Spain On the other side Maximilian Duke of Bavaria son of William and of Renata of Lorraine left a son who in the year 1650. married Adelaïs daughter to Victor Amedeus Duke of Savoy and to Christina of France who is allied by consanguinity to all the greatest Kings and Princes in Christendom P. These are indeed very great Alliances G. But this is not all Frederick V. Elector Palatine in the year 1613. married Elizabeth daughter of James King of great Britain and by reason of her the House became allied to the Kings of England and Denmark Philip Lewis his brother in the year 1631. married Mary Eleonor daughter to Joachim Frederick Elector of Brandenbourg and his sister Elizabeth Charlotta was given in marriage to George William Elector of Brandenbourg July 14. 1626. Philip William Duke of Newbourg his first wife was Anne Catherine daughter to Sigismond King of Poland and John Casimir was the worthy husband of Catherine daughter to Charles and mother to Charles Gustavus King of Sweden From whence it may easily be seen that few Houses in Europe are better allied then this which besides what we have newly mentioned is of kin to the Houses of Hesse Gonzaga Bourbon Nassau Saxony Juliers Wirtemberg Rohan and many others P. Is not this Elector Palatine Charles Lewis married G. I forgot to tell you that this Prince who at least equals if he doth not go beyond all his Ancestors in Prudence and Magnaniâ—â—ty hath taken to wife Charlotta the worth daughter of the incomparable Amelia Elizabeth Landgravess of Hess which is sufficienâ— to say that he could not have made a betteâ— choice Edward this Electors brother marâ—â—ed Anne daughter to Charles Duke of Mantâ— and Neuers and Henrietta their sister dye a little after she was married to the Princeâ— Transylvania His other brethren and sisteâ— are yet to marry Robert and Maurice havâ— given proof of their ability and courage upoâ— occasions almost without number and thâ— Princesses Elizabeth Loüyse and Sophia havâ— made skilful masters confess that the Sciencâ— have nothing so sublime nor Picture-drawiâ—â— any thing so marvellous but the wit and hauâ— of these Ladies have been able to reach it P. I hope you will make me a long reciâ—â— of the Genealogies of great persons and theâ— you will not omit these Alliances and these â—â—lustrious Princes and Ladies But that it may bâ— done with the less trouble I shall be conteâ—â— to hear you discourse it at your leisure Leâ— us pass if you please into Saxony and do 〈◊〉 the favour to tell me what you know of theâ—â— Electoral House G. There is not any House in Europe moâ—â— glorious then that of Saxony It restored the honour of the Empire after the race of Charlemagne had lost its first vigour and under oâ—â— Henry and three Otho's it confirmed the Imperial dignity unto Germany it conquered many enemies gave Princes to Savoy and if it be true that Hugh Capet was descended from this House it hath likewise furnished France with their Kings P. Do not the Kings of Denmark also come from Witikind of Saxony G. It is said that the Counts of Oldenbourg are a branch of this great Stock and it is most certain that after the death of Christopher III. the Danes would have chosen Adolph Duke of Schleswick who would not accept of the Crown in regard of his great age declaring that such an honour would be better placed upon the person of Christian Count of Oldenbourg his grandchild and heir apparent The Danes taking this counsel and admiring the generosity of him that gave it chose Christian the first of that name whose posterity Reigns at this day in Denmark Norway Schleswick Holstein Stormar and Dithmarsh P. We will take another time to speak of the Kings of France and Denmark and of the Dukes of Savoy It will be sufficient for the present to inform me when the Electoral Cap was first brought into this House into how many branches it is divided how many voices it hath in the Diets and what are its principal forces and alliances G. The Emperor Sigismond knowing the merit of Frederick the Warlike Marquiss oâ— Misnia and the obligation that the Empire had to his Predecessors charged Eric V. of the House of Saxon-Lawembourg for having lapsâ—â— his due time of demanding the Investiture of the Electorship which his Ancestors had possessed ever since the year 1180. and transfored the same upon the forenamed Frederick oâ— Twelfth-day 1423. Since that time this House hath without interruption possessed the Electoral dignity with the Dutchy of Saxony thâ— Marquisate of Misnia the Landgraveship oâ— Thuringia And by a further accumulation oâ— good fortune it inherited the Principality oâ— Henneberg nay since the last War of Boheâ—â— the Emperor gave the upper and lower Lusaiâ— to Iohn George Elector of this House who diâ—ed the 8. of October 1656. and was interred thâ— 4. of February 1657. with more then Regâ—â—pomp there being 3500. persons in mourâ—ing and 24. Horses of State covered with black and the Electoral Escutcheon embroidered thereon every one of them led by two Gentlemen P. In