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
of Nassan Bredâ— and Dilembourg who are great in number and consideration P. I know that House hath produced Heroical spirits that have made the world understand the King of Spain was not invincible and that William Maurice and Frederick Henry of Nassau stopt his Chariot when he was driving apace to the Universal Monarchy Tell not something of their Alliances G. There are few Houses in Europe which are not allyed to that of Nassau Otho married the heiress of Guelderland and brought that County into his House as that of Zutphen also in the year 1079. Another Otho was husband to Adelais who brought him the County of Viande and the Baronies of St. Vit and Grumberg about the year 1350. Enguilbert grandchild to Otho took to wife the heiress of Breda John married Anne Countess of Catzenelleboguen by whom he was Count of Dietz and Henry son to John married Claudina of Chaalâ—â—s upon whom he begat Renatus the universal heir to Philibert of Chaalons Prince of Orange Now Renatus leaving no children by Anne daughter to Antony Duke of Lorraine had for the Successor of his whole estate William of Nassau who was Founder of the Commonwealth of Holland That Prince had four wives Anne of Egmont Countess of Barc Anne daughter to Maurice Duke of Saxony Charlotta of Bourbon Dutchess of Montpensier and Loüyse of Coligni His daughters were married to William Lewis Count of Nassau Emanuel son to Antony King of Portugal Philip Count of Hohenlohe Frederick IV. Elector Palatine Henry de la Tour Duke of Bouillon Claude de la Trimouille Duke of Toüars and Philip Count of Hanau P. I did not think that House was so well allied G. Philip William eldest son to the said William married a sister of the Prince of Conde And William son to Frederick Henry his youngest son while he was in minority was married unto Mary eldest daughter to Charles I. King of Great Britain John brother to William had three Wives and amongst them Cunegonde daughter to Frederick III. Elector Palatine John who was husband to Margaret Dutchess of Holstein and Ernest Casimir to Sophia Dutchess of Brunswick The Counts of Nassau are also very highly allied Lewis married Anne Amelia and John Sibyll Magdalen both daughters to George Frederick Marquiss of Baden From whence you may easily see that there be few Princes so well allied as those of Nassau Lastly those of Sarbrug do still bear the title of Count and all the rest that of Prince P. That which you have told me of the House of Nassau encreases the desire I have to know the other Counts Give some particulars concerning those of Hohenzolleren G. We said something of them when we were speaking of the Princes to which I now adde that Eitel Frederick who was living in the year 1202. married Elizabeth daughter to Adelbert Count of Habspourg the Emperor Rodolph I. his own sister from whom the Electors of Brandenbourg and the Counts of Hehenzolleren are descended Frederick the Blad is very famous for his military exploits and Justus Nicolas for re-edifying the Fort of Hohenzolleren which had been ruined by Henrietta Countess of Wirtemberg and Montbeliard That action was the more illustrious because Philip Duke of Burgundy Albert Elector of Brandenbourg Albert Duke of Austria and Charles Marquiss of Baden laid the first stone of it using a Tray a Trowel and a Mallet all of Silver about the year 1480. The Lords of that House are Hereditary Chamberlains to the Emperor since the time of Maximilian I. who to recompense the services of Eitel Frederick VII of that name honoured him with that Office to him and his Successors P. The House of Furstemberg is very renowned in History I would gladly know something of it G. Those Lords were grown very illustrious in the time of Henry the Fowler to whom Lewis Count of Freibourg and Furstemberg performed great services maintaining at his own charge threescore men at arms against the Huns and he was a party in the Turnament held at Magdebourg in the year 935. He was son to Frederick and to Agnes daughter to a King of Scotland and from him are descended all those that at this time bear the name and arms of Furstemberg Conrade son to Egon and to Agnes Dutchess of Zeringuen being Bishop of Losanna and Cardinal of the title of St. Ruffina was chosen Pope and refused it P. There are more to be found that sollicite for the Popedom then that reject it when it is offered G. Egon brother to Conrade added to his other titles that of Count of Aurach and his Successors enjoyed it till about the year 1443. at which time that County past into the House of Wirtemberg Henry V. accompanied the Emperor Frederick III. when he went to be Crowned at Rome Henry his son dyed at Tournay in the service of the Emperor Maximilian 1. And William son to Courade is celebrated in the History of France for having served and disserved King Francis I. To conclude all those that are living at present are descended from Frederick and Anne Countess of Heclehemberg who left two sons Christopher and Joachim From the first come Elizabeth the worthy Spouse of Frederick Marquiss of Baden Dourlach Eleonor married to Jâ—hu Eusebius Fugger Count of Kirksberg John Maximilian Frebemus Maria John Martin and Frances a young Lady still and of extraordinary beauty From Joachim are descended Francis Egon Canon of Collen and Strasbourg great Steward great Chamberlain and Counsellor of State to the Elector of Collen Herman Egon and William Egon both Church-men Mary Frances widow to William Palatine and Duke of Newbourg and Ferdinand Frederick Egon Counsellor Chamberlain and Captain of the Halberdiers Guard to the Emperor Ferdinand III. This Count was born February 6. 1623. and communicated his Genealogy to me upon the ending of the year 1654. P. I should be glad that you would run through all the Houses of the Counts of the Empire that I might know them well but seeing that is impossible I shall content my self with what you will be pleased to tell me of them G. I will tell you what I know but that will be no great matter The Counts of Barby are allied to the Dukes of Brunswick and to the Princes of Anhalt and East-Friseland they use the title of Noble Lords Those of Castel are as ancient as the Empire in Germany they are of the chiefest persons of Franconia fruitful in vertue great in merit happy in alliance soverain in their Justice and might raise envy in many though they had none but Wolfgang George President of the Councel of State and great Steward of the Court of Wirtemberg a most excellent pattern of piety justice and integrity The Counts of Oldenbourg and of Delmenhorst are totally extinguished by the death of Antony Gunther who having made his name known amongst all the greatest Princes and secured his lands by the great number of Horses which he gave away to save himself from losing 1200. breeding
desire that he may obtain them the most Religious pray God to give him them the most couragious grumble and the most seditious losing all respect talk of putting another into his place The unfortunate life and death of Henry the Third King of France are unquestionable evidences of this truth P. How should one do to gain authority and reputation G. Authority depends upon reputation for the people believing that their Prince is valiant liberal and prudent doth readily obey his will and receive his Commands with respect honour and reverence Now to gain the reputation of a prudent Prince he should be very careful that his servants and Ministers be friends to the publick good affable modest and generous To be esteemed valiant it is sufficient that he shew a constant resolution to maintain his People in their ancient Splendor even at the expence of his life that adversity cast him not down nor prosperity make him insolent And to give a fairer lustre to his liberality he should take care that the little he bestowes arise not out of the oppression of his People If it be thus indeed then without being present every day at Councel without drawing his sword or giving much his Subjects his Friends and his Enemies too will esteem him valiant liberal and prudent and all of them fearing to offend him will pay him the duties of Subjects Friends and Neighbours P. A Prince that carries true piety in his heart and all Christian virtues in his soul needs not doubt but God will dissipate and disappoint all the evil designs of his mutinous Subjects and ambitious Neighbours But what Countrey-man was Pepin G. It is generally said that he was originally a German nay many think that Charlemagne his son was born near the Rhine John de Serres in his Inventary of the History of France Tom. 1. pag. 315. says he was born at Wormes crowned at Spire and buried at Aix and in pag. 324. of the same Tome he says he was buried at Aix where he was born How ever it be they were both of them Kings of France and the latter won so much renown by preserving the Church of Rome and defending the Pope who was unjustly assailed by Desiderius King of Lombardy that the Pope the Senate and people of Rome proclaimed him Emperor in the year of our Lord 800. P. I thought it was Pope Leo III. only that divided the Empire and gave the Western part with the name of Emperor to Charlemagne when he made him Advocate of the Holy See G. The Popes labour to perswade us so and would have it believed that the Crowns of Lombardy and Rome are essential to the Imperial dignity saying that the Emperor becomes King of Germany by the election which the Princes make of his person but acquires the name of Emperor Cesar and Augustus by the consecration and approbation which he receives from the Pope But this opinion of the Popes and of some writers their Votaries is ridiculous otherwise the Heathen Emperors would not have been lawful Emperors and those professing Christianity who resided at Constantinople since Constantine the Great until Constantine Paleologus nay those of Germany since Ferdinand the First till this very day would have been Usurpers having been Crowned neither at Milan nor Rome which cannot be said without the guilt of High Treason From whence you ought to conclude that the Emperors are so by the Grace of God without being any way beholden for it to the See of Rome P. Did the posterity of Charlemagne keep possession of the Empire and the Kingdom of France for any long time G. It held the Empire and France together not very long for the children of Lewis the Debonaire sharing their Fathers Estates that division weakned the House occasioned Wars between the brethren and was the cause that his Grandchildren lost the Empire in the year 912. and the Kingdom of France in the year 987. at which time Hugh Capet made Charles Duke of Lorraine Unckle by the Fathers side to Lewis the Fifth to be declared unworthy to succeed to the Crown of his Progenitors because he had done homage to Germany for his Dutchy So the race of Charles the Great to whom all Christendom doth owe so much fell totally from their greatness and made room in Germany