The Ottoman Grand Vizierate (1560s–1760s)Kaiser Maximilian II. an Großwesir Sokollu Mehmed Pascha, Regensburg, 27. August 1576Letter from Emperor Maximilian II to Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, Regensburg, 27 August 1576Vezir-i Azam Sokollu Mehmed Paşa’nın İmparator II. Maximilian’a mektubu, Regensburg, 27 Ağustos 1576Maximilian IIlat, en1576-08-27Maximilianus etc.Binas a vobis accepimus literas, priores superiori mense Maio, alteras vero die ultima Iulii proxime praeteriti datas. Ex quibus, necnon consiliarii et in excelsa ista Porta oratoris nostri, nobilis fidelis nobis dilecti Davidis Ungnad, baronis in Sonnegk, relatione cognovimus, vestrum singulare studium, curam atque sollicitudinem pacis negotio hactenus a vobis adhibitam. Quam cum benigno gratissimoque animo accipimus, tum vero de vobis, quem uti memoratae pacis praecipuum authorem agnoscimus, ita potissimam eius conservandae fiduciam in vobis positam habemus, aliud nobis haud unquam polliciti sumus, vel etiam in posterum expectabimus.Quo magis mi ramur ea, quae iam ab aliquo tempore per officiales et milites Turcicos, nulla eiusdem pacis ratione habita, hostili plane modo patrata ac talia omnino sunt ut bello magis quam paci conveniant. Quae cum minime dissimulanda sint, nobis quidem deliberatum erat, omnia ea, quae sic a paucis men sibus acciderunt, ad serenissimum imperatorem vestrum, cuius scitu et voluntate illa facta esse nobis, qui de serenitatis suae aequanimitate longe aliter persuasum habemus, haud verisimile sit, particulatim ac in specie referre. Attamen cum nobis in mentem veniat, aliquam molestiae, quam serenitas sua ea ex re haud dubie captura esset, partem ad vos redire posse, maluimus vestrae personae pro syncera nostra in eande propensione hoc loci rationem habere, ac genera libus tantum verbis rem hanc in nostris ad serenitatem suam literis attingere, quam serenitati suae aliquam gravio ris vel in vos, vel etiam bassam Budensem ut quem vobis charum inprimis ac bene commen datum esse non ignoramus, offensae causam praebere. Neque tamen praetermittendum duximus, quin vobis rei indignitatem uberius aliquanto ob oculos poneremus.Nam ut depraedationes illas, aliasque violentias, ac villarum et pagorum antehac praefato serenissimo imperatori vestro haud unquam tributariorum ad deditionem compul siones, quarum praefatus orator noster ea de re nonnulla vobis referret, haud ullus finis est, praetereamus begus Bosnensis superiori mense Iunio arcem nostram Busin, in partibus Croatiae sitam, praesidiariis nihil tale opinantibus, ex improviso adortus, in potestatem suam redegit, ac praesidio Turcico imposito illam etiamnum tenet. Arcem autem Gosdansky non solum obsedit, sed et cuniculis actis oppugnavit; eodemque modo arcem Ostroschatz per biduum oppugnatam occupare conatus est.Atque insuper duo alia castella Hoyssicz, Gradacz et Zasin vi in potestatem suam redacta praesidiis com munit. Praeterea eodem fere tempore beghus Zigethiensis castellum And, non longe a Canisa situm, magna vi oppugnatum, summisso pulvere tormentario in cineres redegit atque evertit: praesidiariis per collapsa rudera ad unum omnibus trucidatis: tum alterum quoque castellum, illi vicinum, Sancti Jacobi dictum, exussit. Turcae item Filekienses et Zechenienses undecima die mensis Iulii proxime praeteriti valido exercitu in oppidum Ochana, ad confinia montana situm, irruptione facta illud igne vasta runt: abductis inde ducentis fere hominibus multisque trucidatis.Neque iis contenti serenitatis suae milites et officiales, pagum Ilia vel Sancti Aegidii, non longe a Schemnitia situm, exusserunt, et circiter octodecim personas in captivitatem abduxerunt: atque insuper vigesima secunda dicti mensis Iulii quindecim pagos supra Canisam sitos diripuerunt, abreptisque in servitutem incolis, pecora etiam abegerunt, ac tandem ipsos pagos igne absumpserunt. Deinde sequenti die vigesima septima eiusdem mensis sub aurora, Turcae Neogradienses circiter mille numero, villam Sibrig sub arce Zithna sitam invaserunt, eamque incensam in cineres redegerunt: castellum quoque, quod a viginti peditibus custodiebatur, expugnaverunt, ipsosque praesidiarios ad unum omnes conciderunt.Et quamvis bassa Budensis aliquo ties tam a nobis ipsis, quam fratre nostro charissimo serenissimo Carolo, archiduce Austriae etc. requisitus fuerit, ut authoritate sua provideret, ne talia contra pacis capitula fierent, arces vero et ca stella intercepta restitui curaret. Tantum abfuit, ut aequissimis nostris postulatis ullum locum dederit, ut nedum aliis frivolis excusationibus, quae sic perpetrata essent, defendere, sed et praefato serenissimo fratri nostro arcis Busin restitutionem urgenti respondere non sit veritus, se, etiamsi vel uno die decem arces eo modo, quo illa capta esset, occupare posset, haud