a late discourse concerning the valiant actions of Duke Bernard Weymar it was sail that he loved not the House of Austria because it took the Electoral dignity from thâ—â— branch G. It is true that Iohn Frederick furnamed the Magnanimous having taken arms for the liberty of Religion was deprived of his dignity by the Emperor Charles V. who took him prisoner near Wirtemberg and gave the Electorate to Maurice in the year 1547. Thus passed this dignity into another branch and the elder became younger brethren For this cause there was but little confidence and kindness between the Princes of this House But as there is no grief which is not diminished by length of time even so the bitterness between these Princes hath been sweetned and they seem to be entirely reconciled For Frederick William Duke of Altembourg took for his second wife Magdalen Sibylla daughter to Iohn George the Elector last deceased and Maurice son to the same Elector hath married Dorothy Mary daughter to William Duke Weymar eldest son of that matchless Bernard whose praises you have heard P. For so much as I perceive this House is divided into many branches G. Not counting the Kings of France and Denmark and the Dukes of Savoy who are the illustrious Ciens that sprung out of this great Tree the Electoral House of Saxony is divided into two principal branches in each whereof there have been six Electors The last of the first branch lost the Electoral dignity because he was unsuccesful in making War for the liberty of Germany against Charles V. and the first of the second branch left the Electoral Cap unto his brother and his posterity for having happily taken and born arms in favour of his Countrey against the same Emperor P. I pray make this business out a little clearer to me G. Frederick III. of that name Elector
of Brandenbourg and widow to Christopher the last King of Denmark That Prince having Reigned happily 33. years in Denmark 32. in Norway and 25. in Sweden dyed afterwards A. D. 1482. leaving two sons who succeeded him in this manner John his eldest was King of those three Kingdoms after his Father and gave his brother Frederick the moyety of his Hereditary lands Then having reigned peaceably he dyed A. D. 1513. leaving his son Christian II. to be his Successor That Prince was born A. D. 1481. and married Isabel sister to the Emperor Charles V. by whom he had Dorothy Electoress of Brandenbourg Christina Dutchess of Milan and afterwards of Lorraine and John who dyed bearing arms under the Emperor Charles his Unkle by the Mothers side in the year 1532. Christiern otherwise Christian II. forsook the way of his Father and Grandfather and became so cruel a Tyrant that the Swedes drove him out of their Countrey and placed upon the Throne Gustavus Vasc son to Erick a Swedish Knight A. D. 1523. And nine years after the Danes cast him in prison where he ended his dayes in five more P. Men seem to be of a worse condition then beasts inasmuch as Eagles do not ingender pigeons nor Lions Stags yet Heroical persons rarely beget their like The greatest men are subject to the misfortune of seeing their children unworthy to succeed them But what came to pass after the imprisonment of Christiern G. We will speak in another place of what followed in Sweden In Denmark the Nobility had an honourable memory and high esteem of the virtues of Christian I. and of Iohn wherefore instead of the Tyrant who was prisoner at Sunderbourg they placed Frederick his Unkle by the Fathers side upon the Throne who was very aged and yet he introduced the Doctrine of Luther into Denmark and his own hereditary Principalities That Frederick was the first Duke of Holstein which is held in Fee of the Empire as Schleswick is of Denmark but neither he nor his son Christian III. durst send any body to the Diets fearing they should be but ill used for having assumed the place of a brother-in-law to two Emperors P. It may be those Princes not daring to send their Deputies to the Diets lost the Rank they held there G. Frederick I. of that name King of Denmark was Duke of Holstein before he came to the Crown yet I cannot tell whether he had taken place in the Assemblies of the Empire But to pursue the discourse we have begun that Prince left two sons the elder of whom was King after him by the name of Christian III. and Adolph his younger son Duke of Holstein They had both children from whom all the Princes of this House are descended For Christian was Father to King Frederick II. and to Iohn the younger and Adolph to Iohn Adolph and to Frederick Archbishop of Bremen and Bishop of Lubeck P. I pray draw out this Genealogy a little more at length G. Frederick II. husband to Sophia daughter to Vlrick Duke of Meklebourg had one son and four daughters very worthy of your knowledge For as much as Elizabeth the eldest was married to Henry Iulius Duke of Brunswick Anne to Iames VI. King of Scotland who afterwards got all Great Britain by the death and Testament of Elizabeth Queen of England Augusta to Iohn Adolph Duke of Holstein