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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*. The middle-class and artisan citizens, although aggressive in financial concerns, betrayed no sense of dissatisfaction with the political scheme allowing aristocratic domination of the city council. Domestically and diplomatically the Schw&bisch Hall of 1500 remained an imperial city rooted in the traditions forged by previous generations and exhibited no desire to question much less reorient the pervading men­ tality of the community.

A 5

Schwabisch Hall, a relatively isolated imperial city that could not match the wealth, commerce, and sheer impor­ tance of the larger cities of southern Germany such as Ntirnberg, Ulm, and Augsburg, could nevertheless claim a long, and in terms of Germany itself, a fairly distinguished history marked by a wealthy and industrious citizenry. Despite somewhat inauspicious origins, the city had none­ theless enjoyed not a few flirtations with European recog­ nition as a monetary center for the Holy Roman Empire under the Hohenstaufens as well as virtually the only source for ■i salt in the southwestern segment of the empire. Able to

4 Not content to allow the early history of the city to remain shrouded in legend or oral renditions, local Wiirttem- berg historians have long attempted to determine the origins of the city, to define the role of Hall under the Hohenstauf­ ens, and to broaden historical research into late medieval and early modern times. Since the salt deposits in Hall, one of several such beds located in the Hohenlohe, Xiimpurg, and WHrttemberg regions, provided the most accessible source for salt and produced by far the largest yields, the salt in­ dustry of Hall has consumed not a little of this historical curiosity. For information concerning the early history of the salt industry in Schwabisch Hall see the following arti­ cles in the journal WUrttembergisch Franken. hereafter cited as WIT: Walter Carle, "jonann Wilhelm Thon und die kiinig- liche Saline zu Schwabisch Hall. Ein noch unbekanntesKapitel in der Salinengeschichte," WFr, Vol. 51, N3? 41 (1967), p. 21j E. Kost, "Die Keltensiedlung liber dem Haalquell im Kochertal in SchwabiBch Hall," WFr, Vol. 30-31, NF 20-21 (1940), pp. 39-111; W. Veeck, "Eine keltische Solesiederei. in Schwabisch Hall," WFr, Vol. 30-31, NF 20-21 (1940), pp. 112-128; and Wilhelm Hommel, "Keltische und mittelalterliche Salzgewinnung in Schwabisch Hall," WFr, Vol. 30-31, NF 20-21 (1940), pp. 129-144. The majority of documents concerning the adminis­ tration of the salt industry in Hall are housed in the special Haalarchiv, Schwabisch Hall. trace settlements on the present site of the old inner city hack to Celtic times five hundred years before Christ, archaeologists have proved that the salt deposits lying next to the Kocher were tapped sporadically for several o centuries before yet another long period of diBuse. 5Jhe next references to the city appear in medieval cloiBter documents which allude to a city striding the narrow Kocher valley. Among these records the first direct reference to Schw&bisch Hall appears in documents dating from 1037, in which the "villa halle superior!" belonged as a fief to Count Burkhard 1 of. Comburg.^ Apparently ignorant of the basic Franconian composition

2 Official documents and records covering the "Haal," the Celtic word denoting the site of the city salt deposits which also provided the basis for the name of the city itself, begin with the fourteenth century. See the follow­ ing documents in the Stadtarchiv Schwabisch Hall, hereafter cited as StA: StA, 4/1023, 1496, Haalbuch. enth, Haalord- nung, Sulenbau und sonstlge Bauwerke ana StA, 4/10^4. Haal- ordnungen aus dem 14.-1 b. janrhundert; Aslo see Werner tiatti's ^Verrassung uricPWirtschartapolltik der Saline Schwab­ isch Hall bis zum Jahre 1802," (unpublished Ph.D. disserta­ tion, University of Heidelberg, 1952), ^Dhese documents, known as the "Ohringer Stiftungs- urkunde von 1037," are located in the FUrstliches Hohenlohe1achen Gesamtarchiv Neuenstein, Abteilung 0hringen, F.U, Hr, 1• For a detailed account of the importance of these records see Karl Wellers "Die Ohringer Stiftungs- urkunde von 1037," WUrttembergische TiertelJahrshefte ftir landesgeschichte (hereafter cited as. WV3J, 1955, pp. 1-16 as well as Hansmartin Decker-Hauff's "Der Ohringer Stiftungs- brief," WFr, Vol. 41, NF 31 (1957), pp. 17-31. Gerhard Wunder.also discusses this aspect of Hall's history in his article "Die Entstehung der Stadt Hall," WFr, Vol. 41, NF 31 (1957), pp. 32-38, of the population of the city, Emperor Henry VI first referred to the city as "Schwabisch Hall" in 1191.* Other names applied to the city in its youth included the follow­ ing: halle superiori, Hala, hala suevica, halle suevorum, Swebisch Hal, and Halle in Schwaben.^ Situated on the bor­ der of Franconia and Swabia, Hall wrestled with this unof­ ficial misnomer implying Swabian roots throughout her his­ tory. The confederation with the Hohenstaufen possessions in Swabia and following that time with the Swabian league imposed upon the imperial city an association with Swabian as opposed to a Franconian network of alliances. As late as 1515 the Rothenburg city secretary Thomas Zweiffel stated that "he did not know whether this city on the Kocher lies in Franconia or Swabia."** The somewhat esoteric question was eventually laid permanently to rest by the National Socialist city government in 1934 by formally dropping the official name of "Hall," which indeed had served the city throughout the majority of its lifetime, and adopting the

*Eduard KrUger, SchwabiBch Hall mit Gr oss-Komburg. Klein-Komburg, Steinbacn und LTmnurg. Ein (rang durcn Geschichte und Kunst schwabisch Hall: Hans Pi IppTnger, iyb7;, p. 237- 5Ibid. ' ' ^Reichskammergerichtsakten. C3-8 in the Hauptstaats- archiv Stuttgart, Hereafter cited.as HStA RKG, provide Zweiffel*s testimonial to the enigmatic composition and location of the small city. The actual quotation, contained in RKG H 308, states that "er wiBte, das dise Statt am Kochen, ob sie aber inn Franncken oder Schwaben gelegen, wifite er nit," 8 official name of Schw&bisch Hall,1* The ancient tribal bor­ der separating Swabia and Franconia today runs approximately eighteen kilometers south of Schwabisch Hall, placing the city named for Swabia within the formal boundaries of old Franconia.8

Despite its relative isolation, Schwabisch Hall did have to struggle continuously with the neighboring Limpurg and Hohenlohe territories throughout the thirteenth, four­ teenth, and fifteenth centuries, a seemingly never ending conflict which eventually strengthened the determination of the city aristocrats to maintain the independence of the ) city while even extending Hall's boundaries and administra­ tion to include smaller hamlets surrounding the city. In 1276 Emperor-Rudolf von Habsburg beBtowed upon Hall the designation as an imperial city with its own administration and immediate jurisdiction over internal matters.^ Follow­ ing a brief war with the Schenken lords of Limpurg, Hall secured the emperor's reaffirmation of the city's imperial status. Thus in 1280, Emperor Rudolf decreed that the city

^Paul Swiridoff, Schwabisch Hall (Schwabisch Hall; Hans P. Eppinger, 1969), p. 12. ^riiger, Schwabisr-h Hall, p. 28.

^Gerhard Wunder, "Die Entstehung der Stadt Hall," WFr, Vol. 41, NF 31. (1957)* pp. 32-38. Rudolf von Habsburg pro­ vided many cities with similar designations sb either impe­ rial cities or territorial cities. For Schwabisch Hall this recognition provided its ultimate step toward complete inde­ pendence over internal affairs. was not subject to the Schenken lords of Limpurg but rather constituted a free city governed by a mayor ("Reichsschult- heiB") who acted as a representative of the emperor himself. The later official visits of Emperor Adolf I (of Nassau) in 1293 and Emperor Albert I von Habsburg in 1301 and 1303 only served to reaffirm the imperial status of the city. Emperor Henry VII von Luxemburg officially renewed Hall's claim to imperial status when he visited the-city in 1309.^® Schwabisch Hall owed its independence and imperial recognition primarily to the tireless support of the city's numerous aristocratic families, the majority of whom served the Hohenstaufens as immediate vassals.^ These city aristocrats resisted all attempts;, by the surrounding lords to encroach upon the city's domain and bring Hall under the 19 administration of their respective territories. Seeking safety in numbers, Schwabisch Hall joined thirty-two other imperial cities in 1381 to form the Swabian League.^** United with such powerful communities as StraSburg, Augsburg, Mainz, Worms, Speyer, Frankfurt, and Regensburg, Schwabisch Hall

10HStA RKG H 508. 11H. Btittner, "Staufische Territorialpolitik im 12. Jahrhundert, •' WFr, Vol. 47, NF 37 (1963;, pp. 5-27. 12 StA Beschlttsse und Verhandlungen des Schwhbischen Bundes 27 (TOB= T 5 W y .------;— ------^Ibid. These documents deal with Hall's constant dif­ ficulties with surrounding territories as the city presented these cases before the league. 10 reaped its first reward for such unity the same year when the league destroyed the dangerous fortress of Klingenfels, which before that time had posed a threat to the security of the city.1^ A further boon accrued to the city when the council gained the right in 1382 to select from among the citizens of Hall the official who would serve the city in the capacity as mayor.1** Schwabisch Hall entered the fif­ teenth century as a powerful imperial city of 4500 citizens, boasting a sound economic position and a strong aristocratic tradition.1** i • The position of Schwabisch Hall among the other imperial cities at the turn of the fifteenth century shows that Hall already stood among the leading cities of southwestern Ger­ many. Based on the tax records under Emperor Rupert of the Palatinate (1400-1410), the following cities were held re­ sponsible for these respective amounts in imperial taxes in terms of pound sterling: Augsburg and EBlingen 800, Ulra 700, Hall, Heilbronn, Konstanz, and Nordlingen 600, Rothen- burg and Reutlingen among others 400, Schweinfurt and

^Krttger, Schwabisch Hall, p. 38» 15 ■'Ihis right, secured by the council purchase of the office, allowed the city considerable flexibility not only in internal matters but also in diplomatic relations with her neighbors. See ibid. 16 Regesta, chronologico-diplomatioa Rupertl Regis Roman'orumT edited by Joseph Chmel (Frankfurt am Main: Franz Varrentrapp, 1834), p. 231. 11

Memmingen 300, Gmttnd 270, and Dinkelsbtihl, Wimpfen, Winds- heim, and Weinsburg 200, 17 Schwabisch Hall also used the might of the Swabian league to settle accounts with former enemies. The destruction of the surrounding fortresses of Neuenfels and Maienfels in 144-1 and of Hcnbardt in 1444 demonstrated the increasing military power of the city. This trend of civic military power as opposed to the decreas­ ing might of the surrounding landed aristocrats climaxed in 1541, when Hall peacefully purchased the threatening castle of Limpurg and all Limpurg territories adjacent to the city. Had Hall not been in a position to seize forcibly these lands, the council undoubtedly would not have been in a 1 fi powerful enough position to contract the purchase. Schwabisch Hall's military prowess coupled with its isolated position as the economic capital of a large hinter­ land enabled the city not only to grow and prosper but also to dominate the surrounding countryside. The later Hohen- lohen and Limpurgian cities could not equal Hall in size or importance. Between Heilbronn and Rothenburg there was no other city of equal significance, thus enabling Hall to develop relatively undisturbed. ^ Yet Hall was not so

17Ibid. ^®Karl Schumm. "Die h&llische Landheg,"'WEr, Vol. 27- 28j HP 17-18.(1936),-pp. 140-173. 19Ibid. 12 generous with its own smaller neighboring villages. Follow­ ing Ntfcrnberg and Ulm, Hall possessed the largest territory belonging to an imperial city in Franconia and Swabia.20 Hall governed the affairs of Ilshofen as well as the prov­ inces of BUhler, Honhardt, Kocheneck, Rosengarten, Schlict, 21 and Vellberg. Klrchberg an der Jagst, although not con­ tiguous to Hall's territorial boundaries, from 1598 to 1562 was governed through the joint administration of the impe­ rial cities of Hall, Rothenburg, and DinkelsbUhl.22 Hall also exerted a monetary influence over the life of the empire prior to 1500. Ihe currency of Hall indeed dated as far back as the period of Frederick Bar bar ossa. Before 1160 the "Haller" or "Heller" contained the inscrip­ tion "HALLE" followed by the imposing letters "F.R.I.S.A.", which stood for "Fredericus Romanorum Imperator Semper

20Ibid. 21Ibid. 22 See the following city documents relating to Schwab­ isch Hall's administration of these provinces listed under the general heading of Amtsrechnungen in the Stadtarchiv of Hall: StA 1) Amt BUhler and ’1) heilagen zu den BUhler Amts­ rechnungen; StA 3) Amt Hohardt; StA 4) Amt Ilshofen; StA 5) Amt Kocheneck and 6) Beilagen zu.den Kochenecker Amtsrech­ nungen; StA 7) Amt Rosengarten and 8) Beilagen zu den Amts­ rechnungen Rosengarten and 9) Amt Schlicht-Unterlimpurg and 10) Beilagen zu den Amtsrechnungen Schlicht; and StA 11) Amt Vellberg and 12) Beilagen zu den Vellberger Amtsrechnungen. Other references to the administration of these provinces may be found in the Schatzungsbilcher, Stadt und Amter of the city archives. 13 o* Augustus." The mint in Hall indeed contributed large sums of money to the imperial coffers and from 1242 the Holy Roman Empire depended primarily upon the mints in Schwabisch Hall and Cologne as the basis of imperial cur­ rency.2^ When Martin Luther translated the Bible into vernacular German, he chose the word "Heller" to replace the Greek term "kodrantes" in the passages Matthew 5:26 and Mark 12:42. Hall thus found itself enshrined in a small yet well-lighted corner of biblical literature. Yet the formative years of Hall's youth included the customary growing pains common to any emerging societal grouping. The rising economic classes associated with capitalism chafed under the sometimes oppressive and singu­ lar control exerted by the city's dominant aristocratic elite. Two social upheavals marred the social cohesion of Schwabisch Hall during theBe early years and pointed to the necessity of ultimately resolving the social statuB of those citizens not fortunate enough to join in the decision-making process of the yet aristocratic city. The

2^Krtiger, Schwabisch Hall, pp. 70-74. 2*0. Diirr, "Zur Geschichte der Haller MttnzBtatte und des Hellers," WPr, Vol. 23, HP 13 (1922), pp. 7-39 and E. Nau, "Haller Pfennige," WPr, Vol. 44, NP 34 (1960), pp. 25- 62. The importance of the mint, crucial to the early devel­ opment of the city, revolved around the lucrative profits of the salt industry while also helping to establish not a few extremely wealthy Schwabisch Hall aristocratic citizens. See Krttger, Schwabisch Hall, pp. 70-74. 14 political upheavals of 1261 and 1340 exposed this social cleavage within the- ranks of the community. The first upheaval resulted in the Ignominious defeat on the part of the rising middle-class and artisan citizens while the 1340 affair, eventually resolved through the intervention of Emperor Louis IV of Bavaria, resulted in the inclusion of middle-class and artisan representatives in the civic gov­ ernmental body known as the council ("Rat"),^ Emperor Louis's decree, while recognizing the right of the lbwer- class citizens to join in the decision-making process of the Imperial city, nevertheless assured the aristocracy the predominant and decisive voice in all matters relating to civic self-government. The final resolution of this source of political discomfort would not surface for well over another century, when the third political upheaval of 1509- 1512 would finally wrest political power from the then enfeebled hands of the remaining aristocratic families and place it securely in the anxious hands of the middle-class and artisan leaders. A brief sketch of the history of SchwRbisch Hall prior to 1500 stands as a well-nigh impossible feat. One can hope only to point out that at the turn of the sixteenth

2**HStA RKG, C3-8, H 503, Por a history of the council prior to 1500 see Ksrl-Siegfried Rosenberger's "Die Entwick- lung des Rates von SchwRbisch Hall bis zum Ende.dea 16, Jahrhunderts," (unpublished ph.D, dissertation, University of Heidelberg, 1954), 15 century, Schwabisch Hall was already a proud and politically sophisticated societal entity which had weathered innumerable assaults upon her independence and assumed a respected posi­ tion as a fairly important city of the empire. In contri­ butions to the military machinery of the Swabian league, Hall ranked slightly below Augsburg and Him about 1500, These contributions, in actuality exacted by the league Itself on the basis of the city's wealth and ability to pay, adequately represented the status of each member city.2** Yet the distinctive feature of Hall's history during the first decades of the sixteenth century lies not in its relation to other Swabian and Franconian cities nor in its participation in the Swabian league. In these respects the city played a role expected of every city of stature during that age and did not distinguish itself in any particular manner other than the faithful execution of its duties as a fellow imperial city of southern Germany. In actuality the distinctive quality of Schwabisch Hall history from 1500 to 1530 lies in the strictly internal social and political developments which transformed the city into a middle-class and artisan dominated community, thereby forsaking its aris­ tocratic traditions and preparing itself for a drastic shift in religious attitudes later in the century,

26 Urkunden zur Geschichte des Schwabischen Bundes, 1488- 1533, edited by Karl August Kliipfel (Stuttgart: iiterar- iBcher Verein, 1846), Vol. II, p. 60. She social and political questions facing Schwabisch Hall at the turn of the century were not substantially different from those plaguing other imperial communities during the same period. Essentially a political being, man tends to express dissatisfaction with social inequities through political channels. A study concerning social inter­ relationships must as a result turn to these essentially political organs in order to determine which classes bene­ fited from ready access to the highest political chambers as well as which classes enjoyed little or no opportunity to redress grievances directed at the social hierarchy. Xhe question of aristocratic domination of civic political institutions naturally transcended the limited confines of the Kocher valley. Even the precipitating anxiety concern­ ing a council drinking tavern open to all Schwabisch Hall citizens regardless of birth, a dilemma which unleashed the upheaval of 1509-1512, had surfaced in Augsburg, Ulm, Heil- bronn, and innumerable other communities in southern Ger- 27 many. 1 Compounding the social friction during this period

2^Ernst Marquardt, Geschichte Whrttembergs (Stuttgart; Carl Ernst Poeschel, 1961J, pp. 110-125* Also treating the social unrest characteristic of imperial cities during this period is Hans Mauersberg*s Wirtschafts- und Sozial- geschichte zentraleuropaischer Stadte in neuerer Zei't (Gbttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprechi, tSSToJ, pp. 113-127* For a study limited strictly to cities of WUrttemberg see Karl Weller^ Wtirttemberglsche Geschichte. edited by Arnold Veller (StuttgarTTi Silberburg Verlag, Werner Jackh, 1957). 17 vas the fact that the social relationships among classes were in a transitional stage facilitated by extremely fluid economic conditions which virtually allowed artisans to buy aristocratic statuB in a society in which capitalistic wealth had become a great social leveler in a manner unprec— OO edented in European history* Civic government reflected perhaps most accurately these fluctuating social relationships. The role assigned to the various classes within the small self-contained gov­ ernmental structures of the imperial cities affords the historian excellent source material by which to judge the political power which emanated from newly-acquired wealth and prestige on the community level.2^ The slowly eroding power of the old aristocratic families who failed to adjust to the changing economic climate coupled with the rising economic weight enjoyed by the middle class and artisans

^fiauersberg, Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte zentral- europaischer St&dte in neuerer ZeTE, pp* ttO-ios. 179-2557 ana — —

^Municipal government as it evolved under the Holy Roman Empire has created an inordinate amount of interest in the local political organs of German imperial cities. Especially noteworthy are the following treatments: Hans Planitz, Die deutsche Stadt im Mittelalter. Von der Romer- geit bis zu den ZunfTjkampfenHTCologne: S^hlau-Verlag, 1954); liugo Freuss, Die Entwicklung dee deutschen Stadte- wesens. Vol. I: Entwicklrnigsgeschlchie cler deutschen Sttadteverfassung |AaJ.en: Sclentia verlag, ), a new printing of the 1906 Leipzig edition; and Horst Rabe, Her Rat der niederschwabischen Reichsstddte (Cologne, 1966). 18 may "be viewed by the corresponding shift in political power wielded by these classes in the city councils and the civic offices within the imperial cities. Schwabisch Hall offers excellent source materials by which to evaluate the societal composition and the political constitution of the city throughout this pivotal stage in the city's development. Council records, tax lists, administrative documents, church registers, and judicial processes are joined by chronicles to provide a wealth of material regarding the life of the community at the turn of the sixteenth century.**® Hence, the internal development of the city remains well documented with civic records which deal with every class of the city to a degree that allows few questions relating to the structure of the city to remain in doubt. Hall's location tended to aid in this domestic outlook, freeing the city fathers of! diplomatic and imperial concerns to a point that a greater amount of energy could be expended in the purely t domestic areas of council business.

