T I S T O RY O F T H E

A T T H E C LO S E O F

T H E ' GES

' BY fé OHANNES ANSS EN

T RA N S LAT E D FRO M T H E

E Y M M T H E L L M N B . C G R A . A I

M H R E AN D A . . C I S T I . I N

T V M E V I W O L S . O U O L . .

L O N D O N

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T E N OST ER H OUS E CH AR l N G CROSS RO D PA R , A

1 8 96

CON T E N T S

T H E F I R S T V OL U M E

INT RODUCT ION

B OOK I

POPULAR EDUCATION AND SCIENCE CHAP T HE SPREAD OF THE ART OF PRINTING E LEM E NTARY SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOU S E DUCATION OF PEOPLE E LEMENTARY EDUCATION AND THE OLD E R HUMANISTS TH E UNIVE RSITIE S AND OTHER C ENTRE S OF L EARNI NG

B OOK II

ART AND POPULAR LITERATURE ARCHITECTURE

SCULPTURE AND PAINTING WOOD AND COPPER ENGRAVING POPULAR LIFE AS REPLECT ED BY MUSIC

POPULAR POETRY TOPICAL POETRY PROSE AND POPULAR READING

B OOK III POLITICAL ECONOMY INTRODUCTION

I F . AGRICULTURAL LI E

H I S T ORY

T H E GE R M AN P E OP L E

AT T HE CLOSE OF T H E MIDDLE AGES

INTRODUCTION

T OWARDS the middle of the fifteenth century the int elle c tual life of the German people , as indeed that of all new Christendom , entered upon a period of develop ment through Johann Gutenberg ’s invention of the

- u printing press and the se of movable type . This invention , the mightiest and most important in to the history of civilisation , gave , as it were , wings ’ the human mind , and supplied the best means of pre serving , multiplying , and disseminating every product of the intellect . It sharpened and stimulated thought by facilitating its interchange it encouraged and extended

f - of literary tra fic in a hitherto undreamt manner , and made science and art accessible to all classes of society . ’ In the words of a contemporary of Gutenberg s , it fur nished - a mighty , double edged sword for the freedom of mankind ; one , however , which could strike alike for — sin good or for evil for truth and virtue , for and ’ e rror .

VOL . I . O Y OF T H E L HISTOR GERMAN PEOPLE

For the German nation this invention was coincident with the life and labours of a man who , as ecclesiastical reformer and professor of theology , classics , and mathe m ti a cs no less than as a statesman , stands out as an intellectual giant in the background of the Middle

A T his es . g man was the German Cardinal , Nicholas

Krebs , named Cusanus , from Cues , near Treves . The ecclesiastical reforms begun by Nicholas in Germany in 1451 by command of the Pope were based o n the principle that one should cleanse and regenerate , n ot trample down and destroy ; that it was not for man di re to remodel things vine , but , rather , to be was modelled by them . And , true to this principle , he first and foremost the reformer of his own person ; his life was to his contemporaries a very mirror of all priestly

He . C virtue preached both to the lergy and to the people , a nd what he preached , that he practised ; his deeds were , f unost en in act , his most powerful sermons . Simple and t atious , indefatigable in teaching , correcting , consoling , nd — — a strengthening i a father t o the poor he travelled for years long as ap ostle and reformer throughout the length and breadth of Germany . He revived ecclesiastical disci o pline , l ng sunk in hopeless confusion . He did his utmost towards recovering the neglected education of Of the clergy , as well as the catechetical instruction the people . He wa tched carefully over the office of the i pulpit , and preached with unrelenting severity aga nst b prevailing heavy a uses . In Salzburg , Magdeburg ,

o o o Mentz , and C l gne he held provincial c uncils ; and b y - o re establishing syn ds , as well as by his regulations for t he o a u inspection of m n steries , he ina gurated permanent

o e a a a His lan Of al ref rms in eccl si stic l m tters . p gener ’ n u fo r o o m reform , draw p P pe Pius II . , sh ws ore clearly INTRODUCTION 3

“ than any of his writings how deeply he deplored the

e how o accom xisting evils , and zeal usly he worked to lish p a thorough reform in the whole Church , from the

se e y papal down to the humblest monaster , without ,

however , the least detriment to the unity of its

s tructure . ’ icolau s T rithemius N of Ousa , says the abbot at the

end of the century , appeared in Germany like an angel Of li ght and peace in the midst of darkn ess and confu

re- sion ; he established the unity of the Church , strength

ened the authority of its visible head , and scattered

abundant seeds of new life . Some of that seed , ’ not through the hardness of men s hearts , did spring up ff some grew up , but , through sloth and indi erence , soon i dl w thered away ; a goo y portion , however , flourished — l and bore fruit , which we to day are sti l enjoying . He

was a man of faith and love , an apostle of piety and of all learning . His spirit compassed fields of human ‘ ’ - all wisdom , but God was the starting point of his — knowledge the glory Of God and the bettering Of man hi s kind the beginning and the end of all wisdom . ’ ‘ T O know and to think , writes Nicolaus himself, ‘ see to the truth with the eye of the mind , is always a T h . e j oy , older a man grows the greater is the plea it ff sure which a ords him , and the more he devotes himself to the search after truth the stronger grows i his desire of possessing it . As love s the life Of the

heart , so is the endeavour after knowledge and truth

the life of the mind . In the midst of the movements

Of time , of the daily work of life , of its perplexities

and contradictions , we should lift our gaze fearlessly

to the clear vault of heaven , and seek ever to obtain a firmer grasp of and keener insight into the origin

B 2 4 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

own of all goodness and beauty , the capacities of our d hearts and minds , the intellectual fruits of mankin s throughout the centuries , and the wondrous work of Nature around us ; but remembering always that in humility alone lies true greatness , and that know ledge and wisdom are alone profitable in so far as our ’ lives are governed by them . The actual field of his labours was spec ulative i t science , and his work in the reform of ecclesiastical o learning . In his system of theology he brought int harmony a variety of conflicting tenets which had hitherto been fiercely battled over in the scholastic For camp . its originality and depth of thought , its clearness of detail , its breadth of conception , and its organic unity , this work may be compared to the great monuments of German Christian architecture of the period . He inaugurated a better understanding

r of the g eat masters of ancient scholastics , raised Mysticism from the dark abyss of Pantheism to the more clearly defined conception of God and the ’ O e universe , and pen d the way for a more scientific handling of the whole teaching of Christian faith . But it is in the well- known pamphlet in which he pleads for the casting aside of all religious strife , for the establishment of one common creed , and the gathering together of all mankind under the one

Catholic Church of Rome , that the spirit of the so u so Cardinal , at once tr ly philosophical and deeply

re imbued with genuine Christian love of humanity , veals itself most characteristically . I I I the same spirit of creative activity Nicolaus devoted himself to natural science , more especially He to physics and mathematics . first , nearly a cen INTRODUCTION 5

' t ury before Copernicus , had the courage and inde ’ p endence to uphold the theory of the earth s motion

and its rotation on its axis . He published an able a tre tise on the correction of the Julian Calendar , and he headed the list Of those astronomers who were the pioneers of modern knowledge of the solar system n it a d s workings . It was personal and literary inter course with him that awakened the creative genius of

G von l re eorg Peuerbach and Johann Mul er , the two s torers of the direct and independent method of natural l O research , and the fathers of astronomica bservation nd a calculation . Nicolaus of Cusa was also one Of the first in Ger many to revive the thorough and enlightened study of those master works of classic antiquity which unite in s uch perfect harmony the freedom of Nature with the

r r i A t . H s rest aints of love for the classics , which he h ad devoured eagerly at Deventer in the schools Of the ‘ ’ was eu Brethren of the Social Life , raised to such thusiasm in Italy by an exhaustive study of Plato and Ar istotle that he could not rest without doing his ut most to kindle a like zeal in others . He was unwearied in his efforts to bring these studies back into vogue wherever he could , utilising them as means of true c ulture and as evidences of the sublimity of the

Christian faith . He met all seekers afte r knowledge with winning c ondescension and cordiality , and , although over Of whelmed with the duties of his fice , was ever ready to his e xplain and instruct . In the very year in which u usef l and laborious life closed (in the Cardinal , so T rithemius w we learn from , had intended , ith the aid ’ Of Gutenberg s invention , to convert into the common 6 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE property of the world Of scholars a precious coll ection of Greek MSS . which he had brought from Constanti l nop e . Among the students in whose classical education he had so gladly shared , Rudolph Agricola was the one who laboured most fruitfully in his footsteps . After a long period of intellectual torpor a new era of healthy and joyous development had now begun in all Ge rmany . The thirst for education was felt by classes , and no exertion was spared to raise the standard of the schools new ones were established and old ones were improved .

The countless number of gymnasia , and the many u niversities founded at this period , show how deeply the want of education was felt throughout the land .

Artistic development kept pace with scientific progress . The new intellectual movement called forth apostles of ’ of o every age and every condition life , who , to qu te ‘ Of Wim helin the words p g , in their journeyings from o province to pr vince , from land to land , spread the ’ glad tidings Of the blessings of science and of art . Intellectual progress on a firm basis of Christian belief and from a clerical standpoint forms the most prominent characteristic of the period which extended from the middle of the fifteenth century to the rise of

the German Humanists . It was one of the most fruit f ful intellectual epochs o German history . Alm ost inexhaustible seemed the wealth of great o and n ble and strongly marked individualities who , in

- their schoolrooms and lecture halls , as well as in the " seclusion of their studies , imparted to learning and to art the leaven of spiritual life— teachers with whom " o the fear of the L rd was the beginning of wisdom , INTRODUCTION 7

l humb e , believing Christians , and at the same time free , strong , independent , manly thinkers . Above all , they showed themselves undaunted in unmasking and

fighting against ecclesiastical abuses . Their love for the one Catholic Church spurred them to carry on un fiinchingly the work of reform which Nicolaus of Cusa had inaugurated in Germany Their love for the Church increased and elevated their loyalty to the people and the Fatherland and their enthusiasm for the Roman Emperor of the Of f German nation . As upholders the sovereignty o ’ set the Roman Emperor , they themselves strongly against the separatist independent spirit of the different

re- principalities . They wished for the establishment of the ancient unity of the Empire , but they were at the same time anxious to se e their respective States well represented in the general march of progress . As

Germans under the Emperor and the Empire , they felt themselves distinct from other nations ; but under the sovereignty and protection of the Catholic Church this sense of separateness had not led to anything like political or racial enmity with other nations , but simply to a feeling of spiritual exclusiveness . The brisk intercourse that went on between the schoolmen , the scientists , and artists of Germany and those of other countries was a powerful agent in the furtherance of culture and learning . The character ‘ ’ ll of the high schools was essentia y international . was Culture not a barrier , but a bond between nations . All Christian nations had one enemy in common h ’ the Turk the hereditary foe of C ristianity . To make joint cause against him under the leadership of 8 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

was the head of the Church , in the eyes of all the fore most men of the day , one of the highest of Christian duties . The wonderful development of spiritual and in t elle ctual life that characterised this period was only possible in view of the fact that all minds were still influenced by the Church doctrine Of salvation by ’ good works . This teaching resulted , on the one hand , in innumerable charitable bequests , in the founding of hospitals , asylums , and orphanages , as well as in the building of churches and cathedrals adorned with all that was most beautiful in art ; while it also prompted the establishment of higher and lower educational institutions , and the liberal endowment of them . BOOK I

POPULAR EDUCAT ION AND SCIENCE

CHAPT ER I

1 T HE SPREAD OF T HE ART OF PRINTING

T HERE is no invention or intellectual achievement of which we Germans have so much reason to be proud a s has us as that of printing , which made , it were , new a postles of Christianity , disseminators of all knowledge , f d1v1ne O . human and , and benefactors all mankind What new life it opened to all classes I Who can think without gratitude of the first founders and promoters Of the art, even though he should not , like us and our

1 ’ Van der L inde s learne d work on Gutenb erg give s a clear a u the s r th e e r re e s un e s s cco nt of hi to y of inv ntion of p inting , and mov co tl err rs e e s fal ifi ion s e re e r er r n s . o , l g nd , and s cat which have app a d in a li w iti g

Johann Gen sflei s ch zu Gu e er M e wa s s o u the e r t nb g, of ntz , not m ch inv nto ri of p nting as of typography the form ation of cas t movable lett ers . Centuries b efore Gut enb erg the art was already known of tran sferring ure s ures n u e r s of re s fig , pict , and text from o e s rfac to anothe by me an p

s ure . A e s um s nci nt xylographic produ ctions are pres erve d in our mu e . I t was n ew e r — s r s es s e e es no id a that lett e s henc e al o wo d , lin , nt nc , and

e es— ul r r T h e s e k whol pag co d be eng ave d and p inte d . e Chin bloc and

e - r I t r typ p inting goe s back a s far as th e t enth c entury . was p obably fr the M s uere C the h r ee e ur om ongolian , who conq d hina in t i t nth c nt y , and s t er overflowe d E s er E ur e the E ur e s u re oon af into a t n op , that op an acq i d the art of k - r r A r 1400 s ar o r . u the e t bloc p inting , xylog aphy bo t y a thi s re fr Ger F T th r s o p ad om many to landers . hat e o igin of many innova

s e the M e A es er e - er - r tion b longing to iddl g (gunpowd , lin n pap , wood p int ’ r s tufi e r r e s s - s i s ing , p inting on , nla ge d o amplifi e d As iatic ch game ) s hroude d in darkne s s may be accounte d for by the fact that th e s e inven s s r u e e e E ur e but e ere u tion did not p ing p ind p nd ntly in op , cam th thro gh 10 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

t eachers , have enjoyed the privilege of personal inter course with them ? 1 Of e The art printing is the art of arts , the scienc of sciences . Through its rapid spread the world has been enriched with treasures of knowledge and wisdom

. that t ill now have lain hidden . Innumerable books formerly accessible to but a few scholars in Athens or

P or l now aris , in other universities and libraries , wi l by means of the printing- press become known to all

T he rs k e - cut i s th Arab s and M ongolians . fi t nown dat of a wood e ye ar 2 T e di d e er r e k s 14 3 . h y not , how v , only p int with wood n bloc at that

e r e e r es s e . A e out s er e s time , but ng av d th i d ign in m tal l af of a i of r h 14 e ngravings of th e Pass ion b e a s t e dat e of 46 . An e xqui s ite Copp er ‘ P s h e e 1451 T r engraving of th e M as ter b e ar t dat of . he e was indee d

’ ve ri the ee no call for any on e to in nt p nting in fift nth c entur y . T he ’ ld ts chmtz ers - u ers e r ers r e et er th e P y , wood c tt , and ng av fo m d , tog h with “ r ui e r N r e for s e as e r as print e s , a g ld of th i own ; in o dling n , in tanc , a ly ’ Ulm 144 1 . T he r e Gu e er s e did 1428 , and in in impo tanc of t nb g inv ntion not li e in th e di s covery of movable typ e (alre ady in Roman antiquity mov

r u s e see er L e . 113 b e able letters we e d ; Van d ind , pp ut in th efli ci ent

ur e e s un r s T h e r r m ethod of manufact ing m tal typ of a ifo m iz e . l ette s we e

rs cut th e r e s s e e s or u es e r e s fi t of all in fo m of mbo d di p nch , th n f om th e

u es ere r e r e s or u s r w th e es er s p nch w fo m d mat ic mo ld f om hich typ w e ca t . B es ides th e movablenes s of th e s ingl e l etters and their combination into ’ r s th e rciduction e ers re u ers wa s e es s wo d , p of l tt in g at n mb n c ary , in order to sub stitut e for th e co stly proc es s of cutting e ach letter s eparat ely th e ch eapne ss and uniformity deriv e d from casting a numb er of type s from a he e singl e mould . What t s p cial point wa s that th e inv e ntor him self laid s tres s on we le arn from th e appe ndix to th e Ca tho li con of th e y ear 1460 :

er th e ui e the A e re U nd g danc of lmighty , who oft n ve al s to the lowly e H e e s r th e s e s e e e k Ca th li mind d what hid f om wi , thi xc ll nt boo , o con , was print e d and complet e d in th e good town of M e ntz in the ye ar of our L ord 1460 ; it s e xqui s it e fini s h and accuracy are due to it s b eing e xe cute d by

’ e s e s r e s re e st lum or en m an of di and mat ic , not with d , y , p . 1 I n th e e r 150 r u the k h 7 , i e s s t e e F er J e y a th o gh ndn of lat ath and l , u e r r of th e D s R e 1 4 On u S p io ominican at om in 8 6 . acco nt of it s b eginning

e r the a rt it s re th e S r with a pan gy ic on , and t ating of p ead of printing ov er

E ur e i t was e er er the e D e Ar te i m res s ori a op , giv n at a lat p iod titl of p . I t s e —i e u r s e e s r e i s contain tw nty n n q a to h t of pa chm nt , and as b e autifu lly writt en (pos s ibly by th e s ame hand) as th e account of the hi s tory of M e b e s e e the s e As e ur ntz , to n at ca tl of chaff nb g, which was execute d

Wim h elin for th e Ar s A re Br e ur by p g chbi hop lb cht of and nb g . T H E SPREAD OF T HE ART OF PRINTING 11?

1 n . ations and peoples , and be circulated in every tongue ‘ What a wealth Of prayers and meditations shall be “ born Of printed books What a store of sermons shall become familiar to the people What an advantage to those who are writing or editing books "For those who love art and literature , this is indeed a blessed and happy time , in which they can plant in the field

; of their understanding such precious seed , and fire ’ their imaginations from such burning sources . v Those , also , who have no natural lo e for literary work are to be congratulated on being able to learn in a Short time what formerly required the study of ’ 2 Of years . Such are some of the utterances con on temporary writers the newly discovered art . 1507 Wim helin As early as the year , Jacob p g draws attention to the fact that nothing can give so good an idea of the activity and many- sidedness of German intellectual life at that period as the considera ff tion of the rapid di usion of the art of printing, which not only converted all the towns of Germany , great and small , into intellectual workshops , but also , by means of German printers , established itself in the

few : course of a years in Italy , France , Spain, and even in the far North . a When , fter the conquest of Mentz by the Arch 1462 bishop Adolphus of Nassau in , the wonderful ’ secret had become known throughout Europe , it Spread with such astounding rapidity that more than 3 a thousand printers , mostly of German origin , are

1 See the C r us r er R l in k hi s F a l s a th ian monk , We n o ew c , in sci cu u t m rum e . 8 9 . p o , fol 2 ’ " T he Chroni les o Koe lho e e b Cardauns Chr ni ken d cr c f fi , dit d y ; o d eu ts chen S tdd te 2— 9 , xiv . 7 9 1 4 . 3 ’ — — See F a lkens tein s L i s t . 383 393 Re r . 1034 1 4 , pp ; icha dt , iii 0 3 . 12 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

1 known to have flourished before the year 500 . In

Mentz itself, the cradle of the art , there were no less

- t than five printing presses , in Ulm six , in Basle six een , l - in Augsburg twenty , in Cologne twenty one . Stras burg was renowned for its many excellent printers . In

1500 - five Nuremberg , up to the year , twenty printers 2 were enrolled as citizens . The most eminent of these 1470 Kob er er after the year was Anthony g , who had

- d twenty four presses at work , employe over a hundred

- - men as type setters , proof correctors , printers , binders a nd illuminators , besides carrying on work outside ,

c . hiefly in Basle , Strasburg , and Lyons By diligence ’ ' Neudoerfler and foresight , writes his countryman , , ’ o er er K b g accumulated a large fortune . The gigantic aqueduct still in existence , hewn out of the rock , and reaching from the city moat to his house in the

Ae idien latz g p , is a witness to the scale of his printing 3 e a stablishment . Enterprise of lmost equal dimensions

' SchOns er er was developed by Hans p g in Augsburg , as well as by the Basle publishers , Johann Amerbach ,

Wolfgang Lachner, and Johann Froben . The latter , ’ d as Of esignated the prince publishers , ranks among the most accomplished printers whom the world has 4 yet known . Numbers of the ablest men devoted their

1 — — - 4 1 43 . . 21 423 Graess e . 15 163 E e . 1034 0 Schaab , iii ; , iii 7 ; nn n , iii For the r ks e nn 1 —253 e r s e Faulma . 9 . p int d wo , , pp 7 2 B . er r the R esea rches o F rmer A es Vl l . 1 19 120 aad , wo k on f o g , , 3 m See the e e rks B ase Kober er . 49 Faul ann in compl t wo of , g , fol ; , — — . 1 8 1 K 1 4 41 Z in r r us e 7 94 39 . a e e pp ; app , pp . own d a p inting ho in

B the e r 148 1 . I n the e r 148 3 E r r Ratdolt u s e ologna in y a y a , ha d p bli h d in Venic e an E xp la n a ti on of the T en Comman dmen ts . 4 Stockme r —11 T h rks ere ssue e R er . 8 6 y and eb , pp 5 . e wo which w i d from the e stablishment of Johann es Winterburger between 1492 and 1519

c re e se B s e Nure er Au s ur . See A. ompa w ll with tho of a l , mb g, and g b g ’ M er s H i s t r o P ri n ti n 1482—18 82 e ay o y f g , (Vi nna ,

" 1 4 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE a fter the province had been freed from the Arabian

was yoke , and while it still partly peopled with Arabs , a the Nuremberg physician , Hieronymus M er, tra velling across the Pyrenean peninsula between the 1494 1495 years and , met with three printers from erl shof n T o t G e e . w S rasburg, Spire , and others from Strasburg and from Nordlingen established themselves

in the unhealthy island of St . Thomas .

Valentin Ferdinand , one of the many German

1 502 a printers settled in Portugal , was in the year p pointed shield - bearer to Queen Leonora ; and by decree

of John II . all the other printers in the country were i n vested with the privileges Of nobles attached to the 1516 royal household . In , by order of the King, Don the Immanuel , German printer Herman von Kempen , published in Lisbon ‘ The Cancionero ’ of Garcia de

Resende , a comprehensive collection of songs of the

Court school of poets , of fundamental importance for

the history of Portuguese literature . ’ The German art was established in Buda- Pesth in 147 3 147 7 1 47 8 the year , in London in , in Oxford in , 148 2 I n 1 48 3 in Denmark in , Stockholm in , in Moravia 14 86 in , and in Constantinople in ’ Old As the apostles of Christianity went forth of ,

‘ Wim helin so now says p g , the disciples of the sacred art go forth from Germany into all lands , and their printed books become heralds of the Gospel , preachers ’ 2 o f truth and wisdom .

o - o Adolphus Occo , h use physician to Frederick , bish p

1 For the s er e s th e \Ve s t hali an s the s re r vic of p in p ad of p inting, s e e ’ 1 — h i mu s . 2 133 A N r H u ma n s 9 . r t e o dhoff s , pp i t es res e r e s cco d ng to la t a ch , i t appears to b e e s tablis h e d that th e Cologne printers were the founders H o f th e art in E ngland and olland . 2 D e A t I m ress ori a . 6 . r e p , fol T H E SPREAD OF T HE ART OF PRINTING 15

f ll Ratdolt O , Augsburg, writes as fo ows to the printer in 1 48 7 It would be difficult to estimate how deeply all c o lasses of s ciety are indebted to the art of printing ,

our which , through the mercy of God , has arisen in t ime ; and more es pecially is this the case with the C u atholic Church , the bride of Christ , which thro gh it o d receives additi nal glory , and meets her Bri egroom with the new adornment of the many books of heavenly ’ it wisdom with which has furnished her . All the nobler minds of the age were anxious that t his new art should not be regarded merely as an

o as instrument for furthering personal pr fit , but a f n of so o resh mea s Christian evangelisation , that , ab ve ’ a ll and , good should accrue to the Church s faith ,

‘ true wisdom and culture be advanced . Thus The ’ R one Brothers of the Social Life at ostock , in O f 1476 their first publications , in the year , speak ‘ o f it as the teacher of all arts for the glory of the ’ Church ; and they designated themselves . in view of ‘ their labour as printers , priests who preached not ’ b ut b . y the spoken , by the written word It was this s o ame feeling which actuated bishops , such as Rud lph v on Scherenb er v on g and Lorenz Bibra , to distribute i o ndulgences for the purchase and spread of b oks . This view of the mission of the new discovery made the most enlightened among the clergy become its most zealous protectors . In very many cases printing establishments were — at attached to monasteries Marienthal , in the Rheingau , 4 6 14 0 1 8 . 7 for instance , after In we find one opened by the Argovian regular canons of Beromunster ; in

147 2 Alfra , another by the Benedictines of Saints and U 147 4 lrich in Augsburg ; in , one by the Benedictines 16 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

1475 Blaub eran 147 8 one of Bamberg ; in , one in ; in ,

Premonstrat entian 1 47 9 s by the monks ; in , still other by the Augustinian hermits Of Nuremberg and the 1 Benedictines of St . Peter in Erfurt . The Carthusians and the Minorites were the most active assistants of John Amerbach in Basle . The He nlin great German scholastic , Johannes y of Stein , in d the bishopric of Spire , brought the first printers , calle ’ Allimanic the brothers , to Paris , and gave them every 2 assistance in their work .

Frisner the A professor of theology , Andreas , was first printer in Leipsic ; and it was owing to Paul

Scri toris p , lecturer in the Franciscan convent at 1 478 Tubingen , that in the year Johann Otmar esta blished the first press in that city . In Italy the German

Sche nhein and Pannartz d printers , Conrad y Arnold , foun their first home in the Benedictine convent of Subiaco ;

1 — e th e ur te rk F k D ru kkun s t . 3 9 the r i Se acc a wo by al , c , pp , on p int ng — r s der L e . s Ge . See 95 9 . in the convent of many al o Van ind , pp 7 T he lit erary activity of th e monks wa s awakene d to n ew life towards the ee e ur — i s the e the middl e of the fift nth c nt y that , at tim of invention of e the ef r s for re r ere typography , and coincid ntly with fo t fo m that w con

the Councfl B s e . No er e the n ect ed with of a l wond , th n , that monks u k e e s e e s the n ew e s for u ks an d q ic ly avail d th m lv of m an m ltiplying boo , , e s e s ere e re s s e s under the guidanc of wi abbot , ct d p within th eir monas T he r e re s e s e e ee the er h t erie s . f i ndly lation which xi t d b tw n cl gy and t e

r r e s the e s er. T us s as Sch afarik ha s e u p inte s mad thi a i h al o , point d o t , we owe th e e s e the C r l r e rks er all old Slavonic , p cially y il ic , p int d wo to S bian , A Cettin M nk s r e s s . t e e e r er or Bulgarian mo and p i t j , in ont n g o , th e was a

- 14 3 rks e ee re s er monastic printing pre s s in 9 . Wo hav b n p v ed from the con W adsten a e e e r the e 14 f . Br e 91 . vent o St idg t in , Sw d n , b a ing dat of At the conv ent of the Dominican s i sters in Florence more than eighty - six works 1 4 were publishe d b etween 147 6 and 48 . 2 H nlin s er . 16 1 . J h e s e es e the e hi s r Vi ch , p o ann y att t d dat of bi th . ’ ’ i i n e d e l I m ri meri e aP ari s d a re d D See Jul . e Or s es cu Phillip , g p p o men ts

' i ne di ta r s . 14 . C er U r G er n the rs (Pa i , p onc ning l ich i g, fi t G erman

‘ r er ri s s e e Ae Di e B u chdru ckerei i n B er om zins ter p int in Pa , bi , , pp . — 32 3 6 . T H E SPREAD OF T HE ART OF PRINTING 1 7 w s hile later on , in Rome , they brought out their work u nder the patronage of the bishop Giovanni Andrea , 14 66 s librarian of Pope Sixtus IV . In the famou

T urrecremat a for Dominican Cardinal , , sent the printer ,

o t o s Ulrich Hahn , fr m Ingolstadt Rome ; three year

W urtzb ur later George Lauer , of g , was summoned

‘ ff r there by Cardinal Cara a , and both these had for thei patrons the well - known papal biographers Campano 147 5 and Platina . In there were as many as twenty — printing presses in Rome ; and up to the end of the 925 e century there appeared there works , which wer chiefly owing to the exertions of the clergy . But the clergy were not content with giving nominal patronage and co- operation to the new art ; they also contributed material help by the purchase Of its pro 1 du ti n c o s . Nearly the whole immense book supply of the fifteenth century in Germany aimed chiefly at satisfying e the needs of the clergy , and only by their activ participation was it possible for its influence to spread simultaneously and in all directions throughout the entire population . This German book t rade was a continuation and a d o evel pment of the trade in manuscripts , which had already grown to large and extensive business propor was n tions in Germany , where there so great a dema d for books long before the invention of printing . In the large

1 F k D r u kkun s t r s r s al , c , pp . T his wo k give a b illiant li t of wit ne sse s for the helpful and encouraging attitu de of th e cl ergy towards the h a rt of printing . H as e and the Kob ergers conc ede that t e clergy were s the f re s s T h e cr t the er among t o mo t of their patron . y tha cl gy bad oppos e d printing was as groundle ss as the flight of the imagination of the e th e u ee e r 1840 s Gu er e po t of j bil y a , who aid that tenb g had light d a torch n d r th e r e he r es s ul e e u s e a th own it into wo ld whil t p i t wo d hav xting i h d it .

VOL . I . C 1 8 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE trading towns and in the free imperial cities the work of c opyists had developed into a regular industry , more with the obj ect of supplying the universal wants of the pe ople than those of scholars . Regular catalogues were m ade out , and the works were disposed of by travelling pedlars , who found ready sale for them at the annual fairs . I II the middle of the fifteenth century we find one

O f Die old these pedlars , named p Lauber , opening at Hagenau a shop well supplied not only with Latin books

- but with the best of the High German literature , with e o versified e pic poems , legends , prose w rks , Bibles , liv s

of o . the saints , prayer and meditation bo ks This varied s tock shows that during the Middle Ages books were n ot confined to the rich and learned in Germany . After the invention of printing the trade in books c ontinued on the same lines as that of manuscripts , and d eveloped so rapidly that towards the close of the century it had covered nearly all civilized Europe . Many of the customs and technicalities still in use in

o t the trade date fr m hat period . — — ’ Frankfort- on the Main was the centre of the world s t book rade . The dealers met together at the annual u fairs and festivals , there concl ded business arrange m ents , made their purchases , and did everything to f perfect the method o their trade . In the early days of the trade the printers trafficked on t with one another the system of exchange , the firs traces of which are found in the year 1474 in the t printing es ablishment Of the monastery of SS . Ulrich a nd in u Of Afra Augsb rg , and in that of The Brethren ’ — the Social Life i n Rostock one of the Oldest print i n t was g houses in Nor hern Germany . Their trade not T HE SPREAD OF T H E ART OF PRINTING 1 9 confined to the volumes which they themselves pro d uced ; they received also for sale books printed else

where . Their business extended over the districts of

Lubeck and Schleswig , and even to Denmark . ’ Gut enb ur s SchOfler g partner , Peter , had developed a printing business in Paris which was valued in 1475 sum at golden thalers , a large for that period . The j oint establishment founded by the Kob ergers Of Nuremberg at the same time was already in full

1 500 . swing by the year In the South of France , Lyons — was the centre of this book traffic ; three hundred copies of a single work were sent there on one occasion . The produce Of this firm had also an extensive sale in

Hungary, in the Netherlands , and in Italy , especially at

’ ' K b er er NeudOrfer . o Venice g , says , has agents in e very country , and in the principal cities he has as many as sixteen shops and stores . His business extends into Poland ; and he manages his affairs so well that h e is at all times cognizant of the condition of each b ranch , and able to supply the wants of one Shop from ’ the superfl uous stock of another . The magnitude of his business may be estimated by the fact that over two 1 500 hundred of the works he published before , mostly thick volumes in large folio , can be enumerated . He also carried on a brisk competition with the flourishing Basle firm of Froben and Lachner in the sale of classic h publications from t e Italian press . ’ At this very moment , writes a scholar of Basle to ‘ a - in- law Our friend , Wolfgang Lachner , the father of — Froben , is having a whole waggon load of classics of the best Aldine editions brought over from Venice . Do you ? so wish for any of them If , tell me immediately , and send the money , for no sooner is such a freight landed C 2 20 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

“ for than thirty buyers start up each volume , merely ’ ’

. asking what s the price , and tearing each other s eyes ’ out to get hold of them . Amongst the foremost publishers of the time was

Birckmann who Franz , of Cologne , did more than any others to promote the circulation of the intellectual

o Of . pr ducts Italy , France , and the Netherlands With England especially his trade was so extensive that Erasmus writes from Canterbury in 1 510 Birckmann ’ 1 manages all the book traffic of this place . The activity in the book trade was not confined t o the large cities only . In the smaller ones also much

R nmann stirring life went on in this direction . John y , Of Oehrin en the g , for instance , in the last decade of

fifteenth century , carried on large dealings both with foreign countries and with the upper and lower

R nmann provinces of the Empire . Later on this same y removed to Augsburg , where he enlarged his busi f w ness so as to include all branches O learning . T elve other booksellers besides himself were also established in this city . From evidence Of this sort we can form some idea of the immense extent of the book trade in Germany at the end of the Middle Ages . ‘ ’ Wim helin 1 507 We Germans , writes p g in , ‘ practically control the whole intellectual market of

o civilised Europe ; the books , h wever , which we bring to this market are for the most part high - class works

1 Kirs h ff — — c o . 92 120 K . T ere er s u 101 104 . s , i ; app , pp h w e i e d from th e fi rm of R r P affraed C e r 26 rk 14 icha d , of ologn , ov e 0 wo s b etween 77 and 1 500 . J Bre D e e er u s e u 210 rks e ee acob von da , of v nt , p bli h d abo t wo b tw n

148 3 1500 the e s s s k r e e the s and anci nt cla ic ta ing a p omin nt plac in li t . ‘ ’ m‘ Se e C e An n a les d e la T h ee a n d a n X si é cle ampb ll , yp ograp i c n rl . V L a H e ( ay ,

22 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

of can day as masterpieces the typographical art , and no longer be equalled in beauty . ’ Johann von Olpe s printed editions of the works of “

Sebastian Brant , Reuchlin , and other German humanists , are notable instances of clear and faultless type and

- beautiful get up . The accompanying woodcuts also are for the most part real models of German art . The

- book dealers , indeed , gave great encouragement to the 1 pictorial art by their demand for illustrations . Nearly all the great publishers carried on business from real love of truth and learning , and not only with

“ a vie w to pecuniary gain . They worked with genuine enthusiasm , and made real sacrifices for the perfecting f O their art . The new invention was also used in the service of the ancient classics , as well as of ecclesiastical learning and literature . Besides many other printers already

Hittor Of mentioned , the learned Gottfried p , Cologne , Alantse e and the brothers Leonard and Lucas , of Of Vienna , earned lasting tributes gratitude in this respect .

Publications for the people , chiefly the work of the

: - clergy, appeared in large numbers prayer books , catechisms , manuals of confession , books of homilies , n n collectio s of sacred and secular song , wall cale dars , and also a number of popular works on natural science and medicine . The collections of German writings of the fifteenth century which are still extant give an extremely

io favourable impress n of the culture of the period , and

1 e d T h r l r - S e . e e e us e r r k W von S i litz , p int d il t at d p aye boo s of the fift eenth and s ixt e enth c enturies in Germany in the Ye ar- book in the Royal

rus s art e s s . . . Ber 188 4 P ian coll ction , vol v and vi ( lin , T HE SPREAD OF T HE ART OF PRINTING 23

Show how greatly the habit of reading prevailed among

all classes . ‘ ’ In the district of Utrecht alone , writes the truly n Catholic reformer , Johannes Busch , concerni g the

Of Spread German books in the Netherlands , there are more than one hundred free associations of nuns and

Sisters possessing large collections of German books , which are used daily either for private or communal men i reading . The and women all round this ne ghbour ’ hood , he continues , from the highest to the lowest , have numbers of German books which they read and study

I II the Zutphen , Zwolle , and Deventer , as indeed in all ’ towns and villages , German books are much read . Those books naturally which had the largest sale and widest circulation were oftenest produced . We can thus j udge “ of the importance attributed by in contemporaries to any particular works , and of the

fluence Of such works , by the measure of their repro duction ; and it is no insignificant fact towards a right understanding of the times that the Bible reached more b than one hundred editions , that a theological work y He nlin e Johannes y , of Spire , reached twenty ditions 148 8 1 500 the Wim helin between and , works of p g ‘ - five I thirty editions in twenty years , and the mitation ’ of n ff Christ , tra slated into di erent languages , no fewer

f - 1 50 than fi ty nine editions up to the year 0 . There still exist at the present day samples of ten different f e ditions of a collection O German proverbs . Of the number of copies issued in the different e ditions we can form only an approximate idea . From ’ two passages from Wimpheling s works we gather that this edition consisted of copies . The edition of ’ ‘ ’ Cochlaus 1 511 Johann Latin Grammar , printed in , 24 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

ff ’ contained copies , as also those of Pfe erkorn s ’ ’ Handspiegel Hand- mirror and Jacob Locher s ’ 1

Ful entius . g , which appeared at the same time Thus we may conclude that was the usual Of o number at that time , while the measure reproducti n

was n . twe ty , thirty , or even sixty editions Devotional books and religious writings generally , as well as the n works of disti guished men with large circles of readers , were issued in still larger editions ; as for instance The ’ PraI se of Folly , by Erasmus , of which copies were printed in 151 5 . An immense number Of the books printed in the

fifteenth century have entirely disappeared , having been either destroyed in the religious and civil wars later On or lost through neglect in the present century . The number preserved , however , may be reckoned at over — Of Of many them works three , four , or even o o m re thick f lio volumes . This will give a good idea of the intellectual work and activity of that period .

1 H e e 2—4 . 0 T he u hl , pp . p blishers in I taly con sidere d that thre e u re es s e u di . e s ee d r L e . 50 T he h nd d copi con tit t d a folio tion ; Van e ind , p small es t edi tion of the publications of Schweyn heim and P ann art z in R e e 27 5 C es the r e s un r h om contain d opi , la g t co t ed Kob e ger and t e r e u s ers e e f e u e la g p bli h in V nic o t n co nt d in an e dition . CHAPT ER II

E LEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 1 OF T HE PEOPLE

- Coelde a catechism by the Friar Minor , Diedrich , 14 70 printed in , in the Low German dialect , the i follow ng injunction , amongst others , is laid down in a c hapter on the duties of parents to their children ‘ Children should be sent betimes to school , to

ma worthy teachers , in order that they y be taught godly fear and reverence , and be saved from learning s in and evil in the streets . Those parents are to blame ’ who obj ect to the just punishment of their childr en . When children are not sent to school under the ’ care of good schoolmasters , writes Sebastian Brant in ’ ff t o his Narrenschi , they grow up be wicked blasphemers , gamblers and drunkards ; for , the begin ning , the middle and the end of a good life is a good ’ e ducation .

Concerning the duties of children to their teachers , Johann VVOlf writes in a manual of self- examination

: before the Holy Sacrament Love , honour , and obedience are due to teachers as well as to parents ;

1 We po s ses s but few authentic reports of the elementary s chools at h e h l t e e e t e M e A e s . H e er e u r comm nc m nt of idd g ow v , no gh emain t o r e nl su s s e s e but s e ere p ov not o y that ch chool xi t d , al o how highly th y w es ee e as e u s for C r s e e u t m d m di m h i tian t aching and d cation , and how z e us the e u the e h r alo ly d cation of p ople was encouraged by t e Chu ch . 26 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE the schoolmaster who has taught you in your youth r has become your spiritual father . Gold and silve cannot repay him for the things of the spirit are higher and nobler than those of the body . The money he has received for his instruction may long since have been spent in procuring bodily necessities , while what m he has taught you re ains a possession for ever . ‘ ’ eII itent o The p bef re confession , continues Wolf, ‘ should examine himself carefully as to whether he still harbours any resentment against his teachers for d ’ punishments inflict e . — The teachers themselves were enjoined to co Operat e with the Church in the catechetical instruction of the young . In an excellent handbook of instruction and ’ ’ e dification entitled the Seelenfii hrer Soul s Guide 1498 t o which appeared in , schoolmasters are exhorted instruct the children in all Christian teaching and in

of f the commandments God and O the Church . They Should assist the priests and supplement whatever they ’ cannot do by preaching and other spiritual functions .

Compulsory education was unknown , but from many records preserved in towns and villages we find l that the schools were everywhere wel attended .

I II 1491 r Xanten , on the Lower Rhine , in , the maste Of a school for reading and writing complained that he and his assistant were not sufficient for the number of

- scholars , and begged for another under master , where upon the town council provided him , and also another school in the town , with a second assistant , stipulating , however , that they must arrange with the parents for a the dditional salary . In the records of Wesel for the year 1494 we find

‘ that five teachers were employed to instruct the ’ ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 27

children of the town in reading , writing , arithmetic ’ - and choir singing . At Christmas of the same year

“ these said teachers were entertained by the clergy of the town , and each of them was presented with a piece ‘ of cloth for a coat and a small gold coin ; for they ’ have all well earned this reward .

In the district of the Middle Rhine , in the year 1500 of , there were whole stretches country where a national school was to be found within a circuit of Of 500 every six miles . Small parishes even only or 6 00 VVeisenau souls , such as , near Mentz , Michelstadt , in the Odenwald , were not without their village schools .

Throughout the Empire , indeed , the number of schools . was generally considerable . In many places also there ’ were largely attended girls schools . One of these O especially , founded by Nicolaus of usa at Xanten in 1497 — t , counted eighty four scholars , from bo h the nobility and the citizen classes . At its head stood at

Alde un dis von that time g Horstmar , who had been ‘ ’ Of trained by the Brethren the Social Life , and whose system of education for young girls was formed on their rules . The citizens of LiIb e ck founded the cloister of St . Anna in order that the education of their c own daughters might be arried on in their city , instead of their having to be sent to distant places , as . 08 had often been done before . In the year 1 5 this institution was consecrated by the Pope . Special schools were also erected for the children of a the nobility ; for inst nce , the Augustinian Convent for

Ob erlin elheim the district of Spires , in g for those of tt r via the Middle Rhine and of the Lower We e a . The o von latter owed its rigin to Elizabeth Bruck , the

as . abbess of the convent there , who was looked upon 528 HISTOR Y OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

148 6 the benefactress of the whole neighbourhood . In this institution was solemnly consecrated under the ’ name of the Marienschule . The abbess ordained that three boys from the citizen or peasant classes Should d t also be admitted , and that if they distinguishe hem

or selves by talent , industry , good conduct , they should

be placed on an equal footing with the other scholars . The knight Hans von Schoenst ae tt and Herr von Rehan

to bequeathed their estates this institution , and a priest Mein ot named g Gulden , who had been its director for Ro h s e . years , left it the half of a farmstead at p

We may judge how deeply learning was appreciated , and how highly the position of the teachers was the latter respected , by the high salaries which com nd d ma e . Up to the end of the Middle Ages we find nowhere any complaints from teachers of insufficient

florin pay . At a time when a would buy from ninety to one hundred pounds of beef or from one hundred to

- five u Of one hundred and twenty po nds pork , the school master of a small hamlet near Goch received the follow

: florins ing remuneration From the parish four , twelve Of bushels barley , eight bushels of wheat , eight bushels c ats Of of and sixty bundles straw , besides house and

— - kitchen garden and the use Of one third of an acre

of meadow land . Also from each pupil a monthly school fee of five stivers in winter and three in

summer ; and for services in the church , a yearly sum f O about two to three florins. In the archives of 1 510 Capellan , in , we find it decreed that each peasant who wished his children taught should pay the teacher

o of three stivers , f ur bushels corn , and , if he owned a o wagg n , a load of wood . In Goch the head teacher 1450 had been receiving since , in addition to his house

3 C HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

income Of the architect of Frankfort Cathedral , which florins did not exceed from ten to twenty a year , or with that of the first chamberlain of the mother of t h e Elector Palatine (Philip von der Pfalz) , which was 1 thirty florins a year . ’ ’ Seelenfuhrer The instructors of youth , says the ’ The Soul s Guide should be as highly honoured as for the highest of the land , it is hard work and labour t o bring up children in Christian discipline and order . If they do this you must honour and love and befriend ’ them . DII re r o Albert , in some verses to one of his w odcuts

‘ 1 510 o of in , gives us s me idea of the nature this ’ r Christian discipline and order . The picture epre sents a teacher holding in his right hand a rod , while his left hand rests on an open book . In front of him ,

-on sit - stools , several eager looking boys , each with an inkstand hanging to his belt . In the accompanying rhymes are the following precepts amongst others If thou wilt be clever and wise , pray to God all the days o f th wishest y life ; if thou to be recompensed , avoid all evil . Prevent others from thinking evil of their neighbour . This frees the heart from all bitterness , d rives away all hate and envy , and disposes thy hearers to listen to thee favourably . Say what thou thinkest q uietly ; hold fast to the truth , lie not, and do not try ’ 2 to appear to men other than thou art .

1 H u z Ur kun dli he Geschi hte d er S ti en di en a n d S ti tun See a t , c c p f g en a m L eu m eu H ei d e lber H e e er ere u yc g ( id lb g , wh ab ndant det ail s

e are b e u on this subj ct to fo nd . 2 ’ - — H e er . 68 3 6 8 5 T hausin D a rer s L e tters . 1 T h ll , pp g , , pp 5 5 157 . e p rincipal defe ct s in the s chool sys t em of the day were the too frequ ent ‘ es e ers the e s e e ere e r n c hang of t ach , and xi t nc of what w call d t ave lli g ’ N s u e s s s ers . See e es e . 1 1 h t d nt , bacchant and hoot ( tt h im , pp 3 T e E LEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 3 1 All Christian instruction (such was the will of the Church) Should begin in the family ; the Christian ’ Of home should be the child s first place training .

‘ ’ Children are the hope of the Church , so runs the ’

Seelenfuhrer . Let parents , therefore , be admonished to s ee that their children grow up in Christian fear and reverence , and that their home be their first school and their first Church . Christian mother , when thou holdest ’ own thy child , which is God s image , on thy knee , make t he Sign of the holy cross on his forehead, on his lips and o n sa his heart, and as soon as he can lisp teach him to y him b etime s his prayers . Take to confession , and instruct him all in that is needful to make him confess rightly . Fathers and mothers Should set their children a good e xample , taking them to mass , vespers , and sermons on S ’ undays and saints days as often as possible . They ’ s t o hould be punished as often as they neglect do this . — ’ In the thirty seventh chapter of Diedrich COelde s C atechism , parents are admonished that they should teach their children in the German tongue the Lord ’s ’ Prayer , the Ave Maria , and the Apostles Creed , and f o ther matters O faith to be found in this book . Item they should further teach them to honour Mary, the

all mother of God , and their guardian angel , and the holy saints . Morning and evening they should give a their children the Benediction , and m ke them kneel in

: thanksgiving to God . Item they must be taught from

e t their youth up , for when they are older they g ff l sti ened , so that they neither can nor wil do what is

u t u sa good . F r her , they sho ld be taught to y Bene

s T r e 1510 hi s s Bres u S wis , homas Platt , w ot in , on vi it to la : I t i s s aid there are s everal tho us and bacchants and shoot ers in the city who live

nd F eli x P la t t . 20 by alms ( T homa s a , pp 3 2 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

“ dicite and Gratias before and after meals ; t o b e in temperate in eating and drinking , and to be modest

: and the streets . Item they Should be clothed simply

o t o t o s unostentati usly, and be taken mass , hear vesper how and sermons , and taught to serve at the mass . ‘ Parents are advised to inspire their children with

t o reverence their betters , to correct them with mode

t o b e ration , use the rod when necessary , and to ’ o m n careful to keep them fr m bad co pa v . At the beginning of the chapter parents are warned that most of the evil in the world is the result of bad education in the family ; that the welfare Of their children

who depends on strict discipline , and that parents allow their children to follow their own will prepare for themselves a scourge . The Christian house should be a Christian temple ; u above all on S ndays and holy days , when father and — - old mother , children , man servant and maid servant , and young , Should join in praising God and reading

o s His w rd ; which , however , need not prevent joyou Of play and merriment during the rest the day . On those davs especially , parents Should Show their chil dren the practical aspects of religion through alms

n Of Of givi g , the forgiveness injuries , and other works mercy . This would be a good example , which would ’ not be lost . n Nider Johan , in his sermons to parents and chil m dren on the Ten Com andments , speaks in the same sense Are you so poor that you cannot give a penny ? to the beggar at the church door Well , then , give

o lo t him a Pater N ster , that he may bear his with n ou o o p atie ce . If y see s me one bel nging to you doing o o wr ng, correct him ; if some one do you a wr ng , leave ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 3 3

’ — ’ it in God s hands it will redound to your soul s salva ’ tion . Christians , after attending mass and hearing ’ sermons on saints days , should read such books as will be to their spiritual e dification ; they may also Sing songs about their handiwork or other matters , but not ’ coarse or wicked songs . Lanzkrana of Stephen , provost of the church St . Dorothea in Vienna sketches a beautiful picture ’ H melstrasz of the Christian family in the y , where he admonishes the father on Sundays , the first thing after breakfast , to go with his household and hear a sermon , his and afterwards to sit at home with wife , children , and servants , and question them as to what made most impression upon them in the sermon , telling them what struck him most . He should also hear them repeat , and expound to them the Ten Commandments , the seven deadly sins , the Pater Noster and the Creed . He shall also give them something good to drink , and join o ousl j y y in Singing the praises of God , of our Lady and ’ the saints with his household . It is further enjoined that on Sunday mornings all Christians who have come to years of discretion Should hear a whole mass i e . . . not leave the church until the blessing is given That they Should remain for the sermon and listen to it with attention , and repeat congregationally the i Confiteor and the Commandments . It s also re com mended that they should pray for the wants of the

Church and the faithful . Whatever in the sermon cannot be remembered without notes should be written ’ 1 down at home .

‘ ’ In the W eihegartlein of the year 1 507 occurs the

1 Au s ur in 148 4 H i mmels tra s s e u l s e . 50 1 , p b i h d in g b g , pp , 5 it i s one he u r es the ers the ee e ur of t b est a tho iti on mann of fift nth c nt y . OL V . I . 3 4 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

‘ : following passage Know , Christian fathers , that if you yourselves do not gladly hear sermons and listen

o to the exp sition of your faith , you cannot give your children and households the instruct ion which your ’ d . uty requires of you See , then , that you hear God s Word diligently every Sunday ; go to church morning W and evening . Receive the ord with reverence , and

a treasure it in your hearts . Seek explanation of th t which you do not understand , and then teach your children and households . Let the Word of God be the

t o light o y ur path . It is good and profitable both to an d hear sermons and to buy good religious books , read in them frequently for instruction in the faith , sin the commandments , , virtue , and all true Christian ’ doctrine . Of Thus , then , the education the home and the ’ school were to co- Operate with the preaching of God s

Word , and other religious instruction imparted by

: the Church the Church , the home , and the school ’ mutually to support and further each other s ends . The high value that was se t in the Middle Ages on the oral exposition of the Word of God is shown both by the acts of the synods and by the collections of manuals Of popular religious instruction compiled 1 for the use of the clergy . For example , the Diocesan

1 re se re e his T he l i ca l Schmidt , in a t ati on p aching , contain d in o og tudi es was the rs r e s u r e e the s e r S , fi t P ot tant a tho ity to d f nd tyl of p e aching

in ue Ger e re th e Re r J . Geff cken vog in many b fo fo mation , in hi s I llu s tr a ted Ca techi sm of the F ifteen th Cen tury thus stat es th e result of hi s res e arches : Pre aching was quite as fre quent in thos e days a s urs s er us e was s ere as r in o , and io att ntion to it con id d of g e at impor ’ ’ ‘ e n . Fur er re s Crue C s ers tanc and obligatio th mo , add l , in loi t , cath e drals s u s er es ere e re e r rs , in tit tion , and oth plac wh dw lt nown d p eache , s er s ere e s e er es l A e th e u r er e s e s mon w giv n v al tim dai y in dv nt , q a t t n , ’ L E s e er . 6 47 T h s u r nt , and a t (pp e b e t a tho ities from a Cat holic ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 3 5

1 503 Synod of Basle , held in , decrees that every Sunday those having the care of souls Shall explain the

Scriptures to the parish children in their native tongue . At the beginning of Lent they shall instruct those under their charge how to approach the sacrament of

Penance , and exhort them to attend sermons and other doctrinal instructions on Sundays and holy days .

Everyone should be present in the church , and listen All attentively to the Word of God . those who oppose ’ this shall be reported to the bishop or his vicar . All preachers of the Word of God should plead often and

—u r earnestly for the good bringing p of child en , and o Should ever be mindful of the claims of the po r , the lepers , the widows and the orphans , and all persons in ’ any trouble or distress . The Bamberg Synod of 1491 commands all preachers to explain the Holy Scriptures clearly and intelligibly , particularly the New Testa i ment , and to g ve instruction on the Ten Command ments at least once a year . Wherever there was a mixture of Slavs in the population , they , too , were to be taken into consideration . Thus at the Diocesan Synod of Meissen in 1404 the decree was issued that every priest who has Slavs dwelling in his parish must have an assistant who speaks the Wendish tongue , in order that no member of the flock may be deprived of the privilege of hearing the Word . The ascetic books also of the t ime insist everywhere on the duty of all who have the care of souls to preach the Gospel ’ regularly on Sundays and saints days . As the sermons

K rk r D e T u bi n n s e are M . e e r e the standpoint on this ubj ct , in g ologi s chen

u a r te lschr t 18 6 1 s L . Dacheur in th e R evu e Ca th li Q if ( and al o , o qu e ’ ’ d e l Alsa ce For ans wer to Kaweraus attac ks on the pre aching of — h e A e s see An s wer to M Cri ti cs . 193 204 . t e Middl g , y , pp 3 6 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

in those days formed , like the Holy Sacrament , the most important part of Divine service , the churches were built with practical regard to this consideration . Most of the mediaeval pulpits still in existence date from this period . The ecclesiastical authorities held firmly to the principle laid down by Johann Ulrich LSurgant (the re nowned preacher and defender of papal rights) in the ‘ 1 503 : year , in his theological homiletics Preach ing is the most effective agent for the conversion of mankind ; by its means especially are sinners brought : to repentance ; it is as great a sin to let anything in the Word of God be lost , as through negligence to let ’ a particle of the body of the Lord fall to the ground .

