DOCUMENTA POLONICA EX ARCHIVO GENERALI HISPANIAE IN SIMANCAS Nova series Volumen I POLISH ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES DOCUMENTA POLONICA EX ARCHIVO GENERALI HISPANIAE IN SIMANCAS Nova series Volumen I Edited by Ryszard Skowron in collaboration with Miguel Conde Pazos, Paweł Duda, Enrique Corredera Nilsson, Matylda Urjasz-Raczko Cracow 2015 Research financed by the Minister for Science and Higher Education through the National Programme for the Development of Humanities in 2012-2015 Editor Ryszard Skowron English Translation Sabina Potaczek-Jasionowicz Proofreading of Spanish Texts Cristóbal Sánchez Martos Proofreading of Latin Texts Krzysztof Pawłowski Design & DTP Renata Tomków © Copyright by Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (PAU) & Ryszard Skowron ISBN 978-83-7676-233-3 Printed and Bound by PASAŻ, ul. Rydlówka 24, Kraków Introduction Between 1963 and 1970, as part of its series Elementa ad Fontiun Editiones, the Polish Historical Institute in Rome issued Documenta polonica ex Archivo Generali Hispaniae in Simancas, seven volumes of documents pertinent to the history of Poland edited by Rev. Walerian Meysztowicz.1 The collections in Simancas are not only important for understanding Polish-Spanish relations, but also very effectively illustrate Poland’s foreign policy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the role the country played in the international arena. In this respect, the Spanish holdings are second only to the Vatican archives. In terms of the quality and quantity of information, not even the holdings of the Vienna archives illuminate Poland’s European politics on such a scale. Meysztowicz was well aware of this, opening his introduction (Introductio) to the first part of the publication with the sentence: “Res gestae Christianitatis sine Archivo Septimacensi cognosci vix possunt.”2 1 Elementa ad Fontium Editiones, vol. VIII, Documenta Polonica ex Archivo Generali Hispaniae in Simancas, part I, ed. V. Meysztowicz, Rome 1963; Elementa ad Fontium Editiones, vol. XI, Documenta Polonica ex Archivo Generali Hispaniae in Simancas, part II, ed. V. Meysztowicz, Rome 1964; Elementa ad Fontium Editiones, vol. XII, Documenta Polonica ex Archivo Generali Hispaniae in Simancas, part III, ed. V. Meysztowicz, Rome 1964; Elementa ad Fontium Editiones, vol. XV, Documenta Polonica ex Archivo Generali Hispaniae in Simancas, part IV, ed. V. Meysztowicz, Romae 1966; Elementa ad Fontium Editiones, vol. XVI, Documenta Polonica ex Archivo Generali Hispaniae in Simancas, part V, ed. V. Meysztowicz, Rome 1966; Elementa ad Fontium Editiones, vol. XIX, Documenta Polonica ex Archivo Generali Hispaniae in Simancas, part VI, ed. V. Meysztowicz, Rome 1968; Elementa ad Fontium Editiones, vol. XXI, Documenta Polonica ex Archivo Generali Hispaniae in Simancas, part VII, ed. V. Meysztowicz, Rome 1970 (from here on in – EFE). 2 EFE, vol. VIII, Introductio, p. VII. – 5 – At the outset we must stress a fact that cannot be emphasized enough: the most important collections of documents illustrating the ties between Poland and Spain through the end of the eighteenth century are found in Spanish archives. The disproportion between the amount and quality of the documents preserved in each country is astounding (the only exceptions are the documents pertinent to Dantyszek’s embassy and the Neapolitan sums from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries). This is not simply due to fundamental differences in the organization and functioning of the diplomatic service of both countries, but stems primarily from differences in their systems of government, administrative organization, and the level of development of their respective bureaucracies. In Polish sources information about political issues has to be scrupulously tracked down in large amounts of material pertaining to the Neapolitan sums and the resultant fragmented picture is made up of individual matters and topics that do not coalesce into a coherent whole. In the far more plentiful Spanish sources, on the other hand, broadly defined political issues decisively predominate and present bilateral relations much more fully, whilst at the same time situating them within a concrete European context. The unique make-up of the Spanish records pertinent to the role of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in Europe arises from the administrative system of the Spanish monarchy as well as the organization of and the principles governing the country’s diplomatic service. The minutes of the sessions of the Council of State (Consejo de Estado) have proven to be of vital importance in this respect. Current affairs were discussed and the direction for Spain’s foreign policy and methods for its implementation were set out during council meetings. The council analyzed diplomatic