Family correspondence of Ferdinand I (1535 and 1536)

Although Wilhelm Bauer published the first volume of Ferdinand I (1503-1564) family`s correspondence in 1912, only four more volumes of the edition appeared in print by 2000. These four volumes (1912, 1937/38, 1973/77/84, 2000) contain the monarch`s exchange of letters with his grandparents, his aunt Margaret, his brother Charles V (1500-1558), and his sister Mary of Hungary (1505-1558) until 1534. The proposed project has two objects: first, it intends to collect all pertinent letters between 1535 and 1564, the year of Ferdinand`s death, in Austrian, Belgian, Spanish, and French archives, and second, the preparation for publication of the correspondence from 1535 and 1536. Ferdinand`s family correspondence is of the highest importance for historical as well as linguistic research. Not only do we find in his letters important information concerning the main topics of international sixteenth-century politics, such as the confessional problem and the Ottoman menace of the Hapsburg territories, the correspondence also provides us with valuable insights into the use of different languages within the high nobility of the time. For 1535 and 1536 we might expect information about the knowledge the Hapsburg siblings had about the treaty between Francis I of France and the Ottoman sultan as well as the successful campaign of Charles V in Tunis and his expeditions in Southern France. Other important events in these two years, about which new insights might be gained, are the defeat of the Anabaptists in Münster, the end of Jürgen Wullenweber`s government in Lübeck, the death by fire of Jakob Huter in the Tyrol, the publication of Calvin`s Institutio religionis christianae in Basel, and the Wittenberger Konkordie. The news about the consequences of the conquest of the Inca Empire will also probably play a certain role in the correspondence. It also will be interesting to see if French remains the main language for the more "private" written communication between Ferdinand, Charles and Mary of Hungary, or if Spanish and German will gain a more important position in the correspondence between the siblings. It also cannot be excluded that the two other sisters Eleonora (1498- 1558), queen of France, and Catherine (1507-1578), queen of Portugal, will receive more attention from Ferdinand.

Although Wilhelm Bauer published the first volume of Ferdinand I (1503-1564) family`s correspondence in 1912, only four more volumes of the edition appeared in print by 2000. These four volumes (1912, 1937/38, 1973/77/84, 2000) contain the monarch`s exchange of letters with his grandparents, his aunt Margaret, his brother Charles V (1500-1558), and his sister Mary of Hungary (1505-1558) until 1534. The proposed project has two objects: first, it intends to collect all pertinent letters between 1535 and 1564, the year of Ferdinand`s death, in Austrian, Belgian, Spanish, and French archives, and second, the preparation for publication of the correspondence from 1535 and 1536. Ferdinand`s family correspondence is of the highest importance for historical as well as linguistic research. Not only do we find in his letters important information concerning the main topics of international sixteenth- century politics, such as the confessional problem and the Ottoman menace of the Hapsburg territories, the correspondence also provides us with valuable insights into the use of different languages within the high nobility of the time. For 1535 and 1536 we might expect information about the knowledge the Hapsburg siblings had about the treaty between Francis I of France and the Ottoman sultan as well as the successful campaign of Charles V in Tunis and his expeditions in Southern France. Other important events in these two years, about which new insights might be gained, are the defeat of the Anabaptists in Münster, the end of Jürgen Wullenweber`s government in Lübeck, the death by fire of Jakob Huter in the Tyrol, the publication of Calvin`s Institutio religionis christianae in Basel, and the Wittenberger Konkordie. The news about the consequences of the conquest of the Inca Empire will also probably play a certain role in the correspondence. It also will be interesting to see if French remains the main language for the more "private" written communication between Ferdinand, Charles and Mary of Hungary, or if Spanish and German will gain a more important position in the correspondence between the siblings. It also cannot be excluded that the two other sisters Eleonora (1498- 1558), queen of France, and Catherine (1507-1578), queen of Portugal, will receive more attention from Ferdinand.