The rumors about the death of Archbishop Wilhelm of Riga in the summer of 1556

Abstract

The article deals with rumors about the death of the Archbishop of Riga, Wilhelm of Brandenburg-Ansbach, which disseminated during July 1556, in the beginning of the conflict called the Coadjutor's Feud (1556-1557). As the Archbishop had the central role in the Feud, his actual death could have radically changed the course of the conflict, and thus, these rumors need special attention. Based on available sources, this article presents an analysis of the timeframe and possible distributors of this rumor, as well as discussion about possible causes for the spread of this rumor. A letter of Polish king Sigismund II August to Mikolaj Radziwill the Red from 20th July 1556, which is deposited in the manuscripts department of the Russian National Library in Saint Petersburg, provides particularly vital knowledge to the exchange of information and spread of these rumors. For this reason, it is published and translated in the end of the article.