In the vizier’s tents on 13th September [l683], in the night.
The only solace of my heart and soul, the loveliest and most beloved Marysieńku![1]
God Our Lord blessed for eternity has granted a victory and glory to our nation the like of which was never heard of in centuries past. All the cannons, all the camp, uncounted riches have fallen into our hands. The enemy, having left [countless] corpses in the approaches, the fields and the camp, is running away in confusion. Only today are our men beginning to seize the camels, the mules, the cattle, the sheep which were kept to the side, and they are herding Turks in front of them, driving them here; others, especially des renégats,[2] on good horses and beautifully clothed are running away from them to us here. This is an unheard-of event, so much that today there was already panic among the commoners in the city and here in our camp, because everyone understood, and could not be persuaded otherwise, that the enemy would come back. The powder alone and ammunition that they abandoned are [worth] more than a million. Last night I have also seen a thing that I have always wished to see. In a few places our camp servants set the powder on fire, which truly looked like Judgement Day and yet harmed no person; this showed how clouds are formed in the sky. But it is a great misfortune, because surely damage worth a million has been done.
The vizier[3] so ran away from it all that he took but one horse and one robe. I became his successor, because a large part of all his splendid equipment fell to me; and this through this happenstance that, [as I was] among the very first in the camp and following closely upon the vizier himself, one of his servants betrayed him and showed [me] his tents, which are as big as Warsaw or Lvov inside their walls. I have all the vizier’s standards that were borne before him; also the Mohammedan war banner which his emperor gave him and which I have already dispatched to Rome to the Holy Father,[4] taken today by Talenty[5] with the mail. The tents, the carts, all have fallen to me, et mille d’autres galanteries fort jolies et fort riches, mais fort riches,[6] although I have not yet viewed many of those things. [Il] n’y a point de comparaison avec ceux de Chocim.[7] A few quivers alone, set with rubies and sapphires, are worth a few thousand gold.[8] Thus you will not tell me, my soul, as Tatar wives tell their husbands when those return without booty, that “you are no brave man to come back empty-handed”, for the man who takes loot must needs be at the head of attack. I got the vizier’s horse with the entire tack, too; he was hotly pursued himself, but he saved his head. His kihaia, that is, the first man after him, was killed, and many pashas, too. Our men have a glut of golden sabres and other military equipment. The night prevented us from taking the last [pickings] and also the fact that they valiantly defended themselves while escaping et font la plus belle retirade du monde.[9] They left their janissaries in the approaches, and those were killed during the night; because such was the arrogance and pride of those men that when some were fighting us in the field, others were trying to storm the city; and they had the means to do so.
In my estimate there were three times a hundred thousand of them, not counting the Tatars; others reckon the tents alone to be three times a hundred thousand and assume the ratio of three men to a tent, which would make an extraordinarily large number. Myself, I reckon the number of tents to be a hundred thousand at least, because they camped in several sites. For two nights and a day people have been dismantling them, whoever wished, even the townspeople have come out, but I know that even in a week they will not manage to take all of this down. They abandoned a great number of innocent local Austrians, especially women and commoners; but they killed whomever they could.[10] Slain women are lying around in great numbers, but there are also very many of them who are wounded and may live. Yesterday I have seen a child of three years, a very lovely little boy, whom a traitor[11] slashed horribly through the face and head. What bad luck that in one of the imperial palaces the vizier took a strangely beautiful live ostrich; but this, too, he ordered beheaded so that it would not fall into our hands. What nice things he had beside his tents, it cannot be described. He had baths, he had a little garden and fountains, rabbits, cats; there was even a parrot, but it was flying around and we could not catch it.
I went into the city today, which would not have managed to hold for more than five days. Human eye has never seen such things as the mines have done there: they turned the towers, made of masonry and very large and tall, into terrible rocks and ruined them so that they could not have held any longer. The imperial palace is quite destroyed by cannon balls.
