Bartholomew Sastrow Part 8

At some distance from Bologna begins a ca.n.a.l dug by the hand of man.

There the Lord caused us to meet with an inhabitant of Mantua who had just enlisted. We proposed to hire a boat as far as Ferrara together.

"Whither are you going?" he asked. As we had the appearance of soldiers, and as he might conceive some surprise at seeing us turn our backs on headquarters, we hit upon the idea of telling him that our master was at the Council of Trent. "Oh," he remarked, "you are going farther, then?" We said neither "yes" nor "no." He knew a little Latin, like myself, and so I no longer kept up my part of a dumb man before him. He professed but small regard for the pope and papism. "How dare you," I exclaimed, "talk in that way in Italy, and on the very territory of the Church? And why, if these are your opinions, do you take service against the Evangelicals?" "What does it matter?" he replied; "I am not risking the loss of a cardinal's hat. I am a fighting man, and fight for those who pay me." When we got near to the Po, he said: "Ferrara lies no doubt in your most direct road to Germany, but what could you see there of interest? It is only a big town of the old style. You had better come to Mantua, the country of Virgil, a handsome, pleasant, and strong city, with a superb castle.

The rest you are likely to get in the boat will compensate for your coming out of your way. I'll go on sh.o.r.e just before Ferrara, and will get a boatman; the place is famed for its fat geese, which, at this season of the year, one eats smoking hot from the spit. I'll bring one back with me, together with bread and wine, and I shall only be gone a little while."

Ferrara, with its famous university, its actual importance, and ancient origin, unquestionably aroused our curiosity. Nevertheless, the advice of our soldier-friend was not to be despised, because by going up the Po, we advanced in spite of the heat. Our guide soon came back, bringing with him everything he had promised. The boatman whom he brought was simply in his s.h.i.+rt sleeves, and drank at one draught a whole measure of heavy wine we offered him; then, flinging the towing rope over his shoulder, he towed us to Mantua, Ostiglia being our halting place for the night. Having got to Mantua in the morning of July 15, we were enabled to wander through the town before dinner time.

Our expectations were in no way disappointed. After having shown us the castle and the princ.i.p.al buildings, our amiable soldier-friend insisted upon entertaining us at the inn. "Are you provided with small change that is current everywhere?" he asked us. "The fact is," he went on, "that the landlords pursue a regular system of cheating. They refuse to take your small money, so that you are obliged to change a crown, and then at the next inn they decline to accept the coin given to you except under its value. Give me a crown, and I'll get you money for it which is current as far as Trent." He brought back good pieces of silver, not to the amount of one crown, but of two crowns, asking us to accept the value of the second as a present, "because," he said, "I consider you very honest and straightforward companions." When we were outside the walls, he gave us full particulars of the route we were to take, recommended us to the safeguard of all the angels, and gave us his blessing. "It is worth more in the sight of the Almighty and against the devil than the blessing of Pope Paul at Rome by his own sacred hands." This was indeed a happy meeting, and we had reason to be grateful to the Lord.

Not far from Mantua, at a spot where the road branches off into four different directions, we came upon two travellers coming from Verona.

If we had said one pater more or less with our good friend we should have missed them, which would have been a pity, for they turned out to be my former fellow-travellers from Kempten to Rome, who, having pushed as far as Naples, had returned by way of Venice; they were making for home by Milan and France. They wished me to go their way, and I was very willing; but as Nicholas was altogether of a different mind, it would have been wrong to vex the comrade G.o.d had so marvellously provided for me.

When I told them all about Petrus, my interlocutors had no doubt about the danger I had incurred by my imprudent confidence. Italians are not of much account. Germans, after a long stay in that country, end up by not being worth anything at all; and the proverb to that effect is a true one: "_Tedesco Italianato e un diavolo incarnato._" I learnt later on, both from writing and from oral news, about the troubles between France and the Low Countries, and about the obstacles we should have encountered if we had selected the route of Milan. It gave me a new subject for being grateful to the Lord.

We pa.s.sed near enough to Verona to catch a glimpse of the buildings, to judge by which it must be a big town. At Trent, where both languages are spoken, and even more German than Italian, my pretended infirmity ceased, and it was Nicholas' turn to be mute, for the Lubeckian dialect is not understood until one gets to Brunswick.