‘ NO word is above the Word of the Lord ; and His blessing is on those who announce it , and those who humbly hear it without hypocrisy . Priceless is the preaching of a pious , prudent priest , who has the love of

God . and of souls at heart It inspires good resolutions , it brings food and comfort and the best gifts of God ’ o to the soul , as those kn w who have piously listened .

‘ ’ In very truth , writes Mathias , bishop of Spires , in 147 1 ‘ c , the most excellent preachers of the chur h at Spires have ever found how greatly the glory of nd the God a the welfare of Church , the advance ment of the orthodox faith and the salvation of souls , besides untold benefits to the nation , have been promoted by the attentive hearing of the Word of ’ God . Hence all believers were most earnestly exhorted to attend the preaching of sermons . In the Diocesan Synods it was decreed that the priests should be

r directed to admonish their pa ishioners , under pain of

3 8 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE of souls I have had in my power for thirty or forty ” years . AS in Church manuals and b ooks of religious

of instruction , so in the regulations Christian house holds the duty of attending preaching regularly on Sundays and holy days was strongly insisted on even under penalty of dismissal from service . In the

1497 von : year , for instance , the Graf Ottingen declares

Whoever in my employment , be it man or maid , does not hear the sermon to the end on Sundays and feast ’ days will be dismissed . Both laymen and ecclesiastics made large “ endow

Sti tun en I n t o ments ( f g ) favour of preachers , in order enable them to make preparatory studies . Amongst the most important of these were the endowment for d 1 46 5 the pulpit of the cathe ral of Mentz in , for that

1 469 1478 Of of Basle in , of Strasburg in , Augsburg and Constance . That of Strasburg , which during the ’ thirty years tenure Of Geiler von Kaisersberg grew to be one of the most influential in Germany , was founded by contributions from the Bishop and Chapter, and the ‘ ’ liberal charity of the Ammeist er Peter Schott . The deed of foundation stipulated that ‘ the offi ce of preacher Shall exist for ever in our foundation that for this post a man shall be selected , not only renowned for good morals and blameless conduct , but also for learning and scholarship . He shall preach on all holy days o and festive occasions , on every Sunday afterno n , and ’ daily during Lent . By the conditions of the foundation e endowed by the Bishop Frederick of Z llern , in Augs in 1504 burg , , the cathedral preacher , in addition to

the same duties as that of Strasburg , was obliged to preach three times a week in Advent and on occasions ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND RELIGIO US EDUCATION 3 9

Of the processions which were organised to pray for infidels victory over the in time of war , and for deliverance from epidemics or tempests .

’ A report sent by John Cochlaus from Nurem berg in the year 1 511 gives some idea of the value

set . on preaching , in the larger towns especially He ‘ writes : The piety at Nuremberg is remarkable as ’ well towards God as toward one s neighbour . The attendance at sermons is enormous , although preaching ’ 1 goes on in thirteen churches at the same time . The endowing of special preachers was not confined to the large towns . In the principality of Wurtemburg 1 514 founda alone there were , in the year , eleven such

— at tions Stuttgart , Waiblingen , Schorndorf, Blaubeuren , Bottwar Sulz , Dornstetten , , Balingen , Brackenheim

' ff n eu e o . N , and G ppingen

The charter of the pulpit foundation in Waiblingen ,

in the chapel of St . Nicholas , exacted that the preacher be required to preach either in the chapel or parish church every Sunday , on the four principal feasts , on the Feasts of Our Lady and the Apostles , and on every Friday and Wednesday in the seasons of fast . In Stuttgart the pulpit endowment was the o' gift of a brotherhood ; in G ppingen and Schorndorf, of the whole congregation ; in Waiblingen and Balingen ,

1 M r re e See O . 48 . e e s r Fr r 15 11 e tto , p y , pa to in ankfo t , , oft n p ach d to k B eu r thei lu n d es e ee ree ur us e rer . e F b tw n th and fo tho and h a s Se al , g

t Ja hrhu/nd er ts . 4 4 15 en 0 0 . T r r , pp 7 , 8 he e was s o much p eachingthat a limit

be set . W e re f r T ur e s had to to it ad , o instance , that John g , bi hop of Bres u e nl on e s r u r er la , allow d o y e mon to b e preache d on S nday , in o d that the r G od s u I n L e t e er Wo d of ho ld not be made common . n , how v , and er s e s s s r r re e r th e at oth ol mn occa ion , ev e al s ermons w e e p ach d , acco ding to e us Se e re h B e th e ee Cen anci nt c tom . P aching in t e ginning of Sixt nth ’ ’ ur in h S chlesi s ch s t e s Ki rche 1 08 . ee F e n bla tt 8 3 . 33 3 S t y, , 7 , pp 7 , alk

H i s - — t ol. B l. 34 4 p lxxxi . 7 . 40 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

euffen of a single citizen ; in N , of a lady ; in Blaubeuren , Bottwar Of Dornstetten , and , a priest ; as also those of

. Pflu er Brackenheim and Sulz This priest , Thomas g , d n pastor of Lei ri gen , founded the pulpit endowment n v under the co iction that the Word of God , devoutly preached and listened to , brings to man abundant graces and blessings in this life , and helps him to gain eternal salvation , for , through preaching , the human a reason and underst nding are enlightened , and man is led to correct his life and imitate Jesus Christ in the doing of good deeds , in order to be pleasing to God . Preaching incites man to Observe the Divine command ’ ments . At the close of the Middle Ages there were , in u n the diocese of A gsburg , twelve towns possessi g pulpit endowments where preaching was regularly held . The number of collections of sermons and other works printed for the use of preachers is a conclusive evidence of how extensively preaching was cultivated at the period of the invention of printing . There are still extant more than one hundred such works of more or less value , consisting of sermons for the Sundays and holy days of the year , for Lent and Advent , serial discourses on the Commandments and the seven deadly sins , as well as exhortations for various occasions . Among the most noteworthy writers of such works are

D onisius the Carthusian y , the Franciscans Heinrich o Herp and Johannes Meder , and the Dominican J hann Herolt ; the Augustinian Gottschalk Hollen ; the Canons Paul Wann and Michael Lochmayer ; and the

o ff three great the logians , Ulrich Kra t, pastor of Ulm

Gabriel Biel , cathedral preacher of Mentz , and after

‘ ‘ wards professor at T I I bingen and Geiler von Kaisers berg . In the whole collection there is scarcely one ELEMENTAR Y SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 41

Of these works which did not appear in several editions — ” — often in five or six diflerent places at very short intervals . The sermons of the Dominican , Johann Herolt , for example , reached one hundred and forty

One n editio s , or forty thousand copies .

These sermons , which were to be preached in the national tongue , were always written in Latin , and also ,

t “ when published , prin ed in Latin . This was not sur pri sI ng I n an age when the clergy pursued their philosophic and theological studies in the latter language . The plan had this advantage at any rate , that when preachers borrowed sermons from other writers they were obliged to take the trouble to

. Sur ant translate them for themselves Ulrich g , in his l im handbook of pastora theology , dilates on the l portance of doing this with intel igence , not satisfying a themselves with literal tr nslations , but taking pains to understand the Spirit of their theme , and to master the local idioms in order to avoid giving a false or ’ 1 a mbiguous rendering . The preachers in the towns often overrated the capacity of their hearers , and brought too much scholarship from their colleges to their pulpits . The

1 — ’ r r r f e Geffcken . 10 14 s Kerker s s e r se Fo furth e p oo s e , pp , al o condt eati , — 28 0 3 01 . T he r e th e e e ere re e u e pp . old cha g that p opl w p ach d to in a lang ag

e di d u ers i s the s . E e which th y not nd tand a thing of pa t v n Schmidt , in

r n the su e s s : I n Ger th e e n the e e w iti g on bj ct , ay many at b gin ing of fift nth c entury there w ere pri e st s who tri e d to in struct the p eopl e by re ading ’ h Du r u L i r s . For the ru s s e e e re ers alo d at n o ation t th of thi tat m nt f to p at , who s ays that at the Synod of Breslau in 1410 it was de cree d that at

’ r r th e Cree s u r e e v e y L atin s e mon the L ord s Prayer and d ho ld , at any at , b e re the er u r I n th re u s u es e er we ad in v nac la . e g lation in q tion , how v , e r re u L re the re er us e h a no mo abo t atin p aching , only that p ach m t xplain ’ th e L r s r er Ave re e un u the e o d P ay , , and C d , on acco t , no do bt , of mix d re s G er Se e S ta tu ta S n od a li a a Wen cong gation of man and Poli s h . y

ces la u e i s . Wra ti s . a . 14 10 u bli ca ta Can . 17 . p c p , 42 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

sermons of Gabriel Biel, for instance , are treatises on the most abstruse dogmas of the Christian faith , such n as the doctrine of the Trinity , Original Sin , the Seve

Sacraments . ‘ ’ ‘ In many churches , writes Erasmus , it is the

t o custom for the priest , in one sermon , expound the whole of the Gospel to the people , or else to give a continuous exposition of all the Pauline Epistles in succession . Each one of the Ten Commandments would have four or five whole sermons devoted to it .

In the general run of sermons , it was also the custom

o to intr duce fables , legends , sayings , anecdotes (occa sionall y somewhat out of taste) , by way of illustrating ’ 1 the meaning . From collections of sermons still extant we find that preachers in the rural districts generally confined them selves to the explanation of the principal passages Of the Gospel of the Sunday ; this explanation often

preceded , or was followed by catechetical instructions .

‘ ’ ‘ ’ ’ ‘ The Se elen fuhrer ( The Soul s Guide ) says : The practice which exists among priests of explaining to

Of old and young points of doctrine , and questioning

them upon the same , is highly commendable . The

teaching of the sermons , and the tables of Command & c . ments and Confession , , which hang in the churches

are thus rendered intelligible . This sort of catechetical

instruction , as a supplement to preaching , was carried

on in towns and villages in a variety of ways . A fundamental principle in religious instruction

1 ‘ ’ S ecu lum E a em lorum H No. Do s p p ( ain , not imitate , ay s ‘ T rithemiu s r e the e r 148 6 s e e er th to a f i nd in y a , tho who nt tain e p eople

e s us e r for e se e s . er with fabl , th xciting admi ation th m lv Wond not that ’ the e e r r h G s . e Cru 4 e e su t e e S e . 6 e 5 . p opl p f ch to o p l l , p ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 43

was that pictures were the books of the illiterate .

&c . Hence the religious dramas , mystery plays , , in which the whole story of the redemption of the world is repre ‘ ’ so— l sented ; and the cal ed Bibles of the Poor , which

has - were often produced in frescoes , reliefs , and painted ’ windows . The Dance of Death frescoed on cemetery ‘ ’ walls , and the Stations of the Cross erected , with indulgences attached to the devotion , may be also traced to the same cause . Especially in the latter part of the

fifteenth century we find this picture teaching in vogue . The Cardinal Nicolaus of Ousa seems to have attached great importance to it , for we find that in his constant visitations through all parts of Germany he was in the habit of erecting tablets with the Commandments , the

Creed , and portions of the Scriptures engraved on th em . ’

Such articles of faith as are essential to man , w von rites Geiler Kaisersberg , may be learned by the common people through contemplation of the pictures and stories which are painted everywhere in the ’ churches . These are the Scriptures of the lower classes . ’ In his translation of Gerson s popular three - volume work

On the Ten Commandments , Confession , and the Art of ’ Dying Well , the same author says Priests , parents , schoolmasters , and hospital superintendents should have the lessons contained in this little book represented in pictures and hung up in churches , schools , hospitals , and public places , for it was written with a special view to the instruction and benefit of the unlearned , who may never have an Opportunity of listening to sermons . An d above all it is intended for children and young people , who from their infancy should be well instructed in the general principles and the more important points 44 HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

of our religion . Fathers and mothers should in these things prepare their children for the school ’ master . ’ Question your children often , thus does the ’ Se elenfuhrer admonish parents , as to what they have understood of the Commandments , the Creed , and the explanations they have received in church and at school ; therein depends their salvation and yours . It is not sufficient to know by heart the words of the Com mandment s , the Creed , the seven deadly sins , and the sacraments ; all who have come to years of dis cretion ’ must also know the meaning of all this doctrine . Lanzkran a speaks even more strongly in the ‘ Hymel strasz ’ Road to Heaven It is the bounden duty of everyone so soon as he comes to the use of his reason so to learn the Commandments of God , not only as to be able to repeat them word for word as in the text , so but as to understand them and keep them , and to know also what they require him to avoid . In like manner , he must know what are the seven capital sins , si nifica and in what consists true penance . Also the g ’ tion of the Lord s Prayer , and what we are entitled to hope for from God and to pray to Him to grant . In such manne r Should all fathers and mothers instruct their children , all teachers their pupils , all superiors ’ their inferiors , according to their position .

' ’ and schoolmast ers Parents , writes the Lutheran, Mathe sius his , in allusion to the days of youth , were accustomed to teach their children the Command ments , the Creed , and the Pater Noster . I learned them myself in my childhood , and , according to the school t o custom of the time , often rehearsed them other chil ’ dren . The Saxon Prince Johann Friedrich , afterwards

46 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE In connection with the Commandments he deals — seriatim with all the different kinds of sin the seven capital sins , the sins against the Holy Ghost , and so forth . Then follow instructions on forgiveness of sin on , contrition , confession , and satisfaction ; the

o so . corp ral works of mercy , and on Specially beautiful are the passages on prayer , on the devout hearing of san tification mass and on Christian c of the whole day . The duties of the different stations Of life are clearly laid down . The passage on the preparation for death is very how touching , telling man should trust in nothing else ‘ but the merits of Jesus Christ , through whose hard ’ expiation alone our repentance has any merit . The book being a manual of prayer as well as a cate is chism , it interspersed with ej aculatory prayers for the sick and dying , which they can either utter for them selves or have read to them . It is also enjoined that the ’ narratives of our Lord s passion be read to them .

- All the manuals of instruction , prayer books , and sermons of the period were of the same character . In a commentary on the Ten Commandments , published in

1 515 : o , we read Man cannot be saved by himself al ne , and must not expect salvation from his own merits , as who it is earned alone through Jesus Christ , will judge us not according to our deserts , but rather through His

e own mercy . W must fly for refuge to the loving heart of Jesus . The Father will not turn from us when we ’ arrive at the kingdom where there are many mansions . ’ von Every Christian , says Albrecht Eyb , in his Guide ’ o to Christian Perfecti n , should thus address God own I cannot redeem myself through my works , but do Thou , O God , redeem and sanctify me and have ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AN D RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 47

mercy on me . I trust not in myself, but in Thy Divine mercy . Thou alone art my hope , and against Thee have

me t o I sinned . Thou didst love enough die for me ; let me not be The faithful are taught to invoke the Blessed

: Virgin in the following words Queen of Heaven ,

Of Mother mercy , Refuge of sinners , reconcile me to un thy Son , and beg Him to be merciful to me , an ’ worthy sinner . a Sur ant 1 502 In pastoral address issued by g in , priests are enjoined to comfort and exhort the sick in ‘ the following manner : Our dear Lord Jesus has s uf fered of for ou and died on the tree the cross y , for

He wills not the death of a sinner , but rather that he be converted and live . Therefore you Should not all despair of the mercy of God , but place your hope in Him . Bear your illness patiently and let your small sufferings be lost in the great pain and passion in of Christ . Fear not , but trust the protection of the Cross in all your necessities . Pray to the glori ous Virgin Mother of God and to the saints and angels to stay by you in your last end and conduct ’ you to eternal life . ’ In the ‘ Selenwurzgertlein (the most perfect and also most widely used manual of devotion) occur the ‘ following unsurpassed instructions on How to learn — ‘ to die a lesson which men should study day by day till they have mastered it : While thy precious soul is still in thy body put thy trust in the merits

’ ‘ of Jesus Christ . The Christian should pray , O merciful Lord Jesus , I place Thy death between Thy ’ ff justice and my poor soul . Ulrich Kra t in like ‘ ’ manner says , in his Spiritual Combat , published in 48 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

‘ 1 503 : w God I kno that we have a good , and I wish confidin to die g in His mercy , not in my own ’ the works . Nowhere , however , do we find doc trine of the salvation of man depending on the merits of Christ more strongly insisted upon than in the book ’ entitled The Treasure of the Soul , which appeared in

1 491 . Our strength and safety , our weapon and ’ victory , says the author , depend on our faith . If it be strong in us , then we are strong against the enemy ; if, however , we are weak in faith , which God

our . forbid , we lose defence and are in danger

SO long as our faith is unshaken , our enemy has no power . Therefore , let him who is determined to over come stand fast by the faith . When the devil attacks

hr you t ough your pride , suggesting that you have nothing to fear from the justice of God because Of the many good works you have performed , reply to him ,

No , it would be impossible to merit salvation by my poor works . Christ has merited it for me , by His ff su erings under Pontius Pilate , by His crucifixion and death . In His merits I hope . Christ has merited it for me . In Him I hope . To Him I cry for mercy and grace through the intercession of all the You ’ ‘ O bserve , says the author in his preface , what the

She faithful mother of all Christendom advises , what

- teaches , whom she points and leads us to . The all wise , faithful mother , the Roman Catholic Church , places her

f of highest and greatest hopes in the suf erings Christ ,

she as and directs her children to the same , the surest ’ refuge in their necessities . ‘ ’ Seelenfuhrer so The , from which we have often s quoted, is particularly explicit in its instruction on the sacraments and on the veneration of the saints ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS A ND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 49

t h as Know, brethren , tha the Church always held that the intercession of the saints is very profitable to salva O tion . Call upon them to btain for you that which is pleasing to God and good for you . But be careful that you pray aright , placing your confidence in God ’ above all . Thus only will your prayer be acceptable . ‘ ’ The author of Seelenfuhrer seems in this passage to ‘ have borrowed from the Explanation Of the Twelve ’ 14 8 6 . Articles of the Creed , which was printed at Ulm in With regard to the communion of the saints this book

‘ says : The Church triumphant prays for the Church militant for in heaven they have even more charity than when on earth . On earth they prayed for the living and the dead ; after death they still pray for those on earth and those in Purgatory . He who denies this is guilty of the heresy that the saints cannot inter ’ cede , All the things that we pray for are such u t o only as are cond cive salvation , and such as God alone can grant . But the holy saints can help by their prayers and merits to have our petitions granted ; therefore our prayers are actually addressed only to God . “ ” sa for The Church does not y, Christ , pray us , but

a . Christ , h ve mercy on us Christ , hear us In

' ’ WHrz artlein andachti en Ueb un the g der g g , published

1513 : in , it says We pray to God as our Creator and

Redeemer , begging Him to pardon our sin and to grant

His O us grace , while we ask the saints to btain this for “ s a us by their prayers . To Christ we y, Lord , have mercy on me , forgive me my sins , grant me Thy grace . ” Give me eternal life . The Church doctrine of indulgences was laid down ’ with equal clearness . An indulgence , says Geiler ‘ of Kaisersberg , is the forgiveness of a debt . But what

VOL . I . E 50 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

? Sin debt Not mortal , for that must be forgiven before an indulgence can be Obtained . Not the eternal punish

is o sin l . ment of , for in hel there no f rgiveness It is the temporal punishment due after the eternal has through repentance and confession , been forgiven . ‘ ’ ’ ’ Know , says The Soul s Guide , that an indulgence o v does not f rgi e sin , but only the temporal punish O ment still due it . Know that you cannot btain an indulgence while you are in sin and before you have

s repented , confessed , and resolved incerely to amend . is has God merciful , and given His Church the power to sin forgive , as also a treasury of graces , but not for t f t hose who have only a superficial sorrow , ancying tha ’ they can gain heaven by outward acts . ’ The Summa JOhannis of 148 2 teaches also as fol lows Only those who are truly contrite merit an indul gence . Moreover , indulgences are not gained at once even by the true penitents , but according as they qualify themselves for them by sincerity , good works , and alms ’ giving in proportion to their means . In answer to those who accuse the Church of venality in selling indulgences , ’ the Explanation Of the Articles of the Church savs

The Church does not wish to amass riches , but to work for the honour of God and the salvation of souls . Not all those who help to build churches gain indulgences ;

sin only those who , being free from mortal and having a firm confidence in the mercy of God , give alms in the spirit of faith and veneration of the saints , in whose ’ 1 honour the churches are built .

1 See Di e L i ebe G ttes mi ts a m d em i e el d er Kra nken k o , mt Sp g , a boo

the r e i ul s s Au s ur 1494 . Al s G l er on doct in of nd genc e publi h ed in g b g , o ei ’ Kai sers ber s C lle ted S erm n s Au ur Ne er wa s s o of g o c o ( gsb g, v

u r e th r s the e r m ch w itt n on e doct ine of indulgenc es a in fifteenth c ntu y . ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AN D RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 51 Another catechetical handbook which was also a ‘ ’ Of is - h manual devotion the Seelen trost , whic was published in the same years (from 1474 in ff ff — at di erent dialects and di erent places Augsburg , — Cologne , Utrecht, Haarlem , Zwolle , and elsewhere and

‘ is the most beautiful prose work of the century . I ’ ‘ intend , says this unknown author , to write a book in a the German langu ge , out of the Holy Scriptures , for the honour of God and the benefit of my fellow- Chris tians ; it will contain flowers culled by many hands , and it shall be called Seelen—trost Consolation for the Therein I shall write about the Ten Command ments , the Holy Sacraments , the eight Beatitudes , the six works of Misericord , of the seven gifts of the Holy

Ghost , of the seven deadly sins , of the seven cardinal virtues , and of all besides with which God shall inspire

. set me What does not seem like truth , that will I is aside , and will choose that which altogether best , and which is profitable and comforting , as a physician seeks out useful plants for his medicines , and as a dove picks out the best grain to eat . I beg those who read this book to pray for me , that , together , we may all arrive where we shall find eternal salvation . May the Father, ’ us " the Son , and the Holy Ghost help to gain it The explanations of the different commandments are supple mented and illustrated by anecdotes of all sorts , told with rare pathos and beauty . AS the utmost importance was attached to worthy preparation for receiving the sacraments of Penance and Eucharist , most of the catechetical writings appeared in the form of manuals of confession and treatises on

A the r ers t he su e T rithemius mong many w it on bj ct , and Jacob von Jut er b o k 1466 are th r s n s r us g ( ) e clea e t a d mo t vigo o . 52 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

the Ten Commandments , on the various kinds of sins , 1 and on preparation for the Holy Communion . Conspicuous among such works is the Confession ’ ’

o . B ok which Johannes Wolf, chaplain of St Peter s ,

— - - on Frankfort the Main , prepared for the press in the year 14 3 7 . It begins with an admirable preface for chil o dren about to make their first c nfession , and then proceeds with catechetical instruction on faith , hope , and love , based on the Ten Commandments . With regard to the images of the saints it says

‘ We must honour them not for themselves , but as reminders of what they represent , in the same manner ’

b e . as the Church does , otherwise it would idolatry o w The chapter on the f urth commandment , hich treats of the duty of children to their parents after the flesh , a as also to their spiritu l parents , to their schoolmasters and earthly superiors . is particularly instructive . With regard to the treatment of the aged poor it says : ‘ They are as fathers and mothers on account of their ’ o ? age , and represent Jesus . Have I ridiculed the po r Have I respected them ? Have I visited them and given them to eat and to drink ? Have I treated them rudely or made them stand at my door ? Christians should consider their superfluities as belonging to the poor .

1 — — k n n essi n B ks 3 44 99 104 . ee M n z r See F O C . 8 S ii be er al o f o oo , pp , g , K M a a z . 33 H s k R e li i ou s L i ter a tur e . 214 . See e i n iii ; a a , g , fol n cht , g u P ed a o i k B i htebu ch d a e di e B ez ei chnun e d er hei li en es r b M s e . f g g , , y g g T h es e Confe ss ion Books are of the highe st importanc e as s howing how ‘ the Church oppo se d sup ers tition (call e d Dis e ased or Unb elief T he

rk Chri s tli che Glau be et c. H s k is u e a s e e wo , , by a a , inval abl an pitom of

e r i e ere ks es e r for the e e n a ly n n ty diff nt boo , d ign d p incipally p opl , and

' i i os e L i ttera tu Di e R el r . 240 r e e e e 14 0 15 0 . I n w itt n b tw n 7 and 2 g , p , H as ak s ay s : I n going ov er the religious literature of the de clining cen tury not onc e can it b e found as s erted that man could be re concil e d to ’ G od by outward works without prop er inward feeling .

54 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

sorrow and penance will be lost eternally , though he infidels should have converted heathens and , built ff hospitals , churches , convents , yea , su ered martyrdom . A thousand thousand masses and fasts could not save — Of him no , not the prayers all the saints and angels ,

o o even of the m ther of God , th ugh continued through ’ all time , can avail him . Annexed to these c atechisms and books of confession were scenes from the life of Christ taken from the four

Evangelists and accompanied by short commentaries . ’ Richt st ei 151 5 In the Seele g , published at Rostock in , we read : Whoever wishes to lead a pious and holy li fe must keep ever before his eyes the life and sufferings of

o our L rd Jesus Christ , both in the quiet of his own home and when in pursuit of his worldly duties and avocations ; when he retires to rest , and on rising again in the morning to his work and to the service of God . He should write this life on the posts and sills Of his his door ; that is , it Should possess whole being in ’ sanctity and holi ness . Great store was also set on the explanation of the ’ o e L rd s Prayer , and s veral German expositions of the holy mass were also put into the hands of the people . From year to year the number of books of religious in struction and of lives of the saints increased . ’ Both to the learned and the unlearned , wrote the

‘ is Church reformer John Busch , it very beneficial to possess and to read daily German books of devotion OII virtue s and vices : on the Incarnation on the lives and martyrdom of the Apostles , confessors , and virgins on the humility and virtues of the saints ; for th ey incite us to improve our own lives and to watch our over conduct , and they inspire us with love of the ELEMENTAR Y SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 55 h eavenly Fatherland , they beget in us the fear of hell ’ and the desire of heaven . Plen Amongst all these religious publications , the ’ ’ Hand ostillen aries , or German p , deserve special con 102 ff sideration . AS many as di erent compilations and editions of these appeared between about 1470 and 1 1 9 5 . They contained the Epistles and Gospels of the ecclesiastical year , with expositions of the Gospels . A further development was printing the German text of p ortions of the mass services for all the Sundays and c holy days , a companied by commentaries and illustra tions calculated to enforce their meaning . Had no other books of instruction been preserved from those ‘ ’ ff times , these Plenaries alone would a ord proof that more was done for the religious instruction of the people in those days than at any other time before or since . In the main they are decidedly superior to Of Of similar publications the present day , and many them may in parts rank with the best German prose works . all From these books , which were intended for the usé see how general of the people , we children and grown people were instructed in the highest truths of religion and trained and helped to lead thoroughly

Christian lives . Nowhere do we find salvation by ’ works alone , idolatrous worship of the saints , or abuse of indulgences inculcated . It is true that throughout the narratives which occur in the books of devotion , and in the German legends of the saints , there is a vein of superstition which Often borders on the childish ; but through the dross there shines the pure gold of faith in an Almighty power which shelters the pious , rewards

o the virtu us , and , in justice , punishes the wicked . 56 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

’ ‘ is Seelenfuhrer There no need , says the to believe all the wonders we read of in pious books . The mira cles of the Scriptures are miracles indeed , and there are many other credible ones which the holy saints u worked thro gh the power of God . But many are only set related as examples , and to forth the maj esty of God , n who rewards the good and pu ishes the wicked . In all the religious books approved and used by n the Church we find the pure , orthodox , u adulterated doctrine of salvation and all are pervaded by an undertone of feeling which is best expre ssed in the ’ n words of a Help to Preparing for the Holy Communio , published in Basle Enter into the depths of thine own heart ; there find thy Jesus and bury thyself in His sacred wounds . Banish all confidence in thy own merits , for all salvation comes from the cross of Christ , in ’ whom place thy hope . ’ All that the Holy Church teaches , says the

‘ ’ Himmelstur 1 513 of the year , all that you hear in sermons or through other modes of instruction , all that t is writ en in religious books , all the hymns and praises

t o n you sing the ho our and glory of God , all the — prayers that you pour from your inmost soul yea , all f ff o ou the trials and a flictions that you su er , sh uld incite y to read with piety and humility the Bibles and the sacred writings which are now translated in the German tongue , printed and distributed in large numbers , either in their entirety or in parts , and which you can purchase for very ’ little money . The number of translations both of single books of the Old and New Testaments , as well as of the com l ete . p Bible , was indeed very great We have evidence of twenty - two editions of the Psalms with German ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 57

1509 - five translations up to , and of twenty German ver 8 sions of the Gospels and Epistles up to 1 51 . Between this period and the separation of the Churches at least fourteen complet e editions of the Bible were published 1 Low in High German , and five in the German dialect . The first High German edition was brought out in

1466 Of by Johann Mendel , Strasburg ; then followed 147 0 Of 147 3 one Strasburg edition in , two Augsburg in , 1474 an edition entirely in the Swiss dialect in , two 1 47 7 148 0 more Augsburg editions in and another in , N 1 48 3 one uremberg edition in , another of Strasburg 14 8 5 in , and four more of Augsburg respectively in 148 7 1490 1 507 1 518 . , , , and By the beginning of the ’ Sixteenth century a sort Of German Vulgate had 2 crystallised into shape . Like the German catechisms and manuals of l devotion general y , these Bibles were illustrated with

o numerous w odcuts , in order , as the publisher of the

Cologne Bible expressed it , that the people might be the more readily induced to a diligent study of Holy ’ Writ . We have a mass of evidence to Show that this was the prevailing motive in this extensive multiplica tion of copies of the Scriptures . The compiler of the ’ as Basle Gospel Book , for instance , speaks follows in urging the necessity Of reading and studying the Bible ‘ We shall have to render a strict account to God of

1 K f — ehr ein D eu ts che B i belu bersetzun vor L u ther . 3 3 53 H n , g , pp ; ai ,

Nr. 1 3 29 3 143 z . 65 66 . A r th e e s u r es to ; Al og , pp , cco ding to b t a tho iti , the first translation of th e Bible into H igh G erman wa s printe d by

E est in i s us O r e r s ur 1466 . T he s gg at St a b g in la t that of Silvan tma , r n e Au T he r r L ow Ger e re p i t d in gsbur g . fi st t anslation into man app a d in

D e 147 7 der L r ers L u e k lf in (Van inde , p . the fi st Saxon v ion at b c 1494 in . 2 — G effcken . 6 10 M er I n d er T u bi n en u ar tels chr t , pp ; ai , g Q if , pp — 5 6 694 . 58 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

all our time ; the present , which is called the time of

o all . grace , is precious bey nd measure to devout souls

Therefore it is recommended to all to read the Scriptures , w in order to attain to a kno ledge of God, our Creator and Lord ; for the grace which man may Obtain from God through reading or hearing the Holy Scriptures is so without limit , if be that we act up to what we know . h As the holy Apostle St . James says in the fourt

T o chapter of his Epistle him , therefore , who knoweth

sin to do good , and doeth it not , to him it is a The author then enumerates the various benefits which o f llow from reading or hearing the Holy Scriptures , ’ is affiiction how and goes on to say There no trial or , ever great , for which , if we read the Holy Scriptures , trUst and take them truly to heart , and put our in God , we shall fail to be comforted by the grace of the Holy

Spirit . He who is without faith is without help and grace while the strong in faith find comfort and

r assistance and much grace . Our Lord said to St . Pete when he feared death in the storm O thou of little

o faith , what fearest th u Among the readers of the we Bible may distinguish five separate classes . First , — those who read to know but not to do rather that they may reprove others ; this is spiritual pride . Secondly , those who read in order to be considered learned .

Thirdly , those who read with a view to personal gain , w hich is base and mercenary . Fourthly , those who study and read in order to instruct others in the will of God , and to better their lives , which is true charity . f eflort S Fifthly , and lastly, those who use all their to learn that which is true wisdom . To the last two classes

I S the study of the Sacred Scriptures profitable , for they ’ t are not actua ed by pride or hypocrisy . ELEMENTAR Y SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 59 The publisher of the Cologne Bible writes also l very beautiful y on the reading of this holy book . ‘ ’ All Christians , he says , should read the Bible with piety and reverence , praying the Holy Ghost , who is the inspirer of the Scriptures , to enable them to understand them and to make them profita ble to them ’ ‘ ’ the i for salvation of the r souls . The learned , he use continues , should make of the Latin translation of

St . Jerome but the unlearned and Simple folk , whether laymen or clergy , monks and nuns especially , in order to avoid the danger of idleness , which is the root of all now evil , should read the German translations supplied , and thus arm themselves against the enemy of our I n l W . V e salvation With this object , one who is a Of lover human holiness did, out of a good heart , and at great cost and no sparing of labour , cause to be printed

147 0 148 0 transla in Cologne , between the years and , a tion of the Holy Scriptures , which had been made many years before and used in MS . copies in monasteries and convents , and which also , long before this year 1 470 , had been printed and sold in the Oberland and ’ All ’ of . in a few towns the Netherlands , however , he adds , who read the Bible in German should do it with humility , leaving unjudged what they cannot under

—in int er re stand short , accepting it according to the p t ation which the Roman Catholic Church has Spread ’ over the world . ’ In a little book entitled Useful and Consoling , ‘ 1 508 : published in , we read Let all who read the

: Scriptures pray as follows O Lord Jesus , enlighten my mind , that I may understand Thy word , and be led thereby to repentance and piety . Grant that my reading of the Holy Scriptures may advance me in the 60 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Spirit of prayer and meditation . Blessed , O Lord , is the man whom they teach . Lord Jesus , teach me to ” understand what I read , and to put it in practice .

' ’ The WUrzgartlein Blessed Garden ) of the year 1 509 teaches in the same Spirit On Sundays and holy days you should read the Holy Scriptures , part cularl y the Gospels and Epistles , with attention and earnestness . But remember that you cannot do so with profit unless you first pray for the light of the Holy

Spirit . You Should also excite yourself to contrition , e as if you were preparing for confession . If you r ad l the Scriptures in a spirit of pride , it wi l be harmful to n you . What you do not u derstand refer to the Church she all has expounds things aright , and alone the gift of ’ interpretation . In the Lubeck Bible of 1494 explanatory notes taken from Nicholas of Lyra are added at Obscure and ’ fli u t ‘ di c l . passages , in order to make the text clearer The rapidity with which the different editions fol lowed each other and the testimony Of contemporary writers point t o a wide distribution of German Bibles among the people . John Eck tells us that he had read nearly the whole of the Bible by the time he was ten years Potken old . Adam , chaplain of Xanten , was made to b o learn the four Evangelists by heart when he was a y, between 1470 and 148 0 and afterwards he was in the habit Of reading passages daily from the Old and New Testaments with his pupils of eleven and twelve years l O d . With such zeal was the study of the Bible pursued in the fifteenth century that we find a Canon of Cassel in the year 1480 founding an endowment to l Harmuthsacken enable a student from the vil age of , near

Eschwege , to devote eight years to this study alone .

6 2 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

at Herzogenbusch to twelve hundred ; and at Deventer , 1 500 in the year , actually to The instruction O in these schools being free , they were pen to students

o f . the smallest means In many of the towns also , where they had not started actual schools , the Brothers were active in the cause of education by supplying t eachers for the town schools , paying the school fees for the poorer scholars and supplying them with books and stationery and other school materials . In 1431 Pope Eugene sent express orders to the Archbishop of Cologne and to the Bishops of Mi mst er and Utrecht , that they should prevent any interference His with the beneficial work of the Brothers . suc

cessors . . , Pius II and Sixtus IV , went even further in support and encouragement of the Brothers . Among Cusa was German prelates , Nicolaus of one of their most active patrons . Himself educated at Deventer , he had given the school there material support by a liberal endowment for the maintenance of twenty poor ff u students , and he used all his e orts for the f rtherance of their institutions generally . His most gifted the Frieslander Rudolphus Of Agricola , was one of that chosen band students whom the renowned Thomas a Kempis gathered around 1 u i him in Zwolle , and which f rther ncluded the three He ius v n Westphalians , Alexander g , Rudolph o Langen , l and Ludwig Dringenberg , all of them equal y distin

uished g for their learning , their piety , and the purity of their morals . They were the most zealous revivers of l classic iterature on German soil , the fathers of the

Older German Humanism .

1 T s a Ke s was r e er s homa mpi , p obably , not a t ach in that chool . Se e 4 — Dill enbur er . 7 . g , pp EDUCATION AND T H E OLDER HUMANISTS 63

It is a noteworthy fact that the intellectual bent Of these men was influenced by him who is known by his works as the highest type Of ascetic piety among the ’ Brethren of the Social Life . The older Humanists were no less enthusiastic over the grand heirloom left by the classic nations of u antiquity than their s ccessors , who by their united e nergies founded the later school of Humanists in the second decade of the sixteenth century . They recog nised in classic literature most precious material for u cultivating the mind , an inexha stible field of noble sentiment . The Greek and Roman classics , however , should not be studied merely to achieve intellectual greatness , but as a means towards Christian ends . Though eager for refreshment and revival from the

Of intellectual life of the ancients , and desirous gaining was a scientific knowledge of that life , their chief aim to attain to a fuller understanding of Christianity and to the purification of moral life . This standpoint of n theirs was by no mea s a new one . Already , in the

first centuries of Christianity , the Fathers of the Church had pursued and advocated the study of the ancient languages for the same reasons . In the schools of the A Middle ges also , up to the thirteenth century , the classics had been diligently read . And now, after a long interval of degradation and barbarism , the leaders of the German ‘ New Learning ’ were endeavouring to take up the threads of this former period of classic culture . Now that by the conquest of Constantinople so many new treasures had been added to the already t existing store , while the inven ion of printing so greatly facilitated the spread of them , they strove in every way both to get living hold of the ne w know 64 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

l ledge themselves and to disseminate it among the peop e . The older Humanists were not opposed t o the clerical scholastic philosophy itself, but only to the barren , life less formalism in which it was at that time embodied , and

- the endless pedantic disputations , hair splittings , and

Sophistries of dry scholasticism . Hence the Old Humanists were not looked up on as dangerous and destructive innovators by the scholastic

o theol gians and philosophers at the head of the colleges . Amongst the two parties into which the scholastic camp

so- omin alists was divided , the called N and Realists , the former indeed numbers few conspicuous promoters of the Humanist movement ; for nominalism was in it s

destruc intrinsic and entire character rather negative , tive and analytical , than positive , constructive and creative . On the other hand , it was to the Realists that we owe the introduction of Humanist studies into the colleges and universities . Even those am ongst the Realists who were considered as the worst obscurantists helped and encouraged the Humanist t endencies and efforts so long as they did not threaten the doctrine and discipline of the Church and the principles of Chris i nit t a y .

not The conflict only began , and could then but

Old begin , when the younger Humanists rej ected all the theologic and philosophic teaching as Sophistry and

own barbarism , claimed reason and right for their views alone , acknowledged no other source of enlightenment

t o nu than the ancient classics , and in short rose up compromising enmity against the Church and Christen

o dom , not unfrequently outraging the Christian c de of morality by the wanton levity of their lives . T he older and younger schools of Humanists were EDUCATION AND T HE OLDER HUMANISTS 65

ff f undamentally opposed to each other . They di ered also in their respective attitudes towards the classics , the younger school too often regarding them from the mere standpoint of outward beauty of form and lan O guage , while the Humanists of the lder school were always striving to acquire a more thorough grasp of

. voun er the entire life of the ancients The g school ,

o own m reover , altogether despised their native tongue and lit erature ; while the older school valued the classics in great measure as a means of giving the German people an insight into it s own past and of im proving the German language . We find all these characteristics of the older Ger man Humanists already strongly accentuated in Agricola , the actual founder of the school . Baflo Rudolph Agricola , born at , near Groningen ,

1442 Of in , had made himself master all the classical scholarship of his day . He was called a second Virgil .

‘ in 14 7 3 1 48 0 Even Italy , where he lived from to , he was wondered at for the fluency , correctness , and purity which he had acquired in the Latin language . The de sire of his heart was that Germany should attain t o such perfection of culture and scholarship that ’ Latium itself should not surpass it in Latinity . Wim pheling recounts in his praise that he insisted on having the ancient historians translated into German , with

German explanatory notes appended , in order that the people might make acquaintance with them , and also as a means of improving and beautifying the mother 1 SO hi in tongue . little did his classic studies render m ff own di erent to his language , that he composed songs

t o accom in German , which he was wont to sing the

1 D Ar te I m 1 R u e res s ori a . 7 e . 6 6 6 7 . p , fol ; chlin , pp ,

VOL . I . 6 6 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

paniment of the zither . He was a profound and tho hi rough student of p losophy , and his philosophical writings are remarkable for the sharpness of their defi nitions and the clearness of their language . He was also conversant in natural history and medicine , and in the last years of his life he turned to the study of

Hebrew , gave instruction in this language to several gifted youngsters , and completed a translation of the

Psalms from the original text . But his chief power lay not so much in his compre hensive knowledge and acquirements as in his personal labours and his unremitting exertions for the revival of ff classic literature . He e ected in this respect for Ger many what Petrarch accomplished for Italy . He was the first to publish in Germany a life Of that great ’ Italian Humanist . We are indebted to Petrarch , he says , for the intellectual culture of our century . All ages owe him a debt of gratitude—antiquity for having rescued its treasures from oblivion , and modern times for having founded and revived culture , which he has ’ left as a precious legacy to future ages . There were m two s everal points of rese blance between these men .

Like Petrarch , Agricola was possessed of a continual desire to travel , and he had the same horror of public posts ; he wished only for a life of undisturbed study n and freedom to sow the seeds of his ew culture . Like

Petrarch , too , he was an ardent lover of the Fatherland , and he strove ever to strengthen the German nation in the consciousness of its own worth and importance . But in his profound Christian conception of the whole

s ur of life , and in the purity of his morals , he far of passed the founder the Italian school of Humanists . ’ ‘ ’ Wim helin Therein , says p g , lies Agricola s true EDUCATION AND T HE OLDER HUMANISTS 67

" greatness , that all the learning and all the wisdom of this world were only serviceable to him for cleansing his himself from all passions , and labouring prayerfully at that great building of which God Himself is the ’ - master builder . In all his writings there is nothing on which he dwells with such insistence—especially in his letters— as the supreme importance of sincere t fai h , moral purity , and the union of piety with know

Barbirianus ledge . His circular letters to his friend , in which he communicates his opinions , derived from study and experience , of the best course of instruction and the end and aim of culture , are among the pearls of pedagogic literature . He recommends most strongly the study of the ancient philosophers , historians , orators , and poets , with the added warning , however , not to be content with the ancients only . For the ancients either did not know the true end of life at all , or only guessed at it dimly—seeing it as through a so t cloud , that they ra her discoursed about it than ’ were persuaded of it . We must therefore , he con tinues , ascend a step higher , to the Holy Scriptures , w hich scatter all darkness , perplexity , and bewilder ment ; on them we must order our lives according to

Our their teaching , and build up salvation by their ’ guidance . The contemporaries of Agricola speak with re verence of the blamelessness of his life , of his peace ff able disposition , his modesty , a ability , and childlike f simplicity . He died in the arms O Johann von IVorms 27 14 8 5 Dalberg , bishop of , on October , , and was buried at Heidelberg , in the habit of St . Franciscus . Agricola was not himself a professor or school master , but he had great influence in the education of

P 2 68 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

He ius . g , one of the greatest scholars of the century ’ He ius When a man of forty years old , g writes hi whom I of mself, I came to the young Agricola , from

all o have learned that I kn w , or rather all that others ’ think that I know . He ius Alexander g , born in the village of Heeck , in Mi mster th e the province of , educated at the school of ’ Brethren of the Social Life , was the rector of the school 1 4 1 4 4 69 7 . at Wesel , on the Lower Rhine from to He then undertook for about a year the direction of the 147 5 flourishing school of Emmerich , after which , from ,

of Deventer became the field his most fruitful labours . Erasmus ranks him among the restorers of pure Latin suffi scholarship , and tells us that , though he was not cientl Of his own y careful reputation as a writer , his

t o works are nevertheless , according the judgment of all learned men , worthy of immortality . His pupil ,

o Murmellius was J hn , says that he as great a master of Greek as of Latin , and continually urged on his scholars the study of that language , which in those days 1 was not much in vogue in Germany . Regius enjoys the undisputed credit of having im purged and simplified the school curriculums , of or Old — of proving getting rid of the school books , making the classics the central point of the instruction o of y uth , and of giving to school education a bias which transformed it into the means of fresh spiritual life .

1 - l . 28 7 3 03 M urm llius er n Reich ing, pp ; e , pp . Conc ni g th e u re e s of H e ius Greek hi s s er e s as e hi s acq i m nt g in , vic po t , and

s the e r er s ru ks th e M e A e s s ee oppo ition to a li in t ctional boo of iddl g , ’ — i hlin s B ei tra e . 28 7 3 03 an d hi s ir r Re c g g , pp , adm able treatis e on Mu — ’ lli s . 5 15 . Se e s u s e s Ges chi chte t n n ter m e u , pp al o Pa l n des g e le hr e U ’ i a e n it r ‘ ri chts . 42 . u Gr ec es c e s H e s n e s cit u ue us , p Q , w it gin , q oq doct ’ hab eri .

70 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

f his coffin with weeping and lamentation . He le t nothing but his books and his clothes behind him . It has been said that the Germans may well be proud of the learned piety , Singular modesty, and fruitful energy of Hegins ; for , at a time when Italy

o was c uld boast of so many brilliant scholars , he the s olitary ray that illumined the beginning of classical H culture in the Fatherland . But egius was by no means an isolated example in this respect amongst the learned professors of his time . His fundamental prin ci le Al l p , learning gained at the expense of religion is ’ all only pernicious , was adhered to by nearly those teachers who either laboured contemporaneously with him as promoters of classical studies , or continued the work as his pupils and disciples . Many of these , such as the Westphalians Rudolph von Langen , Ludwig

Kamener Dringenberg , Conrad Goclenius , Tilmann ,

Horlenius Joseph , won great esteem in popular educa tion and science . Amongst the German principalities , Westphalia undeniably took the lead in care for edu ’ 0 cation . N other race of mortal men , wrote Erasmus M ‘ r once to Sir Thomas ore , dese ves such praise for

it s for its perseverance in labour , for believing spirit ,

its its moral purity , for its simple cleverness , and clever ’ simplicity as the Westphalians . ‘ Such abundant grace has been poured out over ’ ‘ Rolewink this land , says Werner , that when once it has received the Faith it has never fallen back . Nowhere do we read of any school of heretics spring ing up there . Whether with regard to religious faith

o or purity of morals , it will always be f und that VVest

a phali , by the grace of God , has ever been abundantly f supplied . In the labour O the hand as in the preach EDUCATION AND T HE OLDER HUMANISTS 7 1

ing of the Word , in the study of the sciences as in administering the Sacraments , in monastic discipline as as in ruling the State , in general morality in private humanity , they have taken on themselves the apostle ship of the whole world . They are a simple , upright

- in snfler . long g people AS for the learned sciences , Rolewink sa goes on to y, I doubt if there be any one

field which the Westphalians have not attacked . This one dives into the great mysteries of theology , another lays down the canons of law , a third masters the intricacies of civil rights some apply themselves to the study of medicine , others devote all their energies to &c art , poetry , history , or science , They had also the character of being a very wandering race . Like the

Florentines amongst the Italians , they were called the ’ fifth element because they were always t o be found T O wheresoever the other four existed . one of these a wandering Westph lians , Ludwig Dringenberg , who laboured as an apostle of education , Alsatia , according Wim helin 1 I to p g , s ndebted for a great part of its

. von culture To another , Rudolph Langen , who after long wanderings in Italy returned to his own country ,

Westphalia owes the flower of its own schools . — This latter was , the same as the above mentioned l co legiate provost educated at Deventer , the first Latin poet of taste in Germany and the reformer of the school system of Westphalia . Through his influence

' Mimster enjoyed a period of high intellectual vitality .

Supported by several of the canons of the cathedral , and by the four other colleges , Langen raised the cathedral school of MII nst er to such a high standard that it was attended not only by the youth of West phalia , the Netherlands , and the Rhine Provinces , but 7 2 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE by students from Saxony and Pomerania also ; and it acquired a position of prominent educational influence — throughout North western Germany . It became a prolific training establishment of able and excellent who teachers , in a very short time were actively at work in many towns of Westphalia and the Rhine , and in the north as far as Goslar , Rostock , Lubeck

Greifswald , and Copenhagen . The cathedral school of Munster owed its reputa Murmellius tion and standing chiefly to Johannes , whom co— Langen had appointed as his rector , and who gained a distinguished place as philosopher, pedagogic writer , scholar , and Latin poet among the revivers of classical studies and the reformers of school systems . He , too , H iu e s . laboured in the Spirit of his master , g The aim ’ of all study , he writes , should be nothing else than the knowledge and glorification of God . Those only are wise indeed who apply themselves to study in order that they may learn to live well themselves , and may help others by their learning in the practice of n j ustice and piety . Nothi g is more dangerous than a man who is both learned and wicked . To know nothing is better than learning combined with

His labours as author , over and above grammar and lexicography , were specially devoted to the editing of Latin works , not those of the classic writers only,

- but later Christian writers . He wrote twenty five books of instruction , several of which were used for

Of German centuries long in the schools v and Holland . At his instigation Johann Cesarius was summoned to 1512 Munster in , and he inaugurated lectures on the

Greek language . ’ Among Rudolph Langen s learned friends was the EDUCATION AND T HE OLDER HUMANISTS 73

von Count Moritz Spiegelberg , also in part educated at Deventer , and later on in Italy . As provost at

was of Emmerich , on the Rhine , he a zealous promoter education and Classical studies . The greatest cordiality existed in the intercourse ff between the teachers of these di erent schools , whether l newly established ones or O d ones improved . Pro fessors from Munster were sent to the school at

Emmerich , professors from Emmerich to the neigh

ur b o ing towns of Xanten and Wesel . The attendance at these schools was very considerable . In Emmerich , the school under the direction of Lambert von Venray numbered four hundred and fifty Latin scholars in the 151 0 year , in Xanten and Wesel two hundred and thirty . Even in the little town of Frankenberg , in

Hesse , the school under Jacob Horle had nearly one hundred and eighty students .

The Swiss , Heinrich Bullinger , who attended the 1516 1 51 9 school at Emmerich from to , says that he was there instructed in the first rudiments of Donatus and the Latin Grammar of Aldus Manutius . In ’ addition to this , he writes , were the daily exercises at school and at home . Every day we had to decline , analyse , and conjugate . There were daily readings of selections from Pliny and Cicero , extracts from Virgil M antuan as and Horace , poems from the Baptista , and letters from Jerome and others . Each week a letter ’ had to be written . Latin was invariably spoken . He was also taught there the rudiments of Greek and dialectics . Strict discipline was enforced , and great attention paid to religion .

Potken In the school of Xanten , the chaplain , Adam , gave instruction in the Greek lang uage after the year 74: HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

1496 , and in company with several canons pursued daily studies in Hebrew, for which his friend , Sebastian

Murrho , a most accomplished Hebrew scholar , pro

. Potken cured him books from Colmar Later on , was appointed professor of Greek at one of the eleven

Latin schools of Cologne , which were connected with O the eleven foundations there , and ften numbered some of the ablest men among their teachers . While at h Cologne he lodged with his relative , Johann Pot en , ’ provost of St . George s , a learned Orientalist , who had t learned the E hiopian language in Rome , and was the author Of the first book printed in Europe in Ethiopian characters . Pupils made early and rapid progress in ’ Potken their studies for instance , Adam read Virgil s ’ ’ ZEneid and Cicero s speeches with scholars of twelve 1 466 years old . Johann Eck (born in ) went through a comprehensive Greek and Latin course in the school of his house uncle , a simple country pastor , between his ninth and twelfth years . The particulars that have come down to us relative to his school instruction are of general interest and value to educationalists . The Old and the new writers were all in turn explained to

— YESO Aretinus the boy the fables of p , a comedy from , an elegy of Alda a treatise , attributed to Seneca , on ’ Gas erin s the four cardinal virtues , p letters , a hymn ’ of Gerson s in honour of St . Joseph , two works of ’ Boethius , St . Jerome s preface to the Bible , Terence , ‘ ’ ZEneid and the first Six books of the . He was even expected at this early age to acquire some knowledge of t ells philosophy and jurisprudence . He that he ‘ A ’ was put through the five treatises . fter dinner , he writes , I used to read to my uncle from the books of o M ses and the historical books of the Old Testament , EDUCATION AND T H E OLDER HUMANISTS 75

the four Evangelists , and the Acts of the Apostles . I ” also read a work on the four last things , on the f ’ O . nature souls , a portion of St Augustine s discourses ’ Of to hermits , Augustine Ancona s work on the power uris ru of the Church , an introduction to the study of j p ’ dence ; my uncle s assistant priests explained the Gospels ’ of the Sundays and the feast days to me , Cicero s treatise ’ on friendship , St . Basil s introduction to the study of ’ ” Humanities , and Homer s Siege of Troy . Eck also

read many Latin and German books to himself. Thus

prepared , he entered the University of Heidelberg in 1 493 two at the age of thirteen , and years later received

at Tubingen the degree of Bachelor of Arts . Examples of this early academic precocity are

m th mati . a e frequently met with Johannes Muller , the KOni er cian and astronomer from n g , entered the

University of Leipsic at the age of twelve , and in his sixteenth year received the degree of Bachelor of Arts l at Vienna . Johann Reuch in and Geiler of Kaisers t berg began their university studies a the age Of fifteen .

