LETTERS from the great turk lately sent unto the holy Father the Pope and to Rodulphus naming himself King of hungary, and to all the kings and Princes of christendom.  
Translated out of the Hebrew tongue into Italian, and out of the Italian into French and now into English out of the French copy.  
Maximus honor, maxima virtus.  
Imprinted at London by John Windet, and are to be sold at the white Swan in Pauls-Church yard. 1606.   

Annet Harioson by the grace of the high God most well beloved in heaven, descended of the Line of the great Prophet Mahomet; Champion of babylon, God on the earth, baron of turkey, Lord of the country of judea, even unto the earthly Paradise; Conqueror of Constantinople, and of Greece, governor of the high and lower Seas, commander of hungary and the future conqueror of christendom. To the great Champion of Rome, and to his confederates the Princes of christendom.   

THE LETTERS LAST sent by the great turk unto the holy Father the Pope, and to Rodolphus, naming himself King of hungary, and to all Kings and Princes of christendom.  
FOrasmuch as the great God of heaven, who raiseth & putteth down kings, and causeth Monarchies most gloriously instituted and confirmed to endure at his pleasure, by the intercession and council of the great Prophet Mahomet hath vouchsafed thorough his grace to exalt us and our dominion above all Princes and principalities of the whole earth. Giuing unto us according unto our valour, & to our most strong and most flourishing army, manifest and triumphant victories against all the enemies of our triumphant monarchy, favouring us by all means both by Sea and Land that we onely might reign and govern. And farther, seeing that the earth belongeth to him which can conquer it, as the scripture telleth vs. Caelum coeli Domino, terram autem dedit filiis hom num; And furthermore since the great Mahomet, from whom we and our predecessors are descended, by good and lawful warres with the victories of the great God which wee haue atchiewed, wee haue surpassed, and subjecteth to our obedience almost all the earth as well continent as the Sea coasts, that is to say in few words. The wise Grecia, The warlike Macedonia, The divine judea, rich Egypt, strong Tartaria, The puissant and most redoubted Persia. Three and fifty principalities with as many most rich and fertile islands, and to comprehend thē in general terms, first al Asia, then Africa & in a manner al yours, nay ours & not your Europa, weakened with wars & by us possessed, & now of late the country and Cities of hungary, piercing into the country & bowels of Austria, the patrimony & inheritance of your Emperor: hoping to proceed even unto the end of your world towards the west as well by Sea, as by Land, to the end wee may plant the authority of our most sacred and eternal imperial majesty, and invincible monarchy.  
even so to thee great priest of Rome and to the Princes of thy lawe, and to those in league with thee, wee will, wee demand and command, that you submit yourself unto our most sacred & puissant Triumphing Triumphant mighty monarchy, and the same submission manifest by homages and by reverent tributes as to your Lord, which you shall accomplish and offer duly and justly unto our imperial majesty, as in reason, civilly and lawfully appertaineth.  
And forasmuch as great Mahomet in his divine Alcoran, saith that no Emperor, how mighty soever, can tame, nor subdue the courage or conscience of men, although he may subdue and conquer all nations and countries. Therefore it hath pleased us: and of our perpetual authority and deliberation it is granted unto you, to use your own faith and lawe, and your accustomend ceremonies, even as you haue done heretofore, which liberality and permission wee haue extended and given likewise to all Christians, and also to all others what religion or law soever they held living and inhabiting under our universal monarchy. For it is all one to us what lawe or Religion the nations and people of the world use and exercise, so that they bee obedient and subject unto vs. For thus our Prophet in his Alcoran witnesseth and saieth that it is pleasing unto God, and will be singularly adored and praised in diuers sorts of worldly religions of brute beasts and other creatures, as saith our Prophet, and yours also in his psalm Laudate dominum de coelis &. By means of which benefit, and grant wee haue in short time subiugated, and brought to submission infinite nations and peoples; and hitherto almost the whole earth, and by the same means wee hope to be the onely monarch of the whole earth before the expiration of two yeares, like as your own Christians denying your law and embracing a much better, haue divined and prophesied to bee at Rome in the chapel of Saint Basille.  
Therefore beeware that you commit not that to your most great destruction, your singular damage and horrible subiection, which you may turn to your conservation, great profit and acceptable liberty. But open your gates Cities and towns unto us and to our deputies, & gouernours that they may take your others; And if you shall herein fail: we declare and denounce unto you mortal warres, destructions, firing of cities and towns and other places whatsoever; general occision and death both of old and young, or else servitude and slavery; In which manner we are accustomend when wee subdue the nations and provinces of the earth to proceed.  
And you shall do wisely to take ensample of the great Maxmilian of babylon, who with his great riches and power was not able to resist us, but we spoiled him and his house of their royal dignity and dominion and cast him out of his country, and lastly pursued him even unto death; likewise the great Cham of tartary, & al his friends and adherence were by us subdued and all his subiects and Chaldeans, which now do serve and obey us with great loyalty and affection.   

moreover, most renowned and redoubted Rodolphus unto all christians, which affirm that they are beloved of the high God.   