In Italy the scorpions slip in everywhere; into the rooms, under the beds, in the sheets. Hence they place before the windows scorpion oil, that is oil in which one of these reptiles has been drowned. When put on the sting the oil stops the effect of the poison. Personally, I never caught a glimpse of a scorpion during the whole of my stay in Italy.

On July 18 we reached Botzen, a town of importance, famed for its rich mines. On the 19th we were at Brixen, a pleasant burgh, prettily situated. Its chapter enjoys great consideration. Dr. Gaspard Hoyer was its canon, and died there.

The Augsburg troops under the orders of Sebastian Schaertlin[37] had carried the castle of Ehrenberg. King Ferdinand tried to enter the place with the aid of the miners of Botzen, but the pay ran short, and, greatly vexed, the savage horde, which, though by no means devout, after all preferred Luther to the pope, made its way home. Between Brixen and Sterzing we had the misfortune of falling in with them. At the sight of our Italian dress, and our soldier-like equipment, they shook their spears. "Kill the papists; down with the Welch sc.u.m," they cried. Nicholas, who was accustomed to enact the spokesman, uttered a few words in his own dialect; thereupon the imprecations grew louder.

"They belong to the Low Countries; they are no better than the Italians." "Brothers," I shouted, "you make a mistake. We are faithful Germans, Lutherans and Evangelicals like yourselves. Hence, no violence."

Thereupon we fell a-talking to each other. They complained bitterly of the king, and of his pretensions to carry on a war without a red cent.

"Kicks instead of pay," they said. "We are much obliged. We are going back to our mines, where, at any rate, we can earn something." We parted quite cordially, and I once more recommended my faithful Nicholas to hold his tongue for the future, and to let me do the talking.

Innspruck, the capital of the Tyrol, is a moderately big town with long streets, consisting largely of stables for some thousands of horses, for the kings, the Austrian archdukes and their suites frequently halt there. The objurgations of the miners of Botzen induced us to change our dress according to the German fas.h.i.+on.

Our most direct route lay by Ulm, Cannstadt, Spires, Frankfurt, then by Hesse and Brunswick. There are, as it happens, two routes from Innspruck, the one for Bavaria, the other for Swabia. Having met at the city gates some people who professed to be going to Germany, we followed them without further inquiry. What then was our surprise at getting, not into Swabia, but into Bavaria, to Hall and to Ratisbon.

Well, as we learnt later on, at that very moment the numerous troops the emperor was expecting from France and Spain were preparing to enter Swabia; the papal troops, whom the Imperial messages left little or no truce, arrived at Landshut, while all the Protestant forces, with the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse at their head, occupied the country. But for the Lord const.i.tuting Himself our guide we should have run innumerable perils.

We intended to go from Hall to Ratisbon on a raft, but on the overladen craft there was a horse stamping about in a most disquieting manner, causing the water to well up between the disjointed timber. We preferred to land and to tire our legs to swallowing more water than was necessary to our thirst. Half a league down the stream, the pole-men having got rid of the horse, drew near the sh.o.r.e once more to renew their offers of service. We remained faithful, however, to solid earth.

When we got to the beautiful monastery of Ebersberg, our curiosity tempted us to get an idea of the results of a mendicant's life. As such we humbly and contritely addressed the chancellor, when we entered the abbot's presence. "We have come all the way from Rome; our resources are exhausted," we said. After having promised us to do what he can, the chancellor begins to inquire about the Italian army. "We left it at Bologna," we replied; "it was being reviewed. You'll see it very shortly." This had the effect of turning the saintly dwelling upside down. The monks crowded round the abbot and took to running hither and thither as if bereft of their senses, because for a monastery situated as this was, in the open country, Roman mercenaries or Schmalkalden soldiers were practically one and the same thing.

And inasmuch as our humble persons were forgotten in all this confusion, I said to Nicholas: "Let us go to the inn and show these 'frocked' individuals that we can do without their soup. A snap for that business, unless we have been too inexperienced at it." We ordered the best dishes and washed them down with generous wine. The echoes of our gay repast must have reached the monastery, and when we had paid our reckoning, we pursued our journey.

We stopped four days in the big and beautiful city of Ratisbon. King Ferdinand, his wife, his daughters and the court ladies in gorgeous dresses, lodged in the princ.i.p.al square, the houses of which where elegantly decorated. We saw the carriage sent by the Duke of Mantua to his betrothed. It was entirely white, and perfectly built; the iron was replaced everywhere by silver, even for the smallest nail. The team consisted of four magnificent white mares, without the tiniest spot; the harness was of silver, and their crups were ornamented with three rings of the precious metal. Dressed in white silk, with boots and whip of the same colour, and silver spurs, the coachman slowly drove thrice round the square.