S ieshaimer Cus inianus Johann p , called p , in his eighteenth year held lectures in the Vienna High School on Virgil ,

Horace , Lucian , Sallust , and Cicero ; three years later he became professor of philosophy , oratory , and art , and

- at twenty seven he was chosen rector of the university . It may truly be said that for many centuries there had never been such an eager craving for the treasures of knowledge as prevailed at that period : there was insati the most zealous industry in earliest youth , and able thirst for learning up to the most advanced age . In the school and in the home there reigned a discipline in every sense proportionate to a strong and hardy race .

The rod was supreme . Even the Emperor Maximilian 76 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE often received a good sound beating from the hands of i h s teachers . The important part which the rod played in those l days may be seen from a seal , stil in existence , of the of Of school the city Hoxter , which represents a school dr master , essed in a full robe and round cap , swinging the rod with his right hand over the head of a boy him kneeling before , while he holds his head up by the

- chin with his left hand . In many places the SO called ‘ ’ Procession of the Rod was held annually . Led by the teachers , and accompanied by half the town , the schoolboys went into the woods , where they themselves f r h procured the materials o their own castigation . W en this was done they amused themselves with gymnastic feats and other sports under the trees , and ended up with a feast , given by their parents and teachers , and then returned to the town , laughing and joking and laden with the instruments for their punishment . Here is a specimen of a song composed for such an occasion

I h r d ihr M utterlein r Vate un , Nun s e e wie wir e ere h nd , g hn h in , Mit Birk e e enholz b lad n , e e un s di e e k nn W lch s wohl n n a ,

Zu nutz und nit zu schaden . ’ E uer Will und Gott s Gebot n u r e U s daz get ieb n bot , Das s wir j etzt un s ere Ruth e U e ber un s erm eignen L eib T r mi h agen t leicht em M ut e .

see From all which we that , in spite of the terror which the rule of the rod spread among the young folk , there was also plenty of unrestrained mirth and fun in the school life . This Showed itself also in the frequent

a theatrical represent tions , and the festivals of all sorts ’ which were arranged On saints days and at Christmas time .

78 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

n ot their authors , and do , or cannot , advance the good ? n of mankind Such barren , useless , injurious learni g as proceeds from pride and egotism serves to darken understanding and to foster all evil passions and in clinations ; and if these govern the mind of an author , his works cannot possibly be good in their influence . What profits all our learning if our characters be not correspondingly noble , all our industry without piety , all all our knowing without love of our neighbour , our wisdom without humility , all our studying , if we are not kind and charitable ? ’ He looked upon education ‘ a as the noblest field of labour , for the better educ the tion of the young is foundation of all true reform , ’ e . cclesiastical , national , and domestic In the dedication of his educational writings to his von o friend , Georg Gemmingen , prov st of the cathedral of : Spires , he writes The true foundation of our religion , the basis of all worthy life , the one ornament in any position , the prosperity of the State , the certain — victory over intemperance and passions all depend on ’ a careful and intelligent training of the young . To this training of youth the labour of his life was — devoted . As Alexander Hegins whose name he men tions with reverence—was the greatest German school

his Wim helin man of century , so p g was the most distin uished g educational writer , one of the most famous restorers of an enlightened system of education from a

Christian standpoint . Reuchlin looked upon him as a

Rhenanus pillar of religion , and after his death Beatus said that no one in Germany had ever been such a friend and promoter of the education of the young and their pro m h lin gress in science as Wi p e g . Following the example his of Aeneas Sylvius , who , before elevation to the papal EDUCATION AN D T HE OLDER HUMANISTS 7 9

n 0 11 chair , exercised considerable i fluence the intellectual Of life Germany , he endeavoured to kindle among the nobility , and the princes especially , a desire for mental 1 im ’ culture . Among W pheling s educational writings (of which nearly twenty thousand copies were sold up 1 520 two to ) there are of the greatest importance , In 1497 one of these , which appeared in , under the title ’ of Guide for the German Youth , he points out clearly and convincingly the defects of the earlier systems of ’ how education , shows by right methods the pupil s

efiectuall progress may the more readily and y be insured , and gives a number of golden rules and lessons for mastering the ancient languages . This work does not deal only with the curriculum of study , but with the whole school life and with the qualifications of the

&c . teacher , It is the first thoroughly adequate book of the kind published in Germany , a truly national work , and one which deserves the praise and gratitude ’ Wim helin s of all ages . p g second work on the ethics ’ u end 1 500 of education , Die J g , published in , belongs to what may be called the great epoch - making writings

Of the world . The old schoolmen and educationalists proceeded on the principle that it was not sufficient merely to develop the natural faculties and dispositions of children , but that care should be taken to ennoble and perfect them . They aimed at inspiring the pupils entrusted to their care with a love of study and of industry , and at edu f cating them for the work O life . While giving them selves heart and soul to the study of the Greek and

Latin masterpieces , they were careful that admiration

1 ’ im helin s Adoles cen ti a . 7 his e ers his r e W p g , cap , and l tt to f i nd , D er Frie drich von alb g . 8 0 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE for the poetical beauty of the language should not dis tract the mind from contemplation of the deep and edi fying truths which it conveyed . The study of Greek and Latin should not be confined to the learning of words , but Should be the means of strengthening and Wim helin disciplining thought . As p g said , Let culti ’ o vation be for the quickening of independent th ught .

AS in the Netherlands , Westphalia , and along the too Rhine , so in South Germany , education spread and

flourished during the latter end of the fifteenth century . Nuremberg and Augsburg were here the intellectual centres . In the first of these towns there were at the beginning of the sixteenth century four Latin schools which , owing to the exertions of the learned patrician ,

Wilib ald Pirkheimer , and the provost Johann Kress , had in many respects attained a first - rate standing by the year 1 509 . A school of poetry was also established

' 1 515 Cochlaus in under the direction of Johann , the was b professor of classics , who orn at Wendelstein in the year 1 47 9 .

Pirkheimer In conjunction with and Kress , Coch

' a s — l us compiled several chool books , notably a Latin grammar , which went through several editions , and by its clearness and conciseness gained the approval of able scholars . He also compiled a compendium of the Mathematical ’ Pom onius Geography of p Mela , and a commentary ’ on the Meteorology of Aristotle , which he made the foundation of his method of teaching natural philo sophy . Outside the Mark of Brandenburg there was scarcely a single large town in Germany in which , at the end of the fifteenth century , in addition to the EDUCATION AND T HE OLDER HUMANISTS 8 1

r i o al eady existing elementary nat onal scho ls , new schools of a higher grade were not built or old ones

improved . The ultimate control of the town schools was usually in the hands of the municipal authorities ; but these institutions were also closely connected with

the Church , not only because most of the masters

belonged to the clerical profession , but because the supervision was either practically left to the clergy or

formally made over to them . School rates as well as poor rates were then un

known . Even those schools which were under the j urisdiction of the magistrates were kept up by the fees received and by frequent new legacies ; for the educa tion of the young was counted also among those works Of mercy to which money might liberally be ‘ given in Obedience to the Church doctrine of good ’ works .

Libraries were also founded in this same spirit . — Thus , for example , the master joiner Mathias Holthof in the year 1 48 5 left his house and garden to a community

‘ of Brothers , who were to use the profit thence de rived for the purchase of good Christian books , which ’ Should tend to the salvation of the readers , and these readers were to pray for the poor soul of the ’ 1 47 7 - on— founder . In a tinker at Frankfort the — Main left the then considerable sum of thirty five gold guldens to the library of the Carmelite convent there , in order that books for the honour of God and

His blessed Mother , and for the use of the common ’ people , might more easily be procured . Another citizen of Frankfort in 148 4 paid for the foundation

1460 Rathsfrau of the town library . In the Cathe

VOL . I . G 8 2 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE rine Medeb org founded a library in connection with ‘ Dantzic in the Marienkirche in , which was to be spe cted at least once a year by the overseers of the ’ 1 450 Church . In Ulm as early as the year a library for public use had been started by a private family

Of This was probably the first the kind in Germany .

Next to the clergy , the burgher classes were the strongest pillars of learning and education . But the nobility also gave willing supp ort to the intellectual

h of revival ; and , indeed , many leading sc olars the

o o day bel nged to this class , such as M ritz von Spiegel

von . berg , Rudolph von Langen , and Johann Dalberg Out of the one Franconian noble family of Von ’ ’ Eyb seven or eight members had the Doctor s cap

r c onferred on them at Padua or Pavia . In the e cords Of the University of Erfurt during the fifteenth century we find that twenty of its rectors belonged to the first nobility . Enthusiasm for the ‘ New Learning ’ spread also to the women of Germany . In the Rhine Provinces and the South German towns especially the number o f ardent female students was quite remarkable . Johann 1505 Butzbach , the author , in , of a still unprinted history

Of literature , mentions , among other distinguished female

von contemporaries , Gertrude Coblentz , lady superior

' Of o the Au u stinian o l the N vices of g c nvent of Val endar , o a young woman of great abilities , and conspicu us alike for her intellect and learning as for her piety and virtue . von Le en He also mentions Christine der y , a mem ber of the Augustinian convent of Marienthal , and a Of of Barbara von D lberg , niece the Bishop Worms , who n of belo ged to the Benedictines Marienberg , near

Boppard , and was also active in the field of literature . EDUCATION AND T HE OLDER HUMANISTS 8 3 Butzbach dedicated his book to the Benedictine nun Raisko Aleydis p , of Goch , who was renowned for her classic scholarship , and he places her in the same rank

'

o . as Roswitha , Hildegard , and Elizabeth von Sch nau

Aleydis composed seven homilies on St . Paul , and trans lated a book on the mass from Latin into German . Contemporaneo usly with her there lived in the same

' - convent the artist nun , Gertrude von Buchel , to whom ’ Butzbach dedicated a work , Celebrated Painters . Richmondis t von der Horst , abbess of the Conven of

Seebach , kept up a Latin correspondence on spiritual

T rithemius matters with , who speaks eulogistically of t her as the author of various writings . Of he nun

Ursula Cantor , Butzbach declares that for knowledge

Of theological matters , of the fine arts , and also for

belles - lettres eloquence and , her equal has not been seen for centuries . Another highly educated woman von ff of good position was Margaret Sta el , wife of the ’ Vitzthum Adam von Allendorf. Like the Duchess von Suab ia she Hedwig , read the classics in the original with her house chaplain , and wrote Latin and German poetry and prose essays ; also a Life of

St . Bernard and of St . Hildegard in verse . Catherine von Ostheim , who was learned in history , also belonged to the fifteenth century ; She compiled an abridged ver ’ sion of the Chronicles of Limburg . Among the learned women Of South Germany the

Pirkheimer Nuremberg abbess , Charity , stands pre eminent . Her letters and memoirs give noble evidence of sincere piety , lofty intelligence , and heroic character . ‘ The lawyer Christopher Scheurl writes : All who are appreciative or intelligen t admire the penetra

o tion , learning , and n bility of character of the Abbess G 2 84 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

’ of Nuremberg . Her sister Clara , who lived in the same convent , was celebrated for her learning and piety . Their contemporaries speak of both with patriotic pride . We must next mention the nun Clarissa Apolonia

T ucher Scheurl ll , whom Christopher ca s the crown of ’ o her convent , a lover of G d s worship , a mirror of ’ virtue , a pattern and example to the sisterhood . Apolonia was the niece of the Nuremberg lawyer Sixtus

a T cher, one of the ornaments for a time of the University his of Ingolstadt , and no less valuable in later capacity 14 of imperial and papal councillor . From the year 97 he resided at Nuremberg as Provost of St . Lawrence , where his blameless priestly life and his Christian T he benevolence were an example to everyone . letters which he exchanged with Apolonia and her bosom friend , Charity, appeal to the reader by the depth and elevation of their sentiments , and are touching examples of true Christian humanism , which cannot separate knowledge from faith or learning from religion , and , as t the bes safeguard against the pride of intellect ,

‘ clings fast to that beautiful motto of T rithemius : To ’ know is to love . Sixtus encourages his women friends to zealous n study , and does not co ceal his joyous wonder at the

‘ ’ intellectual and artistic aptitude of the female s ex . ’ But , he adds once in a letter to Charity , warning her ‘ o with fatherly solicitude , I w uld not that you should seek vain praise for your learning , but that you should ascribe it to Him from Whom every good and perfect gift

' ’ T O His proceeds . praise and glory , for your sisters own need , and for your salvation , you should use the gifts bestowed on you , not forgetting the golden words

8 6 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

CHAPTER IV

T HE UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING

ALL the men whose work has hitherto been described

ursued whether p , as writers or as teachers , the same high aim of making the treasures of learning the common property of the whole nation , and of promoting the reform of Church and State by careful attention to the instruction and education of the young and by the en f at lightenments O science . Similar results were aimed by the universities , those centres of universal learning , which at no other period of German history have ever had such enthusiastic and self- sacrificing support — lavished on them as in the half century from 1 460 t o 1 510 , and which at no other period made such tre m n e dous strides in the w ay of progress . Endowments without end were made in favour of these institutions — by men of all conditions by the clergy of higher or lower degree , by princes and nobles , by burghers and peasants ; and legacies innumerable were bequeathed

was for the benefit of needy students , to whom it desired that the advantages of learning should be made as accessible as to the wealthy . Pra ue Vienna Heidelb er While the Universities of g , , g ,

o C logne , Erfurt , Leipsic , and Rostock had already new s reached a high state of development , nine one were founded in Germany within the space of fifteen ' UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 8 7

— iz 1456 v . years that of Greifswald in , those of Basle 1 4 60 1472 Of and Freiburg in , of Ingolstadt in , Treves 147 7 Of in of Tubingen and Mentz in , Wittenberg

- n - - 1 06 I n 1402 and of Frankfort o the Oder in 5 . These universities were meant to be not only the highest schools of secular , but also of religious learning . They were to serve for the protection and propagation of the faith . Hence in most cases their charters were derived from the Pope ; but the Emperors also , as the

a Of ch mpions Christendom , enjoyed the right (of which f they often made use) O establishing Similar institutions . From the nature of their constitution the universities were recognised as ecclesiastical authorities . Their whole organisation was permeated with the clerical spirit . It was held that there were two orders of science the natural , which comprises everything that could be grasped by reason , and the supernatural , which com prises all the truths made known by revelation— and that both these should be cultivated in the universities .

As the Church is a living unity , which takes in the whole being of man and encompasses the highest dignity so of human nature , must science also strive towards living unity and towards that which is the central point n of all higher life it must return to God , to the origi al source whence it proceeded . No disciple of learning w must work for selfish ends . No one branch of kno ledge must be considered as an end in itself or made

1 14 2 a err e us s e M r . T re es . Bes es Not in 7 , s on o ly tat d ( a x , ii in v id h un ers ere was l e e u er the r e the Bre re the t e iv ity, th a co l g nd cha g of th n of ’ L e e s ere u . I n the Social if , in which th ology and philo ophy w ta ght he r y e ar 1499 the Ar chbishop John I I . grante d this coll ege t p ivilege of

rr ter e the e rees AB . L L . D . as r confe ing, af an xamination , d g of and f om

r M r . t he univ e s ity ( a x , ii 8 8 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

e an idol of, but all must be subservi nt together as Of teachers Divine truth , as handmaids in the temple of faith . Where pride and lust prevail , learning cannot

flourish . The four principal branches of science

Theology , Philosophy , Jurisprudence , and Medicine were compared to the four rivers of Paradise , whose destination was to carry the blessings of fruitfulness to all all the countries of the earth , for the rejoicing of peoples and for the glory of God . It was in this sense that the Archduke Albert of

Austria , on the occasion of the founding of the

University of Freiburg , called the universities the w Of wells of life , from which men dre living waters refreshment and healing to wash away the corrupting ’ zeal of the false reason and blindness of mankind . The same sentiment made the Duke Louis of Bavaria insert in the charter of Ingolstadt : Of all the blessings vouchsafed by God to man in this transitory life , learning and art are among the greatest , for through them the path to a good and holy life may be learned . Human reason is enlightened by true knowledge and is trained to right action . Christian faith promulgated , ’ j ustice and universal prosperity advanced . Eberhard of Wurttemberg , again , says in the foundation deed of ‘ the University of Tubingen : I know of nothing that can be more conducive to my salvation or more pleasing to God than helping industrious young men of small means so to be educated in the arts and sciences , that they ’ may learn to know God , to honour and serve Him alone . In the bull for the foundation Of the University of l Basle , Pope Pius II . speaks thus beautiful y on the true end of science Among the different blessings which by the grace of God mortals can attain to in this earthly life , UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 8 9

it is not among the least that , by persevering study , he can make himself master of those pearls of science and learning which point the way to a good and useful life , and place the learned far above the ignorant . Further more , education brings man to a nearer likeness of

God , and enables him to read clearly the secrets of the universe . True education and learning lift the ’ meanest of earth to a level with the highest . For this ’ reason , continues the Pope , the Holy See has always encouraged the sciences and contributed to the establish ment of places of learning , in order that men might be enabled to acquire this precious treasure , and , having ’ - acquired it , might spread it among their fellow men . ‘ It was his ardent desire that one of these life - giving f SO ountains should be established in Basle , that all who ’ wished might drink their fill at the waters of learning . The same Pope had long before written to the Duke of Bavaria : The Apostolic See wishes for the greatest possible spread of learning , which , unlike all other good Of l in things this ife that are diminished by division , creases more and more abundantly the more widely it ’ is distributed . The annals of the various universities Show how ’ zealously the majority of the clergy acted on the Pop e s exhortation to follow the study of science . Among the students entered at Basle during the first ten years after its opening there were a large number of high dignitaries of the Church . In the first year after the opening of the University of Freiburg 234 also , by far the greater number of its students were 1 of the clerical profession . That university studies were encouraged and patronised by many Church institutions

1 r r h r e e . 3 0 3 ] For r re r t e e Sch ib , i , info mation with ga d to cl gy at 90 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE is shown by the much larger number of students who came from those towns where there were religious foun 1 o dati ns and monasteries than from other towns . The clergy were also by far the most generous in contrib ut ing means for the support of the universities . The Popes especially helped in many ways . It is well known that more than one university could not have continued were it not for the income accorded in various ways by the n Popes ; for instance , the University of I golstadt , by grants from the Popes and by the support of the clergy , was in receipt of an income which , at the present value 2 fl rin o s . of money , would be fifty thousand yearly The universities of the Middle Ages were amongst the grandest creations of the Christian spirit in the fresh ness and strength of its youthful development . They were the repositories of the highest scientific culture , the most powerful agents in its promotion , and the centres of the intellectual life of the nation . But Wim helin ‘ they were also , as p g expresses it , the best beloved and most cherished daughters of the Church ,

’ the u ers es s e Di i h F i e e M tt eilun en al H s t P li t. . 78 niv iti , g von k , in . o , pp , — 923 928 for C s er ks s tu the u rs es s Wi n ter ; and i t cian mon dying at nive iti , ee he i s ter n — A i s t C ci a . 48 8 3 . t h e e se e B er er , iii own xp n S bald amb g , abbot th e s er H e r s e e ks s u for e ree s of mona t y of ilb onn , nt ight mon to t dy d g H e e er M u k H ei lbr o I n 1510 the Au us r er at id lb g ( c , , i . g tinian o d

’ L e s ere e for its e ers use s u F k E r ci n zun en at ip ic ct d m mb a ho of t dy ( al , g g ,

. 397 u s e Ges hi chte d es ele hr ten Un terri chts . 15 16 . p ) Pa l n , c g , pp , 1 i t en 3 1 See ul s e Gr itn dun d er Uni vers d t . 3 09 0 . Pa n , g , pp , 2 ‘ Prank l . 19 . T he ur s e it th er , i Papal co t alway l nt s aid to e univ ’ All u re u e u rer h u he sities . np j dic d inq i s into t e intell ect al condition s of t ee e ur e e s e s e r e s fift nth c nt y , v n tho who p incipl made th em inimical to

R C s the es ere r ur oman atholici m , admit that Pop w fo emos t in enco aging ’ h H — te e t e u ers es aotz . 42 44 M e r s Ges hi ch and ndowing niv iti ( , pp ; ine c

H hen chu len 2- der S . 8 Raum r r s k e . ere e R o , pp , p With e f nc to o toc , — s ee Kr e . 162 164 . re ere e C e s e e E e . abb , pp With f nc to ologn , nn n , iii ’ 8 7 1 als o in the s e cond volum e of Ros egarten s Ges chi chte d er Uni ver

' s i tat Gre swa lde Greifs walde if ( , UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 91 who in love and allegiance strove to make grateful w return for hat they owed their mother . Hence the double fact that so long as the unity of the Church and Faith remained intact the universities remained at the height of prosperity , and that at the time of the schism they almost all , with the exception of Wittenberg and

Of Erfurt , ranged themselves loyally on the Side the

Church . It was only when their original ecclesiastical and corporate constitutions were upset by violence that they began to turn to the new doctrines , and they only made common cause with these when their liberty was infringed and they had sunk to mere State institutions . The universities of the Middle Ages were free and independent corporations the basis Of their success lay in the untrammelled freedom of curriculum both for f masters and scholars . Independent O the State and of each other , they were spurred on by active and fruitful ff emulation . As in the di erent trade guilds the masters and apprentices were bound together in a compact body governed by its own laws and independent of outside so own influence , the universities had their separate codes and regulations , and their government was entirely own within their j urisdiction . The members were ff amenable only to their university code , which a orded

ao complete protection they paid no taxes , and were corded many privileges as tokens Of respect to their 1 ni lear ng . There was perfectly free competition between ff all the di erent teachers at nearly the universities , and the right possessed by every ‘ doctor ’ to teach gave

1 I n 1445 the L e r fess r J K e e re u ip sic p o o , ohann on , d cla d in a p blic speech d elivere d b efore the Duk e of Saxony : No kin g or minist er has T he un er the right to int erfere with our free dom and privil eges . iv s es er e se e s n e r s u es r iti gov n th m lv , changi g and modifying th i tat t acco ding e r e es s es Zarncke D cumen ts to th i n c iti ( , o , 92 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE rise to healthy emulation both between theteachers and 1 the taught . the As the period of study in Middle Ages , after the pattern of antiquity , was prolonged into advanced years , we find not only young men studying at the universities , but men of ripe years and of standing and dignity abbots , provosts , canons , and princes . The comrade Ship existing through the whole university body was very remarkable , students and professors being on equal was hil terms . This particularly the case in the p oso ’ h al - p ic faculty generally called the Faculty of Arts . It was made up of men who had received the degree M f A . O of . , had reached the full years manhood , and taught while they themselves still studied the higher 1 branches . This invested the office of teacher with a delightful freshness and youthfulness , while it gave higher influence r and dignity to the condition of learner , t aces of which we notice in the various university constitutions .

1 re ere e r rs u s e s s . 438 er With f nc to poo s chola , Pa l n ay (pp Pov ty in rs I t e er was not in tho se days such a hindranc e to le arning as it i s ou . v ’ ll h e s i s e . I n a t e e es s e s b s found a h lping hand ccl ia tical ta li hm nt , that to s a the u s s s um s u ers e s the u ers y, in all p blic chool , gymna i , and niv iti ( pa p ) di e a u eres as the e u es e re ss e e the r il e e p p , Vi nna stat t xp it , njoy d p iv g of ’ bu ill . T e re e r u t e goodw h y we ntitle d not only to mat ic lation , to att nd ll u ers es e r the l ectures and to graduate . A s chools and niv iti had th i s f r th e r s rs I n the er e e endowment o e maint nanc e of poo chola . int m diat ’ s chool s it was quite allowable to s oli cit me ans to pay a pu pil s expens e s s s u h r H w u m en n ee wa t e u e s es . o and , i d d , thi not nknown in niv iti co ld di cancy be cons idered di shonourable while s o many orders adopte d it as a rule Riche s were looke d upon by the Church (and this vi e w was well supported by the doctrin e of the Go spel) as mo re dangerous than poverty r e e r e to the avocation of le arning . T he expen se s of tuition we e oft n d f ay d r s r er h er N rk for hi s e er in pa t by ervic e s end e d to t e t each . o wo t ach (manual labour was held in res p ect in the Middle Ages) was any more u r T s h miliating to the s cholar than that of the page for his p inc e . hi s tate of things made it po s sible for the ranks of the clergy to b e recrui te d fr om

the e e e s u re rese e the r e s . p opl , and l ft no po ition n p nt d in p i thood

94 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

. n 1492 8 00 students were e rolled . In the year the philosophical lectures were given by 3 3 different 47 professors , and to those more were added within 1490 a nother year . In the number of bachelors who had to read up Petrus Lomb ardus was s o great t hat they could not meet at the same place and hour , rofe s b ut had to be taken in separate groups . The p

; 1453 8 2 sors of philosophy at Vienna in numbered , 4 6 1 0 a nd in 1 7 there were 5 oral lecturers . Among t he 7 70 1451 students registered there in , no less than 1 4 04 were from the Rhenish Provinces . Never before o r since did such enthusiasm for learning prevail in

Germany . Berlin alone seemed to lag b ehind in the intellectual awakening .

In all the country districts , too , there was a mental stirring and awakening such as had never been known in Germany before and has never prevailed Since . In the Mark of Brandenburg alone German culture had as yet taken little root . In his address at the founding

— - on - 1 503 of the University of Frankfort the Oder , in , ‘ the Elector Joachim said : A man . of distinguished ’ I II learning is as rare among us as a white crow . cor ’ roboration of this we add what Joachim s father said of the Mark of Brandenburg : There is no part of

Germany where there are more murders , cruelty ’ ll T rith . emius and quarre ing than in our Mark , the Of o abbot Sponheim , who s journed some time at the

1 I t would be int eresting to know the e xact numb er of s tudents fr om e ach provinc e in Germany att ending the uni vers itie s ; but the statis tic s

are . I t i s e er k r h wanting , how v , nown that f om t e Duchy of H e s s e alone s u e s e e the re e u e rs i es H e i e ber L eipsi t d nt att nd d th niv ti of d l g , c , and

— - E r ur r 1451 1515 Stolz el . 42 44 Gre Ges chi ch e d e r f t f om to ( , xii ; dy , t e hema li en rei en R ei chs ta d t Odern hei m M e 18 g f ( ntz , 8 3 , p . On ’ R u hlin s s err rs s ee our s e c e e . cabali tic o , tat m nt , vol ii . UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 95

Court of Brandenburg , wrote thus from Berlin to a

20 1505 : friend , October , Rarely do we find here a man with any bias for learning through lack of educa v tion our people are mostly gi en over to feasting , ’ d . rinking , and sloth Berlin did not possess a single 1 53 9 printer before , and it was not till one hundred and twenty years later that the firs t publisher settled there . It was in the provinces of the Rhine that intellectual life was most vigorous during the last thirty years of the fifteenth and the first decade of the sixteenth cen t r u ies . Here more than elsewhere the universities were in close touch with popular education , and rested on a

firm basis of efficient preparatory schools . Amongst the Rhenish universities , Cologne ranks first both in size , importance , and distinction . It was the principal u ed cational centre , not only for the whole district of the Lower Rhine , for Westphalia , and for Holland , but — w hundreds of foreigners also from Scotland , Nor ay , — flocked Sweden , Denmark , and Livonia there to quench their intellectual thirst . It cannot be a matter of surprise that the leading educational institution should have been coloured with a strong religious character in a town in which there were nineteen parish churches and over

- one hundred chapels , twenty two monasteries and con

- vents , eleven chapter houses , and twelve hospitals under ecclesiastical supervision , a town of which it was said proverbially that more than one thousand masses were daily celebrated there . The Old scholastic method Of study had uncircum u scribed sway in this university , but caref l attention the was at same time bestowed on humanistic studies . The university records prove that the foremost among 96 H ISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE the promoters of humanities in Germany were either educated at Cologne or gave lectures there for a time . From 1484 the Italian William Raymond Mithridates had been active in teaching Greek , Hebrew , Chaldaic , 148 and Arabic there . In 7 the Humanist Andreas s et Cantor , from Groningen , came there , and to work to reform the study of the Latin language . From 1491

' ' Caes arius JI I lich He ius John , from , a pupil of g and a distinguished classical scholar , laboured at spreading Of a fundamental knowledge Greek . The Humanist movement Obtained a large additional following after 14 96 Erasmus , of Rotterdam , in , had gathered a circle of young disciples around him in Cologne . It had another zealous leader in the Friar—Minor Diedrich

Coelde O , author of one of the ldest German catechisms , and of various popular religious manuals . Caes arius Besides , two other pupils of Alexander

He ius g , Bartholomew , of Cologne , and the Westphalian

Ortwin Gratins , were active propagandists in Cologne .

The first of these , famous even in Italy for his learning u and enlightened taste , disting ished alike as philosopher and poet , had formerly been an active teacher at

Deventer , where he had gained a high reputation . ’ He is a man of great and refined intellect , writes his l pupil , Johann Butzbach , of remarkable e oquence , and distinguished in many branches of science . It is a source of wonder to all that a man like him versed in all departments of knowledge , should study with the same industry and perseverance as an ignorant beginner , working late on into the night . Diligent scholars were all loved by him , and he was always ready to help and befriend them . His pupils loved him , too , with deep devotion , and when their term of study came

98 HISTOR Y OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

first - Rhenish university , and that rate men taught there .

Amongst the learned professors , the provost Henry ffi Mangold , who had several times filled the o ce of

was rector of the university, one of the most zealous two promoters of classical studies . Even the shining

SUStern lights of the theological faculty, Theodore von T un ern and Arnold von g , little as their own style had t been formed on the classic models , maintained the mos ’ Of friendly relations with many the young poets , as 1 512 the Humanists were called . In , Herman von dem ’ Busche prefaced a work Of T ungern s by commendatory Potken verses . Adam cites , as promoters of classical t wo studies , learned men of the day not belonging to the university , Adam Mayer , abbot of St . Martin celebrated for his writings on theology and canon law , as well as for his zeal in monastic reform , and Rolewinck of Werner , prior to the Carthusians Of Chartreuse , one the most venerable personages at the ’ R lewin k s e nd of the fifteenth century . o c writings are

o mostly of a the logical , mystic , ascetic , or devotional character . They consist chiefly of explanations of the c Holy Scriptures , whi h from his earliest youth he had s t udied indefatigably . Amongst his various oommen f i . o S x taries on the Epistles of St Paul , there is one

- 1 502 folio volumes . In his seventy sixth year , in , a few months before he was carried off by the plague while in the exercise of his priestly calling , he gave a course of public lectures on the Epistle of St . Paul to the Romans , and charmed his numerous audience , But among whom were many university professors . Rolewin ck did not confine his studies to sacred sub j e cts : he wrote treatises on the best form of govern of ment , on the origin the nobility , and on the treatment UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 99

o f the peasant classes . One of his most read works was an outline of the history of the world , which in the c 1474 ourse of eighteen years , dating from , ran through

six thirty editions , was translated times into French , a nd was one of the first books printed in Spain . Role winck held firmly to the orthodox Six Ages , but at the s ame time affirmed the repetition of history as a his — torico philosophical law ; the succession of time is a lways repeated a new in the regular trifold change of

a . bundance , poverty , and mediocrity How deeply the heart of this theologian and mystic how could enter into the life of the people , and warmly n it could beat for the Germa Fatherland , especially ‘ ’ for his native Westphalia , The Land of the Heroes , ‘ markedly shown I n his book entitled On the Praise ’

Of now . Saxony , called Westphalia The sketch he gives here of the manners and customs of his country people surpasses in vivid and delightful picturing any description that exists of any other German race . ’ Role winck s works show a thorough knowledge of the Holy Scriptures , and of the writings of the Fathers

chro and of the old theologians , as well as of the ni ler c s and historians of later times . They also give evidence of some degree of acquaintance with the classic writers . ’ Potken s There is , therefore , nothing surprising in f ll a firmation that this universa y admired Carthusian ,

VI rtuous this , saintly man , was a promoter of classic ’ culture from a Christian standpoint . This Carthusian house of Cologne , moreover , which stood out as a lead ing example of ascetic discipline in its complete renun c iation of the world , sheltered a whole number of

H 2 100 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

learned monks zealous for science , of religious poets , of mystic and ascetic writers—men like Herman Appel dorn Heinrich von Birnbaum Herman

refken G Heinrich von Dissen and , fore ’ of Rolewin ck s most all , most intimate friend , Peter

Blomevenn a , whose writings all breathe a spirit of pious enthusiasm and peaceful joy .

The second university of the Rhenish Provinces , new that of Heidelberg , received a impetus already in the first half of the fifteenth century under Aeneas th . e Sylvius , afterwards Pius II , who , while provost of

o Worms Cathedral , was appointed chancell r of the university .

During the government of Frederick , Count Palatine

comprehensive reforms were carried out , parti cularly with regard to philosophical studies . Among the scholastic theologians it was the Realists here also who came forward as open- minded promoters of scien tific research and classical studies ; while the Nominal ’ i sts , on the contrary , drew on themselves the reproach

- of barren dogmatism and philosophical hair splitting .

Peter Luder, the first Humanist , who began his career 1450 of activity in Heidelberg , , was warmly supported

o l by two profess rs of theology and canon aw . One of — his pupils was the well known chronicler and biographer of Frederick , Count Palatine , Matthias von Kemnat , who probably received his earliest education from the

Arri inus Italian g , one of the Humanists established in the neighbourhood of Culmbach . The actual period of Heidelberg ’s greatest pros erit 14 7 6 p y, however , was from the year , in the reign of Philip , Count Palatine who , himself a cul t ured scholar , used to assemble large numbers of men

102 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

in and his residence between Worms and Heidelberg , both which towns he became the centre of intellectual

l - of life . By the ster ing excellence and self forgetfulness his whole nature , and by the force of enthusiasm which went out from him , he exercised a deep and lasting

I II influence on widely extended circles . him was verified the old saying that worth is always modest , s e true superiority always magnanimou , true cultur

- always right minded . He not only raised the university his the to a high standard during lifetime , but laid foundation of nearly all that on which its present fame

CO- O of rests . By his peration the first professorship

- d Greek was established there , and the world renowne university library known by the name of the Palatine owed its origin to him . He also collected a valuable house library of Greek , Latin , and Hebrew books , which he placed at the free disposal of all seeker’s after know his ledge . Johann Reuchlin , whom Dalberg attracted to

- of his neighbourhood , Speaks collection as a unique the treasure for Germany , and gratefully acknowledged service it had been to him .

1455 t o When Reuchlin (born in Pforzheim , ) came Heidelberg (1496) he already ranked high among scholars . As a young man he had delivered lectures .

on at Basle Greek and Latin , which were listened to by Of Old crowded audiences and young . He had been one of the first in Germany to secure a permanent footing for Greek literature among the requisites of n n higher culture . He had attracted attentio amo gst the highest literary circles in Italy by his proficiency in the Greek language . His fame as a writer was also established . The Latin dictionary which he had com piled at Basle when scarcely twenty years of age UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 103

appeared nearly every year in a new edition . He had translated two of the Speeches of Demosthenes and a ‘ ’ a p rt of the Iliad into German , several other Greek writers into Latin , and had completed a treatise on the four Greek dialects . In addition to all this he had held a prominent position at the Court of Count Eber r of W ha d urttemberg as a practising barrister , and conducted many important cases for his patron with o h nour, and had distinctions of all sorts conferred on him . The Emperor Maximilian raised him to the rank of nobility , and created him Count Palatine of the Empire ‘ in consideration of his high merit and reputa ’ tion . f When, a ter the death of Count Eberhard , he took up his residence at Heidelberg for several years , he was nominated by Dalberg to the post of university librarian , and the Count Palatine , Philip , appointed him counsel 1493 to the Electorate and first tutor to his sons . In he became professor of Hebrew , and embarked on his pioneer work in this direction . The knowledge of

Hebrew had , however , by no means disappeared among ’ Reuchlin s Christians at the time of advent . The decree of the Vienna Council that two chairs of Hebrew and Chaldaic and Arabic should be established respectively in Rome , Bologna , Paris , Oxford , and Sala manca had not been without influence in Germany . Guides to the study Of Hebrew grammar were published b 147 7 y the Dominican , Peter Schwarz , in , and by the 1 Minorite Conrad Peblican in 503 . Rudolph Agricola

I II translated the Psalms from the original text . Xanten , n Colog e , Colmar , and Mentz , we find records of men zealously occupied with Hebrew studies . Lectures OII Hebrew were held at Tubingen by the theologians 1 04 HISTO RY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Summenhart Scri t oris Conrad and Paul p , and at Frei burg by Gregory Reisch . Among the pupils of the

six latter was Johann Eck , who devoted himself for

r T n rn years to the study of Hebrew . A nold von u ge — — also later on the Opponent of Reuchlin may also be n mentioned amo g the students of Hebrew . But to Reuchlin belongs the lasting credit of having e stablished the study of Hebrew on a scientific basis in His Germany . Hebrew grammar and dictionary were the first complete contributions to this work . ’ Reuchlin s labours were animated by the same deep religious feeling as those of all the men whom we have been considering . To him also learning and science were only of value inasmuch as they supported and son strengthened faith . As a true of his mother , the

to Church , he submitted all his writings and teaching w her sole authority , and was ever ready to withdra whatever, in her j udgment , was erroneous . His aim in his Hebrew researches and in his exami nation of the original text of the Old Testament was t o furnish a wholesome antidote against the one - sided study of the classics . Hence it was of the highest importance , in his opinion , to impress on students the necessity of n the study of Hebrew . The Hebrew la guage is con ’ sidered . e s barbarous , he writes Well , y , fine periods and elegantly turned sentences are not to be found in it ; but beauties of this sort are more for the diletta nte than for the learned . The Hebrew language is un

. n adulterated , pure , concise , and brief It is the la guage h in whic God spoke to man , and in which man con versed with the angels face to face . It is not necessary to possess the Castalian fountain , or the tree of Dodona . In age i t is surpassed by no other ; outside the Hebrew

1 06 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Dracontius Jacob the Saxon nobleman and philosopher , von Heinrich Bunau ; the lawyers , Adam Werner of

o Of Themar and John Wacker , called Vigilius , can n Plenin en the cathedral of Worms , and Dietrich von g , also took an active part in the intellect ual life of the time . ’ Dalb erg s house was the rendezvous where these r friends went freely in and out . Here they met togethe for intimate talk , or hospitable meals , or serious study . Wim helin The Count Palatine Philip , according to p g , Wim he was occasionally among their number . Here p ling discussed with his associates his scheme for a

Plenin en German history , g read out his German trans lations of the Latin writers , and Reuchlin his version of ’ Dalb er s Homer . It was in g house also that Reuchlin the t arranged the representation of a Latin play , firs ever performed in Germany . But the intellectual influence of the Bishop of

Worms was not confined to Heidelberg . He was not only curator of the university , but also leader and director of the Rhenish Literary Society , founded in 1 4 91 m , by Conrad Celtes , in Mentz . A ongst the mem bers of this body were the most distinguished men — of all branches of science theologians , lawyers , doctors , philosophers , mathematicians , linguists , historians , and poets , from the Rhinelands and from Middle and South

T rithemiu . s west Germany Besides , Reuchlin , and Wim helin d p g , the society counte among its members as and such men the mathematician imperial historian , St ab ius w John ; the eminent Hebre scholar , Sebastian Zasius Sprenz , afterwards Bishop of Brixen ; Ulrich , the prince of German advocates ; and , further , the

o Peutin er Wilib ald Humanists , C nrad g of Augsburg , UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 107

~ Pirkheimer of of Nuremberg , and Henry Bebel

Tubingen .

O m The immediate bject of this society , as of any the similar ones in Germany , was encouragement and spread of science and the fine arts generally , and

’ l u classica learning especially , but also the f rthering of national historical research . The members all assisted each other in their labours , showed each other their

a o writings , criticised e ch ther in turn , and helped mutually in distributing their works .

The famous publisher , Aldus Manutius , founded a , 1502 learned society at Venice in the year , with a View to making a centre of intellectual communication ‘ between Italy and Germany . If this plan proves ’ workable , he wrote to Conrad Celtes , our society will be of the greatest use to all seekers after knowledge , not only in the present but in the future , and Germany ’ will come to be considered a second Athens . ’ Through the constant intercourse of scholars , Wim helin is wrote p g, fresh life germinating every where ; the voice of warning wakes the Slumberers ; the letters which we write to one another speed like ’ messengers of good tidings through the land . The extensive correspondence carried on in the world of ’ scholars not only served for personal matters , but answered in great measure to the scientific and literary periodicals of the present day . This society reached its . highest lustre under the presidency of Dalberg (1491 The death of this man in 1503 was a greater loss to German culture than even that of his . ‘ ’ contemporary , Agricola . I hold this bishop , writes

Wilib ald Pirkheimer , worthy of lasting remembrance as well for his benevolence and virtues as for his great . 1 08 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

’ on a nd various learning . The epitaph his grave at Worms is as follows

E r war s elb st glii cklich un d s tellte den N achkommen mit gluckli chem E r ein B des L e s auf folg ild eb n .

John T rithemius stood in close relation to the 14 U niversity of Heidelberg . He was born in 62 in the village of Trittenheim , on the Moselle , and was the ‘ ’ founder of a kind of learned academy in the Benedic of tine monastery Sponheim , near Kreuznach , of which 148 3 1503 he had been abbot from to . His pupils and h is friends valued him as an ornament to his country , a teacher and example to the monks , a friend and educator of the priests , a father to the poor , and a healer to the sick . Conrad Celtes draws the following p icture of him T rithemius is abstemious in drink he disdains animal food , and lives on vegetables , eggs , and as milk , did our ancestors when there were yet no strong spices in our Fatherland , and no doctors had — begun to brew their gout and fever breeding concoc ’ tions . He is modest in speech and conduct . His o utward person was as dignified as his character . His ’ Wim helin firm , manly features , writes p g, have a look " ’ of inexpressible goodness .

T rithemius ae was an encyclop dia of learning , whose o like was scarcely known in his century . Th roughly at home in Greek and Latin classics , a competent w Hebrew scholar , well equipped ith knowledge of theology , philosophy , history , and canon law , he also a pplied himself zealously to the study of mathematics , a stronomy and physics , chemistry and medicine , and actually practised as a doctor in order to assist the poor . His literary and scientific connection was immense and extensive , as shown by his epistolary

1 10 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

’ ’ ‘ v derful Wim helin 1507 his , writes p g in , and library e njoys well - merited renown through all the civilised world, as he himself has earned universal fame for his virtue and his learning . I have seen him at Sponheim surrounded by the children of the peasants , to whom he was teaching the elements of Christianity . I have seen him amongst a circle of priests who had come from different parts to obtain instruction from him in the Holy Scriptures and the Greek tongue ; and I have seen him i n the midst of scholars whom the fame of his learning and his library had attracted—many from — far Off and to whom he generously allowed free access to his literary treasures , and the no less precious privi

‘ 1 l ege of int ercourse with himself. Alexander Hegi u s himself made a pilgrimage to Sponheim in advanced O ld age in order to become acquainted with this library a nd to enjoy the refreshment and stimulus of intercourse

. u with the abbot Learned men from all parts of E rope ,

t o bishops , doctors , priests , and nobles , flocked the monastery , where they would remain , some one month , s ome three , some a whole year , devoting themselves ,

f d . ree of cost , to the stu y of Latin and Greek The many- sided literary activity of T rithemius in t heology, philosophy , natural science , medicine , history , a nd o literature , seems all the more ast nishing because O f the many claims on his time and attention made by the details of everyday life . On him devolved the task of providing for the daily wants of the monastery under his care in addition to which he undertook the thorough reform of his order . But it was precisely this zeal for reform and desire for the improvement — O f his brother monks that fed the energy of his literary

1 D e m i a 1 e Ar t I res s or . p , p . 9 U NIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 11 1

work , which he valued only as an instrument towards t his end . ’ How b e can we idle or wish for rest , he writes ’ in the Guide to the Right Method of Studying , when we consider how much there is to do each day for ourselves or for others , and how soon death comes to put an end to all which , through the grace and merits Of ? our Saviour , we can do for our salvation Whether l we abour with our pens or our words , we must always r emember that we are preachers of the Truth , and a postles of love , and that this love will bring peace a nd blessing to ourselves according to the measure in

“ which we distribute it among others . This thought w ill make the heaviest work light , and the severest t trials swee and welcome . Learning that is not born o f onlv this spirit leads to evil , corrupts the heart , poisons the character , and misleads the world In the same spirit he addresses a letter to his brother True learning is that which leads to the knowledge o f God , which improves our morals , restrains our

is t o passions , gives an insight into all that necessary o ur salvation , and kindles in our hearts love for the ’ Creator . s T rithemius The ecclesiastical and pastoral work of , and his sermons and letters , furnish the most striking proof of the profundity of thought and elevation of mind which he brought to bear on the problems Of life . They are outpourings of the most sincere piety , and witnesses of the earnestness of spirit in which the study of the Holy Scriptures was carried on in those days . I n common with the most prominent theologians of

T rithe mius the day , held that the study of theology 1 12 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Should be brought back more and more to a basis

of Biblical knowledge . He was also agreed with them in thinking that only those whose lives were pure could rightly apprehend the Scriptures as interpreted

by the Church under the guidance of the Holy Ghost .

‘ ’ o r For the study of the Bible , he writes to a f rme ‘ - fellow student , love and discipline , solitude and calm ,

o are indispensable , for the wisdom of God dwells nly

with the virtuous man , enters into the soul of the

s circumspect , informs the charitable heart , delight

- only in the pure and lowly minded . If the Holy Scriptures are not always sufficiently enlightening on

all Of is matters of faith , the authority the Church O thus enhanced , and the pportunity given for salutary w T h O . e bedience , which else ould not be needed Church and the Bible are the complements Of each i . s other The Church confirms the Scriptures , and

itself confirmed by the Scriptures . The same spirit which inspired the Scriptures also established the “ Church ; hence St . Augustine says : I should n ot believe the Gospel did not the authority of the Church

compel me . The Church alone has authority t o interpret the Scriptures in doubtful matters concerning

the Faith , and whoever dares to question that inter ’ pret ation denies the Gospel of Jesus Christ . The promoters of the new intellectual movement and the enlightened methods of science endeavoured t o get rid of the dead formalism in which theology had

stagnated for a hundred years and more , and to bring their labours into connection with those of their great predecessors in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries . Cusa After the pioneer work of Nicolaus of , and the

Carthusian Dionysius , the school of scholastic philosophy ,

114 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

to life , call up Spirits from the nether world , foretell v future events , and disco er robberies and thefts through witchcraft . And this notwithstanding that he himself wrote a pamphlet against sorcery and all the vain s uperstitions condemned by the Church , denouncing ‘ alchemists as Fools and apes , enemies of nature and ’ 1 c ontemners of things divine . He was unsparing in his c Sab ellicus ondemnation of George , the famous apostle ' ' of rote e the black art , although the latter was the p g of von Creuznach the nobleman , Franz Sickingen , of , near S ponheim , who went so far as to appoint him school " m . re su master Away with you he writes ; vain , p p tuons men , lying astrologers , deceivers of weak minds the stars can teach us nothing concerning our immortal life , neither can they instruct us in natural or super ’ n . atural wisdom The soul of man is free , and not u nder subjection to the stars ; it is not influenced by t hem or their orbits , and has no dependence but on the e ternal principle of life from which it proceeds and by which it exists . The stars have no dominion over us , and we acknowledge Jesus Christ alone as having con ’ trol over everything . Among the literary works Of T rithemius there are two which are still indispensable to the student of the past ; the one is the patrologic w w ’ ork on the Church riters , a general biographical lexicon compiled at the instigation Of Johannes Heyn lin it s , and unique of kind at that period ; the other

of A catalogue the distinguished men of Germany, 2 w Wim helin ritten at the suggestion of p g , and the

1 ’ I n our s ixth volume we again allude to T rithemius s standpoint upon this subj ect . 2 T s rk is the re e s ue ur s ru e e . See hi wo of g at t val inj i p d nc Von Savigny , mi s Chen R echtes — hte d es RO . 3 3 4 G es chi c , iii 3 . U NIVERSITIE S AN D OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 1 1 5 first attempt at a history of literature published in

G ermany . The most attractive of his writings are his historical ’ l works . His Annals of Hirsau was intended on y as a preparatory work for a universal history of Germany , for which , with the assistance of the monk Paul Lang , he was still collecting materials in all the German i monasteries during the last years of h s life . The patriotic tendency of his studies produces otwith t hroughout a most favourable impression . N s tanding the attention bestowed by him on classical and v theological studies , he always preser ed a lively interest in the early history of Germany , and was never weary of expressing in his works and letters the warmth of ff f r his a ection o the Fatherland . Among the Rhenish Literary Society ’ he bore the title of ‘ Prince of National ’ Wim helin Science , and p g wrote thus of him to Rome We call him also the happy father of an innumerable intellectual posterity ; the best and most famous son of ’ a land rich in gifts both of nature and of mind . The testimony of John Butzbach gives us some idea of the enthusiasm which the writings of T rithemius awakened in the young . He tells that the first work of the abbot which he lighted on was read by him breathlessly , from beginning to end . Waking and sleeping he could not get the book or its writer out of his head . Nicholas Gerb ellius esteemed himself happy ‘ to have lived in a century in which men like T rithe ’ i n mius arose Germany . Johann Centurian , who studied Greek and Hebrew and the Scriptures for two years T rithemius under , could scarcely find adequate words of praise for his master ’s indefatigable zeal and the perfect blamelessness of his life . HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

T rithemius i s , on his side , writes How delightful it to be able to inspire the young with a pious desire for the study of science , human and divine , and to fill them with love of the Church and the Fatherland to teach them that each action should tend t o the honour of of God , the salvation of their own souls and the benefit ’ others . In the midst of the day s toil , at the service of Of the choir , in the stillness the night , I seem to hear a voice saying ever , Time is flying , use it well ; lose no single hour ; improve yourself and seek to improve ” others ; study and teach . You young men , on whom our hopes for the future are built , fight a valiant fight

sin against and Spiritual death , against the sluggishness of nature , against the distractions of life . Study, and improve yourselves in every science , but remember that all knowledge without piety is vain and idle . As so religion should permeate our whole life , must it be ’ with our studies . ’ The ancient writers , he continues , whose works so we are now eagerly studying , Should be to us but

. the means to higher ends . We can recommend their study with a clear conscience to those who do not read them merely for intellectual pleasure , but who , after the example of the Fathers of the Church , seek in them the means of advancing in Christian science . We even look on the former as a necessary complement t o the ’ study of the latter . The importance of the classics from this point of view was more closely reas oned

of out by Johann Butzbach , the accomplished pupil T rithemius m , against the enemies and abusers of hu an ‘ i ti : s c studies . He says Those who have not studied the classics will break down in the study of the Scrip

: tures and the Fathers first , because they are wanting

118 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

d which alone woul train him for the higher work .

is Much , no doubt , in the literature of the ancients off ensive to a delicate sense of morality ; nevertheless , the study of them must not on that account be aban i d oned . us s What it behoves to do to expunge , as a s much possible , what is dangerous , and , as St . Basil set recommends , to work like the bees , who do not b ut e suck in the whole flower , poison and all , choos only the honey .

' of Butzbach , who was such an eloquent exponent ’ ll his his master s ideas , entered more fu y than any of other pupils into the spirit and aims of T ri themi us . As master of novices , and later on prior of the monas

t er . y of Laach , he was as indefatigable in labour as his master and pattern had been ; ende avourmg like him to cultivate his mind in all directions , and to obtain was wide influence through his literary activity . He of the same true and steadfast nature , the same lofty

- T rithemius . and self forgetting mind as and , as with his master , he knew no greater joy than to find his own he enthusI asm kindling sparks in others . AS author ll t fo owed in the foo steps of the abbot of Sponheim , and in conj unction with his friend and religious asso ~ Sib erti u ciate , Jacob , published a valuable contin ation of ‘ The Catalogue of Distinguished Men ’ in the years — 1 508 1 513 . It is a history of the literature of the day , and in a series of articles describes the character and works of the authors from different countries of

Europe . Side by side with Heidelberg the university Of T O . W Freiburg , in Breisgau , rose rapidly to distinction Of Zasius its professors in particular , the j urist and the l r theo ogian Gregory Reisch , became eminent for thei UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 11 9

scientific labours and their personal influence . Like Wim helin in p g in the field of pedagogy , and Reuchlin Zasius the study of Hebrew, (born at Constance in 1461 ) did important pioneer work in the reform of ff j urisprudence . He di ers from the reformers in other i ntellectual departments in that while they were fol ~ lowed by successors of equal distinction with them own selves , he stands out during his and the two not following centuries as a unique phenomenon . He f only surpassed other writers on law in outward orm , of in purity style , facility and variety of language , and in natural sequence of thought , but his matter also is far beyond that of contemporary j urists . His aim throughout is to do away with the barbarisms of the commentators , and to make an independent examina tion of first sources . In the execution of this task he l endeavours to steer c ear of traditional prejudices , to set aside Sophistical casuistries , and to maintain a simple , natural attitude of mind . In the preface to his principal work he says , I propose to use the original texts and such arguments only as bear on the subject ’ and are supported by good proof. Far from wishing the German Spirit to become subservient to the foreign so Roman law , he made it his task to teach only much of this law as was useful and in accordance with the w customs of Germany . It was only hen he found gaps and imperfections in the German law that he fell back on the Roman code to improve and perfect that of his was own country . Whatever incompatible with the genius of the German nation in the deepest sense of

the word had no value in his eyes . He was the sworn enemy of those quibbling lawyers

who , with the help of the Roman code , so twisted and 1 20 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE perverted facts and evidence that no solution of a case was arrived at till both parties were ruined by costs .