By far the most authoritative eye-witness account dealing with Schwabisch Hall in the early years of the six­ teenth century is Johann Herolt's Chronica der Idblichen Reichsstadt Schwabisch Hall, landscnafit. abgestorbenen Adels, und ZeFstbhrung derselben Burgs, 1541. Herolt1s chron­ icle has been transliterated by 0. F. H. Schtfnhuth in. his Chronica Zelt und Jarbuch von der Statt Hall Ur sprung, was lUr Schiosser umb Hall gestanden.... (Schwabisch Hall: BSrgentneim, 1 and more successfully by Christian Kolb in his Chronica zeit- und jarbuch vonxi der Statt Hall ursprung..., edited by the Commission fhr geschichtlicHe landeskunde in Baden-WUrttemberg (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1894}. 19

Despite involvement in Swabian and indeed imperial political events during the first decades of the sixteenth century, Hall remained quite isolated in the sense that the internal political developments withiin the civic framework affecting the interaction among the jvarious social groups I - of the city, although reflecting larger imperial trends and forces, remained basically civic in nature and allowed Hall to dictate alone the ever-fluctuating cast- of the city's internal political and social composition. Indeed the com­ plex societal questions plaguing the future of the city appear in retrospect no less acute or appreciably different than those facing the larger and more renowned cities of the empire. If anything, Schwabisch Hall provides an excellent backdrop against which to picture the social changes affect­ ing many of the imperial cities during the first several decades of the sixteenth century: the relative decline in power of the old established aristocratic families who failed to adapt to changing economic situations;I, the rise of the new middle class from the ranks of wealthy artisans now able to forsake trades and live off the increment acquired from property and goods; an enterprising artisan class reflecting the new majority outlooks of civic life in the flourishing cities; the extremely complex attitudes toward wealth and prestige on the one hand and community well-being and social stability on the other; and the intricate relationships 2 0 among the various claBBes as they unwittingly forged a new social compact from that of the old. Schwhblsch Hall, a city which enjoyed the peak of its civic pride during the first decades of the sixteenth century, affords the histo­ rian this unique opportunity— to judge social life during these crucial years immediately prior to the Reformation by studying a society which still regards that period as the finest example of its vitality and originality. This study endeavors to explain the intricate social matrix of a society far removed from our own in terms of time and space and yet remarkably similar in terms of out­ looks and desires. It is essentially a study of the social % composition of Schwabisch Hall on the eve of the sixteenth century, a basically aristocratic city harboring large arti­ san and middle-class families, not to mention clerics, artists, doctors, poor peasants, day laborers, coupled with an evaluation of the effects of the political upheaval of 1509-1512 on the social cohesion of the city. The work is based on the innumerable extant source materials from the period, including tax records, lists of citizens, council protocols, church documents, chroniclers1 accounts, and personal memoirs. The vast literature concerning the period aids the historian to relate the complexity of the class relationships and the extremely intricate fabric which was sixteenth-century society. 21

A history of the social forces at work in a small impe­ rial city during the first several decades of the sixteenth century requires an historian to establish the primary motives directing the actions of those concerned with city government as well as to ascertain the roles of the various social classes in the city affairs and their attitudes toward general questions affecting the social order. It is a precarious matter to judge the motives of city coun- cilmen of the sixteenth century by yardsticks perhaps more characteristic of the twentieth. The desire to promote social cohesion in every aspect of civil life— economic, political, and religious— has not survived in such a mea­ sure to our own day. On the other hand, the desire to increase the city's wealth in terms of attracting new citi­ zens, remains somewhat comparable to twentieth-century standards of ^effective city government. The Schwabisch Hall city council faced two crucial questions at the turn of the sixteenth century which had * « s far-reaching implications, not only to the solidarity of its social classes, but also to its ability to attract new tradeB and expand its jurisdiction over adjoining territories. The first of these events, the political upheaval of 1509-1512, completely divided the city along social and class lines and eventually led to a mass exodus on the part of many of the city's aristocratic families. 22

The second event, the calling of Johannes Brenz to the pulpit of St. Michael's in 1522, appears to many historians to have reflected the prior political and social reorienta­ tion of the city. Despite similar upheavals in innumerable other imperial cities of that age, the first event repre­ sented purely internal forces of division while the second clearly reflected larger forces at work throughout the Holy Roman Empire. An evaluation of the various social strati­ fications within the city before these two events, a view of the political constitution of the city prior to the events of 1509-1512t a discussion of the upheaval itself, and an analysis of the far-reaching implications of the political and social realignment of the city on the subsequent his­ tory of Schwabisch Hall will perhapB shed light on similar events in yet other imperial cities during the same era. The struggle between the aristocracy and the artisan and middle class is a theme certainly not peculiar to the his­ tory of southern Germany. Nor is the effect of the Refor­ mation on social cohesion limited by the confines of the Kocher valley. As Gerhard Wunder, the leading contemporary Wttrttemberg historian concerned with the history of Schwab- iBCh Hall, once stated, "The history of a valley does not necessarily have to be less profitable than that of a great 23

’Z 1 Empire.perhaps a thorough investigation of the social and political questions facing a small imperial city at the turn of the sixteenth century may indeed reduce the scope of historical research into the period until it focuses upon purely individual responses and actions which ultimately shape the course of momentous political events.

^Gerhard Wunder, "Heiraatgeschichte und Weltgeschichte," WFr, Vol. 46, W 36 (1962), p. 5. "Die Geschichte eines Tales braucht nicht minder ergiebig.zu sein als die eines groBen Reiches." CHAPTER TWO

THE SOCIAL COMPOSITION OP SCHWABISCH HALL ABOUT 1500

At the turn of the sixteenth century Schwabisch Hall could boast of a broad and evenly-distributed societal base consisting of old aristocratic families, established middle- class citizens, numerous artisans and merchants of every description, and a professional class educated at pres­ tigious universities who served the city in clerical, judi­ cial, and medical roles. Although many surrounding imperial cities also contained the same societal composition, the numerical and economic distribution did not often coincide, leaving some cities with a predominance of one class as opposed to representatives of another. When compared to the imperial city of Reutlingen, the Wiirttemberg capital of Stuttgart, and the Wttrttemberg bureaucratic city of Leonberg, for example, Schwabisch Hall appears as a basically aristo­ cratic city sporting a wealthy and renowned collection of aristocratic families as opposed to the basically middle- class and artisan complexion of Reutlingen and Leonberg. Stuttgart, on the other hand, contained perhaps the broadest mixture of all classes, boasting not only court families of Immense wealth but also well-to-do artisans who could

2* . 2 5 depend not only on the court for daily business but also on the merchants and traders who frequented the easily accessible trading city. Although approximately the same sizes in population about 1500, Stuttgart and Schwabisch Hall enjoyed but little direct contact due to Hall's closer ties with the Palatinate and Franconian cities to the north and east. Relatively isolated from major trading routes, Schwabisch Hall depended largely upon her aristocratic fam­ ilies to provide a basis of wealth for the city throughout the previous century and had only recently developed a thriving artisan class which penetrated the surrounding o territories with ever-increasing thoroughness. A study of the societal complexion of Hall about 1500 must, as a re­ sult, first consider these aristocratic families before examining the burgeoning ranks of the middle-class, artisan, and professional people.

For later comparisons between these four cities in. southwestern Germany see Wunder's "Die Bewohner der Reichs- stadt Hall im Jahre 1545. Bin' Beitrag zur Sozial- und Wirt- schaftsstruktur der Vergangenheit," WFr, Vol. 49, NF 39 (1965), pp. 34-58. In this article Wunder compares these cities in terms of population, the respective number of aris­ tocrats, middle-class citizens, and artisans residing in the various cities, the median wealth of the population along with the total wealth of the cities, as well as innumerable other points of comparison and contrast. 2 Dieter Kreil, Per Stadthaushalt von Schwabisch Hall. Bine finanzgeschichtliche WtersucHung lSchwabisch Hall; Mans Ip . Eppinger, 1966), Kruger, Schwabisch Hall, pp. 19- 74. KrUger provides an excellent and quite readable analy­ sis of the economic development of the city as well as an evaluation of the various social classes. 26

In the SchwMbisch Hall of 1500 the old established aristocracy still maintained its position as nominal head of the city. As a political force the aristocratic families wielded power in a manner not too dissimilar from that of the entire previous century. As late as 1510 the twenty wealthiest men in the city were without exception members of the old aristocratic families. The later chroniclers of the Reformation period could safely state that Schwabisch Hall during this time remained an "assuredly aristocratic oity."^ Yet the political reality concerning the actual strength of the aristocracy in 1500 as opposed to the pres­ tige accorded the class by other citizens in the community were not necessarily equivalents. The economic base of the class had slowly eroded to a point that the vast majority of aristocrats no longer commanded wealth commensurate to their former station. Nor did they enjoy any ready means of income by which to improve their ever-worsening finan­ cial positions. Even some of the wealthier aristocratic families could no longer compete with the rising members of

3StA Beetlisten, 4/1857 (1509-1510) 8, Bl. Nr. 85. ^Georg Widmann, HSllische Chronica (1550), p. 89* con­ tained in the Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart, hereafter cited as HStA. Widmann's chronicle has been transliterated and published under the auspices of the Wttrttembergische Kommission ftir landesgeschichte by Christian Kolb as Chronica, Georg Widmann. Wtirttembergische Geschichtsquellen. Vol. Vi Stuttgart; W. kohihammer, 1904). 27 the middle class in the realm of finances. Nonetheless, the aristocracy in Schwabisch Hall in 1500 still maintained a nominal position of prestige and leadership in the city and afforded the lower classes their sole example of what wealth could ultimately purchase. The rising middle class aspired to Join the ranks of the aristocracy by purchasing familial coats of arms and by distorting or merely attempt­ ing to forget familial histories. At a time when the actual power wielded by aristocratic families in other cities had already declined, the Schwabisch Hall city aristocracy maintained absolute and unquestioned authority in the city council and in civic offices. As late as 1510 the city aristocrats in Hall could refer to themselves alone as the •‘citizens11 (die BUrger), thus cavalierly disenfranchising the various other classes of citizens in the community.** Yet as seen by later events, the power of the aristocracy at the turn of the century was perhaps more shadow than substance and would prove insufficient to match the growing might of the middle class reinforced by that of Emperor Maximilian himself.

•*Wunder, “Die Haller Ratsverstdrung von 1509 bis 1512,“ WFr, Vol. 30, NF 20, p. 62. This reference obviously draws, upon Emperor Louis' decree of 1340 which also refers to the aristocracy as the “citizens'* of Schwabisch Hall. The time lapse between the earlier designation, at which time it may have appeared quite justifiable, and that of 1510 points to the tenacity of entrenched beliefs in political superiority on the part of many aristocratic representatives on the council. 28

Despite the respect accorded the aristocratic elite, foreboding signs had at last begun to surface indicating that the aristocracy could no longer in the future command the political and economic predominance as a group that it had in the past. Perhaps the most apparent of these trends working to the detriment of the aristocratic class was their inability to retain numerical predominance over the other classes, not, of course, in terms of general population figures, but rather in terms of eligible citizens capable of performing council and civic duties. The actual number of aristocratic families during this period is still some­ what a matter of speculation. Chroniclers often tended to exaggerate the number of aristocrats residing in the city by depending upon old tax lists and lists of citizens which make no distinction between aristocratic status and that of citizenship in general. Many chroniclers merely watched for the appearance of names associated with the aristocratic families of Schwabisch Hall or surrounding cities, thereby grossly exaggerating the number of city aristocrats. Widmann, for example, counted fifty-two old aristocratic families of varying lineage in and around Gall in 1500, amazed that within fifty years many of them had completely disappeared and their estates had fallen into ruins.^ In actuality all

^Widmann, Halliache Chronica, p. 89. 29 extant sources point to the fact that at the turn of the sixteenth century, Schwabisch Hall could "boast only approx­ imately twenty aristocratic families,7 In comparison, an earlier estimate of the number of aristocratic households in the Schwabisch Hall of 1396 placed the figure at sixty as compared to approximately one thousand total families o listed in the city. In 1483 only thirty aristocratic names q appear in the documents. Ihe tax records indeed indicate that the number of aristocrats in Hall was continually decreasing as members of the old established families moved away from the city or aristocratic familial lines died out. By 1500 only approximately twenty aristocratic families re­ mained in Hall and of these only fourteen families were rep­ resented in the council between the years 1487 and 1530.^° Aristocratic power and numbers in Hall during the latter half of the fifteenth century, although assuredly on the decline, remain somewhat obscured and hidden from the view of recent research into the period. ®he various discrepancies in

7StA Beetlisten. 4/1852 (1499-1500) 11, Bl. Nr. 80. 8StA Biirger- und Ratsbttcher 4/2234, Alphabetlsches Yerzeichnis derTenlgen burger ."Hie von 15j39 bis 1397 litre beet und steuer enirichtet haben'.' Vol. I Part 2. 9StA Beetlisten. 4/1839 (1485) 9, Bl. Nr. 67. 10Ibid., 4/1852 (1499-1500) 11, Bl. Nr. 80 and StA Ratsyrotok'olle. 4/205 (1478-1502) through 4/206 (1502- 30 figures relating to the aristocratic population during this entire period result from over-exaggerations on the part of chroniclers, from the fact that numerous families moved to and from the city during the course of the previous century, and from insufficient research in fifteenth-century docu­ ments relating to the aristocracy, Despite these obvious gaps, one can safely state that the number of aristocrats residing in Hall at the turn of the century was much less than at any previous time. Nevertheless, the total number of aristocratic families in Hall in 1500 remained much higher than that of their counterparts in other surrounding 11 cities of comparable size. Nor had the aristocracy suf­ fered commensurate loss of respect or social esteem tradi­ tionally proffered by members of the lower classes. On the surface the pomp and prestige of the aristocratic class in 1500 remained as strong and secure as ever and led to the writing of a seemingly appropriate song as late as 1519, the title of which was, "In Havensberg they produce paper which 12 the Hall aristocracy then uses to wield power over you,"

11 Wunder, "Die Bewohner der Reichsstadt Hall im Jahre 1545," WBr, Vol. 49, NF 39 (1965), pp. 34-58. 12 "Zu Ravensberk der macht Bapir, der hellisch Adel herst ob dir." Geschichtliche Lieder und Spruche WUrttera- bergs, compiled and edited hy Karlsteiff and Ge'bhard JVlehring (Stuttgart: WUrttembergische Kommission fUr Landesgeschichte, 1899-1912), p. 160. . 31

The song apparently refers to the use of parchment necessary fo* the official granting of aristocratic status and implies the basic strength of the old established aristocratic families in Schwabisch Hall. The rise of the aristocracy in the city of Schwabisch Hall, a medieval phenomenon uncharacteristic of the imme­ diately surrounding cities of WUrttemberg and Franconia, resulted from the crucial importance of the salt deposits as early as the Hohenstaufen period. The oldest city docu­ ments from 1216, 1225, 1228, and 1231, mention the oldest of these families as vassals of the Hohenstaufens whose wealth in part depended upon the amount of salt mined, con­ trolled, and exported under the auspices of the individual family. Among the fourteen aristocratic families represented in the city council between 1487 and 1530, only six could trace their family origins in Hall back to the thirteenth century. Many of the original families had died out or moved away. Yet the position of the city aristocracy during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries firmly rested upon the power base attained early in the life of the city as vassals of the Hohenstaufens. ^ As a result aristocratic families still owned the old strong houses in the center of the city, on the Schuppach, on the marketplace, in both of

^H. BUttner, "Staufische Territorialpolitik im 12. Jahrhundert," WFr, Vol. 47, NF 37 (1965), pp. 5-27. 32

the Herrengasee, and between the city hall and the Sulfer-

The origin of the Schwabisch Hall aristocracy like that of the city itself, shrouded in legend and reinforced by chroniclers and local historians, centers around the seven original and important occupations associated with medieval Hall. The original seven citizens of Hall (die Siebenbttrgen-Geschlechter). achieved aristocratic status through services provided the various Hohenstaufen emperors. Thus the official placed in charge of the salt deposits (Salzgraf) ultimately accepted the family name von Hall.^ A second, representing imperial authority in the new city, became known through his official title scultetus or

14Ibid. ^StA BUrger- und RatsbUcher. 4/2234, Alphabetisches Verzeichnis derTenigen BUrger. UTe von 1389*"5ib 15re Beet und gteuer entrichtet haben, ^VoX. I l»ar't i. This family died out during the course of the fifteenth cen­ tury. See also Die BUrgerschaft der Reichsstadt Hall von 1393 bis 1600. compiled and edited by tterhard Wunder in association with Georg Denckner, V/Urttemb ergj sche Geschichts- quellen. Vol. XXV, Kommission ftir gescnichtliche landes- kunde in Baden-WUrttemberg (Stuttgart: W. Kohlharamer, 1956), hereafter cited as BUrgerbchaft WGQ. A compilation of the Beetlisten. Steuerrechnungen, Batsprotokolle. and yet other Schwabisch Hall civic documents oi the rifteenth and sixteenth centuries, this work stands as an excellent source guide to many aspects of Hall society during these two centuries. Organized according to familial names, the BUrgerschaft WGQ provides invaluable source material on the social composition of Schwabisch Hall at the turn of the sixteenth century. 33

1 fi SchultheiS. The overseer of the Schwabisch Hall mint (monetarlus) founded the familial line of MUnzmeister.^ The crucial importance of the salt beds to the early his^* tory of the city gave rise to yet three other familial lines, that of the Sulmeister (magister salsuginis), the Sieder, and the Feuer families. The seventh of the original aris­ tocratic families in Schwabisch Hall was the Berler family, later known as von Tullau.^9 Thus, the legend of the seven original aristocratic citizens (die Slebenbttrgensage) indi­ cates that the original aristocratic families in Hall owed their station, their wealth, and their prestige to these official positions granted by the Hohenstaufen emperors. Of these seven families, four lasted throughout two intervening centuries to play a crucial role in the early years of the sixteenth century. In order to understand more fully the importance of the various aristocratic fami­ lies in the SchweLbisch Hall of 1500, perhaps a listing of those aristocratic representatives on the council between

16 For the basic data concerning the SchultheiS family in Schwabisch Hall during this period see Biirgerschaft WGQ, pp. 587-589. 17Ibid., p. 468. 18 For Sulmeister see ibid.. pp. 547-548; for the Sieder family, ibid., pp. 542-543; and for Feuer, ibid., pp. 222-223. 19Ibld., pp. 117-118. 34 I the years 1487 and 1530 might clarify not only the immense power enjoyed by the few remaining aristocratic families in the city but also the sheer longevity of familial influ­ ence in city affairs. All of the aristocratic members of the council who served terms falling within the time span 1487-1530, listed alphabetically rather than according to terms or length of service, are as follows; Jakob Berler Matthis von Rinderbach J6rg Berler Utz von Rinderbach Simon Berler Veit von Rinderbach Burkhard Eberhart Volk von Rofldorf Kaspar Eberhart Fritz Schletz Kuntz Keck J5rg schletz Werner Keck Michel Schlez Hans Merstadt Philipp Schlez Engelhard von Morstein Hans SchultheiB Hans von Morstein Heinrich SchultheiS Ludwig von Morstein Burkhard Senft Utz von Miihkheim Gabriel Senft Eberhard Nagel Gilg Senft Rudolf Nagel Melchior Senft Bernhard von Rinderbach Michel Senft Hans von Rinderbach David Treutwein Of these various families, the Berler, SchultheiS, von Rinderbach, and Senft families descended from the legendary seven original citizens of Hall, the von Rinderbachs rep­ resenting a branch of the SchultheiB family while the Senfts had descended from the old Sulmeister family. Jorg

wThis list of all the aristocratic councilmen and judgeb between the years 1487 and 1530 points out the impor­ tance of only a handful of aristocratic families, who con­ tinually maintained family representatives on the council. See StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/205, 1487, p. 167 through 4/206, 1530, obverse side of page clxxx. 35

Berler, who sat on the council continually for forty-five years from 1474 to 1519 and served as mayor for ten, was the descendant of Heinrich Berler, the former aristocratic mayor who had helped obtain Hall's status as an imperial 21 city in 1276. The brothers Heinrich and Walter Berler, often mentioned in thirteenth-century documents, were rep­ resented in 1216 as the sons of a certain aristocrat named Berlinde and again in 1225 as the sons of a Frau Berle,22 Despite these disputed origins, the Berler family played an important role in the development of the city.2** Of equal importance, the SchultheiB family, headed by the patriarchs Friedrich, Rugger, and Heinrich, sired three familial branches, that of the SchultheiB, the MUnzmeister, and the von Rinderbach families. All three bore the same coat of arms, "a yellow three-cornered ring on a black background with three lilies at each corner."2^ During the

21 'WUrttembergisches Urkundenbuch, edited by the Kbnig- liches staatsarchiv in Stuttgart (.Stuttgart: wUrttemberg- ische Archiwerwaltung, 1849-1913)» IX, pp. 3 and 48. 22 The Berler family from Schwabisch Hall is often con­ fused with the Berlins from DinkelsbUhl and Heilbronn, whose wives are also mentioned by the name “Berliner.11 Widmann, Hallische Chronica, p. 87. For a history of the family see BUrgerscEaft wdQ, pp. 117-118. 2^During the mid-sixteenth century the main branch of the family left Hall, built the small castle of Tullau, and lived in Rothenburg as Lirapurgian lords. The family name thenceforth became von Tullau. Ibid. 2Sfidraann, Hallische Chronica, p. 87. 36 fifteenth century the von Rinderbachs hecame the dominant branch of the family, producing Matthis von Rinderbach, a judge from 14-73 to 1491, and his son Veit, a councilman and judge from 1501 to the upheaval of 1512 and a major opponent of middle-class and artisan parity with the old aristocracy in terms of political power. His older cousin Utz also served as a councilman and judge from 1498 to his death in 1526.2** Vet while the von Rinderbachs eventually entered vaBsalage to a neighboring lord, the Senft family, due to property holdings in Matzenbach, remained powerful through­ out the entire century. The family line, in fact, lasted throughout the lifetime of the imperial city. Burkhard Sul­ meister, first mentioned in 1216, was undoubtedly the patri­ archal head of the Sulmeister family, whose main branch took 26 the name Senft during the fourteenth century. Michel Senft, a judge from 1479 to 1503, his son Melchior, a judge in 1512, his brother Gabriel, a judge from 1513 to 1525, and his cousin Gilg Senft, a judge from 1485 to 1514, ably rep­ resented family interests on the council throughout the latter fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The Senft family also inaugurated the practice of paying homage to the