for the Saxons and in France for the Capetians who set up the Empire and France again in their first lustre P. Was Hugh Capet a Frenchman G. He was born in France but a Saxon by extraction for Charlemagne coming to an agreement with Witikind of Saxony after a long and bloody War took one of Witikinds sons into France with him and did so much for him that his successors raised themselves with ease to the highest Offices of State and at length Hugh Capet put the Crown upon his own head and transmitted it to his descendents who enjoy it still with more happiness and authority then their predecessors did P. I learn by what you tell me that all the Kings who have reigned in France since Pharamond came out of Germany and I am glad to understand so much because it is an honor for our Nation to have given Kings unto so considerable a part of Europe But methinks this discourse draws us much off of our mark and being to speak of Languages and of the place where they should be learnt we allow that subject the least share of our thoughts G. It is true indeed that we make long digressions but they bring us nearer to the end we aim at for the best way to learn Languages is to speak and discourse with those that have the reputation of speaking well P. Do not all Frenchmen and Italians speak their own native Language well G. There are Provinces in France and Italy where you meet with few persons that speak French or Italian purely and never a one where the vulgar hath not some terms out of use and rejected by the learned So that those who travel to learn languages should take care to make their stay in places where the common people have the best accent and the least barbarous phrases P. Where should Italian be learnt G. You know that the inundation of people who to show the Romans that they were not invincible came at several times out of Gaul and Germany so corrupted the Latine in Italy that it degenerated into a language exceedingly mingled Since that time the great wits as Petrarch Boccace Ariosto Tasso Bembo and many others have so cultivated it that their writings do in no wise give place to the elegancy of the Greeks and Latines Now as Cities are some more or less ingenious then others the inhabitants of Sienna have surpassed them all in the sweetness and politeness of the Italian tongue and the Court of Rome which is composed of all the rest hath brought it to its perfection P. That being so I will stay longer at Sienna and Rome then in other places G. So I advise you and
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
to submit to their Judgement G. The Quarters of the Nobility do usually meet together once a year and besides the publick affairs which are debated in those Assemblies they do also judge the differences there that happen between the Gentlemen And when they have judged a thing reasonable they entreat the parties to acquiesce therein and so doing to comply with their duty and prevent Law-suits which nourish misunderstanding and hatred between those that should love one another and which might give occasion to those that look upon the flourishing Nobility with an evil eye to contemn and despise it If one of the parties think himself wronged he prayes the Court of the Nobility that they would be pleased once more to consider his right and his reasons Wherein they gratifie him and when that is done the parties are again entreated to agree but then if they refuse to submit to the Judgement they are permitted one to convent the other before the Imperial Chamber P. If it be so the Directors of those Quarters have not power to oblige the Nobility to the doing of that which they think just and reasonable G. Equals neither ought nor can pretend to any jurisdiction over their equals Nevertheless it is very rare to meet with a Gentleman there who doth not yield to and acquiesce in the Judgement of the Assembly and who had not rather depart with some of his right then send or go to Spire where suits are spun out to a tedious length P. All honest men hate going to Law and the Nobility should leave that plague to quarrelsom and litigious persons And indeed I think a true Gentleman had rather talk of war and be present at assaults and Battels then discourse of the Orders and Decrees of a Parliament and be bound to court and cringe to the Judges to get a favourable sentence Tell me something of the advantages which that Nobility hath G. The Franchises and priviledges of Gentlemen of the Empire are great and in so great number that it would require a volume to lay them all down in writing Those which I value the most are that every well-bred Gentleman may pretend to become Elector or Eccle siastical Prince if his Religion do not stand in his way for the Electors of Mentz Trier and Collen and the Bishops of Bamberg Wirsbourg Spire Wormes Constance Augsbourg and Eichstet are ordinarily chosen out of this Body Every Gentleman is as free upon his own lands as the Chiefest Lord in the Empire no man besides himself can impose upon his Subjects there are many Chapters and Nunneries and other Church preferments which cannot fall but into the hands of the Nobility And which surpasses all the rest he that touches one Gentleman touches them all and the Emperors are still ready to favour and support them thereby to gratifie the Prelates and have them alwayes at their Devotion P. The Mediate Gentlemen that is such as do not only depend upon the Emperor but are also under the Jurisdiction of some other Prince have they not right to come into the Chapters you lately mentioned G. There are very few or no Canons in the last above-named Cathredral Churches who are not Members of the Free Nobility of the Empire Other Gentlemen have their advantages and Churches whereinto they may and ought to admitted as Hildesheim Paderborne Osuabrug Munster c. And besides they are not obliged to appear in Judgement unless the Judge give them a summons in writing the Judge makes them sit down while he hears them they are free from paying Toll they are not put in prison for debt and if they be accused of any Crime they are not to be put to the question or rack nay if they be convicted they cannot be condemned to the Galleys And so in every Countrey Gentlemen have their advantages P. Can they that are Subjects to a particular Prince appear at Turnaments G. The Ordinances of that exercise do admit thereunto all those that can make proof of their Nobility not excluding any that have lived in the fear of God and with reputation in the World So that any Gentleman may and ought to be received thereunto who is not debarred or kept off by reason of some Crime P. Seeing it is necessary to make proof of two and thirty Coats of true Nobility it is certain that new Gentlemen cannot have entrance But do you think that Patricians of Cities should be permitted to enjoy that honour and that great Princes should honour those actions with their persons G. There is no question but they that begin the Nobility of their Houses are excluded from that honour and that it is allowed to a Patritian of a good and ancient Family to come in if he renounce all right of Burgership and promise to live Nobly for the time to come But the unfortunate hurt which was followed by the death of Henry II. King of France ought to serve for an example to all Princes not to expose themselves to that danger P. The misfortune of King Henry II. should oblige Great men to wear their Beaver down and to look carefully to the safety of their persons but not to hinder them from coming into the Lists when they are able of body and skilful at that exercise which I think was heretofore in very much use and credit in Germany G. Those sports which the ancient French called Behours were brought into Germany by the Emperor Henry the Fowler who coming from the war of Hungary exceedingly satisfied with the Nobility would oblige them to exercise themselves continually in handling their arms and managing their horses to which purpose he instituted those exercises in the year 935. Since that time so many of them have been held that they who have written expresly of them do forget some of them in their reckoning The first was opened at Magdebourg in the foresaid year 935. After that Rottembourg Constance Mersbourg Brunswick Trier Hall in Saxony Augsbourg Gottinguen Collen Nuremberg Wormes twice Wirsbourg as often Ratisbon four times Bamberg twice Stutgard as often Swinfort Ravensbourg Inguelheim Eslinguen Schafausen Darmstadt Hailbrun Landshut Mentz Heidelberg Anspach and many other places have been honoured with the like Assemblies P. Being taught by you that Henry I. was the Introductor of these sports into Germany I would gladly learn who celebrated the rest G. The Emperor Henry the Fowler celebrated the first The three Otho's that succeeded him had other matters to think on Conrade II. and Henry III. and IV. celebrated each of them one of those that next followed and gave licence to the Princes Cities and Free Nobility to appoint and celebrate the like So almost all the Turnaments were opened at the request and charges of particular Princes the Imperial Cities and the Nobility P. How comes it to pass that this Exercise is almost totally abolished G. Those sports being not alwayes free from emulation and jealousie because every one desired to make a better
P. Parents do not love their children with more tenderness nor children their parents with more reverence then I love the Empire and for that cause you can tell me nothing that affects me comparably to the relation of its greatness Continue therefore and as you have touched something of the Majesty of the Head give me some account also of the Members G. The principal Members of the Empire are the Electors which at this present are three Ecclesiasticks and five Seculars They of Mentz Tryers and Collen are Arch-Bishops and Arch-Chancellors the first in Germany the second in France and in the Kingdom of Arles and the third in Italy The Seculars are the King of Bohemia who is great Cup-bearer the Duke of Bavaria who is great Steward the Duke of Saxony who is great Marshal or Constable the Marquis of Brandenburg who is great Chamberlain and the Prince Palatine of the Rhine who is great Treasurer of the Empire P Are those offices which you now mentioned the principal function of each Elector G. There is nothing that makes the Electoral dignity so eminent as the right they have to elect the Emperor and to depose him when by his enormous crimes or by an unmanly idleness he neglects the honour of the Empire the publick good and the duty of his place P. Was the Empire alwayes Elective G. Charlemagne having gotten the Imperial diginty transmitted it to his posterity by way of Succession and that right continued in his House as long as his descendents retained any thing of the generosity of that incomparable Heroical person But when his virtue became totally extinguished in his Successors the Empire was offered to Otho of Saxony who refused it and