‘ ’ ‘ Such advocates , he complains , poison judgment , mock at justice , seek to entangle administration , and ’ Hi are hateful to God and man . s remarks on the ’ dignity Of the degree of doctor of laws show the respect in which he held the science of jurisprudence .

‘

, This degree is not conferred in order to enable a man to inscribe himself among the followers of courts , or to wear their livery, or to soil his conscience with the mud of the tribunal or consistory, but in order to have Of the privilege speaking and teaching the law , of

u . deciding what is doubtf l , and of protecting the State is This is the aim of the true LL . D . He who sincere ’ serves the State , he who is not destroys it . As a university professor Zasius enthralled his his hearers by the clearness of arguments , the warmth

u . of his sentiments , and the fervo r of his eloquence

Not one among his contemporaries , either in Germany so dis or Italy, excelled him in oratorical power , his as ciple Fichard asserts . Another pupil writes fol ‘ lows : When we received Our Zasius in the lecture hall or accompanied him to his home he seemed a very angel to us . How often I used to say to myself, “ ’ Zasius It is time to go and hear lecture , to drink ” “ in his teaching , or , if doubts assailed me , Go to

Zasius and ask his counsel . On feast days it was our see delight to accompany him to church , and then him ’ home . The deep faith which was the foundation of his

conduct , his sincerity , honesty , and simplicity , attached

to him all who came in contact with him . Erasmus , Wilib ald Pirkheimer Zasius writing to , says is a rare

122 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

1 was a keen Observer . The most gifted of his pupils in Waldseemull er cosmography was Martin , of Freiburg , who published in 1507 an Introduction to the Study o of Cosmography , with the Four Voyages of Amerig ’ Vespucci , with a dedication to the Emperor Maxi th milian . This was the first public appearance of e

ld mii ll r narrative of the Florentine traveller . Wa see e gives descriptions in this work of the different maps which he had made of European countries , and remarks incidentally that for the later ones he had availed him self of the works of Ptolemy , as well as of the observa 2 tions of navigators . He also worked on the beautiful edition of Ptolemy published at Strasburg , and wrote 3 two treatises on architecture and perspective , which his his teacher , Reisch , embodied in the new edition of

a h 1 0 encyclop edia broug t out in 5 7 . The University of Basle surpassed even that of u Freiburg in intellectual activity , in fresh and vigoro s life , and in the proficiency of its teachers . Up to the time of the Church schism Basle was the pleasantest ’ 4 abode of the muses . In the first decades of its exist ence the most striking figure in the university was

He nlin Johannes y of Stein , from the diocese of Spires , a man as conspicuous for his austere piety as for his vast hi s . learning , eloquence , and industry One of the last of the distinguished leaders of the mediaeval school of

Realists , he was , nevertheless , behind few of his contem

1 r H u Cosm s u . 286 . Alexande von mboldt in o , 2 Pes chel says in hi s Ges chi chte d er E rd kunde their ob servations w ere as e xact as thos e made now . 3 m s 6 h n t u C s o . 28 . Kri ti s c e U er Alexander von H mboldt in o , i — — su chun en 8 3 7 1 Ghillan s . . . Poscher. g , pp . 3 5 ; y, vol iv vi

1‘ ‘ We find E ras mus calling Strasburg T he home of the mus e s in a

er 15 1 . 26 . l ett written in 6 . Woltmann , i 7 UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 123 poraries in enthusiasm for the newly revived study of his antiquity . Wherever restless activity carried him , at Basle , Paris , Tubingen , and Bern , he had an unusual As Of following . rector of the University Paris he used all his influence to promote the study of the classics in

France , and , above all , to hold up the beauty and purity of style of the Latin writings as an example to be fol was lowed . Paris indebted to him for its first printing ‘ so- house , established by the called German Brother ’ hood . In conj unction with the famous Realist , Wilhelm

: Fichet , he rendered every possible assistance to those scholars who took refuge from Greece in Paris . He carried on a brisk correspondence with Italy , and bought up collections of manuscripts , by careful com parison of which he was able to throw light on the text l i of the c ass c authors . He had great influence on the

a o culture of Agricola and Reuchlin , both of whom knowledge him as their teacher in the most grateful and complimentary terms . At Bern he established a , house of education and discipline , which was placed of under the direction the monk Nicholas Weidenbusch , who was also well versed in the science of medicine . B As a preacher , both at asle and Bern , he waged war 1 against the vices and crimes of the day . At Basle Heynlin was the intellectual centre of a circle of able men , who were active workers , either in the university or the field of literature generally ; amongst them were the following embryo celebrities of first rank —Sebastian Brant and Geiler von Kaisers

W l T extoris — - berg il iam of Aix la Chapelle , professor of T rithemius theology, whom praises for his independence

1 T here are s till five octavo volumes of his s ermons in the Basle r libra y . 1 24 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

O f mind and his eloquence ; and the zealous Church t n o von U e heim . reformer , Christ pher The theologian , J ohann Matthias von Gengenbach , who , in the year 1474 , was called to occupy the first chair of poetry and was the fine arts in Germany , also a member of this

J o circle . The archdeacon , ohann Bergman , fr m Olpe , i n Westphalia , proved himself the disinterested and generous protector of Heynlin and his Humanistic friends . At his own expense he started a printing press for bringing out popular editions of the works of Brant , Wim helin Reuchlin , and p g , beautifully got up , and in many cases illustrated with excellent woodcuts . In this undertaking he was seconded by the printer , Jean

Amerbach , who in turn received much valuable assist f H nlin his e . ance rom y , formerly teacher in Paris After a busy career Heynlin retired to the Carthu sian monastery of St . Margarethenthal, in the valley f 148 7 O . St Margaret , in , and spent the last nine years of his life in prayer and literary work . In this period of seclusion he published editions of nearly all the b e works of Augustine , Ambrose , and Jerome , s ides introductions to and summaries of several of ’ Cicero s works . His treatises on the philosophy of Aristotle Show his familiarity with the system of S tagirites , for the better general understanding of which he was solicitous . A work of his on the Mass went through twenty different editions in the course of twelve years , in Rome , Cologne , Strasburg , Basle , Leipsic , and elsewhere . ’ Wim h elin Like a brave crusader , writes p g concern in g him , he was always ready armed for the fight , and he fought many a hard battle , but his heart was ever inclined for peace . His work was abundantly blessed .

126 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

a the interests of the people that appe led to him . This is strikingly shown by his didactic and religious poem ff ’ Das Narrenschi , one of the most interesting monu

“

. enthusi ments of a pious , patriotic mind He was an a stio worshipper of the ancient order of things under pope and emperor , and he remained unswervingly His true to his creed . principles were summed up in the following lines

Ni ss G u e abfuren t la vom la b n dich , di s utiren Ob man davon will p , Sonder glaub s chl echt einfeltigli ch r Wie die heilige Kirch thut le en dich . N di der s harffen L e r imm ch c h nit an , h Die dein Vernunft nit mag versta n .

Be not led from the Faith although they may dis pute about it . Believe with simplicity what the Church teaches you . Do not trouble yourself about subtleties ’ which it is beyond your power to understand . ’ He nlin s y pupil and friend , the cathedral preacher ,

‘ von 1445 Geiler Kaisersberg, born in , occupied the same He nlin h imself position at Strasburg as y did at Basle . He was the le ading spirit Of an important circle of highly gifted men , on whom the Queen of the Upper

Rhine might well look with pride . As a scholastic theologian , as a zealous promoter of Humanistic studies in the Christian sense , and as a pulpit preacher , he was e ntirely in accord with the mental attitude of his master, in t o He nl . w y These men , together with their friends , J T rithemius ohann and Gabriel Biel , close the list of the C ’ great mediaeval divines . eiler s sound and thorough g oing classical culture rendered him specially capable o f preaching clearly and impressively to the people . His Biblical and patristic learning was wide and t o h rough . While urging strongly on theologians the UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNI NG 127 n ecessity of studying the Scriptures and the early

Fathers of the Church , he was very decided in his O pinion that beginners in divinity studies should not at once be sent to the early Fathers , but should rather have their attention turned to the later theologians and h s c oolmen , who proceed on the plan of setting questions admirably adapted for discussion , refutation of heretics , sh arpening the reason , and clearing up apparent con ’ tradictions . No theologian , he says , should let a day go by without reading and meditating on the sacred

Scriptures , the Book of books , in order to make him Of ff self master them , and to be able to explain e ectively to the people ; but in their expositions they must ’ always look to the Church for guidance . There was scarcely a single individual in Germany at the close of the Middle Ages who was held in such universal honour by his contemporaries as Geiler s carcely anyone who is so great a power even in the

SO - present day , and has far reaching an influence as ’ l - the c ear toned trombone of Strasburg, as Geiler was called . He was remarkable for the possession of two qualities which do not often go together—immense intellectual activity and extreme tenderness of heart .

To great charity towards his neighbour , and sincere humility , he united firm decision , untiring perseverance , n ‘ and indomitable stre gth of character . He spent him ’ in - I Wim helin self love to his fellow nen , says p g , and to the end of his life his heart grieved o ver the sins and

errors of his time . He was austere in his j udgments of

- himself, and practised all manner of self renunciation . At the same time he was the enemy of gloom and

moroseness , was merry and cheerful in his daily life , and warm in his friendship towards th e select number 128 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE who had the good fortune to enjoy familiar intercours e ’ with him .

Amongst his friends was canon Thomas Wolf, at whose house Picus of Mirand ula met a symposium of sages the cathedral dean , Frederick von Hohenzollern the rector , Johannes Rot and the canon , Peter Schott the younger, son of the alderman Peter Schott , through whose influence Geiler had obtained his post

. was at the cathedral The younger Peter Schott , as

w r his writings Sho , an enthusiastic disciple of the olde

Christian school of Humanists , a thoroughly well educated canon , and a pious priest zealous for the

r salvation of souls . It was also the influence of Geile which helped to form the learned theologian , Otmar

achti all N g , who , after travelling over nearly the whole Of Europe and part of Asia, was for a long time pro fessor of Greek in his native city of Strasburg . In the ‘ ’ ‘ preface to his Evangelical History he says : In my boyhood I got a great deal of wholesome instruction

r the from Doctor Geiler von Kaise sberg , both by his sermons he preached at Strasburg , and also later in owe own house . I it to this that men call me un ’ O worldly . God grant this pinion may be true . ’ Ceiler s interest in and active labours for historical and Humanistic studies assumed their true importance after he had succeeded in inducing Brant and Wim pheling to settle at Strasburg . At his suggestion the former was called from Basle in the year 1500 to fill the post of solicitor of the council , and shortly after he T was further appointed city clerk . he latter (Jacob ’ Wim h elin Geiler s p g) , at request , consented to remain , ’ and became Geiler s collaborator in editing the works of Johann Gerson .

1 3 0 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

t o — ‘ in short , that is of importance the town should be recorded, for the use of posterity , for instruction of the

o y ung , for the protection of freedom , and the preser vation Of the privileges conferred on the city by the popes and emperors . He earnestly exhorts the council to provide for the welfare of the cit y by the encourage ment of learning and the erection of schools . In his e nthusiasm for his country he tries to prove that the countries west of the Rhine had always belonged to G ermany , and that the French could not, therefore , rightly lay claim to Alsatia . With the same patriotic ardour he wrote in a Sketch Of the History of Germany down to the ’ Present Time , which he compiled from notes collected ‘ b y Sebastian Murrho in 1502 : I am in a constant s tate of admiration of the old historians , not the later — o nes who appear to me always as detractors . For

o being solicitous , in the first place , not to rec unt any t hing that is false ; and secondly , not to hide what is t rue in order not to be accused of being actuated by

r is party p ej udice or enmity , it their habit , when m d s peaking of the Ger ans , to recor all their faults and vices , even the most trivial ; but as to their virtues , t hey either pass them over altogether, or, if they allude t o so them , the evident reluctance with which they do , n a d the withholding of the merited praise , diminish the e ffect . But we are not ashamed of being de Allemanni admi s cended from the , whose glorious and r ’ a ble deeds will be described in our book . This work is the first general German history written b Humam st y a , and , as far as accurate investigation goes , i t falls far short of the works of an I renicus or a Beatus

Rhenanus , but it gave a strong impulse to the serious U NIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 1 3 1

t th r s tudy of the pas history of e Fatherland . In orde to strengthen the national feeling of the people , and to r Wim helin ouse a spirit of heroism among the young , p g s ets forth in glowing language the glorious past of

G erman v, with which no other nation on earth can c Or ompare either in military prowess , moral purity , i ntellectual feats . The invention of printing alone would have constituted them the greatest benefactors o f t the world and in architecture , pain ing , and sculp ture they were without doubt the greatest masters . He shows great insight in dealing with the intellectual c onditions of the time , discusses the most eminent a and ff d mong the scholars and artists , a or s pleasant proof that even at that early period there were writers who could intelligently handle the history of civilisation and literature in combination with political history . What appeals to us most forcibly in this book is the perfect blending of genuine love for the Church with true patriotism , which indeed was a leading feature , ’ n ot Wim helin s only of p g labours and aspirations , but f o the whole school of Christian Humanists . The de fence of the unity and purity of the faith , together with inviolable loyalty to the empire , was looked on

re - by them as their first duty, and the establishment of

Christianity under the empire was their highest goal .

Hence their reiterated warnings , by word and by writ ing , of the danger to Christianity from the advance of Of the Turks , who threatened to overrun the whole

Europe , and of the risk of decay of the empire through the ambition and covetousness of its separate princes , E from whom the mperor Maximilian , enthusiastic for everything high and noble , could get no support . All ’ Wim helin OII eyes , says p g , are turned on Maximilian

x 2 1 32 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE no emperor , since Charlemagne , has every section of the people built so great hopes . It is the universal expectation that he will unite all the forces of Germany ’ ’ in a campaign against the Turks . How long , he ex to claims to the princes of Germany , will you endure see the Catholic Church undefended , and Constan tin o le unl awfully garrisoned . The wars you are p m fighting a ongst yourselves may be just ones , but the

,

first thing is to fight for Christ . Let there be a truce n so for once to German disse sions , that your invincible valour may be turned against the Turks . Set free the unhappy Christian prisoners who are groaning under

Ottoman chains , and rescue Constantinople from the

of heretics . You are nobles and bear the insignia nobility , chains of gold adorn your necks and costly s rings are on your fingers , your swords and purs sparkle with gold . You are Christians , and wish to be con sidere d D as such let your deeds prove your faith . o not suffer that men should be able to reproach you with ff your cowardice , your indi erence , your luxury and v drinking , your oluptuousness and gambling . How easy a matter it is for princes of Germany to be victo ri " ous , for what a p eople they govern What other nation is comparable to them in arms ? ’ Exhortations of the same nature are repeated by Geiler in his sermons , and by Brant in his great religious poem , and in his smaller Latin poems addressed to the princes and other separatists in the State . A divided nation falls to the the ground . Civil quarrels open door to the foreign t ’ enemy . An unequal team upse s the waggon . The study of the classics was also eagerly pursued at

Strasburg , side by side with that of history , Brant being one of its most energetic promoters . Geiler also , who

1 34 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

surrounded by the poor and needy . He was a com passionat e befriender Of criminals condemned to death a class to whom hitherto in Strasburg the privilege of the Sacraments and of Christian burial had been for bidden .

During thirty years Geiler . in his capacity of cathe dral preacher , exercised a powerful influence over high l w and o who crowded to his pulpit . He understood in a wonderful manner how to stir all the feelings of the human heart , and to kindle lively faith and love of

. l piety At a time when , the ife of the Church permeated so the whole life of the State and of society , a man God fearing and of such intellectual force must have been a great power both in political and social matters . While

’ unsparing in his rebukes of the vices and passions Of the people , and of their insubordination to the consti t ut e d w re authorities , he sho ed equal fearlessness in minding the ruling classes of their duties to the lower he ones . Once , in addressing some tyrannical rulers ,

: used the following scathing words Oh , you frenzied rulers , why do you despise your subjects Are ? they not as good as you Are they baptised in water , and you in malmsey ? Do you think the Sword was . o entrusted to your hand in order to strike , and not t protect

A worthy contemporary of Geiler was his friend ,

Gabriel Biel , professor at the University of Tubingen . After Freiburg and Basle the University of Tubingen in became , in a short space of time , a third nucleus of t ellectual O 147 7 life in South Germany ; it was pened in , and developed s o rapidly to maturity that in 1491 the M arsilius Ficinus Florentine , writing to Reuchlin , the

WII rtemb er . adviser of Eberhard , Count of g , on matters UNIVERSITIE S AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 13 5

regarding the foundation , says , The students who were sent from Tubingen to the Italian universities know as ’ much as others who are leaving college there . Count ’ Ver enhanns Eberhard s tutor , Johannes g , deserved equal credit with Reuchlin for the management of this uni versity . Its first period of renown, before the outbreak Of was theolo the Church schism , due to the learned l Scri toris Summenhart gians , Pau p , Conrad , and Gabriel

Biel .

- The first mentioned , prior of the Brothers Minor in his Tubingen , devoted energies in conjunction with Summenhart to the furthering of t he study of Greek and

Hebrew, and gave private instruction in mathematics on amongst his friends . At his lectures Euclid and 1497 in the Ptolemaic geography , in , his audiences all cluded nearly the professors of the university . His J StOfller pupil , ohannes , pastor of Justingen , made in his own private study celestial globes and tower clocks , and gained wide renown as a mathematician and astro nomer . He took an active share in the improvement of the calendar , and was one of the first writers on geo — Summenhart 1 02 graphical map making . ( 5 ) maintained that a thorough knowledge of the dead languages was necessary to the true interpretation of the Scriptures . ’ His work on Treaties and Conventions , and that on ‘ ’ l l Tithes , were va uab e contributions to the science of political economy . 1495 Gabriel Biel died in . He belonged to the ominalists school of N , and he is one of the few writers of this party who succeeded in constructing a system of ecclesiastical theology which has never bee n attacked by Catholic theologians . Enemies of the scholastics of every shade and 1 3 6 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE description all agree in praising his works for their was simplicity , brevity , and clearness . He called The ’ King of Theologians . Summenhart T rithemius and Biel may be cited with , He nlin in y , Reisch , and others , as instances of the difference shown by the leading German scholastics at the close of the fifteenth century to empty speculations and subtleties of thought , and of the manner in which they grappled with the questions and requirements of the day . ’ Biel s Opinions on the prices of goods and on the l question of wages are still wel worthy of study . His ’ work on gold coinage is , indeed , a golden book . On the subject of the prince ’s right to determine the coin value he expresses himself as follows The ruler , it is c true , has the right of coinage , but the coins in ircula tion do not belong to him , but to those among whom they circulate , who have received them in exchange for bread , labour , and so forth . It is , therefore , an act of fraud for the ruler to recall it at a depreciated value ; this would be as despotic and tyrannical as if he fixed a price on his subject ’s corn with a View to specula ’ tion . Biel is equally emphatic in his condemnation of the

State for infringing on the forest, pasture , and water

o rights of the pe ple . Under the growing despotism of the princes it was high time for Biel to sound the cry that ‘ the princes were only there to carry out the wishes of the nation , and that to oppress the people ’ with taxes was an Ofien ce before God and man . t w Ingolstad , the fourth of the ne ly founded uni

er ities v s in South Germany , attained a high reputa its tion in the first decades of existence , and drew to

1 3 8 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Emperor Maximilian himself appealed to him for his

Opinion on some religious question . On the occasion of his visiting Nuremberg he was recei ved with marked honours by the town council and the litera ti of the place . Although of a conservative nature and a repre sent ative of the olden time , Eck was a follower and l supporter of the new school of learning , and a true friend of the spirit of reform which aimed at purging the old school of all that had ceased to be of any use . 1 511 In he said in one of his lectures , I glory in this our century, in which barbarism has become a thing of w the past , in which the young are educated in the isest manner , and which can boast of the finest speakers m Ger any has ever known , able to discourse both in us Greek and Latin . We have among men who , while rejecting what was superfluous , have given us what was most beautiful in the ancients , and brought to light much that heretofore lay unknown . Truly we have ’ reason to be proud of belonging to such an age .

Among the centres of scholarship in South Germany which did not possess universities Nuremberg was the most important at the close of the Middle Ages . This town was esteemed as the brightest j ewel of the empire , the centre of national intercourse , and the rendezvous of art and industry . Commercial prosperity had en w gendered riches and po er , and developed among the wealthy merchants a love of art and science . The masters of the trade guilds vied in industry and ability with the most prominent artists . The new art of ty pography was practised here as zealously as any where . All the muses may be said to have entered UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 1 3 9

1 741 the gates of Nuremberg when , in June (some l weeks later than the birth of A bert Durer) , the great reformer of the sciences of astronomy and mathematics , . — Johann Mullen—f the wonder of his time surnamed

Regiomontanus after his home in Lower Franconia , o to k up his abode there . He raised the city to the position of one of the chief centres of mathematical and i i phys cal science , and contributed much towards mak ng ’ it the capital of German art . 1448 In Regiomontanus , then barely twelve years old , had entered the University of Leipsic in order to l study philosophy and mathematics . Two years ater he had gone to Vienna to perfect his studies under

George Peuerbach , the most eminent astronomical pro fessor of his day . At Vienna , in his sixteenth year , he O of B A 1458 btained the degree , and in he started 146 1 lectures on mathematics and astronomy , and in on philology . In conj unction with Peuerbach , and under the patronage of Cardinal Bessarion and Bishop von Johann Grosswardein , he compiled several pioneer 1 works on the science of astronomy . These two men were the founders of astronomical calculation and Ob servation . W hile the Germans , owing to their limited maritime power , were not able to do much towards geographical l discovery , they very just y claim to have laid the foundation of modern mathematical geography through u Regiomontan s and Peuerbach . The century in which such men as these flourished may j ustly be called the

German century of geographical science .

1 I n the r s H u s e euer Re iomon wo d of mboldt and Pe ch l , P bach and g tanus influe nce d Cop ernicus and hi s dis ciples as did this latter influence ’ Ne Di e E rdkun d e i m le s H . ut ke tz ten wton and Galile o . See al o W t in D ri tte M t l d es i t ela lters . Dr s e 18 1 . e d n , 7 1 40 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

These two men , under the influence of Nicolaus of Cusa Of , became the restorers , in Europe , direct and n i ndependent scientific research . By careful and u wearied labour they increased and multiplied the treasures of wisdom obtained from the Greeks and b Arabs , and helped to bring a out that grand revolution in scientific thought which resulted in the Copernican ’ s ystem ; for it was chiefly a work of Peuerb ach s on the planets , edited by Regiomontanus , which induced Coper nicus to devote himself to the study of astronomy . In t his work Peuerbach had elaborated a new theory of a d the planets , their spheres and movements , n had t reated the most difficult points with unusual learning a nd distinctness . For nearly a hundred years this work continued to be the principal authorityon astro nomical science , and was used in all the schools of

Europe as a preparation for higher mathematics . ’ Another work of Peuerb ach s on the eclipses of the sun and moon was also first brought out by Regiomontanus ,

as - and w of a like epoch making character . After the d 1461 - eath of Peuerbach in , at the age of thirty eight , R the egiomontanus , at invitation of Cardinal Bessarion , went to Italy . There he remained for several years , d uring which he devoted himself to the study of Greek , and becoming thoroughly acquainted with the historians , ll philosophers , orators , and poets of ancient He as , he himself composed good verses in the Greek language .

He collected many Greek and Roman manuscripts , and turned his attention to Biblical and theological studies . With his own hand he made a clear and correct copy of a Greek edition of the New Testament which he could not succeed in procuring , and he carried it c onstantly about with him . He gave astronomical

142 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE a whole populous city with a deep interest in all the

o higher things of the mind , and to find helpers and c labo urers in all his different enterprises in all classes of life . In order to initiate the educated citizens in his studies and discoveries he gave popular lectures on astronomy and mathematics , a thing hitherto unheard

I n . of Germany The city clock was rebgulated accord ing to the length of day which he had calculated for

Nuremberg . He wrote able treatises on light reflectors ,

u . hydra lics , and weights He established a large factory all where kinds of astronomical instruments , machinery, c l ompasses , and g obes were made under his directions , and which proved of great use in nautical science . In a short time Nuremberg sea compasses had become famous all over Europe , and this city earned the gratitude of geographical students by the excellent maps which it produced . In order to encourage a love of science , particularly of astronomy and mathe matics set , Regiomontanus used to problems , for the ff s olution of which he o ered prizes . With the pecuniary assistance of his friend and pupil , Bernhard Walther, he founded an establishment for the express p urpose of printing mathematical and astronomical works , thus inaugurating a fresh develop ment in the art of printing and meriting the title to a place beside its inventor . Besides scientific works of the highest character this establishment published the

first popular almanac , which has served as a pattern up to the present day . w He conceived the idea of publishing a history , ith illustrations and commentaries , of all the most famous m an athematicians , astronomers , and astrologers of UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 1 43

tiquity and Of the Middle Ages . He had already — prepared a catalogue and secured the co operation of the great authorities at different German and foreign h universities , when his premature death cut s ort his 1 d esign . Through the princely generosity of Bernhard

Walther , Regiomontanus was enabled to build the first complete observatory in Europe , and to furnish it with all those instruments for astronomical Observations which he had himself either invented or improved . He was the first of the astronomers of the Western world who calculated the size , the distance , and the o Of rbits the comets , and thus brought these hitherto e nigmatical bodies within the limits Of distinct scien tific Observation . AS the improver of the astrolabe , the inventor of ’ ff Jacob s sta , and founder of the scientific annual

‘ ’ c m alled Ephemerides , he connected Ger an astro nomical e with Spanish nautical knowledg , and thus , in

co- fact , became a agent in the great discovery of the ’ ff a e . g Without Jacob s sta and the perfected astrolabe , by means of which astronomical distances were calcu sun lated from the height of the , it would have been impossible for the great navigators of the period ll Columbus , Vasco da Gama , Cabot , and Mage an to have ventured so far on the ocean and to have made their great discoveries . Columbus and Vespucius started for the New World equipped with the c alcula tions which Regiomontanus had made during thirty- two ‘ ’ years in the Ephemerides . By means of these the

1 h has e er ee rr e out the u T e plan n v b n ca i d , and val able letters of

Re t us e ee u use s e giomon an , which might hav b n of m ch to ci nc e and — s re u k . As . 55 1 552. s tudent , main n nown chbach , i 144 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE former was enabled to foretell an eclipse of the moon in the West Indies . On their very first appearance in the year 1 475 they had excited such interest in all T he countries that they could command any price . trafli cked Venetians with them in Greece , and any library which contained even a fragment of them was looked upon with envy . Among those who prided n themselves on being pupils of Regiomontanus , Marti Behaim of Nuremberg gained a high reputation as cosmographer and navigator . He took a personal

his share in voyages of discovery , and marked out on terrestrial globe the way to the East Indies round

Africa six years before its discovery by Vasco da Gama . The first steps to the discovery of the Straits of

Magellan are also to be attributed to Behaim . Magel lan himself says unmistakably over and over again that he found this passage , afterwards called after him , ’ h on a map of Behaim s , and that it was this map whic suggested to him the idea of sailing this way to the

Molucca Islands . Regiomontanus had already achieved European i renown when Pope S xtus IV . appointed him bishop of own sum Ratisbon , and by a letter in his handwriting moued him to Rome to take part in the revision of the

Julian Calendar . In obedience to this call he left

Nuremberg in 1475 . At Rome he was received every where with marked honour , but the following year he

- died prematurely at the age of forty one . The import ance that was attached to his personality may be to some extent estimated from the fact that the apparition of a comet at the time of his death was supposed to be t closely connec ed with his departure from life . In 1507 Wimpheling wrote as follows to a Roman

146 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Of the pursuit these studies , and acquired such a funda mental knowledge Of them that their names may not unfairly be coupled with the mathematicians Of their ’ Dur r Of times . e s books on the art surveying were a his valuable contribution to mathematics , while

Of - exquisite celestial chart , a model the wood cutting Of art , was no less value to astronomical science . Pirkheimer assisted Schoner in the manufacture Of astronomical instruments , and from a copy in his valuable library he had the works Of Archimedes published . Wimpheling emphasises the fact that Regiomontanus was no less assiduous in the encouragement Of the fine a Of rts at Nuremberg , as also in promoting the study f O . the Greek language and history He was , indeed , Of the Of one first the Germans who , after learning G reek in Germany , perfected their knowledge in Italy by means Of intercourse with learned Greeks in that

c . ountry He could not , moreover, have executed — his great work maps Of the different countries Of

Europe , with historical and geographical notes from the — most reliable sourceS without the help Of historic al s tudies . ' Loefielholz The patricians , Johann and Johann Pirk

Of Wilib ald heimer , the father , and Sebald Schreyer were s ignally distinguished for their enlightened patronage

O f . science and learning They founded libraries , took

o young sch lars into their own families , and assisted them i n bringing out their works . Through the liberality Of S t w Schedel chreyer the o n physician , Hartmann , was b OOk Of enabled to publish his beautiful chronicles , illustrated with more than excellent woodcuts . S chedel Of also published a great work , the result the UNI VERSI T I E S AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEAR NI NG 147 a ntiquarian collection he had made during his student d l ays at Padua a col ection from manuscripts and books ,

Of Of as well as personal research , all the memorable relics — — I taly especially Of Rome and Padua and with special

r Of egard to legends and inscriptions , for the delight ’ SO posterity , he says , and for their encouragement to ’ His Pir h go on improving . friend Willibald k eimer

placed at his disposal many notes , extracts and copies

r for a similar work on Ge man antiquities . The Bene d ictine Meisterlein monk , Siegmund , who wrote the

Of history Nuremberg from the earliest times , was the

friend Of Schedel and Schreyer . Nuremberg possessed SO many patrons Of belles - [ewes that it w as rightly considered the first town in Germany in which classic

literature had been assiduously cultivated . Foremost among these for liberal generosity was Willibald Pirkheimer (born in the patron p ar excellence Of learning ; he was equally renowned as l j urist , statesman , speaker , historian and philo ogist — and as commander - in chief to Maximilian he was

known abroad as well as at home . He was as a prince

in the then world Of scholars . His literary connections Hi . s extended to France , Italy , and England house - and library were stocked with treasures Of art and Of learning , and formed the nucleus the Humanist l fol owing in Germany . It is true that Pirkheimer does not bear comparison Wim helin von with his friends p g , Geiler Kaisersberg , f and Brant in purity O morals . He did not altogether keep free from the naturalistic theories Of life Of the

so . ancients , whom he studied eagerly He was not always free from passions : he sometimes indulged in ’ Durer Slander . Albert s letters to him are proofs Of

L 2 14 8 HI ST ORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE other not very edifying things by which he undoubtedly sometimes endangered his reputation . His concep tions Of antiquity were tainted with the errors which afterwards became the cause Of fierce battle between the younger Humanists and the defenders Of revealed religion . Like Erasmus , he made repeated and whole sale attacks Ou the ecclesiastical teaching Of the Middle

Ages . On the other hand , however , he was a zealous Of advocate ecclesiastical literature , publishing and translating the works Of the early Fathers and Christian t wri ers , and in his prefaces and introductions there is always the true ring Of a pure religious mind . The character Of Willibald appears at its best in his Of brotherly relations with his sister Charity , abbess

St . Clare . The letters which the brother and sister g Of exchan ed , together with the memoirs the abbess , Of are a precious legacy wisdom , piety , and pure m orality . Peutin er 1465 Of Conrad g , born in , the friend Wilib ald Of , exerted in his native town Augsburg as great an intellectual influence as did the latter in Of Nuremberg . He was a noble and generous nature ,

- with a keen and far reaching intellect . Already in his Of early years he had acquired at the colleges Rome ,

Padua and Bologna , and by close intercourse with Pom onius Laetus Pious Of p , Mirandola , and Angelus Politi anus belles , a thorough training in jurisprudence ,

Zettres . , and art After his fortieth year, and at the Of d Of instance Reuchlin , he took up the stu y Greek , f and gained a mastery O the language . Ulrich Zasius reckons him among the few who arrived at a clear under Of law standing Roman , and who were instrumental in rightly grafting it on to the German Code . He was also

150 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Of . sessed its own printing press , by means which , as v well as by purchase and exchange , it amassed a alu able library , containing many classical works . At the Of Gossemb rot suggestion the burgomaster , Sigismund , Meist erlein Of the zealous Humanist , Siegmund , a monk Of that monastery , had written a history Augsburg in 1456—1457 which lat er the year , on , under the direction Of von Giltlin en the abbot Johann g , he had supple mented by an ecclesiastical history Of the city and Of intelli the monastery , in which he showed remarkable f f gence O research and originality O treatment . His manner Of relating the things which came under his . O personal bservation was particularly vivid . A literary society for the special purpose Of historical research was formed in Augsburg among the clergy , the town Peutin er h councillors , and other citizens , and g was bot its animating soul and most active member . At great labour and expense he founded a library which was . Specially distinguished for its valuable records Of early

~ German history . He was indefatigable in collecting manuscripts , coins , and other antiquities ; and he

Of . gathered together by degrees a collection , unique its Of kind , Roman inscriptions found in the city and

f . O . diocese Augsburg These inscriptions , the earliest

Of materials for the history Augsburg , were published 1505 Of by him in the year , by order Maximilian and with the assistance Of the historical society . He brought out the following year , under the title Table ’ Of talk on the Antiquarian Wonders Germany , a work the which gained him widespread literary renown . In ’ 1 507 Of Li urinus an year appeared the first edition g , Of Of historical poem the times Frederick Barbarossa , and which Conrad Celtes found in the cloister Of Erbach UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 151

Of It won the admiration all scholars , and reached 1 1 41—1 1 seven editions within a year . Later ( 5 5 5) Peutin ger enriched historical science with editions Of three — chronicles the chronicle Of Ursperg discovered by Of ordanis him , the history the Goths by J , and the history of the Lombards by the deacon Paulus . The Emperor Maximilian had selected Peutinger for other works Of an historical nature which were con ’ n ected with that philanthropic emperor s well - known Of plans for the promotion learning in Germany . The most active centres of these schemes were eu the Imperial Court at Vienna , where Maximilian de avoured to gather together the learned men Of the i i Of day , and also the Un vers ty Vienna , which had f grown to be the chief seat O learning in Europe . The Emperor Maximilian had already in early f youth evinced a deep love O science and literature . Through the solicitude Of his father he had received a u caref l education , and had been thoroughly instructed in all the different branches Of the learning Of his Of f time . The library Vienna contains writings O his Of his on the genealogy and history own dynasty , on

Of - heraldry , on the science artillery , on battle arms , architecture , the chase , hawking , and other subjects . Of NO prince the Middle Ages equalled him as a linguist . He was familiar not only with the different dialects Of Of his own dominions , but with those many foreign lands SO that in one Of his campaigns he was able to converse with seven different commanders in their own languages . SO great especially was his proficiency in Pirkheimer Latin that , who was acquainted with parts Of his memoirs , assured a friend that no German scholar could have written in a purer style . Even during his HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

campaigns he read constantly from the best poets . ‘ ’ T rithemius There is no one in Germany, writes ,

who has a greater thirst for learning , a stronger love Of all the manifold sciences , or a keener delight in their spread than King Maximilian , the friend and ’ patron Of all scholars .

Unlike many contemporary princes , Maximilian did not confine his favour to the teachers Of some one favourite branch , but encouraged study in all . Theo lo ians g , historians , j urists , poets , linguists , but above his all Humanists and artists , had protection and help . They all spoke with the highest enthusiasm Of the prince , who united the greatest cordiality with the most princely dignity, drawing them to his presence , gain ing their confidence , and communicating life and soul to everything around him . Maximilian gained the honourable name Of Father ’ Of the Arts and Sciences principally because , in the Of Wim helin Of his words p g , The one high aim all ff Of e orts was the glory the Church and State , the eleva f f ’ O O . tion morals , and the encouragement patriotism In nothing SO much as in the province Of learning was the motto which a Rhenish Francoman applied to him more appropriate

Ger I Ger I man am , man maintain , er I er r r G man gov n , Ge man I emain .

’ eu s und s D t ch bin ich inn ich , u s un De t ch handle ich d bleib e ich .

This was the keynote to his unwearied labours in Of so the cause history , which had never had intelligent or generous a patron in any Of the Roman emperors Of

Germany , either before or after him .

‘ Joseph Grii nb e ck relates that he took in nothing

154 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE soul this wise young king had "He is an example to ' ’ n all future kings a d princes . Wimpheling writes Of him to the same effect ‘ Whatever tends to throw light on the history Of the German people commands the entire sympathy Of the Old his king . He buries himself in chronicles and t orians ; he has their writings collected and published , and is in constant correspondence about them with all the most learned men . He is now consulting with the scholars Of his neighbourhood with regard to publishing Of ll Of a popular book , under the title Picture Ga ery ” German Ancestors . Pe utinger was engaged by him to prepare an exhaustive work on the emperors and he also prepared , Of Of a as a basis for a history the house Hapsburg , Of Of kind register , in aid which the Emperor not only had chronicles and histories sent over from far and s near , but also himself instituted personal researche , and SO brought on himself not unfrequently the oriti cisms Of his learned and independent friend . Maximilian s et o St ab ius Suntheim his historians , J hann , Ladislaus , to Of and Jacob Manlius explore a great part Germany , f O . Italy , and France in search manuscripts Of Aided by the generosity Maximilian , Conrad

Celtes , accompanied by the mathematician , Andreas l Stiborius , trave led through Northern Germany with

O Of the bj ect compiling an historical , geographical , and Wim helin statistical work . p g asserts that once , when hard up for money , Maximilian pawned a jewel which he prized highly in order to raise funds to make it possible to complete a scientific journey undertaken at his instigation . By imperial command Sun theim col l ect ed materials for a genealogical history Of the house U NI VERSI T I ES AND OTHER CENT RES OF LEAR NI NG 1 55

Of Hapsburg and the other German princely dynasties ; and also by imperial command Stabius and the Court .

ie shaimer Of S . physician and keeper archives , Johann p , ‘ Cus inianus Of named p , edited the first edition Otto ’ ’ von Radevicus . Freising , and his successor , There was SO much coherence and system in all these enterprises Of the Emperor that one might almost s ay he had established a society for the promotion Of

a the study of history and arch eology , and had undertaken as the presidency Of it . But what w most gratifying in all this industry was t he ultimate Obj ect for which it .

was Of . carried on , Viz . the encouragement patriotism Maximilian did not confine his zeal to the restora tion Of historical monuments : he also saved many k literary treasures , popular poems , and fol lore from being forgotten or lost . We are indebted to him for the preservation Of one Of the most exquisite pearls Of ’ a medi eval high German poetry , Die Gudrun , which ’ ranks with the Nib elungen as a star Of the first mag nitude the , and which he ordered to be placed among parchments Of the Amb rasian collection Of manuscripts . His own literary activity is best embodied in the ’ T heu r nk i e da Weisskun . and the g The former , an Of allegorical poem , is taken from the incidents his Of own life . He composed the greater number the songs with which it is interspersed , and they were then worked up and ornamented by his secretary , Melchior

Pfin zin f O . . g , provost St Albans in Mentz This work , the first edition Of which belongs to the wonders Of typographical art , met with the warmest reception from his contemporaries , who recognised in it the noblest

f As . characteristics O the Emperor . a poem it is is wanting in taste ; the language grave and measured , . 1 56 H ISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE but without force or fervour ; the work is deficient in ’ O invention . The poet s bj ect is to prove that , no m how Of atter strong the temptations life , a firm and full confidence in God will triumph over them ; and he O Of ff has succeeded in his bject . A victim su ering and privation , the hero pursues his way undaunted . He journeys through a world at enmity to him , and reaches his goal by the help Of a pure conscience and unshaken trust in God . In reading the poem one is unconsciously ’ ’

Of DII rer s . reminded Albert Knight , Death , and Devil ’ While the allegorical poem Der T heuerdank t Of Of reats the private life Maximilian , the prose ‘ ’ work Der Weisskunig is founded on his public f a ctivity and the warlike incidents O his life .

Of O sa Speaking scholars , Maximilian used ften to y Of that they ought to be rulers instead subjects , and t hat they were worthy Of all honour on account Of the superior gifts with which God and nature had endowed them . It is therefore easy to see why he constantly w d sought their company , treated them ith marke Of distinction , and confided matters importance to f them . Almost all his councillors were men O learn

Of . ing , friends and patrons classic literature Amongst

- them were the already mentioned Court historians ,

Suntheim St ab ius . Ladislaus , Jacob Manlius , and Johann ” 1 503 The latter , who since the year had accompanied n the Emperor in nearly all his travels , was co sidered one Of the most eminent scholars at the University Of

Vienna, and left several mathematical , historical , and a st ronomical works behind him . The Imperial Court Of secretary , Sebastian Sprenz , later bishop Brixen , was distinguished for his knowledge Of Hebrew and mathematics . The imperial councillors , Graf Ulrich

HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE But the Humanist studies owed their success at Vienna pre - eminently to the services Of the gifte d 1 497 Conrad Celtes , who was invited in by Maximilian himself to be professor at the university . In his thoroughly Greek materialistic Views Of life and his epicurean habits Celtes was not in harmony with the Of Of principles the severe Christian schools Humanists , b ut rather with the young progressive section Of

Germany . This brought down on him the strongly — expressed Opprobrium Of the lofty minded Charity Pirkheimer for having allowed himself to be carried away by the heathen classics . But there remains to h im the praise Of untiring zeal with which he laboured “ incessantly to awaken in all parts Of Germany an

“ SO interest in learning , and for having done much both by word and by writing to develop the study Of f n ational history . He could boast O having travelled Of Of to the sources all the principal rivers Germany,

O f Of having seen her best cities , having visited all her Of Of universities , and having gained a better knowledge her people than anyone before him had ever possessed . He had intended to sum up the results Of these travels and Of his long years Of research in an exhaustive history Of Germany and the Germans but in the midst

- Of i n 1 508 Of . his labours he died , at the age forty nine Of Many treasures ancient literature , such as the

Of nun Of Gende rsheim works Roswitha , the , and the ’ h Li urinus istorical poem g , were rescued by him from

O blivion . On this poem he gave lectures at Vienna . He was the first German professor who taught the h istory Of the world in a connected and systematic m Of an anner at a university , and whose treatment Germ h istory was of a nature to arouse an interest in the past U NI VERSI TI ES AND OTH ER CENTRES OF LEARNI NG 159

a mong his pupils . Gifted with an unusual capacity for teaching , Celtes gathered around him a large Of ff number zealous students , and he made special e orts to interest the nobility in science and literature . He enriched the imperial library, which had been founded by Maximilian and entrusted to his care , with Greek b OOkS Of &c . and Latin great worth , with globes , maps , , S O that by degrees it became a most valuable place Of reference for students . He also displayed great ability as the director Of ’ so— l Of o n the cal ed Academy P ets , fou ded at his s uggestion by Maximilian in 1 501 for the purpose of furthering the study Of poetry and mathematics at the university , and keeping up an interest in these subj ects . ’ ‘ Of n This academy , the first the kind con ected with i Of Of any German university , cons sted a group learned men and promising students , who lived together in the Of same house , and it acquired the privilege conferring ’ Of an academic degree , that the crowned poets . ‘ ’ Celtes established in Vienna the Danube Society , which was on the same principle as the Rhenish ’ d Literary Society , which he had founde earlier for

Of Of belles - lettres the furthering the study humanities , ,

and . science It counted among its members Germans ,

Magyars , Slavs , and Italians . Amongst the most active Of Cus inian them was p , who devoted himself from preference to historical studies . Besides other works he left one Of much merit On the Roman emperors of the German nation , the material for which he had Obtained by diligent research among Austrian archives f and libraries . Other enthusiastic members O the Stabius society were the mathematician Johann , Andreas the d Stiborius , and physician Bartholomew Steber , calle 1 60 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

ScI I O Of m p , who were also all them among the ost Of highly esteemed professors the university .

Of This university, with its hundreds professors , — undoubtedly reached it s zenith of glory its golden — Of age under the patronage Maximilian , who spared no pains or personal sacrifice to raise it to the foremost f f rank O European universities . Even the University O

Loriti Glareanus Paris , according to the Humanist , could f not at that time compete with that O Vienna . The Of French chronicler Pierre Froissart , a man remarkable f learning and keen penetration , speaks with surprise O the number Of distinguished scholars whom he met at Of ll Of Vienna , and the vigorous inte ectual activity the Of students . He marvelled also at the unrestrained life the Court , and the friendly and confidential intercourse which existed between the Emperor and the men Of ‘ ’ ‘ letters . The Emperor, he writes , not only calls s them his friends , but treats them as such , and it appear to me that he seeks their society gladly , and is much i s influenced by them . There certainly no other ruler who is so willing to learn from those more learned than own SO his he is , and whose mind is cultivated that ’ 1 questions are themselves instructive . The plastic arts also enj oyed the patronage and s encouragement Of Maximilian . He caused churche and castles to be built or repaired , employed brass founders , armourers , workers in gold and silver ,

- painters , wood cutters , and copper engravers . Many Of the finest works Of art Of that time owed their creation to his patronage . The noble monument on his own tomb at Innsbruck , which he and his friend

Peutin e r Conrad g designed together , is the best testi ’ mony Of the Emperor s ar tistic power .

1 1 —16 L e fti es . 4 . , pp

1 62 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Of men in the days strong faith and true courage , when find greater j oy in high ideals than in the merely prao tical things Of life . Of The Church enlisted art in the service God , making u se Of it as a valuable supplement to the written and oral instruction which She gave the people . Artists thus became her allies in the task Of ‘ Setting forth the beauties Of the Gospel to the poor and un ’ w learned . All the great artists grasped ith fidelity Of Of this idea the mission art , and turned their talents f into a means for the service O God and man . Their

was its aim not to exalt beauty for own sake , making Of an altar and an idol it ; but rather , according to ’ ' n Of Seb ald s Peter Fischer s i scription on the base St . ‘ f ’ ’ O l . shrine , For the setting forth God s wi l They strove by the greatness and elevation Of their works to kindle admiration for the beautiful , and this not o Of nly for the sake culture , but with a View to the moral training Of the people ; not for the luxurious Of gratification the great and the wealthy , but for the f f glory O the Church and the elevation O national life .

’ Of art All branches thus formed one great whole . o Architects , sculpt rs , painters , musicians , worked in unison together , all actuated by the same religious and wa t patriotic intention . And it s this unity that was a f the bottom O their greatness . Owing to the close

’ relationship thus existing between artists Of six difleren t branches it was no uncommon occurrence for a great ff —Al in artist to work in di erent lines bert Durer, for stance , was painter , sculptor, woodcutter , and engraver all in one . He was distinguished , moreover , for his Of not knowledge perspective and architecture , and was S unskilled as a writer . O long as German art preserved INTRODUCTION 163

i t s religious and patriotic spirit it continued to flourish a nd to be a power all over the world . But in propor

tion as religious faith and earnestness dwindled , and a ncient creeds and traditions were either forgotten or

d . espised , art , too , declined In proportion as men began t o run after false gods and strove to resuscitate the dead Of SO world heathendom , artistic , creative , and ideal

power gradually weakened , until it became altogether b arren and lifeless . Many examples still remain to testify to the dignity O f Of German art at the close the Middle Ages , but all Of them , from the splendid cathedral to the simplest a Of rticle household furniture , are but poor and broken fragments Of the real beauty and greatness Of that Of period . The most magnificent creations German mediaeval art were either destroyed in the religious and Of political wars the following centuries , the peasant ’ wars , the Thirty Years War , and the later French wars , or else carried away to perish in foreign lands . Even ‘ Of Of so- eu in times peace , during the period called ’ li htenment Of g , there raged an incredibly fierce spirit antagonism against everything in art that bore the

German stamp Of Christian teaching . HI ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

CHAPTER I

ARCHI T ECT URE

I N all nations where the artistic sense is a dominant feature architecture may be said to form the nucleus Of their art life . In this art , more than in any other , we Of Of have a mirror the striving , knowing , and doing the

' is Of difler people , and it also the truest expression the ent movements and tendencies Of thought Of any given

Of ae period . It is the most reliable proof the sthetic f n i sense and the artistic powers O a ation . It s the direct utterance Of the mental and physical wants Of the day ; it stands in close relation to contemporary re li ious n Of g thought and feeling , and is the best i dex the t connection existing between art and social life . I forms the point Of convergence Of all other branches Of

the na tiona l art V0 llcslcnns t art , and may justly be called ( ) in every sense Of theword .

German art , which grew up to greatness in the m onasteries , was , like monasticism itself, a national growth , and it reached its climax in architecture towards the end Of the Middle Ages . Nowhere did the innate architectural genius Of the Teutonic races produce such truly great artists as in Germany .

t o v Of True the pre ailing Christian tendency thought , this German creative force manifested itself most exu Of b erantly in the erection churches and cathedrals . In every part Of Germany there arose countless magni

fic ent Of ecclesiastical structures , witnesses the deep

1 6 6 HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE Each pupil was obliged to go through a certain period Of study and travel , and only became a master when he had executed some thoroughly good piece Of work O Of manship . It is nly by means this strict guild dis cipline that the perfection to be found in a Gothic was cathedral could have been attained . It this mode

Of working in unison , the brotherhood which existed between the stonecutters , carpenters , builders , lock ll &c . a smiths , , that produced the harmony , by which the minutest details Of each part are blended into One great whole . Of — For the help and profit the master builders , and in order to prevent misunderstandings , discord , and Of ff all jealousies among the members di erent guilds , the separate building societies united together towards the middle Of the fifteenth century in one universal Of brotherhood . At two conventions stonemasons , held 1459 1464 at Ratisbon in and at Spires in , all the different guilds formed themselves unanimously into Of the four principal associations Strasburg , Cologne ,

’ - in- Of Vienna , and Bern , and elected the architect chief the Strasburg Cathedral to be their president and ruler . Every one Of the guilds was placed under the same

u - t o r les and bye laws , and bound themselves abide by Of the fundamental principle all success , Brotherhood , ’

O . the friendship , and bedience Without God and ’ compass , art and rule aid no one . ’ ‘ ’ In a stonecutter s code Of rules dated 1462 we ‘ read as follows : Masters and apprentices should be u orderly , Should phold each other , and attend each

Sunday at High Mass , and receive Holy Communion at . ’ least once a year . Piety and faith were considered t f the streng h O the guild . The code adds : Every master should keep his workshop clear Of all distur b i ARCHITE CTURE 167

ance and discord , and it should be as free and orderly ’ Of as a hall j ustice . Each member paid a weekly con trib ution for the support Of the Church and for the benefit of sick members . All gambling , drunkenness , immorality , swearing , or cursing were severely con

n was . dem ed . All teaching free to apprentices These societies were the most popular Of the ’ national institutions , and Maximilian s desire to be instructed in the art Of the compass and whatever ’ belonged to it , and his being enrolled as a member ’ Of locked Of the builders guilds , were on as marks patriotism . Outside the guilds many architects were to be found in the monasteries , particularly in those belong ing to the Cistercians , Benedictines , and Dominicans . The latter had a sort Of school Of architecture in

Strasburg . SO long as the technicalities Of the art were handed down by tradition no books Of instruction on archi tecture were written . It was only when the Renais sance movement broke in from foreign countries that this became necessary just as had been the case with regard to German law when the Roman code began to f come into vogue . By command O that ecclesiastical Of von Reichnau lover art , Bishop William , the archi t e ct Matthew Boritz er Of Ratisbon wrote (148 6) a ’ pamphlet , entitled Ueber der Fialen Gerechtigkeit , in which in plain , unsophisticated fashion he described the principles Of development Of certain parts Of a 1 51 6 Gothic building . In the year the Palatinate architect , Lawrence Lacher , wrote a similar work for his sons . In these early writings we already get glimpses Of the truth that the highest art is the result Of w inward laws controlling the out ard form , and that 1 68 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE complete and harmonising beauty can only be produced by the union Of freedom and law .

