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31 István Brodarics to Archduke Ferdinand 1 Rome, 3 May 1524 Manuscript used: MOL, DF 276077 He has learnt about the death of Archbishop of Esztergom György Szatmári; since benefices get rearranged in such cases, he asks Ferdinand to intercede on his behalf for remembering the absent envoy in Buda so that the latter’s services are rewarded with a smaller benefice at least; he asks for this only to be able to represent the Hungarian King in Rome better. Serenissime Princeps et Domine, Domine mihi Clementissime. Post servitutis meae perpetuae in gratiam Vestrae Serenitatis humillimam commendationem.

Licet satis absurdum esse videatur ab eo Principe, cui quis nihil serviverit, quippiam postulare. Summa tamen Vestrae Serenitatis clementia et singularis in omnes liberalitas ac munificentia spem mihi dat Vestram Serenitatem preces etiam nihil a se merentis servitoris non aspernaturam.

Intellexi reverendissimum dominum meum archiepiscopum Strigoniensem his diebus vita functum esse. 2 Non dubito (ut in tali casu plerumque fieri consuevit) nonnullas beneficiorum ecclesiasticorum mutationes in Hungaria fore. Ego cum a serenissimo et clementissimo domino meo, fratre 3 Vestrae Serenitatis longe nunc absim, 4 et absentes, quocunque obsequii genere fungantur, vulgato proverbio pro mortuis haberi soleant, mihi ad Vestrae Serenitatis praesidium duxi refugiendum. Cui supplico humillime, dignetur tam ad maiestatem regiam ac reginalem, dominos meos clementissimos, quam etiam ad magnificum dominum oratorem suum et 5 reverendissimum dominum 9  in marg. alia manu fiat, ut petitur. Scibatur viendum [?] ei 1  The letter, apart from some minor changes, is identical to the one sent to Polish King Sigismund the same day (except that the letter to Ferdinand does not have a postscript.) Not only the texts are identical but the ductus as well, so Brodarics’ scriptor wrote the same letter twice and sent both, one to Vienna, the other to Cracow. The only change he made is in the salutation: to the letters in Cracow it is Maiestas, since Sigismund was a King, while in the Vienna version it is Serenitas, because Ferdinand was only an Archduke in 1524. 2  Archbishop of Esztergom György Szatmári died on 7 April 1524. 3  In the letter to Cracow the word here is nepote because Sigismund was the uncle of King Louis II while Ferdinand was his brother-in-law. 4  Brodarics had stayed in Rome since the spring of 1522 as an envoy of Louis II. 5  Johann Schnaidpeck von Schönkirchen, an envoy of the Emperor, stayed in the Buda castle since the autumn of 1523. He had huge influence and was the permanent target of attacks from the opposition of lesser nobility. The part magnificum dominum oratorem suum et is missing from the Cracow letter, obviously because, unlike Ferdinand, Sigismund did not have an envoy in Buda. Compare: Kubinyi András, A magyar állam belpolitikai helyzete Mohács előtt = Rúzsás Lajos – Szakály Ferenc (eds., Mohács. Tanul mányok a mohácsi csata 450. évfordulója alkalmából. Budapest, 1986, 87–91.

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cancellarium 6 Hungariae in mei commendationem suas litteras dare et efficere, ut mei quamvis absentis, diligenter tamen eorum maiestatibus servientis ratio habeatur saltem in minoribus beneficiis. 7 Nam maiora, sicuti non mereor, ita neque petere ausim. Neque sum, Clementissime Princeps, natura adeo ambitiosus, ut patrocinio Vestrae Serenitatis, quam scio omnia etiam summa apud dominum meum clementissimum posse, aliud consequi optem, quam unde possim commodius et honorificentius vestris maiestatibus servire. Scit enim maiestas vestra inopiam ac sordes cum magnorum principum legatione non bene convenire. Itaque rursus supplico Vestrae Serenitati, dignetur in hoc preces meas exaudire. Quicquid in me benignitate Serenitatis Vestrae collatum fuerit, dabo operam, ut id in diligentissimum et gratissimum servitorem Vestra Serenitas contulisse videatur.

Me et meam servitutem perpetuam rursus in gratiam Vestrae Serenitatis humillime commendo. Quam Deus felicissimam et incolumem conservet. Ex Urbe III. Mai 1524. Eiusdem Vestrae Serenitatis humillimus servulus Stephanus Brodericus serenissimi regis Hungariae orator