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582 | FROM LOUIS BER 559 possit me oblectantes, in me concitarunt incredibile et impatiens desyderium tui; vt qui te, virum in bonis litteris absolutissimum, praeceptorem meum, praesentem, proh pudor, minus colui, iam ex 5 imo pectoris absentem ingemiscam. In quo tamen meo infortunio (vere amiciciae ratione habita) non parum consolor felici tuo successu, qui maximis pollicitis inuitaris a rege Francorum, a plurimis pontificibus, a Cardinali Toletano, ab Anglis et aliis principibus. Sed vtinam illis omnibus relictis (modo id tuo commodo fiat) ad nos Basileam reuertaris ! vbi licet non satis digna pro meritis tuis fortuna iam offeratur, non deerit tamen, vt ipse nosti, pro tuae dignitatis statu condicio in loco salubri et amoenissimo honesta, tuta, secura, quieta, letissima, qualem Musae maximopere exoptant. Tanto tui desyderio afficitur Ioannes Frobenius, hospes tuus, vir summa i integritate, vt frequentius ad me dixerit se ad vitam suam tibi in annos singulos daturum centum aureos, si huc reuertaris apud eum mansurus. Et quod ad me attinet, omnem meam fortunam quantulacunque est et meipsum tuae excellentiae offero, deuoueo ae dedo. Erunt et alii qui multa te et beneuolentia et beneficentia prose- 2 quantur ; vt nihil hic defuturum sperem quod ad litterarum studia et vitam in vtroque homine beatam sis desyderaturus. Tuae igitur fuerit humanitatis vt nobis tandem significes an de tuo ad nos reditu spei quippiam sit reliquum ; et si qua in re tuae dominationi gratificari possim, modo id resciuero, factum puta. Quod autem ad Germaniae superioris statum attinet, belli grauioris principium exoriri videtur inter Franciscum de Sickinghen quendam et ciuitates imperiales, nisi Caesaris interuentu res sopiatur. Ceterum magna et grauis apud nos est vini, frumenti et omnium prope rerum ad victum humanum attinentium caritas, et (ad hominum maliciam reprimendam) longe adhuc maior imminere videtur cum alio multiplici diuino flagello, nisi oculis misericordie nos respiciat Deus Opt. 20. psoquantur = Y on o 4. qui scripsi: qué MS. g. Toletano LB: Tolesano MS. MS.: corr. LB. Ebernburg above Kreuznach ; and Luther dedicated to him a book on confession (LE. 323). Maximilian courted his support and Charles made him an Imperial Councillor, 25 Oct. 1510. But an attack on Treves produced a coalition of his enemies, which led to his death in his castle at Landstuhl near Zweibrücken. On 25 March 1517 he had plundered near Mainz a train of merchants from S. Germany; and subsequently atg. Toletano] Ximenes; see Ep. 541. 37 n. LB. App. 241 (e. 10 July 1517) shows that he had invited Erasmus before; cf. also LB. App. 164. Dr, I. Bernays of Strasburg informs me that he has seen in Ximenes’ correspondence (either at Simancas or Madrid) a letter from some bishop suggesting to the Cardinal that he should invite Erasmus to Spain. 27, Sickinghen ] (2 Mar. 1481 — 7 May 1523), the marauding German knight, who was nevertheless regarded as a champion of liberty and Church reform. He was a defender of Reuchlin ; and of Hutten, in his castle on the tacked Landau, where an Upper Rhenish confederacy against him had gathered, See ADB. and NAKG, iii. 1905, PP. 93-5: o
