“Your Highness may graciously recall that for many years I have been a faithful and veteran servant of His Imperial and Royal Majesty and of the House of Austria” — thus began the argument of the distinguished military commander Bálint Prépostváry (†1597) in a letter written at Csenger on 8 June 1591, which came into the possession of the Hungarian Heritage Archives Foundation through purchase.
The accomplished soldier, who had been elevated to the rank of baron in 1589, addressed his petition to Archduke Ernest, the member of the Habsburg dynasty responsible for the military administration of the Kingdom of Hungary. Through this letter he sought appointment to the captaincy of Eger. As he explained, he had long awaited promotion to a more distinguished office, but had come to realize that no such opportunity had arisen and had therefore remained patient. Now, however, the captaincy of Eger had become vacant, and apart from God and the addressee he had no patron to support his cause.
What makes this already fascinating petition even more remarkable is that, following the formal text, Bálint Prépostváry reinforced his request with a short autograph note. In a deliberately diplomatic transcription, his words to the Archduke read as follows:
“Domine Clementissime! Sӱ serenitas westra me non promovebit post suam maiestatem, ego retro et domi manebo, neque witulum habebo apwd titulum. Graciosum responsum ex pecto a westra serenitate.”
In interpretative translation:
“Most Gracious Lord! If Your Highness does not support me before His Majesty, I shall withdraw and remain at home, and apart from my title I shall not possess so much as a calf. I await a gracious reply from Your Highness.”
This note differs markedly from the petition itself, both in orthography and in style. Whereas the formal request was composed in impeccable Latin and observed all the conventions of courtly politeness, the concluding remark is considerably more direct and less polished. Perhaps its author felt that the carefully phrased petition was not forceful enough on its own. As already noted by the historian Sándor Takáts, Prépostváry appears to have been more soldier than elegant man of letters. Yet he had no difficulty incorporating into his appeal the well-known wordplay based on the rhyme of titulus and vitulus—“What is a title worth without a calf?”—a proverbial expression conveying the idea that rank without property is of little value. Despite its somewhat unrefined tone, the appeal achieved its purpose.
This historically valuable document, whose faint seal still reveals elements of the Prépostváry coat of arms, was subsequently donated by the Hungarian Heritage Archives Foundation to the Hungarian National Archives.
Tibor Neumann