and Hedwig to Christian II. Elector of Saxony His Son and Successor to the Crown was Christian IV. a great King both in time of peace and war That Prince who admiring the worth of Henry the Great King of France made him his pattern in every thing and had at the least as many sons as he as well Legitimate as Natural But there remains no more of the lawfully begotten then his Successor Frederick III. who hath already many children and may have more P. This King is esteemed throughout all Europe for a knowing Prince and one that sets a value upon good men Let us see the Descendents of Iohn the younger G. That Prince was even goodness it self and God blessed him exceedingly for he had 23. children by Elizabeth Dutchess of Brunswick and Agnes Hedwig Princess of Anhalt his wives Two of those Princes dyed in Hungary one at the illustrious Colledge of Tubing two departed in their infancy and four lived to be married who are fathers of many Lords either residing at Sunderbourg Nortbourg Glugsbourg and Plone or else seeking their fortune in the Wars The daughters were thus married the eldest to a Duke of Lignitz three of the youngest to three Dukes of Pomerania Anne Sabina to a Duke of Wirtemberg Eleonor Sophia to a Prince of Anhalt and Margaret to John Count of Nassau The rest dyed in their Cradle except Eleonor who is still unmarried and leads an exemplary life she is 67. years old yet very lovely for her age and worthy to be visited by Kings for she hath a marvellous way of entertaining those Princes and Ladies that do her the honour to see her And I can assure you I never saw better sweet-meats served any where then at her house nor strangers received with greater civility P. Tell me I pray a little more particularly who are the Descendents of John the younger brother to King Frederick II. G. Alexander his eldest son had six sons whereof the eldest married a Countess of Delmenhorst and at his death left one son and two daughters by her Frederick Philip and Joachim Ernest brethren to Alexander are yet living the first hath three sons and as many daughters the second hath but two sons alive five Princesses married and one to marry the third hath four Princes two whereof have command in the King of Spains service and three Princesses still maids all beautiful and witty and brought up in the School of a Father inferior to none in the Empire for prudence and of a Mother that hath but few equals in all kind of vertues P. Do not forget the Descendents of Adolph younger brother to Christian III. of that name G. Adolph had many sons that dyed young one that was Archbishop of Bremen and John Adolph his eldest married Augusta daughter to Frederick II. King of Denmark These two had issue John Bishop of Lubeck a comely and liberal Prince who dying left his son John Augustus still very young but pretty and exceeding hopeful Frederick this Bishops elder brother hath the moyety of the Dutchies of Schleswick Holstein Stormar and Dithmarsh and takes turns with the King of Denmark in the administration of Justice in having place and voice in the Assemblies of the Empire and in all other Rights of Regality This Prince great in knowledge and magnanimity hath for a partner in his bed and felicity Mary Elizabeth daughter to John George Elector of Saxony by whom he hath still living three sons and five daughters four whereof are married to John Prince of Anhalt Gustavus Adolph Duke of Meklebourg Lewis Landgrave of Darmstadt and Charles Gustavus
wait upon the Emperor to his Lodging P. Are all these formalities absolutely necessary G. They are all so necessary that without them the Recesse or Act would not have the power of a Law nor oblige any one to the observation of it But I should have told you that two Originals are drawn Signed and Sealed in the same manner one of which is laid up in the Chancery of the Empire whereof the Elector of Mentz hath the custody and the other in the Chancery of the Emperor There is also a Copy sent to the Chamber of Spirt Here you must take notice that these Acts are framed and written in the German Tongue to the end that all the Subjects of the Empire may understand them neither can they be in any other Language by an Edict which the Emperor Rodolph made to that purpose in the year 1274. The end of the Ninth Dialogue Dialogue X. In what condition the Empire was when the peace was concluded at Munster 1648. And of the Golden Bull. P. WHen the unwelcome news of the Emperor Ferdinand III. his deplorable death had sounded in the ears of all Germany it struck a sensible sorrow upon the hearts of all those that love peace which he had procured for us and fear the disorders which usually happen in the time of an Interregnum I am one of that number and that fear carrying my thoughts back to the sad and calamitous times of his Reign I desire you to tell me something of it G. Ferdinand III. Son to Ferdinand II. Nephew to Charles Archduke of Gratz and great Nephew to the Emperor Ferdinand I. being born the 13. of July 1608. was placed upon the Throne