All the armies, who fulfilled their duty very well, admitted that this battle was won by the Lord God and ourselves. When the enemy began to retreat and was overcome – because it came to me to fight the vizier, who brought all, absolutely all his army to press on my right wing, so that neither our centre, or main corps, nor the left wing had anything to do and this is why all the German relief units turned to me – then all the German princes came running to me, for instance Waldeck, the elector of Bavaria,[12] and clasped me around the neck and kissed my face; and the generals kissed my hands and legs; and just imagine the soldiers! Officers and all the regiments of cavalry and infantry cried: “Ah, unzer brawe Kenik!”.[13] They listened to me they way our men never do. And even more so, this morning, the prince of Lorraine[14] and the prince of Saxony[15] (because I did not come to see them yesterday, because they were on the very end of the left wing, and I gave them, to the court marshal, some hussar units); and the local commander Staremberk![16] All of them kissed [me], clasped [me], called [me] their Saviour. Afterwards I went to two churches. All the common people were kissing my hands, my legs, my robes; others just touched me, crying: “Ah, let us kiss this valiant hand!”. They all wanted to cry “Vivat!”, but it was obvious, when looking at them, that they were afraid of their officers and elders. Only one group unbent and shouted “Vivat!” under fear, and this I saw was frowned upon; for this reason, having only dined with the commander, I went out of the city to here, to the camp, and the commoners walked me all the way to the gate, lifting their hands. I can also see that the commander and the city magistrates look at each other askance, because when they greeted me, he did not even introduce them to me. The princes all came and the emperor is sending dispatches that he is but a mile away;[17] and this letter could not be concluded earlier than today morning, they are not letting me write on and rejoice with you, my heart, any longer.
Many of our men have died in this battle; especially those two,[18] Lord have mercy, about whom Dupont[19] must have already made report. Of the foreign forces, Prince de Croy[20] fell, [his] brother has been shot, and some important men are dead. Padre d’Aviano,[21] who could not kiss me enough, says he had seen a white dove flying above our armies.
We are leaving today to follow the enemy into Hungary. The electors do not want to leave me. Such blessing of Our Lord is upon us, for which praise, glory and adoration be to Him for ever! When the vizier saw he would be unable to resist, he called his sons to him and wept like a child. Then he said to the khan: “Save me, if you can!”. And the khan responded: “We know the king, we cannot resist him and must think of ourselves, of how we might save ourselves”.
The heat is so terrible that we survive almost solely on drink. Only now has a great number of carts laden with powder and lead [ammunition] been discovered; I have no idea what they [the Turks] are going to shoot with. Right now a message has come that the enemy abandoned the last few light cannons. So we are about to mount our horses and ride straight towards Hungary to pursue the enemy and, as I already mentioned long ago, God willing, we shall greet each other not nearer than at Stryj; where would Mr Wyszyński please have the chimneys completed and old buildings renovated.
This letter is the best gazette, of which please have a dispatch made [addressed] to all the world, having written que c’est la lettre du Roi à la Reine.[22] The princes of Saxony and Bavaria have sworn to follow me to the very ends of the world. We must ride two miles in great haste, for the stink from corpses, horses, cattle and camels is terrible. I have sent a few words to the king of France, saying that to him, as to au Roi très Chrétien, I report de la bataille gagnée et du salut de la chrétienté.[23] The emperor is but a mile and a half away now, going by barge on the Danube; but I can see he is not sincere in his wish to see me, reportedly on account of his own splendour, and he would wish to enter the city as soon as possible pour chanter le „Te Deum”;[24] for this reason I am withdrawing from here, deeming it greatest happiness to avoid those celebrations, apart from which we have yet gained nothing.
Fanfanik[25] brave au dernier point,[26] so far he has left my side no further than a span. Il se porte a merveille[27] in these tiresome [conditions], none could be worse, et se fait fort joli.[28] He and the prince of Bavaria (who is following us all the time; yesterday, too, he came to us, to the commander, having got word about me) have grown close like brothers and Fanfanik is giving him the last remnants of his booty [as a gift]. Prince de Hesse von Cassel,[29] the last one to be absent, has arrived. C’est une armée véritablement ressemblante [à celle], que le grand Godfred menait à la Terre Sainte.[30]
I must be finishing now, kissing and embracing my loveliest Marysieńka with all my heart and soul. A M. le Marquis et a ma soeur mes baisemains.[31] Let everyone rejoice and thank the Lord God that He did not allow the heathens to ask: “Where is your God?”. I kiss and hug the children. Minionek[32] has a cause for joy, because his regiment broke the vizier’s power and retained the greatest respect of the whole army. M. le Comte[33] is well and healthy, he left my side no further than a span. I am writing to the Lithuanians, i.e. to the two hetmans, telling them not to come here but go straight to Hungary; Cossacks, the traitors, I am having follow me. The letters to the hetmans of Lithuania please forward as soon as possible; as to the way the Lithuanian [army] is to take, I will send word in another dispatch.