For centuries German architecture , uniting in this manner artistic freedom and technical exactitude , made its mark over the Christian world . It became natural ised in Italy through the cathedrals and churches Of

Milan , Florence , Orvieto , Assisi , and Siena , as well as Of through many other buildings , some greater , some Of 148 1 lesser , importance . In the year we find Stras burg architects sent for to Italy to give their Opinions with regard to the completion Of the Milan Cathedral . ’ The Germans , said the Italian Paul Jovins , are

art carrying everything before them in , and we , sluggish Italians must needs send to Germany for good ’ 1580 workmen . Andrea Palladio , who died in , one Of the most influential promoters Of the Renaissance t Of archi ecture , pronounced the buildings the German school to be the best in Italy . n In E gland , German architecture reigned supreme at this period , and left its stamp in the cathedrals and Of churches Salisbury , Ely , Lincoln , Worcester , Win ce chester , Glou ster , Exeter , Beverley, Bristol and York . In Portugal it embodied itself in the cathedrals Of Barce lona , Leon , Oviedo , Toledo , Seville , and the monastery Of churches Batalha and Belem . In Burgos , towards the Of middle the fifteenth century, an architect from Cologne executed the most beautiful facade for a church . Palma , Of is in the island Majorca , a Gothic city which looks as if it were all one construction . It is probable that after the taking Of the island by the Spaniards a colony Of German stonecutters emigrated there . Throughout Hungary also we find buildings Of the German school Of architecture , and partly executed by German masters , which challenge comparison with structures in any

1 7 0 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

so t number , however , which have survived is grea that we have no hesitation in saying that at no other period Of history were SO many buildings erected for the worship Of God as in that extending from the b e Of ginning the fifteenth century to the Reformation . Of was This zeal pervaded the whole Germany , and found in small as well as in large towns even in the Villages there sprang up churches which in artistic w in beauty ere equal to the great cathedrals , and proportionate expenditure Of labour and money were not 1 Of outdone by the minster edifices Freiburg and Ulm . Of Even in the remote northern parts Germany, s where culture was slow in penetrating , many churche 2 were erected or remodelled between 1450 and 1515 ; Of such there are specimens in Berlin , Brandenburg ,

Dantzic Breslau , , Furstenwald , Gardelegen, Gleiwitz , ii terb o Lii b eck Gustrow , Havelberg , Heiligengrabe , J g , ,

- eustadt—Eb erswald Neu ruppin , N , Pelplin , Pritzwalk , Stral Rostock , Salzwedel , Seehausen , Stendal , Stettin , T an ermii nd sund , g , Thorn , Werben , Wilsnack , Wismar , lmir t t Wur th n W o s ad s ause . Wittstock , , , and Ziesar In many Of these places the building Of several churches i in . Dantz c was carried on at the same time In , for ’ ’ stance , besides the magnificent St . Mary s the ’ 1460 noble St . John s ( the Holy Trinity Church f f e O . O and the chapel St Anna , the choir the Carmelit

Of . Church , the Church St Bartholomew, and others , were 1481 built or completed ( In these districts , the where they were reduced to working with bricks ,

1 T he n ames Of mos t of the archite cts of tho se buildings are unknown ; 1 20 e r u re r e s ar k but b etwe en 1450 and 5 n a ly two h nd d a chit ct e nown , s b e e Burk r En elber er Au s ur among t whom may e m ntion d ha d g g in g b g , — h ri z es R s . See Si hart . 418 495 . and t e M o t in ati bon g , pp 2 I n this li st are mentione d only those buildings whose dat es are

- u e . 489 623 . a thentic . Ott , pp ARCHITECT URE 171 powers Of North German master- builders were remark ably exemplified ; for with this plain material they could produce the most magnificent work . They ex f T he celled Specially in the art O making arches . Of Dant zic highest these was to be found in . Of was d At Stuttgart the Church St . Leonard erecte in 1474 1 490 l , the abbey church in ; and the hospita 4 Of . was 1 67 t Church St Ulrich commenced in , while tha f O . was 14 St George completed between 90 and 1 505 . ’ St . Maurice s dates from the same period . Amongst . the most magnificent architectural works are the Cathe dral Of Ratisbon Of Ulm and the Frauen f O 1468 148 8 . kirche Munich , erected between and Westphalia and the Rhenish Provinces kept pace uabi with S a and Bavaria in architecture at this period . Among the Westphalian cathedral s and churches may Of be mentioned those Blomberg , Bocholt , Borken , Coes

Corb ach feld , , Dortmund , Everswinkel , Hamm , Lies s born , Lippstadt , Ludinghau en , Mollenbeck , Munster ,

Nottuln , Rheine , Schwerte , Soest , Unna , Vreden , and

Weddern .

In the Rhenish Provinces may be mentioned Alzey ,

- Andernach , Baden Baden , Basle , Bern , Bingen , Bonn ,

Bruchsal, Calcar , Clausen near Treves , Cleves , Coblenz , ] Cologne , Constance , Cues on the Mose , Duisburg , Elten ,

r Herensheim Emmerich , Essen , Freibu g , Heidelberg , near Worms , Kiedrich , Lamdan in the Palatinate

eustadt - ou- - Linz , Mentz , Meisenheim , Metz , N the Hardt , R k l okes l . y , St Goar , Simmern , and Sobernheim above T haum Kreuznach , Strasburg , , Treves , Worms , Xanten ,

- Zug , and Zurich . In the last mentioned city the Min ster was built between 14 8 0 and 1490 the Church of w 1484 1 5 07 Our Lady bet een and , and the Wasser 14 kirche between 7 9 and 148 6 . Architectural activity 1 72 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

‘ was at its height in Cologne in the fifteenth century . ’ The following churches were all enlarged during the f latter half O the fifteenth century : St . Ursula between 1449 and 1467 ; the Church Of the Holy Apostles in 14 9 Of 1451 St . Severin in 7 the Church the Brothers 8 t . 14 0 S . Minor , Lawrence and St Martin , in and the f 3 148 . Church O St . John and Cordula in In the years 1456 14 93 1 504 , , and additions were made to the f 14 1491 C O . . 72 hurch St Columba In , and again after , ’ " Of St . Paul s was enlarged . The Church the Maccabees 1462 Of 146 9 was erected in ; the Chapel St . Thomas in f 14 14 h O . 7 7 the Chapel St Catherine in 74 . In the C urch f 8 O . 14 0 and cloister St Apern ; , the Church and Mon a stery Of Sion ; about 148 0 the Church Of the Brothers Of the Cross ; in 148 3 the Church and Monastery Of ’ M mmer l h f o s oc ; in 148 9 the Baptistery O St . John s ; 1490 Of 1493 , the Church the Weidenbach Brothers ; f 1 05 Of . O 5 the second Chapel St Mary the Capitol , the f ll O . . a Baptistery St Severin Besides this , operations were carried on intermittently at the great cathedral 1447 1 13 from to 5 .

In the Rhenish Provinces , where , on the whole , C hristian architecture reached its highest development , the years from 1450 to 1 515 were perhaps the most “ Of fruitful period the Middle Ages . Grand structures were erected even in small places ; as , for instance , Of were built the beautiful parish church , the Chapel

'

St . Michael at Kiedrich in the Rheingau , and the ’ ir Schwanenk che . The latter may perhaps be said to f f mark the highest point O art in buildings O this sort . It Shows also in a striking manner how the architects Of those days could adapt themselves to circumstances , and could deal equally skilfully with small matters

. as with large ones .

1 74 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

1 484—1501 1460 Rotenburg , ; Schlierbach , ; Schmal 1 509 SchOnb er 1 490 1 506 kalden , ; g , ; Schweinsberg, ; S 1 464 148 3—1493 148 6 oden , ; Sontra , Spangenberg , ; S iessca el 1 500—1504 148 1 1511 p pp , ; Steinau , and ;

’ 1 458 a 1 514 Waldca el Trendelburg, W chtersbach , pp , 1 501 1490 1 506 ; Wehrda , ; Wetter, ; Willingshausen , 149 1 1511 5 15 5 . Windecken , ; and Wolfterode , From this list we learn that one - fourth Of the Of churches which , despite the ravages the war , are still standing in this imperial province date from the f latter end O the fifteenth century . T O turn to another district , we find that nearly half Of the churches Of any note in both the Alsatian districts Of Kaisersberg and Rappoltsweiler belong to 1 the same period . All this goes to prove how influential at this period the Church , for whose service all these buildings were erected , must have been throughout the whole of Of Germany . Such a multitude beautiful places Of worship could not have been built had not a Christian Spirit Of piety and devotion pervaded all classes Of Of society . It was not the love art which superinduced Of piety , but the pious character the people combined with its high mental culture expressed itself in a love Of Of Christian works art . The nation put forth it s best efiorts all in these works , and participated in the expense by larger or smaller alms according to their means . T O see this we have only to look at the building accounts of the church at Xanten , from which we learn Of that the foreman the works received from one a bed , Of from another a coat, from a third a measure corn ,

1 See r u S ta ti s ti ue m numenta le des Ca n t ns d c Ka St a b , q o o yserberg e t w l tr ur 1 6 de Ri ba/ vi l e s 8 . . S a b g, 0 ARCHITECT URE 17 5 f SO d Of rom a fourth a cow , and on , to be dispose for the

b Of . Of enefit the building fund Helmets , coats mail , Of weapons , and so forth , were hung in the choir the H c hurch and sold for the same purpose . ere a citizen o ff ers his j ewellery , there a landed proprietor makes c Of ontributions tithes ; others bring building materials , o thers subscribe the money they would have paid as e ntrance - fee to a club or association ; a man- servant

few Old g ives a small coins , a poor woman some pennies . The very masons employed gave with one hand what they received as wages with the other . The same feelings prevailed in Frankfort- on- the Of Main . When the building the cathedral was prO

c e edin Of . g , the Brotherhood St Bartholomew appointed a person who sat all day by the picture Of The Agony in the Garden in the cemetery to receive contributions . T he poor people brought not only money , but house hold articles and clothing as contributions . Calves , pigs and poultry were given as donations , and these the Brotherhood undertook to care for until they were

fi t to be killed and sold . Every Saturday the c ollector put the goods up for auction . Not unfrequently a man would give his harness or his best coat , or a

Of Of woman some her wearing apparel , to be disposed . In a manuscript chronicle Of the Cathedral Of Ulm we find it related that near the parish church building o ffice a hut was erected to which each might bring his or

’

Oflerin s . O her g N apron , bodice , or necktie Should be d ’ isdained . All the articles were to be disposed of at a c ertain market to the best advantage for the benefit Of the church . Certain citizens engaged to supply horses and men to work for periods varying from a year to a month . In this manner the work progressed at such a 148 8 rate that by the year the magnificent temple , with H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

was its tower , not only built and roofed, but furnished

fift - with y two altars , and all this without any outside help . According to the accounts the building and f steeple cost nine tons O gold . In the year 1452 Claus Lieb had the wonderfully beautiful sacristy built at his

his was own cost , and by request (for in those days it the privilege Of the founder to put up a tablet or his Of coat arms) , his anvil and hammer were buried in the ‘ foundation , and the motto Claus Lieb , surnamed the ’ ’ the goldsmith , was engraved over sexton s door . In the year 1517 the Mount Of Olives was finished near Of the cathedral . It consisted three images besides His Christ and three apostles , and cost the donor ,

T ausendschone Maria (a confectioner) , seven thousand guldens . The erection Of SO many grand churches was due to Of the unanimity and generosity all classes , from the richest and highest to the humblest and poorest . Town and country Vied with each other in pious Of emulation faith and zeal and artistic taste , and this , t oo o , at a time when immense sums were als being generously devoted - to establishing foundations for 14 O . 7 7 various benevolent bjects In the year the Pope , in a rescript addressed to the civil authorities Of

—on - - Frankfort the Main , warns them against allowing ‘ the city to impoverish itself through over - generosit y ’ to the Church .

In ecclesiastical architecture art found a means Of clear and Vigorous expression . But it by no means f confined its powers to the service O the Church . All

Of the departments life , both public and private , came

- equally under its beautifying influence . Next t o providing worthy temples for the service Of

HI ST ORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPL E

CHAPTER I I

SCULPT URE AND PAI NT I NG

I N t Germany , as wi h all other nations , the development O f architecture went on simultaneously with that Of the s Of ister arts sculpture and painting . Architecture

co- O t Of two o needs the pera ion these arts , and can nly r each perfection by an intimate connection with them ; a s , on the other hand , sculpture and painting only con tinue to flourish SO long as they have their centre in architecture . Of m Of GOd The walls the te ples once finished , it was necessary to relieve their bareness by colour, and t o ornament them by pictures and statues which would r epresent the persons and teachings to whose honour t so t hey were erected , and , to speak, be admonitors o ’ a higher life . The Christian religion required that the place where the Saviour dwells and condescends , in love and grace , to become one with men , and where the faithful are lifted up to heaven through prayer and d t w evotion , should be decora ed ith all that is most beautiful on earth and best calculated to hallow and p urify the imagination . Hence painting and sculpture m a Of y be said to have grown out architecture , and Of attained , in the service the Church , to the highest e Of xpression Christian life and feeling . A wonderful d Of Of epth lofty idealism and childlike simplicity , w natural grace combined ith supernatural sanctity, SCULPT URE AND PAINTING 17 9

seems to breathe forth from the great masterpieces Of

these arts .

Of The churches were not only houses prayer , but Of b monumental exponents Bi lical history . They were O also museums , always pen to any among the people , historical galleries , where from year to year fresh works

- f O art were always being placed . By constant contem plation Of these works from earliest youth artistic taste

was cultivated ; and artists were kept well employed , new for orders were constantly given , both by indi viduals and societies .

Each wealthy family , each guild or society , each b its rotherhood , wished to have own artistic monument t o Of God— the honour either a picture , a statue , a

- ff stained glass window, or an altar . The di erent mem ’ bers Of the donor s family were sometimes themselves r epresented at the feet Of the sacred subj ect ; and the artist Often drew a representation Of himself in some Of Of corner the group praying figures , or , as in the c Of ff Of ase Adam Kra t in the Chapel the Sacrament in St . ’ Lawrence s in Nuremberg , kneeling as if in prayer , clad r his in his working ap on and with tools in his hands . Of All provinces life , secular as well as religious , b e autifie d public as well as private , were and idealised by painting and sculpture . The city halls , arsenals , and o Of ther public buildings , the houses the wealthy m burghers , which were al ost art galleries , all testified to the universal culture Of the times . Nor were the dwellings Of the poor left undecorated ; they always had an image or picture Of the family patron saint on the front . Even the public thoroughfares showed how closely the love Of art was connected with the everyday

Of . d life the people The streets , with their frescoe

N 2 1 8 0 HI ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

e walls , were like illustrated chronicles , which told mor Of the habits Of the people than many books written on

u s r the subject . Disting ished artist used to practise thei

rO hands at these mural frescoes , and in some cases p duced better results than in their other works , thus exhibiting their masterpieces on the homely burgher f O dwellings O the streets . Large sums were ften ex f O . pended upon the decoration streets In Nuremberg , Of 1447 cOst for instance , the gilding the fountain ( ) the florins Of city five hundred , and the regilding the same Of in 14 91 four hundred . All the masterworks the f period are O a decidedly national character . Al though art is the common property Of mankind

Of is and has its roots in the universal life humanity , it at the same time the particular expression Of the mind under its special racial conditions . Like language and l li Of customs , it has its first origin in the re igious fee ngs Of the people . Art expresses the inner life a nation , its highest thoughts and aspirations , by pictures and

o statues , as language does by words , or as culture d es Of by the manners social intercourse . The German artists Of the fifteenth century threw all their intense patriotism into their works . One can almost discover all the specialities Of the different German tribes by f ff examining the works O the di erent artists . As every

SO large German city had its own dialect , , too , it had its peculiarities in art characteristics . All those admirable artists who produced such a

Of o variety and multitude beautiful w rks were plain , humble citizens or labourers belonging to the city corporations . Anyone wishing to devote himself to art S went to the tudio of a master , learned how to prepare the necessary materials , worked at the ordinary tasks

182 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPL E and strong faith and loyalty to the Church were the

o l m tives which influenced his who e life , and the main Of his Of an springs patronage art . He kept painters d

- glass workers , sculptors and founders , goldsmiths and makers of church raiment at work executing his orders .

“ and embodying his piety in lasting forms Of art and for ' many Of the costly vestures which he ordered for the town churches or for outlying churches and monasteries . he himself gave minute directions as to the material and . design . For instance , a high mass vestment for the ‘ Dominican monastery in Frankfort was to be Of red Of velvet the most beautiful kind , fashioned in the richest and most costly manner , adorned with a handsome

Of h . cross , and figures Jo n and Mary . His own and his ’ wife s armorial bearings were also to be inserted . He ordered , moreover , two Gospel garments and a cope

: with St . James and St . Catherine embroidered on ’ them , for which his wife s pearls were to be used , and on which , besides the pearls , eighty , or if necessary one ‘ florins . hundred , were to be spent , in order that it might ’ Of be worthy being dedicated to the honour of GOd .

While still living he had a bronze statue , representing 1 Death , made for his tomb in the Dominican cloister . In the Church Of Our Lady he had placed a sculptural representation Of Christ and His Sleeping disciples in “

' Of o Of the Garden Gethsemane , for the preservati n which he left an endowment . These things , however , were Of small artistic value compared with the altar

' ' piece which he had executed by Albert DI I rer in 1509 , ’ un for the Dominican church , and the Calvary , by an known sculptor , which he presented to the cathedral in

- the same year . The altar piece , representing the AS

1 I a s t w s aft erward m elte d and s old to Jew s . SCULPTURE AND PAINTING 1 8 8

o Of sumption and the coronati n the Virgin , was much admired at the time , and for more than a century

a wides r enjoyed p e ad reputation . The Calvary is the finest specimen Of mediaeval sculpture which Frank fort possesses . It consists Of seven figures larger than — Of Of life size , all them marvels lifelike work and finished chiselling . Particularly beautiful is the maj estic figure

Of - the Christ , whose drooping head and sorrow stricken countenance are exceedingly impressive . At the base Of this group is the following inscription in Latin : In the year 1509 this was erected by Jacob Heller and his

Molhaim t Of wife , Catherine von , inhabitan s Nuremberg,

Of in their own name and that their ancestors , to the

o Of h nour our glorious Conqueror , Jesus Christ , and in the hope that God may grant grace to the living and ’ b eternal rest to the dead . The Bi le texts which are interspersed here and there among the group and in the Of folds the drapery are extremely interesting , as showing the spirit in which the monument was erected . The ‘ final text , And Jacob rose up early in the morning , t OOk and the stone that he had put for his pillows , and ’ 1 s e t it up for a pillar , had evident reference to his own name and to the fact that the Calvary was erected to Of the memory the living and the dead , and as a place Of devotion for present and future generations . He also ‘ th f directed that e rector O the school (St . Bartholo ’ mew s) and six boys should perform devotions in front Of this crucifix in honour Of the Passion every Friday ’ Of the year . He left an endowment for keeping two lamps constantly burning before the ‘ Calvary ’ in the Of Church Our Lady . In those days Christians considered all good works

1 n . 1 Ge xxix . 8 . 1 8 4 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE as pleasing to God—as performed ‘ through God ’

i s O Of God do that , in bedience to the command to o r good works , such as the c rporal and Spiritual wo ks

Of Of mercy , the building and ornamenting churches , ’ and whatever is conducive to bringing men s thoughts Al l to piety . these works should be performed for ’ ‘ God s glory and in order to Obtain happiness in the ’ 1 other world . The natural result Of the general belief in the d octrine Of the efficacy Of good works was that neither State nor city had to be taxed for the current expenses

Of Of schools , hospitals , churches , or the support the O poor , as all these bj ects were amply provided for by

T O h voluntary contributions . this belief also in ume — rable works Of art monuments Of religious and patriotic — ardour owe their origin . Of in The little town Calcar , on the Lower Rhine , whose church are still extant a number Of exquisite Of pictures and specimens sculpture , is a good example 2 of . this In Calcar were several brotherhoods , among f ur f which those O O Lady and O St . Anne appear to have distinguished themselves by generous orders for works 1492 Of art . In the latter society gave a commission to Master Derick Bongert for the very beautiful carved

altar to the Holy Family which is still in existence . In ’ the accounts Of the Society Of Our Lady are charges ’ Of for a Burial Christ executed by a Master Arnt , and 4 498 for a carved altar by Master Ewart in 1 92 . In 1 ‘ ’ the same Brotherhood decided t o erect an altar in f f O O . honour the Passion our Lord The president , a n o ccompa ied by the pastor , Johann Houdan (doct r

1 D er S eelen ii hrer . 9 . f , p 2 Ue ber S t. N i ckla i s che Ki rche i n Ca lca r 1 88 0. Wolf, ,

1 8 6 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

1510 Kerstken Of Rin enb er h Of by Master , g g , a citizen Calcar Besides the sixteen carvers whose names became famous in Calcar , there were at the same time a number

Of Of painters at work in the little town . The names Of thirteen them are still known , and amongst these Jan von Joest , commonly known as Master Jan Calcar ,

1 51 9 . 1 505 who died in , is the most important In the

' Society Of Our Lady entrusted him with the work Of Of executing the four panels the high altar , the designs for which were made by the superior Of the neighbour Of two ing Ursuline convent . We have records also

- Of 148 5—1 515 glass workers the years , and eight silk embroiderers , by whom the church vestments , flags , and

Of i other articles church decoration , all r chly em broidered with devices in pearls and precious stones , n were executed . Amo g these embroiderers we may mention a certain Brother Egbert , probably a Domi

o in nican monk . Several organs were also c nstructed Of Calcar , but we know nothing these beyond what is se t down in the account - books kept between 1482 and

1 51 9 .

In the art remains Of Calcar we find the same close connection between sculpture and painting which ex isted in the earliest times , particularly in Greece . and Sculpture in stone , wood , and ivory was coloured ,

e - w find b as relief work introduced into paintings .

T he P las tic Art

I ts Sculpture comes next in order to architecture . business is to furnish and decorate the spaces produced a two by the rchitect . In their best period we find the SCUL PTURE AND PAINTING 1 8 7

Of arts closely bound up together, and the masterpieces sculpture bear the clear stamp Of their relation to their

- f . mother art . The greater number O the masterworks Of we the fifteenth century have been destroyed , but have yet remaining many good Specimens in stone , . — metal , and wood such as statues on domes , churches , chapels , and private houses ; porches ; altars covered low with figures in and high relief ; bronze altars , tabernacles , organ frames , baptismal fonts ; monuments . for tombs in stone and brass chancel and choir stalls ; church vessels Of all Sizes and in different metals ;

alt ar~ crosses crO monstrances , ciboriums , reliquaries , , z iers , candelabra , and other metal work ; drinking

- cups , scabbards , and such like . The business Of the gold and silversmiths was par ticularl Of y brisk and diversified , and many them pro duced w results hich quite equalled , if they did not

s . surpass , the best Greek and Oriental work . Thi branch Of art reached its highest perfection at Nurem berg , Cologne , Augsburg , Ratisbon , Landshut , and 4 Mentz . In the year 1 7 5 there were more than thirty thousand goldsmiths in Mentz , and many whose names have come down to posterity were citizens Of Augs 1 burg , Ratisbon , and Landshut . The famous goldsmith ,

n - six George Seld , was employed for twe ty years in Augsburg at the construction Of a silver altar for the f cathedral . It was a representation Of the scenes O the

. Last Supper , the Passion , and the Resurrection , and it weighed almost two hundred pounds . ’ The goldsmiths trade in Nuremberg Often numbered ’ who and more than fifty masters , had large workshops

1 — Si h art . 551 54 T . g , pp 5 . here is hardly a G erman town Of that

er s e re e s . ee M r . 47 5 . p iod which did not claim om nown d gold mith S ye , i 18 8 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Of sent specimens their handicraft all over Europe . ' They did not confine their business to mere orna SO mental works , costly vases and forth , but excelled in ff modelling figures and casting them in di erent metals . The ornaments Of that period were all Of great artistic value . They represented all kinds of figures , Single and in groups , religious and secular , and done in metal — and enamel enamelled peacocks , for instance , with d azzling tails ; the figures Of ladies with light- coloured dresses and golden crowns studded with pearls and 1 09 Of precious stones . In 5 the Council Nuremberg Of ordered gold , silver , and enamelled flowers great

n Of . beauty to be made for Ladislaus , ki g Hungary 1512 Of In it presented Lawrence , the bishop Wurtz m Of burg , with a silver reliquary on which the e blems f 1 the months O the year were most artistically carved . In order to form some idea Of the wealth Of gold and Silver work in Germany in the fifteenth century we have only to read the treasure - lists Of some Of the

Of urem churches , such as the Church Our Lady in N 46 f 482 1 6 O 1 . berg in , and the Cathedral Freising in In the inventory Of the Cathedral Of Passau we read Of

Of silver reliquaries in the Shape churches and towers , Of Of twenty silver branches , forty Silver statues , shrines , f . O and monstrances In the Cathedral Bern , among O l Of ther treasures , were a si ver statue the Christ weigh

- - Of ing thirty one pounds , two silver gilt angels eighty

Of . pounds weight , silver busts St Vincent and St . Acha Of tius , a massive casket for relics the patron saint

1 A e ree th e C u Nure er 1552 re he s d c of o ncil of mb g in , di cting t poiln the ur e s e s s e the art e f the T he of ch ch , giv om of w alth O city . gold and

s e r e e 900 lb . r u rk T he s f Al er ilv w igh d s and b o ght ma s . work O b t ’ Dij r er ere s as s ure s I s Fre e E s e w old Papi t pict to talian , nchm n , ngli hm n ,

H r and ollande s .

1 90 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

" named and acknowledged as great artists . None such Of could Nimrod find to build the Tower Babylon . Of Therefore I sing the praise Nuremberg , for it excels o ther cities in clever and skilful men

e s er in d Nurnb er k Vi l m ei t V t ich in g , Der s e e in uf r t s chmid erk in teil a o w , er D gleichen in all er werth nit l ebt . Was fleucht un d u s chwimbt O er s e la ft , d chw bt ,

M e s E e e s ur un d T r n ch , ng l , Vog l , Vi ch , W m y Un d l e cr atur in l bli ch er z r al e o y , U nd e s das aus der er e e s r ess e all d n mag nt p i n , D es nn en si e aus ess i e se gleichen ko m ing g s n , n d keinerl k i t z u s er U ey stuc s in chw , I n Ku s un d E r eit ir Off e r n t b w d nba ,

I n e e er un d e . mang n land n , v n w it S d s s e e ind a in gott olch w i sh it geit , SO s e si e er s s s ie e in wol w t , da man n nnt , n d fir r s kuns i e s er erk U g os t g m i t ennt , er Nimrot s e s er e W nit olch m i t g wann , D er den ur s s auen z u B abilan t n lie p , D arumb Nurnb er k re s un d ich g p ci lob , si e e l e s e e Wan l it al n t t n ob ,

Mi k e kun s re en . t lug n , t ichen mann

The most renowned Of the Nuremberg metal

~ workers was Peter Vischer , a simple coppersmith , who Of brought the art casting to the highest perfection . ‘ NeudOrfer writes Of him : This Peter Vischer was a ff l able towards all and well skil ed in true art , and was s o well known in the speciality Of casting that any prince or potentate Visiting the city rarely omitted going ’ to his workshop . Unassuming , modest , and greedy Old after learning , even in his age , he was to be seen hi every day working in s foundry . Through a long life he maintained the closest intimacy with the stone cutter Adam Krafft and the coppersmith Sebastian

i ud rf r L ndenast . e O e w The three , according to N , gre u p together and were like brothers . On feast days t hey went on excursions together as though they were SCULPTURE AND PAI NTING 1 91

s O till young apprentices ; ften , too , going without food ’ f o r . O drink In his masterpiece , the Shrine St . Sebald,

Of in the church that name in Nuremberg , Vischer

represented himself at the base with a full beard , clad

Of - in the garb a metal caster , with apron , cap , and h ammer . On this work Vischer was employed from the year 1 508—1519 , assisted by his five sons . At the base was ‘ e ngraved the sentence : Erected to the glory Of GOd Of Of Almighty and the honour the prince heaven , ’

t . S . Sebald , by the alms of pious souls It weighed one hundred and fifty- seven tons twenty - nine pounds ; and Of Of in clearness execution , sublimity conception , and richness Of fancy it was equalled by perhaps only one — ’ work Of its kind in that century Ghib erti s great Of bronze gate in Florence . This fine piece sculpture a Of ff dmits many di erent interpretations , but the leading intention Of the master seems to have been to repre s ent the honour which the world paid to the Saviour .

Deriving all good from Him , creatures glorified Him a nd — returned to Him Nature with all her produce , heathendom with its heroic deeds and its n atural

Virtues , the Old Testament with its prophets , and the Ne w . with the Apostles and saints The infant Christ , e nthroned at the summit , holding the earth in His Of hand , typifies the beginning and the end all creation . The statues Of the Apostles are unsurpassed in e xpres s iveness Of and masterly execution , though several them certainly do not exhibit the solemn repose and serenity O f the Older plastic art ; the unrestful attitudes Of the figures strike one as an expression Of the stirring f religious life O the period .

a Of t Among the other ext nt works Vischer , the mos 1 92 H ISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

remarkable are the tombs Of the bishop Of Bamberg Of T ucher Of and Margaret in the Cathedral Ratisbon , f representing the raising O Lazarus . For the grand sepulchral monument that Maximilian ordered at Inns b rii ck Of , Vischer executed the statue the English King for Arthur , which is remarkable its dignified calm and

' A rdin Of . cco t o o the beauty its finish g Neud rfer , ’ Vische r s best works in bronze , which were scattered

throughout Poland , Bohemia , and Hungary , and were in the p ossession Of many Of the princes Of the Holy t Roman Empire , are entirely unknown at the presen

day .

Of Lindenast The works his friend Sebastian , who

- could make statues , drinking vessels , buckles and other ornaments out Of copper which looked as beautiful as f B O . if made gold and silver , are likewise lost etween the years 1506 and 1 509 Linden ast embellished the artistic clock Of the Frauenkirche at Nuremberg with a

Of . statue the Emperor Charles IV on his throne , and

a herald standing before him . This clock is a mos t

ingenious specimen Of artistic mechanism . The hours

fi ure - Of o are struck by a g Death , and at the s und two

- horn blowers near the throne blow their instruments , Of the electoral princes walk out a door , pass before

the Emperor , salute him , and then disappear through 1 an Opposite door .

I I I o Northern Germany , the principal brass f undries

were in Brunswick , Dortmund , Erfurt , Leipsic , Mag Of f deb ur . O g , and Zwickau One the best examples bronze work was the tabernacle in the Church Of Our

1 — 264 7 19 B er . 73 99 111 . M s the Se e Ott e , pp . , ; aad , i , o t of ld er the E er r hi s er s e figures w ere s old as O copp , only mp o and h ald b ing s r pa e d .

1 94 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

A citizen Of Nuremberg named Martin Ket z el made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the year 1 47 7 in order to measure the exact distance between Pilate ’s house and

Mount Calvary . Having lost the measure on his way 1 48 8 home , he made a second pilgrimage in , and in 1 490 he commissioned Adam Krafft to erect seven s tone pillars between his own house (afterwards known ’ ’ a s Pilate s House) and the St . John s Cemetery according t o the measure brought home . On each pillar was a large representation in relief Of a scene from the

o Passi n , with a descriptive inscription and its exact d ’ istance from Pilate s house . They are most remarkable

a nd on touching groups , particularly the last , which is ‘ inscribed : Here lies Christ dead before His Blessed

- Mother , who with heart broken grief weeps and m ourns . The reclining dead body is carefully and t Of enderly supported by Joseph Arimathea . The

s m orrowful other draws the head , from which the

c Of has . rown thorns just fallen , towards her Mary ’ M o - agdalen , at the Savi ur s feet , wets the winding Sheet

with her tears . Each figure represents the deepest n a d sincerest feeling . The clothing is copied from the

d Of Of ress the citizens Nuremberg , which increases

the realistic impression Of the group .

Of u Of A representation the b rial Christ , executed by the same artist by order Of the art- connoisseur and c in 1492 is urator Sebald Schreyer the year , cha racterised by the same dignity and devotional feeling , with even greater grace Of execution . Between the years 1496 and 1 500 Krafft received a commission from Hans Imhoff to construc t a tabernacle for the Church

- o of St . Lawrence . It was sixty f ur feet high and was supported by three kneeling figures , for which the SCULPT URE AND PAINTING 1 95 a Of rtist and two his apprentices served as models .

S - upported by three life sized kneeling figures , it rises

up like a beautiful flowery tree , whose branches and l eaves grow out Of the stone and end in a beautifully — c . arved , crozier like blossom The pillars are adorned Of with carved figures saints , and the door is guarded by two angels . The Blessed Sacrament being instituted as Of ff Of a commemoration the su erings Christ , several s cenes from the Passion are represented by the artist , Of which , with the Resurrection as the fruit the Last ’

S . upper , completes the believer s hope This work is ’ s urpassed in beauty by a Sacraments - Haus in the C Of 1 461 athedral Ulm , which was executed between and 146 9 by the Meister von Weingarten at the order

rin r f O f Angelica Zaeh ge . The latter is one O the best s pecimens dating from the Middle Ages . The carving is SO delicate that it resembles lacework . In former d ecades the Old tradition referring to the Often truly

fil r - Of a ee . g like work the stonecutters and sculptors , Viz t Of hat the work consisted cast stone , has been regarded a s Of num a myth , and the art casting stone has been bered nowadays among lost arts . But the researches o f more recent times have shown the correctness Of

- that supposition . AS to height , the Sacraments Haus

O f Of - Ulm exceeds that Nuremberg by one half. Dill Riemenschneider carried on a kindred style Of art t o Of ff Wut ur b . that Kra t , and had large workshops in g His principal works are a Descent from the Cross for Maidb runn Of the monastery at , the monuments the b ishops Rudolph von Scherenb erg and Lawrence von Wil rtzb ur Bibra in the Cathedral at g , and that erected i n 499 - 1 1 513 to the emperor Henry II . and his wife

Kunigunde in the Cathedral at Bamberg . On this

0 2 1 96 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Of monument repose the figures the two saints , and they are characterised by great beauty Of proportion and f finish . On the four sides are illustrations in high relie

Of traditionary legends . Riemenschneider also carved f the very beautiful altar in the Church O St . Kilian at

Heilbronn . Amongst the most vers atile artists Of that period we 1447 must mention Veit Stoss , born in , who worked a w was lternately in Craco and at Nuremberg . He

- r wood carver , sculptor, eng aver , painter , mechanic , 4 and architect all in one . In the year 1 8 9 he com p let ed the high altar Of the Church Of our Lady in 1492 Of Cracow , in the monument King Casimir in the 1 495 147 cathedral , and , in , stalls in the choir of the f ’ Church O Our Lady . Stoss s influence in the art circles

Of Of Poland and Hungary was decided importance . The German style is unmistakable in all the specimens f t t O sculpture s ill extant in the Zipser Comi ii t . In

Nuremberg also Stoss was indefatigable in his industry, and his patrons and customers extended from T ransyl Ne udOrfer f ‘ vania to Portugal . writes O him : He executed in coloured wood carving for the king Of Portugal life - size statues Of Adam and Eve Of such per f tion Of e c that they seemed to be living flesh and blood .

Moreover , he showed me a map which he had drawn ’ 1

Of . all the mountains , valleys , cities , rivers , and forests His principal work at Nuremberg is ‘ The Rosary ’ w rOf T ucher hich , by orde Anthony , he completed for

1 Ve it Sto ss i s the only one among the gre at arti sts Of the M iddle r r Age s whose cha act e could b e as s aile d . I n a lawsuit he forge d a

' s ure s e e Chr ni ken d er deu ts chen S tcid te f r ig nat ( o , x . o which e r s th h e was burn d with hot i on in e cheeks . H e claime d that he was n r u e 1506 M r u fai ly j dg d , and in aximilian e store d him to citiz en ship 1 B er . 4 ( aad , i

1 98 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

Of T rieb see the , for instance , and another in a church on

l Of e is and Ummanz , are amongst the most remarkabl art treasures of the fifteenth century . ’ Comparatively few Of the artists names have come o d wn to us . They seem to have been singularly in ff . SO di erent to fame Their works , to speak , were the o utcome Of their spiritual life ; and herein doubtless . Of lies the secret their power . Their works produce such an impression Of greatness because Of the greatness . Of their own natures .

P a inting

The brothers Hubert (143 2) and Jan (1440) van Eyck may be called the founders Of German painting h in the fifteenth century . They were the first w o

Of Oil- introduced the methods painting , which had Of already long been in use , into the higher branches art , and the first also who introduced the general study f O Nature into painting . This is seen in the truthful ness both Of their portrait painting and Of the land scapes in their historical pictures . Their fame Spread

as . over all lands , and pupils flocked to them from Italy , ff f well as from the di erent parts O Germany . It was from them Antonelli da Messina acquired the love Of landscape painting which he carried back to Venice and in Florence the influence Of their school was mani f t D ni es ed even in ome cus Ghirlandajo . The Van Eyck school had greater weight among the artists Of Upper G Of ermany , and many their pupils , such as Lucas Moser Of Of d Weil and Frederick Herlen Nordlingen , belonge to the Netherlands school . Yet it was not Flemish infl uence that controlled the ep och - making masters Of German art as to treatment SCULP T URE A ND PAINTING 1 99

u - Of and s bject matter , but rather the school Cologne , which had already made a good start under Greek as Of t influence (possibly as early the time the O hos) , and developed to a high degree Of excellence after the fourteenth century . It was by Meister Wilhelm and ’ Of Meister Stephan Lochner , Constance , that this school 4 was brought up to its pinnacle Of fame in 1 51 . Loch ’ ner s method Of art was in vogue at Cologne up to the Of sixteenth century , and had a considerable number di stinguished followers . Among the many foreign artists who flocked to Cologne we may mention two particularlyw Hans Mem 1495 ‘ ’ ling , about the year , called the Dutch Hans , whom some authors have falsely represented as Of

Flemish origin , but who was born in Franconia , and the f Suab ian . O O , Martin Schongauer In the ldest Mem ling ’s paintings the faces have a decidedly Rhenish character . The buildings have all the characteristics

Of Rhenish architecture , and the colouring is decidedly — of the Cologne school certainly not Of that Of Van

Eyck . Memling remained faithful to the Cologne method even long after he had migrated to Bruges , and had worked under Roger van der Weyden the elder the most gifted pupil Of the two Van

Eycks . The same was the case with Martin Schon gauer . If we compare that loveliest creation Of Stephen ‘ Lochner in the Cologne City Museum , The Madonna f and his SO— O the Rose Garden great picture , the called ’ Memli n s Cathedral Picture , with g renowned works in ’ o Of St . J hn s Hospital in Bruges and The Seven Joys ’ ’ Mary in the Munich Pinakothek , or with Schongauer s

Of . Madonna in the Church St Martin in Colmar , we 200 H I ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

must be struck by the similarity in style . These three o masters surpass their contemporaries in b ldness , deli

Of Of cacy outline , and in the delineation meek inno cence and purity , as well as by the force and beauty of

t Of . their figures , par icularly their Madonnas The great perfection Of these masters and their accomplished pupils consists in their blending Of the m real and ideal . While their saints see like beings Of a higher sphere , they are endowed with all the f f realism O strength and life . The graphic details O their surroundings make them seem like individual portraits , and carry us back to the time in which they lived . Of u For the Germans their works are pec liar charm , as Of indicating the fervour , truth , and simplicity their Of religious feelings . They are also great psychological t Of value , as Showing the gradual grow h culture among l f M mlin . O e the people The Head Christ by g , and the ‘ 2 f Descent from the Cross by Schongauer, su fice to prove the deep religious feeling Of the age in which such ’ u masterpieces were produced . In Mary s co ntenance i Schongauer has united hol ness , love , sorrow , and bliss t in one s riking whole . Great tears roll down her cheeks

o Of and seem to soften her s rrows , and a sense sacred

’ th Memlin s sympathy fills e hearts of beholders . g ’ Head Of Christ is unsurpassed by any painting before N Of or after him . O other artist any nation has ever combined such Divine majesty , love , and wisdom . ‘ ’ AS Of u a typical work an age in which , to q ote w Of Wim helin the ords p g , men sought to promote the worship Of the Redeemer by kindling devotion to His ’ ’ ’ Memlin s Of mother, g Seven Joys Mary deserves men

1 2 I n At C r. the Pinakothek at Munich . olma

202 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

Rueland Of the Tyrolese Michael Pacher and . and Frederic Pacher , from Bruneck , and Casper , Johann , T l 2 Jacob Rosenthaler , from the Southern e , have much Of in common with the masters the Lower Rhine school , although there is no trace Of any personal connection between them . Of Among the artists this school , Martin Schon and gauer , already mentioned, exercised the strongest most lasting influence . He raised German art to such repute throughout Europe that his paintings and en t n gravings were looked on by I alian , Spa ish , and has English purchasers as precious treasures . He ’ been compared to Raphael s master , Perugino . The closest friendship existed between Schongauer and O Perugino . They ften sent their Sketches to each other , and any art c onnoisseur will at once see that they have borrowed much from each other . ’ Schongauer s studio in Colmar was the actual high

’ ‘ Of I n school painting Germany, particularly for the Suabian artists , who , in fine taste and spiritual depth , were worthy competitors with all the other German

Barth l m Z it l m f . e o o au s e b oo O schools It was her that , Of his Ulm , for the noble simplicity , truth , and purity ‘ ’ fitl Of work y called the most German all painters , t OO received his training . Here , , worked Hans Burgk m Of ayer , Augsburg , who won a high reputation by Of his treatment both religious and profane subjects , and who was the earliest Of the South Germans to introduce landscape backgrounds . Hans Holbein the

1 H e b elonge d to a guild Of Viennes e arti st s who were already active h f he e e ur in Vienna at t e b eginning O t fift nth c ent y . 2 h B hmer s er d I agre e with t e opinion of O in thi matter. Pach gain e hi r h h Aus r ur f s re u t e r t e O . p tation f om alta in t ian ch ch St . Wolfgang SCULPTURE AND PAINTING 208 i

Of Of elder , in early life one the best German artists , received also much valuable help from Schongauer . . In the earliest works Of Hans Holbein the young er we also detect strong marks Of the influence Of the Colmar

Ditrer Of e master . Even Albert , in spite the entir O Of riginality his genius , was in some measure influenced by him . T O Ditrer and Holbein the younger is due the glory Of h having exalted German art to its ighest pinnacle . These two painters excelled all others in creative

' f Of genius and grandeur O conception . Their powers

O so SO ~ bservation were keen and penetrating , they were SO fertile in invention and rapid in execution , that we may well apply to them what was once said Of Shake ‘ speare : The sceptre Of his genius held sway over ’ thousands Of spirits . Their best works belong to the f Christian period at the close O the Middle Ages . They f — are by no means champions O the SO called Renaissance . Whatever they adopted from foreign schools Of art never detracted in the least from their German origi l f na ity and depth O humour . If we find them imitating hr certain antique styles and decorations , it is only t ough Of concession to the fashion their day , and without prejudice to their individuality . Such deviations are but as the tiny offshoots Of a deeply rooted stem . _ Of Had there been no outbreak religious wars , or had their genius been encouraged by like favourable con ditions as were granted to a Raphael or a Titian , they would have accomplished far more that was worthy Of them . Albert Ditrer is the only German artist Of his day who has left us any personal records Of his parentage

- Of and early bringing up . His memoirs are not only ‘ 204 H ISTORY OF T HE GERMA N PEOPLE

i great personal interest, but they give a vivid nsight Of into the ancient customs the citizen class , from which most Of the German artists have sprung . ’ Ditrer s father , who was a goldsmith by trade , was the son Of a German family settled in Hung arv . w Thence he ent to Holland , where he remained a ’ long time among the great artists , and finally settled

Of at Nuremberg , where he married . Here Albert , one 21 1471 eighteen children , was born on May , . The honest goldsmith was a thorough adept at his trade son ‘ in the words of his Albert , a true artist and a ’ - n . f pure minded man He fou d it di ficult , however, to support his large family . He underwent many trials , contradictions , and disappointments , but he was t respected by all who knew him , for he was a patien 1 Christian man , kind to all , and grateful to God . " These characteristics are all apparent in the portrait of son 1497 him painted by his Albert in , and which is

now . in the Pinakothek at Munich It represents a tall , somewhat haggard figure ; the face is expressive Of f O . deep gravity , softened by piety and peace mind This serenity Of disp osition he always sought to culti vate in his children . My dear father took great pains to bring them up (his children) in the fear Of the Lord . His highest wish was SO to educate them that they might be pleasing to God and respected by men . His daily advice to us was to honour God and love our ’ neighbour .

‘ his DIi rer : Of mother , says Her chief delight was in going to church ; she scolded me well when I did she wrong , and was constantly solicitous to preserve sin me and my brothers from . When I went out or

1 ’ l T hausin D a rer s ri e e u nd T a e bu cher . 3 . g , B f g , p 7

" 206 HI ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE After this my father was seized with a fatal attack

Of diarrhoea . When he s aw that death was near he

resigned himself, recommended my mother to my care ,

d - a n . enjoined me to lead a good , God fearing life He

‘ died in 1 502 received the sacraments and the year . " ’ Oh Of o , my dear friends , all you , I beg you for G d s ’ sake when you read Of my fathe r s death to say a Ave Pater Noster and an Maria for him , and for your ’ o God own s ul s sake , that we may serve by a good life and earn a happy death It is impossible that anyone who leads a pious life should have a bad end, for God ’ is full Of mercy . D arer expresses the same sentiments in a little poem on Death , illustrated with a woodcut , which he pub ‘ lished as a leaflet in 1 510 : He who thinks daily on ll d eath God wi look on him with mercy . He enjoys that peace which God alone , and not the world , can give . He who does good in life finds strength in the hou r ’ Of Of w . death , hich he hails as the bearer eternal bliss

er t a lich s z um er e s k W g ich St b n chic t , D en hat Gott gn adi g angeblickt E r s e re e Fr e e s B t ht in cht n i d n ann , n G nur di e e e e k De ott , W lt nicht g b n ann ; D e m wer im L e e Gu e s u b n t th t , D en ti b erkOmmt ein S rker M u ta th , U n d er reu de s T es u ihn f t od St nd , i k 1 D a ihm d e S elig eit wird kund .

Very touching is his intimation to his friends Of his ’ mother s death : Now be it known to you that in the 1 51 3 ff t OOk y ear my dear su ering mother , whom I to my home two years after the death Of my father (for She was very poor) , and who lived with us for nine years , was

1 — — Durer 1 . s . . . m T haus in . 154 59 See e s u g , pp vol xiv xv plac d a of ’ s s be s d money in the city tre as ury for an annual ma to ai at St . Sebald s

B er . 1 ( aad , pp SCULPTURE AND PAINTING 207

ta ken so Sick one morning that we had to break Open her

d as she O . oor , could not pen it to us We carried her into another room and the last sacraments were admin

i stered to her , for everyone thought She was dying . On 1 7 1514 she May , , a year from the day on which

was taken ill , two hours before nightfall , my mother d eparted this life in Christian peace and fortitude , and Of with the consolation both the holy sacraments . She

Of God g ave me her blessing , prayed that the peace

might be with me , and exhorted me to keep free from i n . S . She asked for some holy water to drink She

Of she Of feared the pains death , but said had no fear

appearing before God . She was seized with a painful

a gony and seemed troubled by some apparition , for she after a long silence asked for holy water . Then her e yes grew dim ; I noticed she had two convulsions Of the heart she closed her eyes and lips and died in great I pain . prayed aloud for her . I cannot express my o " grief. God be graci us to her Her greatest happiness f O see o . was to Speak God , and She loved to Him hon ured — She was in her sixty third year . I b uried her as honour

ably as my means would allow . God grant me a death as beautiful as hers . May God Himself and His heavenl y hosts , my father , mother , fri"ends , and relations be pre s ent with me at t"hat hour May God grant us ever lasting life , Amen She looked even more beautiful in ’ 1 d eath than she had done in life .

’ 1 f — ha in au in D u rer s B ri e e und T a ebn cher . 13 6 138 . T us T h s g , f g , pp g, ‘ e ers s s : We r e r in commenting on thos e l tt , ay find no p id , no mo bid i r u s e s . H s r e e se es humility , no dis n ion p actical att ntion to p nt d ti and H i s e r a his firm faith in religion s ave d him from despond e ncy . h a t w s r h u hi t oo strong and elas tic to give way to g ief. T e man p t s s mind in k he e s he es s e re r s we are e (I his wor . and in t d tail which giv in tho co d mov ’ by hi s earnestness and s implicity . 208 HISTORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

Of e Here have we a picture simple , domestic lif which proves howclosely religion was bound up with

ff how the family a ections , both spring from the same ’ o a root . It als ccounts for the frequent occurrence Of ’ domestic subjects in DIi rer S works and for the details Of they give German interiors . All that was most beautiful in his character sprang from his love for his home , and we can trace the advice received at the parental deathbed in his own fidelity to family ties . By the work Of his hands he earned the daily bread for his family , exhibiting indefatigable industry under the most trying circumstances as painter , designer , etcher , engraver , sculptor , goldsmith , and printer . There is hardly a single branch Of art that can be named in which his influence was not felt . The philosophical Spirit in which Ditrer looked on life was engendered by his deep - seated conviction that ’ the best ever proceeds from God . If it be asked , he ‘ writes , how Shall we set about to make a beautiful — picture ? some will say by knowledge Of man others f h O . W o will disagree with this , and I am one the latter will make this clear to us ? Not he who looks on even ’ the least Of God s creatures without thinking Of the end

Of its o Of creati n , not to speak man , who is the special Of creature God and to whom all others are subj ect . I acknowledge that the artist who has had most experi ence may make a better figure , but it will not be per i ’ fection s o . , for that beyond man s p wer God alone is perfection and can alone reveal it to man . He alone holds truth and knows what constitutes perfection in ’ human proportions . Art was to him the power which God gave men to model various forms Of humanity ’ and other creatures .

210 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

We are indebted to him , amongst other discoveries , for that beautiful yellow which is produced from Silver . Of He was a man virtuous and godly life , and an ex ’ - ample to all citizens and nobles . Glass stainers were met with in the monasteries Of Clus (148 6 ) and Wal kenried Of In the Convent Wienhausen , at Of the beginning the sixteenth century , the lay sister Adelheid Schraders glazed and painted all the win f O . h dows . About the same time a nun the St Cat e rine ’s convent in Nuremberg wrote a little German b OOk in which She gave instructions for making glass pictures in mosaic . Among the pri ncI pal specimens Of the artistic glass work Of the period may be mentioned those in the

Of . Church St Catherine in Salzwedel , in the Cathedral o f n Of Ste dal , in the Church Falkenhagen , in the Church f t Of O S . Matthew in Treves , in the choir the Cathe Of Of dral Freiburg , in the Cathedrals Ratisbon , Augs burg , and Eichstadt , in the Frauenkirche at Munich , in

Blutenb er the Chapel of the Palace at g , in the Churches nk f a t Pipping and Je ofen in the Churches O St . James a t Of Straubing , in the Chapel the Vienna Palace , and in the church at Heiligenblut , near Weiten . Of The glass paintings Nuremberg , Ulm , and Cologne a re the most famous , and are worthy to be compared Of with those in the Church Magdalen , and the Wil

ur m h elmiter Church at Strasburg . Those in the N e f berg churches O St . Lawrence and St . Sebald are considered to be among the most beautiful in the world .

Herschvo el 1451 Veit g , born in , and descended from a Of - family glass stainers in Nuremberg , had no equal ‘ o VOlkamer in his art . Am ng his finest works is the SCULPTURE AND PAINTING 211

' f O . re re Window in the Church St Lawrence , which p Of sents the genealogical tree Christ , and the patron 1 s Of aint and family the donors . The two choir Of windows in the Cathedral Ulm , which were ordered from Hans Wild by the city are amongst the m ost beautiful specimens Of colouring which this art fi c an produce . The ve windows in the northern nave o f the Cathedral Of Cologne were executed in the years 1 507—1 509 , and have become celebrated far and wide . Nearly all the numerous glass - painting works in

the monasteries have gone to ruin , only a few frag m f as entary specimens being ound here and there , , for i Of Of Of nstance , the magnificent paintings the Stations t he T rithemius Cross in Hirschau , where the abbot , in 1491 , had forty windows illustrated with subjects taken f ’ from wood engravings in The Bible O the Poor . This glass - painting was not confined to churches and

- w Cloisters . Stained glass indows were to be found in

t he castles , the city halls , the guildhalls , and in the

houses Of the patricians . We find such artists as Hol b ein and Ditrer supplying designs and drawings for ‘ these works . An Augsburg authority writes : In former times there were no churches or public build

ings , or even houses belonging to citizens in easy cir ’ mst n c u a ces . , which did not possess painted windows T his applies to all the larger cities , particularly in

S German outhern v, where this industry flourished

most . Miniature painting was another branch Of art which was brought to great perfection ; it was held in such

1 14 —1 1 L er . 7 50 . F r See Neu r er . 47 s o re rk do f , p ; al o ochn , pp ma able ’ s e r 14 17 1515 s e e Rettb er s N urember L ette window mad f om to , g g rs , — 13 6 138 . pp . 212 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

‘ i the high repute , indeed , that the m niature painters (

illuminators formed a separate guild in several cities . Prayer - bo oks especially were embellished by this Species f O . art In many convents , where the community num

bered forty or fifty , each nun possessed an illuminated

- Office book . It was a common thing for the greatest

masters Of painting t o illuminate b OOks destined as .

- — presents with pictures or pen and ink Sketches . One Of Ditrer these , prepared by for the Emperor Maximi its lian , is remarkable for taste and originality and the f grotesque humour O its designs . The principal homes Of this art were Nuremberg and Glockendon Ratisbon , where the family and Berthold

Furtme er y were respectively the leading artists . T he episcopal missal in five volumes which Furtmeyer exe Of cuted for the Archbishop Bernhard von Rohr , Salz in 148 1 burg , the year , ranks among the finest and Of Of most original examples this kind work . In Suabia the monks distinguished themselves as miniature 14 72 1492 painters . From the year to Father Johanne s

Of e Of . Frank , the Monast ry St Ulrich , in Augsburg , was n Of O e Of the best illuminators his day . The Fathers

Conrad Wagner , Stephen Degen , and Leonhard Wagner

also worked with him . The monks Johann Keim , Maurus and Heinrich Molitor (14 68 ) illuminated breviaries and devotional b OOkS in the Monastery Of Vornhach Scheyern . In the Brother George Baum f g art ener illustrated a history O the world . In Ebers ’ Auslasser berg , Brother Vitus illuminated a herbarium . In Nuremberg the Carmelite nun Mother Margaret (1450 to 1499) filled five folios with illuminated initials 1491 and pictures . In the same city , between the years

1494 - and , the Brothers Minor completed an illuminated

214 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE when the ornamental work for churches had so de velo ed and p , the ladies proved themselves clever industrious , not alone in silk embroidery, but in Of tapestry , as is proved by the quantity tapestries ,

- & th c . e bench coverings , cushions , , to be found in l ld Of O d . O houses the families The master , Sebald l ’ S . Seb a d s Baumhauer , acristan at St , whom Albert

Dti rer h described as a good painter , told me t at he had got it from reliable sources that in the times past the widows who employed themselves with this work l ’ . Seb a d s remained all day at St , in the little sacristy at ’ ’ St . Michael s , bringing their food with them . In the convents embroidered figures for the orna mentation Of the churches were made in great quanm the tities , and princesses and noble ladies joined in f work for the honour O God . CHAPTER III

WOOD AND COPPER ENGRAVI NG

WOOD and copper engraving followed close upon the Of development painting in Germany . During the latter half Of the fifteenth century these two arts were Of considered a necessary supplement painting , were l it placed on an equa footing with , and were cultivated by eminent artists . This German invention Of engraving was as im portant in its results to art in general as typography was to science and learning , being the means by which artistic works were multiplied and brought within reach

Of . all classes But its services were not limited to art .

