At the turn of the year 1458 to 1459 the papal envoy (nuntius) Battista Brendi (1405–1482) was staying in Graz in order to induce Frederick III to participate in the congress of princes at Mantua. On the occasion of his departure, Vincenzo della Scalona, the Mantuan representative at the court of Milan, authored a Latin letter in poetical form praising Graz and the envoy. This text, edited here for the first time, is not only a historically significant source, but, due to the time of its composition, important in literary history as well. It is one of the earliest poems in praise of a city in present-day Austria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]