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University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 A Xerox Education Company 73-11,466 BYRD, Gary Bruce, 1945- THE SCHWABISCH HALL CITY COUNCIL 1500-1530: MUNICIPAL POLITICS ON THE EVE OF TOE REFORMATION. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1972 History, modem University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan - © 1973 GARY BRUCE BYRD ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THE SCHW&BISCH HALL CITY COUNCIL 1500-1530: MUNICIPAL POLITICS ON THE EVE OP THE REFORMATION’ DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosoj hy in the Graduate School of The Ohio Stal e University By Gary Bruce Byrd, B.Ai., M*A* The Ohio State University 1972 Approved by { Adviser Department of History PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Of the various people who have assisted me in the preparation of this manuscript, I would like to single out Dr, Kuno Ulshbfer, Director of the Stadtarchiv in Schwabisch Hall, Dr, Paul Sauer, Director of the Hauptstaatsarchiv in Stuttgart, and Dr, Gerhard Wunder, a distinguished Wtfrttem- berg historian who continually welcomes and encourages further research into the history of this area. Nor can I forget my adviser, Professor Harold J, Grimm, who has never failed to help me in any contingency that has arisen during the course of graduate study, and my parents, Mr, and Mrs, Claude Byrd of Lubbock, Texas, who have contributed far more to supporting me throughout ray academic career than I could ever rightfully have expected. ii VITA June 25, 1945 Born— Elk City, Oklahoma 1967 B.A. with Honors, Texas Tech University, Luhhock, Texas 19^< M.A., TexaB Tech University, Lubbock, Texas. Thesis: "The Marburg Colloquy in Perspective: Its Origin and Signif­ icance." 1968-1972 NDEA Title IV Fellowship and Non-Resident Fellowship, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1972 Ohio State University Research Grant for Study in Germany FIELDS OF STUD! i j Major Field: History Renaissance and Reformation, professor Harold J. Grimm Ear]rly Modern Europe. Professor John C. Rule Tudor and Stuart England. Professor R. Clayton Roberts Colonial and Revolutionary America. Professors Bradley Chapin and Paul C. Bowerb ili TABLE OP CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii VITA iii LIST OP ABBREVIATIONS v INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter I, Schwabisch Hall at the Turn of the Sixteenth Century 4 II* The Social Composition of Schwabisch Hall about 1500 24 III* The Political Constitution of Schwabisch Hall about 1500 87 TV* The Political Upheaval of 1509-1512 150 V* The Hall City Council and Johannes Brenz 180 CONCLUSION 202 APPENDIX 207 BIBLIOGRAPHY 250 iv LIST 0? ABBREVIATIONS ART Artisans HA Haalarchiv Schwabisch Hall HStA Hauptstaat sar chiv Stuttgart HStA Rep Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart, Repertorium Schwab­ isch Hall. Ausgewahlte Urkunden und Akten des Archivs der Reichsstaflt. R16b-l88. J Junkers— members of the old aristocracy MC Middle class citizens NF Neue Folge Rep Repertorium, Stadtarchiv Schwabisch Hall RKG Relchskaramergerichtsakten C3-8, Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart StA Stadtarchiv Schwabisch Hall St R Steuerrechnungen, Stadtarchiv Schwabisch Hall Urk Urkunden Schwabisch Hall. Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart. WFr WtLrttembergisch Franken. Zeitschrift des Histor- ischen V ere ins fur V/urttembergisch Franken. Stutt­ gart: W. Kohlhammer, 1847-1972. WE WUrttembergische Kirchengeschichte. Stuttgart: W. Rohlhammer, 1893-19727 wvj WUrttembergische Viertel iahrsheft e. Zeitschrift I'iir wurttembergische lanaesgeschichte. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1937-1972. vi WGQ WUrttembergische Geschichtsquellen. Edited by the Kommission iii'r geschichtiiche Landeskunde in Baden-Wiirttemberg. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1894-1972. WR Wiirttembergische KeformationBgesohichte. Stutt­ gart : W. Eohlhammer, T9!54-1972. INTRODUCTION At the turn of the sixteenth century Schwabisch Hall, little more than a small south German imperial city nestled in the narrow valley of the Kocher river, boasted approxi­ mately 5000 inhabitants and centered its economic life and virtual existence around the all-important salt deposits— deposits that had already been rained for more than five centuries. Although artisan and middle-class families were beginning to enjoy wealth and prestige in the imperial city, the council and, in turn, city government itself still lay firmly in the hands of approximately twenty aris­ tocratic families who dominated the affairs of the city. Vithln twenty years, however, the entire social matrix of Schwabisch Hall would be completely reconstituted, result- . ing in the utter destruction of the political power for­ merly enjoyed by the old aristocratic families and in the devolution of governmental authority solely into the eager hands of the artisan and middle classes. Within thirty years this social and political restratification would be reinforced by the tenets of the Reformation, formally introduced into Schwabisch Hall by the young preacher, Johannes Brenz. 2 In order to visualize the interrelation among these social, political, and religious alterations which so dras­ tically affected the composition as well as the mentality of the small community during the first three decades of the sixteenth century, one must first gain some understand­ ing of the Schwabisch Hall of 1500* Already an old and established city relatively isolated from European trade routes and removed from channels of intellectual currents of thought that might challenge the yet basically medieval atmosphere pervading the community, the Schwabisch Hall of 1500 nonetheless harbored quite powerful representatives of the artisan and middle classes who would within thirty years lead the city into a period of stark reappraisal not only of the civic political organs but also of the estab­ lished concepts concerning religious attitudes and prac­ tices in the city's churches* The following study attempts to correlate these forces engulfing the city during this pivotal stage in its development into a middle-class com­ munity and a Lutheran stronghold in southern Germany* Whether such a correlation actually existed between the middle-class and artisan attainment of political predom­ inance and the subsequent introduction of Lutheran religious doctrines can be judged only following a thorough examination of the societal composition of the city in 1500 coupled with an investigation of the political upheaval of 1509-1512, 5 which placed the power to determine civic concerns into the hands of the artisan and middle classes. Only then can one judge the impact these social and political alterations had on the later introduction of Lutheran doctrines into the churches of the community. The necessary preliminary to any discussion of the political and social realignment of Schwabisch Hall during the early decades of the sixteenth century is to turn to the state of the community in 1500 before it embarked upon these far-reaching changes in the composition of the imperial city. i I . CHAPTER ONE SCHWABISCH HAIL AT THE TURN OP THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY The almost casual association connecting the dawn of a new century with an Imperceptible line of historical division usually reflects the often unjustifiable tendency to imbue one particular year with perhaps undeserved meaning. The Schw&bisch. Hall of 1500 invites no such exag­ geration* At the turn of the sixteenth century Hall appeared to be a seemingly placid and static community desirous of no alterations in the fabric of civic life* Depleted in a numerical sense, the aristocratic families nonetheless wielded political power in much the same fashion as had their fourteenth- and fifteenth-century ancestors*.