^ BUrgerschaft WGQ, pp. 498-500. 2^Widmann, Hdllische Chronica, p. 68. 37 saltmakers and the salt Industry in general on Vfalpurgis Night.27 Although not members of the "exalted seven," other aristocratic families in the Schwabisch Hall of 1500 could also trace family origins back to the identical period. The Eberhart, von Munkheim, and von RoBdorf families are all mentioned in city documents dating as far back as the thirteenth century. Such longevity was true of the family stemming from Philipp Eberhard of 1278 and later Conrad, a family which also provided the origin of the aristocratic von RoBdorf family. Burkhard Eberhart, a judge from 1466 to 1499, and his cousin Kaspar, a judge from 1473 to 1509, represented not only the old established upper class but also the wealth and power still at the disposal of such aristocratic families. As late as 1513 Kaspar Eberhart with 20,000 gulden was by far the wealthiest man in the 28 community. The Eberharts* relative, Volk von RoBdorf, a councilman from 1503 to 1529, although not as wealthy, played a much more active role in civic events than did pq his older relatives. ^ In addition to these families, that of von Munkheim

27StA Senftenbuch and Personenregister, Gilg Senft. 5380. 2®V/idmann, Hallische Chronica, p. 66. 2^Herolt, Chronica, p. 56. StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, pp. xviii-clxx. 38

could likewise trace its origins in Schwabisch Hall hack to the thirteenth century with one decided difference. While- the former families had by 1231 achieved the full trappings of aristocratic status, the lord von Mtinkheim was little differentiated from his middle-class neighbors at that tirae.^0 About 1216 the knight Konrad von Mtinkheim founded this family, which was also known by the name von Scheffach, Between 1488 and 1503 Utz von Mtinkheim, the last representative of this family, served as a Schwabisch Hall judge, and with his death in 1505 the family line completely disappeared, 31 ' Yet the remaining aristocratic representatives from 1487 to 1530 stood by no means bereft of family histories replete with brave deeds and loyal service to the community. Those families who could not trace their family origins back to the thirteenth century included the Keck, Merstad-t, von Morstein, Nagel, Schlez, and Treutwein families. The Keck family, relatively new additions to the city1s stock of aristocratic families, nevertheless represented perhaps the wealthiest one family of fifteenth-century SchweLbisch Hall, Today1s Herrengasse, indeed, was named Keckengasse throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in honor

^ WUrttembergisches Urkundenbuch, IX, p. 3,

^ BUrgerschaft WGQ, pp. 466-467. 39

of the wealthiest citizens of the community.**2 Hans Mer- stadt, newly moved to the city, provides an example of an extremely wealthy judge chosen strictly on the hasis of his wealth rather than on any family connections with the earlier history of Schwabisch Hall.33 The von Morstein family, on the other hand, had lived in Hall since the first of the fifteenth century, providing the city with coun- oilmen and mayors.*^ In a similar manner, the Nagel family climbed to economic and political importance during the course of the fifteenth century. Hudolf Nagel, the aris­ tocratic antagonist, during the political upheaval of 1509- 1512, enhanced the economic prosperity of the family by securing the lands belonging to the aristocratic lords of •xtz Eltershofen and Neuenberg. ^ His short-lived success, thwarted by the Schwabisch Hall city council following the upheaval, deprived the Nagel family of this property, appropriating it on behalf of the city. The Schlez fam­ ily, perhaps the most renowned family not included among

32Ibid.. pp. 361-362. 33Ibid., pp. 361-363. 34Ibid.. pp. 457-458. 33Widmann, Hallische Chronica, p. 67. 3^StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1514, pp. cxxviiii-cxxxiv, StA St R, Nr. 347. Fora history of the family see Bttrger- schaft WGQ, pp. 470-471. — 40

the original seven, boasted wealth, longevity, and prestige within the city as well as numerous family members who had played crucial roles in the important decisions facing the community. Hans, Konrad, Michel, Fritz, JSrg, and Philipp Schlez all performed important duties as civic leaders, a tradition that carried on through the younger Michel Schlez, the most important city official throughout the initial stages of the Reformation in Schwabisch Hall.*^ Finally, the Treutwein family, somewhat insignificant in comparison to the more active aristocratic families of Hall, produced only one councilman, Daniel Treutwein, whose short terra as a councilman from 1489 to 1492 was little more than an attempt to maintain nominal aristocratic predominance on the council.^® These families then were the remaining aristocratic elite of Schwabisch Hall, thirteen families out of approxi­ mately twenty aristocratic families in the city in 1500.^9 Admittedly somewhat paltry when compared to the aristocratic tradition of earlier times, these families represented the remnants of a seemingly threatened species. If one inspected a list of aristocratic families of the fourteenth century,

^ Biirgerschaft WGQ, pp. 564-566.

**®StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1489, p. 243. 59StA Beetlisten, 4/1857 (1509-1510) 8, Bl. Nr. 85. 41 he would find not only the previously mentioned families but also the following as well: the Scbauenburg, lecher, Schneewasser, Eberwin, Enslingen, Kotsbiihl, SchwSllbrunn, Braunsbach, Sanzenbach, Iriller, Gast, and Sieder fami­ lies*^0 By 1400 these families had all either died out or moved from the city. The same trend appears in the fif­ teenth century. Old established families simply were not replaced by newer families, a trend which in itself illus­ trated the decreasing economic base available to members of the aristocracy in and around Hall in 1500.^ Although aristocrats such as Kaspar Eberhart and later Gabriel Senft remained the wealthiest members of the community, boasting riches far beyond that of middle-class and artiBan citizens, the economic spread between the various classes gradually became ever more slight.Indeed, the solid burgher who attained middle-class status was regarded by the aristocracy in general and the less wealthy aristocrats in particular as a threat to the hitherto impregnable economic, political,

^°StA Burger- und Ratsbticher. Alphabetlsches Verzeichnis der.lenigen Mrger, die von 1589 bis l397 ihre Beet und Steuer en'trlMe? FabehY VoT7 rTarTT,"pp.^nPlB:------;— A1 Perhaps the best treatment of this declining economic stature of the aristocracy may be found in "Die Bewohner der Reichsstadt Hall lm Jahre 1545," WEr, Vol. 49, NE 59 (1965), pp. 34-58. In this article Gerhard Wunder discusses the economic forces at work while comparing Hall to other sur­ rounding cities of WUrttemberg, 42Ibid. and social pillar of aristocratic status. This middle class, in 1500 yet waiting in the wings, woudl within twen­ ty years seize the political initiative from the hands of this aristocratic elite. Before considering social inter­ actions within the imperial city, perhaps a brief look at this burgeoning economic class might further elucidate the social structure of Schwabisch Hall at the turn of the sixteenth century. Using the council's own records regarding the purchase of Limpurg in 1540-1541, the chronicler Herolt differen­ tiated between three groups of citizens in Schwabisch Hall: the old and established, aristocratic families, the common artisan class, and the mixture of middle class and aris- tocracy. The concept of the middle class as a distinct social grouping first entered the documents of Schwabisch Hall as such with Emperor Louis' decree of 1340, in which he officially stipulated that six middle-class citizens should sit in the twenty-six member council.^ The rise of the middle class and indeed the artisan class to council membership appears to have been a process inaugurated in Schwdbisch Hall even before Emperor Louis' decree; their inclusion in council membership also appears to have consti­ tuted a social evolutionary trend resulting from their

^Herolt, Chronica, p. 261 44HStA RKCr 03-8, H 503. 43 increased wealth rather than any specific laws or decrees promulgated before 1340.^ She rise of the middle class to economic and political prominence during the latter fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries provided the chroniclers of the period with a particular phenomenon, one which they often failed to grasp, much less analyze or evaluate. Ihe council records of the period contain quite specific notations by the name of each judge and councilman indicating to which class he indeed belonged.Hence, these records at times prove much more reliable in determining one's membership in the middle class

c " than the chronicles of the period, in which the designations concerning class membership in the lower classes at times remain blurred and contradictory.^^ Many contemporaries did not know exactly how to characterize this ambiguous class, choosing to regard the middle class as a similar political phenomenon comparable to the state of the Mittel- frelen earlier in the history of Schwabisch Hall. Ihe

^'By far the best history of the city council prior to 1340 is Karl-Siegfried Rosenberger's "Die Entwicklung des Rates von Schwabisch Hall bis zum Jahre 1340," WFr, Vol. 40, NF 30 (1955), pp. 33-56. ^StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/205 (1478-1502) and 4/206 (1502-1569)1 ^For comments concerning Widmann's failure at timeB to distinguish between the various social classes in individual cases see Christian Kolb's "Des Haller Chronisten Georg Wid- mann leben," WFr, Vol. 16, NF 6 (1897)* pp. 21-43 and his "Die Handschriften der Widraan'schen Chronik," WFr, Vol. 16, NF 6 (1897)» pp. 44-77# 44

chroniclers' proclivities to report, group, and describe citizens rather than analyzing or evaluating their actual position i$ society also led later historians to view the middle class in an ambiguouB light. Julius Gmelin, a nine teenth-century historian, for example, never sought to reconcile the conception of the Mittelbiirger very well with the contemporary conception of the Mittelfreien. Christian Kolb, on the other hand, cautiously sidesteps * the issue by stating the following: "Here and in other cities there arose an intermediary class analogous to the old Mittelfreien, both of whom became ennobled and knightly. Yet the former group clearly sprang from, the ranks of the guilds, and in wealth assumed parity with the old aristocracy."^ This rising middle class did constitute a completely different entity than any familiar to medieval Europe. These middle-class citizens, created by economic rather than feudal-political factors, did not descend from knightly or aristocratic roots, but rather, according to Herolt's own terminology Gewerbetreibende. were tradesmen

Julius Gmelin, HaLllische Geschichte (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhararaer, 1896), p. b51. ^ S e e Christian Kolb's remarks concerning Herolt's view of the middle class in Chronica, Johann Herolt: Geschichtsquellen der Stadt Hall. Vol..17 compiled and edited by Christian Kolb (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1894), p. 99. 45 and businessmen not far removed from their artisan back- grounds. 5 0 By way of the changing economic atmosphere, the middle class became the wealthier artisans who no longer had to depend upon a business as such to provide. them with wealth. This class could now live from rents and the increment from acquired property and goods. As was once stated in leonberg, the middle class represented those people "whose possessions simply grew," and the increasing wealth required them to seek social prestige commensurate with these newly-won riches. 51 Lacking other examples, the middle-class families, desiring to become established, imitated the old aristocracy, seeking coats of arras and entrance into a yet newer class— that of the new aristocracy or nobles ("Junkers").'*2 Before following the middle class into a yet vaster domain, one should ascertain.exactly what families could now boast member­ ship in the intermediary social stage known as the middle class. Middle-class council representatives constitute per­ haps the most readily discernible group of Schw&bisch Hall

**®Herolt, Chronica, p. 261. ^"Sie gehSren zu den Leuten, denen das Ihrige wachset," Btirgerschaft WGQ, p. 45. 52Ibid. 4 6 citizens claiming membership in this small yet prosperous class. Between 1487 and 1530 the following middle-class representatives sat on the city councils Hans Baumann Hans Ott Peter Biermann Seitz Risp Bartholoraaus Biischler Ulrich Rormann Hans Biischler Hans Scherh Hermann Biischler Hieronymus Schutter s Konrad Biischler Wilhelm SeBler Konrad Dotschmann Hans Spaiglin Peter BUrbrecht Hans Stadtmann Paul Eberhardt Ludwig Vimhaber Konrad Hocklin Peter Vimhaber Anton Hofmeister Kunz Vogelmann Jos Mangolt Hans Wezel53 Hans Neyffer Herolt also mentioned the later HaS, Blank, Werner, Feuchter, KrauB,^Schniirlin, Zeller, Feyerabend, and Gainbach families as members of the middle class because they all enjoyed the possession of imperial coats of arms (Alle WappengenoB). ^ Earlier in the chronicle Herolt includes Ott and Schutter in this group while he consigns Bernhard Werner to the 5 5 comraon-citizenry classification. Yet in another section of the chronicle Herolt again alludes to many of these middle-class families in a slightly different fashion: Ihere are several who have only recently received coats of arms in May, namely Plancken, Haugen, Feyer­ abend, Feuchter, SchnUrlin, KrauBen, Httssen, Gainbach, Schutter, Werner, Keller (also known as KSler), San- waldt, and Wetzel. Although these men still carry on

*^StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205 and 4/206 (1478-1569). •^Herolt, Chronica, p. 261.

55Ibid., p. 72. I

47

trades, they do not devote the majority of their time to these occupations. Since they also possess coun­ cil posts and take part in council activities, it is only fitting to bestow upon them a suitable sign of recognition' commensurate to their mew station. Hence­ forth these families shall enjoy the virtues of aris­ tocratic membership and can conquer and subdue all things.56

Yet this enumeration, made in 1551, included several who as late as 1550 still belonged among the ranks of the artisan class. Six of the aforementioned middle-class citizens were councilman in 1550 representing the interests of the artisan class: Jos Haug,a furrier, Hane Schniirlin a shop­ keeper, lienhard Feuchter an innkeeper, Bastian KrauB a clothier, Bernhard' Werner a baker, and Peter Wezel a salt­ 's? maker. If one closely examines the names cited by Herolt, the ■ s obvious artisan backgrounds of the middle class become even more readily apparent. Konz Feyerabend, a councilman from 1514 to 1522 and again from 1525 to 1550, represented the tanners of the city, only later to assume middle-class status.*’8 Jorg Gainbach, a councilman from 1552 to 1557, began his career as a sackmaker ("Seckler'1 ).^ Yet other . *

56Ibid., p. 60. ^StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1550, obverse side of page clxxx. . .. ^8Ibid,, 4/206, 1514-1522, pp. cxxviii-clvi and 4/206, 1525-1550, pp. clxvii-obverse side of page clxxx. Also see BUrgerschaft WGQ, pp. 222-225. ’’^Burger sc haft WGQ, p. 254. 4 8 members of the middle class were Koler Schuster, Hufl Tucher, Sanwald Wirt, and Wetzel Sieder, whose very names betray their artisan backgrounds.**0 Many of these citizens obtained middle-class status by profitably dealing in com­ missions accruing from the exportation and trade of wines 61 produced in the vicinity of the city. The 1551 statement regarding Bernhard Werner, and equally appropriate for Dietrich Blank, Hans Ott, and Hans Zeller, asserted that r "he no longer conducted a business or followed a trade since he became a dealer in wines ("Weinschenk")-.**^ This profitable business freed these former artisans from daily business worries enabling them to reap profits without undue , efforts on their own part, the single most important and distinguishing characteristic of this new economic class. One must always remember that these middle-class citizens who now sought membership in the aristocracy had no medieval roots in knighthood or feudal political vassalage. They were, in fact, wealthy, by-products of a changing economy whose new positions as councilmen and leaders of the com­ munity required that they obtain a seal signifying their higher prestige and class. This newly-won "virtue" and

**°StA Ratsprotokolle WGQ, p. 45. 61HStA RKG, C3-8, B 6630. Btirgerschaft WGQ, p. 45. 62HStA RKG, C3-8, B 6630. 49 suitability for council service in turn presupposed that these middle-class judges and councilmen were assuredly wealthy, The wealth of the middle class, which indeed provided the foundation of its strength and vitality, was quite often treated with an air of indifference by the wealthier middle- class citizens themselves, Idenhard Feuchter had a deep aversion to mentioning his wealth. He once stated that he was Mquite satisfied with what God had given him."^ Yet another time he maintained that "truthfully £Kg7" was wealthy enough."^ Such modesty becomes a man who, at the time, was the wealthiest member of the community.^ Jorg Gain­ bach also felt that the riches permitted him "by God were * 66 certainly satisfactory." These assertions are not to be interpreted, however, as implying that the aforementioned men shied.away from publicly referring to the sources of their wealth. Gainbach once flatly stated, as did Bernhard Werner in 1551, that he lived solely off his

6?BUrgerschaft WGQ, p. 45. 64HStA RKG, C3-8, B 6630. ^ S t A Beetlisten, 1551. 66HStA RKG, C3-8, B 6630. Gainbach testified before the Imperial Council that "seines Verraogens laB er sich von Gott wohl begntigen," Also see BUrgerschaft WGQ. pp. 253-254. 50 accumulated wealth.^7 Michel Seyboth, a councilman from 1522 until 1529 representing the salt industry, also acknowledged in 1551 that at the time he no longer prac- 68 ticed a trade, and Melchior Wezel, a saltmaker and councilman from 1541 to 1567, apparently enjoyed in his later life no income other than duties and rents which go were owed to him. like many other middle-class citizens, Hans Baumann and Peter Vimhaber testified before the Imperial Court that at that particular point in their lives, they each made their livings through profits on mortgages, rents, and interest*7 0 Although some preferred to keep their former busi­ nesses in operation, Herolt1s information indicates that others completely forsook their previous trades.7^ These citizens disregarded the trades that they had learned and mastered in their younger years, choosing to live quite comfortably on the accumulated income from holdings rather

4

67Ibid. ^8Ibid. See also the StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1522- 1529, pp. clvi-clxxvii. For an evaluation of Seyboth's career see Burgerschaft WGQ, p. 559. ^Ihe proceedings contain a reference to Wezel which reads that at that time "er treib kein ander Handthierung dann daS er sich seines Gefells laB beniegen." HStA RKG, C5-8, B 6630. See also the StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1541-1567, as well as BUrger schai't W&6. p. 657. 70HStA RKG, C3-8, B 6650. 7^Herolt, Chronica, p. 261. than* ‘businesses as such. Although this new aristocracy- had begun to grow up under the older established families only later to supplant them completely in political and economic terms, they did not enjoy the same exclusiveness in many ways as had the old aristocracy* Their coats of arms, mannerisms, and basic mentality still betrayed arti­ san backgrounds and connoted a sense of nouveau riche,72 Yet contemporary observers paid deference to the wealthy members of this active class and connected the possession of aristocratic coats of arms with the arrival on the preliminary step leading to full recognition as members of the aristocracy, From there one could progress to the foremost position as a bona fide member of the aristocracy, not only boasting of past familial virtues and brave deeds, but also claiming aristocratic birth itself. In actuality this practice implied that the children of such new aris­ tocratic couples would become either uninformed or mis­ informed concerning their ancestors.73 These variouB criteria determining middle-class status point to the fact that the class, like any other, was not a rigidly-organized or easily recognizable societal entity.

72BUrgerschaft WGQ, pp. 43-46, 73Ibid.. p. 46. 52

As wealth determined which artisans attained middle-class status, b o wealth determined which middle-class entrepre­ neurs entered the ranks of the new aristocracy. The entire social system enjoyed this ever-moving fluctuation as fam­ ilies moved both up and down on scales reflecting social, economic, and political factors. The determination of exactly where one stood at any given time in relation to other surrounding families remains a difficult task. Nor would the results of such an investigation prove applicable to the same families at a different point in time. Thus, a definite picture of the middle class of Schwabisch Hall at the turn of the sixteenth century remains blurred in some areas and dimly lighted in others, only to be com­ pleted through further research into the societal ques­ tions facing the imperial city in 1500. Perhaps the best and most effective manner in which to present the various facets relating to middle-class status is to follow the familial careers of one such family as it attained middle- class and eventually Junker status. The impossibility of unearthing a "typical" example forces one to accept a less perfect example showing in which ways the family in question typified the majority of those families making the same difficult climb to aristocratic status and in what ways the family may have differed. Herolt cited the Biischler family as perhaps the most 53

successful example of a family's rise from the undistin­ guished ranks of artisans to middle-class and ultimately Junker status.^ The first BUschler contained in the tax lists was one Hermann BUschler, the son of Conrad BUsch­ ler of Buhler and an innkeeper in Hall in 1421 with 1500 75 gulden. His son Konrad, also an innkeeper, first attained a civic office as a "Seichenpfleger" and upon his death in 1447 had amassed a wealth of 3000 gulden.7** Konrad's widow, apparently an energetic and spry , wench, steadily increased the family fortune and moved in 1461 from the Gelbinger Gasse to the solidly aristocratic section of the city on the Schuppach. The tax lists for 1467 record the family's wealth as 6000 gulden,77 a large portion of which went to the eldest son Bartholomaus, the father of the most illustrious member of the family, Hermann BUschler,. the middle-class protagonist throughout the political upheaval of 1509-1512, Bartholomaus married Klara Rormann in 1461, a member of an equally aspiring artisan family whose patri­ archal head, Ulrich Rormann, represented the shoemaking profession on the city council. Thus Hermann BUschler,

7^Herolt, Chronica, pp. 170-175. 7~*StA Beetiisten, 1421. 7**StA Beetiisten, 1447. Also see the WFr, 1868, p. ‘95, as well as the StA St R, p. 84. 77StA Beetiisten, 1467. 54

'born somewhere between 1462 and 1467, found himself the son of a wealthy artisan couple on the verge of entering the middle class. Bartholora&us no longer needed to con­ tinue the family profession as an Innkeeper, simply because land* and property holdings enabled the family to live off the interest and rente from these accumulated possessions. Hence, the BUschlers had by the mid-fifteenth century attained the economic prerequisites expected of members of the middle class. The next criterion the family had to satisfy in order to fulfill all of the necessary conditions for social acceptance as middle-class citizens was to obtain an impe- % rial coat of arms for the family. The BUschler coat of arms, granted by the emperor in 1471, consisted of a blue chield containing two yellow spades in the middle with one pointing directly up and the other pointing to the left at a ninety degree angle. The slightly tilted shield is topped by a helmet sporting a blue and yellow crown of its own, which in turn sprouts two blue horns from each of which spring black tufts resembling rooster or cock