It helped to forward intellectual development generally . Of As printing preserved the results intellectual activity , SO did engraving give lasting form to the works Of the imagination . It was at first chiefly employed in the cause Of Of religious education , and thus we find the practice the art during a considerable period mostly confined t o monasteries . The mendicant orders especially were wont to supplement their instructions by the distri b ution Of appropriate pictures among the people .

e dification They used them , moreover , for their own Of d and for the glorification their patrons and foun ers . By degrees these pictures came to be wanted not only for ecclesiastical but for domestic use . Private indi 216 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE viduals would wish t o possess a representation of the f f O O . Saviour , the Blessed Virgin , or their patron saint The price Of an Oil- painting or a carved crucifix was

Of oo beyond the means most people , but even the p rest could afford t o buy some little illustrated leaflet to k b OO . hang on a wall or door , or to place in a In the first stages Of the art engravings were printed on Single sheets ; but towards the middle Of the fifteenth century the SO- called typographical picture - books ap e are d Of accom p , containing a series representations panied by explanatory texts and practical reflections . ’ Of Of ‘ Examples this kind work are the Apocalypse , ’ ‘ ’ ‘ Of o the History the Passi n , the Salve Regina , the ’ ’ Of Biblia Dance Death , and the Bible for the Poor ( f ‘ P aup erum) . The best known O these are the Bibles ’ for the Poor , which contained from fifty to sixty scenes

New ~ from the Old and Testaments , with printed ex

. oor planations The p , for whom this work was de s SO igned , were not much the pauper classes among O the people , but the poor preachers , who ften were not b in a position to buy complete Bi les , and could thus provide themselves with a narrative Of the principal t f even s O the Holy Scriptures . The German translations Of the Bible intended for the people were also furnished Kob er er with wood engravings . The copy published by g , Of one Nuremberg , for instance , contained more than hundred wood engravings . Kob er er AS a printer and publisher , g deserves much praise for having employed artists of the highest eminence to furnish the designs for these illustrations . The woodcuts which were prepared under the dire c tion Of Michael Wolgemuth in 1491 for the Schat zb e

‘ ’ h alter der wahren Reichthtrmer des Heils The Treasury

218 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

1498 - are the world in , in his twenty seventh year , 1

Of . masterpieces the art and monumental works . In these he has depicted by means Of religious symbols the f ’ terrors O God s judgments and the j oys Of the blessed . Particularly striking and impressive are the four horse men and the four angels at the great river Euphrates . ’ His two sets Of woodcuts for the Passion (known as the Large and the Little Passion) are equally remark and ff One s able for power truthfulness , and a ect as doe e a great tragedy . The figure of Christ in the frontispiec

ff a. leaves an ine aceable impression . He is Sitting on stone , removed from all participation in earthly life ’ alone with His grief "In The Little Passion Jesus rests

His His . head on hand In the other one , the insult ing soldier bends the knee in mockery before Him , the while His hands are folded in prayer . In both Saviour ’s countenance looks at the beholder with an

. expression that pierces through the soul . It represents the continual grief which the sins Of man inflict on the Of Saviour . Hence the hands and feet bear the marks the wounds . The artist must have had in his mind the

Of . words the prophet, Come ye , and behold if there is ’

in . any sorrow like unto My sorrow . D er threw his whole soul into this work , and he expresses here in a . picture what his meditations on the sufferings Of Christ n led him elsewhere to embody in his hymn , Siebe ’ Tageszeiten Seven Periods Of the Day

Zur e s erz e V p it , da nahm man ihn ’ Kreu r zur M u er Vom z , b acht ihn tt hin , Di e Allmacht s till verborgen lag I n h T a Gotte s Sc oos s an j e nem g .

1 he r er 18 4 18 5 . T r i r Durer r u e t Sp ing , pp . , he e s p oof that cont ib t d

es s for 170 s e e r s K u A . D ii rer . d ign of tho ng aving ( a fmann , , p 2 See L ulh ardt 44 4 , pp . , 5 . W OOD AND COPPER ENGRAVIN G 219-3

s "e r e es e T od O M en ch b t acht di n , H l far di e rOs ste N " ei mitt el g oth ’ r r un fr u n Kr M a ia , all e J g a on , e das ert des e Si h da , Schw Sim on li r E re H r H ier eget alle h n o t ,

Der von un s nimmt di e Sii nden fort .

O Du allm achti er H err un d ' Gott , g , i s s M r er un d den T od D e gro e a t , ’ i sus d r E r e D ei D e Je , e ingebo n n , ’ e e um uns z u befrei n G litt n , ,

B etracht en W ir mit I nnigkeit . H r "mir re Reu un d L e er gib wah id ’ er Sti nden es re Ob me in , b s mich , Das bitt e ich gan z von H erz en Dich rr"n der eb erwin dun De H e ach U g in 1 L as s mich des Sieges theilhaftig s ein

‘ At eventide they tOOk Him from the cross mni brought Him to His Mother . On that day O po Of tence lay in the lap Deity . O man , behold this ff ’ " pure oblation su ered for thy soul s salvation Mary , ’ Of - the crown virgins , to day recognises Simeon s sword .

Of . Here lies the shield purest worth , which saves us ’

. A from sin s punishment O Thou , lmighty Lord and God "Here we meditate on the pain and death which ff u s . Jesus , Thy only begotten , su ered for Lord grant

. me sorrow and repentance Forgive me my sins , I . m Of pray Thee fro the bottom my heart . Lord , through Thy triumph over Sin let me partake Of Thy glory "’ ’ Of The engraving Christ bearing His Cross , which Of contains such a wealth figures , is well known to have furnished Raphael with a subject for one Of his greatest . paintings . ’ Of s Next to the sublime tragedy The Two Pa sions , the twenty woodcuts (most Of them dating between

1 ’ — T hausin Durer L eben . 154 155 g, s , pp . 1220 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

1 504—1 505) intended to illustrate The Life Of Our Lady Of claim our admiration . They are idyls purity, sweet f . O ness , and melancholy The whole atmosphere these Of scenes , the landscapes , the life Nature , the picturesque Of blending human and animal life , result in a soft Arcadian beauty which tempers the gravity of the f character O Mary and her parents . Among the most m Of touching , and at the sa e time the most agreeable , f this series is the deathbed O the Mother Of God . She ’

is surrounded by the Apostles . Peter is sprinkling her

with holy water ; John hands her the burning taper , 1 w r ifi hile a third holds up a c uc x . Durer is inspired

in r this work by his veneration for the Blessed Vi gm . has Art this in common with love , that it delights in the most trivial circumstances relating to the beloved

’ In Ditrer s woodcuts for The Life Of Our Lady he e xemplifies one Of the most striking features Of Old f ‘ ’ . O German art Like the poet the Heiland , who makes the whole stream Of the Gospel story as it were to flow ’ through his native Saxony , he invests Christ and His d f isciples with the national character O Germany . All the accessories Of the Church legends are SO many bits

- Of local colouring , which make every scene familiar

and realistic . f f O O . In the archives the Convent St Clare , in

Nuremberg , dating from the time when Charity Pirk h eimer was prioress , can be found the sketches pre ’ ti r r - pared for D e s last named work . A comp aris on between these and the finished composition gives us an f f idea O the originality and talent O the artist . His

1 ’ T s ure was t e e D r T s s hi pict Of n copi d by ure s dis cipl es . hi explain s h r i l o r s t e s u e e h s e Na r . why many wo k on bj ct b a nam ( y e , p

“222 HISTORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Of and fifty plates great beauty , partly stippled and

partly engraved , are ascribed . ’ Dij rer f Albert was a disciple O Schongauer s . The art Of engraving owed more to Albert Ditrer than to a n for its erfe c y other advancement, extension , and p T O f . O tion him also belongs the invention etching , and

fre his works , known at home and abroad , were more Of quently copied than those Schongauer , and used by as distinguished artists , such Andrea del Sarto , Nicholas

Alunno , and Marco da Ravenna , as designs for their paintings . It was , therefore , with j ust pride that the ‘ S e cklin : military architect , Daniel p , wrote Whatever s a Of c Of Italians y, the art opper engraving is one those ’ subtle arts that owe their perfection to Germany . Schongauer had already applied this art to ' the most manifold uses , not only illustrating sacred subjects , but enre producing g pictures also , animals , heraldic shields , ’ designs Of all sorts for embroidery ; and as for Dij rer s c reations , they embraced every imaginable subject , religious , historical , mythological , humorous , satiri & c . cal , architectural , landscapes , portraits , , and his inventive and imaginative powers were equalled only by his industry . Among the various productions Of

DtIrer , three stand out in bold relief in which he Of has embodied his moral conception the universe . " ’ These are The Knight , Death , and the Devil (executed ‘ ’ ‘ ’ in Saint Jerome , and Melancholy T hey rank also among the best examples Of engraving fi on . t copper In the rst mentioned we see a knigh , c lad in shining armour , riding along an unbeaten path in a rocky defile ; Death stalks by his side crowned with serpents , and , with a cruel leer , he holds before him

h - t e . hour glass The Devil , in even more hideous form , WOOD AND COPPER ENGRAVING 223

a nd - c armed with a grappling hook , stret hes his claws Of towards the rider, who , without fear either , rides c Of almly forwards , his firm faith and consciousness 1 Of duty fulfilled giving him a sure hope victory . The sentiments which the a rtist symbolises in The ’ t Knight , Death , and the Devil are fur her developed in t he second picture . This one introduces us into the

c Of . hamber St Jerome , who sits at a desk writing . T he sun pours through the small window- panes ; its rays fall on the figure Of a lion stretched out with half ll o . A pened eyes , and a dog slumbering at his Side is o rder and harmony , and no outward disturbance seems capable Of ruffling the peaceful expression which rests o n the countenance Of the venerable Father Of the

Church , a peace , however , which he is not satisfied to e njoy alone , for he is at work to spread abroad the knowledge which he possesses , and which is the source

O f his own happiness . The third picture is Of an en ’ — tirel diflerent a a y character winged woman , be ring a myrtle crown on her head , which rests on her left hand , b OOk and while a compass are held in the right hand , s its on the seashore . A lean and exhausted greyhound lies stretched at her feet . The various implements and symbols Of science that are scattered around her in wild ff confusion produce a chaotic e ect , which is heightened by the straggling beams of a comet that pierces the i c . s louds Here there no vivifying sunlight , no har m nious o Of . Of order , as in the chamber St Jerome none the sustai ned expression Of peace and calm which charac t erises t the saint at his work , or the knight in the mids

1 H r . G e s Bi tter T od un d T eu el h imm conn ct , f with t e E n chi ri di on M i l/iti s Chri s ti a ni r E r s us . See P reu ssi s che Ja hr bii cher f om a m , 18 7 5 ,

- 43 49 . xxxvi . 5 5 224 HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

f . O danger and distress The woman sits sunk in deep lOOk thought , her wandering far away , her countenance Of expressive the bitterest sorrow . The three pictures are symbolic Of different periods t Of thought in Germany . While the first wo represent

the soul fighting and working for good , the first and O Of real bject life , still upheld and strengthened by a . the Of m firm faith , third symbolises an age presu ption , when man sought to fathom the mysteries Of life and own Nature by his intelligence , and is in despair a t

finding himself SO Often foiled . AS if to soften the im Of pression the whole , the artist introduces the rainbow

which spans the horizon . ’ Not one among Ditrer s numerous pupils and fol ‘ Of lowers came near to him , the prince wood and ’ Of copper engravers , in his combination seriousnes s Of and humour , in exuberance and depth imagination ,

‘ Of Scha‘ uffelin although several them , such as Hans ,

Alde rever Albrecht Altdorfer , Heinrich g , Hans Sebald , Of and Beham , reached a high pitch technical ability . Many Of his later followers forsook the grandly simple ff German style , and fell into sti mannerisms . It is impossible not to recognise that success in the art Of engraving was influenced by the decrease or in As cre ase Of faith and patriotism . soon as the Old traditions began to be despised , the forms and practice s

Of Of religion neglected , originality conception waned , and by degrees art fell into coarse realism . As a proof Of 147 2 this we may cite Lucas Cranach , born in , who

' ' ’ i s Of DII rer s who the best known followers , and intro

duced h . his met ods into Saxony His earliest pictures ,

t o o 1 504 1509 belonging the peri d between to , are per

o meated by deep earnestness , Simplicity , and hum ur ,

226 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

CHAPTER IV

POPULAR LI FE AS REFLECT ED BY ART

DURING its period Of glory German art was a faithful ’ f Of all the r eflex O German life and character , and lead ll ing phenomena Of this stirring and eventful age . A things that had any bearing on life were taken cogh i

S ance Of by art . Whatever asserted itself in life found its highest expression in art . Amongst the ruling characteristics Of German life a t that time , next to religious earnestness , was fresh Of and hearty humour . The sport the intellect with as Of c ontrasts , which forms the kernel it were humour , if not exclusively the attribute Of Christian art and Of literature , is at any rate a very marked feature it . For as it was Christianity that first brought out in con Of s cious relief the height and depth the human spirit , a s well as the relations between human freedom and Of GOd the eternal laws , and thus established a firm ’ c entre round which the play with Opposites might

SO move , long , therefore , as personal , domestic , and Of SO p ublic life all rested on the basis Christianity , long as the Church was a centre Of unity Of the com Of the plicated organism society in the Middle Ages , humorous vein in the national life flowed on with o vigour and freshness , branching out in every directi n , Of the and enlivening every department life . Witness Of picturesqueness and poetry the popular manners , POPULAR L I FE AS REFLECTED B Y ART 227 — t he various feasts and public sports some Of them — 1 s ingular in which the j ester and the donkey played a

prominent part . The innumerable witty sayings , comic

Of Of pictures and caricatures that age , attest the truth

this theory . Where firm faith reigns , fun and humour

grow abundantly , for the mind which is convinced of

the truth enjoys life , and meets it with composure , for titude Of , and intelligence . In times unbelief or narrow b igotry and fanaticism popular humour disappears . Had the Church desired in the Middle Ages to sup Of press popular humour and fun , the strength her p ower and influence would have made it an easy m atter ; but such discipline was far from her system . all Of she Embracing classes men in her fold , under s tood their various wants and aspirations , and en c ouraged a free and independent expression Of their SO She as feelings long as belief as such , and herself its she and en g uardian , were not impugned ; fostered

c oura ed Of SO g the spirit humour , and , to speak , allowed ’ i t to to mount guard over the holy places , as if keep m an mindful Of the distance between the sacred and t he f pro ane . Not alone on the buttresses and the water- spouts and exterior parts Of consecrated places t o were grotesque caricatures be found , but also on t he interior pillars , the lecterns , in the sanctuary , and

e . ven on the very tabernacle , were they carved From harmless ridicule we sometimes find this art pass i nto s Of atire , but always giving evidence the general thirst

for Of Of truth , the sense the nothingness earthly great

ness , and the struggle between good and evil ever going o n in f the soul O man .

1 ‘ ’ Our u r r h M e A es s s G ervm pop la eligious feast s Of t e iddl g , ay us — ‘ . 27 7 27 8 ere u f r e e er i s (xi ) W f ll O poet y , whil now v ything chilled b r y fo mality . 228 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE The grotesque carvings in the churches and monas t eries e , particularly on the choir seats , fulfilled the sam mission to the clergy that the Court j ester did to the Of nobles . In accordance with the spirit the times , ‘ j esters were given to the princes , as highly polished mirrors which humorously reflected their own weak ’ nesses . As long as the position Of the Church on her eternal see pillars was acknowledged , it pleased her to the spirit Of humour lashing the abuses Of those who held secular or spiritual power by ridiculing the public luxury and extreme love Of worldly things . These railleries became dangerous only when authority was weakened and the

Spirit Of God Himself denied . All restraint being then removed , what had previously been light banter became

O u~ lawless license and vulgar caricature , threatening p p lar demoralisation . In an age when a protecting law forbade excess and O the bject proposed was understood , the bringing into contrast Of things elevated with things commonplace was not only tolerated , but encouraged , even though it sometimes bordered on the coarse ; for example , we find an artist with great patience and pious reverence

- illuminating a prophecy in a prayer book , and in the decoration Of the Vignette he draws an ape like a hunter aiming his arrow at another , who turns his

- — back for a target . The pen and ink Sketches with — which Dij rer illustrated a prayer book for the Emperor f 1 O . Maximilian are full comic allusions For instance ,

1 ’ Durer s R a ndz ei hnun en a us dem Gebe tbu ch M a ximi li an s X . A. c g — r : M u i For e s s ee H e l r . . 3 69 38 6 (Stoge n ch , xplanation l e , i pp ; ’ — hausin D itrer s L eben . 380 38 1 a er D eu ts che S ta dtn a hr T g , , pp ; Sch f ,

e hen i hre E n ts tehun Ges hi hte und Deu tun . . L e s z i c , g , c c g , vol i ( ip ic ,

230 HI STORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

The peasant Of the fifteenth century in most parts Of Germany was not an oppressed boor condemned to a Of of life sordid vulgarity , as after the social revolution t the sixteenth cen ury , but a sturdy , independent being , f t full O courage and spirit . Having the righ to bear

w - arms , he was as ell equipped for self protection as any city guild associate . He took part in public life and Of sat in district courts indeed , the literature that us period , still extant , gives more concise descriptions Of Of Of the his life , habits , and manners than those higher classes . Al s In Franconia , Bavaria, Breisgau , and atia, just w the here peasant war raged the most fiercely , the peasants lived in such ease that they aspired to equality with their superiors , imitating their manners and style Of Of living and dressing in Silk and velvet . In one the — Nuremberg carnival plays the satire Of which is directed — — against the stuck up peasants there are some rhymes to the effect that peasants cannot bear that the nobles and their children Should be dressed better than them selves .

. Formerly the peasants wore grey mantles , grey caps ’

and battered hats , hemp smocks , and linen jackets .

Their shoes were tied with bast , and their hair cut in

Wendish fashion above their ears . Their saddles and

bridles were equally plain .

Nun ab er s ich die Paurheit D en Ritt ern gle ich hat geklait Mit Ge und G e ar e wand mit p d n, un N mag e s nimmer guot werden .

Sebastian Brant expresses the Same sentiment in his Narrenschiff

Die bauern tragen s eide n kleid U nd e K gold ne ett en an dem L eib . POPULAR LI FE AS REFLECTED BY ART 231

l s The peasants wear silken dresses , and go den chain ’ hang about round them .

Mit al er r i u er l fa b , w ld b wild , n uf dem Ar i s rre U d a mel e ne na n bild , D as lk e z uer e r Stadtvo j t t vom ba n l h t , ’ i s r r W e e in bo sheit we d gemeh t .

Coarse ticking no longer contented them : they must have clothes from London or Malines cut in modern fashion . all Of Of colours , all furs , they wear them in their f O . armlets , pictures fools The city folk can now learn ’ wickedness and foolishness from the peasants . Follies Of this sort account for the constant carica n turing Of the peasants . It was the fashio to make fun

Of SO their absurdities , that there was a good sale for such representations . Thus , for instance , on the last page Of marginal illuminations which Diner designed ’ ’ for Maximilian s prayer- book he chose a peasant s

. dance A man and woman are hastening to join. the dance , the woman with her hair floating down her back — man and wearing a long town made dress , and the with — wide Open mouth and hands awkwardl y thrown up in i the air . Another couple are danc ng a minuet the man steadies himself by carrying a glass Of water on his head . A still more comical scene is drawn in pen and ink l by Schongauer , in which foppish Vil agers and their sweethearts are represented at a dance trying to ape Of the manners the city , but betraying their boorish ness by their grotesque movements . These rustic attempts at city ways recall Don Quixote ’s attempts at chivalry . They have tried in vain to hide their country origin by borrowing all the outward 232 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

appurtenances of their superiors . Here we see a O broken scabbard , and there a naked knee btruding from a torn hose . Of enre Thanks to the number these g pictures , done Of by the best artists the time , we are familiar with the Of e manners the day , and can contrast them with thos

Of later times . A market scene is represented in a miniature or on glass in which women and young girls recommend their wares and Offer them for sale white bread and butter on a white plate , eggs in baskets , and milk in jugs . Pigeons and young chickens Of are tied in hampers , which are carried on the heads Of stufi the women , who wear dresses made coarse , the n bodices high in the eck and crossed over the bosom , f the skirts scant and O convenient length . An apron is tied by strings knotted in front . The hair , divided in the middle , is allowed to hang loose by the young O girls , while by the lder women it is hidden under a handkerchief, which hangs loosely down or is tied under the chin . We also find the popular amusements Of the day

“ represented with the same precision and accuracy . shows us For instance , one picture children spinning ’ blindman s ff tops , trundling hoops , playing bu , swing An u ing and turning somersaults . other Shows s Older people amusing themselves with chess , backgammon , O and dice . May festivals and shooting parties are ften represented . Dancing being the favourite , indeed the Of dl general , amusement the people in the Mid e Ages , it naturally formed a constant subj ect for art . The lower orders always preferred to dance in the Open air . The

s - see inn never contained dancing halls , and we the gay On Of crowds collected the green , dancing to the music

234 HI ST ORY OF T HE G ERMAN PEOPLE

1 — Of s finger rings were worn . A study the inventorie still extant Of the wardrobes Of well- to - do citizens will give us some idea Of the luxury and variety Of the f ' . Of O dress of the Middle Ages In the will the wife . Of 1 48 5 George Winter , Nuremberg , dated , there is

Of Of . mention , among other things , four mantles Malines

six - silk , long over skirts , three smock frocks , three — six e under dresses , white aprons , one black , two whit bath cloaks . Along with other j ewels we find thirty Of his rings mentioned . A citizen Breslau contributed to ’ 1490 - daughter s trousseau ( ) a fur lined mantle and dress , Of ff four dresses di erent values , several caps , sashes , and armlets , a bodice embroidered with pearls , and a

- fi e fl in Of betrothal ring worth twenty v or s . We read ’ another citizen s daughter receiving in 147 0 from her n guardia s , as an inheritance from her mother , thirty s ix and gold rings , besides several chains , buckles ,

cinctures . The pictures Of headgear both Of men and women

are very diverse and extraordinary . Women wore

- pointed lace caps a yard high , or head dresses formed Of coloured stuff pressed and ornamented with gold — and precious stones . The head dress Of the unmarried women Of the bourgeois class in the city was particu

larl Of y remarkable , consisting a muslin handkerchief

laid in folds on a wire frame , and having ribbon strings ’ Of to tie under the chin . The shapes men s hats and Of l caps were quite as remarkable . On some the il u minate d parchments Of the city regulations Of Hamburg Of we find patterns hats and caps , some high and some

low ; some with wide , and others with narrow brims ,

1 e es s s es re r s ue u J wellery in those ag po sed g at a ti tic val , and m ch s e as s ta t w di playe d in armour. POPULAR LI FE AS REFLECTED BY ART 23 5 :

vice versct . turned up behind , or There were beaver, t Of felt , or clo h hats various colours and designs , trimmed with feathers , gold ornamentation , or ribbons that hung down to the ground . Long curls were considered a great adj unct to manly beauty , and much time and care were bestowed . f f on the arrangement O them . When the son O the T scheckenb urlin Of wealthy patrician , Jerome , Basle , became disgusted with the vanities Of the world and

Of - j oined the Carthusian order at the age twenty six , he had his portrait painted in the Court dress in which he entered the monastery . Long curls encircled his l r forehead and fel ove his shoulders . In the portraits Of the youthful King Maximilian we always notice his l beautiful wavy hair fal ing low over his neck . Even son Of Albert Durer , the the plain goldsmith , seemed to

. see delight in his ringlets Sometimes , even , we men W l ith their curls encircled by an ename led band , ’ u fastened by b ckle and heron s plume , or even with a f iv bunch O y or flowers . Instead Of flowing curls the women wore thick Of v braids hair behind the ears , which ga e rise to the ’ reproach that the women wear the hair Of the dead . The young girls wore their plaits in gold or j ewelled ’ DtI rer s nets , to which were attached golden aiglets . well - known picture Of the espousals Of the Virgin gives us ' a good idea Of the favourite dress Of the young fiancees

Of A . the Middle ges Over a short velvet dress , which

- Mary holds in one hand , she wears a richly fur trimmed robe with train and hanging sleeves . On her head is a small cap and veil . Amongst her companions is a Of Nuremberg woman good position , who wears a full

- u mantle and a piled p linen cap . 12 3 6 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

thou h th an Of Still more striking , g , the Shapes clothes , Of even among the working classes , was the variety

- their colour . Stone cutters and carpenters worked in c ostumes consisting Of red coat with blue trousers and

caps , or in yellow coats with red trousers and caps ;

others , again , are represented in light blue and green

" mixed with yellow and red . The merchants behind

their counters also wore the same bright colours . A

peasant , bringing his pig to market , wears a red hat , f green coat , and brown trousers . A truckman , wheeling

a hogshead before him , appears in a red coat lined with

- green , red cap , blue hose , and bronze riding boots . ' The Village dandies seemed to delight in producing ridiculous effects by the multitude Of colours they wore Of W at the same time . One side their costume ould be Of of one colour , while the other was composed all the shades Of the rainbow divided into different figures ;

others would appear in red from head to foot . 46 Embroidery was also much used . In the year 1 4

Of Bernhard Rohrbach , from Frankfort , had the Sleeves his coat SO richly embroidered that they had eleven f ounces O Silver on them. Art in those days was a faithful portrayal Of life in its its all varieties and absurdities , Virtues and its Vices , Of its the caprices and the tyranny its fashions , wealth

and luxury , its misery and its squalor . Each class and condition Of humanity is in turn presented to our

vision . Take , for instance , the hideous rabble in Martin ’ ’ l Schon auer s Of g Carrying the Cross , who are driving

the Saviour to His death . They are clad in the clothes

which chance or charity has given them . One has an

overcoat without sleeves , and his legs are naked ;

another has trousers , but his feet are bare , and his

23 8 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

n u Scientific and professio al men wore long , f ll robes , Of reaching to the feet , almost always a dark colour , — but occasionally red . A simple biretta like cap covered

- their close cut hair . These distinct costumes for each ‘ Of rank and position are very characteristic the true , honest German citizen and German domestic life , and

- are truthfully depicted by German art . How home like and comfortable , for instance , is the room in which

. " Dij rer depicts St Jerome It has two windows with small round panes ; the ceiling is Of dark timber ; in the corner is an antique oak table , on which are the crucifix and an inkstand , and the furniture is ample se e and comfortable . In the background we the large hour - glass which is considered an indispensable a o c e ssor e - row Of y in all w ll regulated households , the Of tapers ready lighted , the flasks balsam , and the medicine case stocked with household remedies . There lies also the leather portfolio with writing materials and a large scissors . Beside the Rosary lies a brush ; from theceiling hangs a gourd ; under the bench are

- s thick soled sabots . Everything be peaks German thrift and domestic comfort . Anything that may be wanting to make this a com plete picture Of a German home is added by Dti rer in

Of . Of the bedroom St Anna after the birth the Virgin . A Wide staircase with heavy balustrades leads from the e nd Of mt o the roo an upper storey ; near the door , w hose massive locks attract attention , is a washstand W its e ith all conveniences , the tow ls and brushes hang

r ing nea . On a shelf are seen a richly bound prayer b OOk so n , a hand me candlestick , spice and medici e

. I n Of n boxes . front the window is drawn up o e Of t hose comfortable s eats which are yet . to be seen I n POPULAR LIFE AS REFLECT ED B Y ART 23 9

ld . o German houses There are no chairs in the room ,

but instead several cushioned seats . The table is mas

sive , and the national carved chest, the repository

Of the choice household linen , stands in the corner f t . O S Anna lies in a canopied bed , and is in the act

taking some soup or other refreshing beverage . Every t hing around her bespeaks the perfection Of housekeep n i g . The sponsors and neighbours gathered together

are also refreshing themselves with food and drink , and o ne u Of - stout ho sewife in full armour side pocket , bunch o f C keys , and hatelaine , seems particularly anxious for

m - Of a drink . A aid servant is in the act bringing in a c radle and a bath for the infant Mary . . One Of the most beautiful pictures Of German ’ ‘ d omestic life is Ditrer s Holy Family at their Daily ’ in Duties . Mary sits outside the door with spindle her h and , while the infant Jesus lies in His cradle , and

J . oseph is making a wooden trough Little angels , in Of the Shape boys , are collecting the chips in a basket a nd at the same time indulging in childish pranks ; o n e Of them brings a bunch Of lilies Of the vallev n i to the you g mother . It s a faithful representa ‘ Of is tion German life , where everything open and well regulated ; where all is peace , and freedom , and ’ j oy . The domestic hearth was the central point in the Of lives our forefathers , and we cannot cease to admire t heir Skill in making home comfortable and attractive . Nothing that was in daily use was too trivial or ignoble

au tified he Of s rv t o be b e . T hand the artist was Ob e a ble in the balustrades , the ceilings , the doors and win t d . e ows , the stoves and the candelabra Even h com ’ mon Of Of h kitchen furniture a burgher s house , w ich 240 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

a some samples are still extant , betrays the same c re . Thus it was with excusable pride that Wimpheling said that Germany deserved universal admiration not only Of on account its sublime creations in painting, sculp

r dis ture , and architectu e , but also in the originality in f played the making O common things . This may be explained by the sympathy which existed between the artists and mechanics . Art had grown out Of manual work as a flower from its stem , and , retaining its close connection with — im its fountain head , it continued to exercise the most portant influence on all the productions Of artisans or mechanics . The earliest artists , indeed , called them

m . o selves echanics For instance , in the early d cuments ,

. ’ S rlin Of is ff as y Ulm described as j oiner , Adam Kra t ’ ’ T h . e stonecutter , and Peter Vischer as coppersmith architect of a cathedral was not above designing a

Of -s e simple villa . The carver the choir talls also mad house furniture . The most renowned painters used their talents for decorating houses , painting windows , f or illuminating the coats O arms . Artists and mechanics worked in conjunction and perfected each other . The latter aimed at artistic its merit in their work , but had no wish to overstep f limits , finding in their workshops su ficient employment , remuneration , renown , and pleasure . The simplest Of im work was a labour love , and hence the lasting pression which it was able to produce . Art and art handiwork found ready welcome and encouragement

- - Of amongst the well to do classes , who were proud pos Of sessing treasures art grown on native soil , beautiful ’ things Of home production .

24 2 HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Of SO lifeless , concrete material stone , wood , or metal , in music , by the same conformity to law and orderly Of Of development , out the bare mathematics sound the most wonderful harmonies were let loose . The merit Of perfecting the harmony Of many

- voices is due to South Germany , where the high class

Of I Winnes in ers music the g , as well as popular songs , were more plentiful and vigorous than elsewhere , and where organ - building and organ- playing were earliest brought to perfection .

‘ ’ Lochamer BOOk Of The Song , which is one the O n ldest musical works , dating from the commenceme t O f Of the fifteenth century, is a monument considerable artistic proficiency ; but the many exquisite melodies contained in it are collected , not only from South

Germany , but also from the Netherlands . Another con temporary witness to the musical proficiency Of the Low Countries is a book Of songs published at Augsburg in 1 4 the year 58 .

William Du Fay, of Hainault Jacob Obrecht , s upposed to have been born on the Rhine and

Johann Ockenheim , from Flanders are con s idere d the pioneers Of all musical schools down to our

Of time . The works Ockenheim combine a profound knowledge Of ecclesiastical music with wonderful skill

t o in harmony and rich original melody . We seem

so u hear his very soul breathing in his compositions , f ll f are they Of tender sentiment and O deepest feeling . os uin e His greatest pupil was J q de Pr s , whose praises were loudly sung by his contemporaries . His ’ Lorit z Of genius , said Heinrich Glarus , in his Dodeca ’ ‘ chordia , Was such that he could do what he liked ; no one exceeded him in power Of expression or dexterity MUSI C 243

O f execution ; no one was more thoroughly master Of his as subj ect , j ust no Latin epic poet could compare ’ w Coclicus Of ith Virgil Adrian , Nuremberg, who s os uin Of o tudied under J q , spoke his master as f llows ‘ He was the first Of those music kings who surpassed

all others because they not only taught , but they knew

how to unite theory with practice , understood all the ff di erent schools , and could give expression to all the ’ f o emotions O the soul . When J squin discovered real talent in a pupil he immediately taught him to compose a nd Of arrange several parts . He thought the power c omposing very rare , and it was against his principles

to encourage mediocrity , saying there were already s uch glorious works left us by the Old masters that there is not one in a thousand who could equal or

better them . Jacob Obrecht far surpassed both Ockenheim and

Josquin in sublimity and simple beauty Of style . ’ Glare au says Obrecht s works are filled with wonder ful maj esty and simplicity ; he sought after effect and

technical beauty to a less degree than Josquin , depend ing on the natural impression Of his creations on the SO a udience . It is said that his imagination was c reative that he was able to compose a whole Mass in a

night . Obrecht lived some time in Florence at the Court Of L orenzo di Medici , and there met his countryman , H r 147 5 148 0 ein ich Isaak , who from to was Capel m l eister at San Giovanni , and gave essons to the

c Of - hildren the music loving Medici . In Florence Obrecht was treated with such distinction that the Emperor Maximilian appointed him his diplomatic a t gent to Lorenzo . He spent his last years at the Cour R 2 244 HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Of the Maximilian , and , together with Josquin , was pride fO the imperial orchestra . Heinrich Isaak ranks among the most renowned Of Of musicians , not alone his own , but all succeeding

- w centuries . Among his best known works were t o motetts , in Six parts , planned on a grand scheme , com posed to glorify the highest spiritual and temporal powers , as represented by the Pope and the Emperor . Another motett on a hymn to the Virgin is regarded as one Of the best examples of sweetness and purity Of Of style . His principal work , an arrangement the ffi Of O ces the Church for Sundays and Holy Days , con tains the most instructive models for the study Of the

o Gregorian Chorale and figured c unterpoint . In this

o Senfl Of ZtI rich Of last work his pupil , L uis , a man Of deep religious feeling and brilliant imagination , ’ nfl aided him not a little . Among Se s composi ‘ " tions , the one commencing Eternal God at whose ’ command the Son came upon the earth is a j ewel . t he It belongs to those historical songs , in widest Of Of sense the word , which embody the spirit a whole epoch . Another very distinguished composer Of religious hymns Of the fifteenth century worthy Of mention was

Ca elmeiste r Heinrich Finck , p to the Polish Court at 1 f hi 492 . O s Cracowfrom The finale pilgrim canticle , ’ In Thy name we journey on , Lord , Shows all the fire ’ Hi Of Handel s great choruses . s numerous arrange f ments O Latin hymns are fine and solemn compositions .

’ Suflerin ’ His Seven Salutations to the g Redeemer , l Of motetts for four or six voices , are fu l beauty and technical correctness , and breathe the tenderest piety . Contemporary German art can Show hardly anything

246 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

the wonderful sympathy with the sentiment , and give deep expression which is wanting to the words ; so as Nuremb er er ‘ that , the g John Ott expresses it , the ’ listener pauses to consider the deep meaning .

The melody , for instance , which Heinrich Isaak composed for the song attributed to the Emperor ‘ " ’ i f ‘ s O Maximilian , Innsbruck I must leave thee ,

- world wide fame . The air by the same composer to the words ‘ My only joy in the wide world ’ is a pearl Of priceless worth , and will always remain an expression Of all that is most sweet and tender in the German ’ Finck s o national character . Heinrich songs are als pervaded by this same earnest , religious tone .

German humour asserted its sway in music just as . nd much as in sculpture and painting . Every shade a was degree represented , from the most roguish merri ment to the bitterest satire , as may be seen in such ’ specimens as Mahu s Es wolt ein alt Man auf die ’ Bulschaft gan (An Old man would a- wooing go) ; Isaak s ’ ’ Of Senfl s song the Peasant s Little Daughter Laub , ’ ’ ’ Fin ck s gras , und bluh , and peasants drinking song , ’ Ludel Der und der Hensel . What makes all the music Of this period SO pecu liarl is it s y delightful healthy piety , manly energy and vigour , constantly allied with tender sentiment and — hearty enjoyment Of life the same qualities which pervade the works Of the masters Of the plastic arts . 1 AS the new figurate music was developed the desire became ever stronger to perfect the material Of

1 ‘ T he t erm figurate music (Fig ura lmu si k) i s us e d to distinguis h th e mus ic that was capabl e of b eing combine d into many parts by a rudi

e r k er r h u r u s u s s m nta y ind of count point f om t e n hythmic , ni ono plain ong

or an t rm the ur e u su ers e e . c o f o o of Ch ch , which it had b g n to p d MU SI C 247

i ts O performance , and btain a richer and purer fulness f O tone . The first improvement was made in the

Of . organ , the noblest all instruments A German

craftsman living in Venice , named Bernhard , hit upon the bold idea Of tuning the manual Of the organ an u octave higher, and accompanying the more beautif l quality Of sound thus produced by doubling the bass —i i notes e. repeating them in a lower octave ; his n 1 ven tion Of the pedals about 1470 transformed the instrument into a mighty fabric . In the year 1475 Conrad Rosenberg Of Nuremberg built an organ with manual and pedals for the Bare footed Friars , and one for the cathedral at Bamberg . f Nurem The organ for the Church O St . Lawrence in

T raxdorf berg , said to have been built by Heinrich , and enlarged by the monk Leonhard Marca in the year 147 9 was , quite renowned for its magnificence . In the year 148 3 Stephen Castendorfer from Breslau added I n 1 499 the pedal to the cathedral organ at Erfurt . Heinrich Kranz built the great organ Of the church in w a Bruns ick, and at the same time fine instrument was Of built for Strasburg . At the beginning the sixteenth century nearly all the principal cities in Germany Ru possessed organs with pedals . The Humanist dol hus p Agricola is cited as the builder , or at least one f f ’ O O . the builders , the organ in St Martin s in Gro ningen . In proportion as the instrument itself was perfected Of the players it became more skilful , and in the begin ning Of the fifteenth century several priests and monks

1 T he e ee r e G er the I p dal had b n al e ady invent d in many , and talian s gave B ernhard the cre dit of it b ecaus e he had introduc ed the invention int o — e n . Ar 8 Vi n a nold , pp . 6 69 . 248 H I ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

had already earned high reputations as organists . Conrad

Baumann , born blind in Nuremberg , reached such per fe ction Rosen lut Of that the poet Hans p , in writing ‘ his playing , said , He restores courage to the dis ’ heartened .

N i st ein s er e se och mai t in di m gedicht , D er e s e e hat mang l an in m gesicht , D er ha s t m auster C r Paumann y on ad , Dem s e nad e hat got olch g g dan , Das s er ein mays ter Ob allen may ster i st Wan er tregt yn s eitn em s inne n li s t s r s Dy mu ica mit y m su se n don . ur ku s e e e s er r Solt man d ch n t in m m i t k on , E r ru auf e in kn n t g wol von golt o .

Of This poem tells another who has lost his sight . is His name Conrad Baumann , and God has granted Of him to be master masters . His subtle art dr aws ’ forth music s sweetest tone . Surely if man honours ’ art his must be the golden crown . was He a visitor at many Courts , and the recipient

Of rich presents on his leaving them , particularly at those Of Frederick (the Emperor) and the Dukes Of

Ferrara and Mantua . Italy raised him to the dignity

r O nition ' Of Of knighthood in ec g his great talent . He ended his days at Munich in at the Court Of the

- f o D O . music l ving uke Albrecht III . Bavaria Bau ’ mann s works are the Oldest evidences which remain

o Of proficiency in instrumental comp sition . They are proof that the organ was played very generally in Germany at a period when it was almost unknown in

other parts Of Europe . After Baumann may be mentioned Paul Ht eimer

from Radstadt , Court organist to Maximilian , as the Of father of the highest method . In writing him Ottmar Nachtigall says : He was never wearis ome by

250 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Judenkuni notation . Besides Arnold Schlick , Hans g , eusiedler Hans Gerla , and Hans N published books on the lute which also contained theoretical in struction . The brilliant works Of the composers were not slow Of to awaken the activity theorists , authors , and pro f r O s e sso s . The two ldest theorists were the Carmelite n n l Johann vo Erfurt and Johann GOOde ach . The atter Of Franchinus Gafor d at the was instructor , who stoo f 00 head O the Italian professors in the year 15 . A con

' Of a r temporary his was Johann F rber , Court choirmaste Of and to Ferdinand , King Naples , afterwards canon in

f ivelle mi f , the church O N s . T rithe us wrote O him in the

‘ 1495 ll ‘ H e year as fo ows is learned in all branches , a He n . good musicia , and a remarkable mathematician h wrote t ree works on counterpoint , one on melody ’ f are and another on the origin O music . These works a complete collection Of the musical theories and ad

r vancement Of the science in his day . They are clea and precise as to matter and the arrangement Of it

Of written in good Latin , and full explanatory examples , either original or drawn from the best sources . The monk Adam von Fulda was also a remarkable u c theoretical musician . He published a treatise on m si and arranged a motett on a hymn tune for four voice s r which gained great favour through Germany . Othe musical authorities Of their day were the priests Conrad V on Zabern Of Mentz Sebastian Virding from 1496 Amberg ; later , Jacob Faber from Stablo ( ) and Michael Reinsb e ck from Nuremberg A b OOk Of 1 511 musical instruction , written in by Johann

‘ hl f Of urem COc aus O . , rector the school St Lorenz in N

Of . SO berg , is characteristic the age It is deep that MUSI C 251 one is at a difficulty to believe that it could be used for general instruction , and yet it was expressly designed f O . for the pupils St Lorenz , who , together with the Of pupils two other schools , had a musical competition f O . each year on the Feast St Catherine , in the presence Of Of connoisseurs , and under the guidance the rector sung through the Mass . Competitions in music were not uncommon in the German schools in the fifteenth century . :252 HI STORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

CHAPTER VI

POPULAR POET RY

AS we have shown , the fine arts , particularly music , were in their prime in Germany at the close Of the it . w s Middle Ages Poetry , ho ever , in limited sense must be excepted , although we should be wrong in c oncluding that all poetic inspiration had died away .

A creative imagination , which is the fundamental prin ci le Of p the poetic art , had already been at work in the soul- stirring impressions made by the masterpi eces Of the plastic art and in the wonderful musical compo

i ff . s tions . The material and form were alone di erent words b ut Poetry at that time asserted her sway not in , SO in marble , in metal , in wood , in colour and in tone ; Of when music , the forerunner poetry in the gradual development Of a people (inasmuch as it is the necessary Of accompaniment and inspirer the drama and the epic) , new had reached such perfection , it left the hope that a 1 Springtime of poetry as an art was at hand .

This hope had still firmer grounds . In the first blossoming time Of literature the poetic art had been Of born popular song ; in particular the grand , heroic epics Of the native sagas had grown out of the national

songs . National poetry , however, had been suppressed and arrested in its development by the learned and a rtistic poetic circles among the ecclesiastics and the

1 ee Gervinus . . 249 . S , ii p

“ 254 HI ST ORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

accom ani pended, to a great extent , on the musical p

ment for its popularity and its survival . It was not alone by the modulations Of the voice

Of - that the full meaning the folk songs was expressed . The movement Of the dance was Often SO contrived as f to emphasise the poetic sense . Many O our present rustic dances probably originated in these popular songs . Of The authors such songs are unknown . Some "times it is ‘ The gay hunter singing to the woods the ’ ‘ Of echoes his heart , sometimes A Shepherd com m ’ ‘ ’ uning with the flowers , or , again , The miners d rinking Song Und der un s es e Re e di n ih n sang , O hl esun e S wo g g n hat , Das hab en gethan z wei H auer re in e Zu F iburg d r Stadt . Si e hab en s o wohl gesungen i M e und kiihlem e B e th W in , Dab ei da i st gesess en

D er Wirthin T Ocht erlein.

he s s s And who ang thi ong, e has b e s u So w ll ng it , All about what was done i ers r Fre By two m n f om iburg . With m e ad and cool wine full err e s Right m ily th y ang, Whil e by them sits ’ h s s r u u er T e ho t fai yo ng da ght .

Some times it is a pious knight who Sings while he rides through the lands , or a maiden who bewails her absent lover . Of This gift song was not common to the masses , Of few but was the possession a favoured , who voiced f ’ forth the feelings O the people . They were less the c reators than the discoverers Of the voices Of joy and POPULAR POETRY 255 s Of ll orrow , complaint and hope , which fi ed the soul of

the nation .

These songs , which had power to penetrate the i nnermost fibres Of the heart and to strike each note Of

its harmonious chords , were soon carried from mouth to

indestruc mouth , from heart to heart , and became the t Of a ‘ ible property the nation , bec use A thought had "escaped from an isolated soul that was common to ’ humanity and appealed to every human heart . — ’ These folk songs are the pulsations Of the nation s h Of Of eart , embodiments its joys and its sorrows , and ,

a Of its ff . bove all , a ections The Old German songs surpassed all others in d o an . riginality and quaintness , in earnestness humour

Of SO SO uh Many them are chastely modest , calm and i mpassioned , that they were evidently composed by

women . The farewell ballads are particularly touching ; for instance , the following

in rz das i st betrube er M h e t s , s s ff ir friuntli ch s e e D a cha t ch id n , e s e nimm rm er E r mag gen n e , h v U nd moc t wol st erbe n or leide . in e r M ho st c on ,

u s I ch m s dich lon , n ues s U d m davon , s s r i Wan ich mue ii be d e heide .

r i s er er s ad M y hea t v y , v y ,

’ T is ab s enc e giv es it pain . re r Joy can no mo each it , ’ s rr e But welcome o ow s d ath , For I must le ave thee And from my native heath s e u e My wandering foot t p g id .

The wanderer journeys forth , but his heart fails a nd he adds : 256 HI ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Dort hoch auf j ene m b erge D a et ein mtil era d g , D as malet nicht s denn li eb e Di e nacht bi s an den T ag ; Die ul e i st er r e m z b och n , Di e e e ein en d li b hat ,

’ se en e e s e So g g dich got , m in f ine li b ’ z f Je ar ich ins ele nd .

Up there on yonder hill T he mill whe el goe s round D ay and night it grinds

T rue e rue e e . lov , t lov alon T he l e i s r ke mi l wh el b o n , i " An d e rue e s e lov , t lov , d ad 0 G od res ee re sure , t th , my t a , While I go forth to mis ery

’ Of T O misery means to exile . The love the Father SO G land was strong in the ancient erman , that to live Of Of out it was exile or banishment , and a source the f greatest unhappiness . The following refrain tells O a deep , still love I h r in sichellin r us c ho t e a chen ,

r us e ur das K r Wol a ch n d ch o n , I ch hort eine feine m agt klagen h r r r Si e et i lieb ve lo en .

L s s r us e s e e r us a a ch n , ich l , a che n Un d klinge n wol durch das korn e s s ein m eidlin trauren W i ich , at r u er re H i en b l en v lo n .

I e r the s k e rus e h a d ic l tl ,

ee r u the e r Sw ping th o gh y llow co n . I he ard a maiden w eeping r her r Fo love gone afar .

ee O s e s e Sw p by , ickl , we p i r u th e S ng th o gh e y llow corn . I h eard a maiden we eping

For h r r r e love gon e afa .

O o N sorr w , no love E s i s t ein alt gesproche n rat M er vor u er i aren wan h nd t , U n d wer n i e vers uchet laid hat , Wi e der e erfar mag li b en .

258 HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Of Of se e bottom life and poetry , as we from the folk songs in their minute descriptions and keen Observa

Of . SO tion its laws and phenomena Those songs , well ’ ‘ - ll ou known , The Joyous Summer time , Wi y hear a ’ new Song from the Box - tree ? There is a Linden in ’

& . n w c e . the Vale , , seem ever fresh and l Next come the numberless hunting songs , as wel as o Of Of s ngs true knights , full humour and spirit

e e Von dem R n W in , w in hei , L u er claur un d e a t , f in ; Dein varb gib g ar lichten s che in Al s r s un d ru c y tal bin . Du gib st M edicein Fii r trauren s e k d ein , ch nc u De r un er u in c aft w d t ot , D em zagen gib s t du muot Dem argen kargen mil des pluot

e e r the R e Win , win f om hin , ure e r fine P , cl a , and , T hou out shine st r s ru C y tal and by . T u s e the ad " ho olac of s T hou cure Of all things had ’ T hou mak et brave the coward ’ ’ T hou Open st the mis er s he art

The popular ballads and romances Of the Germans will bear comparison with those Of all other nations ; nor were they wanting in historical , warlike , and poli tical songs and satires . The latter were used as power ful t weapons by all classes . For instance , in the grea wars between the princes and the cities (1449) the following doggerel was aimed at the three warlike bishops

t o The poor ci y knows no l nger where She i"s , but vainly spills her innocent blood in war . Lord take Of care us , we pray ; for those who should preserve Christians and the Holy Faith are at the head Of armies POPULAR POETRY 259

Of s een . The bishop Mentz leads the dance ; better b islI O Of that he should lead the choir . The p Bamberg

set . follows in his train , and he of Eichstadt fills up the

B attle wild has killed sweet charity . Because the holy propagators Of Fai th and Christianity have forgotten to ’ sermonise , O God , we turn to Thee . This was answered by the upholders Of the princely Of party . The cities are accused having destroyed

churches and monasteries , not sparing even the Blessed

Sacrament . The peasants and the people were accused o f rivalling the nobility in pride and pomp until it b ecame unbearable i l s They bel eve themse ve unequalled , and call them ” s t he elves Roman Empire , while they are but peas

a nts . Formerly they stood behind the door when the l princes , who governed the and and the people , passed

b y . The King Sigismund must surely have been bereft Of sense when he permitted those people to carry fife a nd ff drum ; it pu ed them up with pride , and they as ’ s umed what by right belonged to the princes alone . At the close Of the song is a wish for the success Of ’ t he princes party

‘ That success follow the nobles in ending all this peasant turbulence pray I with all my heart and may

re the people get nothing but humiliation , pain , and ’ ent an e p c . Cyriacus Spangenberg writes in his chronicles Of ‘ 1452 : Mansfeld , in the year Songs were made and s ung, exhorting the rulers to maintain j ustice in the g overnment ; not to allow too much power to the nobles or too much luxury to the citizens , and not to overtax

the country people ; to keep the highways safe , and ’ all to see that j ustice and equity were done to . 260 H I STOR Y OF T HE GERMAN P EOPLE

There was universal complaint Of the want Of mode

re re ration and j ustice , particularly with regard to the p s ent atives of the recently adopted Roman Code , on f f account O their unj ust judgments O the people .

In a street ballad written before 1474 the j urists . Of and doctors the law are satirised . They are called ‘ ’ ‘ ’ ‘ - - by the populace , Law benders , Purse cutters , Blood ’ 1493 s uckers . In a pamphlet written in the year we find the j udges threatened with expulsion , and the princes exhorted not to love the Jews , with whom they f were accused O having transactions . Now that which is worst Of all is that the princes will gO with the dogs Of Jews who rob all the Chris ? tians . Herren princes , will you hear me You are in danger ; they curse you vengeance from morning until night . If you love God avoid three things on earth

Set not your heart on usury . Make not justice your slave if you will be saved . Love not the Jew ; give f him not your confidence . He is the thief O your soul f ’ and the insulter O Our Lady . who Nor were the clergy spared , particularly those e belonged to the nobility , and cared only for the incom

Of b enefices the , and gave themselves up to gaming and luxury . ‘ th Their conduct causes us much pain . What eV should restrain in us , that they do themselves every

- day . It is a world wide complaint ; they dishonour f ’ the name O priest . Brigandage by the nobles became unbearable ; things even came to such a pass that it was looked on as an honourable amusement , and was actually taught systematically . In 1 47 8 Werner Rolewink tells us with much detail

262 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Of s heads families , is particularly edifying , and dispose

- o . the heart to j y God loves the cheerful hearted . Lyric poetry is the truest index Of the character O f ma a nation , and y be called the breath and pulse by which we can measure the force Of its life . In Germany

- this life manifested itself both in the secular folk songs . and in the hymns used in private life , in the canticles . sung at divine service in the churches and at the many Of religious gatherings the people .

