A quote from Reinhold Heidenstein (1553-1620), the official historian of the Polish King Stephen Bathory, in his essay Cancellarius sive de dignitate et officio cancellarii regni Poloniae ("The Chancellor; or concerning the dignity and duty of the chancellor of the king of Poland"):
"Latina lingua tamquam communis omnium gentium Christianarum publico quasi consensu recepta fere ab omnibus est. Repertos tamen aliquando quosdam memini, qui sua etiam lingua ad reges nostros scriberent vicissimque agitatum ut nostra quoque sclavonica eis responderetur, ut cum illi dignitatis gravitatisque suae nimis retinentes viderentur, nos nostrae non omnino etiam neglegentes videremur. Sed maioris partis principum populorumque Christianorum, ut aliis in rebus, ita in hac quoque fortassis consensus spectandus Latinaque orationem utendum."
"The Latin languages has been accepted by almost everyone as though by public consent as the common tongue of all the Christian peoples. I recall that at times there have been some who wrote to our kings even in their own language and that it was in turn proposed that they seemed too conscious of their own position and importance, we should not seem altogether negligent of our own. But in this, as in other matters, one should look to the agreement of the majority of the Christian rulers and peoples and use Latin."
How quickly things changed, and for the worse!
