This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 68-3070 SPIELVOGEL, Jackson Joseph, 1939- WILLIBALD PIRCKHEIMER AND THE NUERNBERG CITY COUNCIL. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1967 History, modern University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan ©Copyright by Jackson Joseph. Spielvogel 1968 WILLIBALD PIRCKHEIMER AND THE NUERNBERG CITY COUNCIL DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University by Jackson Joseph Spielvogel, B.A., M.A. The Ohio State University 1967 Approved hy / L ( . Adtiser Department of History ACOONLEDGMENTS The research for this dissertation was completed in 1965-1966 while I was a Fulbright Graduate Fellow in Ger­ many. I would like to acknowledge my appreciation to the staffs of the Nuernberg Oity Library, the Nuernberg City Archives, and the Bavarian State Archives in Nuernberg. Especially deserving of gratitude are Dr. Fritz Schnelbfigl, Director of the latter institution, for his advice and helpfulness, and Marianne Alt for the multitude of services rendered. I am very grateful to Dr. Josef Pfanner, who greatly lightened the task of examining the Pirckheimer- papiere by making available to me Emil Reicke's notes and numerous copies of those papers. I am deeply indebted to ray adviser, Professor Harold J. Grimm, who first inspired in me an interest in Pirck- heimer and the "herrliche Stadt" Nuernberg, and who pro­ vided constant assistance in every aspect of this work. To my wife, who assisted me in innumerable ways, I owe a lasting debt of gratitude. ii VITA March 10, 1939 Born-Ellwood City, Pennsylvania 1 9 6 1 ....... B.A,, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 1961-1964 .... Graduate Assistant, Department of His­ tory, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1963 .... M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1964-1965 .... Teaching Assistant, Department of His­ tory, The Ohio State-University, Columbus, Ohio 1966-1967 .... Teaching Associate, Department of His­ tory, The Ohio State-University, Columbus, Ohio 1967 ..... Assistant Professor, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania FIELDS OF STUDY- Major Field: Renaissance and Reformation. Professor Harold J. Grimm Roman History. Professor William F. McDonald The Middle Ages. Professor Franklin J. Pegues United States, 1789-1850. Professor Harry L. Coles United States, 1850-1900. Professor Francis P. Weisenburger Renaissance Art History. Professor Anthony Melnlkas ill TABLE OP CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS............................... 11 VITA ......................................... Ill INTRODUCTION................................. 1 Chapter I THE NUERNBERG CITY GOVEBNMENT, THE PIRCK- HEIMER. FAMILY, AND WILLIBALD! S EARLY DEVELOPMENT ...................... 3 II THE GERMAN XENOPHON: MILITARY SERVICE POR NUEBNBERG..................... 23 III DIPLOMATIC SERVICE POR NUERNBERG...... 38 ' IV DOMESTIC SERVICE POR NUEBNBERG........ 71 V THE ENEMIES IN NUERNBERG ............ 94 VI WILLIBALD PIROKHEIMER, THE NUERNBERG CITY .COUNCIL,.AND THE PAPAL BULLS OP 1520r 1 5 2 1 ............................. 131 CONCLUSION................................... 155 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................. 159 INTRODUCTION The history of German humanism in the first two decades of the sixteenth century has usually been domi­ nated by the attempt of historians to discuss the rela­ tionship of this movement to religious reform and the be­ ginnings of the Reformation. Yet, like their Italian counterparts, German humanists, as a result of their primary occupations as teachers and secretaries to princes and cities, were closely involved in the political and social problems of their day. Willibald Pirckhelmer (1470-1530) was such a humanist. He achieved renown because of his humanistic activities, but he also spent a considerable part of his life as a city councilor, intimately involved in the day-to-day business of governing the politically signifi­ cant city of Nuernberg. Yet, most of the literature on Pirckhelmer concerns primarily his work as a humanist, his religious ideas, and position in the Reformation. This dissertation attempts to Investigate the other aspect of his life through an examination of the city documents and Pirckhelmer1 s papers, both published and unpublished. In this way, his activity for and rela- tionship to the Nuernberg city council can be determined. It Is hoped that such a study also will shed light on some of the political and social activities of the German human­ ists in general, thereby increasing our understanding of the many facets of humanism. CHAPTER ORE THE NUERNBERG CITY GOVERNMENT, THE PIROKHEIMER FAMILY, AND WILLIBALD’S EARLY DEVELOPMENT Two of Willibald