advised them to confer that honour upon Conrade Duke of Franconia After Conrade Henry Son to Otho of Saxony who had refused the Empire was chosen into his place and his Son Otho the I. succeeded him And that way of succession from Father to Son was observed till the time of Henry IV. who coming to that Dignity while he was under age and ruling badly enough when he was of years to do better the Lords of the Empire began to undervalue his authority and Pope Gregory VII taking occasion by the fore-top declared him unfit to Reign excommunicated him and commanded that the Imperial Scepter should be given to another Then the Germans made a Law whereby they abolished the right of succession and assumed to themselves that of choosing the Emperors P. It seems to me that the Empire was elective sooner then the time you specifie G. Some would have it that the Electors were instituted after the death of the Emperor Otho III. and others only in the time of Rodolph of Habspurg so that there is no certainty to be known in this matter and it is free for every man to follow the opinion he thinks most probable P. When the right of succession from Father to Son was abolished was the power of choosing the Emperors given to the Princes that bear the title of Electors at this day G. When the Empire became Elective all the Princes as well Secular as Ecclesiastical the Lords Prelates and Cities in one word all the Estates of the Empire got the power of creating the Emperors Afterwards in process of time the less considerable were debarred of that right and at length the confusion which grew from that great number of Electors made it be thought convenient to reduce them to a few Then they that held the highest Offices in the Imperial Court excluded all others from them and the Emperor Charles IV. confirmed them in the possession of that right by a regulation which he made thereupon in an Ordinance called The Golden Bull. P. Until what time did that great number of Princes and Lords concur to the election of the Emperors G. It may be made appear to those that will be satisfied with reason that many had a voice in the Election of Emperors until the time of Frederick II. For Otho Frisingensis assures us that Henry II. was chosen Emperor by all the Lords of the Empire and when he was dead Conrade Duke of Franconia was advanced into his place by the consent of all Henry III. son to Conrade was also chosen but there is no mention made of the Electors The Abbot of Vrsperg writes that Henry IV. was raised to the Imperial dignity by the Bishops and Princes of Germany The same Author says that Henry V. was chosen by all that Lotharius II. was made Emperor by two Archbishops eight Bishops many Abbots and Lords of the Imperial Court that Conrade III. was placed upon the Throne the Duke of Saxony not being called to the Election and the See of Mentz being then vacant that Frederick Barbarossa was chosen by all the German princes that Philip came to the Empire by an Election which the Suevians Bavarians and Saxons made of him that Otho IV. received the Scepter from those of Collen Strasbourg and some other Cities The same Abbot of Vrsperg says that the Emperor Otho IV. was excommunicated and that the Princes of Germany to wit the King of Bohemia the Dukes of Austria and Bavaria the Landgrave of Thuringia and many other Princes chose Frederick King of Sicily to whom they had formerly sworn Allegiance even while he was yet in his cradle This is that Frederick until whose time as you see the number of the Electors was uncertain P. There seems to me to be a contradiction in what you say that the Empire was successive until Henry IV. and a little after you affirm that Henry II. Conrade Henry III. and IV. were Elected G. I had taken notice before that the Authors who write upon this subject are at variance among themselves for which reason I alledge those that speak of those Elections And it is sufficient for me to shew you it is the opinion of Writers that the number of Electors was not reduced to Seven till after the time of Frederick II. And here you may observe that the Eighth was not heard of till the last peace of Germany P. Why was the number of them increased at the Treaty of peace concluded at Munster and Osnabrug in the year 1648. G. In the year 1623. the Emperor Ferdinand II. transferred the Electoral dignity from Frederick V. Count Palatine to Maximilian Duke of Bavaria This translation of dignity and many other acts of Soverainty which the Empire remarked in Ferdinand with a jealous eye as the taking upon himself alone to decide matters which cannot be determined but by the judgement of all the Estates of the Empire the resuming of Church-lands possessed by Protestants and giving them to Religious Orders together with a fear of worse proceedings obliged the Princes to joyn in a League and to call strangers to their assistance The War was long and so bloody that it swept away more then half the people of Germany At last both sides being weary an Assembly was held at Munster to
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
the Marquis of Brandenbourg and his Successors or rather to Anne only Niece to the said Mary Eleonor excluding Magdalen wife to John Duke of Deux-ponts and Sibyll Marchioness of Burgon her sisters daughters to William and sisters to John William the last of that Family Duke of Juliers and Cleve who received the same priviledge from the Emperor Charles V. in the year 1546. P. It is then the inheritance of John William Duke of Juliers which served for a pretense to the vast preparation that Henry IV. King of France made when he was unfortunately assassinated which hath already occasioned some misunderstandings between the Houses of Brandenbourg and Newbourg and which may yet cause greater But let us leave these intricacies to be disentangled by those that are concerned and take a further view of the immunities priviledges and Alliances of the House of Brandenbourg G. The Golden Bull which hath in all things been exceeding liberal and free of the graces of the Empire towards the Electors grants them all in general and every one in particular Soverain Justice Some say that these Electors not regarding this priviledge so much as they ought carelesly lost it and having been depriv'd of it may years at last the Elector Joachim Frederick got himself repossessed of this Right by the Emperor Rodâ—â—ph II. For my part I am of another opinion and think with the greater number of Writers that they alwayes preserved and enjoyed it As for the order of place observed in Assemblies this Elector is the last but one since the creation of the eighth Electorship We have already said that he hath many voices and the younger brethren of his House to wit the Marquisses of Culembach and of Anspach have each of them one but no right to give a definitive judgement in their Subjects causes if the sum exceed 400. Florins of the Rhine P. I would gladly know whether there be many Princes of this House G. At the time I now write there are three married and three children The Elector Frederick William son to George William and Elizabeth Charlotta Princess Electoral Palatine after long hopes of marrying the matchless Christina Queen of Sweden who hath since declared that she will dy a Maid was married December 7. 1646. to Loâ—yse of Nassau daughter to the great Town-taker Frederick Henry Prince of Orange by whom he hath a son called Charles Amelius who was born February 2. 1655. and another named N. N. born 1657. The Electoral Branch doth at this time consist of these three Princes The Marquisses of Culembach and Barheit are Christian Ernest son to Herman Augustus and Sophia daughter to Joachim Ernest also Marquiss of Brandenbourg This young Prince was born July 27. 1644. and George Albert his Unkle born in 1619. married Mary Elizabeth daughter to Philip Duke of Holstein in the year 1651. The third Branch which resides at Anspach hath been long in fear of ending without issue Male there being none but Albert son to Joachim Ernest and to Sophia Countess of Solmes who in her â—ife time had but few her equals in vertue and beauty This Prince endued with piety as well as magnanimity was born September 28. 1620. and in 1642. married Henrietta Loüyse daughter to Lewis Frederick Duke of Wirtemberg by whom he had only two daughters But that Princess being gone to receive in Heaven the Crown which her vertues merited upon earth this Lord hath taken for his second wise Sophia Margaret daughter to Joachim Ernest Count of Ottinguen And by this Lady who is a Phenix in beauty courage and liberality he had a son October 8. 1655. and is at this time in hopes of having many more Which I wish he may and pray God that imitating their Ancestors they may be as so many German Achilles and Alcibiades P. Have these Princes any good Forts full Magazins and wherewithal to bring Armies into the field G. The Elector hath at this present very considerable forces in Prussia where he takes part with the King of Sweden and he is of so high esteem by the means he hath to help and to harm that he is courted on all hands His Forts are exceeding well maintained and as well provided Custrin hath never been taken Pillaw and Memel make him redoubted in Prussia Colberg in Pomerania Drisen in the Mark and Landsperg upon the Vard His Cousins of Culembach and Anspach have their sure retreats at Blassembourg and Melspourg And forasmuch as Princes strike their enemies more smartly with the head then with the hand the Elector and the Marquis of Anspach are as much to be feared for their prudence as for their valour The end of the third Dialogue Dialogue IIII. Of the Secular Princes of the Empire P. If you be so particular in describing the Origin progress and Alliances of the Princes as you have been in those of the Electors it will be long before we get out of Germany G. The desire I have to see you speedily comprehend the manners strength and Laws of other well governed Nations in Europe will quicken me to pass as lightly as may be over the consideration of the Princes of the Empire We must nevertheless speak of all those that have place in the Assemblies P. I am content you should do so but your undertaking will carry you out of Germany or into a tedions repetition for the King of Sweden the Elector of Brandenbourg and many Princes of his and other Electoral Houses whereof you have already made mention are in the number of those who have place in the Diets of the Empire G. Having elsewhere said that this King and some younger brethren of Electoral Houses have voices in the general Assemblies I shall not repeat it here and shall speak of the Duke of Lorraine in another place because his Estate is at present in the most Christian Kings hands P. By that means you will very much shorten this discourse and yet not lose the opportunity of entertaining me with the commemoration of that House wherein Valour Affability and modesty seem to be natural G. Since there is nothing more dear to me then to give you content I shall willingly omit all other matters to discourse upon the Houses of Brunswick Meklebourg Wirtemberg Hesse Baden Holstein Saxon-Lawembourg Anhalt Hohenzolleren Aremberg Henneberg and Eastfriseland And having considered them one after another I will pass to the Ecclesiastical Princes the Prelates the Counts and the Barons But before I enter upon this Theme I beseech you to consider that the King of Sweden being a Member of the Empire may very much contribute to the preservation of its Liberty and the maintenance of the Protestant Religion P. The French accuse the Spaniards for aiming at the Universal Monarchy and on the other side the Spaniards say that the French seek for an opportunity to seize upon the Empire If it were so methinks the King of Sweden might disappoint the designs of those Monarchs G. All Princes know that