By the declarations and revelations of my priests and Sacrificers called Bramines in one of my most rich and famous cities of the Indees, and that after a more strange manner admirable of one of my Gods of Apollo, jealous of the honour of the living God, which wee call Deumo whose picture by our permission is in many houses and places. The Bramines, whose office is to encence and perfume and present our prayers unto Deumo, report that he hath affirmed that there is but one God, one law, and one King, even as our forefathers haue foretold vs. Wherefore we are resolved so to do and to sand unto you our gouernours, to the end you may receive our law and Alcoran, and the same shalbe effected with one hundreth thousand men which wee haue already sent to Sea to destroy you, and all christians, if so wonderfully you shall not make choice of our true religion ordained by our great Prophet Mahomet, except you yeeeld the tribute due unto us, as before we haue declared.  
Denouncing unto thee Rodolphus, which dost occupy my kingdom of Hungary, all evil and mischief and the ruin of all thy countries, kingdoms and dominions, because that thou takest vpon thee the name and title of a king. We swear unto thee by our crown, to visit thee sooner then thou thinkest for, & to the end thou maiest the more assuredly know it, it shalbe with such an army and force, that neither thou nor any of thy predecessors did ever behold the like. Wee do already possess the principal countries and Isles, which by our tyranny we oppress & the inhabitants thereof, and we shall hereafter see, if the God in whom thou believest can help thee, or save thee( we meaning to destroy thee and all that shall assist or aid thee) with our invincible army, to the utter confusion of thee and all thine with the most cruel death and tortures that possible we may  
given at Constantinople, from whence wee banished thy first fathers, having most cruelly slain them with their wives and Children, ravishing the women and widows for the accomplishing of our pleasure. The 19. of our nativity and the third of our reign.   

Wee haue forced Vncassianus Assinbuis otherwise called the great sophy of Persia and Lord of armoniac to yield obedience unto us, and to become our vassale and governor having made an indissoluble oath unto us, after he had first sent his two sons unto us for Ostages. By which agreement, made the last year, all the East Countries, and generally all Asia are in our quiet possession.  
At which time we received courage, and resolved to conquer all Europe, and all the countries of christendom. Which enterprise the most high and mighty captain Holofernus our most decree and well-beloved father minded with a most singular resolution to haue performed, And to this end we haue already transported the half of our most valiant forces into Europe, which are in number three hundreth thousand men, not reckoning thirty thousand Lansknights or Ganessars and as many other Christians which attend our artillery ordinance, and others which are the founders of our artillery, and other Instruments of war, which are of so great a number as the rest, all Renegados to fight in defence of our lawe, and with us to conquer your country Of these three hundreth thousand soldiers aforesaid, one hundreth and fifty thousand are already passed the Danubius, marching daily forward, to invade and win the Country of hungary, and all germany; and finally to pierce and draw unto us the noble country of France withall the countries adjacent and lying on the Seas. The other hundreth and fifty thousand soldiers do besiege the strong Isle of Rhodes, from whence( I swear by my great Patron Mahomet) they shall never depart until they haue yielded the castles; ports and fortresses which are in the said Isle, for I will constrain and force them by famine, and other stratagems to make way unto me, and to yield obeisance unto me as unto their true and natural lord. Or it shall cost me four hundreth thousand men, and the greatest part of all my riches. For the loss and expenses are all one to me, be it soldiers, gold, or silver, so that I may haue my will, and make them my subiects. eleven assaults haue already been given and, I beleeue, there wanteth very little, to make them yield and to know our force and pvissance, and after the captivity thereof the way willbee made very easy into italy and spain, that at my will and pleasure I may take possession of those occidental Countries and Regions, and to possess the castles, & cities in all places, there to set forth, plant and display the most victorious and triumphant colours of our great Prophet Mahomet: And likewise his most worthy Image on the one side and ours on the other side graven on all sorts of moneys: To the end that out of our superabundance the remotest, and barbarous regions of the Occident may honourably aclowledge the most high majesty like as the rest of the other Regions and partes of the world do. And which I wear in my coat of arms both before and behind, and in the colours of my most noble Cauallerie, for a speale note, that by the consent of the whole earth, by the will of the high God of heaven and of the great Prophet Mahomet, I am the onely monarch, and sole Prince under heaven in the shape of man, by similitude, and likelihood according to the celestial form and shape.  
Wherefore to conclude in few words I do coumsel, advertise, and command thee, great Priest of Rome, that without resisting heaven or earth, thou wilt receive and obey our requests and command, otherwise wee being accompanied with all the kings of the earth will come to see and visit thee, and wee will use thy temples in Rome and other gorgeous Churches of christendom as wee did the Temple of the holy sophy in Constantinople, and the Temple of Saint basil near to the mount sinai; as also an infinite number of other Churches which wee haue subiugated to our pleasure.  
No more at this present, but onely that wee desire answer, or for want of answer, we will understand refusal, or refusing for vengeance and immortal war.  
Written from our imperial city of Constantinople in the beginning of this month of March one thousand six hundreth and six, and the third year of our Ragne. These present letters given to our chief King at arms, to carry them with safe conduct, and to return us an answer. Annet Harioson Great turk Emperour of the earth and ruler of the Sea.  
FINIS.