of Hungary in the year 1625. and two years after upon that of Bohemia Then having given proof of his valour prudence and piety he was chosen King of the Romans at Ratisbon in the year 1636. and on the 9. of July 1637. when his Father dyed he took the Reins of the Empire into his hand and was effectually Emperor though his Enemies refused to give him the title till the beginning of the Treaty of Peace which was concluded at Munster the 24. of October 1648. That Prince having enjoyed but little health and less quietness upon earth entred into the fruition of Eternal rest in Heaven the second of April in the year 1657. which was the 20. of his Reign and the 49. of his Age. P. The decease of that pious Prince was the innocent cause of the dispute which is at this day between the Electors of Bavaria and Palatine the first pretending that the Vicarship of the Empire is inseparably annext to his Electorship and the other to the possession of the Lower Palatinate And I remember I have heard you say that Frederick V. Father of this Palatine accepted the Crown of Bohemia which Charles Emanuel Duke of Savoy Bethlelem Gabor Prince of Transylvania John George Elector of Saxony and Maximilian Duke of Bavaria had justly refused when the Bohemians desirous of novelty rejected their King out of which temerarious engagement grew that War which hath afflicted Our Countrey for a long time Now being I hold it more necessary to know the condition wherein Germany was at the beginning and end of our troubles then to learn in what state Rome was at the time when Julius Cesar broke and dissolved the Triumvirate I pray tell me what you know of it G. It is good to know ancient Histories but much better not to be ignorant in the modern I therefore commend your curiosity and for the satisfaction thereof shall tell you it is worth your observation that the peace of many years had filled Germany with riches debauchery and evil humours which could not let Great men be quiet in the enjoyment of their superabundant happiness I do not know whether it be that our nature is always longing for new things or that God usually punishes our excesses even in this life But so it was that the Head and principal Members of the Empire entred into a misunderstanding and distrust of one another while the first endeavouring to enlarge his authority found himself in danger to lose it and the latter desiring to preserve their priviledges filled their states with misery desolation and infinite mortalities P. Some think that the House of Austria being arrived to a formidable greatness projected designs proportioned to its strength and would have made it self absolute as well in Germany as in its Estates of Spain and Italy the apprehension whereof possessing our Nation made it resolve upon the dangeroufest way of preserving it self which is to call in Strangers G. As in eating one bit whets the stomach for another so it is in rule and Government where every addition creates a desire of enlargement Yet I do not believe the House of Austria which is naturally pious and just had ever a design to enrich it self out of the spoils of another but the affection it bears to the Religion of Rome doth easily perswade me that it would willingly have leaped over any other consideration to see the Protestants under the yoke of the Pope P. Do you think that the zeal of Religion which is remarked in those Princes was the cause of our Civil Wars G. It is not impossible but that zeal might have carried the pious disposition of Ferdinand II. upon some enterprize which might clash with that liberty of Religion which was tolerated by the Edicts of his Predecessors and if you adde thereunto with what ease he dissipated the dreadful Forces which Frederick V. Elector Palatine Bethlehem Gabor and his other Confederates had drawn together you will make no further doubt but that his good success inflamed and heightned that zeal of his and that the same great Prince believing his victories to be visible evidences that God called him to humble and bring down every thing that did not acknowledge the See of Rome would have endeavoured to force consciences and make Rome to be reverenced in every place where his Sceptre was obeyed P. Malvezzi pretending to show that the House of Austria took up Arms only in its own defence says that the greatest part of the world conspired its ruine in the year 1625. G. That Marquiss desiring to raise beyond all comparison the merit of Don Gaspar de Gusman Count of Olivares and Duke of Saint Lucar favourite to Philip IV. King of Spain says that by vertue of a League made at Avignon Europe and Africa laid their heads and joyned their hands together against the House of Austria and that the felicity and prudence of that Favourite was such that the King his Master remained victorious every where For says he when it was resolved that the Hollanders should set upon Brasile the Armies of France and Savoy should assault Genoa the King of England should send a Fleet to Cadiz the King of Denmark with the Protestants of Germany should trouble the Empire Venice should assist the Duke of Savoy with