and freely acknowledging that I do not know whether these Princes be descended from a General of that incomparable Conqueror of Asia I do know that they are of the most Illustrious and most Ancient personages in Germany P. If I be not mistaken the Emperor Charles IV. admitted Albert and John Dukes of Meklebourg sons to Henry Leo Prince of the Vandals amongst the Princes of the Empire G. Charles IV. receiving those Lords into the number of the Estates of the Empire did not give them the quality of Prince which they had before but only brought them under the protection of the Empire by making them Members thereof upon condition they should be subject to its Laws and contribute to its necessities and so enjoy the same priviledges which other Lords of their degree and quality did P. In the time of the last Wars the Emperor made those Princes feel the weight of his indignation giving their lands to Wallestein a Gentleman of Silesia who by a strange ingratitude and a devillish ambition endeavouring to seat himself upon the Throne of Bohemia and dispossess his Master of it came to a miserable end G. The lamentable death of the Duke of Fridland gives us to understand that Kings have long arms and that no man ought to abuse their favors nor follow the motions which an undaunted courage and an inordinate ambition inspires The Duke of Biron and the Earl of Essex had such like designs and as Tragical Catastrophes As to the Dukes of Meklebourg I am to tell you that the greatest part of the Potentates in Germany have felt the smart of Mars his rods and these Princes as much as any other having seen a great Captain indeed and a renowned Souldier but unworthy of their degree bear the name and Arms of their Principality Nevertheless they re-entred into it by the vertue of the Great Gustavus their Cousin-German and though the conclusion of the Peace took Wismar from them yet it gave them in exchange the Bishopricks of Ratzebourg and Suerin turned into Principalities So as they have lost nothing if they do not prefer the convenience of that Haven and its Fort before twice its Revenue P. I did not know that these Princes were so near of kin to the late King of Sweden G. The Great Gustavus and these Dukes were sons of two sisters daughters to Adolph Duke of Holstein which proximity of blood moved that Heroical Prince to embrace their interest So after the Battel of Leipsick he turned his victorious arms towards the Dutchy of Meklebourg and re-placed these Princes there June 25. 1631. Three years after these Lords were reconciled to the Emperor and at this time live in peace divided into two branches the Chiefs whereof make their residence at Suerin and at Gustron P. Have these two Branches equal shares of the Estate G. They have each of them a moyety of the Dutchy and in regard thereof a seat and voice in the Assemblies But Adolph Frederick hath eight sons and six daughters and Gustavus Adolph who is Head of the other Branch had no body to participate with him being aâ— only son This latter who resides at Gustron iâ— of great spirit knowing courteous affable and generous He married Magdalen Sibyll daughter to Frederick the present Duke of Holstein and hath one son by her The children of Adolph Frederick who resides at Sâ—â—nin are all well made and qualified both in body and mind Christian the eldest hath married his Cousin Christina Margaret daughter to Iohn Albert Duke of Meklebourg And Anne Mary youngest of the daughters is the worthy Consort of Augustus Duke of Saxony son to the Elector Iohn George I. All the rest are still to be married and all worthy of Kings as well for their inward as their outward beauty These Princes have all conjunctly one University at Rostoch which was established there in the year 1419 by Iohn and Albert first Dukes of this House P. I should willingly desire a more particular recital of the Alliances of this House but fearing to be too troublesome to you I shall forbear that and intreat you to tell me something concerning that of Wirtemberg G. I shall not proceed any further till I have acquainted you that the House of Meklebourg hath had in marriage six daughters of Kings and five of Electors within less then 200 years As for that of Wirtemberg which after it had for many ages born the quality of Count was raised to the Ducal Dignity by the consent of all the Estates of the Empire in a Diet held at Wormes 1495 it comes behind never a Family in Revenue alliances piety magnificence and priviledges It hath a Countrey where the Mountains abound in Mines Wines and Woods the Forests are well stored with Timber-trees Game and Venison of all kinds the Valleys are a continuation of Meadows covered with Cattle and watered with Brooks full of Fish the Plains are thick set with Gardens and the Gardens like those of the Hesperides or rather like earthly Paradises There is in no place to be seen fairer rows of Orange-trees Grotta's better contrived and beautified Fountains more artificial nor Fruits more pleasant to the sight and taste then at Stutgardt Few Princes have a house of Pleasure and a Heronry within their Garden as this Duke hath neither is there any one in the Empire that hath a greater care of the Sciences and of Learned persons They that have been at Tubing know how many Princes Counts Lords Barons and Gentlemen have been bred in the noble Colledge which Duke Lewis caused to be built and which his Successors do splendidly maintain there P. Since we are entred upon this discourse make me if you please a more particular description of that Colledge G. It would require a more copious and eloquent tongue then mine to make you comprehend the benefit which the Empire receives by this Athenaeum Princes learn there to fear God to honor the Emperor to serve their Countrey to judge of the sincerity of their Confederates and to cherish their friends Counts Barons and Gentlemen do there learn the ways of winning and keeping the favour of Great men a sweetness of carriage necessary for the maintaining of a perfect friendship amongst equals and an infinity of vertues which are the same thing in their Souls that the Soul is in the body the eye in the head precious stones in gold and flowers in meadows P. I suppose that in this illustrious Colledge the exercises of the body are no more neglected then those of the mind G. One may there learn with little charge and pains that which men go to seek for in Italy and France at the expense of their health and soundness both in body and soul Florence hath nothing for riding the great horse nor Rome and Paris for fencing and dancing Schools which may not be gotten without going out of Tubing where the University and Colledge have excellent Professors in all faculties and principally in those
of Aremberg Princess of Barbanson but at present he is General of an Army for the King of France Frederick was Major General with great reputation in the Army of Hesse He is at this time married to Clara Augusta Dutchess of Brunswick These Princes have two sisters who whilest the War lasted thinking they could not spend their time better Antonietta learnt the Hebrew and Latin and Anne Jane the Mathematicks in perfection And that I may forget nothing that may serve to illustrate the glory of this House you shall observe if you please that Eberhard Count of Wirtemberg the third of that name who dyed May 16. 1417. had usually at his Court six Princes seven Counts five Barons and threescore and ten Gentlemen P. I never heard that a Count had Princes in his Court But tell me why doth the House of Austria bear the name and Arms of that of Wirtemberg G. When Duke Vlrick was driven out of his Estates in the year 1519. his Enemies sold that Dutchy to the Emperor Charles V. and Vlrick continued in exile till the year 1534. at which time being assisted by the money of Francis I. King of France and the Sword of Philip Landgrave of Hesse he returned into his Countrey and sent his Son Duke Christopher to Ferdinand King of the Romans who agreed with him at Cade June 24. in the same year that the House of Wirtemberg should enjoy that Dutchy holding it in Fee of the House of Austria Which was accordingly done till the year 1599. when by a transaction made at Prague between the Emperor Rodolph II. and Frederick I. Duke of Wirtemberg this Dutchy was reduced unto its first condition the House of Austria only reserving to it self the name and Arms and the right of Succession in case it survive all the Males of Wirtemberg P. Let us step into the Countrey of Hesse and tell me something of a House to which generosity seems to be natural G. I know never a Family in Germany more illustrious then that of Hesse whether you consider its antiquity or the number of Heroical personages it hath produced or lastly its Alliances The Landgrave George hath heretofore told me that his House is descended from Charlemagne and a little after when I was at Cassel the late Landgravess of Hesse shewed me a Genealogical Table that deriv'd it from a Collateral branch of that great Emperor but by the way of Females I can hardly forbear to explicate the same to you at large and would do it if I were not afraid to â—e troublesom P. I know you could shew me that Gerboâ—â— daughter to Charles of Lorraine Unkle by the Fathers side to Lewis V. King of France who came in a direct Male line from Lewis the Debonaire was married to Lambert II. Count of Lovain from whom the present Landgrave are descended by the way of Henry V. who was the first of this Family that had the title of Landgrave of Hesse But because I do not question that at all declare to me how Henry got this Landgraveship how his posterity kept it who were the most illustrious Princes of this House and into how many Branches it is divided at this present G. You free me from a great deal of pains which yet would not have been unpleasant to me for the respect I bear to that House To begin then to answer your question I say that Henry of Brabant whose predecessors had Born the name of Counts of Lovain Hainault Rhetel and Yvoy and of Dukes of Mâ—selle Lorraine and Brabant married Sophis Landgravess of Thuringia