It was very evident that both the emperor and the king were using all their energy. Night and day, at home and beyond the frontier, strict guard was kept. The army of Bohemia was encamped beyond the Danube, while the Germans occupied the head of the bridge on the side of the city. We were warned of the danger of venturing among the Bohemians; between these madmen and the German soldiers there was nearly every day a fresh dispute resulting in wounds which often proved fatal. On the other hand, the Protestant troops were on the move, and it was most difficult to cross their lines. We could, however, not remain in Ratisbon. So we plucked up our courage and started, decided not to lose our heads in case of arrest, but to ask to be taken before the superior officer, for, after all, we had no need to fear an interrogatory. What was the danger of saying whence we came and whither we were going? Our lot was, moreover, in the hands of Him who in Italy had confided us to the protection of his angels.[38] We trudged straight on to Nuremberg.

The weather was fine, the roads good, and the inns well provisioned.

Nuremberg is the _oculus Germaniae_. "Germany," according to the Italians, "has but one eye, Nuremberg." Nuremberg harbours the tradesmen, Augsburg the big merchants. We stayed three days in this interesting city, the study of whose civil and ecclesiastical inst.i.tutions is by no means a waste of time. We there completed our German attire by doublets with short waists. It seemed to me unnecessary to hide the gold and jewels any longer in my clothes, for in spite of the eighty miles from our own native land, we already fancied ourselves in it.

The lord of Plawe had taken up his quarters at our hostelry. He was a Bohemian of important station, an experienced soldier, and a cool-headed, prudent, and clever personage, enjoying much favour with the electors and the princes. He was known by all the dignitaries of France, Germany, and Italy. His history may prove interesting to my children. The lord of Plawe had no children, and to prevent the lapse of his fiefs to the suzerain lord, he prevailed upon his wife to pretend being pregnant, and arranged with a shepherd of the neighbourhood, a strong, robust fellow, whose wife was genuinely in that condition. The newborn being of the male s.e.x, it was carried clandestinely to the castle, where they had great rejoicings, a magnificent christening with high-born G.o.dparents. Seven years later, however, the lady of Plawe really gave birth to a son; the two children were brought up like brothers. When he came of age the elder visited the courts, and received a cordial welcome everywhere. The father died, and the elder, feeling himself cramped at home, abandoned the property to the younger in consideration of a yearly allowance. The mother is taken ill in her turn, and before her death reveals to her own child the whole of the secret. The elder, whose allowance is stopped, inst.i.tutes a claim, and is answered that he is the mere son of a shepherd. The affair is referred to King Ferdinand, the suzerain lord, the lords of Prawe bearing the t.i.tle of Burgrave of Mesnia, and first chancellor of the kingdom of Bohemia. To prove his parentage he produced the many letters in which his father recommended him in special terms to the emperor, and to the princes as his lawful heir.

Several important personages, the majority belonging to the Evangelicals took an interest in his case, and provided largely for his maintenance. The princ.i.p.al Welch and German universities all declared that he proved his affiliation. King Ferdinand, though, leant to the other side, no doubt _ratione papisticae religionis_.

Under these difficult circ.u.mstances, this gentleman considered it better not to take service in the war between the emperor and the League of Schmalkalden, inasmuch as he would neither be unfaithful to his master nor to his conscience. The catastrophe which he dreaded nevertheless overtook him. About six months after the termination of the war, when, probably, he felt exceedingly pleased with himself on account of his clever abstention, he was laid by the heels by order of King Ferdinand, s.h.i.+pped on a raft, and taken to Hungary; and from that time he was no more heard of.

On August 11 we only reached Nordhausen in the Harz mountains, just as they were closing the city gates, but sufficiently early, though, to notice ten corpses tied to as many posts. The guard, which had been reinforced, was inclined to leave us outside. They pointed to the men that had been executed. "If they are there, it is because they deserved it," we answered; "ours is a different case." When we got inside we could not find a shelter anywhere. I inquired for the dwelling of the burgomaster and found him at home.