few of them who set not a greater value upon it then upon their study P. I confess the sway of my inclination is absolutely bent to it and I could more willingly endure the pains of Hunting a whole day then of study but two hours Yet because you think it fit I will hunt as seldom as I can that I may keep the promise I made to you to follow your counsel in all things G. It is no small comfort to me to hear that you prefer my advice before your pleasure but I am sorry that you call and esteem that a Labour which is nothing but pure delight Study would be a sensual pleasure if the mind were capable of any They that have once tasted it can never take themselves off again and oftentimes it engages those who are born for action to give themselves over to contemplation in such manner that thereby they become despiseable and indeed altogether despised drawing upon themselves the point of those Lances which they have neglected and the venom of those Pens which they too kindly embrace P. As therefore all kind of studies are not proper for all kind of persons so neither is it lawful for every one to spend so much time in them as he would G. You say right for as Alexanders dog thought any creature of less strength and courage then a Lyon to be unworthy of his anger and would not vouchsafe to stir if he did not see an object equal to his valour so men ought to make choice of such studies as are proportionable to their conditions And forasmuch as by Gods Providence you are born such a one as will one day have occasion to render him an account of a Principality you must of necessity learn to govern it well without amusing your self upon knowledges more curious then useful and which would better become a Professor in Philosophy than the General of an Army P. I know that men do not use to send for Shoe-makers to make their clothes nor to Taylors to make their boots Nevertheless many Princes enter upon the Government before they have past an Apprentiship for it and take the least care of that which concerns them the most But that I may not be one of that number I conjure you to instruct me in all that I ought to know to be able to govern G. The method of good Government is not to be learnt but from the mouth or actions of Kings and Princes Therefore I beseech you to give diligent heed to all you shall read in the Books of the Kings the Chronicles and the Wisdom of Solomon in the Sacred Story in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which James VI. King of Scotland and first of that name of England composed for the instruction of his Son in Guevara in the life of Marcus Aurelius in the Romulus Tarquin and David persecuted written by Malvezzi in the lives of Philip II. King of Spain and Henry IV. King of France and every where else where profane History takes notice of the vices and virtues of great men that so you may day by day grow to be an honester man and a more excellent Prince P. I have already read some part of that which you prescribe to me and should punctually observe this rule if I were not hindred by my ignorance in the Languages wherein they are written G. That defect would occasion many others to you and if you did not learn to understand Authors in their own Language you would recieve but little satisfaction for ordinarily translations have less grace and ornament then the Originals For which reason I have given order to your Master to use the easiest method for you and the greatest diligence he can that you may be a good Proficient in forain Languages I beseech you to second his laborious endeavours and help to make them fruitful P. Your will hath alwayes had the authority of a Law with me and I find it good for me to have learnt what you judged to be for my advantage Having therefore heard you say that Italian is easily obtainable by those that speak Latin and French I shall endeavour to get these two in perfection before I undertake the third G. I like your design and dare assure you that you will learn Italian with ease by the help of French for the knowledge of the one smooths the difficulties which occur in the other especially if one begin with French P. Which of these two do you esteem the finest Language and the most useful G. Your question doth somewhat perplex me for my part I think them both equally good and graceful but not equally useful for to know the utility of a Language it should be considered in what part of the world a man inhabits what persons he frequents and with whom he hath to do Italian is in high esteem and exceedingly useful in the Emperors Court and upon all the Coasts of the Mediterranean Sea They that trade in Asia Africk and Europe with the Turks Greeks Arabians Candians Rhodians Cyprians and other Levantine people may commodiously make use of it French is in greater vogue towards the North and is marvellously well entertained in Germany England Denmark Sweden and Poland where all the Kings Princes and Lords speak