Report and Answer to the Bavarian-Anhalt Secret Chancellery

To all lovers of the truth.

Two years ago now, the Bavarian book titled The Princely Anhalt Secret Chancery The Anhaltische geheime Kanzlei was a sensational publication of 1621 in which the documents of the Protestant leader Christian of Anhalt, captured after the Battle of White Mountain, were published by his Catholic enemies to expose his "subversive" diplomatic plots. appeared, and the first copies reached the United Estates—then assembled at Heilbronn—at the end of January in the year 1621. The "stuffer" original: confarcinator—someone who shoves things together haphazardly or compiler of this same book (or patchwork original: centonis) is said to be Dr. W. J., a prominent Bavarian privy councillor, together with an assistant named Dr. Leickhardt. This is known from credible reports and can also be clearly inferred from the writing style.

This matter is noted here for what it is worth, as is the report that His Serene Highness of Bavaria himself Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria and head of the Catholic League. personally labored and helped to sort through the various letters and documents original: acta and put them in order. This was done so that this work original: opus might be finished all the sooner and several copies could reach the aforementioned meeting of the Union term: Unionstag—the assembly of the Protestant Union, a coalition of Protestant states. at Heilbronn while it was still in session, as indeed happened. All this was done for an end that anyone can easily judge: to make the members of the Union all the more confused, fearful, and irresolute.

And they were not satisfied in Munich with this Bavarian-German medley original: farragine—literally "cattle fodder," implying a jumbled mixture of documents; they even had this "masterpiece" translated into the Italian language and printed under the title Pensieri de protestanti (Thoughts of the Protestants) and sent to Rome, where it is now found for sale openly in the bookshops.

Now, the high and other Estates of the Union, as well as so many distinguished and qualified councillors, officers, and servants, must respond to this Bavarian book—through which they are accused of secret, un-German, and harmful plans original: consilien, plots, and schemes—to save their... The text cuts off mid-sentence, continuing on the next page.