Forerunner of the Necessary Defense of Noble Evangelical Persons

...it has come to light / that He is rightly to be thanked / and it is to be held / that His Omnipotence / as if from high heaven / intended to set up this warning as a sign for all Evangelicals The term "Evangelical" here refers to the Protestant estates, specifically those following the Lutheran and Reformed traditions in the Holy Roman Empire. / so that they may henceforth take better care / rightly consider their common welfare / and thus no longer allow / that through the undertaken illegal and harmful encroachment / the knife be set to the throats of them all / to their final ruin and extermination / which they would find difficult to justify before God's face / at the Last Judgment / and before dear posterity original: "Posteritet".

So that these great dangers / might be all the better recognized / several intercepted letters original: "intercipirte Schreiben" / recently issued in the German / Latin / Italian original: "Welscher," a historical term often used for Romance languages, particularly Italian or French. and Spanish languages / have been printed / to communicate them to all Evangelicals for the aforementioned purpose. And indeed, great diligence has been applied / to translate these faithfully from the said languages into High German / as everyone will find through comparison original: "collation" with the same / especially since each of these letters shall also be printed separately in its own language.

The original documents original: "Originalia" have been seen and read by many Princes / and Men of Estate / as well as other noble persons / and both the writings / and the seals original: "Pittschafften," referring to the wax signets used to authenticate private letters / and other circumstances have been diligently considered / and they are furthermore appropriately preserved original: "asservirt" / so that no doubt can be cast upon them / especially since the drafts original: "concepta" / are to be found within the chanceries and archives original: "repositur" of each party.