who also descended from Charlemagne by the way of Lewis Germanicus second son to Lewis the Debonain This Henry made war nine years together upon Henry the Illustrious Marquis of Misniâ— who pretended as the other did to the Principalities of Thuringia and Hesse And at last they came to this agreement that the one should have Hesse and the other Thuringia upon condition that the surviving Family should inherit both and this agreement is still in force between the Dukes of Saxony who are Landgraves of Thuringia and our Landgraves of Hesse P. Wars between kinsmen are usually cruel and long At what time did this happen G. Henry of Brabant first Landgrave of Hesse lived 63. years and dyed in that of our Lord 1308. He left the succession to his son Otho who was father to Lewis grandfather to Herman and great-grandfather to Lewis the peaceable second of that name and first of his Family that was qualified Count of Zigneâ—heim and Nidda This Prince may serve for an example of moderation to posterity for when the Imperial Dignity was offered him and he chosen according to the Laws of the Empire in the year 1442. he refused that which many seek after with much hazard labour and anxiety P. The title of Peaceable which this Prince bore makes me think he feared the power of Frederick of Habspourg who took the Scepter which Lewis would not accept and I am perswaded that Lewis the Couragious son to the Peaceable would rather have canvassed to proture the Imperial Crown then modestly refused it G. It is very likely the Son would not have done as the Father did and in all probabily if that House had accepted the Crown then I would have held it even to this day For eveâ— since that time all the princes of Hesse the have reigned were worthy to reign Williâ—â— the younger son to Lewis and Matildis oâ— Wirtemberg had no less courage nor prudence then his Father Philip the Magnanimous being no more but Landgrave of Hesse gave much trouble and no less apprehension to the greatest of our Emperors William the beleved son of Philip shewing himself the worthy son of so great a Father deserved the surname of Wise Maurice was equal to or greater then any one of his Ancestors William the Constant was a pattern of valour and vertue and William his son cannot but prove a great personage having had for his Mother and â—â—tress the most Heroical Lady of this age P. The Ancients by representing Occasion bald behind would teach us to use prudence and not to let slip a present advantage as Lewis Landgrave of Hesse and Frederick III. Elector of Saxony who refused the Empire and repented it too late But go on I pray G. You must know that Philip the Magnanimous had three sons who were all married and Chiefs of several Branches Lewis and George had less of their Fathers estate then William their eldest brother yet that division weakened the House and a little after the inheritance of Lewis untyed the knot of kindness and sowed discord between the two other Branches P. I would willingly have a more particular account of that misunderstanding G. The Landgrave Lewis son to Philip dyed without issue in the year 1604. and appointed his Nephews Maurice and Lewis to inherit his estate by equal portions Now because one of those heirs was of a different Religion from that professed
also have bestowed so many favours and bounties upon my House that there remains nothing for me to ask Every body was surprized at this discourse For although it be honorable for the Sea to communicate it self through the rivers and for the Soverain to aggrandize his best deserving Subjects yet the Sea ought not to cover all the earth nor the King to diffuse his Royal graces too prodigally upon a Subject Otherwise the rivers will become Sea and the servant Master which cannot but prove very prejudicial As then the Planets would have but little regard to the Sun if they had no need of his light nor the servant to his Master if he could do him no more good So Great men ought to be very circumspect in the distribution of their favours if they would not lose that honour and respect which their Inferiors give them P. There are few Houses in Germany that have so long possessed two Secular Electorships at a time as this hath done Let us see how it lost them G. Otho and Bernard sons to Albertus Vrsus divided this House into two Branches The first was Elector of Brandenbourg and the latter of Saxony who fixed himself at Wittemberg and took for his principal distinctive Coat a Bend Fleury Vert on a Field Barry or and Sable There have been 13. Electors of Brandenbourg descended from Otho whereof the last was Iohn IV. of that name From Bernard there came in a direct Male line the Dukes of Lower Saxony and the Princes of Anhalt the first by the way of Albert I. of that name and Helen daughter to the Emperor Otho IV. and the second by the way of Henry to whom the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa gave the title of Prince of Anhalt There have been 8. Electors of Saxony of this Family The last was Albert II. after whom the Emperor Sigismond preferred Frederick the Warlike Marquis of Misnia before Erick V. Alberts Cousin and lawful Successor to teach us that all things under the Sun are flitting and transitory and that the greatest Houses may be humbled and brought low P. Hath a Soverain any power to take Principalities from one House and transfer them unto another G. A King gives account of his actions to none but God and can do almost all that he will he ought nevertheless to act equitably and not to plunge men of courage into despair then which nothing is more dangerous They that have lost their estate think they have nothing more to lose and are capable of making the greatest repent of the wrongs they have done them The Soverain then may take back the benefits he bestowed when he that received them is become altogether unworthy of them But before he come to that extremity he should endeavour to reduce them unto their duty and having tryed all fair means he must be very careful that he do not faintly and loosely execute the resolutions that he hath generously taken nor rashly undertake a great action which prudence will afterwards perswade him to abandon A Prince should think seriously of a thing before he enters upon it but having begun he should carry it through For there is nothing so repugnant to the of authority Kings as to act by halves nor any thing that so much encourages Subjects to Rebellion as to see that their Masters are afraid of them P. Since the death of Francis Albert who was slain by General Torstenson in Silesia I hear but little speech of these Dukes which makes me conjecture there are but few of them left G. Though Francis II. had ten sons six whereof were married yet there remaine but Iulius Henry Francis Charles and Francis Henry brethren all without hopes of having children and one son of Iulius Henry called Francis Herman who probably will have but few having married his Cousin who is exceeding weak and of a stature to bear few or no children This Prince is at present in the service of the King of Sweden against Poland P. It were great pity that a House so ancient and so illustrious should totally fail but if that do come to pass who will be the heir of it G. The Princes of Anhalt as we have seen come from the same source besides which right they have that of Confraternity Now this House is one of the most numerous in the Empire and because it is equally divided amongst many the Princes are not of the richest Ioachim Ernest who was the only person left of the Family dyed at 50. years of age A. D. 1566. and had 16. children of whom Anne Mary was married to Ioachim Frederick Duke of Lignitz Elizabeth to Ioachim George Elector of Brandenbourg Sibyll to Frederick Duke of Wirtemberg Agnes Hedwig to Augustus Elector of Saxony and after his death to Iohn the younger Duke of Holstein Dorothy Mary to Iohn Duke of Saxon-Weimar and Anne Sophia to Gunther Albert Count of Schurtzebourg The sons divided the Principality into four equal shares because Augustus said he would be content with a Pension for his life not intending to marry But at last upon second thoughts he came back into Germany where he married Sibyll Countess of Solmes and his brethren chose rather to give him a part of the land then pay him a Pension So Iohn George had Dissau Christian resided at Berembourg Augustus fixt his abode at Pleskau Rodolph at Zerbst and Lewis at Cotheim and every one them hath children P. This way of sharing may bring their House to a very weak condition But how do they govern their Estate G. Being all of equal authority and one having no power or command over the lands of another they submit to the eldest of the Family who hath the direction of affairs calls the Princes together when there is need of having their advice upon any matter of importance And as they have but one voice in the Diets so one of them represents all the rest there To conclude these Princes are commonly brave learned active bold courteous and obliging The two Christians of Berembourg father and son have born arms with honour Augustus hath extracted Soverain remedies out of Chymistry and Lewis hath established the society of great Wits or the Fructifying Company whereinto there are at this time admitted and enrolled above 20. Princes and five or 600. Lords Gentlemen or Doctors and other persons of knowledge P. There is much talk of this Society and I have not yet learnt what is the principal aim and intent of it G. This Prince having travelled through all Europe and seen that France and Italy are full of excellent books in the language of the Countrey whereby Ladies and Great men who by reason of their weighty employments cannot have leisure to learn Forain Languages have the means to be instructed in all that concerns them was desirous to introduce the same advantage into Germany and hath succeeded so prosperously in his design that now the Virtuosi of our Countrey cultivate their Mother-tongue enrich and adorn
