[DIPLOMACY] Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche à l'Empereur Maximilien, 1514

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Mon tres redoubte seigneur et pere, tres humblement a votre bonne grace me recommande,

 

It brings us no shortage of pleasure to hear of the recovery of your personage. We bid our prayers continue to be answered, that you may find yourself of full mind and body once more for the benefit of our House, the Empire, and all of Christendom.

 

So too is joy found in the advancement of our nephew Ferdinand. He seemed every part the noble man and ruler that we had so hoped he would become last we met him in Kraków, and we hold no reservation as to the continued success of your tutelage and guidance.

 

We have yet to receive report from our Field Hetman Jan Kamieniecki, but do put faith in him and the Lord above that the goode armies of Austria and Burgundy find success on the field of battle against the perfidious encroachment of the French. It breaks my heart that such a beautiful realm is once again subject to the destructive whims of men, but I suppose so long as you have things which are Good, other men will always desire them.

 

As for our own troubles, we will not be deceptive and pretend that the struggles of the last year have not weighed on us heavily. The destruction the plague hath wrought upon the many cities of the Commonwealth is vast, and has been felt closer to home than we had ever imagined. The loss of young Casimir and Sigismund has been excruciating, casting over the House of Jagiellon a darker shadow than has been seen in some time, and over my own person one I feared I may never have emerged from beneath. Truly it has only been the arrival of your newest grandson Charles that has pulled us from that darkness, and reminded us of all the gifts which we still have to be thankful for.

 

Remember, mon père, that while we may not have been promised a rose garden, we are, both of us, surrounded by gifts from which we may find the strength and love to grow ones for ourselves.

 

Avec amour de votre fidèle fille Margaret

 

Douzième jour de Janvier, l'an de Notre Seigneur Mille Cinq Cent Quatorze.

 

Accompanying the letter would be a small package, containing a small portrait of the young Prince Charles Jagiellon, and a velvet bag containing two dozen rose hips.

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