The Project of the partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth between Russia and the Holy Roman Empire: The Cracow roll-message from 1576

Abstract

The imperial embassy of Johann Kobentzl von Prosseg and Daniel Prinz von Buchau discussed with tsar Ivan IV and his representatives in December 1575 – January 1576 the consequences of Maximilian II Habsburg’s election on the thrones of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish Crown. There is the roll-message in Cracow Chartorysky Library (Perg. 2822/IX), which has been sent to the emperor with their legates. It became known among contemporaries in Poland and Lithuania. The authors of the article strive to analyze the manuscript tradition of the roll. The differences between its Moscow ambassadorial, Lithuanian Russian, Polish and Latin copies show that the roll took part in the political struggle of the period.