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 of the duke of Pomerania 206 Readings in European History those against whom it had never been declared. Contri- butions which, according to the decrees of the diet, no one had the right to demand without the consent of the assem- bled estates, were levied at the duke's own will and pleas- ure and wrung from the people in barbarous ways. It was shown that the electorate of Brandenburg alone in the last few years had furnished twenty million gulden, to say nothing of the terrible disturbances and destruction that war always brings with it. They complained, moreover, most bitterly of the excessive pomp and magnificence main- tained by the duke and his officers, in the way of clothing, gold and silver utensils, and costly horses. Complaints [Among the complaints from other princes and estates of the realm, the following, presented to the emperor by an ambassador from the duke of Pomerania, is especially note- worthy.] The duke of Pomerania doubts not that your Imperial Majesty has in remembrance how that he has at divers times protested against the unheard-of and unspeak- able hardships and extortions which have now for almost three years been practiced upon him and his subjects by the troops quartered in the land, and which still continue unabated ; whereof he once more most earnestly complains, and humbly begs for relief. The burden has now become so great that he can bear it no longer. According to the decisions and decrees of the imperial diet, he is unaer no obligation to support an army by himself and bear unaided a burden that should be divided among all the members of the empire. Nevertheless, for almost three years past, he has had to maintain within his dukedom and other territories over a hundred compa- nies of your Imperial Majesty's army, besides sending sup- plies to outside points, and having the soldiery continually marching about the country. The outlay in the principal- ity of Stettin alone amounts to fully ten million gulden ; this can be verified at any time. Worst of all are the vexatious means used in collecting these monthly contributions from our officials and subjects. A new and unheard-of modus extorquendi has been invented,