As early as from the ninth century religious hymns . in various dialects had existed in Germany . Those few examples which are preserved dating from the thirteenth century bespeak the simple faith and piety , and deep Of 1148 religious sentiments the people . In the year Gerhoh Of his the provost Reichsberg , in commentary Of on the Psalms , wrote All over the world the praise the Saviour is sung in the native tongues Of the different . countries ; particularly is this the case among the so Germans , whose language is well fitted to this pur ’ pose . The monk Godfrey , who accompanied St . 1 14 6—11 47 Bernard ( ) when he preached the crusade , wrote as follows to the bishop Hermann Of Con ‘ : As stance soon as we left German soil your hymn , ” t o Christ be gracious , ceased , and no one was there ’ sing God s praise like your countrymen . The Italians , Of especially , have no hymns their own in which they ’ all n can glorify God for His wo drous works . From the twelfth century onwards we get more and more information concerning the German hymns which rO were used at divine service , and for pilgrimages , p cessions , and mystery plays . Hymns , we learn , were 1410 Of even sung at battles . In we find the knights ‘ ’ the the Teutonic order Singing, Christ is arisen . At POPULAR POETRY 263

Of 1167 bloody field Tannenberg , and in , at the battle o f Tusculum , the German army sang , Christ , Thou Who wert born while the archbishop Christian Of Mentz led the attack , bearing the flag in his hand . The canticle "’ that precedes preaching , Come , oh Holy Ghost the ’ Christian hymn , A beauteous Babe the Easter song , ’ ‘ Christ is arisen ; and that for Pentecost , Let us ’ invoke the Holy Spirit , date from the thirteenth century .

Of - In speaking the last mentioned the famous preacher , ‘ Brother Berthold (dead in said , It is a very O profitable hymn . You should sing it ften and with devotion , in order to raise your hearts to God and to was u call Him to your aid . It a happy tho ght , and he ’ was a wise man who composed it . Berthold urged any among his hearers who had the power to compose another like it . In an Easter hymn , attributed to the Of ueinfort pastor Conrad Q , we read in the fifth verse

‘ Sing forth in accents sweet and soft , ye faithful in the church ; ye priests in the chancel . Now let your

- song come forth and proclaim Christ is arisen . T O day ’ hath He burst the bands Of death .

In the fourteenth century the Benedictine monk Johann Of Salzburg was the most zealous advocate Of

Church hymns . He made a very valuable collection Of the Of best the ancient ones , which , with the assistance

Of set . Of a secular priest , he to music At the end the Middle Ages there were still extant many hymns which were written in imitation Of his style and se t to his n compositions . In the fifteenth century Heinrich vo Of Laufenberg , deacon Freiburg in the Breisgau , about 1 445 m , and later a monk in Strasburg , arranged any religious songs to popular melodies . 264 H I ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

The fifteenth century was an essentially prolific period in the production and development Of sacred song . The struggles for reform in the Church , the Of Of awakened spirit culture , and the increase German

Of o Bibles and books piety , all favoured this gr wth . Even the religious controversies Of the times contributed

as to the same end , for the heretics who used poetry a means Of spreading their doctrines had to be met with their own weapons . By the invention Of printing with movable type it became possible to convert into common property a number Of beautiful hymns which had hitherto

t o Of been confined certain districts , and many the hymns used in Germany at the present day date back 14 1 2 Of his to 70 and to 5 0 . In one sermons Martin ‘ Luther said : The papists had beautiful hymns and u canticles for example , O Tho Who hast conquered ll he and vanquished the devil , also Christ arose from all His tortures . They sang them from their hearts . o At Christmas they sang , T day a beauteous babe is “ born to us at Pentecost they Sing , We pray Thee , O Holy Ghost "and during the Mass is heard the l beautiful cantic e , Oh , God be praised and blessed , Who has fed us with His own

Of The more the love song , both sacred and secular , was developed in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the more did the national melodies also improve ; and musical composers were filled with emulation to produce worthy settings for the melodious lyric emanations Of the nation . The number Of hymns arranged for four voices by Erhard Oeglin are proofs Of the great advance o f this

266 H I ST ORY OF T HE GERM"AN PEOPLE Thou comforter of the penitent He who seeks The e " ‘ t . will be comforted and saved . O Jesus "sweetes Of shinest b source the heart , Thou more rilliantly all than the sun . Thy goodness chases away sorrow f ’ ‘ N and all the vanity O the world . O tongue can s a w y, no pen express , He alone who has felt sorro f ’ d knows the sweetness O loving Jesus . Had I sacrifice u my yo ng life to God , my Creator , He would have given e me His kingdom . Oh , what happiness that would hav u been He suffered a painf l death for us . He forsook ’ ‘ His t o kingdom , and for us fought valiantly . Had I ll give up the world it would cost me little . I sha turn ’ 1 to Jesus , and to Him alone . " The Christmas carols , especially those relating to Of the flight into Egypt , are particularly expressive the f deep religious feeling O the fifteenth century . Their nai ve and childlike simplicity is unsurpassed in the f realm Of poetry . There are more than a hundred O Of such Christmas melodies extant , the best which is

the following : Out Of a delicate root came forth a .

rose . It sprang from Jesse , as our fathers tell us , and ’ at midnight blossomed the little bud amidst the winter s ’ cold . Among all creatures the Blessed Virgin is the most Of highly venerated , as the epitome all the virtues and the most powerful intercessor with the Redeemer ‘ i Of I have chosen a lovely maiden . She s high ’

. are birth and my heart s delight Yea , for many years

her praises sung . She hails from noble origin , and

comes from high degree . She is like a wonderful has garden filled with fair flowers . My weariness

is Of ceased since I have beheld her . She the crown

1 U . . 8 66 . hland , i p POPULAR POETRY 267

w . f omen She is the crown O Virgins . She is the f f delight O angels . She is the light O heaven . Neither ’ s un nor moon surpasses her in brightness .

I n most Of the pious hymns Christ is pictured as Of Of the bridegroom the Church and each soul , as we may see in the following religious allegory : ‘ our We will build a little house , a retreat for

a .b e soul ; Jesus sh ll master , Mary the directress . Fear Of l Of the Lord shall guard the door , the ove God be

w . the illing slave Humility shall reign there , and ’ Wisdom shall lock all in . ’ A Christian s longing after heaven Speaks in every ' line Of the following hymn I wish that I were home and away from worldly consolation in that home where I shall gaze on

. " God eternally Awake , my soul prepare thy wings ; the choir of angels await thee there ; t his earth is too narrow for thee ; thou shalt come here no more . In ff our home above there is life without su ering , health ’ without pain . The German hymns sung by the people did not in those days , any more than in these , belong to the liturgy proper ; nevertheless , custom and their uni versal use at the different religious services and Ob ser vances gave them something of a liturgical character . Of They were the outpourings faith and joy , and supplemented the set prayers in which the laity took part during the services . Not only at the processions ,

- at the pilgrimages on the great feast days , and at the dramatic representations , but before and after sermons , as well as after some Of the responses at Mass and e n morning and evening prayers , they w re su g in 2 68 H I ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

‘G Of Melancthon erman , which led to the remark Philip , ’ i n his Of Apologia the Augsburg Confession , that the custom Of Singing hymns in the German language had ’ been universally practised .

Mystery P lays

Sacred dramatic representations kept pace with the f f increase O sacred song . The close study O this ques tion furnishes a prolific means Of understanding the

development and inner working Of the German mind . From the earliest Christian times divine service a u SO Of ss med , to speak , the symbolic character sacred Of drama . The great Sacrifice the Mass itself is a com memorative representation and rehearsal Of the great

- f Of world redeeming tragedy O Golgotha . Each the five parts marks the progress Of the propitiatory Offer Of ing , and unfolds , as it were , before the eyes the people present the great religious subject contained in Of it . Hence the great masters music have found in the Mass the most inspiring subj ects for their composi a . so tions At High M ss the personal actors , to say ’ the priests , the Levites , and the people , keep up con tinuous dramatic intercourse , speaking to and answer

ing each other . Everything appertaining to the service — the altar , the vestments , colours , even the very — plan and architectural style Of the churches are sym l f it b o ical . O s In the vesper fice , with antiphons ,

psalms and responses , parts are severally assigned to

t he priest and people . During the processions both

the clergy and the lay helpers in their various dresses ,

the guilds and associations with their distinctive badges , at r a e s ff . p and flags , contributed to the dramatic e ect

2 70 HI ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPL E

“ plants the twig on his grave , and from it the tree which was to supply the wood for the Cross grows . Of re re By way prologue to these performances , p s entations Of the prophets and Sibyls who had foretold the Of O coming the Redeemer were ften introduced , followed f f n by some O the scenes and miracles O His life . The Of the came the awful tragedy Passion, the glorious s Of cene the Easter Resurrection , and not unfrequently f s cenes O the Last Judgment followed the whole . Like SO the most sublime epic , is the Christian drama tragic u in its nat re , and it is equally meet that Christian a nd profane history should alike close with the Final

Judgment . Besides the sacred plays which were concerned . w Of ith the life our Lord , and which formed the Of p rincipal group these ancient dramatic compositions , t here were others relating to the Blessed Virgin . Of this class some were devoted to her exclusively , some to the mother and Son together ; others illustrated s l t o ome parable or egend , while others , again , referred

Antichrist and the Judgment . Among the most important Of the latter group may b e mentioned one entitled The Rise and Fall Of Anti ’ is c at . hrist , written Tegernsee This the earliest play

Of Of . Of German origin , and one the finest specimens d n t dramatic literature in the Mi dle Ages . It had o o nly an ecclesiastical but a political bearing , by asso ciating the idea Of Antichrist with the princes and their to Of relations the Roman Emperor the German people . T here are evidences that this piece was frequently O t played during the fifteenth century . It pens wi h a representation of several allegorical characters , followed by typical ones Of Paganism and the Syna POPULAR POETRY 271

.g ogue . Next comes the Church , surrounded by O the symbolical live branches , and Justice holding in S f her hand the cales and Sword . On the right O the Church stands the Pope with his ecclesiastics ; on her

left the Emperor with his warriors and vassals , whose ‘ ’ SO submission he claims ; for , writes the historian

all the world was tributary to the Roman Empire . This had been accomplished by the c ourage Of the

forefathers , but forfeited by their descendants , who now wished to re establish the universal sovereignty and o blige the kings and vassals to pay tribute to the Of Emperor . The Kings Greece and Jerusalem bowed Of to the imperial power , but the King France only

s ubmitted after many battles , whereupon the Emperor ,

a s Of acknowledged chief all Christendom , triumphs ,

a nd Of , together with the pagan King Babylon , lays the c rown and sword in the temple Of the Lord in Jeru ‘ salem , Singing , Graciously take what I bring Thee , King Of kings ; Thine be the power ; only through f ’ . O Thee do we reign Thou alone art Master all . But the arch - enemy Of Christianity arose in Jeru

s alem ; Antichrist appeared , attended by Hypocrisy and ‘ ’ ‘ Heresy . On thee , he said to Hypocrisy , shall my ’ work be founded ; and thou , turning to Heresy , shalt ’ r nurture its g owth by annihilating the clergy for me . Of Both in turn assure him their services . The Church ’ has long tottered , sings Hypocrisy . Vanity has long

held her grasp on Mother Church . Whence the lavish ness Of bede c ked men ? God loves not worldly pre ’ ro lates . The yal heads are assuming extreme power . Through our timely advice you will soon govern the whole earth ; we have led the laity to be favourably NOW disposed tow ards you . you will destroy the 272 H I STOR Y OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

’ teaching Of the priests . Antichrist begins his work

SO with the words , At last I am born , after lying long Of conceived under the heart the Church . I shall b e t raised up and subdue power . I shall se aside the Old ’ f and dictate the new . The throne O Antichrist is seen reared in the very temple Of the Lord ; the Church in ignominy and distress flies to the Pope . Antichrist T h summons each Of the kings to do him homage . e Of Kings France come forward with their allegiance , and he stamps his initials upon their foreheads . The

hi s German king, to whom he sends presents , spurns ambassadors and war is the result , in which the Ger man troops conquer . Antichrist changes his tactics f and tries the influence O superstition . He cures one who was apparently lame , heals a pretended leper , raises a man supposed to be dead , and by this means wins over the Germans . The Emperor on bended ff flatt ers s knees O ers him his throne , him , and receive his crown back from Antichrist . With the assistance

Of Of the Germans , Antichrist conquers the King Baby Of lon and orders the crucifixion the Jews , who had at Who first acknowledged him , but had been converted by n Enoch and Elias to belief i Jesus crucified . The power Of Of Antichrist has passed the limits his dominion, and from the heights he thus proclaims his own glory Of Here is the fulfilment my prophets , my kindred , is and those who had my rights at heart . This the glory which they have so long prepared for me . Those who are worthy Shall enjoy it with me ; after the de

Of struction the audacious whom vanity has blinded , ’ s afety and peace will be secured to all . Suddenly the rolling thunder announces the Judg r m th ment . Antichrist is hurled f o his rone , the hypo

274 H I ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

not actors assembled ( professional ones , for there was no charge for admission) , but the ecclesiastics and scholars in the higher schools , and such citizens as were willing to take the female characters or wished to r n f witness the perfo m ance . Followi g the example O the painters , who clothed their saints according to the

f f o O O . fashions the day , the costumes were local fashi n

n re God the Father , the a gels and the prophets , were t w presented in pries ly vestments , but Christ al ays in ’ Of bishop s robes . It was a matter earnest religious f eeling both to the actors and the audience , and the performances always began with the chant Let us pray the Holy Spirit to preserve us in the faith until we leave this vale Of tears for our true "’ home . Kyrie eleison

Of ‘ Let me quote the introduction to the play St . Dorothea as an example Of the prologues ’ In all his undertakings man should invoke God s help with earnestness , in order to accomplish his work with less Sin and more merit . May GOd and the Holy

’ " u Virgin now assist us Let s all join in saying the l ’ canticle Of the Ho yGhos t .

Of The manager appeared as one the saints , gene

t - J S . rally Augustine , or sometimes as Virgil the ancient pagan —and explained the period and circumstances

Of the representation . Each actor advanced to the f hi O s . front the stage , repeated part, and retired The c o hoirb ys sang the accompanying hymns , and at the conclusion all went to a church service or joined in singing some appropriate hymn ; after the Easter Play ’

esus . for instance , Christ is arisen , or J , mild and holy

These plays generally took place in the afternoon , Of lasted several days , and required a large number POPULAR POETRY 275 a Of ctors , especially at the close the fifteenth century , Of when all branches art had arrived at such perfection . In 1498 a Passion Play was acted at Frankfort - On

- l the Main which asted four days , and gave such uni versal satisfaction that it had to be repeated that same f f year . We read in some O the documents O the Archives Those who tOOk part in the Passion Play in front Of the Roemer played each afternoon until the

Angelus for four consecutive days , and appeared in ’ fine and appropriate costumes . ’ A four days representation Of the Passion and E aster Play, ending with the ascension into heaven , 1506 which was given at Frankfort in , required as many f a s 27 6 actors . This was followed by a kind O Church e pic , in which two actors , surrounded by Christians and Jews , representing the Church and the Synagogue ,

Of Of held a discussion , at the close which eight or ten the Jews were baptised by the actor representing t f S . O Augustine , the Synagogue sending up a wail ’ lamentation , while the Church sang an Alleluia , in w hich the audience j oined .

i Besides be ng treated on the stage , these sacred s ubj ects were illustrated by pictures in processions at t bl aux vi t the Corpus Christi Festival and by a e va n s .

Kti nzelsau In this manner, for instance , at , in the year 1 479 Of , the whole Scripture history , from the Creation

Of . to the Day Judgment , was represented in groups 1 507 ff In the city councillors , the di erent corporations n a d . religious societies , undertook such a play in Zerbst

‘ ’ In Freiberg , Saxony , Mysteries were acted every s even years at Whitsuntide . On the First Sunday after Pentecost the Bible period extending from the fall Of the angels to the expulsion from Paradise was repre

T 2 27 6 HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Of sented ; on the second , the redemption the world ,

. e and on the third , the Last Judgment These plays wer conducted on a magnificent scale and participated Of in by all classes . The chronicles the time give evidence Of the impression made by such elevating scenes . l Taken as a who e , these Passion Plays were very instructive to the people . They were looked forward Old to with eager pleasure by and young , and they the exercised a highly moral influence . They had Of Old advantage , like the Greek tragedies , that their u — ll o one s bject matter was we known to the pe ple , and or two characteristic traits sufficed to introduce each ld as an O acquaintance . The performers were hailed with joy as the impersonations Of characters that had

- been long familiar in pictures and prayer books , and which the audience were deeply interested to see is brought to life , as it were , by their own relatives . It easy to realise the strength O f the impression that would be produced by these plays on large masses Of people animated with the same spirit and looking on them in f edec ts the light O religious Observances . The scenic can mostly be compared to magnificent living pictures , raised SO fa r above the common occurrences Of daily life that they forcibly arrested and impressed the at tention . What , indeed , could surpass the importance Of the subject treated , which was nothing less than the unfolding Of the grand designs Of God for humanity ? In their stately epic harmony and rich and varied symbolism these representations have much in common Of with architectural and pictorial art . The grouping the actors was but a living reproduction Of the countless C hurch statues , and while their costumes were copied

278 HI ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Judas is made to minister to the comic element by o Of finding , on g ing out , that he has been paid the price

- n his treachery in false money . But the never faili g is e character is the Devil , who at one time made to tak Of t Of resum the part a stupid bungler , at ano her a p p ’ " t uous Ne t braggart , while again , as in The Devil s , he figures as a preacher inveighing against himself.

A very remarkable play , composed in Low German , was acted at Redentin , near Wismar in which the comic position Of the devils is fraught with deep the meaning . Lucifer, finding his power overcome by Of mystery the Redemption , sits chained in a barrel , which is supposed to represent hell , and indulges in a . soliloquy which shows his bitterness and wild despair . The proof Of the Divinity Of Christ through the Resur Of are rection , and the deliverance the souls in limbo , facts unbearable to him . He is not only enraged by his own damnation , but filled with envy and hate k towards redeemed man ind , and bewails that a creature whom he despised as lower than himself will enter

Of heaven , from which he is banished . It reminds one

’ an ill ustration by Dii rer in the famous Praver- b OOk Of

Maximilian , where the Devil is screaming and tearing his hair at the Incarnation . Chained fast himself, Lucifer sends his devils out into the world in order t o drag men into hell ; but they act stupidly , and are at last all sent in a body to Lubeck , where he sees a rich harvest . Then follow clever satires aimed at the pre A vailing abuses and weaknesses . s Dante in his Divine

’ ’ Comedy introduces the various political questions Of SO Of his time , does this poet the Middle Ages make use Of the feuds existing between the houses Of Lubeck and

~ Wismar , and by this local colouring adds materially to POPULAR POET RY 27 9

the point Of his satire . Both cities were open to the Of SO we se e reproach dishonesty in trade , and bakers , s cobblers , tailors , innkeepers , weavers and butcher coming forward and confessing their peccadilloes to the

Devil . In cutting irony the author makes them beg f Of orgiveness him , as though he were the j udge on the

Last Day and had power to absolve them . The satire is principally directed against the Ger m as it ans , inasmuch is in the German and not in the Slavonic States that the Devil is represented as seeking

for souls . Lucifer speaks German to the devils and to ’ dr : sinners . Ad essing Satan , he says Don t you under stand German better — do you think that I am a Slav ? ’ Satan brings in a priest whom he has sur prised indulging in worldly thoughts while reading the e SO servic , but the priest makes hell intolerable to the devils that he is obliged to seek refuge in a neighbouring marsh . Satan complains , but Lucifer mocks him , and tells him that he should have left the priest in peace . ’ The latter s threats Of the Final Judgment make no im SO pression on Lucifer , for it is far away , and in the ll f meantime he can be filled . The proposed end O the i author s to warn his audience against presumption . no Lucifer sends forth frightful screams , he knows peace , and his hate for mankind urges him to follow them with constant temptations ; to men Of goodwill

alone is peace promised , and the prayer for the dead , ’

" . Give them , O Lord , eternal peace closes the play

In the prose and poetry as well as in the sculp ture Of the Middle Ages we find the punishment Of ecclesiastical dignitaries a fruitful field Of satire

O s ee and We ften the Devil tying priests , monks , 28 0 HI ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE high Officials with rOpes and dragging them into the Of abyss Of hell . The Sins and foibles the clergy we find satirised and made public in writings and in the Of decoration church edifices , but the Church itself and the Chris tian belief was not attacked in the

ll - fifteenth century . For instance , in the we known

‘ ’ play Dame Jutta , written by the ecclesiastic Theo

Scherenb er 1 480 dore g in , and founded on the Of then accepted historical fable Pope Joan , not a single word hostile to the Church is to be found . The Devil tempts J utta to undertake the scandalous His character . Jesus Christ deplores to mother the audacious conduct Of the woman in disturbing the Of established order the Church and of Nature , and He threatens to let her die in her Si n ; but Mary intercedes :

Oh , Thou Who hast chosen me to be Thy mother , do not let this poor soul perish " This intercession appeases the Divine wrath : Of Jesus grants pardon on condition that , in expiation she the public scandal which has given , the Sinner will submit to temporal punishment . Joan accepts , and , turning to the Saviour , begs Him to forgive her a s He has forgiven SO many sinners

‘ Forgive me my sin , O merciful God , through

of the merits Thy bitter passion . Lord , do not let t ’ me be los for eternity . She also begs the help Of the Blessed Virgin ‘ " f O Mary most pure mother , thou consoler

for . sinners , I fly to thee , I am a Sinner My eyes Of are shedding tears blood , let them plead for me ; ’ pray for thy poor child . Of She is slain in the streets Rome ; St . Michael

28 2 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

f m Besides the Mystery Plays , pieces taken ro the comedies Of the Old classics were Often played by the students Of the colleges and universities as a . Of means acquiring fluency in conversational Latin . Joseph Grii enb eck published in the year 1497 a collection of the pieces played by the students at

r Augsburg . At a still ea lier date the comedies Of

Terence were adapted in Zwickau to the stage , with German introductions and explanations for those pupils who were not far advanced in the Latin lan Of Of e guage . A prose translation the comedies Terenc 1499 148 6 appeared at Strasburg in , and in Hans Nythardt Of Uhn had already translated one play Of ’ this poet s , and had attempted in the Preface and in comments to set forth the rules Of classic poetry with f 1 11 regard to the structure O comedy . In 5 the canon Albrecht von Eyb published a good translation Of two f pieces O Plautus in Strasburg . We also find several original plays composed after the style Of the Old Of u classics , the first which was a h morous piece ’ ‘ n d called Henno , by Johann Reuchli , which was acte n at the house Of Johann vo Dalberg at Heidelberg . In Of it the mania the lower classes , especially the peasants ,

- Of the for law suits , the predictions a soothsayer and

Of . intrigues a lawyer , are cleverly satirised The religious and political anarchy Of the Sixteenth as century , which stunted intellectual culture , was unfavourable to dramatic writing as to all other arts . The general state Of disturbance was destructive Of all creative genius . CHAPTER VII

” T O P I C A L P O E T R Y

’

DESPI T E the fact that the national poetic taste appeared .

- h in the profane and religious folk songs , and althoug the periodical feasts with their innocent rejoicings did ’ much to ele vate men s thoughts by taking them from

ll . the merely practical , sti the age of true poetry as an f a rt and fosterer O imagination was past . We find none Of its creations capable Of ennobling life Or Of stimulating thought , none glowing with the true poetic Of fire . The writing poetry had become a trade in W hich rude reality was the predominating feature .

The didactic style prevailed , and , taking all their inspira tion from the present time , our poets rarely got beyond f bare description or the beaten track O narrow views .

T O t poetic talent in its rue sense , therefore , they can

, lay but little claim . Nevertheless , if one takes into consideration the earnestness and loyalty with which they worked for the cultivation Of their contemporaries i Of and the better ng the State politically and religiously , ut they must be conceded a certain merit . The c spoken honesty with which they dared to proclaim the truth to the great ones Of the earth had in it something f O a refreshing spirit . They called virtue virtue and

and vice vice , and cited high low alike before the Great " Of Judge good and evil . If you wish to read poetry , ‘ ’ ’ ‘ says the Soul s Guide , read that which under the H I ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE g uise Of fiction proclaims the truth ; which praises virtue and condemns Vice ; which will teach you to labour ’

a nd . to pray They urged men to labour , and we find Of Of Of as this the theme much the writings the day ; , Rosen lti t Of for instance , p in his Miracle the Drop of ’ ’ ‘

S w . . eat Work , he says , is the divinest law on earth is Work serving God , and the industrious man has a

great advantage over the idle and voluptuous ones , Of whose lives are full care and anxiety . Idleness and extravagance are the sources Of much evil ; regret f follows a life O idleness and luxury . I nthe year 1461 the preacher Ulrich Boner wrote ’ his in his book , Precious Stones , He who passes youth in idleness will probably in age have his eyes swollen f ’ with tears O regret . l von A work after the Italian sty e , written by Hans Vintler 148 6 ‘ Of in the year , and entitled The Book ’ i SO Virtues , belonged to the didact c school much in Of vogue . It was directed against the licentious lives

the young aristocrats , who knew better how manure ’ e nriched the Soil than in what true nobility consisted . Moreover he animadverted severely on the pride and

extravagance Of high position . Let anyone seeking to sea behold the wonders beyond the come to me , and I will Show him plenty Of curiosities in the way Of bracelets and bonnets and hair gear Our fops wear the toggery

‘ Of buffoons ; the women sweep up the mud with trains t wo yards long , and wear lappels to their caps three times this length—they wish to make themselves as con

spicuous as men . As a friend I blame them for that

which dishonours them , for those who are pious deserve Of to be warned . But there are needy women noble b irth who desire to be decked like princesses with pearls

2 8 6 HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

’ The popular poem Die Welsh Gattung (The Italian

Race) had a strong political tendency . It exposed the Of was u failings all classes , but partic larly severe on the princes and on the advocates Of the newly introduced all Roman Code . According to the writer , power must be concentrated in one man if Germany was not to go to so the wall . The emperors had made many concessions t hat they were no longer obeyed . Before it was too l ate the leaders in the land Should join in restoring all the Of his power to the Emperor . If unity the Father land was thus restored , the prevailing abuses would disappear . Otherwise the Empire should inevitably fall . Sebastian Brant addressed the following advice to the princes and other self- seeking authorities : In the Of ; name God , princes , consider your conduct suppose" t he empire falls , you yourselves are not immutable d All bodies are stronger when united than when divi ed .

U . nity brings power , but division weakness Germany was once SO strong in unity that it commanded universal now respect , but the Germans are destroying their own

k . o ingdom You have t day a good king , whose sceptre “ will guide you all wisely if you will but come to his

: Of a id . The good Prince Maximilian is worthy the

I mperial crown . He will rule our sacred land and s ave you from being like the seafarer , asleep on the s tormy ocean . Awake from your dreams The axe is ’ a t the root Of the tree . ‘ ’ The author Of Die Welsh Gattung shows his p atriotism by defending the Simple j udicial procedure Of the Old German law against the subtleties Of the Roman

Code . Among the many satires levelled against the abuses a mong the clergy and the ignorance Of statesmanship T OPI CAL POETRY 28 7

n SO i the princes , which were disastrous to the people , ‘ ’ m ay be mentioned Reineke VOS (The Romance Of a Fox 1 498 Of ) , which appeared in Lubeck in , and is one — the most important poems as a specimen Of Low Ger ’ I t Of m an dialect . is an adaptation the poet Wilhelm s ’ Reynard . ’ arrenschiff N (The Fool s Bark) , by Sebastian Brant , is without doubt the most remarkable of the popular poems Of its time It is satirical in form but profoundly religious in Spirit . The reputation Of G e erman po try , which had steadily declined for more was than a century , raised both at home and abroad Fe b y this production . w works in literature can boast Of such a decided and immediate success as the Nar ’ n iff Of re sch . Copies it were Spread over all Germany in an incredibly Short time . It was translated into Low

German and Dutch . Twice it was translated into Latin . In France three translations Of it appeared in different i t e ditions . In England was translated twice . Emen Of dations , imitations , and adaptations it appeared in s hoals from year to year . Contemporaneous writers T rithemius ‘ compared the poet to Dante . said , The “ ff ’ Narrenschi is a divine satire , and he expressed a doubt that anything could be found to equal it in Wim helin eloquence and profundity . p g recommended u se its in the schools , and Geiler von Kaisersberg quoted f from it in many O his sermons . Although Brant may be said to have imitated styles already in vogue , it must be acknowledged that he was the founder Of a Of certain epoch literature . He was the first fully to express the ideas Of the middle classes and to inaugurate ’ N what may be called a bourgeois literature . O p oet before or after him SO thoroughly united the deep 28 8 H I STORY OF T HE GERMA N PEOPLE earnestness and the fearless humour which were the most characteristic features Of the German middle classes Of the period . He left the impress of his own Of his individuality on the language , and more than one peculiar expressions or turns form the linguistic graces

Of succeeding generations . With fearless candour Brant reproaches those in power , both clerics and laymen , with their shortcomings . When and wherever he eh counters Vice he exposes it unsparingly . Sometimes

our with severity, and again with wit , he brings before eyes the miser and the usurer , the builder and the

the mechanic , the peasant and the beggar , the litigious , ‘ i . : s gambler , and the astrologer Of the latter he says It not fitting that a Christian Should have re c ourse to pagan — practices that he should consult the planets whether l it be the day to buy , to bui d , to fight , to marry, or to

r m form a friendship . Our work and conduct and e co Him ’ pense Should come from God , and tend to alone . It was not alone the vices and weaknesses Of his u time that Brant scourged unmercif lly , but those which are common to humanity in all ages ; as , for instance , when he attacks the pride which makes men aspire Of beyond their condition , the vanity the world , the

Of Of dishonesty adulterating merchandise , the want conscience with which the labourer or mechanic a o his own as complishes task , we see our age clearly w mirrored as that in hich the poet wrote . It Speaks well , however, for the contemporaries of Brant that they accepted in such a good spirit corrections SO He nlin severely given by him , y , and Geiler von Kaisers berg . not Brant is a mere satirist or moralist , but a

o all ools fervently religi us poet , who brands those as f

290 H I ST ORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

CHAPTER VIII

PROSE AND POPULAR READI NG

T HE prose Of a nation is as characteristic Of its culture as is the poetry . As the latter may be said to be the use Of first natural beginnings in the technical language , SO the former represents the goal attained through much Of labour and exertion the mind . It is an historical fact that national poetry preceded prose , for an artistic and perfect use Of prose bespeaks a high state Of national education .

In Germany, while poetry by degrees fell into de on cadence , prose , the contrary, advanced in the latter part Of the fourteenth century side by side with the plastic arts . It made such gigantic strides in compass , founda variety , and importance , that not only were the tions Of all that was perfected in later centuries laid

Of down then , but in every separate branch prose writ — — Of ing philosophy , narrative , rhetoric numbers works

O Of . were brought out , and ften distinguished character

The narrative style , both in history and fiction, was t f brought to great perfec ion . Proofs O this we may ’ find in the b OOk entitled Consolation Of the Soul d — (written in the Cologne ialect) , also in the Low German fables and proverbs to be found in the chronicles Of the Of Dominican Hermann Corner , Lubeck , in which the tales are told with great versatility and dramatic inte res t . PROSE AND POPUL AR READI NG 291

The writers Of fiction in Lower Germany were parti cularl y distinguished for their ingenuous , elegant , and f poetic style O diction . The translations also were Of particularly well done , a good example which is the ’ version from the Latin Of The Seven Sages . The writers lean to the popular dialect , and usually avoid Of all use foreign words and expressions , which was in t later times such a blemish in li erary work . The style is simple , graceful , and charming . Several Of the historical works Of this period are l written in a direct and truly epic sty e , very appropriate

‘ r to the events and characters . The Limburger Ch o ’ nicle , which belongs to the fourteenth century, gives a f good idea Of the style O the epoch . Of like character ’ Of Al T win er are the Chronicles sace , by Jacob g , canon f KOni shofen o O Strasburg (from g ) , and the Chr nicles ’ f f O . O Thuringia , by Johannes Rothe , a priest Eisenach

Eb ran Of The popular Bavarian chroniclers , Hans Wil FiI trer Arn e ck denberg , Ulrich , and Veit p , the pre cursors Of the historian Johann T hurmayer (surnamed Of v Aventin) , were also examples perse ering industry , Of true love their profession , and pure literary talent .

Eschenloer wa s The Sleswick historian , Peter , distin f guished for his knowledge O diplomacy . Switzerland is remarkably rich in historians , and among her most renowned we may place Melchior Russ and Petermann

Ett erlin Of ustin er , Lucerne , Conrad J g and Diebold

Of . Schilling , Bern We have a remarkable record Of burgher life in the autobiography and town chronicles Of the great

- u b traveller and tax receiver , Burkard Zink , of A gs urg . With delightful candour and in fluent language he im parts to the reader a knowledge of his own travels and Of U 2 292 HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Of the popular life in the rich city Augsburg , while he evinces the deepest interest in the concerns and welfare

Of the people . i Of Even better , from a l terary point View , is the ’ Meist erlin Nuremberg Chronicle , by Siegmund . For a long time it was looked upon as a work Of much importance . Having completed his education at the f famous Benedictine school O SS . Ulrich and Afra M eisterlin at Augsburg , was commissioned by the Nuremberg Council to Visit the monasteries Of Fran

o Suabia c nia , Bavaria , and , in order to collect mate on rials for a book the monasteries , which work he completed in the year 148 8 . In the preface and else where he speaks beautifully Of the importance Of history

o and the mission Of the historian . He pr poses to him self the task Of teaching the rising generation the Of glorious past Nuremberg , to the end that they may be strengthened by the study Of what their forefathers had done , and may learn to honour what they had acquired . I believe it well for all when our young men follow the good example Of their fathers and main ' which the tain the order y established . Cicero says that all are emulated by the hope Of praise and glory ; what is contemptible seeks concealment . Our young men Of will be encouraged by the praises their forefathers ,

o who had been sorely tried and had vercome much .

They will avoid evil , practise virtue , love peace , and

For be exemplary at home and abroad . this reason t o o we devote ourselves hist ry , throwing aside what is but fable and legend , for history only asks for truth . We undertake this task hoping for the approval Of all ’ who love the renown and good of the Fatherland . The ‘ goddess Of Envy said : As she wandered all over

294 H I ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE inclined to his own nationality and that which belongs to Of to it , and loves hear the land which gave us birth

Of Of Of and the deeds our forefathers , rather than is strangers . Therefore shall I write what interesting and remarkable in the history Of Germany . And as the most honourable and sacred town Of Cologne is Called the metropolis and capital town Of all German “ lands , I shall , according to the adage , Paris for

o France , Lond n for England , Rome for Italy , Cologne for Germany , begin by relating the origin and com mencement Of this same city , according to what is ’ found in ancient documents . While the chronicler does not ignore the prejudices Of the time or the cor

o e ccle si rupti n to be found in the authorities , lay and astical Of , he does not agree with the grumblers the us century . Those who have preceded have had much more to suffer than we . In comparison with those times the present are golden years . Just because Of the peaceful and happy days which we enj oy are we the more apt to be disturbed by the anxieties and cares ’ which are inevitable . Of Jacob Unrest , the Austrian chronicler , pastor ’ St . Martin s at Techelsberg , in Carinthia , whose writings 14 99 come down to , approaches nearest to the manner

Of . the Cologne chronicler The South German dialect , is with its many provincialisms , peculiarly fitting to i Of the na ve , simple , pithy style the Chronicles . The

author possesses quick perception , sound judgment ,

and even temper . His simple words breathe an elevated —l idea Of right and truth another point Of resemblance f O . to the chronicler Cologne Both men are determined , Of to the best their ability and knowledge , to tell the plain unvarnished truth , and to expose abuses , whether PROSE AND POPULAR READI NG 295

found in priest or layman . The advice given in ‘ The Soul ’s Guide ’ was as applicable to them as to other historians Of the century : The powerful ones Of the earth , laymen and ecclesiastics , Should learn

f . rom times gone by to be earnest , humble , and good T he frivolous come to want and evil, the haughty shall be smitten by God , but peace and grace shall flow to — t he humble well doer . There I s a Prince above earthly princes , a Judge above earthly j udges , who rewards an d punishes . These are the lessons to be learned sin from the past , and be it known that every brings its ’ own punishment . Of Like the best artists the age , the chroniclers did not aim at wielding personal influence . Their desire Of was that the matter their work should instruct , animate , and purify . They were too deeply impressed with the true Object Of history and the noble mission Of Of the historian Like a mirror Divine j ustice , to Of the honour and praise the good men past , to brand Of Of the acts the wicked , and to lead the living to paths

- — l Of artifices Of well doing to emp oy any the rhetoric . We Often find in the Old chronicles warnings similar to that addressed by Hans Eb ran von Wildemb erg to the

: princes O rulers , lay as well as cleric , turn from Of your sins , lest the punishment God fall on all Christendom You will be held responsible at the Last ’ Judgment . In almost all the Old chronicles we are struck by ’ the writers loyalty to the people , to the Fatherland , Of and to the Roman Emperor the Germans , whom Burkard Zink calls the prince above all Christian ’ ’ ‘ Of princes and rulers . The Book Chronicles , which in 1493 appeared , says Germany , converted through 296 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

the holy faith to goodness and Virtue , is known every where through her trade and commerce , through her m hospitality to visitors , and her sy pathy with the fll a icted . She is behind no nation in manners or o l morals , in p litica power and in her warriors ; neither does she cede to other nations a claim to greater wealth all m in metals , for they get nearly their silver fro f n German merchants . Our nation can raise su ficie t r troops , without foreign help , to withstand othe f ’ . O e countries Much can be said Germany s cultur , ’ Of j ustice , faith , and loyalty . Even the histories foreign countries were written SO as to reflect honour

’ ’ SchOferlin on the German nation , as Bernhard expressly ‘ ’ l says in his Roman History, pub ished by Johann h ferlin 1505 Sc O in Mayence in the year . This work is worthy of notice for many reasons t s f over and above i correctness O style . It alludes in f the pre ace to the then popular books on chivalry , l and , agreeing with the principle incu cated in The ’ ’ Soul s Guide , that truth is higher and worthier than ’ all Of fiction imaginations , recommends the study f O history as the best antidote to false representations . Of i l law The author, a doctor mperia , says I shall not l confine myse f to any special books , but shall cull from authoritative Latin and Greek works , following the Of n f example the bee , that sucks sweet ess rom a variety of flowers in Order to make its honey . I shall hope ll to put my work into pure German, and I Sha trust l that some good will spring from it, or at east that it will be found as beneficial as those books on chivalry Of which are much read , and which are made up fables incapable Of giving men the intelligent ideas Of praise ’ worthy ambition excited by conscientious historians .

298 HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE Lother and Maller which belonged to the Car f lovingian traditions . The story O Tristan and Isolde 1498 Of reappeared in the year , and the compiler says it in his preface that the reading proves that ‘ un w lawful love brings only sorro and want , and leads even the noblest characters to an evil and unhappy ’ end . Among the popular books Of the fifteenth century 14 1 may be mentioned a novel published in 7 . The heroine , Griselda , a peasant ennobled through her marriage , remains faithful and true to her husband , the margrave , notwithstanding his cruelty to her . We would also mention the Teachings Of the Seven ’ fifteen— Sages , a volume work , which has attained to ‘ 147 3 Of many editions since , and , finally , the Marvels ’ o F rtunatus , with his Wishing Cap and Purse The satirical and comic books which were SO m popular in Ger any in the fifteenth century , and Of which were filled with humour every degree , from pleasant raillery to downright coarseness and buf fOOI I er mII Ch Of Of y, help us to understand the Spirit the Of age . We may apply to them the words Eulenspiegel

' ’ f N n t o O u e stadt en is . the hostess g , That my business By this business the writers tried to justify the rude style which they used against the over - culture and pedantry as well as the other abuses Of the age . One Of the most popular books Of this class was ‘ The Questions and Answers Of King Solomon and l ’ 148 M arco h 7 . p , which was first published in Plain

- common sense is here contrasted with vain learning, and natural understanding claims the victory over f blatant pedagogism . All the proverbs O Solomon are Marcol h n parodied extemporaneously by p ; for insta ce , PROSE AND POPULAR READI NG 299

“ SO that the king , bearing crown and sceptre , dodged sun before and behind the , while his shadow , dragging ’ in the mud , seemed to mock the royal dignity . Marcol h p is , however , surpassed by Till Eulen

a r excellence Of spiegel , the jester p the lower classes , who f got credit for all the jokes O the century . This book is l Of the most complete col ection witticisms imaginable . nu It spares neither priest nor layman , learned nor f . O learned , high nor low It bears the imprint the lower Of i t s classes society , from which it took origin , and all betrays a certain malicious cunning , which pervades ’ l Of Eulenspiege s characters , and which is a marked trait — the German peasant . The emblem on the title page is well chosen . An owl peering into a mirror seems to re

flect . the bitter , feline , mean attacks in the book While ,

’ w Of ho ever , its ridicule the higher classes is rude and

O . uncouth , it never descends to bscenity It is worthy

Of Of remark that even here , as in the vulgar plays the all carnival time , despite the satires on the personal V Of ices the clergy , the Church itself is never attacked ; while , on the contrary, the same respect is not shown to the Reformation . SO i The taste for foreign travel which was general n . the fifteenth century gave a special character to the Of Of literature the time , and made accounts journeys a Of particul rly popular ; for instance , The Travels ’ ‘ Of Marco Polo , The Adventurous Journey Sir John ’ Of l Mandeville , and the descriptions the new y dis covered Western world . The writings Of Godfrey de Bouillon and the

Crusaders , describing pilgrimages into the Holy Land , Of gave a religious colouring to this class literature . There are many books describing the holy places 300 HI ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE which pious Christians from far- Off lands visit for the honour Of God and the veneration Of His blessed mother and saints , and where they sing and pray . Read such ff books to inflame thy heart ; be cheerful , take thy sta ; be filled with courage , humility , and piety , and pray to

God and His saints . AS it is pleasant to visit new l SO ands and people , should we wish to make pilgrimages ’ to sacred places . Amongst these descriptions Of travels two are ‘ specially worthy of notice : The Pilgrimage of the ff ’ Knight Arnold Har to the Holy Land, and the book published in 148 6 by the Chamberlain Bernh ard von

he li en Ra ssen Breidenbach under the title , Die y g y ghen Jherusalem The Holy Journeys to Jerusalem The latter contains full and exact descriptions Of

' difierent Of places , and gives vivid pictures their condi tion at that time . Take , for instance , the following glowing description : I have not seen or heard any man who says that he has beheld the like Of the church l at Bethlehem for cost iness and solemnity . For very many great and noble pillars Of marble are set in it in ” four rows . Also the outer church , called the Ship Of a the church , from the pillars to the balcony , is m de Of beautiful noble mosaic work , with all the histories from the beginning Of the world to the Day Of Judg Of ment . Also the whole upper pavement the church Of Of is made marble many colours , embellished with u all SO beautif l painting , and costly that many think ’ b Ok its value cannot be estimated . This O went through several editions in German and Latin , and was trans u in 1498 lated into D tch , French , and Italian , and even into Spanish . Of Of The dedication the book , to the archbishop

3 02 HI ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

anecdotes , stories , historical deeds , and parables Of brought over to the West Europe by the Crusaders , Of and the advancing study the ancient writings , is ’ n collected together in the Deeds of the Roma s , which was 148 9 Of published in , and was the first work pure 1 High German fictitious prose . ’ Wim helin ‘ The German nation , writes p g , has an unquenchable love both for song and for narrative Of ’ f the all sorts . Hence it was the habit O publishers to enliven the contents Of purely instructive prose writings by the insertion here and there Of light or serious rOmance l as , for instance , in the pamph et by Albrecht ‘ von Of O Eyb , Bamberg , Whether or N a Man Should ‘ take a Legal Wife in the Mirror Of Virtue and ’ von Decorousness , by Marquard Stein ; and in that book Of religious edification we have already so Often ‘ — ’ referred to , the Seelen trost . In this last we find ,

o - Of amongst thers , the well known story the Gang ’ end f nach dem Eisenhammer . By the O the century there were already three whole collections of tales with a didactic purpose compiled from the fields Of history 2 or romance .

Fables were also used for instructional purposes .

148 3 Of a Of Thus , for example , in , Eberhard the Be rd , ’ Wurt emb er b OOk Of g , had the Oriental fables , Bidpai , ’ Das Buch der Beispiele der alten Weisen , translated f ‘ . B f O . OOk O from Latin The fables St Cyril , or the ’ 1490 Natural Wisdom , were published at Augsburg in , ‘ — and in 148 4 the Book and Life Of the Fable write r ’ Esop , translated from Greek into Latin , was published SteinhOwel in German by , to the praise of the Arch

1 2 a ma/norum ker e 5 t R . 3 8 Ges o Wac nag l , p . PROSE AND POPULAR READI NG 3 03

’

Of Of . duke Siegmund Austria . This book was one the ‘ ’

Of . greatest favourites the day The reader , says

' SteinhOwel t he , should , like the bee , suck honey from i the flowers ; not only read the stor es , but feed on their ’ morals . There was a marked development also at this period in the prose writings which dealt with natural science , T . O a medicine , and jurisprudence the l tter branch Sebastian Brant contributed largely by his popular writings . The capacity Of the German language for philOSO l phica expression originated with the Mystics . It was they who first discovered the art of expressing the most profound and abstract ideas in clear and in t elli gible German speech ; while at the same time a w e ond rful poetic charm clothes all their utterances . Many Of their treatises and collections Of abstruse l maxims and ru es for the contemplative life appeared ,

Of Of after the invention printing , in a variety editions ; th Of ose especially Henry Suso , John Tauler , and Otto ‘ von Of f Passau , and the translations the Imitation O ’ Christ . Many Of the fifte enth- century books Of devotion and edification are amongst the noblest monuments ‘ ’ Of : Himmelstrasse German prose for instance , the , ‘ ’ ' - Schatzb ehalter O the Seelen trost , the , der Schrein ’ Reichthii m r der wahren e des Heils . In simplicity Of and vigour language , in penetration , truth , and Of depth matter , they are unequalled in single pas Of sages , and , their kind , altogether unsurpassable models . In oratorical prose Gieler von Kaisersberg was con 3 04 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE s icuousl as Of p y a master , both regards eloquence f l language and depth O thought . In his col ected Of sermons he shows a profound knowledge mankind , Of o clear calm reasoning powers , and the gift p pular his expression ; all his Similes , images , and allegories , proverbs , plays on words , and witticisms , his fables , stories , and anecdotes are taken fresh from life and his Of reality . Hence sermons are a perfect mine information concerning the national life Of the time . At the close of the Middle Ages German authors wrote in several different dialects ; but it was from a Of mixture Upper and Lower German, in which the

Of - dialect Mid Germany played a leading part , that the — ‘ ’ SO called universal German ( gemeines Deutsch ) de v elo ed p , and which became , chiefly through the Of e exertions the Emperor Maximilian , the g neral Of language the empire and of diplomacy . It was Luther who first made it the general lan guage Of literature ; his books were written in gemeines ’ f Deutsch . He protects himself against the charge O being the inventor Of a new language in the following

‘ “ words : I have no special peculiar German language Of use my own , but I that which is common to Ger

’ SO iederlander mans , that both the Ober and N may understand me . I speak the same language as the C Saxon hancellors , whose lead is followed by all the ’ kings and princes in Germany . The Emperor Maxi

Of milian and the Elector Frederic , Duke Saxony , may be said to have consolidated all the different forms Of German speech in the Roman Empire into one language . If we except Luther with his remarkable natural Of gift speech , which was developed in an unusual

BOOK III

P OLI TI CAL ECON OM Y

INT RODUCT I ON

A T the close Of the Middl e Ages political economy had a dvanced in the same proportion as the other sciences , a nd this fact is very easily understood . The develop ment Of a people consists in the CO - Operation Of the v Of arious branches culture ; accordingly , we find e conomic progress going hand in hand with intellectual advancement . Economic progress exerts a powerful i nfluence on mental culture , while the latter , in its f f t ff O . urn, a ects the condition the ormer History furnishes many proofs Of the close relations between th e two . Political economy is concerned with the three b Of — ranches industry agriculture , manufactures , and c ommerce . Agriculture has for its aim the production Of raw m - aterial , and includes farming and cattle breeding . Manufacturing deals with the transforming and utilising Of the natural productions , and embraces all the indus

. f trial interests Commerce , finally , is the means O e w is Of xchange bet een nations , and the avenue supply f a nd demand . Thus the various branches O political e in conomy , being dependent on each other, progress the same proportion SO long as the development Of each

x 2 308 HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

is normal . They work together and are dependent on SO each other , that agriculture and manufactures help f O O . each other , and commerce perfects the bject both The politico - economic condition of a nation depends — on the co operation and equilibrium Of these variou s branches .

Let a general social disturbance arise , let the mer cantile spirit depress manufacturing interests or foster

- i Of idleness , the politico econom c standing the nation ff su ers , and , as a consequence , the moral and intellectual

e . charact r These evils increase in proportion as capital , which means unearned income , succeeds in influencing the relations between man and man for its own benefit .

3 10 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

t . properties , and was a great protection to the peasan son population . Generally the eldest inherited not

n . only the land , but all the stock and farmi g and household utensils . The property descended from son Of father to , the brothers and sisters the proprietor ’ possessing a certain ‘ inalienable right to their support in the house . The house could not be sold or mort Of gaged without the consent the next heir , and the Saxon law (Sa chsensp iegel) obliged the latter to pay 1' onl y such debts as were within the value Of his chattels .

This was to protect the peasants from usurious . ‘ Of lending . Geiler Kaisersberg wrote When the Jews know they cannot get much out Of a property they ’ will not lend much . Amongst both the freehold and leasehold peasant — “ properties there were three different classes those Of 90 3 3 0 Of 60 from to acres , those acres , and those

Of less extent . ’

. Besides the farmers , there were (under various ’ : names) house tenants , who possessed merely a hut , or T he at most a cottage and garden or a little field . heritages and property which belonged to the Church Of were vital importance to the very poor , because they Of the consisted not only of houses , but tracts land , for care Of which the Church was held responsible ; this . was the means Of providing many with shelter and Of work . In the middle the fifteenth century Church l sub — ands were rented to peasants , from among whom ’

f . collectors O tithes were appointed . These collectors were responsible for the rents in money or produce .

1 T he ss ess s the e s e ere ke u as e e po ion of p a ant t nant w loo d pon inali nabl ,

f See C. . e s Di e N othwen di kei t ei n er n euen Grunden las tun v Vog l ang , g g e 11 (Vi nna , p . . AGRI CULTURAL LI FE 3 11

There were also free farmers on church or seignorial Of land , paying generally to the lord the soil the third ’ was sheaf. The first supposed to pay the necessary Of expenses cultivating , the remaining two went to the

farmer and to the lord . Others held land for life , this ’ i e. land being termed Zinslehen ( . a feudal tenure for which rent is paid) others again by inheritance and in

return for certain personal service . Many lived on the manors under the special protection Of the lord Of the i f . e. O soil , cultivating their land ( the land their lords) ,

many as coloni on outlying (or detached) land . The agricultural population being made up Of these ff Of di erent classes holders , it might be said that at the close Of the Middle Ages most Of the land was virtually Of l Of in the hands the tenants , the ords the soil merely

rec eiving rent or service for it . By degrees the posses sions Of tenants became as independent as those Of free

peasants .

We never find that tenants were serfs . Serfdom , which became SO general after the close Of the social Of nl revolution the sixteenth century , was o y known in the fifteenth century among the peasants Of Pome Of rania . Besides , Germany was under the influence Old Suabian the Church, which proclaimed the common law taken from the Scripture : N0 man belongs to anoth ‘er ’ also the imperial law The people are God ’s ’ ’ and the tribute is the Emperor s . These principles pre

v . ailed generally Those who paid rent for their land ,

either in money or personal service , could not leave the holdings confided to them without the permission or ‘ ’ Of r knowledge thei lords ; they were bound to the land ,

but they had personal liberty , and their leases were for son the most part perpetual , descending from father to , 3 12 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Of generally to the eldest . In case no male issue the Of eldest daughter inherited . In case there being no Of children the land reverted to the lord the soil . Taxes were charged on the colonial ’ land (land culti v at ed by whilst the seignorial and ecclesiastical proprietors were exempt with respect to their own land "

i e. ( . land under their immediate management) , which is an unanswerable proof that the ‘ colonial ’ estates were not looked upon as the exclusive property Of the ‘ ’ f tied lord O the soil . They were property for land lord and tenant alike . — ’ From a politico economic point Of View this species — Of tenure right over tenants personally free was evi f dence O a care for the peasant on a hereditary basis .

Through it he was assured a habitation and a living ,

Of - the surest foundation self respecting independence .

The hereditary leasing worked well ag riculturally , for the tenant with a perpetual lease was as mii ch inte rested in the improvement Of the land as the lord Of v the soil . The hereditary tenant , e en in those pro vinces , Pomerania for instance , where at a later date SO the peasantry became miserable , did not fear to improve the property , for the buildings and all their

f his . urniture , the seed and the cattle , were Even the forests were at his disposal for the necessities Of husbandry . ‘ The contemporary writer Kantzow says : The Of peasants Pomerania pay a modest toll and render , — — besides , certain personal services . They are well to do , and when they no longer wish to belong to the manor Of d l they can , with the permission the lan lord , se l their holding and pay him a tenth Of the price . Then they ’ are free to go , and take their children where they will .