it translating all the books that they count worthy of their pains P. There are some that undervalue Translations and endeavour to cast an imputation upon them as pernicious to the Common-wealth being causes of lazyness and negligence G. I know there be some learned men are sorry that an entrance is opened into the Temple of wisdom through an easier door then Greek and Latin But notwithstanding their opinion it is certain that Great men should not be debarred of the knowledge necessary for them under the specious pretenses that the Latin and Greek Tongues will be lost in Germany if men may find Learning in their native Language P. If Prince Lewis hath been fortunate in this commendable enterprize his Countrey is greatly obliged to him For these translations do not forbid any man to look into the Originals being only for such as have not time to learn the Languages which furnish us with books But of what Religion are the Princes of these two Houses G. Duke Francis Herman and Iulius Henry his Father who are at this time the eldest and ruling Princes of Saxon-Lawembourg are turned Catholiques the brethren of the forenamed Iulius Henry are Protestants as also the Prince of Anhalt residing at Zerbst All the rest are of the Reformed Religion and very zealous in it The first sort of these Princes take the title of Dukes of Saxony Hungary and Westphalia the other Princes of Anhalt assume that of Counts of Ascania Lords of Berembourg and Zerbst Lawembourg is a fine place upon the Elbe but the Castle is ruined and the Duke lives at Ratzebourg though he have nothing there but the Castle the City belonging to the Duke of Meklebourg The River of Sala crosses the Principality of Anhalt which makes it no less beautiful then fruitful But the Countrey is very little and the Princes stand in need of a greater estate to exercise the liberality to which they have so strong an inclination P. Liberality is the proper vertue of Princes and I think it were better for a great Lord to be profuse then avaritious G. Every man should take a true measure of his ability and give no more then he can well bear Prodigality hath a semblance of something more noble then avarice hath and really it is less odious nay they that gain by it make it pass for a vertue but perchance it is more prejudicial to posterity and no less dangerous then the other extreme Though a King should give away his whole Kingdom he would not satisfie all that ask no nor all that think they deserve much of him It is then more convenient to give with reason never to draw so near the bottom but that Great men may alwayes have wherewithal to gratifie persons of merit and above all they should take special care that their liberality be exercised without the oppression of the People to avoid murmuring which may produce Rebellion P. There is no need of making Laws against giving too much Princes are not so free and there are not many of them that want a Tutor or Overseer in that kind Let us go forward if you please to that which remains concerning the Princes of the Empire G. Seeing we reserve the Dukes of Savoy and Lorraine and the Princes of Orange for another place we have no more to speak of but the Princes of Montbeliard Henneberg Zolleren Aremberg and East-Frizeland P. Did you not say enough of the Princes of Montbeliard when you were discoursing of the Duke of Wirtemberg G. It is true indeed that the Principality of Montbeliard belongs to the House of Wirtemberg ever since the year 1397. at which time Eberhard the younger married Henrietta heiress of that fair Territory Yet it is good for you to know that the present Prince is son to Lewis Frederick grandchild to Frederick Duke of Wirtemberg who having had many sons gave to his youngest the Counties of Montheliard and Horbourg the Soverainty of Ericourt the Lordships of Blamont Clairval Passevant and Richeville with the Barony of Grangeâ— This Prince hath Salt-pits and Iron-works that yield him great profit and a voice in the Assemblies but hath never a child His younger brother keeps his residence at Horbourg and is married to Anne of Coligny by whom he hath children P. It is said that the Prince of Montbeliard had heretofore a hundred thousand Rix-dollars yearly Rent Pass we on to those of Henneberg G. These Lords have not long had the quality of Prince Their Family was utterly extinguished in the year 1583. and their Principality past into the power of the Dukes of Saxony by vertue of a Confraternity The seat of the old Race was at Eslesunguen where their Sepulchres are yet to be seen and many â—pitaphs that evidence the grandeur of that illustrious House which was in great credit in the time of Charlemagne P. There are few Genealogies to be seen wherein the Counts of Henneberg have not a place But since they are all gone I had rather you should give me an account of those of Hohenzolleren G. The House of Hohenzolleren is a Branch of that of Brandenbourg and so this Prince is Vicar to the great Chamberlain of the Empire and gives the Emperor water to wash when he eats in Ceremony if the Elector of Brandenbourg be not present Ertel Frederick Count of Hohenzolleren was made Prince at the Diet of Ratisbon in the year 1623. and all the eldest brethren of his House bear the same quality The present Prince married the daughter and heiress of the Count Henry of Berg his youngest brother is Gentleman of the Chamber to the Emperor and the middlemost Canon of Collen These Lords have estate enough and might be rich yet they are in bad condition for want of order and good husbandry P. The Princes of Hohenzolleren are of very high extraction and have a very noble habitation at Echingnen where the Castle is magnificent and Hohenzolleren is seated upon the brow of a high hill I would willingly know how those of Aremberg were made Princes of the Empire G. These Princes having performed great services to the House of Austria and specially to the King of Spain were advanced to the highest Commands in the Low Countreys where they were often honoured with the Collar of the Golden Fleece and at last obtained a place among the Princes of the Empire by the favour of the Emperor Maximilian II. Duke Albert son to Robert Duke of Aremberg and Claudina Countess of the Rhine married Mary daughter and heiress to Everard Prince of Barbanson by whom he hath left Octavius who at this day bears the quality of Prince of Aremberg and Isabel married to Vlrick Duke of Wirtemberg This Princess is of incomparable beauty and prudence and the Prince her brother extremely courteous P. Being this House hath its lands and habitations upon the King of Spains Territories you may discourse of it more at large in another place Let us now see that of East-Friseland
and tell me when it obtained the quality of Count and lastly of Prince G. The Counts of East-Friseland and those of Oldenbourg did always maintain great feuds and emulations between one another till the year 1656. At which time Antony Gunther dying without issue lawfully begotten left the King of Denmark and the Duke of Holstein for his Successors And I believe the cause of that mis-understanding might proceed from hence That Mary of Jeuer being married to Eno Count of East-Friseland and having children by him did yet make John Count of Oldenbourg her heir and again that the Counts of East-Friseland being less ancient then those of Oldenbourg are as rich as well or better allied then they and do also exercise Soverain Justice over their Subjects P. I know the Counts of Oldenbourg are the ancienter But when did those of East-Friseland begin G. Vlrick Sirxena Lord of Gietziel and other lands was made Count of East-Friseland by the Emperor Frederick III. A. D. 1454. That Lord married Folca who brought him in Dowry the Lordships of Escui and Stetendorf Of that marriage came Edzar l. of that name Father of Eno who married Mary of Ieuer by whom he had Edzar II. That Count aspired higher then his Predecessors and took to wife Catherine daughter to Gustavus I. King of Sweden of whom he begat Iohn from whom the Counts of Ritberg are descended and Eno II. who married Anne daughter to Adolph Duke of Holstein by whom he had Vlrick husband to Iuliana daughter to Lewis Landgrave of Hesse Darmstadt This Princess remains a Widow and makes it her business to bring up her children well of whom Edzar Ferdinand is still travelling abroad George Christian is at home with her and Eno Lewis her eldest son having continued some time at the Imperial Court was there made Counsellor to the Emperor and Gentleman of his Chamber Afterward in the year 1653 he was raised unto the rank and dignity of Prince by the Emperor Ferdinand III. at the Diet of Ratisbon This Prince was contracted to Henrittta daughter to Frederick Henry of Nassau Prince of Orange while they were both children but the parties not liking one another the Artitles of marriage were broken and Eno Lewis married Iustina Sophia Countess of Barly November 7. 1656. I am told for certain that this Prince hath 150000. Crowns Revenue and thereby is well enabled to maintain the quality he bears which is annext to the eldest alone the other being no more then Counts and having no part in the Countrey P. We are at length arrived to the end of this journey Let us rest a while and afterwards we will take a view of the Ecclesiastical Princes G. I am content and shall in the mean time prepare my self to tell you how the Ecclesiastical Princes live in Germany how many they are what order of place they observe in the Assemblies by whom and how they were raised to their dignity to what Jurisdiction they are subject and all other necessary things that shall come into my head The end of the Fifth Dialogue Dialogue VI. Of the Ecclesiastical Princes of the Empire P. THe Princes Ecclesiastical hold the first rank in the Empire and you place them after the Seculars but it matters not much since it is neither for want of respect nor of knowing their due place Well then let us see whether the Empire be as venerable by the Mitres of its Prelates as it is formidable by the Sword of its Souldiers G. There is never a Countrey in Christendom where Prelates have so much power as in Germany They are almost all Great Princes and as absolute over the Temporalty of their Benefices as a Secular Elector is over his Lands These riches are now and then misapplied to bad uses and the debauches made by Church-men their great Train the dogs the horses they maintain the Jesters they keep for their pleasure and their dissolute life obliged our Predecessors to upbraid them with it and allow us to believe that they gave occasion to Doctor Luther to preach against their Doctrine as well as their evil conversation Yet still it is often seen that the same Prelate possesseth two three nay a greater number of huge Benefices of the Empire and spends the Revenue thereof without any scruple of conscience in worldly pomp continual debauches and other things unworthy of their rank and profession P. These Princes give themselves but little if at all to their studies misusing their riches and think it beneath their greatness to preach the word of God and do other Ecclesiastical functions But they do not all live alike G. Whatever is spoken against ungodly persons doth nothing concern the truly religious There are Prelates of sundry conditions and different humors some are voluptuous and others chast some love nothing but dogs and bouffons others make much of worthy persons Heretofore besides the three Ecclesiastical Electors there were five Archbishops and thirty Bishops that had seat and voice in the Assemblies of the Empire At this time there are not so many because the Archbishopricks of Magdebourg Bremen and Riga and the Bishopricks of Halberstad Minden and Verden have been changed into Secular Principalities as those also of Besanson Verdun Mets and Toul were dismembred from the Empire and inseparably united to the Lands of Spain and France by the last Treaty of Peace And those of Valesia Losanna and Chur have been abolished by the Suisses So that at present there is none but Saltzbourg that holds the rank of Archbishop in the Colledge of the Princes and about twenty Bishops P. The German Church must without question have lost very much by the last Treaty of Peace where three Archbishopricks and six Bishopricks were Secularized G. Riga was cut off from the Empire before and all those other Benefices were in the power of the Lutherans who had no mind to let them slip out of their fingers And so methinks the generality of the Protestant Princes hath lost more by this Treaty then the German Church seeing the Princes have now no more means to provide for their younger brethren as they had before For in real truth the Elector of Saxony had Magdebourg the King of Denmark Bremen and some other Lords the Bishopricks whereof we have last made mention P. The King of Spain having the Archbishopricks of Besanson and Cambray in his possession there is little likelyhood that those Archbishops should come to the Diets of the Empire G. I do not know whether those Prelates have lost the right they had to sit in the Assemblies of the Empire but it is certain that Cambray doth not challenge the place of an Archbishoprick there though it have gotten that name amongst the Prelates of the Low Countreys by the augmentation of Bishopricks in Flanders which King Philip II. made in the beginning of his Reign That Prelate keeps his ancient title and always qualifies himself Duke of Cambray Count of Cambresis and Prince of the
