Text, scholarly version, translated from the 1595 Latin, 1598/1610/1613 Dutch, 1601 Latin, 1602 German, 1602 Spanish, 1603 Latin, 1606 English, 1608/1612 Italian, 1609/1612 Latin and 1609/1612/1641 Spanish editions:
103.1. {1595L{SILESIA
103.2. {not in 1598/1610/1613D{Johan Crato, one of the emperor's counsellors and his principal physician, has for the benefit of those studious in geography imparted the following to us on the basis of his relations with his country Silesia}not in 1598/1610/1613D}.
103.3. We should not be scrupulous about the name of the Silesians, nor (as some have done) derive it from the Elysian fields. From the ancient writers we are to understand that the same region which they now possess was formerly inhabited by the Quadi. For Quad in the Saxon or old German tongue has the same meaning that Siletz has in Polish or Slavonic. For they were a people who came here from various places. [They are] more addicted to war than to peace, destroyers rather than builders, and impatient towards any rule. The first king that ruled over them was Boleslaus, a Pole. He was born in the year of our Lord 967, his mother being a Bohemian, niece to Duke Wenceslaus by her brother's side.
104.4. A son of his called Mieslaus was married {not in 1602S, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612/1641S{in the year 1001}not in 1602S, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612/1641S} to Rixa, daughter of Erenfrid County Palatine, niece of emperor Otho the third, {not in 1598/1610/1613D{by his sister Melchitis}not in 1598/1610/1613D}. And this man was the first who received the royal diadem from Otho the third. But after his decease the Poles, who by secession expelled the emperor's niece and his son Casimir, since Conradus the emperor reserved for himself a certain tribute, annexed Silesia to the crown of Bohemia.
105.5. This emperor was born as a Vratislaus, and he certainly {1606E instead{perhaps}1606E instead} gave his name to Vratislavia, his native city which is now commonly called Breslau. {not in 1598/1610/1613{But of this matter I cannot for certain give full confirmation. This single thing is not to be doubted, [namely] that the Silesians had no affection towards the Poles, {not in 1602G{whereas, through the influence and efforts of Johan, the first king of Bohemia and father of the emperor Carolus the fourth, they united themselves with the Bohemians}not in 1598/1610/1613D & 1602G}.
105.6. There are some who assert (I do not know on what authority or opinion), that in the same place where Breslau now stands, there was once the city of Budurgis as mentioned in Ptolemæus, built in former times by a prince called Ligius. It becomes clear from the historical accounts that Mieslaus, duke of Poland, who was first made a king by emperor Otho the third, embraced Christianity in the year 965, erected a wooden church or chapel {not in 1606E{on an island in the river Oder}not in 1606E} to honour St. John the Baptist in the year 1048. From this you may understand that in those days there was not much by the way of houses at Breslau.
103.7. Moreover, Gotefridius, the first prelate of that church, being an Italian, preferred the village of Smogra above the city of Breslaw, since he had his school and college there [in Smogra]. Also about this time it is supposed that the foundations of the other principal cities of Silesia, namely Liegnitz, Glogaw, Lüben &c. were laid. For from monuments and annals, no certainty can be obtained whereas the most ancient writings in all of Silesia are the letters of emperor Frederick the second, which were written in the year 1200, everything else having been consumed and lost, either by fires or invasions, which have been very terrible in these parts.
103.8. {not in 1598/1610/1613D{But by the good endeavours of Frederick Barbarossa, Silesia was both pacified and so distributed among the sons of Vladislaus, king of Poland, that it did not seem altogether to have been dismembered from that crown. But when the Polish perceived that Silesia became more and more a region full of Germans, and that the princes began to favour them, rejecting the lawful heirs, they appointed to the kingdom of Silesia a certain Vladislaus Locticus, a cruel enemy of the Germans.
103.9. On this occasion, they turned to the protection of Johan, king of Bohemia, who, being the son of emperor Heinrich the seventh, married the daughter of Wenceslaus, king of Bohemia, and was appointed to the kingdom in 1302. Thus, after the decease of this Johan of Lucelberg, Silesia was subject to twelve Bohemian kings, one after the other, six of which were emperors of the Holy Empire, one a Bohemian, another Hungarian, five {1602G, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S instead have{four}1602G, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S instead} from the house of Austria, and two Poles, but descended from Austria through their mother's side. Of Polish descent there remained as yet in Silesia the princes of Liegnitz and Teschnitz, for those from Münsterberg derive their pedigree from Georg, king of Bohemia}not in 1598/1610/1613D}.