^8BUrgerschaft Y/GQ, pp. 160-163. As may be seen from the description, a deliraination of factors prescribing membership in the middle class often result in contradictory assessments depending upon the viewers own inclinations, Bartholomaus BUschler had by 1467 attained a sufficient .amount of land holdings to qualify for consideration of his family as middle-class citizens. Yet by the mid-fifteenth century the family still lay in that gray zone between the artisan and middle class. 55 7q feathers. * The receipt of this imperiaJL recognition guaranteed acceptance of the family as honorable raiddle- class citizens, eligible for recognition, now as Junkers or new aristocrats. Facilitating this claim, however, would entail marriage with a member of the old aristocracy, a feat to be accomplished in the coming years by the young Hermann BUschler. Following shortly upon the heels of his father's death on Christmas Eve in 1491* Hermann first married in 1492 an anonymous middle-class woman who apparently died child­ less shortly thereafter. This virtually unrecorded event did enable Hermann to enter the council and set the stage for another, more renowned union with an aristocratic lady from neighboring Rothenburg, The wedding contract between Hermann and Anna Hornburger, a daughter of the then deceased Lord Sebold Hornburger of Rothenburg, was signed

on August 25, 1495» in the customary fashion of the age by

^The imperial coat of arms for the BUschler family was described in the following words in the official docu­ ments: "diss Nachgeschriebene Wapen und Kleynot, mit nahmen Einen Slawen schildt, darinnen in der Mitten Zwo Gelbe Grab Spatten, UberEinander geschrenkht, mit den Spizen uber sich, in Jedes oberEckh dess Pfeldts gekehret und auff dera pfeldt darauff Zwey Blawe PUffen Horner, Entspingendten oben auss Jedem horn, Ein schwarzer Busch Hannenfedern." (June 22, 1471: Hans Puschler mit BrUdern Bartholomaus und Conrad erhalt Wappenbrief). Burkhard Seuffert, Drei Register aus den Jahren 1478-1519. Das Landtagsregistcr des" Kaiser 3?riedrich 111 Tlnnsbruck: Univ.' Verl. Wagner. 1954). 6222. . 56

various members of the respective families*®® The city of Hall contributed twenty-four casks of wine for the festive wedding ceremony9 not merely out of generosity on behalf of the young councilman, but because this union of a son of a Schwabisch Hall family with a citizen of a friendly imperial city had at the same time important overtones as a reaffirmation of amicable relations between the two cities.®^ This wedding contract theoretically aided Hermann1s claim to Junker status, enabling him to serve as mayor of Hall in 1508, a position formerly reserved exclusively for 82 members of the aristocracy, Konrad BUschler, Hermann's cousin, remained unaffected by the marriage and thus had to > - • . wait until his own marriage to the aristocratic Eufrosine von Rinderbach to claim nobility status for his branch of > . * i • ' t the BUschler family* In 1500 Klara BUschler, Hermann's mother, boasted a wealth of 4800 gulden and stood as the fifteenth-wealthiest member of the community.®^ In 1509

®°HStA RKG, 03-8, H 503, Heiratsabrede 25.8.1495. 81 StA St R, Nr. 285. J ®2StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1508, p. lxvi* 85StA Beetiisten, 4/1852 (1499-1500) 11, Bl. Nr, 80. Hermann's wealth for the,same year was.listed as 2800 gulden, yet in the Beetiisten the sums are combined under Hermann's 'name, showing him with a total of 7600 gulden* 57

! Hermann with 6800 golden was the fifth wealthiest citizen pi of Hall. * His concurrent claim to aristocratic status was certainly aided by his wealthy position in the city. Yet a short sketch of a family's designation as arti­ san-middle class or middle class-aristocratic remains a nebulous art, reflecting subtle prestige factors which can neither be measured nor documented. During the political upheaval of 1509-1512, Hermann BUschler*s aristocratic friends accepted him as a social equal while his enemies regarded him as a yet middle-class upstart. Like beauty, the attainment of aristocratic status remained somewhat in the eye of the beholder. Prestige factors coupled with economic ones to create a class in constant fluctuation. Phis brief example of BUschler and his family could be augmented by similar sketches of the Sanwaldt, Ott, Adler, Baumann, and any number of middle-clasB families. Yet the easiest method of portraying middle-class status lies in describing the basic plateaus and limitations regulating these prestige and economic factors at work on the various families of middle-class stature.

84StA Beetiisten. 4/1852 (1499-1500) 11, Bl. Nr. 85. In 1509 Hermann Biischler. was indeed the wealthiest member of the Schwabisch Hall city council with the sole exception of the aristocratic Volk von RoBdorf, who could claim a .total wealth of 7200 gulden. Phe relationships of wealth between individuals.and classes in general dominated the prestige interrelationships which also played roles in assigning families to one class or another. Judging from the middle-class citizens of Hall in 1500, the class consisted of those artisans who through the purchase of land, goods, or vineyards could now manage these assets from a distance while still enjoying continual increment in the form of rents or interest, as well as those who were fortunate enough to marry into a family of means. This economic criterion, although the most apparent and the initial step into the ranks of the middle class, only pre­ ceded official recognition in the form of procurement of an imperial coat of arms. Shis recognition accomplished, one could qualify in the eyes of the council and the chroni­ clers as a member of the middle class. Those who pro­ gressed one plateau higher, seeking entrance into the ranks of the new aristocracy or Junker class, had to marry a member of the old aristocracy in order to substantiate any claim to aristocratic status. Some families might make the complete transition within a generation, some might require a longer time, and some assuredly stopped short of Junker status, remaining middle-class burghers through­ out the history of the family. Economic requirements per­ haps remained the paramount consideration, yet in a prestige oriented society such as Schwabisch Hall in 1500, special social and strictly esteem factors also competed for pri­ macy as a justifiable and indeed necessary consideration. Individual cases point to the extremely divergent avenues up the social ladder existing in the Schwabisch Hall of 1500. V 59

During the latter fifteenth and early sixteenth cen­ turies the artisan class in Schwabisch Hall represented the most virile group of citizens in terms of social mobility. Like the other classes, the artisans consisted of many dis­ parate groups, including on the one extreme the burgeoning middle class which had accumulated sufficient wealth in property and goods to forsake an artisan trade as a means of earning a living yet nonetheless retained the basic ele­ ments of the business-like nature and outlooks carried over from artisan backgrounds, and on the other extreme impov­ erished caretakers, harvesters, tinsmiths, tailors, and brass workers who could claim membership in the artisan class even though their yearly incomes lay on the bare sub­ sistence level and their prestige in the city itself did not compare with that of the most humble of clerics or the oc most impoverished of aristocrats. ^ The records of this era, hence, indicate a very definite hierarchy within the arti­ san class itself. Absolutely no mention is made regarding 86 the professions of those artisans who lived on daily wages. Many of them doubtlessly worked on farms or in vineyards, supplementing their meager salaries with other forms of

86 ^For a brief summary of the artisan class in Hall see Biirgerschaft WGQ, pp. 57-63. The Schwabisch Hall Beetiisten, unlike the tax lists for other citfes, include notations beside the names of the majority of artisan workers denoting the trade with which they were immediately concerned. ^^Biirgerschaft WGQ, p. 57. 60

dally work. Many of these had learned trades hut lacked sufficient capital to begin individual businesses. Others had served as butlers and domestics during their younger years, thereby lacking any precise training whatsoever for the latter portion of their lives, Yet the documents of the period tend to pass over this 88 lower stratum of the artisan class, intent on picturing the wealthier merchants and businessmen who waxed polit­ ically powerful as they increased their riches, thereby giving rise to the middle class and eventually seizing pollt- \ leal power from the hands of the old aristocracy. She rise of this new, virile class in Schwabisch Hall, a relatively % isolated city boasting no large mercantile class with far- reaching trade networks, at first glance appears somewhat inexplicable. The salt and wine industries did, of course, enjoy a long and prosperous history as a constant source of wealth for the imperial city. Yet the existence of a large spectrum of artisan professions in a relatively small city demands other explanations which encompass more than two

8^Gerhard Wunder, virtually the only WUrttemberg his­ torian to deal with this segment of the population, has in recent years discussed the poorer artisans, comparing them in wealth and social standing with the more well-to-do seg­ ments of the population. See his article "Die Bewohner der Reichsstadt Hall im Jahre 1543, Ein Beitrag zur Sozial- und Wirtschaftsstruktur der Vergangenheit," WPr, Vol. 49# NE 39 • 0965)# pp. 34-58. - ... ®®See bibliographical d*ta in ibid., pp. 34-36. 61 narrow industries despite their indeniable crucial importance to the overall economic welfare of the imperial city. The relative isolation of Schwabisch Hall in many ways acted as a catalyst requiring the existence of numerous trades and services available to the general population.®^ A large agricultural countryside surrounded the city, peopled both by landed aristocrats who depended upon the city artisans to provide them with the "niceties of life" and by peasants- and farmers who constantly used the city as a dependable marketplace. Hence, the Schw&bisch Hall of the latter fif­ teenth and early sixteenth centuries provided a fertile site for the growth of a large and diversified artisan class. Perhaps the most accessible view of the upper crust of the artisan class may once again be seen in the council rep­ resentatives of the period. The artisan representatives who sat on the council between the years 1487 and 1530 included the following: Martin Autenrled (clothier) Konz Feyerabend (tanner) Heinz Beck (baker) Ludwig Folmar (smith) Peter Biermann (cobbler) Jbrg Goldschmied (goldsmith) Dietrich Blank (clothier) Kaspar Grater (baker) Eckart BUchner (cobbler) Peter Grunbach (clothier) Paul Eberhardt (clothier) Adam Gutmann (tanner) Hermann Eisenmenger (tanner) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Ludwig Eisenmenger (tanner) Christof HaB (wine merchant) Sixt Erin el (tanner) Jos Haug (furrier)

^BUrgerschaftWGQ. pp. 57-59. One might also consult ibid., pp. 39-41, l'or the area which Hall, dominated in eco­ nomic terms, an areacwhich also depended upon the imperial city as a source for many goods and services unobtainable in the surrounding villages. 62

Michel Haug (shopkeeper) Lienhard Seitz (cobhler) Hans Hofacker (architect) Peter Seitzinger (architect) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Michel Seyboth (saltmaker) Hans Koler (cobbler) Jos Sulzer (clothier) Bastian KrauS (clothier) Michel Sulzer (clothier) Hans KrauQ (clothier) Lienhard TroBmann (baker) Hermann Mangolt (tanner) Reinhard Iruchtelfinger Lienhard Mangolt (clothier) (butcher) Seitz Maybach (locksmith) Heinz Virnhaber (butcher) BarthSlomaUB Rot (painter) Budwig Virnhaber (butcher) Hans Schnllrlin (baker) Ludwig Volmar the younger Peter Schweicker (baker) (smith) Michel Seckel (butcher). Bernhard Werner (baker) Wilhelm Seckel (butcher) Lienhard Wezel (cobbler) Jdrg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Peter Wezel (saltmaker)9° Jtirg Seiferheld the younger (.saltmaker) Numerical predominance of one trade over another does not imply any relative degrees of importance in computing the allotment of council seats during this period* The turnover of council seats often led to numerous representatives of one particular profession despite the prestige of that trade within the imperial city* The importance of the distribution of council seats does, however, point to the major occupations in terms of wealth and social standing, and in those terms may direct one's attention to those trades which offered the opportunity for one to amass enough wealth to qualify for council membership. The noticeable absence of tailors, for example, tends to indicate that the tailoring profession could not afford a person in Schwdbisch Hall an income substantial enough to warrant a seat on the council* The same hypothesis might also be drawn for yet

90StA Ratsprotokolle* 4/205, p. 167 to 4/206, p. clxxx. 65 other occupations, A danger does exist in this method, however, which should deter one from extending this criterion too broadly or loosely. At times the tax lists describe one'B profession in terms of his major time-con­ suming occupation, while deleting a perhaps more lucrative side interest. Many of the Aforementioned councllmen made most of their money through innkeeping and not through the particular profession listed in the tax lists or the council records.^2 She council representation among artisans does, how­ ever, tend to indicate those trades which attracted the largest number of artisan workers as well as those which concurrently offered the largest remuneration in a strictly economic sense. Between 1487 and 1550, ten clothiers, six bakers, six tanners, five cobblers, five butchers, and four q* saltmakers sat on the council. These professions repre­ sented the largest artisan trades within the imperial city during this period. Yet even these occupations, enjoying a modicum of self-government in the form of local guilds, did

^ K . Bosi, "Die mittelalterllchen Grundlagen der modernen deutschen Gesellschaft," WFr, Vol. 44, NF 54 (1960), pp. 5-17. - 92 * Tanners, saltmakers, barrel makers, bakers, butchers, and other artisans entered the innkeeping profession as a means to enhance their financial status. See Bttrgerschaft WGQ, p. 62. „ !

^StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/205# 1487, p. 167 to 4/206, 1550, obverse side of page clxxx. not begin to reflect all of the innumerable trades plied in the imperial city* The aforementioned trades sometimes reflected loose categories into vhich were lumped all workers concerned with parallel or horizontal methods of production. The clothiers, for example, Included weavers, fullers, carders (Hooker), dressmakers, pattern cutters,

* «. - . milliners, dyers, and numerous apprentices and assistants, while tanners were grouped according to the classification of the less lucrative trade of tanning Itself (Rotgerber) as well as that of the more prestigious tawers (Weiflger- ber). Many trades dealt in the production of various items required by the landed aristocracy as well as wealthy * citizens of Schwabisch Hall. These artisans produced such a wide range of articlesV as armor, swords, spurB, carriages, saddles and harnesses, rope, soap, needles and pins, scythes and, of course, guns. Yet others produced items used by the salt industry such as cauldrons, sieved, saws, and mining equipment. Construction trades included not only architects but also carpenters, cabinet makers, joiners, stone masons, and brick layers. The wine industry demanded barrel makers, potters, glaaiers, and small-time merchants known as Kercher or Khrcher.^ The tax lists also name sculptors, artists,

^ S e e P. Grater’s "ttber 700 Jahre Weinbau am Kocher um Schwabisch Hall," WPr, Vol. 46, NP 36 (1.962), pp. 175-202. 65 book printers, barber surgeons, innumerable small shop­ keepers referred to by the terras Kramer, Grenrpler. Kram, and Krerapel in the typically Swabian dialect, messengers, jailers, hospital assistants, and even a professional fisher- QC man or two. ^ The artisan class thus represented a broad and unevenly divided cross section of social and economic segments of the population. Some of the larger trades were organized around the powerful guild networks while others existed with little or no organizational structure. ^ The salt industry reflected a local organizational scheme, virtually independent of any control exerted by the city 97 or sister trades.perhaps a brief look at the major trades of the city will enable one to understand how the members of the large artisan class interacted socially and politically with the other classes of Schwabisch Hall about the turn of the century. The Schwabisch Hall butchers stood at the very pinnacle of the artisan class throughout the latter fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Judging from the standpoint of

^See P. Gutbhrlein's "Pie Kocherfischerei 1m Ablauf der Jahrhunderte," WFr, Vol. 46,. NF 36 (1962), pp. 161-174. Qg ' The controversy as to whether Schwabisch Hall had guilds in the narrow sense of the word at the turn of the century is discussed in Karl-Siegfried*s "Die Entwicklung des Rates von Schwabisch Hall," WFr, Vol.-40, NF 30 (1955), P. 46. ^"Das Haalgericht," Der Haalguell. Nr. 9 (November. 1953), pp. 33-35. - ~ :------66 wealth, social prestige, and median Income levels, the butchers as a group exerted the most Influence and enjoyed the greatest chance of financial betterment of any artisan qg group. This condition resulted from peculiarly fifteenth- century culinary tastes In the city which Increasingly demanded beef and meat products for local consumption. By 1540 the supply of cattle around the city itself had become insufficient to meet the demands, and Schw&bisch Hall butchers frequently travelled to other cities in order to purchase cattle and oxen.^ Thus many of the butchers acquired not only wealth but also a wide reputation as mer­ chants and buyers and were often referred to as the "arti­ sans on horseback" (berittene Handwerker).^0 Each generation living in Schwabisch Hall during this period could choose from approximately twenty to twenty- four butchers, perhaps the largest single profession within the artisan class. The tax records toward the end of the fifteenth century Indicate that the median wealth for an experienced butcher in Schwabisch Hall approximated 500 gulden. This bracket included, among others, peter Truchtel- finger, Hans Nordheim, Bauer Langheinz, and Hans Altheim, all

^8Bttrgerschaft WGQ, p. 58.

99StA St R, pp. 442-443. 1°°BUrgerschaft WGQ, p. 58. 67

representatives of families associated with the butchering trade in Schw&bisch Hall. Yet established and entrepre­ neurial butchers could command much more, such as Reinhard Virnhaber, whose wealth approximated 1200 gulden, Conz Seckel at 2200, Michel Seckel at 2600, and Jos Virnhaber 101 at over 3000 gulden. This latter group could seek coun­ cil membership, hold city offices, and represent their pro­ fessions through numerous channels within the civic frame­ work. In regard to the other councilmen drawn from the ranks of this profession, one must cite Heinz Virnhaber with 2600, ludwig Virnhaber with 3400, and Wilhelm Seckel ’ 4 Q2 ■-T' y with 7600 gulden. When one compares the median wealth

101StA St R, Hr. 658.

■ 102 Despite the obvious drawbacks ever apparent in attempting to compare financial units of measure of one society by those of another, the worth of a gulden about. 1500 was estimated in 1954 by Gerhard Wunder as equalling approximately 200 D-Mark, or, at that time, about fifty dollars, "St&ttmeister Hermann Bttschler," Per Haalquell. Nr. 7 (December 1954), p. 25. An arbitrary figure such as this should nevertheless suffice to help the reader compare the ensuing amounts of total wealth registered for each respective citizen as a basis for taxation. Five hundred gulden, or approximately 25,000 dollars, evidently entitled a citizen to seek membership on the council, while the vast majority of Haller citizens about 1500 enjoyed a modeBt income of 100 gulden (5,000 dollars) or less. A councilman usually commanded a total amount of assets valued at 1000 gulden, or 50,000 dollars. Gerhard Wunder claimed in the same article that during this period. ."Hall war eine Stadt der Million&re." Whether this contention is justifiable or not, these figures should still provide a basis for compar- 1ing the wealth boasted by the various citizens of that age but should not be taxed too heavily by attempting to assign the one gulden per fifty dollars unit as a basis for drawing any comparison with twentieth-century monetary standards. 68

of butchers at the beginning of the sixteenth century with those one hundred years earlier, one notices that in 1415, for example, only three butchers in Schwfibisch Hall com­ manded wealth over 500 gulden: Hein2 Hermannsperg with 600, Conz Heunisch with 650, and Claus KUchenmeister with 8 0 0 . Although the discrepancy in figures lies partly in the realm of inflation and other fluctuations in the worth of the gulden, the butchers only reached the pinnacle of economic prosperity as a result of fifteenth-century developments. t As in all classes and artisan trades, families often passed on occupations from one generation to another. Typically butcher families such as the Meifiner, Merklin, Rtiler, and Stiegler families, supplied the city with genera­ tion upon generation of butchers.The most unique of these families, however, was certainly the Seckel clan.^0** The patriarchal head of the family, Dietrich Metzler, sired three sons, Cunz, Hans, and tiichel, all of whom achieved

10^StA Beetlisten. 1415. 10^For the history of these families see Bttrgerschaft WBQ, on the respective pages: Meifiner, pp. 44^-447; toerk- lin, pp. 448-449; Riiler, pp. 502-504; and Stiegler, pp. 617-618...... ■ ^°"*Ibid«. pp. 525-527. See also "Die Metzgerfamilie Seckel in Hall und Gaildorf." Per Haalquell. Hr. 1 (Feb­ ruary 1954), p. 1. - - 69 prosperity and even a modicum of wealth as butchers. By the time the last member of the family died in 1896, the Seekels had produced 129 male descendants of whom sixty-eight, or approximately fifty-three percent, had earned a living as 106 butchers. v At various times as many as six or more mem­ bers of the family simultaneously owned butcher shops next to one another along the Kocher or in the Metzlergasse.^0^ As a coat of arms the family proudly bore a sign of their major profession: on a golden shield crossed diagonally by 10 8 a blue bar stands a white-horned ram. Somewhat comparable to the butchering trade during this period was that of baking. As a profession, baking did not offer financial remuneration to the same extent as that enjoyed by the butchers. Yet the bakers of SchwabiBch Hall during this period nevertheless stood among the wealthiest and most respected members of the artisan class as a whole. Some of these bakers, however, made most of their actual wealth as innkeepers or through land or property holdings rather than baking in itself. Some bakers even

107 'Among the butchers of 1545, for example, six were members of the Seckel family. Wunder, "Die Bewohner der Reichsstadt Hall im Jahre 1545,H WEr, Vol. 49, NE 39 (1965), pp. 43-44;• . .. 1o8BUrgerschaft WGQ, p. 59. The Seckel family is, of course, quite representative of numerous families who pro­ vided artisan dynasties carrying on the familial trade through countless generations. 7 0

used their ovens as kilns, thereby increasing their incomes through the firing of bricks demanded for purposes of con­ struction.^0^ The bakers, like the butchers, often depended upon markets in surrounding cities in order to purchase sufficient amounts of grain for the city.110 Despite these purchases, several mills serviced the city itself, grinding locally grown grain into flour, and providing the millers, who were usually named after the mills vhich they headed (Dorfmtiller, Breimttller, and ScherrenmUller), a substantial income.111 A certain amount of flexibility within an occupational group always tended to increase the chances of a member of that trade to enhance his financial situation. A butcher, for example, had to travel in order to contract and sell livestock. Many butchers, in turn, began to deal in animal 112 skins, wool, and yet other trading items such as wines. ' The more extensive their commercial relations, the greater their opportunity to sell their various commodities. Cloth­ iers such as Peter Dtirbreeh also enjoyed this flexibility

10^Wunder, HDie Bewohner der Reichsstadt Hall im Jahre 1545," WPr, Vol..49, NP 39 (1965), pp. 43-44. 11°StA St R, Hr. 443. 111Bttrgerschaft WGQ: Dorfmiiller, p. 177; Bruggen- . mttller, p. 153; ana ScherrenmUller, pp. 557-558. 112StA St R, Nr. 516. 71

as did tanners, who prepared animal shins, furnished leather to cobblers and furriers, and often branched out into yet more diverse fields. The most lucrative artisan occupa­ tions, hence, constituted these mercantile trades which always proffered the opportunity for one to branch out from an original field of interest. Although the tax lists seldom refer to one's profession solely as a merchant, many of these butchers, tanners, clothiers, cobblers, and even bakers were becoming sophisticated businessmen, well versed in the risky yet profitable waters of selling their wares. Whether Hall could actually be considered a commercial city during this period remains a matter of conjecture. Yet the crucial relation between financial betterment and the flexi­ bility and breadth of one's market were quite apparent to all artisans of Schwdbisch Hall about 1500. The following contemporary adages poignantly attest to the general recog­ nition of the importance of trading relations in the Hall of 1500: "A handful of trade is more profitable than a sack fall of work," and "An arm's length of work is not as prof­ itable as a finger's length of trade.