the People so bare and miserable being forced to contribute towards defraying the expenses of War and the maintenance of Princes although the poor contributors enjoyed but the least part of the land which obliged Kings at last to forbid Priests all kinds of further acquisitions If that had not been done they had swallowed all long since for heretofore there was an order that no Will should be made without bequeathing something to the Church And if any one dyed intestate an estimate was made of his inheritance and according to the value thereof a portion was allotted and given to the Priests For the remedying of that excess very excellent Laws have been made in England the Low Countreys and at Venice and the Parliament of Paris it self seeing the immense riches of the Carthusians and Celestins made orders expresly prohibiting them the acquiring of any more immovables P. Those regulations are just where Churchmen live in plenty but they should not be hindred from making moderate acquisitions it being reasonable that they who feed us spiritually should be maintained corporally G. Your argument is very good Poverty should not be permitted in the Church for it is impossible the Priest should carefully attend upon preaching the Gospel visiting the sick comforting the afflicted and administring the Sacraments and at the same time labour to get bread While Clergy-men were under continual suffering they stood in need of extraordinary assistance to keep them from falling into despair but growing too rich they were swallowed up in lazyness from whence there flowed streams of ignorance wantonness impiety luxury superstition idolatry and other vices which brought Christendom almost to utter ruine P. Let us not enter into the consideration of the lives manners and humours of Priests who have constrained good men to procure their reformation and that reformation caused rivers of blood which have very near drowned Christendom Tell me rather how the Ecclesiastical Princes come by their Dignity G. The Prelates of Germany are not all raised to their Dignity after one and the same manner and the order observed now differs from that which was observed when Germany received the Faith In the beginning of Christianity Bishops were every where chosen by the Clergy and the People joyntly After which when the Roman Emperors were become Christians they sometimes gave Bishops to the principal Churches by their own authority or of several that were proposed to them they made choice of him that pleased them best So Constans made Liberius Bishop of Rome and Theodosius the younger chose Nectarius to be Bishop of Constantinople from amongst many that were named to him Since the fourth age before which there were few or no Bishops in Germany the Kings made a Decree that no man should be promoted to the Episcopal Dignity without their consent and when Germany was united to France the French Kings made such use of that right that no man was made Bishop but by their nomination or at least their approbation for if the Clergy and the People chose a Bishop he was to be confirmed by the King In Bavaria which at that time had its own Kings sometimes the People and sometimes the King chose the Bishops but so as there was no need to have Bulls from Rome Pepin gave the Archbishoprick of Mentz to Boniface and that Prelate being grown old he obtained a Coadjutor from the same King without having recourse to the Pope P. I believe indeed that Pepin raised that Prelate to the Episcopal Dignity but some think he had obtained permission to do so from Pope Zachary G. The creatures of Rome would make us believe so but that is not probable since Pepins Predecessors had the same power and his Successors maintained it insomuch that Leo or rather Gregory IV. durst not make Colonus the Deacon Bishop of Reale without the permission of Lewis the Debonaire and the Fathers of the Synod held at Aix-la-Chapelle entreated the same Emperor to have a great care of giving good Pastors to the Churches Nay all the Popes from Leo VIII to Gregory VII were created or confirmed by the Emperors P. But have not the Emperors made not confirmed any Popes since that time G. Gregory VII took away from Kings and Emperors the power not only of creating and confirming the Popes but the Bishops also in the Countreys under their obedience and having excommunicated the Emperor Henry IV. he commanded Hugh Bishop of Die his Legat in France to procure a Decree to be made against Lay-men that would name persons unto Bishopricks The year after he forbad Church-men the receiving of any Bishoprick Abbey or other Benefice from the hand of a Lay-man though he were King or Emperor and within two years more he pronounced that the power of choosing Bishops and Pastors belonged to the Apostolick See Victor III. confirmed the Decrees of Gregory VII Vrban II. went further and at the Synod of Melfi Can. 8. and at that of Clermont Can. 15. and 16. forbad Clergy-men to take the Oath of Allegiance unto their Princes Those Decrees drew the Emperor Henry V. into the field who took Paschal II. prisoner and made him restore the Empire unto its first condition But when Popes had once tasted what a pleasure it was to be independent and to keep the Emperors under their authority they forced the Councils of Lateran and Vienna held in the year 1112. to declare Heretical the Collations of Benefices made by Lay-men The Emperors on the other side desiring to keep up their power named one Bishop and the Pope or the People another and the stronger party held the Bishoprick to the great scandal and prejudice of Christendom At length Paschal II. excommunicated Henry V. Calixtus II. confirmed the proceedings of his predecessors at the Council of Reims A. D. 1120. and Henry being both strucken by the Popes thunderbolts and wearied by the obstinacy of the Princes renounced his own right in the Diet held at Wormes A. D. 1122. In this manner the right which the Emperors had to choose Bishops passed from them to the Clergy and the People but a little after the Canons of Cathedral Churches assumed that right to themselves and keep it still P. I observe that many of the Councils wherein the Empire lost so much of its power and dignity were held in France G. Those Kings seeing that Germany had separated it self from France and kept the Imperial Majesty which their first Predecessors of the second Race had gotten were glad to see it humbled and for that cause they sided with the Popes when they would vex the Empire helping by that means to forge and hammer those chains of servitude which would have oppressed them and their Successors if the Popes had not met with Parliaments and a French people more inclined to obey their own Kings then to follow the orders of Rome P. Those Subjects who prefer the obedience they owe to their Soverains before any other consideration are highly to be
Mares which he had in his grounds dyed without children lawfully begotten in the year 1656. at least if I may believe the Gazette where I read it though some men do not agree to it The King of Denmark and the Duke of Holstein inherited his Counties Iohn Prince of Anhalt the Lordship of Iever and Antony Count of Oldenbourg his natural son all the rest of his lands Those of Erbach find their original in the affection which a daughter of Charlemagnes bore to a Gentleman in her Fathers Court who being recommended by his own merit as much as he was favoured by the generosity of Charles had the honour to marry her after he had had that of being carried upon her back through the Court of the Palace The Counts of Hanau have as large an estate as a great Prince and in that a Justice from which their Subjects cannot appeal And having often both given and taken daughters to and from the best Houses of the Empire they have been so happy as to see a noble Lady of their family steer the State of Hesse and bring it succesfully into the Port during the most dreadful storm that ever blew upon the Empire for many ages P. You pass many Houses over in silence G. Those of which I say nothing are unknown to me The Counts of Helfenstein having flourished above a thousand years expired some years since Those of Leininguen judge their Subjects causes without any Appeal The House of Hohenlohe would be very mighty if it had not divided its lands into many portions The Lords thereof are naturally Souldiers brave well made both in body and mind and glorious as well through their own merit as for that of their Ancestors The Barons of Limbourg whom all Writers place amongst the Counts have a title of Semperfrey always free that no body bears but they They are so ancient that they know not their own beginning and so well known in Germany that their priviledge of being Vicars to the King of Bohemia Great Cup-bearer of the Empire is obvious to every one They of Mansfeld are of different Religions One of the Catholiques is Governor of Raab in Hungary the other is Master of the Horse to the Emperor Of the Lutherans Iohn George is travelling to enable himself to answer the hopes which hâ—s Countrey conceives of his vertue This County is plentiful in Copper and other Minerals and famous for many things but especially for Eiseliben where Doctor Luther was born in the year 1484. and dyed there 63. years after The Counts of Montfort have nothing common with those in France but the name they are certainly very noble very ancient and very vertuous P. If you