3 14 HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE possession by the lord Of the soil or by his representa tive . Before this investiture the incoming party made an oath Of allegiance which bound him to all the

‘ Of required conditions . With this oath allegiance began the duty Of the lord to protect the property Of Of the tenant and to provide for him in case war , famine , or other great calamity . Although bound to ’ Of the soil , the tenant could , without the permission

his Of his the lord , send children or members family Of into the service other masters , or into cities or villages , f where they could earn the right O citizenship . Should t o e the tenant wish to leave the manor , he had discharg all outstanding rent or service , settle with his creditors , and publicly , sometimes at the church on Sunday , ‘ announce his intention . He must leave in full day ’ - light that is , openly . His preparations , prescribes the law , must be made by daylight ; the fire must be extinguished before sunset . In the evening his goods

Of or baggage must be put upon a waggon , the pole which pointed in the direction in which he intended going , and then he was to be accompanied on the road ’ 1 e by many . Form r tenants could return to their ? holdings by re - assuming the imposed conditions The rentals Of manor tenants were generally very O moderate , and ften paid in kind or in services whose

1 ei s thum d es H es P rou z eld bei P ru/int 14 6 Ni cluren W of f , 7 ; ede , l 14 1 r ei s thitm e — b att G W r . . 558 L 21 2 1469 T a 7 . 9 25 . A ; , imm , , ii p , mong the regulation s of the Abb ey of Alpirsbach we find the following : T he e hi s s re h T h ff t nant , having paid obligation , may go whe e will . e baili ke e e the r s GO the e od u shall ta l av of him with wo d , , in nam of G sho ld

b e ur e re ur e . You s e it to yo advantag to t n , com will find u what you hav

re u us Gr . al ady fo nd ( imm , i 2 T h i s thu me f 14 1 1 M ur r F r on ho e e We r O 7 7 5 8 Gr . 292 e , ; imm , i a , f ,

134—13 At the e the r r s iii . pp . 7 . b ginning of sixteenth c entu y many landlo d e r e s e e r e gav thei t nant compl t f edom . AGRI CULTURAL LI FE 3 15

nature was exactly agreed upon . For instance , in ’ Austria , only twelve days service during the year was . ’ required . A very peculiar tax was the death tax , by which on the death of a tenant the heir was obliged to ‘ ’ pay the best head or chattel , which meant the best head of cattle or piece of clothing . This tax corre ’ s onded i p to the success on tax , which was exacted in ’ - u so towns from non b rghers , although not nearly high 1 25 . as the latter , which in some cases reached per cent ‘ ’

. In the Austrian dukedoms , where the best tax was as abolished an intolerable imposition , there was a death

Of 5 . tax per cent on all unencumbered inheritance , w s from hich , however , pious bequest , instruments of husbandry , and clothing , and such things , were excepted . ’ In Tyrol the lord Of the soil received a succession tax of only 1 per cent . As an acknowledgment of suzerainty the law in many places prescribed a service clause . In the dis

“ o tri t of Langenberg , for instance , the inhabitants of eight villages were in the habit of coming in pairs un invited during the three days of Whitsuntide , and dancing under the linden trees in the presence of the

h . landlord , who entertained them wit cake and beer Those who remained away or refused to dance were punished .

While performing their feudal services the peasants . were supported by the landlord . We find the knights of the Teutonic order at T is chingen gave their service tenants red wine , beef, and barley bread while they rendered their service . In the documents of the arch bishopric of Strasburg we read Be it known that all ’ manor tenants shall pay each year three days bodily 1 A s C s e 1512 . M e . . 1 2 in on tanc , on , xvii p 3 . i3 16 H I ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

service as the bailiff may direct him ; when the day is o sit ff ver he shall upon a stool , and the baili shall give him a loaf long enough to reach from his knee to his “ c l hin , ca led the night In the documents of

Hansb er en : g , near Strasburg , we read The peasants s hall be served twice a year with two dishes of meat , l e and the meat shal be four fing rs wider than the dishes ,

and there shall be new glasses and new dishes , and ’ ‘ enough of wine . At Alzey the peasants , men and

women , had to give two days at harvest time . When t he women had young children , they must go home

‘ three times a day to suckle them . At night each man s hall receive such a loaf as the twenty - fourth part Of a ’ hogshead of grain will make . The law was very ex plicit in regard to the amount of prov1s1ons to be sti u allowed to wine carriers , and , while it generously p two lated kinds of meat , two kinds of bread , and two ’ kinds of wine , it took care that they should not take t too much of the lat er . In the Chronicles Of the Abbey of Prum we read : When the carrier arrives at evening at the Moselle he shall be fed with l soup and sufficient Wine . On the road he shal have o ne quart of wine to each mile , but he shall not drink

s o much that he cannot care for goods under his charge . Of When he comes home he shall have two sorts meat, and two sorts of wine , two sorts of bread but he shall

not drink enough to make him strike against the door, ’ else he shall be punished . The term of body service

was two . generally days , often one day and one night The money or service rents of the manor lord or m anor tenant , according to law, were delivered by him personally or by his representative to the lord of the s m oil , and it was not unusual for these pay ents to be

3 18 HI ST ORY OF T H E GERM AN PEOPLE

A bell Shall be rung to call t hem to the house of the ff baili , when a piper shall conduct them to the field , ’ who in the evening Shall lead them back . The same Manor- right Law requires that when the fishermen bring fish to the manor house the wife of the bailiff shall give him a good loaf, and when he has done his work extraordinarily well she shall be very good to

h im . , and give him a roast

Besides the taxes which were brought , there were ’ so others , called collectable , which were collected by the manor lord . The precision of the laws shows remarkable consideration ; for instance , the baby in the c radle must not be wakened , nor Shall the fowl on the

" nest be frightened . Should the wife of the tenant b e - in child bed , the collector must be content with the h Of w t ead a fo l , leaving the body for the S rengthening of the invalid . When the collector took lodgings at the tenant ’s he was obliged to leave his sword and spurs . ’ a t the so . door , as not to frighten the wife A sentence taken from the Manor Laws ’ of the m W almersheim anor of , which belonged to the Abbey o f Prii m e , may serv to Show us with what care the ‘ Of : rights all were respected Besides the other taxes , e ach quarter of land Shall pay the manor lord seven e ggs . The eighth egg shall be placed by the wife on the threshold and broken ; the part that falls inside

S hall belong to the tenant, that on the outside to the ’ lord . The laws with regard to the punishment of those b ackward in their payments give us much information Of about the condition the tenants . Generally the penalty consisted of a small money fine or some

Slight compensation in the shape of bread or wine . AGRI CULTURAL LI FE 3 19

law Occasionally the holding was confiscated , but the recommended the lord not to be hard , and to allow sufficient time ; to be merciful to the poor in particular , ’ unless they be obstinate and extravagant .

Usually the delinquent was allowed a reprieve . In Of the regulations Kleinfrankenheim , in Lower Alsatia , we read He who has not paid his rent in the sunlight and sun before the sets must give seven shillings , when the agent may , in the presence of two witnesses , d eprive such a one of his land but he must be given three notices within fourteen days . The messenger who brings the notices shall receive two measures of

Of wine . Should the dues not be paid at the end the fourteen days , the poor man need not fear any process for a year , when the land belongs to the lord to dispose of as he pleases . But if, during the year , the tenant was not at home when the notices were served , or if a the back ch rges are all paid , the agent shall reinstate ’ the tenant . Up to the last moment the dilatory tenant could remit his dues to the collector . The manor ’

. Of laws of Birgel , the property of St Peter s manor ’ Mentz , decree that on St . Thomas s Day preceding

Christmas each tenant shall pay his lord thirty pennies , and if he has not the money he may give security . If in the course of the day he does not give either money

ff s or security , the baili shall put the land into the hand t of the lord . Should the agent coming to collec the t ax meet the poor man bringing his dues before he ’ reach the great door, then shall he remit him his debt . In reference to the treatment of those who did not pay their dues , either in money or kind , the Chronicle ‘ 1506 : ff of Bieber (in Hundsruck) , in , says The baili himself shall not go to distrain . He Shall seek the 320 HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Of l the Of j udge the district , who sha l repair to house the tenant and mortgage only what is sufficient to pay the outstanding debts . The agent shall remain outside , ’ and not go into the house . Should the judge find enough in the house to meet the debt , he handed it over ff the fence to the baili , but if not he begged the latter to have patience ‘ until God stretched forth His hand ’ to the poor man . so All these ordinances , minutely framed , clearly ’ prove that the poor man , personally free , still belonged to the estate , was not without protection , and that his position with regard to his landlord was anything b ut Of degrading . This ownership the tenant secured him his living , and in most cases made the home an inherit ance from father to son . Where the tenant gave personal service he was looked up on as belonging to the household of the landlord . There was great variety in the characteristics of the rural settlements . The villages in the mountainous a districts in large portion of the Tyrol , in Upper and

Lower Austria , in Styria , in Carinthia , in the Bavarian Of Highlands , and in the moorlands the North and

Baltic Seas , were nothing more than scattered groups of farms , seignorial manors . The peasants of Pomerania and Lower Bavaria dwelt on isolated farms ; those of the Rhenish Provinces lived on closely grouped farms , and those of the western forest lands dwelt in small villages or hamlets .

In the hill country and high plains of the South , as ‘ ’ l fiat s wel as in the North German , there were large compact villag es . In Westphalia there were peasant tenements , manor houses , and villages Side by side with one another . The peasants of Pomerania and Lower

3 22 HI ST OR Y OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

Each member of these associate villages , whether lay

or civil , with or without a tax , had rights on the common district as well as in the particular portion ll 1 owned by him individua y . In the fifteenth century the privileges of the mem bers of these communal villages consisted in acorning

t. e. ( sending their animals into the forest to eat acorns) ,

p asture , and wood rights . Regular days were assigned

for the cutting and carrying of wood , when each house

holder , under the direction of an overseer, took what

he required for building and burning , for fencing, for l his vineyard , and any other purposes . As the ive ’ s tock formed a very important feature of the farmer s

possessions , great care was bestowed upon the pasturage . In most cases the number of cattle to be owned by each

farmer was explicitly settled by law . To those inhabitants of the communal villages who d id oy not enj full membership , such as artisans , certain l privileges were accorded . They were al owed to graze

a . goat , a pig , or a cow on the common land The very poor were given as alms either the produce of a fruit tree or the right to cultivate a small garden within the

district for a longer or shorter period , besides a place to

c fir build . In many onfederate villages building and e

wood was given t o this latter class . In certain places a she woman at childbirth , whether belonged to the c ommunity or not , was allowed a certain amount of

o b o . firew od , which was doubled if the child was a y ‘ Such allowances were called friendly Offerings to t ’ hose who stand in need of our assistance , and to a

c ertain extent they were bestowed on travellers also .

1 T hi s made the robb ery of Church prop erty in the sixt eenth century m a s r r he r s eir e e s r the Al ende . l o a obb e y of t poo , who lo t th b n fit f om AGRI CULTURAL LI FE 3 23

Entries like the following are frequently to be met with ‘ ’ ‘ in the Chronicles : If a stranger wishes to fish he c an throw his line in our brooks ; any traveller may e at all the grapes he wishes , but he must not put any l i n his sack . The watchman shal not charge him for

a what he has t ken , but invite him to proceed further , a nd put him on the right way a stranger riding t hrough the fields may take as much grain as he can ’ hold in his hand on a gallop ; a carrier passing the ’ field may take three sheaves . Even the beasts of burden belonging to strangers were cared for . Should a stranger travelli ng with his goods and beasts be sur p rised by the darkness , his horses must be unyoked and c ared for overnight by the community . In case of a ccident the traveller might take whatever wood was w necessary for the repairing of his aggon . AS the fields and forests belonging to the com ‘ ’ munity were considered sacred and inviolable , the p eriodical inspection and determining of possessions and boundaries was regarded by the whole community as an occasion of deep importance . The processions fife s were accompanied by flags , drums , and , and assumed something of a religious character . On the b oundaries of the district altars were erected , the Gospel was sung , and the pastor called down a blessing on the land . In the seignorial or manor districts the agents n o f the lord joined in the procession . The possessio s of private individuals , whether fields , woods , gardens ,

r o vineyards , were marked out and generally enclosed ff b . y hedges , which it was a legal o ence to injure The l ands belonging to the community were always sur

a . rounded by hedge , a ditch , or a simple wall The methods of house building among the peasants

Y 2 3 24 H I ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE varied under the different reigns and with the variou s u races . The houses of the Franconians were b ilt with e the dwelling , stable , barn , and sheds all in a clos SO square , that the owner could easily go from one to i ll the other without setting foot outside h s own wa s . T he houses of the Suabian peasants consisted of t wo storeys On the stable was the ground floor , and the sheds were th under the same roof. In the Saxon peasant house e ’ e hearth was built in the middle , and the peasant s wif from her seat behind it could keep an eye on the whole — establishment at once children , servants , horses and — cows , garret , cellar and dwelling rooms . The seat by the hearth was the best in the house . The fire was kept burning on the hearth all day long , and smouldered on through the night , only being put out , according to 1 old custom , at the death of the head of the house . The very walls gave evidence of the deep devotion of the peasant to his home ; the frescoed ploughshare ,

— o r sickle , sheaf, or the vine hoe , told how pr ud the owne ‘ ’ ‘ was of his work . The Book of Fruits says : The true peasant has no greater blessing than his house and hi wife and children . He loves his work and holds s calling in high esteem , for God Himself instituted it in ’ Paradise . A popular song ran thus “ The knight said , I am born of a noble race . The peasant spoke I cultivate the corn that is the better part . Did I not work you could not exist on your ” & ’ c . heraldry , The tiller of the soil played an important part in the communal organisation which regulated the duties and rights of each member . Each associate was called

T h e s e customs still e xi st among the well -to - do pe as ants in Schleswick

O e ur Rhiel F a mi li e . and of ld nb g ( , , p

3 26 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

' i i the succession of crops , the fallow year , the ra s ng Of & c . stock , the irrigating of meadows , the forestry, No profit might be made , no straw , hay , or other fodder , raw material might be exported , and no manufacture carried on without the permission Of the parish authorities . Agricultural science and forestry made decided progress at the close of the Middle Ages and we find special attention paid to regulations for thinning , which had hitherto been done in such a manner as to leave large tracts in the forest bare . For instance , a law was .

‘ - 1472 b e made in Ober Winterthur, in , that It shall decided each year what trees can be cut down without ’ n i j ury . Of still later date we find cutting laws for the Rhenish communal forests . Great care was . bestowed on replacing the trees which had been cut down by others whose wood was best suited to the re ir u ements . in q of the age Oak and beech trees , for

an stance , were specially cultivated when pigs formed important item of farm profit . The cultivation of trees , in the sixteenth century left little for modern times to

: sa improve the acorns were planted , and then the p lings transplanted and surrounded by hedges . In order to give an idea of the extent to which the pork trade was carried on in the fifteenth century we will

- 1 47 3 . cite only one fact . In thirty five thousand pigs Of belonging to the tenants the bishopric of Spires , and eight thousand from the Palatine possessions , besides .

o many others belonging to those having f rest rights ,

Lusshart . were sent to eat acorns in the wood of , between

Bruchsal and Philipsburg . Dating from the middle of the fifteenth century are w innumerable forest la s , but as they emanated from the AGRI CULTURAL LIFE 3 27

princes and lords of the soil , and favoured the cruel amusement of the chase , they were much to blame for the peasant wars . A report of the regulations drawn up by a Rhine

En ehn an - 1495 lander , Nicholas g , head steward from to 1516 of for the demesne Erfurt , which belonged to the estate of the archbishopric of Mentz , gives us a very vivid idea of the peasant life of the time . This property in and around Erfurt consisted of several parcels of land containing fields , gardens , pas i tures and v neyards besides forests of willows , alders six and evergreens , covering in all hundred and Sixty a acres . There were lso several mills and houses in the surrounding villages which paid rent or service to the estate . During his stewardship Engelman renewed all the the ff registers , cleared up intricacies of the laws a ecting

ff - defined the di erent classes of tenants , established well

- i water r ght laws , and , finally , completed the above is mentioned report , which an exhaustive account of the management of the demesne . The regulations with

o regard to field , f rest , and vineyard Show an advanced ’ Of En elman state of agricultural science . This work g s is a memorial for the close of the Middle Ages in some respects similar to the Agricultural Capitulary of

Charlemagne for the beginning of that period . At the head of those responsible for the management ’ en of the estate stood the kitchen steward , who was trusted with the care of the house expenses and the gene ral supervision Of the farm work . Next to him came the porter , who was an expert , and decided questions about the farming then followed the kitchen steward ’s secretary , who kept an account of the harvest ; and the forester , who , besides the management of the woods , 3 28 HI ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE supervised the field works of the day- labourer and of ’ so- o the called Pi ne , who had to give a Specified number of days of labour to the landlord . The ad a ministration also employed messenger , a salt inspector ,

- l ff . a bridge to l taker with three assistants , and two baili s — We also find mention of a head forester and his assistant ,

w- an agriculturist and assistant , two meado masters ,

- three vineyard masters , a cook , a scullion , a baker , a

- miller , with their assistants , the house waiter , cheese maker , the dairymaid , a cowherd , and also a cooper , a

fisherman , and a brewer . The duties of each are ex li i l et p c t y s forth . In this long list of servants we find O two so nly women mentioned , that what we now con ’ sider woman s work must have been done by men . All

h - ow . knew to read and write The manor house , which stood in the town , contained the chief house and chapel , a second house , the wardrobe , the granary , the stable , ’ t wo cowhouses , a barn , a shed , servants quarters , a

- prison , a bakery , a brewhouse , and a bath house .

The principal superintendent lived in the chief house , Of where , according to the simple style of living the age ,

of he appropriated only two rooms , the chief luxury which consisted in glazed windows , doors that shut , and good floors ; with him lived the secret arv and keeper of seals . In the second house were rooms for visitors

- and the eating room of the accountant .

Of all the buildings , the most important was the

granary, where the threshed corn , wheat , barley , rye ,

oats , vetches , rapeseed and hops lay . Three times a

- year the head baker was obliged to turn over the corn ,

and once a year to winnow it , in order to prevent the

ravages of the corn worm . With the assistance of the

porter , the forester , the agriculturist , and an expert

3 30 H I ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

The grain was left in the field long enough to allow the

was e weeds bound with the sheaves to die , when it born in a waggon into the barnyard . Particular care was bestowed on the meadows in those days , when clover was not yet grown . In spring the meadow - master passed over the fields with his hoe and rake in order to level the molehills ; he was required to be very careful when the grass was:

so . sprouting , as to prevent any damage to the crop The hedges which surrounded the meadows were trimmed yearly . The harvesters were hired . If the hay became damp the service tenants were obliged the to spread it out , rake it together , and put it in ha mast er see t stacks . It was the duty of the y to tha this was all done , and that the meadow was raked clean . h was so As to forest culture , w ich important an i tem , the woodcutting was regulated according to dif

' e ferent rules . In felling the willow only half the tre t was cut down , in order that what was left might sprou ’ six- anew and be fit for the year cutting . In cutting

firewood, the parts of the tree destined for hop poles , e vine stakes , cuttings and hedges , were laid in separat t piles . The cuttings were placed in water until abou t to be planted . Beechwood was also felled after a se plan, the cutting taking place only after the expiration of a certain time . To each woodcutter a certain Of task was assigned , and it was the duty the forester t to see that his work was done with a sharp axe , tha off was the branches were not lopped , that the wood laid in bundles containing a score , and that these were correctly counted . In order to insure the increase of wood each cutter was obliged to leave a certain u q antity of his assigned share uncut . At the close AGRI CULTURAL LIFE

’ of the day s work each woodcutter could take home a . bundle of brushwood , and in winter he carried a load . Each year the ditches through the woods and along the roads were repaired for the preservation of the neigh

r b ou ing property .

The vineyards extended over seventy acres , and the

. manner in which , according to the report , the vines T he were tended showed marked skill and enterprise . day- labourers for this work were hired according to as contract, j ust in the haymaking and harvest r seasons . Before the time of vintage the cellare see had to that the casks , tubs , buckets , troughs , dippers , and measures were in order . The grape gatherers , carriers , and treaders were closely watched

: by the forester and clerk they must gather , carry , and ’ l press industriously . After the vintage the cel arer — delivered to the head steward the quantity gathered , sold the husks by the tub , carefully watched the fer Off the mentation , racked the wine , sold the dregs to distillers , and separated the muddy wine , which was . used in the cooking of fish or to make vinegar . In good years the wine over and above that which was carried to the manor was sold by retail to the O t citizens . These sales were f en occasions of great ll . a excitement The buyers , impatient to be served at once , grew very noisy the attendants were enjoined . to prevent any cheating and to preserve order . The cellarer paid particular attention to the wine

” off which was intended for domestic use , racking it at the proper time and pouring it into hogsheads . Each time a stoop of wine was drawn or a hogshead

‘ t he of emptied he cut a notch in his stick . At close th e year the quantity of wine in stock was compared 23 32 H I ST OR Y OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

“ w ith the tally , and the result with the amount of wine u sed in the preceding year . The brewhouse also was under the supervision of s aw the cellarer, who to the watering , fermenting , and

( drying of the malt . He carried it to the mill , took from the granary the correct quantity of hops , hired

his . own assistant , and watched over the brewing He took care of the beer when made , and served it in large j ugs at table . The kitchen and cellar were beautifully kept all the FiOnen l servants , both the and hired abourers , ate at the

- manor house ; food was lavishly provided , but the regu lar servants were directed to watch that the labourers

did not take away what was left or give it to outsiders . ' One of the duties of the manor - house was t o provide for the support of a large number of poor labourers . Hence it was not without reason that the chief steward ’ - was called the kitchen master . Oxen , sheep , calves ,

and swine were killed at the manor , ham , bacon and sausage prepared , meat salted and smoked ; and the kitchen- master was directed to see that the cook and clerk acquit themselves properly of their task , to see himself . that the oxen and swine be killed at the proper

“ time and put in salt , hung up and dried . He must take care that the fresh meat to be used during the year be cleanly and healthfully prepared , that each person have his Share , that what is left be carefully put away and utilised , and that the cook serve the master and servants well , cleanly , and healthily , and ’ that each person have enough . The bath- house was looked upon as one Of the necessaries of life . The house servant was directed to carry wood when desired and to put water in i3 3 4 HI ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

- did not march in the Rogation procession . His sons , t oo so w , were required to join , that they Should kno ’ ‘ the size of the fields and their Situation . The rights of authority were strictly maintained at t he Erfurt manor . Every one had to promise obedi — ence to the head steward I n all things honourable and

I mportant , to avoid anything which might injure his —in Electoral Highness a word , to fulfil all the duties of faithful servants . It was forbidden for one servant Of to abuse the other , but when there was cause com plaint it must be made to the steward and settled

- a ccording to his advice . The kitchen mast er must not a llow any of the servants to pass the night away from his the manor without permission . He was not allowed , however, to inflict immediate punishment , but to give t he offender one or two warnings . Only offences a gainst honour were punished without indulgence . Of Any servant who had stolen , abused the freedom the m ff anor , or committed a grave o ence , was paid his w wages and turned away , having first s orn not to revenge himself. — set Above all , the kitchen master was enjoined to a good example , and to begin his daily duties by visiting the chapel . The written regulations read The

- kitchen master must go to church early every day, h ear Mass , and say aloud before the people five Paters and Aves in honour of the wounds of our Lord Jesus

‘C hrist , thanking Him for His sacred Passion , begging

Him to forgive him all his Sins , to Show him mercy , to preserve him from Sin , and to grant him grace to do ’ His holy will he must also take care Of all committed ’ to him , and serve his master faithfully and well . He s hall also reverence the mother of God , say a prayer in AGRI CUL TURAL LI FE 3 3 5

h onour of her nativity , and beg her to intercede with

her beloved Son for him . The strict observance of religious duties by the u s ervants was strenuously insisted pon . We find in a ‘ d KOni sbrii ck : omestic law book at g , near Selz Each servant shall hear the entire Mass and sermon every S unday and holy day , and not leave the church before

; it is ended Whoever , without permission , shall not hear the Mass and sermon shall be deprived of meat at ’ ‘ l . O unch , or be fined five shillings Then , So ften as t he servants Sit down to eat , the steward shall remind them , by knocking on the table , to pray , and whoever s hall laugh or refuse to pray after this Shall be fined a ’ Ba tz n e . Then , When the Angelus is rung the steward s hall call the servants to prayer , and whoever disobeys ’ — s hall be punished in like manner . The cup bearer Erasmus Of Erbach made a similar law in 148 3 for his property at Odenwald : All the servants must be t aught that praying and working go together . They m ust pray together at table before and after eating , a nd at sound of the Angelus when it rings ; for this they shall stop their work , and not excuse themselves o n the score that they have too much to do . They s hall attend Mass and sermon on Sundays and holy days , and be careful not to disturb others by their merriment . Whoever disobeys this Often shall be dis charged at the close of the year and sent from the manor . The steward and overseer shall be particular to set a good example , and the steward , at least , shall ’ begin his day by hearing Mass . The landed property of the cities was a very impor tant matter in the Middle Ages . In the interest of their towns and the development of their resources the 3 3 6 HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE municipal bodies were always anxious to acquire 1 463 property , particularly forest land . Between and the municipality of GOrlitz bought up the landed property of a reduced noble family . The municipality Of Grossglockau did the same with regard to several estates of nobles and the forests appertaining thereto . u Through purchase , mortgage , and sometimes conq est , many towns became possessed of valuable landed estates . The landed property of Rothenburg , a little Six town in Franconia of only thousand inhabitants , covered an area Of more than Six thousand square h o f . miles , with a population about fifteen t ousand The landed estate of Ulm comprised not less than

t Of . fifteen , and hat Nuremberg twenty , square miles These city estates were generally manag ed by free farmers ; the number of manor tenants was relatively m s all . The cities themselves were not exclusively com mercial centres ; agricultural interests formed also a. part of their riches . Like the confederate villages , m l they also had the communal districts of p ain , pasture ,

’ limit s of s and forest , the which were marked by variou signs , crosses , holy pictures , and trees , and an inspection 1 r of those boundaries took place yea ly . Every con federated citizen of a commune had , over and above l his own separate possessions , a share in the genera privileges of forest , pasture , and fishing . In Frankfort — on - the Main , besides this general pasture and forest

on privilege , each citizen had a right to let his stock in o law 1504 the private fields which , acc rding to a of ,

1 M urer S ta d teve t ssun 11 162 1 1 — See r . 7 8 02 8 03 18 1 a , fl g , , , , and iii . . I n Wes tphalia we find sev eral v ery elegant city hous es (in B eckum for

ns e s re the s e - rur s urr u i s Of r s i tanc ) till taining mi al o nd ng fo mer time .

3 3 8 H I ST ORY OF T H E GERMAN PEOPLE

n forbiddi g the running of pigs in the street . At

Lubeck , Bremen , Magdeburg , Spires , and Worms , farm ing and cattle - breeding formed an important item of profit during the early ages ; in Munich agriculture was o ne of the principal resources of the citizens . In Bib rach Basle , , Frankfort , Landau , Reutlingen , Spires ,

Ulm , Worms , and other cities , the agriculturists , as well a s - the vine growers and gardeners , formed a special g uild . so Agriculture was popular a pursuit , even in the

that \ considerin towns , that it has been asserted , g the d ff Of i erence population , a larger proportion followed that avocation in the Middle Ages than in our time . As a consequence vegetables and animal food were more plentiful , and generally speaking cheaper , and c onsequently more generally eaten by the poorer classes , 1 than is the case in Europe tod ay . It must be remem di bered , however , that as the cities , notwithstan ng their

sufler m - o u g reat prosperity , did not fro being over p p l 2 ated , the prices for the things necessary for subsist

1 A r K e - in t he Ja hrbu ch ur N a ti on a lokon omi e cco ding to lod n , f of

H e r . 218 th e e e e h ild b and , i , in comm nc m nt of t e fourteenth c ent ury not l es s than he ad of cattle w ere slaughtere d for the con sumption of from six to twe lve thous and inhabitants per ye ar more than twelv e time s

1 2- 1 C r a s many as in 8 0 803 . on ad Celtes as sert s that in Nuremberg 100 e e ere s u ere e eek es r u e s rk h ad of cattl w la ght d ach w , b ides la ge q antiti of po ,

m u u r . Schmoller F lei s chcon sum 291 Kr e B ur er tton and po lt y , . , p . i gh , g

m 2 . hu . t , p 38 2 From statis tic s we find that the average population of Stra sburg in t h e fourteenth c entury was Con stanc e never had a population o f re Schm oller F lei s chcon s um 296 z Ges al mo than ( , . , p . ; Schan , h l en verba n d . T e u Nure er increas ed ver u , p pop lation of mb g z y m ch in t he er r th e T h 14 2 as latt pa t of e fift enth century . e num ber Of births in 8 w

’

or the r e si x er . Chr ni ke d d t hen tci t at at of p day ( o n er eu s c S d e , x . Frois s ard es timat e s the population of Rheingau in 1497 at ’ Some pas s age s in M one s le tters from H anov er would imply that the v l es ere as k u e in the M l es bu e i lag w not thic ly pop lat d idd e Ag as now , t w AGRI CULT URAL LI FE 3 3 9 e nce were low ; those for luxuries , on the contrary , were v ery high . The flax and hemp industry was considerable in many places in Ulm , for instance , at the close of the fi fteenth century , as many as sixty thousand pieces of li nen or cotton were bleached yearly . It was asserted t hat Germany produced more linen than all the rest of 1 t he world . Near the larger cities garden culture developed in p roportion to the general prosperity . There was s o much saffron grown in the gardens around Altenburg in the year 1 500 that it brought in several thousand

‘ 2 thalers to the town . At and around Erfurt pastel , ff sa ron , aniseed , coriander , and vegetables were largely so c ultivated . The cultivation was remunerative that good years the profits from it amounted in the neighbourhood of Erfurt t o more than one hundred t 3 halers . The inhabitants of Erfurt had a high reputation as skilled gardeners . Next to Erfurt , Mentz , Wurzburg , and Bamberg were distinguished for horticulture .

- on- - Frankfort the Main , Nuremberg and Augsburg were w remarkable for their flower gardens , here the marsh w ae mallo , the primrose , the hyacinths , and the auricul were to be seen in every variety of shade and colour .

The author of the Book of Fruits , Trees and Roots

us re e er th u r s re er s o er m t m mb that e n mb e of villages wa g at , many w e ’ r r e e d es troye d during the wars of t he p eas ant s and th e T hirty Ye a s Wa . S '

L u q s te r ts ha t n 2 6 90 . O e . 3 8 38 3 anda , c f , pp , , 1 r r u r E Ge man lin en was import e d into almos t eve y co nt y of ur op e . T h r e g e ater num ber Of the inhabitant s of Sil esia were we avers or spinn ers .

' ’ “ ’ — S ee H e r s Ja h bu h it? a ti on a lbkonomt e I I . . 215 230 . ild b and r c f N , V ii 2 Pastel was th en u s ed inst e ad Of indigo . 3 See L n h l 12 1—12 r was s us for it s a et a . 2 . Nure e g , iii mb g al o famo

n urs er r mb . . I n the e r 1505 e . e s D e ri N ri y ga d ns (C lte , O g . o p y a M aximilian sent gardeners to take lessons in the nurseries Of Nuremb erg .

Z 2 340 HI STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

enlarges on the beauty of the German gardens , not only of those that belonged to the wealthy , but also to those of moderate means , particularly in the Rhenish pro vinces . The poets also Sing of the lovely blossoms Of the

MII nster his : almond trees . Sebastian says in Geography Between Spires and the western mountains there were

‘ t o su l the Of ‘ almond trees enough pp y whole Germany . The country round the little town of Deidesheim is like ’ E sen rein one field of almond trees . y g in his Chronicles writes The excellent wine made in the Spires dis tri ct Suabia is exported to Switzerland , , Bavaria , t o Lorraine , and to Southern Germany , sometimes even ’ England . In the latter part of the Middle Ages thevine was the Obj ect of very special attention . It grew in places in which it is at present unknown . In Erfurt Sixty thousand pailsful of wine used to be gathered in good h years . In Hesse the vine was cultivated with suc

and success by the monasteries , the nobles , the citizens , Of the knights the Teutonic order at Marburg , and

the even by the peasants , that the wine equalled that of

Rhine and of Burgundy . Fulda , Marburg , Witzen haufen , and Cassel were the centres of the vine culture , and were completely surrounded by vineyards and vine villages . In the province of Brandenburg many vine Of yards were to be found around the cities Rathenow,

- on - - Oderb ur Brandenburg , Cologne the Spree , g , Guben ,

Lubben , and other places . In Mecklenburg, besides the principal vineyards of Schwerin and Plauen , there were in 1 508 many vineyards in full bearing which as extended far as Lubeck . Owing to the universal use of wine in the fifteenth

3 42 H I ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE but towards the middle Of the Sixteenth century it was 1 almost entirely abandoned . In the last decades Of the fifteenth century an agri cultural literature began to be formed , and the many editions into which these works ran are proof Of the the interest taken in the question , particularly by n people of the cities . Eleven different editions in Lati ’ and German of the Bolognese senator s (Petrus Of Cre centus) famous work on agriculture appeared between 1470 1494 the years and in Louvain, Augsburg , Stras in burg , Mentz , and elsewhere ; those brought out Strasburg and Mentz were beau tifully illustrated by ’ - wood engravings . The Book of Nature , for which a very learned man collected material during fifteen years , had also an extensive sale . The first edition bears no date or place of publication ; the following 1475 1478 1481 ones appeared in , , and , and were pub lished by Hans Bamler of Augsburg still later ones by n r r Hans Scho pe ge in 148 2 and by Antonius in 1499 .

The book comprises strange essays on human nature , l n anima s , trees , vegetables , sto es , and metals , and the

‘ Object which the writer sets before him is the treat

ment of very useful and interesting subjects , of which ’ the reader may learn some useful facts . However , e besides some rather strange things , it contains som valuable information on the subjects of forestry and

bee culture . A Westphalian publisher in Louvain brought out ’ Cus anian Columella s work on gardening , and p added

1 Bee culture was Of much gre ater importanc e then than now b ecaus e

he u us e th e ur es e us e e was used of t q antity of wax d in ch ch , and b ca hon y u s su r Abhan d lun i éber Bi en enre ht d es M i ttela l wh ere we now e ga . ( g c r 1 Bu H a n dbu h d es e lten d en N e 8 65 . e s s e . 47 Se t rs , p , o dling n , al o ch , c g

i en enrechts . B , p AGRI CULTURAL LI FE 3 43

148 3 a preface to the second edition in , entitled The ’ Virtue of Plants . By far the most important agricul l tural work was the a ready mentioned Book of Fruits , ’

1498 . Trees , and Roots , which appeared in Mentz in ff It describes , among other things , the di erent kinds of ff grain and how it Should be treated in di erent soils , w so &c . the best season to it , what kind of manure , it teaches the best way to plant and propagate trees , and shows a predilection for fruit trees and vines . The

e latter were always favoured by the Germans , becaus is so the vine so valuable , and is much praised in the ’ Holy Scriptures . The author adds , jestingly , In Ger many wine drinking is practised by all pious , Bible ’ loving people . There are extant reports on the state of agricultural science at the close of the Middle Ages r by contempora y authority , coming from two widely ifl r nt d e e . sections , the Rhine Provinces and Pomerania ’ On German soil , says the Book of Fruits , Trees , ’ m and Vegetables , there is no ore beautiful or produc tive land than the Rhine Province there one finds such an abundance of w1ne that even the poor man may his satisfy thirst , there grow wheat , rye , barley , and all fruit of kinds in plenty . The country between Bingen and Mentz is thickly populated on both Sides Of the river ; there farm touches farm and village suc ce eds village , and that land shows what can be produced by a good soil and the industry of man . There poverty is seldom to be found among those who are willing to ’ work . There also the bee culture is prosperous . Bartolomeus The Englishman , Brother of the Minor

ll : ite order, writes as fo ows The Rhine Province is a narrow stretch of country extending along the banks of the Rhine between the mountains from Binge n to 344 HI ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

is Mentz . The territory small , but remarkably pro ductive from the river to the tops of the hills . So its but beautiful is it that not only own inhabitants , travellers also , look on it as an enchanted land . The soil is so fruitful and rich that everything grows with remarkable luxuriance and ripens quickly . The same of farm grows the greatest variety fruits and cereals , ’ not to mention the vine . In 1500 Johannes Butzbach writes in his Wander ’ b uchlein The Rhine Province is a blessed land , rich in wine , fruit , cereals , wood , and water ; its beautiful villages resemble cities ; the stately Rhine runs through in i . hab it , rich in islands containing broad plains The tants are brave and prosperous . The fruit gardens are most valuable . I knew one poor man who realised in one year thirty florins from the cherries which he sold ’ in Mentz . The culture Of fruit was most successfully carried on in the Rhine Province and in Bavaria . The Book of Fruits , Trees , and Vegetables speaks of entire groves of fruit trees surrounding the villages of the Rhine Pro ’ vince , and , writes the author, they are well and most intelligently cultivated ; so also in Bavaria . I remarked the beauty Of the fruit trees and the care which was given to them . For a small sum the poor man can lay f in apples , pears , and nuts su ficient for himself, wife , and children during the winter time . This industrious ’ thrift is very praiseworthy and ought to be imitated . diflerin The variety of apples g from each other in form , colour , and taste is indescribable .

Kant z ow : , writing of Pomerania , says This land produces more than twenty times more corn , rye , o w wheat , barley , ats , peas , buck heat , and hops than

3 46 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

s peasant than to ten of us , and he invests it as please ’ him . The appearance Of the peasants who in 147 6 flocked in thousands to hear the new prophet of the people , ‘ ’ popularly called the trumpet of Niklashausen , gives some evidence of their comfortable condition at the close Of the fifteenth century in Northern and Central

: Germany they had abundance of money , and wore j ewels and fine clothes . The chronicler Stolle tells us that in one day people were collected in Niklas wax hausen , most of them peasants . They brought candles so large that it required from three to four ‘ ’ men to carry them . The zeal of this prophet in denouncing vanity in dre ss and j ewellery is evidence of the wealth Of the peasantry . Wimpheling writes of the Alsatian peasantry : The prosperity of the peasants here and in most parts Of

Germany has made them proud and luxurious . I know peasants who spend as much at the marriage of their sons and daughters or the baptism of their infants as

would buy a small house and farm or vineyard . They ” k are extravagant in their dress and living , and drin ’ costly wines . The amounts spent at patronal festivals and at

' marriages give the same evidence as to the peasants Of

Franconia . r The Austrian chronicler Unrest says , in the yea

1 478 . , of the peasants of Carinthia that No one earns

more money than they . It is generally acknowledged that they wear better clothes and drink better wine ’ 1 than the nobles .

1 U r — of es . 63 1 642 F r h r e n t , pp . o e vidences of t e comfo tabl condition the Aus r 0 53 e s s s Bu F d/Mamet d er E rs te . 8 5 t ian p a ant , ee choltz , er , pp , , , AGRI CULTURAL LI FE 3 47

It was not without reason that in 1 497 ordinance s. were passed in Landau and other places forbidding the common peasant to wear cloth costing more than half

florin a the yard , silk , velvet , pearls , gold , or Slashed ’ 1 garments .

Costly clothing bespoke costly living . We read in ’

&c . the Book of Fruits , Trees , If the peasant work fish hard he has a good table , and eats flesh , and fruits , . — t and drinks good wine sometimes too much . This las ’ e I do not praise , but in other things the peasant s tabl ’ is of the healthiest .

1 500 - Suabian ll In the plain Spoken , Henry Mu en . ’ m wrote In my father s ti e, who was himself a peasant ’ the peasants fare was very diflerent from what it is .

- to day . They had an abundance of meat every day ; on festival and Kermesse (fair) days the table was loaded all with that was good . Wine was drunk like water ; SO everyone ate and took away as much as he wished ,

great was the prosperity that prevailed . It is other now s e wise , for the time have long b en bad ; everything

Of is dear , and the fare the most comfortable peasant is far inferior to that which the day - labourer and servant ’ used to have . Day- labourers and servants were better off at the t close of the Middle Ages than the peasan s . According

T he Austrian po et H elbling sp eak s Of th e w e alth Of th e p ea

s s s in I n Aus r h th s s . For ant , ay g, t ia t e only free m en are e p ea ant (p a des cription of the condition of the pe as ants in the T yrol and Boh emia

h f h mif s chen Au s ta n des t e s e O t e t ee ur s e Ges ek. des bOh at clo fif nth c ent y , e f 1618 14 —1 von . 5 50 . , i 1 —49 M s er N eu e S am/mlmt s . 4 . d er R ei hs a b ch/i ede . g c , ii p 7 a ch , on

e 2 9 his Ur kun de dn z ehn ten Ja hr hun der t s s : One pag 7 of au s d em f f , ay s eldom s aw a labourer who did not w ear a hat which cos t more than half the res Of hi s T i er u ffere e the res s t clothing . here s no long m ch di nc in d ’ f h h h e e e s s e s Of the e O t e e t e z e the e . T nobl , citi n , and p as ant xc tim in

r k r h . 1646 . e ating and d in ing a e often t e subj ects of song . Uhland , p L3 48 H I STORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

s o to statistics , wages were never before high , and the l arge number of people who had to live by hard labour r b e fore so n eve _ were , or Since , well situated as during “ the period from the end of the fifteenth century through

the first decade of the sixteenth . In order to rightly estimate the wages Of the day

' labourer and servant in those t imes it is necessary to i consider the cost at that time of the necessar es of life . We must begin by comparing the statistics Of different

countries at the same time , and if the facts collected coincide we may draw a just conception Of the matter

considered . For Northern G ermany let us first consider the

: 1455 reports gathered in Saxony . From the years to 1 48 0 the a verage price of a pair of common Shoes was t wo to from three groschen ; for a domestic fowl , half

a groschen ; for a pike , one groschen for a sheep , four

- five t - fish groschen for twenty s ock , four groschen ;

for a cord of wood , delivered , five groschen ; for a yard e of b st native cloth , five groschen for a bushel of rye ,

- Six groschen . At the same date a day labourer earned six e s a weekly from to ight groschen , or , we might y, the price of a Sheep and a pair of shoes with the earnings of twenty- four d ays he could purchase at least

-fi ve - fish fire one bushel of rye , twenty stock , a cord of

. wood , and two to three yards of cloth . Clothing was

‘ particularly cheap . We find a chorister in Leipsic pay

for ing seven groschen the making of a coat , trousers ,

hat , and j acket . The Duke of Saxony wore a hat which

cost three groschen and a half. They were good times for the Saxon labourer when wages were high and the

price of necessaries low . We can understand the complaints of the workman

“ 3 50 H I ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

The statistics from Austria are much the same ; for instance , we find by the account books of Jacob

P am erl was p , who manager of the Abbey of Kloster n 148 5 1 509 auberg from to , that the wages of a day

- labourer were ten farthings a day and his board , while t h e legal price of beef was two farthings per pound . " ’ The usual price of a pair of women s or men’s shoes w as sixteen farthings ; the making of a pair of trousers ’ o — cost ten farthings , and a peasant s coat c st twenty four . I n many countries where labourers worked for pay and b oard there were laws regulating the exact quantity of food and drink they had a right to . In the laws made " Of von by the Archbishop Mentz , Berthold Henne b 1497 his erg, in , for the management of possessions in

: the Rhine Provinces , we find In the morning soup and bread ; for lunch at midday a strong soup , good m eat , vegetables , and half a j ug of ordinary wine ; in ’ t he evening a strong soup , or meat and bread . In 1483 the innkeeper Erasmus Erbach of Oden w ald ordered that all the labourers , men and women , w ho work in the fields shall receive twice in the day meat and half a jug of wine ; on Sundays they shall h ave fish or food equally nourishing . On feast days a nd Sundays those who have worked during the week

o s hall be well treated , having , after mass and serm n , h p lenty of meat and bread wit a large jug of wine . At w eddings they Shall have enough roast meat . Besides , “ t hey shall be given a large loaf of bread and as much t o m eat as Shall furnish lunches for w . According to the household regulations Of the B von Gettin en 1 520 avarian Count Joachim g in , the d omestics were to have every day at meals : In the m orning soup and vegetables (milk was allowed to the AGRI CULTURAL LI FE 3 51 l abourers) at midday one kind of meat , one vegetable , a o pepper soup , preserves or milk ; at night s up and m k eat , turnips , and preserve or pic le ; milk , chicken or l eggs , with soup and two portions of bread , sha l be given t o the women who desire it ; if they have come over half a mile they shall have an additional plate of soup ’ and a small j ug of wine . The meals allowed in Saxony to the servants and workpeople were still better . In the household laws published by the Dukes Ernst and Albert in the year ‘ 1 48 2 it was expressly decreed : The domestics and l abourers ought to be satisfied with what they receive . B esides their wages they shall have , twice a day , for d : two inner and supper , four dishes soup , kinds of meat , fi a n d . ve : one vegetable On feast days dishes soup , ’ t wo . kinds of fish , and two vegetables AS an evidence of how general was the use of animal f ’ ’ ood , we quote from the Soul s Guide in de s cribing extreme destitution . There are poor people who go a week or more without meat , or , at best , with ’ v ery bad meat . The times had begun to get bad in 1 53 3 ’ , when the Bavarian States authority decreed that

care be taken that the people eat meat each day , take t wo meals , and that the hotels serve good boils and roasts . In view of the general destitution all were a dvised to refrain from meat two or three days in the week , and innkeepers were admonished to give o nl v fruit , bread and cheese outside of the regular ’ meals . The decrease in the use Of animal food in the six t e enth century was one of the most striking proofs of the depression of general prosperity throughout Ger m any . The wages were only half what they had been 3 52 H I ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE

w 1450 A t bet een and nimal food , formerly he

ordinary diet of the people , became by degrees an

article of luxury . In the fifteent h century the wages for domestic F service kept pace with those of the labourers . or n instance , at the Castle of Doha , in Saxony , the stable

florins man received , besides board and lodgings , nine yearly ; the donkey- driver seven florins and a half ; the florins dairymaid three and twelve to eighteen groschen , and this at a time when a fat ox could be bought for

three to four florins . In Dresden the wages of a cook

1 A s l r Of hi s e s e E Fr e I imi a condition t ng xi t d in ngland , anc , and taly . T he labour ing clas ses were much b ett er Off at the clos e of th e fifteenth

ur e are d u r E ur e . See s c ent y than th y to ay in any co nt y in op Si mondi ,

'

R e u bli u es i ta li e nn es . . H i s toi re d e B e tra H i s toi re d es p q , chap xci r n d da

n et d e s on é u e r s 18 76 s ee Lu e . . I n Gu es cbi p oq (Pa i , ) c , chap iii sp e aking Of the Englis h labouring classes at the commenc em ent of the fourt eenth ‘ e l r F r e s ue s s T e e u ur s c entury Chanc l o o t c ay , h y hav ab ndant no i hment of h r fi s e e . T e both fl esh and , and w a good wooll n clothing h ir hous es are ’ e e r s are the es . U er H e r I I well furni sh d and th i tool of b t nd n y V I . an Act of Parliament in the interest of the poor refers to four kinds Of m e at b ut the laws dating from th e reign of Elizabeth are proof of the mis erabl e

Of the r u er s i s ffi re s e . See H l condition poo , and pa p i m o cially cogni d a lam , M i ddle A es r I I ’ e d u i d o the . . . Cobbe E urop n the P er o f g , Pa t ch ix tt s m 4 1 a n t R e or . 7 . H i s tory of the P rotes t f , p R ers the s r er E s James C . T horold og , mo t impo tant mod n ngli h s s hi s Hi s t r 0 A ri culture an d P ri ces writer on political e conomy , ay in o y f g , ‘ 23 O r 18 8 2 T he ee e ur the e r e rs of vol . iv . p . ( xfo d , ) fift nth c nt y and a ly y a lden A e the E s u s the r s the s ixte enth were th e Go g of ngli h h bandman , a ti an , ’ h e s T he t ee e ur was At . 100 s er and the labourer. p ay fif nth c nt y a p iod

r ener s r u e for es ere re in which w e alth was v e y g ally di t ib t d , wag w lativ ely as e was ue a r u ur r u e w p , s ru e high , ag ic lt al p od c ch a and land val d a l at ’ ’ L er the r r : T r i s . e e s s twenty ye ars purcha e at , on cont a y h vi ible a B e r the Re r gre at declin e in the styl e of living . fo e fo mation win e was

e re e us e . A ter r s e e s abundant , ch ap , and f ly d f wa d it b cam an occa ional

T h e e s the e s s ere s e e e s e luxury . e njoym nt of middl cla w tint d , and v n tho

I t u b e sk r of the more we althy w ere fe w . wo ld a long ta to illust ate thi s

re er r the e ues be in detail , but my ad will find , f om chang in val , to com r u r ere was re r s e m ent ed on h ere after in pa tic la , that th a g at cont a t b twe en the s r the s ee e ur the pl enty of the fifteenth and ca city of ixt nth c nt y (pp . 1 3 7—138 )

3 54 HI ST ORY OF T HE GERMAN PEOPLE seigniors were compelled to allow their children to — serve at the manor house for very low remuneration . r ff F om these statistics , gathered from di erent sources , it is evident that at the close of the Middle Ages the industrious labourer was enabled to provide well for

t o his own wants , and , if he were married , lay up what was called an independence for his

END OF T HE FI RST VOLUME

PRI NTED BY

S S W N E W-S EE S U RE TT E AN CC . TR T A PO I OOD D , Q J

T HE HI S R OF A ADA. B WI L L I M KI NG SF OR LL . D TO Y C N y A D , — F . R. . l 1 S . C n Vo . I I I . 18 808 15 M s . D m v e 8 . ( a ada) V [ ] With ap y o 153 . T h e seven re e n vo mes ave een s ess ve s p di , hi h h b i y p b i hed by essrs . Ke an c g lu w c— —ucc l u l — M g P a l Co over t h e o o i n er o s Vol I . 1608 168 2 ol I 1 6 8 . p i d . V . I . 7 1725 V ol . I I I . 1 726 u , c f ll w g , , , — - - - 1756 V ol I V 1 756 1763 Vol. 176 3 17 76 Vol . V L 17 6 17 79 l . ., ; , 7 ; Vo . VI I . , 17 79 18 07. OMMENT ARI E S ON T HE CONSTI T UTI ON OF T HE UNI TED T T E HI S O I C AN D URI DI CAL bs er n s th r S A S , T R AL J , with o vatio upon e o dinary r s s of e C s t n s and m r s n p ovi ion Stat on itutio , a co pa i o with t he Con stitutions B RO ‘ of r C n r e s . FOS . I Pre m othe ou t i y GER TER Vol . a ble to I mpeach ’

m vo £1 43 . net . me De 8 . . nt . y

I S R OF RI I SH UI A A. B J M E S RO W Y F L . TO Y B T G N y A D A , . S .

h e r 1 6 18 93 . s vo r 8 . s . From t e y a 6 8 to 3 vol . boa d With a M ap s howing ff r r h s er n r e e en e s . £2 11 t 3 . d . e we t n bou da y lin at di t p iod . 6 net ; s ingle

s £1 e . vol . ach I T R F T HE L A T AND A A T E E S O Y O GO D CO S S N , BA S D ON I O C F C C m r n r T RADI TI ON S AND H ST RI AL A TS . o p isi g a pe iod of more than f r m 1500 1 60 R v r n r es 8 . C ee e b e . th c tu i , o a out to By ARL CHRI STI AN R I O F N e P s r of th e se M s s C r s s b r G s E ND R , ativ a to Ba l i ion , h i tian o g , old Coa t . m t 9 . ne . De y 8 vo. 3

HE R I N REA I I E THE I P OBL E M S AND T POO G T C T S R R , WHA T I s G D O T O O V . RO A. OO T I G I S . E S BE N NE S L E HEM By BERT W D , W . L N , P R E O RI I S SO S V . GG C . E S F JA B A , WELLARD A N , ERT J WENDELL , RNE T LA , I I W T UCK OS P KI K Sir B S W LL AM JE ETT ER, J E H R LAND , WALTER E ANT , ED U D R P SS I M I O OSC I G C . I us r M N S EARMAN , JE E WH TE AR , AR RA ll t ate d

b HUG T O SO O O H . C C OUG ER V G . O . P I y H H M N , TT BA HER, BR HT N , V ARD , I R N D GRE B AY ED FF H . O E I R . I S M H . OH T . W LE , ERBERT ENMAN , V , LLA J LL , .

SCH L AV E M U N D E O T I O . an en n n , TT RE T With App dix o T e ement House

n b E S F GG . er 10 I ust r n s 0 . Dem v . Buildi g y RNE T LA With ov ll atio y 8 o 12s .

T REA I SE OF ST K AND S KH LDERS DS T OC TOC O , BON , M ORT G GE AND GEN E R L C ORPOR T I ON LAW as b A S , A A , appli ca l e to R r nk n I ns ur e M nuf r n M n n T e e r ail oad , Ba i g , anc , a actu i g , i i g, l g aph , T e le e E res s Ga s er rk s C mmer T rn k e r ph , xp , , W , i l , u pi , id e , C l on at wo o c a B g ana , S ms nd e r Pr e r r s B e C . I I a . COOK f h t a hip , oth ivat o po ation y W LL AM W , o t e N ew Y r Bar T r E 2 s r e m k . . e vo . 3 8 £ . 13 d o hi d dition vol la g d y 3 . 6 .

XCEL SI OR ENGLI SH - SPANI SH AND SPANI SH - ENGLI SH DI T A Y F M 2m C I ON R . . . . 1 o 1 . 03 . 6d By AL RED A BEALE . This work has been compiled e xpressly t o meet t he demands of the increasin g commerc e - s be tween English and Spanish s peaking count rie . I n a it on t o or s se i n or inar onversat on i t ves t he te n al r ad dd i w d u d d y c i , gi ch ic o t r e t erms of all art es of mer han is e ; and eo ra a n ames rre ar ver s rr i d phi , i b en ei hts an d cl c g g c l gul , cu cy , w g meas res C r st i an names &c . & c . l b e o n at t h e end of ea se t on u , h i , , , wi l f u d ch c i .

N EW EDI T I ON OF OH N S ON ' S L IV ES OF T HE P J OET S . I VE S OF T HE M S E MI E T E LI SH E S O T N N NG PO T . With

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