it exactly except the Emperor who neither loves the French nor their Language yet it is so much in fashion that the chiefest Italians nay even the Spaniards of his Court and all others that I have known in Germany speak it or clip it P. Then would it not be better for a German Prince to learn French perfectly and practise it continually then to amuse himself upon many Languages and become master of never a one of them G. Every man should take a just measure of his own strength and not grasp at more than he can hold But seeing you have a natural disposition to learn Languages and the honour to be a Prince which gives you the hope and almost the assurance of being employed in variety of business and in divers Countreys I lay it as a charge upon you to love French and not neglect Italian The end of the first Dialogue Dialogue II. Of the State of the Empire in general P. I Understand French indifferent well already and I think if I made a voyage through France I might easily attain to the perfection of it And therefore I earnestly entreat you to use the power and credit you have with my parents that by their good leave I may begin to travel and see what Europe affords worthy of my observation G. I know that travelling is a proper means to accomplish what you have begun but I cannot allow that you should imitate those who make it their study day and night to learn what was done at Rome 2000. years since without taking any thought to know how men live in Germany at the present They that study in such a manner are like those imprudent busie-bodies who having their eyes open to
their tranquillity depends upon the equal counterpoise of those two Kings and therefore use their endeavours to hinder the one from bringing the other too much under but I dare not affirm that either of them have such high thoughts True it is that every one ought to fear it and that the wisest Princes seeing the balance too heavy on one side help to make weight on the other The King of Sweden who is prudent in Counsel and valiant in fight will not be the last to apply a remedy when he sees the danger And if he should forget his own and the Empires Interest the Venetians Hollanders and Swisses would employ their money and power for the preservation of theirs and our Liberty P. Europe breeds a people so ingenuous knowing valiant and so opposite to servitude that it seems impossible for it ever to come under the obedience of one only person Let us then leave the Ambitious to rack and torture their minds with imaginary conquests and let us look upon the House of the Guelphes which heretofore possest a great part of Germany And if you will oblige me speak as distinctly of it as possibly you can G. This House which without dispute held the first rank after the Electors before the Archbishopricks of Magdebourg and Bremen were converted into Secular Dignities is put back those two degrees Nevertheless it comes not behind any one in antiquity and had its Territories all along the Elbe in the Countrey of Saxony when it followed the fortune of Albovin King of the Lombards first into Pannonia and afterwards into Italy where these people fixt their seat having driven the Goths out of it and gave their name to the Province anciently called Gallia Cisalpina about 200. years before the time of Charlemagne Then it was that this family acquired the Dutchy of Modena which it possesseth even at this day P. Do you think then that the House of Este which still holds the Dutchy of Modena and lost that of Ferrara in the time of Pope Clement VIII after the death of Duke Alphonso is a branch of this of Brunswick G. I make no doubt of it and when the Kingdom of the Lombards was destroyed in Italy by the arms of Charlemagne some Princes of this House came back into their own Countrey where they had still so large an estate and authority that the Emperor Lewis the Debonaire married Iudith a Princess of that family and had by her Charles the Bald who was King of France and Emperor This Empress had a brother named Henry to whom Lewis his Son-in-law son to Lewis Germanicus gave those lands which are now called Bavaria P. These indeed are fair and advantagious alliances which having made those Princes Brothers-in-law and Fathers-in-law to Kings brought them so considerable a Principality G. The Descendents of Henry did not long possess this Countrey for his line failing in Guelphe IV. his Nephews son the Emperor Henry IV. gave his inheritance to Guelphe V. son to the Duke of Ferrara who as we have said was of the same House And in process of time Henry the Proud Duke of Bavaria descended from Guelphe V. married Gertrude daughter to the Emperor Lotharius II. who brought him the Dutchy of Saxony for her Dowry The issue of that marriage was Henry Leo who together with Bavaria and Saxony possessed many great Principalities lying upon the Elbe and elsewhere P. How comes it then to pass that the Successors of Henry Leo have their Estate confined within the Dutchies of Brunswick and Luntbourg G. That Prince being