Pirckhelmer1s contemporaries, Mar­ tin Luther and Johannes Oochlaeus, although diametrically opposed on the burning Issues over the Church, were agreed on Nuernberg's position in Germany and Europe in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Luther described Nuernberg as "the ear and eye of Germany,” while Oochlaeus, in his Brevis Germanle Descrlntlo of 1512, said Nuernberg "appears not only as the center of Germany but of all Europe." By the end of the fifteenth century, Nuernberg not only was highly prosperous, but it also possessed a well- developed governmental organization and a highly sophisti­ cated social structure. This governmental organization and social structure, the role of the Pirckhelmer family in this social structure, and Willibald's early develop­ ment must be examined in order to understand fully the relationship of Willibald Pirckhelmer to the city council. Nuernberg's government and the way in which it functioned in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth cen- 3 turies were recorded for posterity by the Nuernberg humanist, Christoph Scheurl, in a letter to Johann Stau- pitz, Luther’s friend and vicar-general of the Augustinian order. As a legal consultant for the city, Scheurl was in an excellent position to not only portray the governmental structure, but also to reveal candidly the way in which the ruling class of patricians effectively controlled that structure.1 When Willibald Pirckhelmer became a city councilor in 1496, Nuernberg’s government was administered by two councils, a large council of genannte and a small council (the "erber rat,” as it is usually referred to in city documents). The large council of genannte consisted of an uncertain and generally fluctuating number (usually more than 2 0 0 ), whose membership was not determined popu­ larly but by the small council. Those members who were jgenannjje, Scheurl related, were persons who obtained their living ”by honorable trades” and not "by despised crafts,” except "some few craftsmen who have obtained a respectable position and bring more tangible good than others to the lM0hristoph Scheurls Epistel ttber die Verfassung der Neichsstadt Ndnaberg. 1516," Die Ohronlken der deutschen St&dte. Ndmberg. V (Leipzig, lb74), 7Bl-8o4. Although the original was written in Latin, the German translation (which was not done by Scheurl) is valuable because it describes the offices of the council in their contemporary German names. The Latin text is in Johann Christoph von Wagenseil, De clvltate Noribergensi commen- tatlo (Altdorf, 1697), PP. 191-201. p city as a whole by their handwork.’1 The social dis­ tinctions based on occupation are readily apparent here. The power of the large council in the administration of the city was not great. Even though its seal was highly valued and it participated in the election of the small 3 council, its opinion and vote were taken only when taxes were levied, war was considered, and the "subjects" were warned of coming dangers. In summary, "their office con­ sists mostly of being present to ratify the council's decisions and to support industriously and enforce uni- 4 formly the council's laws." Of greater authority than the large council and at the head of the administrative system stood the small coun­ cil of forty-two members. Eight members of the forty-two 5 were representatives of the craft guilds, who had vir­ tually no power in the affairs of the council. They had the freedom of coming to the council and casting a vote, 2Scheurl, p. 787. ^See below, p. 10. ^Scheurl, pp. 787-788. ^This addition had its origins in the mid-fourteenth century and was probably established as a concession to the guilds after the abortive rebellion against the patrician city council in 1548. After the failure of the craft work­ ers, the patricians' domination of the city council was no longer challenged. See Gerhard Pfeiffer, "Nflrabergs SelbBtverwaltung 1256-1956,"Mlttellungen des Verelns fflr Geschichte der Stadt Nilrnberg. XLTill tl958V . 6] (Herein- after, this Journal is cited as; M7GN.) or of remaining home. They administered no offices and J generally acquiesced in whatever the other councilmen de­ cided.6 Of the remaining thirty-four members of the small council, all of whom were patricians, eight were members known as the alte genannte.^ Scheurl compared the alte frananwte to veteran soldiers who have been freed of the burden of military service. They held no particular of­ fice, and consequently, could not attain the higher of­ fices of Junior and senior burgomasters, although occasion­ ally some were made Junior burgomasters. The alte genannte were not overburdened with exaoting duties but, as in the case of Pirckhelmer, did perform diplomatic and other tasks. They could vote or not in the