After the few customary inquiries about our names, our place of birth and our destination, the burgomaster questioned us about the beginning of the hostilities. We told him what we knew, and then exposed our embarra.s.sing situation to him. "Never during this painful journey, not even in Italy, had we met with such inhuman conduct," we said. "We are not asking for charity. We are willing to pay for what we get; n.o.body shall have cause to complain of us. We ask you, therefore, to direct us to a respectable place of shelter."

Our very sordid appearance did not prevent the burgomaster from considering us altogether inoffensive, and, like a man of sense, he explained apologetically, "Our citizens," he remarked, "are still under the influence of a strong alarm, for we know for certain that a band subsidized by the confederate of h.e.l.l who reigns at Rome is scouring the Saxon country, poisoning wells and pastures and setting fire to everything else. The proof of it is in the ten executed men whom you must have noticed at your arrival. Their crime admits of no doubt."

"Agreed," I replied, "but if our conscience were in the least reproaching us, do you think we should have the courage to present ourselves before the first magistrate of the town?"

The burgomaster told one of his servants to take us with his compliments to a certain private individual, who happened to be a butcher with a stock of beautiful, luscious meat. On the hearth the beef was simmering in a large pot, no doubt to be retailed hot next morning. We asked him for some of that; then inquired about the liquor he could offer us. "I have got some excellent Nordhausen beer," he said. We, however, were used to wine. "Cannot you give us some wine?

That's what we want with our meat." "If you care to pay for it. It's so much per measure." "Here's the money." "Do you want any fish?" "Yes; let us have a comfortable evening after this rough day. Come and sit yourself down with us and keep us company." He stared at us very hard, not knowing what to think. In spite of his knowing look, he behaved very well to us.

When our hunger and thirst were appeased, the butcher asked us whether we would go to bed or remain where we were. "Bring us some clean straw, and that will be enough for us. We shall not have the trouble of dressing in the morning," we answered. Besides the straw he gave us pillows, downright excellent beds, and snowy sheets; hence, in wis.h.i.+ng him good-night, we a.s.sured him that we were born to understand each other. Next morning, the one who was the first to rise found the door bolted; we were obliged to wait for our host. We settled the reckoning with him, and the servant who had prepared our couch got a tip.

We stopped a day and a half at Luneburg, which we reached on August 15, and in view of our approaching meeting with our nearest and dearest, we paid attention to our dress. We crossed the burgh of Moelln, where Eulenspiegel lies buried, but at Lubeck a messenger who caught us up informed me that my uncle Andreas Schwartz was living at Moelln with his wife and children, and begged of me to retrace my steps. I spent a whole day with him, and when we had chatted to our heart's content he provided me with a horse and attendant as far as Lubeck.

At the city gate I wanted to turn short; perhaps I was still feeling the effect of the stirrup cup. My horse gave way, and for a moment the rider and the animal lay motionless. They were under the impression that I had broken the left thigh bone; but I got up safe and well.

At Lubeck my faithful travelling companion loyally repaid his debt. I took the coach, and at last, after a journey of eight weeks' (eighteen days of which had been spent in resting at various places, the distance from Rome to Stralsund being 250 German miles, and consequently five times as many Welch ones), I heard the "welcome" from my father, mother, brother and five sisters, all of whom were in excellent health.

Together with Dr. Hoyer's letter, I handed over the objects restored by Cardinal St. Flore according to the inventory. My parents gave me two of the rings. As I was as sore as the most foundered horse, my mother had a bath prepared for me twice a week, and she herself rubbed my thigh with curd soap, so that my limbs soon recovered their usual suppleness.

PART II

CHAPTER I

I am appointed Pomeranian Secretary--Something about my diurnal and nocturnal Journeys with the Chancellor--Missions in the Camps--Dangers in the Wake of the Army

When I had recovered from the fatigue of my travels, I came to the conclusion that a life of monotony and frequent visits to the tavern were not at all to my taste. The day would come when I had a wife and children to maintain; I therefore wanted a means of livelihood. I voted for the scribal occupation, and had recourse to the influence of Superintendent-general Knipstrow to obtain a position at the chancellery of Wolgast. Our friend's efforts having been successful, I was summoned to Wollin, where the prince was going to hold a diet. The journey by coach enabled me to make ample acquaintance both with the councillors and with my colleagues. I entered upon my duties on November 14, 1546.