ullam earum restituere velle. Id, quantum colligimus, innuere volens, liberum esse arces, nulla maiori vi adhibita intercipere.Quae omnia quantopere pactis con ventis adversentur, et an non talia sint, ut tum ho norarii muneris serenissimo imperatori vestro pacis ratione, non autem ita promissi, ut nihilominus nos ac subditi nostri officialium ac militum Turci corum audaciae, temeritati et insolentiae expositi simus missionem, hucusque differendi plus satis causae habuerimus, vobis iudicandum relinquimus. Nobis sane despectata vestra aequanimitate sic omnino persuasum est, vos non modo hostilia illa nequaquam probaturos sed longiorem illam moram, quae hanc ob causam, tum etiam ob nostram a provinciis nostris haereditariis, solitoque cesareae nostrae residentiae loco absentiam, huiusmodi munerum missioni interposita est, excusatam habituros, verum etiam ut praefatus serenissimus imperator vester aequiori animo accipiat, vestra authoritate effecturos esse.Ne autem, quod nostri hac in parte est officii, diutius desyderari possit, scribimus iam nunc bassae Budensi, ut solitas salviconductus literas pro iis personis, quae eadem munera istuc perfe rendi curam habituri sunt, quamprimum nobis transmittat: iis acceptis illa protinus hinc expe dituri. Vestrum autem erit, ut quemad modum vos facturos plane confidimus, ita pro videatis, ne posthac eiusmodi hostilibus conatibus invasionibus, villarum et pagorum haud unquam antea imperatori vestro tributariorum, subiuga tionibus, aliisque violentiis, locus relinquatur, quin imo iis severissime cohibitis tam Budensis quam alii bassae sanzyaki et begi, caeterique ministri et milites Turcici in officio contineantur, adeoque paci servandae maior quam hactenus, cura ad hibeatur. Alioqui enim nos, qui uti antea semper ita deinceps etiam in id omni maiori studio incubituri sumus, ne quid nostrae ex parte pactis conventis minus consentaneum admittatur, vel saltem tale quid facere ausi illud haud impune ferant, omittere non possemus, quin ad serenitatem suam deferremus.Praeterea cum in memoratis binis vestris literis Polonici quoque negotii, ac Transylvaniae mentione faciatis, nos vero et prioribus nostris literis, quae nostra sit integerrima, pacisque studiosissima mens atque voluntas, tam nobis quam serenitati suae satis declaraverimus, ac nunc in iis, quas ad serenitatem suam scribimus, denuo declaremus, ad illos nos remittimus. Vobis sic persuasum cupientes, nos, uti nihil hactenus, quod a pacis confirmatae capitulis alienum videri debeat, vel etiam contra Transsylvaniam quicquam suscipere nobis in animum venit, de quo iure quis conqueri posset. Ita nec deinceps (quatenus tamen nobis eadem synceritate respondeatur) aliud expectandum esse.Postremo quod ad ea spectat, qua de capitaneo nostro ac militibus Segniensibus conquerimini, equidem non inficiamur, illos, sui officii parum memores, talia patrare ab aliquo tempore ausos fuisse, quae minus fieri oportuerit. Tantum vero abest, ut ea vel nostro cum scitu, nedum ex iussu et voluntate nostra evenerint, ut vehe mentissime etiam nobis displicuerint: adeoque destinatis aliquoties nostris istuc commissariis, ac de iis, quae sic acciderunt diligentissima in quisitione instituta, nihil praetermiserimus, quod ad opportuna remedia adhibenda pertineret. Nam praeter ablatorum restitutio nem, ac captivorum relaxationem, quam citra moram fieri severissime mandavimus, dictum eius loci capitaneum ab officio removi mus, tali successore, quem officii sui magis memorem fore nobis pollicemur, ei surrogato. Ad haec antesignanos huiusmodi facinoram compraehendi iussimus, dignis poenis in eosdem animadversuri: ac denique ita omnia institui mus, ut eam plane spem conceperimus, nul lam posthac de praedictis Segniensibus conque rendi causam reliquam fore.Attamen istud quoque vos latere nolumus quandoque talibus de rebus ad excelsam istam Portam querelas deferri, quae revera longe aliter se habeant: quandoque etiam multa ab aliis irrequietis, pernisiosisque hominibus partim ob maleficia proscriptis, partem trans fugis, vel alias pacis turbandae studiosis, ac nobis neque stipendiorum, quae nulla accipiunt, neque alia quapiam ratione obstrictis, sed va gabundis potius praedonibus perpetrari: quorum deinde culpa Segniensibus nostris militibus ta metsi nullam sustineant, imputatur. Verum ne horum quoque temeritati posthac locus sit, severe ediximus, ne quis deinceps eiusmodi praedonibus ac vagabundis personis ullum receptaculum praebeat, quinimo iidem comprae hensi dignis poenis afficiantur: uti de his et aliis praefatus orator noster vos copiosius edocturus est. Quod reliquum, vos iterum benigne hortamur, ut, quod hactenus soliti estis, primam salutaris pacis tuendae curam habere velitis. Neque dubitetis nostram vobis munificentiam nulla occasione esse defuturam. De