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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 ponti¬
ficibus, 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 quantula¬
cunque 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 gratifi¬
cari 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 multi¬
plici 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 pro¬
duced 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 at¬
g. Toletano] Ximenes; see Ep. 541.
37 n. LB. App. 241 (e. 10 July 1517)
shows that he had invited Eras¬
mus before; cf. also LB. App. 164.
Dr, I. Bernays of Strasburg informs
me that he has seen in Ximenes’ cor¬
respondence (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 re¬
form. He was a defender of Reuchlin ;
and of Hutten, in his castle on the
tacked Landau, where an Upper Rhe¬
nish confederacy against him had
gathered, See ADB. and NAKG, iii.
1905, PP. 93-5:
o