of a high spirrit and not able to comply with the Emperor Frederick Barbarossâ— his Unkle was proscribed and expelled the Empire and when he was thâ—s driven out of his Estates he made his retreat into England to King Henry II. who gave him his daughter Matildis or Mawd to wife and procured his reconciliation with the Emperoâ— But because he had in the mean time disposed of the Dutchy of Bavaria in favor of the Count of Schieren whose posterity enjoys it at this day Henry Leo was restored to no more then the Dutchy of Saxony which Principality past a little after into the House of Saxon-Lawembourg by the marriage of Helen daughter to the Emperor Otho IV. and grandchild to Henry Leo with Albert I. of that name Elector of Saxony At that time Frederick II. gave the title of Duke of Brunswick and Lunebourg to Otho a prince of that House P. The misfortune of Henry Leo should serve for a lesson to Great ones and make all men see that it is necessary to honor Superiors and not to provoke ones Masters G. Many great Princes desiring to shake off the yoke of their due obedience have forfeited their right and lost that which they would not acknowledge to hold of their Soverain That was the quarrel against the King of England who was devested of the Provinces of Normandy and Guyenne by Charles VII King of France And if the Guelphes had husbanded their strength better and paid the Emperor the respect they ought him they had still been the most potent Princes in Germany P. They are far less at present then they were in the time of Henry Leo and yet they seem to be very considerable by their own forces and by their alliances G. All the Houses that have admitted the right of Primogeniture are better kept up then others This having a large Estate and four voices in the Assemblies is divided but into two principal branches which are equal in dignity but the elder in years of the two Chiefs precedes the other in the general and particular Assemblies They all bear the same title and if one branch happen to fail the other shall succeed it They have both of them good Fortresses Wolfenbottel Cel Hanover Lunebourg and Giffhorne are strong places under the command of these Princes Brunswick hath never submitted to their power still enjoying the right of a Free City though the Duke hath often used skill as well as force to bring it under his obedience These Princes can raise and maintain great numbers of Souldiers within their Territories And the neighborhood of Denmark and Sweden may yet make them more considerable the Emperor being always willing to gratifie them to keep them to him and strangers to gain them to their side P. It is certain that a Prince whose lands border upon a Forain State may easily make himself more valuable then if they lay in the heart of the Empire but there is a great deal of prudence to be used in such cases G. The Dukes of Lorraine and Savoye have always been very much considered for the situation of their Estates and the need that neighboring Monarchs had of their assistance For which cause Bocalini having brought them to be weighed at Laurence de Medicis his Scales finds them as heavy as Kings Yet if these Princes be not very quick and expert as well as valiant and resolute they may hazard the
at Lubeck to take their measures and resolve their affairs there but now that Confederation is of little use to the advancement of Trade since every City doth their own business apart The end of the Eighth Dialogue Dialogue IX Of the Vniversities the Justice and the Diets of the Empire P. LEarning being one of the principal ornaments of man and one of the pillars of the Commonwealth I beseech you tell me whether it be esteemed in Germany as it was heretofore in Greece and Italy G. There were never so many learned men in the world as at this time and there is never a Countrey in Europe where there are more nor more famous Universities then we have in Germany All Princes have founded some and strive who should maintain them the best because they know them to be the Universal remedies against an infinite number of evils which ignorance and idleness bring into the World They are not so ancient in this Countrey as in England France and Italy but they are more magnificent better ordered and fitted with Doctors and furnished with Scholars We read that Charles IV. Emperor and King of Bohemia having founded the University of Prague gave equal priviledges to the Bohemians Polanders and Germans and when he would retrench his favours towards strangers there went out of the Town in a weeks time 24000. Scholars and a little after 16000. more Whereby you may judge that there were more Scholars in Prague then other persons in some great City P. If I did not know that you flatter no body but love truth above all things I should hardly believe there were ever so many Scholars in Germany as you say there went out of Prague G. The last War hath so drained our Empire of men and money that I do not believe all Germany maintains so many Students at this time as there were