^^Wunder, "Die Bewohner der Reichsstadt Hall im Jahre 1545," Y/Fr, Vol..49, NF 39 (1965), pp. 34-46. . 115 ^"Eine Handvoll Handel mehr einbringt als ein Sack voll Arbeit," and "Armlang Arbeit bringt nicht so viel ein wie fingerlang Handel." Ibid.

/ 72

These then were the powerful artisans of Schwabisch Hall about the turn of the sixteenth century. The more specialized artisans, on the other hand, although providing the city with innumerable items, were in fact somewhat sty­ mied by their specialized nature and consigned to subsist on an income far below that of the merchant-oriented arti- 116 sans. Tailors, smiths, caretakers, cartwrights, powder makers— all suffered from their limited specialty and as a whole commanded wealth of less than five hundred and fre­ quently less than one hundred gulden.^^ Perhaps the most interesting members of the artisan class were those #ho seemingly sat on the edge of the stage, allowing the wealth­ ier to command the spotlight. Twentieth-century research has lately unearthed records dealing with the musicians of 11 ft Schwabisch Hall during this period. ' Usually the pipers and players were either wandering minstrels who do not ap­ pear in the tax lists or men who were employed in other pro­ fessions and pursued musical interests merely as an avoca­ tion. An organist or violinist, despite paltry incomes in comparison to the very wealthy members of the same class, could nevertheless rise to the same level of prestige

^^^BUrgerschaft WGQ, pp. 62-63, 11Biber, 4 on Thomma Schweicker, and Laurentz Seyfferd. Shis group of artisans leads one into the last general social stratum of Schwabisch Hall at the turn of the sixteenth oentury— the professional class. About 1^00 Schwabisch Hall could also boast a large and, in terms of southern Germany itself, a distinguished professional class composed of clerics, doctors, lawyers, and scribes. For well over a century and a half, the aris- tocratlc families had set the practice of sending their sons away from the imperial city in order to study in Latin schools, academies, colleges, and universities. With the growing affluence of the middle class during the fifteenth century, sons of artisan and middle-class backgrounds also entered schools, either in order to pursue academic and professional careers, or, under the Impact of humanistic teachings, merely to broaden their horizons before accepting 121 familial businesses and property holdings. Sons of both

I^Owilhelm German, "Geschichte der Buchdruckerkunst in Schwabisch Hall bis Ende.des 17* Jahrhunderts," WFr, Vol. 21, NF 11 (1914)«. pp. 1-162. 121Bttrgerschaft WGQ, p. 71. n

aristocratic and artisan-middle class families thus enjoyed the privilege of attending universities not only in Germany but in France and Italy as well. Motives for studying varied from class to class and from individual to individual. Many planned to enter cleri­ cal or juristic professions while others clearly sought only an opportunity to broaden their own horizons. Students increasingly left Hall to study, not with the Intention of entering a profession as such, but merely as a humanistic 122 exercise toward greater appreciation in life. The aristocracy Inaugurated this trend, encouraging their sons as early as the fifteenth century to attend colleges and universities. University records include the names of sons of the von Rinderbach, Senft, Schlez, and Berler fam­ ilies as well as numerous other aristocratic families of Hall. *' The middle class eagerly followed this particular aristocratic example, realizing that the maintenance of familial fortunes and the enhancement of familial prestige within the community demanded that their progeny comprehend

122 This particular approach to education, first felt within the theological schools, eventually spread to yet other disciplines. With the Reformation, schooling designed to question basic premises and "broaden" the individual became much more apparent, especially due to the Influence . of the reformers. See Wilhelm Kolb, Geschichte des humanls- • tischen Schulwesens der Reichsstddte (.Stuttgart: ' w. Kohl- hamraer, 1 9 2 0 ), pp. 4 9 0 -5 8 8 . ^^Btirgerschaft WGQ, pp. 498-500. 533-536, 564-566, and 117-118. 75 the various economic and political threats to familial security in the future as well as master a rudimentary knowledge of those facets of learning that might prove an asset in later progress up the social ladder. Thus, middle- class families sent their aspiring young sons away to study before drawing them back to supervise familial possessions, manage businesses9 and if possible represent the family in the various council activitiesclassification belonged the Hofmeisterv HaB, Bembeck, Feyerabend, Strobel, and Virnhaber families Throughout the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, Heidelberg remained the most popular university in the eyes of the youth of Schwabisch Hall* Not only did the close proximity to Schwabisch Hall recommend the university to those students planning to pursue academic careers, but also the number of Heidelberg scholars such as Johannes Brenz and his cohort Johannes Eisenraenger, whose very popu­ larity in Hall proved a strong recommendation for the

^^Dhe legally-trained councilman later developed from this class, a stereotype that becomes readily apparent toward the end of the sixteenth century, and during the Baroque Era determined the fate of the imperial city* Wunder, "Die Ratsherren der Reichsstadt Hall 1487-1803," WEr, Vol. 46, NF 36 (1962), pp. 110-125, 125 ^Perhaps the best documented information concerning any of these families lies in the StA 4/3489. Stipendien der Familie Feyerabend. 76

school, served to reinforce the already powerful attraction of the university on the Neckar. Many students attended universities in Ittbingen, Leipzig, Vienna, Erfurt, Witten­ berg, Cologne, and even Paris, Cracow, and Bologne. Yet Heidelberg remained by far the most popular at least until the religious developments of the mid-sixteenth century*^ Despite the fact that an inordinately high number of students left Schw&bisch Hall to pursue professional careers, unfortunately little is known concerning their later lives in relation at least to those citizens who remained in the imperial city throughout their lives* Many students, working in everything from chancellories to school taverns during their university days, became pastors, magis­ trates, doctors, and professional people of all descrip­ tions in distant cities* For that reason little or no mention of them may be found in the Schwabisch Hall tax

126 Much of Heidelberg’s popularity changed when the Palatinate became Calvinist during the second half of the sixteenth century. Orthodox Calvinist doctrines, upheld by the university faculty and demanded on the part of the students, became an anathema to the staunchly Lutheran products of Brenz's Schwabisch Hall flock. During this period the majority of students from Hall attended the Lutheran universities at Jena and Wittenberg or the acad­ emy in the imperial city of StraBburg, which had developed during the early sixteenth century into a university (Hoch- schule). Burgerschaft WGQ, pp. 76-77. Yet despite this brief period during which Heidelberg temporarily lost a part of its attraction for the students of Schwabisch ‘ Hall, no other university ever challenged its predominant attraction for the area surrounding the imperial city* 127 lists of the period. ' To complicate matters even further, not all universities of the period have as of yet published their earlier roles of students, a very tangible obstacle in the way of locating certain students who left Hall never to return on a permanent basis. Yet despite these incomplete sources and the lack of numerous statistical records, the present material indicates that the number of students from the imperial city was, for that period, unusually high.^® One particular factor which contributed to the large number of students leaving the city in pursuit of academic careers was the relatively large number of stipends and k endowments furnished those families who wished to send their sons away to study. Many wealthy aristocratic and middle- class families derived satisfaction from the definitely humanistic activity of relieving families of the wearisome and taxing costs required by schooling. The majority of these grants remained within the respective families, the result of wills and bequests intended for children, grand­ children, and descendants of the patriarchal line. Others,

1 2'Professional 7 people indeed displayed the greatest mobility of any members of the various social groups, and hence constitute the most difficult to locate in records and documents relating strictly to local statistics. Ibid.. pp. 71-73. 78

however, reflected a civic pride and were intended for stu­ dents whose families could not afford the requisite costs of a son's university education* Two such examples were the 1509 grants intended for Schwabisch Hall students who wished to study at Heidelberg* The first endowment, origi­ nally provided by the canon Jeremias Egen on behalf of the poorer aristocratic families, was, following the political upheaval of 1509-1512, appropriated by the city council and administered for the benefit of qualified middle-class 12Q students. * The second endowment, directed toward the same students, was furnished by the Heidelberg curate and former student in Paris, Johann Schwindkauf*^° Yet these civic endowments were far outstripped numerically and monetarily by familial grants, passed down from one generation to an- j other and increased through investments and further con­ tributions. Familial grants, indeed, enjoyed a tremendous longevity, many lasting from the sixteenth century all the way to the twentieth and affording descendants of the old families of Schwabisch Hall as well as other sons of the imperial city the opportunity to further their talents

^^StA Ratsprotokolie, 4/206, pp. ciiii-cxxxv.

150HStA Urk 545. Also see'stA St R* Nr. 550 and BUrgerschaft WGQ, pp. 476-477. In-the city records Pastor • Schwindkauf is referred to as "Pastor Northain zu Heidel­ berg." .. . 79 through education. let despite the high number of students sired in Hall during this period, formal education was by no means an irrevocable prerequisite for entry into one of the numerous professions of the age. Not all scribes or clerks and cer­ tainly not all clerics during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries had enjoyed the benefits of a college or univer­ sity education. Despite the ability to enter the clergy without previous university training, the clergy nonetheless still represented the largest profession drawing upon uni­ versity educated students.As early as 1500, however, secular occupations such as notary publics and jurists, previously entered only through the clergy, opened up to those not desiring to assume religious offices, thereafter students enjoyed a greater degree of choice between reli- giouB and strictly juristic proclivities, enabling the historian to differentiate much more clearly between the religious and secular professions in these somewhat shaded areas. About 1500 the dichotomy between religious- and secular oriented clerical positions in these areas became

^ 1Ferd. Faber * Die wtirttembergischen Familienstiftungen Nr. 1-125 (1843-1938)1 : " Julius Gmelin, Hallische Geschichte. pp. 671-674. Gmelin bases his observations strictly upon data pertaining to Schwabisch Hall and the surrounding cities of Wiirttem- berg, noting that the larger commercial cities had already begun to demand university educated jurists on a much larger scale than was true in this area of the empire. 80 increasingly distinct, a trend which appears in the Schwdb- isch Hall documents of the period. In the fifteenth century the most strictly intellectual profession was the clergy. At the turn of the sixteenth century Schwabisch Hall contained approximately thirty-six benefices, indicating that the number of clerics in the imperial city could equal but probably not exceed that number.In regard to secular priests, Schwabisch Hall could not be expected to have ever contained more than twenty at any given time during this period in the history of the city.1^ Although the priests were exempt from taxeB, one nevertheless finds a great number of them in the tax lists when they purchased taxable possessions or 1^6 inherited familial property. J Whether they possessed altar benefices in city churches or benefices in the sur­ rounding countryside, and oftentimes the two were combined, it appears that many priests lived with their families rather than in or near the church itself. Certainly

^^StA Beetlisten, 4/1852. 1499. 11. Bl. Nr. 80, to 4/1867, 15307"TO;n5rTNr. 95. ^^Gmelin, HalliBche Geschichte. pp. 671-674. For a slightly smaller figure see Gertrud Riicklin, Religioses Yolksleben des ausgehenden Mittelalters in den Reichsstadten HellbromT*un d H a l l (rieideJLberg: Historisohe StucLien Verlag, PP. ^0 and 71. . .

135m a ; 136StA Beetlisten, 4/1852 (1499-1500) 11, Bl. Nr. 80 and St A St R, Nr. 5 50— Peter Dusenbach. 81

contemporary observers many times had the Impression about the middle of the fifteenth century that every better family in Schwabisch Hall had its own individual priest, In many documents one encounters these priests serving as scribes, notary publics, and in not a few instances as buyers and sellers.^8

Many of these priests lived openly with their Pfarr- m e i d , not as with a mistress, but rather as man and wife. Often they would refer to their children as "Mr, Herolt's (or Lrechsel's) sister's brother's daughter."^0 Yet quite often they preferred to aoknowlegde openly their sons, daughters, and immediate offspring. In the documents one may find numerous references to such progeny,Pastor Lorenz Relchlin of Michelbach once commissioned a portrait of himself, his wife, and his children to be painted in the choir of the church.1*^ Many children of priests eventually entered the clergy themselves. Ihese new priests shared an understandably tainted conception of the rigorous vows

^^Gmelin, Hailische Geschichte. p. 674. ^ 8Berahart Vogelmann, HStA Uric 1485 and RXG H 506, a priest and notary public represented the various duties expected of the well-educated clergy during this period, ^^Herolt, Chronica, p. 117*

1*°HStA Rep 2429. U 1 HStA Uric 688, 681. 1^2Bttrgerachaft WGQ, p. 72, 82

of celibacy and included such priests as Konrad Giecken- bach, the "Baccalaureus ParisienBis" to whom Widmann once referred as "a worldly man,11^** Georg Ulmer who was quite well known for his sometimes unseemly practical jokes, and Peter Dusenbach, who furnished a less than shining example for Achill Jason Widmann1s later life of roguishness. A list of the priests prior to the Reformation, chiefly contained in the documents of the Presence located in the Hauptstaatsarchiv in Stuttgart, proves the predomi­ nance of Schwabisch Hall natives who later obtained reli­ gious positions in their native city. A list of these priests would include the following family names associated t with Hall families: Baumann, Bttttner, Truchtelfinger, Dttrr- leber, Engel, Feyerabend, Virnkorn, Fuchs, Goldschmied, Halberg, Haug, Heim, Helbling, Hoffmann, Horlacher, Kanten- gieBer, Kolb, MolB, Rab, RBhler, RcJsler, Rott, Seiferheld, Seller, Sulzer, Schaub, Schmaltreu, Schneckenbach, Schweicker, Speiglin, Welling, Wortwein, Wunhard, and ZBlle.1^ Nor were the men the only citizens of Schwabisch Hall who served their God and at the same time their community. Some sons but more frequently daughters of the old families were

^^"Ein Weltmensch, in welches Behausung die Edlen pflegten zu zechen," Widmann, Hailische Chronica, p. 209. ^^Herolt, Chronica, p. 114. 1 ^ Btlrgerschaft WGQ, pp. 71-72. 83

placed in cloisters, not only the nearby aristocratic cloister at Gnadental, known as the "Zisterzienserrinnen- kloster," but also in Wtirzburg, Rothenburg, lichtenstern, 1 Afi and StraBburg. Apparently the most popular cloisters were the Paulinereremitenkloster in Goldbach, where the daughters of MangoB and Stadtmann lived, and that in Anhausen, where references are made to the daughters of Gr&ter, Seitzinger, and TroBmann.^^ Ihe vast majority of information concerning the Schwabisch Hall citizens who were placed in cloisters lies in the withdrawal transactions during the time of the Reformation.^® For the first time about 1300 the secular occupations of notary publics and lawyers divorced themselves from the religious realm and began to reflect community and solid, burgher overtones. As the jurisdiction of civic govern­ ments expanded and became more complete, the community increasingly required the services of Innumerable jurists, clerks, bureaucrats, and men of all casts with legal and

^®Schw&bisch Hall aristocratic families such as the Berler, Merstadt, von Morstein, Senft, and von Stetten families all had daughters in these cloisters as well as the middle-class Feyerabends and Yirnhabers. HStA Rep B 186. The Cistercian cloister at Gnadental, largely due to its proximity, was perhaps the favorite of Hall families. ^^For information concerning the cloister in Anhausen see Gustav Bossert, WVj (1881), p. 141, and for Goldbach see Karl Schurara, WVj (195.1P* 141 • 148HStA Rep B 186. 64 university training. Although these new professions and the people who filled them will he considered with the political constitution of the city, the social position of these new civil servants placed them into the strictly professional category once dominated by the clergy. In background and professional attitudes these secular repre­ sentatives of the professional class remained closely related to their religious counterparts. These juristic occupations assumed an ever greater role within the impe­ rial city throughout the century only to reach a fitting climax in the Baroque Era. The medical profession of Schwabisch Hall, one still dominated by the ill-equipped and oftentimes disastrously ill-informed barber surgeons, now admitted a new type of physician into the ranks of the professional class. A class of educated city physicians arose as a permanent Institution with the dawning of the sixteenth century, threatening to replace the barber surgeons with more scientific approaches to the study and practice of medicine. These doctors included the Schwabisch Hall citizens Nikolaus Winkler, Brellochs, and after them Josef Brenz, the son of the Reformer. It is, perhaps, a surly observation con­ cerning the former two doctors that they made their initial

^^For Winkler see Blirgerschaft WGQ, p. 665f for Brel­ lochs see HStA RKG B 6636. and ior Brenz see Biirgerschaft WGQ, p. 151. 85 reputations as calendar Illustrators and astrologers rather 1 so than as physicians. The physicians of Schwabisch H«n during this early period in the development of modem medicine, remain more of a sidelight to the history of the community and the social classes comprising that society. The physicians of Hall played an insignificant role in the civic life of the community during this period and exerted absolutely no influence over the social and political ques­ tions facing the city in 1500. Hence, their position in thiB particular class could be considered tangential at best and in matters of wealth and prestige could not match the position of their fellow class members.^ These then were the social components of the societal entity known as Schwabisch Hall at the turn of the sixteenth century. The aristocracy, the middle class, the artisans, and the professional class— all played roles in the polit­ ical processes of the city, some assuredly greater than others. This cursory appraisal of the various societal elements, far from complete or definitive, will neverthe­ less enable one to understand more fully the important political leverage each class and each Individual, occupa­ tion, or economic entity of that class could exert in the

^ ^German, "Geschichte der Buchdruckerkunst in Schwab­ isch Hall bis Ende des 17* Jahrhunderts," WFr, Vol. 21, HP 11 (1914), p. 115. - ... 1 ^ Blirgerschaft WGQ, pp. 75-76. 86 political spectrum. At the turn of the sixteenth century Schwabisch Hall was still an assuredly aristocratic city. Thirty years later it was a predominantly middle-class and artisan city. The important political events which wrought this drastic change could not have transpired had the social and economic standing of the classes in relation to one another remained stagnant or fluctuated only slightly. In the final analysis the manner in which these social groups interacted with one another on the political level provided perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the govern­ ing of an imperial city at this particular point in his­ tory. With a basic understanding of the social relation­ ships uniting and dividing these various classes, one can investigate the larger questions relating to their inter­ action within the political framework of Schw&bisch Hall at the turn of the sixteenth century. CHAPTER THREE

THE POLITICAL CONSTITUTION OP SCHWABISCH HALL ABOUT 1500

Political power in the hands of one class as opposed to others usually reflects the military, economic, or nu­ merical predominance of the ruling class. By the same token, gradual shifts in political power from one social class to another tend to indicate subtle and at times imperceptible changes wrought by fluctuating economic and prestige factors. The rising economic and social status of the middle class and artisans during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries generated a corresponding demand on their part for commen­ surate power in the city government of Schwabisch Hall, a phenomenon somewhat characteristic of imperial cities throughout the Holy Roman Empire during this period. Yet despite this political mobility of the middle class and artisans, the basic structure of Schwabisch Hall governmental institutions remained virtually the same throughout the five centuries of its existence as an imperial city. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the Schwabisch Hall political con­ stitution centered around its flexibility and longevity. Despite three upheavals spanning four centuries, the adminis­ tration maintained the same organization and the government

87 8 8

its same constitution, accommodating virtually every class of the city in a paternalistic fashion characteristic of the age# Despite occasional lapses into vested-interest politics, nepotism, and related vices associated with insulated political institutions, the Schwabisch Hall admin­ istration appears in retrospect to have been remarkably free from such indulgences# A delicate balance between the council, the court, the privy council, and the mayor helped to assure the inclusion of many viewpoints while maintaining a balanced representation from the various social classes of the city.^ The government of Schwabisch Hall throughout this period revolved around the activities of the twenty-six member council (Rat)# This body in turn consisted of a twelve-man court (Gericht), also referred to as the inner

In addition to a wealth of city documents dealing with the city administration during the sixteenth century, numer­ ous primary and secondary accounts address themselves to the question of Schwabisch Hall governmental institutions during this period. The chronicles by Johann Herolt and Georg Wid­ mann both cover extensively the political constitution of the city, while the first historical evaluations of the Hall governmental structure were undertaken by Julius Gmelin in his Hailische Geschichte and Wilhelm German in his Chronik von Schwablsch~Hall und Umgebung von den altesten Zelten 5ia zur fcegenwart (Schwabisch Hall; Wilhelm German Verlag, 1$00). The most thorough treatment of the composition of the city council may be found in Gerhard Wunder1s "Die Ratsherren der Reichsstadt Hall 1487-1803," WEr, Vol. 46, NE 36 (1962), pp. 100-143. Also of interest in this area is Eduard Krttger's Schwabisch Hall, pp. 32-55. 89 council, and the fourteen-man lower council. The lower counpil, however, did not meet by itself, but rather as a part of the larger twenty-six member council,2 Although all of the councilmen (Ratsherren) constituted the honored representatives of the various classes, members of the court, who were referred to as judges (Richter), as a rule enjoyed greater prestige and wealth, Councilmen simultaneously served on either the judicial bench, composed of six judges and four councilmen under the chairmanship of the previous year*s mayor, or on the mayoral bench, con­ sisting of six other judges and ten councilmen under the presidency of the present mayor. These two mayors plus three judges constituted the Council of Five or privy council (die Mlnfer), a body which formulated policy and directed con­ fidential interactions with outside powers. Although the privy council was not an institution as such until its official designation as a civio governmental body in 1569, it in fact existed as early as the mid-fifteenth century.*' The mayor (St&ttmeister). who also presided over general council meetings as well aB sessions of the court, was

