Christoph Scheurl's Role As Legal Adviser to the Nürnberg City Council, 1512 to 1525
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71- 22,448 BEBB, Phillip Norton, 1941- CHRISTOPH SCHEURL'S ROLE AS LEGAL ADVISER TO THE NÜRNBERG CITY COUNCIL, 1512 TO 1525. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1971 History, medieval University Microfilms, XEROXA Company , Ann Arbor, Michigan Copyright by Phillip Norton Bebb 1971 THIS DISSERTATION H/iS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED CHRISTOPH SCHEURL’S ROLE AS LEGAL ADVISER TO THE NÜRNBERG CITY COUNCIL, 1512 TO 1525 Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University by Phillip Norton Bebb, B,A«, M.A, The Ohio State University 1971 Approved by Adviser Department of History PREFACE This study could not have been completed without the aid of numerous institutions and individuals. The Graduate School of The Ohio State University through its grant of a Dissertation Year Fellowship enabled me to research in Nürnberg, Germany. The Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at The Ohio State University prepared the basis for my later research by generously acquiring primary source materials on microfilm. In Nürnberg, my research was facilitated largely by the encouragement and scholarly advice of Professor Gerhard Pfeiffer, University of Erlangen; the late Dr. Josef Pfanner; Archivdirektor Dr. Otto Puchner, Staats- archiv of Nürnberg, and Archivdirektor Dr. Gerhard Hirschmann, Stadtarchiv of Nürnberg, and their respective staffs; Dr. Fritz Schnelbogl, retired Archivdirektor of the Staatsarchiv, and Dr. Werner Schultheiss, retired Archivdirektor of the Stadtarchiv. Special acknowledgement is due to Herr Siegfried Freiherr von Scheurl, Altenfurt, Germany, for his hospitality and kind permission to obtain materials in the private family archive; and to Professor Harold J. Grimm, v;ho acted as an inspiration and guide through the years. ii VITA 7 August 1941 . # . BORN-DETROIT, MICHIGAN 1 9 6 3 , .......... B.A., WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY DETROIT, MICHIGAN 1 9 6 5 ........ .. M.A., WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY, . , DETROIT, MICHIGAN 1965-1967 .. ....... GRADUATE ASSISTANT. DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, COLUMBUS, OHIO 1967-196 8 .. ....... GRADUATE ASS lATE, DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY. THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, COLUMBUS, OHIO 1 9 6 8 -1 9 6 9 ........ THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY DISSERTATION YEAR FELLOW SHIP. RESEARCH IN NÜRNBERG, GERMANY 1969-1971 .. ....... INSTRUCTOR, DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY. OHIO UNIVERSITY, ATHENS, OHIO FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field* History Renaissance and Reformation. Professor Harold J. Grimm The Middle Ages. Professor Franklin J. Segues Ancient Regime and French Revolution. Professor John Rule Colonial America. Professor Paul Bowers U. S. Social and Economic, 1815-50* Professor Mary Young History of Political Theory. Professor David Spits iii TABLE OP CONTENTS Page PREFACE. .............................. il VITA................................................ iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. V INTRODUCTION .................................... 1 Chapter I. CHRISTOPH SCHEURL II AND THE GOVERNMENT OF NÜRNBERG................................ 7 II. THE ROLE OF NÜRNBERG*S LEGAL ADVISERS. 2? III. OFFICIAL REPRESENTATION INSIDE NÜRNBERG. 46 IV. ACTIVITY ON BEHALF OP CLOISTERS AND INDIVIDUALS................................ 74 V. DIPLOMATIC SERVICE FOR NÜRNBERG. ...... 100 VI. SCHEURL’S ROLE IN THE REFORMATION OF NÜRNBERG ................................ ... CONCLUSION ................. 149 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................... 152 iv LIST OP ABBREVIATIONS Ausstellungskatalogi Ausstellungskatalog der StadtLiblio- thek Nürnberg, 62 (I9 6 9 ). Bauch, ”Scheurls Brlefbuch": Gustav Bauch, **Zu Christoph Scheurls Briefbuch," Neue Mitteilungen aus dem Gebiet hlstorisch-antiquarischer Forsc}iungen, XIX (1898), ¥00-4 5 6. BB* Briefbûcher, StAn. MVGNt Mitteilungen des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt Nürnberg. Pfeiffer, Quellem Gerhard Pfeiffer (ed.). Quellen zur Nümberger Reformationsgeschichte. ( •’Einzelar'beiten aus der Kirchengeschichte Bayems,** XLV) Nürnberg, 1968 . Ratschlagb.* Ratschlagbücher, StAn. RBt Ratsbücher, StAN. Reicke, Geschichte; Emil Reicke. Geschichte der Relchs- stadt Nürnberg. Nümber, I8 9 6 . Reicke, Pirckheimers Briefwechselt Emil Reicke (ed.). Willibald IPiirckheliners Briefwechsel. 2 Vols. Munich, 1940.1956. RTA; Deutsche Reichstagsakten. Jüngere Reihe; Deutsche Reichstagsakten unter Kaiser Karl V. vols.I-IV. Eds. August Kluckhohn and A^blf Wrede. Gdttingen, 1962-1 9 6 3 . Reprint. RVî Ratsverlasse, StAN. Scheurls Br,x Franz von Soden and J. K. F. Knaake (eds.). Christoph Scheurls Briefbuch. Bin Beitrag zur Geschichte der" Reformation und Ihrer Zeltl Potsdam, 1867» Scheurls Epistel; "Christoph Scheurls Epistel über die Verfassung der Reichsstadt Nürnberg. 