The staff of the chancellery was composed of Jacob Citzewitz, chancellor; Erasmus Hausen, accountant-general; Joachim Rust, proto-notary; Johannes Gottschalk, Lawrence Dinnies, Christopher Labbun and Heinrich Altenkuke, secretaries. I need only mention for form's sake Valentine von Eichstedt, a student from Greifswald, whom the chancellor wished to initiate in the dispatch of current affairs.

Valentine hung about the office, now and again copying a fragment of a letter. He was wretchedly dressed; his poor blue jacket scarcely reached to his waist, while, on the other hand, his hose fell over his boots. Rust and Gottschalk refused to have him at the clerks' table; he had his meals lower down with the servants. In spite of this, Valentine, at the retirement of Erasmus Hausen, was appointed to the audit office through the influence of the chancellor. In order to get him into the habit of pleading he was entrusted with the cases that were settled by mutual agreement; after which he was sent to Wittenberg to finish his studies, and in a very short period he became accountant-general. A few years later Citzewitz gave up his position of chancellor to him. The protege paid his benefactor in the usual way of the world, and on that chapter I myself could say a great deal.

The experience I had gained at the Imperial Chamber and in the chancelleries compelled Rust and Gottschalk to acknowledge that I could handle my pen, and inasmuch as the chancellor preferred my work to theirs, they seized every opportunity to do me harm. I had only to ask them for a few materials for this or that work to be sure to get it badly done and teeming with inaccuracies.

The dissolution of the League of Schmalkalden[39] and the threatening att.i.tude of the emperor imparted a feverish activity to the correspondence which was being exchanged between our princes, the Elector of Brandenburg and the Elector of Saxony. The latter spent the winter very sadly at Altenburg. Chancellor Jacob Citzewitz was the soul of these negotiations; his experience of imperial and provincial diets, his learning heightened by eloquence, the personal consideration he enjoyed, his imposing figure, his lofty mind, and his a.s.siduous labours all these, in fact, singled him out to represent the princes both in the councils and on more solemn occasions. Being fully aware of the weightiness of his task, he wholly devoted himself to it; all the enactments of the princes were drawn up by his pen and defied criticism. When Citzewitz at the termination of a debate asked: "Who undertakes the inditing?" all the councillors cried in chorus: "That's Solomon's business," for that was the nickname they had bestowed upon him.

Day and night, on horseback or on wheels, I scoured the highways in company of the chancellor. Starting from Berlin in the evening, we reached Stettin the next afternoon in sufficient time to present the report. Then there were the nights spent at work with the chancellor, who dictated to me the decisions to be submitted to the council on the morrow. I made a fair draft of them before the sitting, so that immediately after their having been read they could be sealed and dispatched. If my children should wish to compute the amount of labour I gave to the court and to Stralsund they will derive a salutary lesson from the reward these labours have brought me in my old days: _in fine laborum_, ingrat.i.tude.

Owing to those constant journeys I did not spend four weeks in six months at Wolgast, and still less at the chancellery. I lodged with Master Ernest, the cook of his Serene Highness Duke Philip, and of his august father and grandfather. Ernest was an honest and G.o.d-fearing man.

The year 1547 was an anxious one for the courts of Stettin and Wolgast, and the news that the Duke of Wurtemberg had tendered his submission accelerated the departure of a mission to the emperor. It was instructed to deny all partic.i.p.ation of the princes in the League of Schmalkalden. The envoys of Duke Barnim were Dr. Falcke, in the capacity of chancellor, and Captain Jacob Putkammer; those of Duke Philip, Captain Moritz Damitz and Heinrich Normann. I was designated to accompany those four personages, and on March 10 we started by way of Silesia.

At Zittau we were obliged to leave Damitz in the doctor's hands; after which we crossed the Forest of Bohemia and reached Lertmeritz; next to Prague, the princ.i.p.al and best fortified town of the kingdom. We spent several days there in order to get an idea of the condition of affairs.

The dislike of the Bohemians to march against the Elector of Saxony was evident, but King Ferdinand brought heavy pressure to bear upon them, he called up many of his troops both from Silesia and from Hungary.

These Hungarian hors.e.m.e.n, called Husards, happen to be pitiless brigands. The King had placed them under the command of Sebastian von der Weitmulen, who, at the beginning of the war, had been appointed regent of the kingdom. The headquarters were at Eger, where this soldiery cut the children's hands and feet off to put them into their hats instead of plumes.