2 The composition of the twenty-six member council may be seen in the Ratsprotokolle. 4/205 (1478-1502) and 4/206 (1502-1569)* The pieces containing the results of every . annual council selection of new members names each of the twelve judges and the fourteen councilmen also denoting which members left the body during the course of the year, ^StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1569* 90

chosen annually from among the ranks of the court and rep­ resented the leading statesman and foremost city politi­ cian. The imperial magistrate (Relchsschultheifl). for­ merly the most coveted office in city government, served as an emissary responsible to the imperial city as well as to the emperor himself.^ In addition to these offices, the administration of the city required innumerable lesser officials to govern the surrounding territories which had fallen under the city's administration, benefactors to assure the welfare of the city's churches and clerics, and clerks, lawyers, and yet other civil servants to run the bureaucratic machinery requisite to the well-being of any imperial city. An honorable Counselor; A most sympathetic Lord; A noble and learned Magistrate; Your Majesty and Excellence.5 This exalted Introduction by which one formally acknowl­ edged a Schwabisch Hall city councilman reflected the great

^Both of the terms ReicheschultheiB and Stdttmeister may be translated and regarded, as denoting a mayoral posi- tion. During the preceding century the former office exerted predominant power and authority while by 1500 the latter had become the focus of civic government. The decrease in impe­ rial authority itself may have initiated or at least aided this trend, lessening the esteem accorded the Reichsschult- heiB thereby increasing the stature and duties of the more community-oriented Stattmeister. **StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/205, 1487, p. 167. This title indeed lasted until l6o3 and may accordingly be seen in any of the innumerable council selection records. 91 amount of prestige and respect that accompanied the office. The council indeed provided the focus of political attention and in the final analysis controlled the essential core of political power itself. The twenty-six members of the coun­ cil themselves determined who might sit on the council, se­ lecting new members annually on July 22, the day of Mary Magdalina* At least one member usually retired during the course of a year, and in exceptional cases the council might even force a member or a faction of members out of the council. In such cases new members filled the seats left vacant due to death and only rarely did new additions follow in the wake of council reprisals or Instances of individual misconduct*^ Not directly responsible to the Schw&bisch Hall citizens as such, the council nevertheless had to main­ tain a certain equilibrium. New vacancies and openings

g The membership of the council changed quite regularly. In the forty-three years between 1487 and 1530, only once did the same twenty-six members all serve two consecutive terms without any members retiring or leaving the body. See the StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/205, 1490, p. 285. Ehe court, a more stable body in terms of membership, retained exactly the same constitution for-two-year .intervals only eight times during this same period (1489-1490, 1492-1493, 1494-1495, 1496-1497, 1501-1502, 1505-1506, 1510-1511, and 1515-1516). Thus the council elections of 1490, 1493, 1495, 1497, 1502, 1506, 1511, and 1516 made no changes in the membership of the twelve-man court. Usually, however, each year and each annual election filled one, two, or three vacancies which had fallen open during the course of the preceding council year. StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205 and 4/206 (1487-1530)* 92 would not "be filled by haphazard or blatantly biased methods but rather corresponded to definite criteria regarding class representation, family considerations, districts of the city, and, of course, the great recommendation provided by one's own individual wealth.*^

As early as 1340 Emperor Louis IV of Bavaria officially recognized the middle class and artisans of Schwabisch Hall as competent to sit on the council and serve in various civic offices. His decree of September 19, 1340, which ended a period of political upheaval known as the "Changing of the Regiments," furnished the basis of not only the city Q council but also city administration as a whole. The decree established a council of twenty-six members, composed of twelve judges chosen from the class of citizens (Bttrger), an act which in effect restricted the highest positions in the council to members of the aristocracy, eight artisans q and six representatives from the middle class. Despite the numerical advantage the decree now assured the lower ■%

7 'For an evaluation of the criteria governing the selec­ tion of councilmen, see BUrgerschaft WGQ, pp. 52-57* Q Emperor Louis's decree of 1340, which formed the con­ stitutional foundation of the city's governing bodies through­ out the life of the imperial city, was originally instituted to settle this second political upheaval in the life of the city, known as the Veranderung des Regiments. The first upheaval of 1261 is only mentioned by Widmann, the chronicler of the Middle Ages. See Widmann, Hallische Chronica, p. 102. q Rosenberger, "Die Bntwicklung des Rates von Schwabisch Hall bis zum Jahre 1340," WFr, Vol. 40, NF 30 (1955;, p. 45. 93 two classes on the council, the reservation of membership on the court to representatives of the aristocracy guaran­ teed the upper class political predominance. Emperor Louis*s decree did, however, recognize the increasing stature of the middle class and artisans by stipulating their irrev­ ocable right to council participation,^ The further enhancement of the non-aristocratic classes in termB of economic and prestige factors would eventually tilt the political scales in their favor. Class representation, hence, constituted the most important factor in determining the members of the council. Until 1517 the city aristocracy retained primacy in the twelve-member court and until 1550 individual aristocrats filled crucial ambassadorial posts and civic offices. Thus, the political upheavals of 1261 and 1340, by which the mid­ dle class and artisans entered the council, had but little substantial effect on the predominant power of the aristoc­ racy in city government. Artisans seldom gained any position

10 Emperor L o u I b 's decree read as follows: "Wir haben ihnen auch gesetzt und gemacht einen Rat und Richter, der 26 sollen sein, 12 BUrger, die Richter und Rat sein sollen, 6 Mittelbiirger und 8 von den Handwerken, die zu dem Rat gehijren.** Especially noteworthy is the emperor's use of the term.BUrger denoting aristocrats as opposed to the middle-class and artisan citizens. As late as 1510, members of the aristocracy cited this term as proof that the aris­ tocrats should enjoy primacy in city government due to their status as the actual "citizens" of the imperial city. See ibid., p. 52. 94

of power higher than seats on the lower council. Extremely wealthy artisans only occasionally attained membership in the oourt before 1485, and between 1485 and 1512 filled three, four, or five positions out of a twelve-member body.^ The aristocracy also dominated important diplomatic posts. Judging from the travel statements (Reiseabrechnungen) of the ambassadorial assignments to the Imperial Court and to surrounding princes and lords, the settling of neighborly quarrels with the Hohenlohe and limpurg territories, the negotiations with other imperial cities or city leagues, all inevitably remained in the hands of the aristocracy while the middle-class councilmen usually busied themselves judging cases among the peasants or controlling the number 1 2 of wine casks exported from the city's domain. Although middle-class citizens did at times represent the city* s interests to courts and other imperial cities, this activity is usually associated with the aristocracy, a class groomed

11 Between 1485 and 1512 the aristocracy maintained a majority of seven, eight, or at times even nine members in the twelve-member court. For the composition of the coun­ cil and court see StA Ratsnrotokolle. 4/205 (1478-1502) and 4/206 (1502-1569)..... 12Bttrgerschaft WGQ, p. 52. This trend altered only slightly as a result of the political upheaval of 1509-1512. Aristocrats continued to control important diplomatic chan­ nels of communication, while important merchants with far- reaching commercial relations provided another source of diplomatic ambassadors to other imperial cities and the Imperial Court. 9 5

for such negotiations. Even following the upheaval of 1512 many aristocrats continued to exert diplomatic influence largely due to their prior experience and far-reaching con­ nections with foreign courts. Class representation on the council prior to 1512 assured the middle class and artisans membership only in the lower council, and in effect reserved to the aristocracy the right to determine any additional duties which might be granted these lower-class councilman.1** Throughout the fifteenth century wealthy middle-class and artisan representatives gained admission into the "inner sanctum" of the court, a trend which indicated their increas­ ing social stature within the imperial city. In 1487 the twelve-member court consisted of eight aristocrats and four middle-class citizens while the entire council was composed of twelve aristocrats, six middle-class representatives, and eight artisans.1^ Yet the very fact that four middle-class representatives had already penetrated the heretofore exclu­ sively aristocratic court showed that the aristocratic judges were no longer able to refuse the business classes membership in the body. In 1494 Peter Kemmerer, the first artisan

13Ibld. 1^StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1487, p. 167. The court maintained this level of representation throughout the ensuing seven years, thus guaranteeing aristocratic domina­ tion of not only the court but also city government and city administration. 96

1 R representative, entered the court, 3 and at the turn of the century the composition of the court stood at seven aristo­ crats, two middle-class citizens, and three artisans.^8 During and immediately following the difficult years of the political upheaval, the aristocrats solidified their una­ nimity on the council, yet following 1512 the age of aris­ tocratic control of the court came definitely to an end. In 1517 the lower classes attained parity in the court with the aristocratic representatives. The composition of the court following the council election of July 1517 stood at six aristocrats, four middle-class citizens, and two arti- 17 Bans. 1 By 1550 only four aristocrats sat on the court, while the artisan judges numbered five and the middle-class representatives three. Class representation on the court and council thus constituted a primary consideration in determining new mem­ bers of the body. While providing a legal basis for the court and council, Emperor Louis's decree of 1340 did not freeze representation to fixed and immutable levels. The

1^Ibid., 4/205, 1494, p. 378. Kemmerer, a clothier, had served on the council since 1491 at which time he enjoyed a total wealth of 3300 gulden.. Kemmerer remained in the coun­ cil until his retirement in 1508, see ibid., 4/206, 1508, p. lxvi..

l6Ibid., 4/205, 1500, p. 488. 17ibid.. 4/206, 1517, p. cxl. 18Ibid., 4/206, 1530, obverse side of page clxxx. 97 yearly selections of new members reflected a loose and prag­ matic arrangement which sought to adjust council membership along lines other than classes. Wealth, families, trades, and districts within the city also played important roles when councilmen decided each year with whom they might replenish their ranks.

Wealth indeed provided a paramount criterion upon which council representatives were selected from the various classes, A total amassed wealth of 500 gulden apparently enabled a person to become eligible for council membership. Although several councilmen between the yearB 1500 and 1530 owned property, goods, and monetary resources valued at less than 500 gulden, they represented a noticeable minority who were selected for other distinguishing characteristics and recommendations, The wealthier a councilman became, the greater his chance to join the court as a judge. In 1500, for example, the wealthiest member of the court, the aris­ tocratic Kaspar Eberhart, enjoyed a total wealth of 14-,600 gulden while the least wealthy judge, the equally aristo- iq cratic J5rg Berler, enjoyed a modest wealth of 1800 gulden. 9 The court consisted primarily of the wealthiest Schwabisch Hall citizens and invited only those class representatives

19Ibid., 4/205, 1500, p. 488 and StA Beetlisten, 4/1852 (1499-1OTT 11,,Bl• Nr. 80. „ . ’ who stood at the pinnacle of wealth in relation to their respective classes. In 1509 the composition of the council remained substantially unaltered in relation to the concept of wealth determining council membership. Due somewhat to the declining economic resources available to many aris­ tocratic families, the wealthiest member of the court, the aristocratic Volk von RoBdorf, enjoyed 7200 gulden of total resources, while the "poorest11 judge, the aristocratic Engelhart von Morstein, could summon only 1000.2^ The coun­ cil, on the other hand, contained on one extreme the wealthy aristocrat Werner Keck with 3500 gulden and on the other the 21 goldsmith Heinrich Halberg claiming only 400. In 1522 Gabriel Senft represented the wealthiest member of the court, boasting total assets of 10,400 gulden, while the painter BarthciloraSus Rot enjoyed only 900. In the same year the wealthiest member of the lower council, the middle-class Peter Virnhaber, could muster 3100 gulden while the tanner 22 Adam Gutmann was limited to 300. Despite this wide range in wealth, the councilmen during this period nevertheless represented the economic giants of Schwabisch Hall. Although

2®StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1509, p« Ixxiiii and StA Beetlisten, 4/1§57 C1509-1510).8, Bl. Nr. 85. 21Ibid. 22StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1522, p. clvi and StA Beetlisten. 4/1065 (1521-1522) 6, Bl, Nr. 91* 9 9 five hundred gulden represented the average total wealth among the citizenry, the median wealth forthe period stood at a much lower level,2** Political power oftens reflects economic power. Such was true of the Schwabisch Hall council prior to, as well as following the period 1500-1530. Julius Gmelin, compiling the list of councilmen for the year 1591, proved that they' constituted the bargest taxpayers in the city and hence the wealthiest citizens*2^ She same criterion proves valid as well for the year 1509, the year prior to the third politi­ cal upheaval. ^ Without undue effort the same hypothesis could be substantiated for almost any given year. The opin­ ion prevailed in Schwabisch Hall during this period that the greater one's wealth, the more one was obligated to perform unremunerative service on behalf of the community. Of equal weight stood the assumption that one's wealth should also serve the community through civic service rather than con­ tributing solely to the further enhancement of one's own monetary well-being. Hence, wealthy citizens found them­ selves virtually obligated to perform civic duties on the

2^See Gerhard Wunder's "Die Bewohner der Reichsstadt Hall im jahre 1545," WFr, Vol. 49, NF 39 (1965), pp. 34- 58, as well as BUrgerschaft WGQ, pp.. .17-23. ^Julius Gmelin, "Hall in der zweiten Halfte des 16. Jahrhunderts," WFr, Vol. 18, NF 8 (1903), pp. 147-148. 2^See Gerhard Wunder, "Die Haller Ratsverstbrung von 1510 bis 1512." WFr, Vol. 40, NF 30 (1955), p. 62. 100

council or as officials in one of the four council-adminis­ tered territories surrounding the city* "Whoever owned a house, a garden, vineyards, or land was held responsible, in accordance with the traditions of the past, to concern himself with the general welfare and prosperity of the com- munity, including the poor*" Ihese somewhat altruistic standards by which contempo­ raries, chroniclers, and some historians viewed the council selection process in regard, to wealth as a criterion for onefs entry into civic office as a councilman or jjudge often strike less idealistic viewers as an attempt to soft-pedal the role of wealth in this as in any other political process* One's monetary resources, whether founded on land holdings or on the newer lucrative avenues of trade and commerce, could often find further enhancement through council partic­ ipation. Numerous examples exist of councilmen using their positions to gain unfair tax privileges, appropriate land or mineral rights, or extend usurious loans to poorer citi­ zens* Yet the council suspensions which accompanied these records of unethical practices also indicate that the coun­ cil did endeavor to keep the administration of the city as 2 7 free from blemishes as possible*

oc Bttrgerschaft WGQ, p. 53. ^Ibid. For later suspensions see ibid*, Paul Seckel 1569, Anton Peyerabend 1571# Georg Moser 1573, and Michel Sulzer 1580* 101

Also important to the selection process of councilmen appears to have been family representation on the council. Old established aristocratic families usually could command a seat on the council continuously throughout the fourteenth, fifteenth, and early sixteenth centuries, an unwritten law that remained a strong tradition which rising middle-class and artisan families adopted later in the century. When a councilman passed away or retired, his successor often came from among his immediate family. This trend, by no means a definite law, repeatedly surfaces in the annual council election process. Of the twenty-six councilmen in 1487, at least fourteen were eventually succeeded by mem- 28 bers of their family. The wealthier or more powerful a family, the greater its chances of continuous representa­ tion on the council. Although the pattern is by no means rigidly instituted or expressly enunciated, it is neverthe­ less repeatedly brought into use. In 1498 Hans von Rinder- bach retired in favor of his brother TJtz, while Hans BUsch- ler*s death on November 12, 1497, left the familial represen­ tation on the council to his nephew Konrad,29 In 1501 Rudolf Nagel entered the council, filling the seat left vacant by his father Eberhard, who had served on the court

2®StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1487, p. 167 through 4/206, 1530, obverse side of page clxxx,

29Ibid., 4/205, 1498, p, 458. 102 since 1478 and now wished to retire from council duties.3® Ihe death of the elder Ludwig Folmar in 1501 created yet an­ other vacancy which was filled hy his son, referred to as Ludwig Volmar.31 in 1515 Konrad BUschler was followed by his brother Bartholomaus and in 1518 returned again to his orig­ inal position.3** In the council election of 1517 Hans Wezel succeeded his brother Lienhard, who had served on the council since 1510 and later served as the Untervogt in Kirchberg from 1521 to 1528,33 In 1519 Bernhard Werner suc­ ceeded his father-in-law Heinz Beck; in 1523 Jos Mangolt was followed by his son Lienhard; in 1530 Hans Wezel retired in favor of his son Peter; and in the same year Peter Virnhaber relinquished his chair to his nephew Ludwig + A list enu­ merating familial ties in council representation might con­ tinue indefinitely. Nor did the importance of familial rep­ resentation lessen with the coming of the Reformation and the end of the large and powerful families of old Hall. '

30Ibid.f 4/205, 1501, p. 505. 31Ibid. 3^Ibid., 4/206, 1515, p. cxxxv and 1518, obverse side of page cxlv.

33Ibid., 4/206, 1517, p. cxl. 34 ‘ See respectively ibid., 4/206, 1519, obverse side of page cxlviii; 1523, p. clviii; and 1530, obverse side of page clxxx. .. 33BUrgerschaft WGQ, p. 53. 103

Further investigation into the documents of the period would tend to enlarge this already imposing relationship between council membership and the important family ties of the city, Due to the difficulty in ascertaining with any degree of accuracy the wider familial connections wrought by marriage, not to mention illegitimate progeny, one must frequently rely solely on the recurrence of familial names’ in relation to council membership. Aristocratic representa­ tives provide the clearest example of familial dynasties in terms of council membership. Between the years 1487 and 1530 the following aristocratic families supplied the city with these respective numbers of councilmen: Berler, three; Eber- hart, two; Keck, two; von Morstein, three; Nagel, two; von Rinderbach, five; Schlez, four; SchultheiB, two; and Senft, five. Thus, these nine families supplied the city with twenty-eight councilmen over a period of fifty years, a fact which attests to the powerful role of families of wealth on the council. In a larger sense the concept of familial representation on the council merely reflected an extension of the concept of wealth. It is certainly not surprising to find that in a small imperial city such as Schwabisch Hall, a few aristocratic families commanding both wealth and social prestige could also figure prominently

^StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205* 1487* p. 167 through 4/206, 1530, p. clxxx. See ahove p f 34, 104 in the political framework. As wealth travelled down the family line through inheritances from one generation to another, children found themselves the inheritors of not only familial fortunes and property holdings but council seats and political influence as well. The same practice, to an admittedly lesser extent, surfaces in middle-class and artisan representatives, especially the Biischler, Eisenmen- ger, Feyerabend, Kraufi, Mangolt, Seckel, Virnhaber, and Wezel familiesFollowing the example initially practiced by the aristocratic families, prominent lower-class families increas­ ingly gained stature and wealth great enough to insure con­ tinual familial representation on the council. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this unwritten law were the various tacit guidelines concerning council curbs on excessive familial participation in the body. Fa­ thers and sonB, for example, could not serve simultaneous terms as councilmen. Nor could two brothers. In order to allow the branches of one family the ability to serve simul­ taneous terms, cousins could sit together in the body as well as a father-in-law with his son-in-law. 3 8 Yet the concept of familial representation proved tenacious indeed, lasting throughout Schwabisch Hall*s existence as an imperial city.

^See above, pp. 46 and 61-62. ^BUrgerachaft WGQ, p. 55* 105

The tacitly observed rule initiated under aristocratic aus­ pices continued through the Reformation by way of middle-class and artisan families,^ Hermann Eisenmenger was followed in turn by his three sons, a grandson (Gilg), a great-grand­ son (Abraham), and a great-great-grandson (Ulrich),*0 This principle of council inheritance could be substantiated by citing numerous other families of the city not merely in council affairs but yet other civic offices not directly concerned with council business. This practice reflected a dominant concept of the age which dictated that the son or brother of an honored and respected councilman would tend to carry on the tradition much better than a man with no previous council connections.*^ Many examples of the sporadic failure of this somewhat idealistic preconception natu­ rally exist in good measure, yet similar examples could also be produced citing the failure of new members without prior familial ties to live up to the rigorous expectations demanded of a Schwabisch Hall city councilman.

■^In 1533 the brothers Ludwig and Hans von Morstein exchanged seats. In 1541 Peter Wezel was followed by his brother Melchior, in 1544 Michel Eisenmenger by his nephew Gilg, and in 1546 Caspar Grater by his son-in-law Burkhard Bernhard.