103.10. Vratislavia {1598/1610/1613D instead{Breslau}1598/1610/1613D instead}, the main city of Silesia burnt to ashes in the year 1341, and was so stately rebuilt from stone, that now, both for its arrangement and beauty of the houses or width of the streets, it is hardly inferior to any of the cities in Germany. Concerning other veritable ornaments of this commonwealth, I need not speak, seeing that it is manifest to all of Germany that hardly in any other region will you find so many schools, and such numbers of learned professors of excellent wit {1598/1610/1613D only{and eager pupils}1598/1610/1613D only}.
103.11. {not in 1598/1610/1613D & 1602G{It does not befit me to speak too gloriously about my [fellow] countrymen [Germans]. Yet I may boldly say this, that}not in 1598/1610/1613D & 1602G} there is almost no princes' court, nor any [other] famous commonwealth where the virtue and learning of the Silesians is not appreciated. The gentlemen similarly, even if given to tillage [of the land] and good husbandry, are yet all in all so warlike, that no judge can indifferently deny that it is by their valour that the remainder of Hungary has been defended.
103.12. It is a region very fruitful with corn, for there are few places where our people have not applied their diligence and zeal {1606E instead{especially in one place above the rest, which is most carefully manured by our people}1606E instead}. It abounds with fish ponds. The famous river Oder confines it to the East and North. In the South, it is separated from Bohemia by the Sudeten [mountains]. But the situation is depicted most clearly on the map.
103.13. {not in 1598/1610/1613D{About Silesia something has been written by Æneas Sylvius, and by others who are ignorant about this country. But Laurentius Corvinus, {not in 1602S, 1606E & 1609/1612/1641S{born in Novoforens}not in 1602S, 1606E & 1609/1612/1641S}{1602G instead{from Neumark}1602G instead} could have brought more certainties to light, had not the age in which he lived been fatally overwhelmed by ignorance. So much for Johan Crato}not in 1598/1610/1613D} {1606E only{concerning his native country of Silesia}1606E only}.
103.14. {not in 1602G{It contains twelve dukedoms and one bishopric, the bishop of which has his residence in Neisse, and sometimes in Breslau, for [we find] a cathedral church and a college of canons there. Here are four baronies as well {1598/1610/1613D ends here}. In this region near Striegau and Liegnitz a kind of medicinal earth is found, commonly called Terra sigillata, like that of Lemnos, and of equal strength, some quantity of which Jacob Monau, citizen and senator of Breslau has often bestowed on me}not in 1602G}{1608/1612I only{to honour his native land}1608/1612I only}.
103.15. The chronicles of Silesia were recently recorded by Joachim Cureus, in which he has so thoroughly described its situation and the history of its towns and cities and memorable acts, that the studious may here find its ultimate history}1595L, 1602G end here}. {1601L{I am informed by Jacob Monau that Francis Faber has also described it in verse}1601L, 1602S, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612L & 1609/1612/1641S end here}.
Text, vernacular version, translated from the 1598 French edition:
103.16. {1598F only{SILESIA.
103.17. The duchy of Silesia is governed in the name of the Holy Roman Empire by the king of Bohemia. This region is a three days journey wide, and a nine days journey long. It borders in the North and the East on the kingdom of Poland, in the South on Moravia and Bohemia, and in the West on Lausnitz.
103.18. This region is so fertile and abundant in all it produces of the necessities of life, that it brings great profit to its inhabitants. It is very pleasant, embellished with mountains and forests, and watered by various rivers which all empty into the river called Oder which traverses this land. There are two duchies here, one is Liegnitz, the prince of which is rich in land and subjects. The other is Schweidnitz, held by the king of Bohemia for his own use. He is represented by a governor who keeps court there, and who holds four times a year an assembly in Schweidnitz together with the noblemen of this area.
103.19. The capital city of this land is called Breslau, or Bressel as it is also called, and in Latin Vratislauia, a city ornated with many houses. The river Oder passes through the middle of this city. It has its source in the Bohemian mountains and empties into the Eastern sea near the city of Stettin. It is a good city because of its excellent location, beautiful buildings and its inhabitants. Then there is Neisse, where there is a bishopric whose bishop resides at Breslau for the time being. [Then there are] Schweidnitz, Oppeln, Jägerdorf &c.
103.20. All over this land there are numerous cities and villages. The inhabitants of these are all wealthy, in the same manner as I have seen in Breslau (strange to behold) where the peasants bring butter, cheese, milk and other produce to sell, while they are dressed in velvet and have golden chains around their neck like the nobility.
103.21. This area produces no wine, which is therefore imported from Hungary and the land of Moravia. Commonly people drink beer here of which there is a variety called sceps, which is so strong that no wine surpasses it in strength. German is mainly spoken in the cities, but in various other places they speak the Windish language or Polish}1598F only}.