1516," Die Chroniken der deutschen Stadte. Vol. XI Leipzig, ISW* Pp. 7Ô1-Ô04. V SFAx Scheurl Familienarchiv, Fischbach über Nürnberg. Soden, Beitrâgei Franz von Soden, Beltrage zur Geschichte der Reformation und der Sitten .1ener Zeit mit besonderem Hinbiick auf Christoph Scheurl II. Nürnberg, ib55. StANx Staatsarchiv, Nürnberg. vi INTRODUCTION Because of the extent of Nürnberg*s influence in the economic, political, and cultural affairs of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the study of the history of this free, imperial city is more important than a mere investigation into the local history of a German "state." That it was, in fact, historically important in the evolution of the Empire is authenticated by the provisions of the Golden Bull of 1356 promulgated there by the Emperor Charles IV. Although the city was granted the privilege of holding the first Reichstag after the election of each new emperor, this alone does not account for its extra constitutional prominence. As important as the Golden Bull, and perhaps accounting for the statements in this document, was the geographical location of the city which enabled her to receive imperial preferments. To be sure, one of the major reasons the city was prized by the emperors was due to her location in the middle of economic and military roads from North to South and East to West.^ Because the city possessed an almost impenetrable castle which was part of the wall surrounding Nürnberg, the emperors visited the city frequently. As a result Nürnberg acquired freedoms and privileges which gradually resulted in the city's independence from the margraves of Brandenburg who originally constituted the city's 2 imperial overlord. By the end of the fifteenth century, then, Nürnberg was politically and economically independent of any authority save that of the emperor. The city was not only independent in these areas, but in addition it was exceedingly prominent in them.^ Governed by a small council of men (Rat) who had become ^Werner Schultheiss, "Die Einwirkung NUmberger Stadtrechts auf Deutschland, besonders Franken, Bdhmen und die Oberpfalz (Der nUrnberger Stadtrechtskreis)," Jahrbuch für frankische Landesforschung (Erlangen, 1936), Sonderdruck 2, p. Ï8 . Because of this centrality, most of the privileges which were granted insured the city's independence and development of self-government; cf. Gerhard Pfeiffer, "Nümbergs Selbstverwaltung 1255^1956," MVGN, XLVIII (1958), 1-25. Number Bayreutl ^The literature on the history of Nürnberg is exten sive and not always impartial. For the more balanced accounts, see Reicke, Geschichte; Eugen Franz, Nürnberg, Kaiser und Reich (mnich, I93 O ) ; Gerald Strauss, Nuremberg in the Sixteenth Century (New York, I9 6 6 ). A more biased, but' still sound, work is Georg Ludewig, Die Politik Nürn- bergs im Zeitalter der Reformation (Gottingen,TÔ93)• 3 economically prosperous, the city flourished. This group of patricians assumed all the power and direction of the government, and therefore identified the city's prominence with its own. The key to Nurnborg^s success was inex tricably connected to its patrician government. As a center of tra.de, the city became also an intellectual center due to the exchange of ideas. Buttressed occasionally by the support of the city council, schools were established, a library begun, and a paper mill developed which later supported Nürnberg*s printing houses. Significantly, also, the council members were often well educated and therefore interested in developing the intellectual life of the city. In this atmosphere Conrad Celtis lived and worked on his history of Nürnberg, and Johannes Cochlaeus taught.^ Thus, at the onset of the sixteenth century only Augsburg in Upper Germany was the intellectual equal of Nürnberg. Since the members of the city council were wealthy, it is not surprising that they possessed the leisure to engage in, if not to control, all the areas of individual activity. Prosperous, educated, and politically powerful. For an excellent summary of this material, see Friedrich R'th, Die Einführung der Reformation in Nürnberg (Wurzburg, 1885). no. 1-48 (Hereafter cited as Roth, Die Einführung). 4 these council members governed a city which became prominent throughout Europe. In humanism, law, and religion, Nürnberg was important, and because the same men basically were active in these areas whatever affected one area would affect others. This was precisely the case with the central event in the city's history during the sixteenth centuryi the religious discussion and the official adoption of Lutheranism in 1525» Due to the fact that the government of Nürnberg was sovereign, an understanding of the structure of the government is fundamental to