*°BiIrgerschaft WGQ, pp. 201-205, *^"Es ist ja auch fiir die Denkweise der Zeit naheliegend, dafl man den Bruder oder Sohn des bekannten und bewahrten Vor- gdngers, den Erben des gleichen Besitzes, folgen laBt und ihm mehr zutraut, als einem neuen Mann." BUrgerschaft WGQ, p. 55, 106

Yet another consideration, which helped to determine membership on the council at times reflected one's place of residence in the city. Although much less apparent and obviously the least crucial of the various considerations, in several examples at least, council applicants were accorded primacy on the basis of their place of residence. The vast majority of councilmen during this entire period lived in the old inner city. The wealthiest section of the city, the old inner quarter, enjoyed by far the most representation, and other members were often chosen in order to allow the various districts one or two representatives. The four districts of the city also included the Katharinenvorstadt, the opposite bank of the Kocher (jenBeits Kocher). and the Gelbinger Gasse district.Since heavy representation of the inner city always constituted a foregone conclusion, the council attempted to include at least one council representative from each of the city sections. The basic consideration which militated against greater representation of the city sections lay in the varied com­ position of these city adjuncts as well aB the dichotomy between the obligations of an actual city dweller to the

^2StA Beetlisten, 4/1834 (1480) 8, Bl. Nr. 62 through 4/1869 (1533-1534) 12, Bl. Nr. 97. Perhaps the best sum­ mary of the economic and social classes residing in the var­ ious sections of the city is Gerhard Wunder's "Bie Bewohner der Reichsstadt Hall ira Jahre 1545," WFr, Vol. 49, NF 39 (1965), pp. 44-48. 107

community as opposed to that of a Suburban dweller.” The long-observed practice requiring these residents to live and to own property in the respective district of the city for five years before becoming eligible for council member­ ship naturally limited these districts to fewer representa­ tives than the inner city residents who bore no such reBtric- 43 tions. ■' The tax lists provide a similar view of these sec­ tions as districts housing a majority of newly-arrived arti­ sans who did not possess the rights of citizenship.^ Many of the successful newcomers moved into the inner city around St. Michael's, thereby giving evidence to their wealth and placing themselves in an eligible position for council consideration. Exceptions to this general rule did, of course, exist. At times new citizens moved directly into a house in the inner city, and many old established families retained their homes in the outer sections of the city

^The Citizen's Oath of 1526 enunciated this principle, stating that "Whoever recently moves to a suburb is required to have lived and owned property there for five years before he can be considered for membership in the council.” (Wer neu zuzieht, verpflichtet sich, 5 Jahre in einen der Vor- st&dte beulich und hablich zu sitzen, es w&re denn, daS ihm der Rat gdnne, hereinzufahren.) StA BUrgerbuch. 1526. ^Arranged according to.districts of the city, the tax lists attest to the relatively transient character of the suburbs as well as the general economic insignificance of their populations. See StA Beetlisten for any given year and the information cited in BUrgerschaft WGQ, pp. 53-54, in which representation of the various sections appears to have been, if not a primary, at least a secondary consideration in the council selection process. 108

throughout the history of the family. 4^ Nevertheless, a good portion, of the suburban residents were new citizens, a factor that understandably lessened the representation of these districts in the council. As early aB 1488 the city quarter on the opposite bank of the Kocher was represented by the architect Hans Hofacker while Ludwig Folraar did the same for the Gelbinger Gasse district.48 The next year Folraar was succeeded by the lock­ smith Seitz Maybach, who was also from the same district. In 1495 the two citizens once again traded council seats.47 Folraar^ son succeeded to the council in 1501, a transaction which simultaneously reflected familial and residential con­ siderations.^8 The younger Ludwig Volmar moved from the Gelbinger Gasse in 1505, leaving the district without a rep­ resentative until the baker Heinz Beck*s selection in 1508.4^

4^An example of the former category is Caspar Grater, a councilman from 1529 to 1546, who moved directly to the inner city upon arriving in Hall. The Eisenraengers, on the other hand, represent an established native family who chose to live in the outskirts of the city throughout the history of the family. See StA Beetlisten for the respective years as well as Burgerschaft WGQ, pp. 274 and 201-205. 48StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/205, 1488, pp. 191-192.

47Ibid., 4/205, 1489, p. 243, and 1495, p. 398. 48Ibid., 4/205, 1501, p. 505.' 4^Ibid., 4/206, 1508, p. lxvi. For information concern- ' ing the Volmar family as a whole see Biirgerschaft WGQ. p p . 242-243. * ' 109

Following Beck's retirement in 1518, his successor Bernhard Werner, also a baker and a resident of the Gelbinger Gasse district, served on the council from 1519 to 1569.^ Approximately the same situation characterized Katharin- nenvorstadt, a district represented from 1504- to 1514 by the tanner Sixt Brmel, from 1510 to 1512 by Hans Eisenmenger, from 1522 to 1552 by Adam Gutmann, and from 1529 to 1544 by Michel Eisenmenger,3 Yet problems arise in extending the comparison to the Kocher district. From 1485 to 1498 the section was ably represented by the wealthy judge Seitz Risp seconded between 1487 and 1494 by the architect Hans Hof- 52 acker.From 1491 to 1501 the tanner Hermann Eisenmenger represented this district, but following his retirement no new councilman from this particular section of the city served during the first three decades of the new century. As a result, one should not place undue emphasis on this par­ ticular criterion lest he forget that district representation reflected a tangential aspect of council membership and could not match any of the other considerations as a motivating factor for one's inclusion in the council ranks,

^°StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1519, p. cxlviii and Biirger- schaft WGQ, p. t>54 , 51 • 3 'BUrgerschaft WGQ: Sixt Errael, p. 212; Hans Eisenmenger, p, 202; Adam Gutmann, p, 289; and Michel Eisenmenger, p, 202. 52StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1487, p. 167 to 1498, p. 458. Also see Burger sch'aft WGQ: Seitz Risp, p. 501 and Hans Hofacker, p. 529. . .. 110

The repeated alternation in council seats between the locksmith Seitz Maybach and the smith Ludwig Folraar from 1485 to 1505 raises the supposition that the local guilds, otherwise known as federations of artisans (Zusararaenschlttsse von Handwerken). had at their disposal a solid position on the council.^ Between 1487 and 1530, ten clothiers, six bakers, six tanners, five cobblers, five butchers, four saitmakers, and yet other artisan representatives sat at one time or another on the council.These councilmen repre­ sented the most prestigious artisan trades, posing the yet; unanswered question as to whether artisan representation on the council corresponded to any guidelines concerning the various occupational groupings, A cursory glance at the representatives of the butchering profession during this period would include the following: Heinz Virnhaber (1485- 1493)t followed by Michel Seckel (1493-1511), and Reinhardt Truchtelfinger (1511-1529 and 1535-1539)• Also serving in another seat during this period was the butcher Wilhelm Seckel (1526-1550).*^ Hence, the butchers were represented

*^StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1485 to 4/206, 1505, P. xliiii. " 5^Ibid., 4/205, 1487, p. 167 to 4/206, 1530, obverse side of.page clxxx. See above pp. 61-62,

Ibid. Also see BUrgerschaft WGQ: Heinz Virnhaber, p. 228; Michel.Seckel, p. P24; ana Reinhardt Truchtelfinger, P. 184. ^^BUrgerschaft WGQ, p. 524. 111 continuously throughout this fifty-year period* sometimes hy two councilmen* Despite occasional lapses in represen­ tation, identical cases could he presented on behalf of the clothiers, bakers, tanners, cobblers, and saltmakers, Yet the perplexing and unanswerable question lies not in the fact that these occupations enjoyed virtually continuous representation on the council, but rather in the actual cri­ teria followed by the council in meting out positions to the various trades. Documents of the period contain abso­ lutely no specifications regulating occupational represen­ tation. By the same token, the sporadic nature of artisan representation in general indicates that no unwritten law prescribing continual representation for the leading trades existed during this time span. One could present a strong case contending that the council attempted to maintain a balanced representation among the various artisan trades. Yet in the final analysis it appears that although the lead­ ing trades enjoyed either continuous or at least intermittent representation on the council, they enjoyed this privilege as a natural result of the wealth afforded the leading arti­ sans in the various occupational groups rather than any pre­ scribed or tacit agreements between the council and the local guilds. 57 wealth again seems to be the crucial factor allowing

^Bor a discussion of the artisan guilds in Schwabisch Hall during this period see Homrael, Schwabisch Hall, pp. 215- 230.. 112 some trades predominant representation on the council-in comparison to the less lucrative artisan occupational groups. Hence, an argument contending that occupational representa­ tion constituted a specific criterion for council selections falls before the major recommendation of wealth— a prerequi­ site which overshadowed all other considerations when the councilmen annually decided with whom they might replenish their ranks. An analysis of the council selection process must then contend that although familial, residential, and occupational considerations played a specific role in the political scheme, the major criteria guiding the council in the selection of new members centered around two factors— wealth and class. These two considerations overshadowed while also giving rise to these other, more tangential bases for council selection. Having established the guidelines followed by the council in determining new members, one must then evaluate the duties of these city officials as well as the various criteria deter­ mining whether their services to the community were judged acceptable, not only by their peers, but also by the commu­ nity in general. Once a Schwabisch Hall citizen attained council member­ ship, his position on the council theoretically entitled him to an entire lifetime of service. In actuality, however, numerous councilmen found themselves evicted from the body long before natural causes had taken their toll. Others retired from the council in order to accept other civic posts or in order to escape the rigors always associated with public life. Unfortunately the council records provide very little information concerning the motives and procedures for ousting council members. Only occasionally do the docu­ ments cite a definite reason for one's expulsion from the chamber, and these usually denote some misuse of council privileges. In 1515> for example, the tanner Sixt Ermel lost his seat on the council due to his indiscretion in dis­ cussing private civic matters with his wife.'*8 Ihis unfor­ tunate affair stressed the following adage enjoining coun­ cilmen to respect the body's right to demand undivided obe­ dience on the part of the members: "Whatever a Hall coun- CQ cil commands and prohibits, that must one observe.1'*^ Despite careful notation of motives for ousting those who had trans­ gressed council rules for conduct, little information accom­ panies the departure of those evicted from the chamber for political reasons. Absolutely no explanation, for example, elucidates the reasons underlying the council's decision to drop Wilhelm SeBler from council membership in the election

**8StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1515, p. cxxv. ^"Was ein Rat zu Hall derselbig Zeit geboten und ver- boten, dasselbig.hat man mttssen halten." HStA REG, H 508. 114

of July, 1489.^° One can only assume from this official silence that the aristocratic majority in the court wished to quell this middle-class councilman who had spoken against the entrenched power of the aristocracy in city government*^ By the same token, when several aristocratic judges hounded the middle-class Hermann Buschler not only out of the coun­ cil but out of the city in 1510, the only explanation cited in the annual elections as to why he failed to serve once again on the court lies in the following, somewhat simplis­ tic sentence; "He ^Hermann BUschler^ left the city of his go own accord*" The above events, clearly related to political causes, are joined by a host of lesser phenomenal disappearances and reappearances which remain even less elucidated. Several examples exist of men such as Hermann Eisenmenger and Xudwig Polmar, unseated one year only to be reinstated the next* As these two men did not serve in other civic capacities during the off-year, one can only surmise that these year­ long reprieves were either granted for personal reasons or perhaps reflected political reprisals of a lesser nature

60StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1489, p. 243. . - See below Chapter Pour* go "Er hat sich selbst aus der Stadt gethon." StA Rats- rotokolle. 4/206, 1510, p* xciii. Also see BUrgerschaft SG-Q, p.' 161. . . 115

than SeBler's or Biischler's transgressions.^ Yet these occurrences failed to alter the council mem­ bership nearly so much as the natural and expected changes wrought by retirement and death. After long and faithful service, many chose to devote more time in their later years to personal concerns and requested to leave the body# Usually a retiring member offered the council property, goods, or some type of remuneration as a friendly gesture denoting the mutual satisfaction of the council's apprecia­ tion of the retiring member's past service and the council­ man's gratitude for the opportunity of serving in the august group. In 1503, for example, the wealthy tjtz von Miinkhelm left the council, bequeathing a portion of his estate to the future needs of the city.^ During the second half of the sixteenth century, retirement became a much more tedious affair. In 1569 the council passed an ordinance proscribing retirement from the body without extenuating circumstances. ^ The motive for the ordinance remains obscure, but the effects seem to indicate that older councilmen who wished to spend their later years free of council obligations, at times went

^For Eisenmenger see StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1485; H91, p. 315; and 4/206, 1502, p. ili. ftor' Colmar see StA. Ratsprotokolle. 4/205, 1488, pp. 191-192; 1489, p* 243; 1495, p. 598s and 4/206. 1502. p. ili. Biirgerschaft WGQ, pp. 202 and 243. ^StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1503, p. xvii. Widraann, Halilsche Chronica, p. 63, and Herolt, Chronica, p. 75*

*^StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1569. t 116 so far as to commit crimes, an action which would certainly insure release from the body.*^ Yet even as early as 1500, the council actively dis­ couraged members from retiring merely in order to devote more time to personal financial affairs. Indeed the concept prevailed during this period that the older councilmen could draw upon much more experience than their younger colleagues, and hence were obligated to furnish the council the benefits of this wisdom so long as health permitted.^ Early retire­ ment was expressly forbidden, and many councilmen who wished to withdraw from council affairs found themselves obligated to compensate the city through financial gifts 68 in order to purchase their freedom from civic concerns. Perhaps this sense of civic obligation explains in part the later legislation proscribing retirement for its own

66 Julius Gmelin rightly viewed it as a dubious sign that in six instances shortly following this decree council­ men had to be evicted from the chamber due to criminal wrong-doings, She first instance was as early as 1569, when Paul Seckel, a council official in Rosengarten, appropriated private property in Uttenhofen. In 1571 Anton Peyerabend trespassed on mineral rights. In.1573 Georg Moser disre­ garded the Jewish ordinances proscribing the "borrowing and lending" of money and fell heavily in debt. His brother-in- law Burkhard Seckel assumed his position on the council only to be expelled in 1575 and fined eighty gulden for extending usurious loans to poorer citizens. Por these cases and yet other similar matters see StA Ratsprotokolle for the above years, .... ^ Bilrgerschaft WGQ, p. 52. ^®StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1503, p. xvii. 117

sake and reinforces the concept of individual obligation, to the community expected of those who assumed council posts* As in all legislative bodies composed of numerous citizens from various walks of life, not all councilman participated equally in the proceedings of the body. Some took an active interest in the council, moving rapidly into positions of power as mayors, tax officials and collectors, benefactors for the city’s churches, or department heads (Amts- leute)O t h e r s preferred passive roles, allowing fellow councilman to lead the civltates into new uncharted avenues of community endeavors. Some became quite active in the diplomatic channels connecting Hall with the Swabian League, the Imperial Court, and the immediately surrounding terri­ tories. As a result the influence of these councilmen exceeded that of those contenting themselves with purely local affairs in Hall or the territories administered by the city. Within the council itself these gradations of s i influence appear in the very constitution of the body. The majority of councilmen moved up into higher council posts as a natural result accruing from years of faithful ser­ vice. Not content to retain their original seats nor

^ F o r lists of these city officials see StA St R, 4/a10 (1479-1484) through 4/a20 (1525-1528) as well as the Amts- rechnungen for the bureaus of Bilhler, Honhardt, Ilshofen, Kocheneck, Rosengarten, Schlicht, Vellberg, and Kirchberg an der Jagst. 118

sufficiently ambitious to scale, the political ladder to the heights of political power, these councilmen gradually accepted new responsibilities within the council or on the various territorial administrative bodies as a result of natural promotion.*^ Others, such as Hermann Buschler, Gilg Eisenraenger, and Martin Autenried, took advantage of the political system, using their powers as councilmen ' to assume the leading positions of authority, many times in a manner disproportionate to their age, wealth, or length of service.'71 Yet other councilmen such as Michel Sec&el remained relatively passive, retaining their original seats on the council and allowing the more active members of the body predominant influence in actual council policies and civic direction. Such a situation naturally surfaces in a governmental body which includes diverse groups of citizens with disproportionate talents and ambitions. For those who chose to pursue political positions of authority, the posts of mayor and imperial magistrate loomed at the very top of the political network as the most important and influential of civic offices.

^°BUrgerschaft WGQ, pp. 51-53#

*^For a brief sketch of the careers of these men Bee ibid. for the following pages: BUschler, p. 161; Eisenraenger, pTTo2; and Autenried, p. 97. 119

The position of mayor in Schwdbisch Hall, undoubtedly the most powerful civic office, theoretically gravitated from one year to the next between the same two judges. Every year on the day of Mary Magdaline, the council not only selected new members to fill its ranks but also a mayor to serve as the presiding officer of the council and court. The judge selected to this office would spend the ensuing- year as the acting mayor, the following year as the ex­ officio or "older mayor” presiding over the judicial bench, and return once again the next year as acting mayor. Fritz Schlez, as an example, served as acting mayor in 1488, 1490, 1492, 1494, and 1496 and as ex-officio mayor in 1489, 1491, 1493, 1495, and 1497 before his retirement from the 72 post.* He alternated with Michel Senft, who in turn con­ tinued an active career until his retirement in 1503.^ Thus, a mayor of Schwabisch Hall, although theoretically serving one-year terms alternating with off-years from active service, in actuality could expect to remain mayor throughout an active political career providing the service 74 rendered satisfied the majority of the council members.

*^2StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1488, pp. 191-192 through 1497, p. 435T Also see Bdrgerschaft V/GQ, p. 564. "^StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1489, p. 243 through 4/206, 1503, p. xvii. Also s e e Burgerschaft WGQ, p. 533. "^During times of political crisis this unbroken chain was often disrupted due to factional fighting within the council and the inability of one man to satisfy the whims of all the respective groups. 120

The mayors of Schwabisch Hall throughout the period 1487- 1530 include the following: 1487 Matthis von Rinderbach 1509 Veit von Rinderbach 1488 Fritz Schlez 1510 Gilg Senft 1489 Michel Senft 1511 Simon Berler 1490 Fritz Schlez 1512 Jorg Berler 1491 Michel Senft 1513 Simon Berler 1492 Fritz Schlez 1514 Hermann BUschler 1493 Michel Senft 1515 Simon Berler 1494 Fritz Schlez 1516 Hans von Morstein 1495 Michel Senft 1517 Hermann BUschler 1496 Fritz Schlez 1518 Hans von Morstein 1497 Michel Senft 1519 Michel Schlez 1498 Jbrg Berler 1520 Hermann Buschler 1499 Michel Senft 1521 Konrad Biischler 1500 Jorg Berler 1522 Michel Schlez 1501 Michel Senft 1523 Konrad Biischler 1502 Jorg Berler 1524 Michel Schlez 1503 Michel Senft 1525 Hermann Buschler 1504 Jbrg Berler 1526 Michel Schlez 1505 Rudolf Nagel 1527 Anton Hofmeister 1506 J5rg Berler 1528 Michel Schlez 1507 Rudolf Nagel 1529 Anton Hofmeister 1508 Hermann Biischler 1530 Michel SchlezT? The position of mayor reflected the community as opposed to imperial authority over civic government. During the medieval and Renaissance period, the core of governmental authority in Schwabisch Hall rested in the hands of the imperial magis­ trate (ReichBsohultheifl) , ^ Acting as a liason between the emperor and the city, the office denoted larger imperial authority as opposed to local, community self-government. During this period the imperial magistrate and not the mayor presided over council sessions and assumed direction

*^StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1487 to 4/206, 1530,

^ BUrgerschaft WGQ, p, 49. 121

over civic concerns. In relation to the old and established position of imperial magistrate, which went back to the Hohenstaufen period, the office of mayor indeed appears as a somewhat "recent" addition to the complexion of city government. Ihe first documented references to an office of mayor (Stattmeister) occur in fourteenth-century manu- 7 7 scripts. Ihe term, denoting the Meister der Stadt as opposed to the Meister der Burger implications of the more common term Biirgermeister. enjoyed frequent subse­ quent use until 1489, when it was adopted by the council as the official designation of the mayor.Whereas the posi­ tion of imperial magistrate enjoyed roots in imperial gov­ ernmental structure, that of the mayor originated and remained as a purely civic position, perhaps one reason explaining its subsequent growth in esteem and power toward the middle of the fifteenth century. By the latter half of the fifteenth century, the position of mayor became by far the dominant civic office. Not only did the mayor assume the presidency of the court and council, but he also enjoyed

"^Eor a concise discussion of these documents see Rosenberger, "Die Entwicklung des Rates von Schwabisch Hall bis sum Jahre.1340," WFr, Vol. 40, NE 30 (1955), pp. 33-56, a shortened version of his unpublished dissertation "Die Entwicklung des Verfassungsrechts der Reichsstadt Schwabisch Hall bis zum Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts," University of Heidel­ berg. ^SStA Ratsprotokolle. 4/205, 1489, p. 243. 122 the responsibility of conducting the city's diplomatic relations within the empire. As such the mayor represented a much more powerful figure than his responsibilities as chairman of the various council bodies indicate. The position of mayor fell, with the only possible exceptions of Hermann and Konrad Biischler, upon the shoulders of aristocratic judges. As the position consumed a pre­ dominant portion of one's time, it inevitably went to extremely wealthy judges who could well afford to serve in such a time-consuming and non-remunerative office. The alternation of annual terms also relieved mayors of constant and continuous pressure. By serving one year as acting, mayor and the next as ex-officio, a Schwabisch Hall mayor was allowed annual shifts of responsibility which eased the still heavy pressure borne by a judge serving the com­ munity in the capacity of mayor. Although appointed by the emperor, the position of imperial magistrate had since 1382 been filled by a native

Schwabisch Hall citizen.79 Yet the dichotomy of the very office militated toward its decreasing significance in an empire becoming ever more composed of autonomous units free of direct imperial supervision. The post lasted throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries despite

79Kriiger, Schwabisch Hall, p. 38. 123 the diminishing authority enjoyed by those who possessed the office, The imperial magistrates of Hall throughout the period under consideration included the following: 1482-1498 Friedrich Schwab 1498-1501 Engelhart von Morstein 1503-1513 Konrad Bttschler 1514-1528 Engelhart von Morstein 1530-1532 Konrad BUschler 1533-1535 ludwig von Morstein 1 t The imperial magistrate could not sit on the council while serving in this yet crucial post, a fact which also limited the power of the office in the realm of civic affairs. Those who failed to reach these pinnacles of influence in the city might nevertheless attain a council-appointed post as a tax official, tax collector, department head, overseer of the salt industry, or benefactor of one of the city's churches. The council extended its control over almost every aspect of civic endeavor, a practice which in turn required numerous officials to represent council admin­ istration in tnese respective areas. Of these offices, the most lucrative and ultimately influential positions were those directing Schwabisch Hall's territorial departments of

88This position sank in the seventeenth century to that of Chief of Police, and hence attracted only those young ambitious citizens who wanted to use it as a stepping stone to council membership. "Pie Stattmeister der Reichsstadt Hall," Der Haalquell. wr. 1 (January 1962), p. 1, 81StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1487, p. 167 through 4/206, 1535. " 124

Biihler, Ilshofen, Kocheneck, Rosengarten, Schlicht, Vellberg, and Kirchberg an der Jagst.82 Adjacent to Hall, these villages coupled with their surrounding countrysides had fallen under the jurisdiction of the city during the course of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and as such enjoyed membership in a fairly large district of free trade, A special case existed in Kirchberg an der Jagst, which from

1398 to 1562 stood under the common administration of the three imperial cities of Hall, Rothenburg, and Dinkelsbiihl.8^ Trading networks and the supervision of local industries were governed by council-appointed representatives in each of these surrounding districts, a circumstance which made the possession of these posts quite lucrative and influential avenues of civic endeavor for local, entrepreneurial politi­ cians. The secretaries (ObervSgten) of Eirchberg, for example, included the following city representatives during this period: 1485-1488 Daniel Treutwein from Hall (aristocrat) 1489-1492 Ambrosius Biichelberger from Dinkelsbtihl 1495-1498 Jorg im Hof from Rothenburg 1498-1502 Karl Y/erntzer the younger from Rothenburg 1502-1507 Hans von Morstein from Hall (aristocrat) 1510-1513 Karl Berlin from Dinkelsbiihl- 1513-1515 Hans Eschelbach

82 StA Amtsrechnungen, see above p, 12.

8^BUrgerschaft WGQ, pp. 49-51. 125

1515-1518 Konrad Biischler from Hall (middle class) 1518-1525 Heinz 'i'rUb from Rothenburg 1525-1526 Walter Biichelberger from Dinkelsbiihl 1526-1532 Heinrich Triib from Rothenburg 1532-1562 Ludwig Virnhaber from Hall (middle class) 4 During the same period the under-secretaries (Untervogten) of Kirchberg included the following: 1453-1454 Michel Helbling from Hall (middle class) 1454-1456 Reinhard Virnhaber from Hall (butcher) 1456-1462 Peter Diirbrecht from Hall (middle class) 1462-1470 Konrad GeBner 1471-1476 Seitz Risp from Hall (middle class) 1477-1485 Bertold Helbling from Hall (painter) 1486-1488 Jorg im Hof from Rothenburg 1488-1489 Hans PleBt from Hall (gunsmith) 1490-1491 Melchior Vaihingen from Rothenburg 1491-1500 Wilhelm Guldin 1501-1502 Cunz Eberhard 1502-1511 Hans Setzentribel from Dinkelsbiihl 1511-1513 Hans Eschelbach 1513-1515 Jos Sultzer from Hall (clothier) 1515-1518 Hans Kreglinger from Rothenburg 1518-1520 Peter Seitzinger from Hall (architect.) 1520-1528 Lienhard Wezel from Hall (cobbler) 05 1528 Lienhard Peuchter from Hall (innkeeper) These council appointments also corresponded to wealth and social prestige as well as individual talents or capabilities, The various secretaries of this department of Kirchberg as well as those administered solely by Schwabisch Hall, usually reflected aristocratic or middle class status while the under-secretaries were largely drawn from the ranks of middle-class and artisan citizens. Yet these departments

S*StA St R, 4/a10 (1479-1494) through 4/a20 (1525- 1528)......