at Prague in the year 1409. when they reckoned 44000. Scholars under the Rectorship of John Hus. Neither would it be thought strange that a War of 30. years during which time the Muses durst not appear any where should have exhausted the Empire both of Masters and Scholars Yet the Chairs of 32. Universities resound every day with the most sacred notions of Divinity the most equitable of Civil Law the most salubrious of physick the most sublime of Metaphysicks the most solid of Natural Philosophy the most recreative of Mathematicks the most prudential of Politicks the most subtile of Logick the most perswasive of Rhetorick and the most pleasing of Poetry P. Is it possible there should be so many Universities in Germany G. There are no less For Princes seeing that riches had infected the Cloysters with laziness and that the Sciences which heretofore seemed to be wholly confined within them were banished from them being desirous to preserve that Treasure which doth marvellously contribute to the glory of God the honour of the Prince and the peace of the Provinces they founded so many of them that Justus Lipsius saith there are more Universities in Germany then in all Christendom beside P. You believe that Learning is useful to keep the people in quiet and many men think that the Study of Divinity hath occasioned the growth of Heresies as that of the Law hath produced multitudes of Controversies and Suits which were unknown in the time of our Ancestors and that of Physick serves but to shorten our lives G. As an evil stomach turns the best food into putrifaction so a corrupt soul changes vertue into vice and light into darkness Divinity is a sacred Science which fights with and overcomes Heresies the Civil Law is the rule of Right which maintains Justice and banishes quarrels from amongst men and Physick teaches the vertues of Minerals and vegetables whereby the sound may preserve the health they enjoy and the sick recover that which they have lost If then Divines breed Heresies Lawyers processes and Physicians diseases it is not the fault of the Profession but of the Professors who abusing their knowledge do convert the goodness thereof into evil P. You will confess there were fewer Heresies Law-suits and diseases when there were not so many Universities in Europe G. The world growing old becomes so much worse and worse that if the Ancients should live again they would be astonished to see the corruption of our age The Heresies and suits in Law which you see are the fruits of humane malice and diseases are the effects of Navigations and avarice which have made men despise and hazard their lives to find out Sugar Pepper Cloves Nutmegs Cinnamon and other Spices that were unknown to the ancients who through that ignorance lived more piously more healthfully and longer then we do Ascribe then if you please the Original of Heresies Law-suits and diseases to mans covetousness which hath discovered the Indies and not to Universities which oppose them and had destroyed them too if impiety gluttony and drunkenness did not entertain and keep them amongst us P. I suppose you count the Universities of the Low Countreys among those of Germany otherwise there would not be so many and yet the Germans make scruple to acknowledge them for Doctors who have taken their degree at Leyden Franeker Groninguen and Vtrecht G. The Low Countreys being part of Germany it is reasonable that I rank their Universities among those of the Empire and I think they have good title to that honour because that of Doway was founded by Philip II. King of Spain A. D. 1562. that of Leyden was instituted by the States of Holland and by William Prince of Orange 1575. That of Franeker was established by the States of Friseland 1581. That of Groninguen 1614. and lastly that of Vtrecht 1636. As for the first there is no doubt but a King of Spain hath right to found Universities and the others having been founded in a time when the Soverainty of the States was still under dispute some question might jnstly be made whether they had power to give those priviledges which accompany the honour of Doctorship But now that all Europe acknowledges them for Soverains no man can make any more question of it And indeed the States General have so great care to procure eminent Professors for their Universities that Youth cannot but learn all kind of vertues there and ought to repair thither though they could not receive the Doctoral Cap in those places P. The Universities of Swisserland of Marpurg Altorf and Strasbourg are of no greater antiquity then those of the Low Countreys But because those men that administer Justice are commonly taken out of the Universities I think it not amiss that you tell me something of those in the Empire G. All the Universities in the Low Countreys are not so new That of Lovain began in the year 926. Afterwards John Duke of Brabant bestowed great priviledges upon it then it was confirmed by Pope Martin V. and at this time in the judgement of Iohn Becanus there are none in France