Kreuz und quer durch Europa. Von Krieg, Politik, Kultur und Religion.

The Austrian diplomat Erich Lassota von Steblau (died 1616) left behind a comprehensive manuscript in the form of a diary. His notes describe his training trip to Italy in 1573-1576, his participation in the Spanish conquest of Portugal as a recruited officer in 1579-1584, and three diplomatic missions under Habsburg instructions. The first took him to Poland (1585-1589), the second to Russia and Swedish captivity (1590-1593), and the last to the Zaporog Cossacks in Ukraine (1594).
Lassota’s diary contains travel, situation and environment descriptions, which provide important insights into the reality of a diplomat, mercenary and spy at that time for cultural-historical as well as historical research.
The version of the diary already published in 1866 by Reinhold Schottin was compared with the original manuscript for the present edition and corrected in places. Furthermore, a text-critical apparatus and comprehensive commentaries were added to the new edition.