correspondence from its network of embassies throughout Europe (of particular importance for Poland were Vienna, Rome, Venice, and Paris) and the diplomatic activities of the viceroys and governors of countries ruled by Spain (especially – 6 – significant for Polish history is the correspondence of the governors of the Spanish Netherlands and the viceroys of Naples). Because Spain’s national interest and the monarchs’ reputations depended upon it, policy goals were set based upon this information. Polish issues appear in this very broad context as both direct and indirect relations (information relating to, Poland but not directly pertinent to Polish-Spanish relations). The publication of documents from the Archivo General in Simancas is fully justified and necessary to the research of both Polish and foreign historians. Materials pertaining to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth are found primarily in the Secretaría de Estado section, which contains documents relating to Council of State business and foreign policy. The entire section comprises 8,000 legajos (bundles of papers), divided into forty-nine series containing documents pertinent to specific countries or diplomatic missions.3 Polonica from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are found primarily in the series Negociación de Alemania which comprises 345 volumes and is an integral part of the records pertinent to Madrid’s relations with the Holy Roman Empire and other German states. This section also contains a separate series called Negociación de Polonia (legajos 6580–6597), but the documents all date to the eighteenth century.4 In seven volumes of the EFE, 3 See Angel de la Plaza Bores, Archivo General de Simancas. Guía de investigador, Madrid: 1992, pp. 108–122. 4 In EFE, vol. VIII, pp. 1–10, Walerian Meysztowicz briefly presented the contents of Negociación de Polonia (legajos 6580–6597). His treatment of the subject is somewhat broader than that found in the Catologo II. Secretaría de Estado. (Capitulaciones con la Casa de Austria y negociaciones de Alemania, Sajonia, Polonia, Prusia y Hamburgo 1493–1796, ed. by Julián de Paz, Madrid: 1942. The letters of the Count of Aranda, Spanish ambassador to Poland from 1760 to 1762 (Estado, legajo 6583) have been published in Colleción de Documentos Inéditos para la Historia de España, vol. CVIII, Madrid: 1893, pp. 327–509. The ambassador’s private letters found in AGS, Estado, libro 154, have been published in Cartas desde Varsovia. Correspondencia privada del Conde de Aranda con Ricardo Wall (1760–1762), ed. by C. Gonzáles Caizán, C. Taracha, and D. Téllez Alarcia, Lublin: 2005. – 7 – Meysztowicz published altogether 1,279 documents from Simancas, including 1,093 documents from the series Negociación de Alemania dating from 1515 through 1620 held in seventy-seven legajos (Estado, legajo 635–712). These materials were issued in six volumes VIII, XI, XII, XV, XVI, and XIX of the EFE. In volume XXI he published materials from the series Necgociación de Napoles, España y Norte and Patronato Real. Number of Archivo General de Simancas published EFE volume/part documents Dates Fondo MS number EFE vol. VIII/I 157 1514–1575 Negociación de Estado, leg. 635–667 Alemania EFE vol. XI/II 214 1567–1579 Negociación de Estado, leg. 668–673 Alemania EFE vol. XII/III 163 1571–1576 Negociación de Estado, leg. 674–678 Alemania EFE vol. XV/IV 211 1575–1587 Negociación de Estado, leg. 679–693 Alemania EFE vol. XVI/V 227 1587–1590 Negociación de Estado, leg. 694–697 Alemania EFE vol. XIX/VI 121 1556–1620 Negociación de Estado, leg. 698–712 Alemania EFE vol. XXI/VII 155 1528–1696 Negociación de Estado, leg. 1003– Napoles 1110, 1875-1884, 3250-3334 EFE vol. XXI/VII 19 1491–1612 España y Norte, Estado, leg. 2842– negocios 2993 extraordinarios EFE vol. XXI/VII 12 1498–1581 Patronato Real Patronato Real, leg. 1– 91 With the present publication we propose to continue the editorial work begun by Walerian Meysztowicz. In the first place, we studied subsequent legajos of the Negociación de Alemania. Documents from Estado, legajos 635–712, dated from 1510 to 1620, from the set – 8 – of records called Correspondencia5 were published in the EFE. The documents published in the EFE were reviewed and compared against the contents of several legajos, leading us to conclude that Meysztowicz carefully compiled source documents not omitting any important records or even documents with only passing mentions of Poland. Here we should mention the Spanish historians and archivists who helped edit the publication issued by the Polish Historical Institute, especially the eminent historian Felipe Ruiz Martín, whose contribution Meysztowicz praised very highly,6 and archivist Adela González Vega. The documents found in Consultas originales (Estado, legajos 2323–2401) from