History of All Cloven-Hoofed Quadrupeds

...I review the most [noble], but following the highest peaks, I shall survey from the watchtower of true virtue the most illustrious men of this most noble lineage within recent memory—though not all of them. Paris, held in love by his neighbors and in terror by his enemies, left as heirs Peter and George, who added four towns to their ancestral and most ample patrimony; around the year 1442, they were announced as Counts of the Holy Roman Empire. Ludwig, having served the Christian Republic The "Respublica Christiana," a term for the collective interests of the Christian world most excellently, was the leader of the German forces for Ferdinand, King of the Romans in Hungary. During that dismal retreat of the Christians from Osijek original: "Exechio", when the supreme commander deserted the army, he offered himself with an unconquered spirit as a sacrificial victim to the cruelty of the Turks. Thus, those whom he could not overcome while living due to adverse fortune, he might surpass by falling most bravely. For, having been hailed as commander of the squadrons that remained, he leaped from his horse to meet the boldness of the common soldiers; exhorting his men to battle, he kept the victory in doubt for a long time until at last, after a great slaughter of the enemy, as if to avenge the death looming over him, he perished—yet he did not truly die. For his head, brought to Suleiman original: "Solimano" at Constantinople as a trophy of victory, proclaimed in a speaking silence that he, though conquered, had triumphed over the victor. From the same family came John Baptist, of the privy chamber to the most invincible Charles V; he was a prefect under the same Emperor's auspices in the German war, and when the war moved to Insubria The region of Milan/Lombardy, conducting affairs most fiercely, he was killed at Casale. The heir not only to his fortune but to his virtue was Alberic, renowned in the Belgian war, who closed his final day at Messina in Sicily. Hieronymus, surnamed Aenobarbus meaning "Bronze-beard", prepared various titles for himself through his achievements. Another Hieronymus, having earned long-standing pay in Belgium, Insubria, and Portugal, was appointed Prefect of the Spearmen of His Catholic Majesty original: "Doriphoris Catholicæ Maiestatis" due to the distinguished commendation of his military fortitude. Caspar, Prefect of the Court and also a confidant of the secrets of Maximilian Augustus The Emperor Maximilian II, was celebrated for many embassies most excellently performed. His brother Paris, who performed outstanding service for Charles V in the German war undertaken against the enemies of the Christian religion, possessed a probity so sublime and a faith so blameless that Maximilian entrusted to his care his sons Rudolf (who later succeeded him in the Empire) and the Archduke Ernest when they were setting out for Spain, with the title of Grand Chamberlain. He, second to none in the glory of obedience to his Princes, fathered Nicholas, the parent of Your Highness. Nicholas, as a youth, served the Most Serene Princes of Austria as a cup-bearer original: "ab auro potorio," likely referring to the service of the golden drinking vessels, then became Governor of the County of Tyrol; soon, with increasing age and attaining increments of honor, he conducted himself in the Insubrian, Portuguese, and Genevan expeditions in such a way that he attained immortal fame among Spanish historians. Finally, named Colonel of a double German legion by Philip III, he received the reward of his virtue from the judgment of the greatest Prince—merits which, while he still survives, promise even greater things daily. But I restrain my pen, which runs toward the praises of others who have flourished most greatly in that family, lest I seem to have woven a history; rather, as an admirer of such vast virtues, and with the sharpness of my eyes dimmed by the intuition of such splendor—like an owl before the sun—I shake off the darkness as if by emitting certain rays, and I congratulate you on the Church of Salzburg having been delivered to you, which, if its Prelates [are distinguished] by birth and virtue...