Translated by Klaudyna Michałowicz, Institute of Applied Linguistics, UW, based on: Jan Sobieski, Listy do Marysieńki, ed. Leszek Kukulski, Czytelnik 1962, pp. 520–524
[1] The diminutive used by the king is particularly tender: the usual diminutive from the name Maria is Marysia, so Marysieńka is a ‘second-level’ diminutive, a diminutive from a diminutive. The unusual form of the vocative case, Marysieńku instead of Marysieńko, may be a feature of 17th-century grammar, but it may also be a deliberate attempt at an even greater tenderness (translator’s note).
[2] the renegades. Here, this refers to former Christians converted to Islam (translator’s note).
[3] Kara Mustafa Pasha (1634/1635–1683), the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire and the commander of Turkish army during the Battle of Vienna (translator’s note).
[4] Innocent XI, born Benedetto Odescalchi (1611–1689, Pope 1676–1689) (translator’s note).
[5] Mr Talenty was the leaseholder (tenant) of the town of Jarosław in southern Poland (translator’s note).
[6] and a thousand other very beautiful and very costly, but very costly, knick-knacks.
[7] there’s no comparison with the booty taken at [Chocim]. At the Battle of Chocim (11 November 1673) Polish forces commanded by Sobieski, then still a hetman, defeated the Ottoman army and this victory greatly helped Sobieski’s bid for kingship (translator’s note).
[8] czerwony złoty (literally: ‘red gold piece’) – Polish currency at the time (translator’s note).
[9] forming a superior second line of defence.
[10] This passage refers to slaves taken by the Turks and killed or abandoned by them during retreat (translator’s note).
[11] zdrajca: literally, a traitor, here meaning ‘rogue’ (translator’s note).
[12] Prince Georg Friedrich von Waldeck (1620–1692), a German nobleman and military commander; led the Bavarian troops at the Battle of Vienna (translator’s note).
[13] our brave king.
[14] Charles V (1643–1690), Duke of Lorraine, an Austrian statesman and military commander; led the imperial troops at the Battle of Vienna (translator’s note).
[15] John George III Wettin (1647–1691), Elector of Saxony; commanded the Saxon troops at the Battle of Vienna (translator’s note).
[16] Count Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg (1638–1701), the military governor of Vienna from 1680, the city’s defender during the Battle of Vienna, later field marshal (translator’s note).
[17] This is the Polish mile, i.e. (depending on the period) ca. 7150m (translator’s note).
[18] I.e. Stanisław Potocki and Andrzej Modrzejowski.
[19] Philippe le Masson Dupont (ca. 1650 – after 1725), an artillery engineer who fulfilled various military and diplomatic functions at Sobieski’s court; author of Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire de… Jean Sobieski (first printed 1885) (translator’s note).
[20] The fallen prince is Thomas Maurice de Croÿ (ca. 1646–1683); his brother, who survived the battle, is Duke Charles Eugène de Croÿ (1651–1702), a noted military commander, later field marshal (translator’s note).
[21] Marco d’Aviano (1631–1699), an Italian Capuchin friar and the religious adviser of Emperor Leopold I, beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2003 (translator’s note).
[22] that this is a letter from the King to the Queen.
[23] as to the arch-Christian king, I report the battle has been won and Christendom saved.
[24] to sing the Te Deum. The custom of singing the Te Deum, a hymn of praise, to celebrate victories was so widespread that the phrase “to sing the The Deum” in itself signified “to celebrate victory” (translator’s note).
[25] Fanfan (diminutive: Fanfanik) was an affectionate nickname for Jakub Sobieski (1667–1737), the eldest son of the royal couple (translator’s note).
[26] brave in the highest degree.
[27] he is feeling marvellously well
[28] he is getting very handsome.
[29] Charles of Hesse-Kassel (1654–1730), the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (translator’s note).
[30] This is truly an army similar to that which the great Godfrey led to the Holy Land.
[31] I kiss the hands of the Marquis and my sister. The Marquis is Henri de la Grange d’Arquien (1613–1707), the queen’s father; the sister is Katarzyna Radziwiłłowa née Sobieska (1634–1694) (translator’s note).
[32] Minionek (a Polish diminutive from the French word mignon) was an affectionate nickname for Aleksander Sobieski (1677–1714), the second son of the royal couple (translator’s note).
[33] Anne Louis d’Arquien de La Grange (d. 1703), the queen’s brother (translator’s note).