say nothing of the Counts of Ottinguen and of the Rhingraves I will tell you what I know of them G. I speak of the Counts in an Alphabetical method not always suitable to their merit otherwise many should have come behind those Houses so abounding in extraordinary personages That of Ottinguen is divided into two principal Branches That of Waldenstein is Catholique that of Ottinguen Lutheran and both perfectly well allied but specially Ieachim Ernest who having already had one Countess of Solmes and another of Hehenlobe is in the last place married to a Princess Palatine and had of the two former besides many sweet children Sophia Margaret and Mary Dorothy Sophia Princesses whose graces and endowments of body and mind have acquired to the first the chast love and conjugal bed of Albert Marquiss of Brandenbourg of Anspach to the second that of Eberhard Duke of Wirtemberg and to the Father two Sons-in-law equal in Grandeur piety and magnificence The Rhingraves have furnished matter to so many Histories ancient and modern that no body is a stranger to their vertue nobility and generosity The Counts of Schwartzbourg are great in riches vertue and alliances When I passed through their Countrey Clara Dutchess of Brunswick and Sophia Agnes Princess of Anhalt were widows to two Lords of that House and Antony Gunther had a Princess Palatine Many believe the Counts of Solmes are issued out of those of Nassau They are not rich but you will meet with few Lords so well allyed Frederick Henry Prince of Orange the honour of the Captains of our age had the generous Amelia Joachim Ernest Marquis of Brandenbourg had the Phenix of beauty and chastity Sophia Frederick Marquis of Dourlach the incomparable Eleonor Augustus Prince of Anhalt the pious Sibyll Vlrick Duke of Wirtemberg the amiable Sophia Dorothy Maurice Landgrave of Hesse the fair Agnes and Ernest his son hath at this time Mary Eleonor all Countesses of Solmes From whence we may conclude that this House is fruitful in beautiful and vertuous Ladies P. I would willingly have heard a word of the Counts of Salme and Stolberg but if you find it difficult pass on to the consideration of the Barons of the Empire G. The Counts of Salme were raised to the rank of Princes though their lands be held of the Duke of Lorraine They are Rhingraves and all the Rhingraves bear the name and Arms of Salme They of Stolberg are inferior to none either in antiquity of Nobility or greatness of Alliances or priviledges They coyn money both of gold and silver and bear for their Arms a Stag Sable because one of the ancient Counts of that House giving an entertainment of hunting to the Emperor Conrade of Franconia a black Stag was taken and the Emperor would transmit the memory thereof to posterity by that change of Arms. As to the Barons you ought to know that they who are Estates of the Empire do hardly differ from the Counts but in name In all things else they are equal they marry their daughters they are in the same Classe at the Diets of the Empire they give their Suffrages there after the same manner and enjoy the same immunities lastly they are both alike styled Illustrious P. Methinks we have a great many Barons in Germany G. There are but few Barons of the Empire To be such an one it is necessary to be Matriculated and contribute to the necessities of the State which belongs not to any one of those whom the Emperor creates upon a new score in his hereditary Countreys how rich and potent soever they be And for that cause they have neither voice nor place in the Assemblies of the Empire Many of the ancient Barons have taken the quality of Count those which remain are Creange Fleckenstein Fugger Hohengeroldseck Konigseck Limbourg Maxelrein Perlestein Plaven Rapolstein Schombourg Scheuk of Tautemberg Wolfenstein Winemberg Walbot and it may be some others that are not come to my knowledge Part of those of Creange are Counts but the others are not inferior to them being allyed even to Princes and very near to the Houses of Nassau and the Rhingraves They of Fleckenstein have signalized themselves in the last War where they got honour and served in the quality of Generals The Fuggers are not
disproportionable to the spirit fortune and valour of that excellent Prince The fifth Combat hapned April 4. 1639. near Kemnitz in Misnia where Bannier the Swedes General overcame the Imperialists and Saxons commanded by General Salis. The sixth was an action of the Archduke Leopold and Picolomini more bold then well advised when they set upon the Swedes French and Lunebourgers in their Trenches at Wolfenbottel and were beaten back with the loss of their Foot and the left wing of their Horse June 19. 1641. The seventh signalized Mareshal Guebriant in the Archbishoprick of Collen where having the conduct of the French Army he beat and took prisoner Baron Lamboy General of the Emperors Confederates January 17. 1642. P. After the taking of Lamboy Mareshal Guebriant was very seasonably backed by Frederick Henry of Nassau Prince of Orange G. That German Alexander did a special piece of service to his Allies at that time taking up his Quarters between Rhimberg and Orsoy to succour the Mareshal in case the Spaniards should draw towards him The eighth Combat hapned near Schweinitz in Silesia where Torstenson surprised Francis Albert Duke of Saxon-Lawembourg General of the Imperialists and Saxons who were so soundly beaten there that their General remained dead upon the place May 21. 1642. In the ninth there was but little blood shed but a total rout of the French Army which after the death of Mareshall Guebriant being commanded by Count Iosias de Rantzau was surprised by the Bavarian Forces under the conduct of Hatzfeld and Iohn de Werdt at Dutlinguen a little Town in the Dutchy of Wirtemberg and nothing was saved but a part of the Horse led by General Rose P. The death of the Count de Guebriant occasioned that defeat and the loss of his person was valued at no less a rate then that of all his Troops because of the good services he had and might still have performed G. That Mareshal was exceedingly beloved by the German Troops being a man of singular courage and conduct and so careful of them that in his time they were alwayes very well paid The tenth would have strucken the very trees with fear and admiration if they had had any sense for Lewis de Bourbon then Duke of Anguyen and now Prince of Conde made five assaults upon the Bavarian Army entrenched upon a mountain near Fribourg in Brisgou where he slew their General Gaspar de Mercy in the yeare 1644. forced the Enemies army to quit their Poste and afterwards went to take Philipsbourg and some other places though he had lost very much brave Nobility The Fleventh made Merkendal in Franconia to be talked of where Mareshal Turenne General of the French Forces was surprised by Francis de Mercy General of the Bavarians November 14. 1645. The loss nevertheless was not so great as some Writers would perswade us if that be true which I have been told upon the place The Twelfth was fought by the French and Hessian armies against the Bavarian wherein the loss was almost equal but Francis Baron de Mercy was slain there and the Duke of Anguyen Mareshal Turenne and Geis remained masters of the Field and had the spoil of the dead May. 5. 1646. P. It seemes there is a kind of fatality in things of this world here were two brethren both Generals of the Bavarians and both slain in fight by the Duke of Anguyen It is further remarkable that the French got few or no victories but they cost them very much blood G. Ordinarily the French would carry all by main force and think those victories but little honourable that are gotten by surprize Nevertheless the Generals that are sparing of their Souldiers lives ahve alwayes been and are still more esteemed then they that part with them at so cheap a rate The thirteenth Fight was a sudden unforeseen engagement wherein the Armies of Sweden and France commanded by the Mareshals Charles Gustavus Wrangel Henry de la Tour Prince of Turenne both equally resolute and prudent having accidentally fallen upon the Imperial and Bavarian Forces under the conduct of Melander otherwise called the Count of Holt zapfel and Gronsfeld forced them off their ground and pursued them about two Leagues with great effusion of blood which yet had been far greater if Vlrick Duke of Wirtemberg had not stopped that Torrent by a resolution worthy of his Courage withstanding all the Enemies Forces only with two squadrons of Foot two Bodies of Horse and so giving leisure to those of his Party to rally and recover a place of safety after the death of Melander General of the Imperialists which action in the opinion of both Parties preserved Austria and Bavaria The last Combat was fought Iune 4. 1648. near Grewembrouck in the Country of Iuliers where the Hessian Army under the conduct of General Geis had a great advantage over the Imperial commanded by Baron Lamboy P. I have heard it said by persons of credit who had principal command in that Engagement that Frederick Duke of Wirtemberg did wonders there G. I know if it had not been for that Prince the Hessians had been beaten for their Horse gave ground and they had not gotten the day but for that Duke who commanded the Foot and both by his example encouraged those that remained in the field and by his resolution called back those that were fled But that was not the only place where Duke Frederick of Wirtemberg made his courage to be taken notice of It was he himself that with his Regiment having the Van in the Fight at St. Antony pulled down the Palissades and made way for the Horse to pass when Mareshall Guebriant took Baron Lamboy prisoner So that it may be said without flattering him or wronging the other Officers it was he that got the victory in those two Combats P. I imagine that you speak not here of any but the most memorable actions it being almost impossible there should have been so few engagements of Armies and encounters of Parties in a War wherein all Europe was concerned and where strangers French Spaniards Swedes and Lorrainers were mingled with the Germans plaid their parts for many years together G. You have reason And I confess to write that war would make a great Volume which is not my intention Nevertheless I shall tell you that Iuly 31. 1633. Prince Christian Palatine of Birkenfeld having the sword of Iosias Count of Rantzau to assist him and some Swedish Troops under his command beat the Lorrainers near Pfaffenhoven in the Lower Alsatia March 2. 1634. the Rhingrave Otho Lewis General of some confederate Swedes defeated the Count of Salme at Wateweil in the upper Alsatia and October 7. 1638. Count Hatzfeld an Imperialist scattered the Troops which Charles Lewis Elector Palatine had joyned to some Swedes near Blotu in the County of Lippe P. So many Fights and Battels so many takings and desolations of Cities and so many Mortalities having afflicted and wasted Germany for many years