caetero vos recte valere cupimus.Exemplum literarum caesareae maiestatis ad Mehemetem Bassam.Maximilian etc.We have received two letters from you, the first in the previous month of May, and the second dated the last day of July. From these, as well as from the report of our counselor and orator at the Sublime Porte, the noble and faithful David Ungnad, Baron of Sonegk, we have learned of your exceptional diligence, care, and concern for the peace negotiations that you have pursued up to now. We accept this with a kind and most grateful spirit. We recognize you as the principal author of this peace, and we place our utmost trust in you for its preservation, having never promised ourselves anything different, nor will we expect anything different in the future.Therefore, we are all the more surprised by those things that have been carried out for some time by Turkish officials and soldiers in a manner that completely disregards this peace and are conducted in a hostile manner that is more suited to war than to peace. Since these things cannot be ignored, we had indeed decided to report all those things that have happened in the past few months to your most serene emperor, although we believe it unlikely that these actions were done with his knowledge and will, in detail and specifically, as we are firmly convinced otherwise of his serene and even-tempered nature. However, since it occurs to us that a part of the inconvenience, which undoubtedly his serenity would become aware of, might return to you, we preferred to take into account our sincere inclination towards you and to touch upon this matter only in general terms in our letters to his serenity, rather than providing any cause for greater offense to you or the pasha of Buda, whom we know to be especially dear and highly esteemed by you. Nevertheless, we have not omitted to bring before your eyes more fully the indignity of the matter.For there is no end to those depredations and other acts of violence, and the coercion of villages and towns into submission that were never previously tributary to your aforementioned most serene emperor, of which our aforementioned envoy would report some things to you. Last month, in June, the bey of Bosnia suddenly attacked our fortress of Bužim in Croatia, catching the unsuspecting garrison by surprise, took it into his power, and still holds it with a Turkish garrison. He not only besieged the fortress of Gvozdansko but also attacked it by building tunnels; similarly, he attempted to capture the fortress of Ostrožac, which he besieged for two days.And moreover, two other fortresses, Hoyssicz, Gradac, und Cazin having been brought by force under his control, were secured with garrisons. Around the same time, the bey of Szigetvár besieged the castle of And, not far from Nagykanizsa, with great force, reduced it to ashes with the help of artillery powder, and destroyed it, killing all the garrison through the collapsed ruins. Then he also burned another nearby castle called St. Jacob. Likewise, the Turks of Fiľakovo and Zechen made an incursion into the town of Ochana on the eleventh day of July, situated near the mountains, burned it down, abducted about two hundred people, and killed many.Not content with these, the soldiers and officials of your serenity set fire to the village of Ilia or St. Aegidi, not far from Banská Štiavnica, and abducted about eighteen people into captivity; and moreover, on the twenty-second of the said month of July, they plundered fifteen villages above Nagykanizsa, took the inhabitants into slavery, drove away the livestock, and finally consumed the villages with fire. On the next day, the twenty-seventh of the same month, at dawn, about a thousand Turks from Nógrád invaded the village of Sibrig under the fortress of Zithna, set it on fire, reduced it to ashes, and captured the castle guarded by twenty foot soldiers, killing all the garrison to the last man.And although the pasha of Buda has been requested several times both by us and by our most dear brother, the most serene Charles, Archduke of Austria etc., to provide by his authority that such actions against the peace treaties do not occur and to see to it that the captured fortresses and castles be restored, he was so far from giving any consideration to our most reasonable demands that he not only defended such actions with various frivolous excuses but also did not hesitate to respond to our aforementioned most serene brother, who was urging the restoration of the Bužim fortress, that even if he could capture ten fortresses in one day in the manner that one was captured, he would not restore any of them. From this, as we gather, he meant to imply that it is permissible to seize fortresses without greater force.We leave it to your judgement to