depend on him, the principal two are Sender tefterdar, of whom I have heard good things spoken, but I did not meet with him as he had gone with Ibrahim; the other is the most illustrious lord Luigi Gritti35, who with the favor of this Ibrahim has become very great, and his greatness and valor have not been of any suspicion to the latter because he is a Christian. The reason for this favor is said to be that Ibrahim, having left the seraglio as first pasha and beylerbey of Greece, without experience and practice of the world and of the government of states, and wishing not only not to make use of the Turks but to remove them from his way, has made great use of the said lord Luigi; who, although he had not previously made a profession of matters of state, nevertheless had a very great understanding of things, especially of the Christians, and was, as he is, of good intellect and valor, and of a very great and elevated spirit, and most suited to great affairs, so much so that he wishes not to lose an iota of his greatness and authority, and by nature is very disposed to do service to whoever requests it of him. Concerning his will and procedure in the matters of Your Highness, he being in the condition and quality that he is, and being especially close to Ibrahim, I esteem that he should be held in great account and esteem; and I find two things especially to be kept in mind: one is the various conveniences and favors which, as is customary among friends, Your Serenity might request from the Lord Turk, or have in that country, through the means and favor of the said lord Luigi, such as shipments of grain and other similar things; and the other is the opinion he may have, and the actions he may take or be able to take, concerning the proceedings and understanding of Your Serenity with the Lord Turk. As for the first part, it seems to me very easy and suitable to the said quality of his spirit and nature, that whenever he is on behalf of Your Serenity requested, he should be disposed to your satisfaction. Concerning the other part, in the discussions that I have had several times with his lordship, he has shown an opinion and desire that Your Serenity, more than is now the case, should draw closer to the Lord Turk—claiming, however, to find in this opinion of his a benefit for you based on a foundation which does not hold; that is, that you are necessitated in your friendship and procedure to prefer one of the two, either the Emperor or the Lord Turk, and wishing to demonstrate that it is more to your advantage to prefer the Lord Turk. And having reasoned several times with his lordship about this matter, seeking to demonstrate the inconvenience of this, and how much detriment would come from it to Your Serenity, if you were to fail to proceed with the reserve and regards that you do, his lordship partly would not admit my reasons, which however were unanswerable, and partly made a show of hearing as if it were a new thing that the intention and will of Your Serenity was to proceed with so much reserve; but he told me, however, the last time I went to visit him, as I have written, that he would not fail to use his good offices with those over there, although he spoke with us in this manner. And because the said opinion, if it were to continue in his said lordship, did not seem to me appropriate for Your Serenity, and I desired to speak to him in the manner that would be most fruitful, in order to do so well I went on to consider what cause might induce his lordship to have the above-mentioned opinion: if for the benefit of Your Serenity, it did not seem to me a reasonable thing to believe, given the good wit that he has; if for the benefit of the Lord Turk, I do not see why he should go further in his discourse than Ibrahim himself and the other pashas do; if truly his own benefit and the desire for his greater reputation induced him to believe in such a way, that is, that when Your Serenity were more closely allied with the Lord Turk, and consequently more alienated from Caesar36, he, Signor Luigi, having the intelligence that he has of the affairs of this republic, would repute that he ought to rise to even greater reputation; if this were the case, it would perhaps be well to make him certain and clear of the firm intention and will of Your Serenity of not wishing, nor being able, for your own benefit, to proceed otherwise than with the aforementioned reserve; because, being well certain of this, he would turn his mind to other thoughts, and holding for this reason in so much greater account the wisdom and greatness of Your Sublimity, so much more would he be disposed to please you, in order to make use, in his own favor, of this greatness of Your Highness.

These are the things which I have had occasion to say in this brief time to Your Serenity, and to your most excellent lordships, if not with that knowledge and that judgment which would be fitting, at least with a sincere soul and reverent affection, deferring always principally to the wisdom of the same, and of those who may be better informed than I.