what extent all these things are contrary to the treaties concluded, and whether they are not such that, in view of the question of peace, we had more than sufficient reason to delay the honorary gifts, even though they were promised to your most serene emperor, since we and our subjects are exposed to the audacity, recklessness and insolence of Turkish officials and soldiers. We are indeed completely persuaded of your proven even-handedness, that you will not only disapprove of those hostile acts but will also view the delay in the delivery of these gifts as excused due to our absence from our hereditary provinces and usual residence of our imperial court, and will indeed ensure by your authority that your aforementioned most serene emperor accepts it with a more even mind.But lest what is our duty in this matter might be desired for longer we are now writing to the pasha of Buda to send us the usual safe-conduct letters as soon as possible for those persons who will take care of conveying these gifts there: upon receipt, we will dispatch them from here immediately. It will be your responsibility, as we fully trust you will do, to ensure that such hostile attempts, invasions, subjugations of villages and towns, never previously tributary to your emperor, and other acts of violence, will henceforth have no place, but that they will be severely curtailed, and that both the pasha of Buda and other pashas, sanjak-beys, and Turkish officials and soldiers are kept in their duties and that greater care for maintaining peace is applied than has been hitherto. Otherwise, we, who as always before, will also in the future endeavor with the utmost diligence to ensure that nothing less consistent with the treaties is done on our part, or at least that anyone daring to do so will not go unpunished, could not refrain from reporting it to your serenity.Furthermore, as you mention the matter of Poland and Transylvania in your two aforementioned letters, we have already declared in our previous letters our most sincere and peace-loving disposition and will, both for us and for your serenity, and we reiterate it now in those letters we write to your serenity, referring you to them. We desire to persuade you that, just as nothing so far could be considered contrary to the confirmed peace chapters, it has not entered our minds to undertake anything against Transylvania, of which anyone could rightfully complain. Thus, henceforth (provided, however, that the same sincerity is reciprocated to us), nothing else is to be expected.Lastly, regarding your complaints about our captain and soldiers of Senj, we do not deny that they, being somewhat forgetful of their duty, have dared to commit acts that should not have been done for some time. However, so far from having occurred with our knowledge, let alone by our order and will, they have been highly displeasing to us: And thus, having dispatched our envoys several times to that place, and having conducted the most diligent inquiry into what occurred, we have left nothing undone in the application of appropriate remedies. For besides the restoration of the stolen property and the release of captives, which we have sternly commanded to be done without delay, we have removed said captain of that place from office and promise to appoint a successor whom we believe will be more mindful of his duty to us. Moreover, we have ordered the foremost perpetrators of such crimes to be arrested, intending to punish them appropriately: and finally, we have instituted everything in such a way that we have conceived the hope that there will be no cause for further complaints about the soldiers of Senj.Nevertheless, we do not want to hide from you that sometimes complaints are brought to the Sublime Porte about such matters that are in reality quite different: sometimes many things are perpetrated by other restless and pernicious men, partly proscribed for their crimes, partly deserters, or otherwise eager to disturb the peace, and not bound to us by any payments, which they do not receive, nor in any other way, but rather wandering robbers: the blame for which is then attributed to our soldiers of Senj, although they bear no responsibility. However, so that there may be no room for their recklessness in the future, we have strictly ordered that no one shall offer any refuge to such robbers and vagrants, and that they shall be severely punished when apprehended: our aforementioned orator will inform you more fully about these and other matters. Finally, we kindly urge you once again to continue to take the utmost care for the maintenance of the beneficial peace, as you have been accustomed to do. And do not doubt that our generosity towards you will not fail on any occasion. We wish for your continued well-being.