85Ibid. 126 demanded daily administration. Thus, these departmental posts precluded one from simultaneously serving on the council. As a result these offices often appeared tailor- made for sons or brothers of councilmen who needed some other civic outlet through which to serve the community.8** As opposed to the preceding posts designed for middle- class and artisan citizens, city government also provided 1 employment for members of the professional class. Not only could artists, sculptors, and architects turn at times to the council for commissions in the form of civic works, but lawyers, doctors, scribes, and even clerics found increas­ ing avenues of community employment as legal representa­ tives, city clerks, court physicians, and priests whose very appointment and tenure reflected council rather than papal or church authority. These posts differed from the former positions designed for aristocratic, middle-class, and artisan citizens so far as the professional posts offered relatively little remunerative benefits and lay outside the actual governmental and decision-making activ­ ities of the council.

^Innumerable examples exist of brothers and sons of councilmen who, excluded from the council ranks due to the membership of close relatives, had to turn to other forms of community service in the form of departmental offices. One such example of this phenomenon lies in the brothers Hans and Lienhard Wezel, the former a councilman throughout his political career, the latter an under-secretary of the department of Kirchberg an der Jagst. Bilrgerschaft WGQ, p. 657. 127

With the later exceptions of Johannes Brenz, who as the preacher at St, Michael's exerted considerable influence in terms of council and civic pressures upon governmental authorities, and the city legal representatives who charted the city's course in the complicated regions of imperial diplomacy, this professional civic class enjoyed little affluence and. even less influence over the direction of city government. Even the city clerks remained relatively isolated from channels of power and were often chosen from university-educated scholars from distant cities in order to frustrate native aristocratic or middle-class citizens from gaining the otherwise potentially powerful office and using it to the benefit of local familial or class inter­ ests,8^ In terras of income this professional class of civil servants enjoyed less median income than the artisans, and were forced as a result to content themselves with only a fraction of the social prestige already accorded to their class in larger commercial and governmental cities of the empire*88

8^Hans Mangolt, the city clerk from 1509 to 1522, does provide a rather stark contradiction to the council's usual attempts to enlist a scholar not native to Schw&biBch. Hall for the position. As always, personalities, and extenuating circumstances may have played an important role In allowing the city council to waive this traditional criterion in Mangolt's particular case. See Burgerschaft WGQ, p. 437, 88Ibid.. pp. 71-78. 128

An investigation into the political outlets of any community governmental structure inevitably incurs a com­ mensurate necessity to distinguish which channels of authority enjoyed the power to determine the course of civic administration and which merely acted as agents, responding, to a predetermined governmental direction. The maze of political institutions, even in a small city considered politically unsophisticated by the larger societal testi­ monials to new civic autonomy, often present an observer with unresolvable questions concerning where the location of power actually resided in the political structure, A more intensive investigation into the governmental structure of Schw&bisch Hall about 1500 might perhaps lead to the discovery of a definitive seat of power and authority. If such a determination were reached, it might possibly point to the privy council or mayor. Yet given prior research coupled with the extant contemporary sources, one must still single out the twenty-six member council as the pillar of governmental authority in the small imperial city. Not only did the council reflect most accurately the social stratifications within the city, but it also enjoyed the ultimate power to reach unalterable judgements regarding the actual governing of the imperial city. The council, pre­ viously controlled by wealthy and powerful aristocratic families, following the years 1509-1512 adopted a quite 129 different societal complexion as a result of crucial political events concerning matters of social prestige and council membership. An investigation of the political occurrences in these years immediately preceding the Reformation might further elucidate the actual seat of governmental authority in the Schwabisch Hall of the early sixteenth century. CHAPTER FOUR

THE POLITICAL UPHEAVAL OE 1509-1512

Political upheavals like historical events of all descriptions do not follow prescribed courses of action but rather reflect the innumerable variables which constantly reduce the study of history itself to an erratic art por­ traying the foibles and fickle nature of human interactions. In 1508 no middle-class citizens of Schwabisch Hall planned to disrupt the political constitution of the city or to challenge the majority of the aristocracy by shifting coun­ cil membership to a new basis weighted in favor of the mid­ dle-class and artisan citizens. Not even Hermann Buschler, the middle-class protagonist throughout the affair, desired: to cast off the constitutionally prescribed stipulations guaranteeing aristocratic domination of the council. Yet by challenging the prestige and honor of the old established families in a matter only tangentially related to council business, Buschler opened a proverbial Pandora’s box of smoldering, resentments and initiated a series of judicial processes which eventually resulted in a new political com­ position of the Schwabisch Hall city council. In a larger sense, however, the events of 1509-1512 did not Initiate

130 131 political changes leading toward greater middle-class par­ ticipation in the council so much as they acted as a cata­ lyst which brought long-standing discrepancies between aris­ tocratic political power versus actual wealth and social prestige to a final resolution*^ Middle-class attempts to secure a more equitable dis­ tribution of council and court seats had already surfaced ' sporadically throughout the previous decades but most notice­ ably in 1488* At that time Wilhelm SeBler, a middle-class member of the court, verbally attacked the entrenched power of the aristocratic judges to dictate arbitrarily exactly who could enter the court and council as well as who must leave. In 1488 eight aristocrats and four middle-class rep­ resentatives constituted the court, while the larger council itself enjoyed a typical majority of middle-class and artisan

•« The acts of the Imperial Court provide excellent source materials relating to the history of the political upheaval in Schwabisch Hall from 1509 to 1512* Two proceedings deal with the affair, one leveled against BUschler by the seven aristocratic councilmen and in turn the aristocratic domi­ nated council of the period (HStA, RKG, H 503), and another instigated by Biischler himself and directed against the same seven aristocrats (HStA, RKG, B 6628)* Supplementing these materials is an eyewitness account by Johann Herolt in his Chronica, pp. 170-175. At the time Herolt was still a student in Hall and thus provides a concise yet revealing view of the events connected with the upheaval. Still an­ other interpretation is offered by the nineteenthrcentury historian Julius Gmelin in his Hallische Geschichte, pp. 598-606. A brief analysis of tliis upheaval has been pro­ vided by Gerhard Wunder in his article "Die Haller Rats- verstorung von 1509 bis 1512," WFr, Vol. 30, NF 20 (1955), PP* 57-68,

i 132 representatives, SeBler, apparently distraught over the seemingly unassailable position of the aristocratic judges, exclaimed during the annual election on July 23, 1488, that "he must protest against the ability of the aristocratic judges to include those class representatives whom they want on the council while excluding perhaps more qualified people from the lower classes strictly due to the desire to maintain aristocratic domination of the council and court."2 At that point in the proceedings, the mayor Fritz Schlez, the aristocratic judges Burkhard Eberhard, Eberhard Nagel, and Michel Senft, and the councilman Kunz Keck stormed out of the meeting, SeBler, not wishing to appear apologetic or to leave himself open to counter-attacks from the remain­ ing aristocratic members, also left the chamber in an equal­ ly heated manner. The still assembled councilmen then futilely attempted to quiet both factions. The aristocratic judges, insulted and incensed, felt that "their honor had been besmirched and that SeBler should not again be seated in the council until he had been properly punished for his outburst."^ The majority of the councilmen officially stated their regret over the matter and twice attempted to reconcile the opposing factions. The council eventually

2StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1488, pp. 191-192 5Ibid. 135 singled out SeBler, stating that "he had strayed too much with his loose and inappropriate speech and ought to be silent so as not to widen and further divide the council."4 Finally SeBler declared to the opposition party that "to be quite truthful with one another concerning the matter, he still stood, albeit alone, steadfastly by his prior accusa­ tion. He had made a speech which he could not in good faith retract."** Nevertheless, SeBler maintained that he spoke as a friend of the council, knowing that the events of this g year had caused innumerable disagreements and quarrels. Finally he asked that as a citizen of the empire, he be allowed to approach the emperor who could himself decide whether SeBler*s petition warranted an investigation. The aristocratic councilmen rejected his petition, noting that they had already suffered a grievous affront to their honor. Through their predominant position in the court, these judges censured SeBler for his impudence yet only fined him a mere sum of five pounds for his verbal affront. This lax punishment, less harsh than several proposed by Senft and Nagel, nevertheless ameliorated the class representatives on the council and forestalled any future attempt by SeBler

4Ibid. ^Xbid. See also BUrgerschaft WGQ, pp. 38-39 and 536.

6Ibid. 134 to seek further imperial recognition of his demands. The next year SeBler was quietly removed from the council in retribution for his espousal of greater participation in council activities on the part of the middle class and arti- 7 sans. Noteworthy is the fact that the opponents of SeBler were the fathers of those aristocratic councilmen who would oppose Hermann Biischler twenty years later in a comparable' yet initially more subtle and eventually more successful reconstitution of the Schwabisch Hall city council. In 1508 Hermann Biischler, serving as the first mayor of Schwabisch Hall from the ranks of the middle class, again unleashed a somewhat similar assault on the political dominance of the aristocracy. Biischler had attained the position of mayor not so much through his inordinate amount of wealth as through his marriage with Anna Hornburger, an Q aristocratic lady from Rothenburg. As marriage constituted an acceptable albeit dubious manner for claiming aristocratic status, Biischler found himself accepted by many of the old established families as a social equal while rejected by others as an ambitious upstart. The council nevertheless selected him to serve in the highest civic office, thereby expressing official confidence in not only his personal ability to perform the duties of the office but also the

*^StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1489, p. 243 8Ibid., 4/205, 1488, pp. 191-192. legitimacy of his claim to aristocratic status. Yet despite this official acceptance, in November of 1509* during his year as ex-officio mayor, Buschler sought admission to the aristocratic drinking tavern not as a guest but as a member in his own right. The tavern, which had stood for over a hundred years in one of the old seven houses facing the marketplace, belonged at the time to the widow of Hans von1 Rinderbach, the second wealthiest person in the city.^ Buschler was promptly informed that although he was more than welcome to enter aB a guest, he could not be accepted as a member due to his basically middle-class status. Neither documents nor legends disclose whether Buschler knew the policy of the aristocratic drinking tavern prior to that fateful night, although apparently he should have been well aware of the proprietor's probable answer to his supplication for entry as a recognized peer. The primary question, equally unanswerable, lies in the intent with which Biischler sought admission into the aristocratic tavern. Following official recognition by the council of his de facto aristocratic status, BUschler perhaps expected that follow­ ing one year as mayor and another as ex-officio mayor, the social hub of aristocratic life in the city could not refuse him the modicum of prestige that he had already won. V/hether

9StA Beetlisten, 4/1857 (1509-1510) and Herolt, Chronica, p. 143. . * ‘ 136 or not BUschler had intended to press the issue “before the flat rejection, the treatment he received at the tavern spurred him to bring up the matter of an exclusively aris­ tocratic Ratskeller at the next council meeting.^ Realizing that the aristocratic-dorainated court would fail to support him in any retaliatory measures, Buschler used his power as ex-officio mayor to summon a meeting of the entire council in which the middle class and artisans enjoyed a majority of seventeen votes to nine, Thereupon BUschler proposed to the council the construction of a new drinking tavern in a house on the marketplace belonging to the hospital, * Because it was "irritating that one could stand in the marketplace in rain or snow futilely seeking entrance to the council drinking tavern while the aristo- 11 crats sat dry and comfortable within," Biischler felt that all the councilmen should support the erection of a tavern open to all council members regardless of birth or social status. With a vote of sixteen versus ten, the council accepted the resolution "to break out several apartments and adjoining walls in order to build a drinking tavern in which

1 n Herolt, Chronica, p. 170, For other accounts of the event see BUrgerBchalt WG-Q, pp. 38-40, ^Herolt, Chronica, p. 170. 1 p- Bilrgers chaft WG-Q, p. 40. 137

council members could meet together in order to consider common civic matters and at the same time enjoy the company of the entire citizenry. The resolution having passed, the council then drafted plans for the actual construction of the new tavern. An immediate snag occurred when an anonymous councilman requi­ sitioned a wagon load of timber from the director of the hospital, who in turn approached the acting mayor Veit von Einderbach;^ The young aristocratic mayor, only slightly older than Biischler while half as wealthy, resented the entire affair and sought once again to curtail the construc­ tion by securing council renunciation of the proposal. Von Einderbach cited the inherent damage to the hospital that he felt would result from such construction while attacking Biischler1s self-gratifying motives for introducing the pro­ posal to the council in the first place. For all his efforts von Einderbach received only seven votes in the council to 15 support his resolution that the earlier proposal be revoked. Despite the affront such a resolution posed to the exclusive social prestige of the older established aristocratic mem­ bers, the elder Jorg Berler and Engelhart von Morstein

^Herolt, Chronica, p. 170.

14HStA EKGi C3-8, B 6628.' ^ S t A Eatsprotokolle, 4/206, 1509, pp. lxxv-xcii. 138 supported BUschler and the erection of the new drinking tavern as a justifiable and reasonable demand on the part of the council as a whole.^ The very fact that the voting did not strictly follow partisan or class lines reflects that at least several aristocrats felt little direct threat to their own personal prestige by such an action while oth­ ers regarded the entire affair as an attack on the exclu­ siveness of upper-class status. Despite the council set­ back, von Einderbach and his six aristocratic cohorts began to think about summoning outside help against Biischler and his proposal. These seven, whose role in the early stage of the quarrel perhaps led to the origination of the legend concerning the first seven citizens of Schwabisch Hall (die Siebenbttrgersage). were Rudolf Nagel, Gilg Senft, Veit and Utz von Rinderbach, Volk von Rofidorf, Hans SchultheiS, and Werner Keck.^7 Rudolf Nagel, the Hall representative to the Swabian League, attempted to secure intervention by either the League or the emperor himself. In the spring of 1510 Nagel represented the city at the diet at Augsburg and. was absent from the imperial city for approximately forty- seven days.^® While attending the diet Nagel implored the

^^BUrgersohaft WGQ, p. 40.

17HStA RKG, C3-8, H 503. ^®For Rudolf Nagel*s role in the upheaval see HStA RKG, C3-8, H 503 and B 6628. Also of interest is Gerhard Wunder*s "Der Haller Stettmeister Rudolf Nagel," Der Haalquell Nr. 8 (July 1962), p. 32. 159 emperor to intervene directly in the matter, whereupon Emperor Maximilian I authorized three city representatives, Dr. Matthes Neithart of Ulm, Caspar NUtzel of Niirnberg, and JSrg Langenmantel of Augsburg, "to settle the misunder­ standings and quarrels between the aristocracy and the community in general of Schwabisch Hall.9 unfortunately for BUschler the pre-arranged chairman of the imperial commission, Dean Erasmus lopler, busy with treaty negotia­ tions elsewhere could not attend to the Schwabisch Hall affair, thereby leaving the chairmanship of the committee to a rather notorious enemy of the middle class, Dr. Nei­ thart* On May 19 and 20, 1510, the three arrived in Hall and on the following day Neithart, the chosen representa­ tive, attended a council meeting for the express purpose of observing the proceedings and fudging council testimony concerning the quarrel. Following a brief statement of intent by Dr. Neithart, Rudolf Nagel seized the opportunity to deliver a long, extended diatribe against Buschler and his cohorts. Nagel reproached them for planning to put the aristocracy at a natural disadvantage through unconstitu­ tional methods and of planning to tax "the poor but honorable country people," meaning the landed aristocracy, much too heavily. Nagel then added that the councilmen from the community were certainly not excluded from the discussion

19HStA RKG, 03-8, H 503* 140

of their grievances and concluded that in the question of the drinking tavern, Biischler. and his cohorts were almost criminally negligent in their disregard for the future wel­ fare of the hospital,**0

The repeated accusations leveled at Buschler and his followers centered around the following major contentions: that the construction of a drinking tavern in the house belonging to the hospital would entail unnecessary expenses; that the advocates of this plan, which indeed included the majority of the council, should excuse themselves from vot­ ing on the matter due to their interests in the erection of the tavern; that the council would be forced to increase the taxes on "the poor honorable people in the country" in order to raise the necessary funds for construction of the tavern; and that community representatives were gradually usurping civic positions constitutionally guaranteed to members of the aristocracy* To illustrate the latter point Nagel referred to the fact that in 1508 Hans Biischler, a cousin of Hermann and a middle-class citizen, had succeeded Philipp Schlez, a member of the aristocracy, as a council representative. Nagel also pointed out that due to the diminishing significance of the position of city clerk, a

20Ibid. StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1508, p. lxvi. 141

common citizen rather than an aristocrat would he appointed to the office. In this example he cited the present city clerk, Hans Mangolt, the brother of the equally middle- class councilman Jos Mangolt ,22

Biischler later answered these charges in an official declaration placed before the Imperial Court but for seem­ ingly inexplicable reasons did not respond during the coun­ cil meeting itself to these accusations. One version of the proceedings of May 21, 1510, indicates that when directed to answer the charges immediately, Buschler asked in turn for more time in order to consider a properly succinct and appropriate rebuttal. Other sources also point to Biisch- ler1s natural reticence to discuss the matter in a heated moment lest he play into the hands of his adversaries and their loyal accomplice Dr. Neithart, whose inclinations in favor of the aristocratic interests were apparent to all concerned parties.2'* In effect, however, Biischler*s silence at this crucial moment strengthened Nagel's hand and enabled Br, Neithart to conclude a settlement favorable to the con­ tinued aristocratic domination of the city council. Under the ominous tone of Br, Neithart's summary of his initial observations, the council meeting was quickly adjourned and

22Ibid. Also see HStA RKG, 03-8, H 503. 2^Wunder, "Bie Ratsverstorung von 1509 his 1512," WEr, Vol. 30, NE 20 (1955), p. 61. 142

the imperial representative retired with his two fellow commissioners to decide upon an official agreement to he signed hy the emperor. On May 25, 1510, Dr. Neithart's treaty was promulgated and on June 7 confirmed in Augsburg by the emperor. The treaty stipulated the following points: 1) In the future the council should continue to be constituted by the representation of twelve "honorable and old families" ^Uhe aristocracy^ as well as six middle-class citizens and eight artisans. 2) The mayor should be selected from among the ranks of the "honorable and old families" as he had from the earliest period up until the appointment of Hermann Buschler. 3) Seven aristocrats should continually represent the upper-class interests on the twelve-member court# 4) Every bureaucratic position in the city should be filled by the simultaneous service of one aristocrat and one representative from the community. 5) The small Council of Five should consist of the acting mayor, two aristocrats, and two representa­ tives from the community.24 Also included in the general provisions were the stipula­ tions that the landed aristocrats should be taxed and treated exactly as they had been in the past, and that the construc­ tion of the tavern should be forever discontinued in the present or any other location, and that those who neglected the interests of the hospital in such a criminal fashion as BUschler and his immediate cohorts should be immediately

24HStA RKG, C3-8, H 503. 143 removed from the council.2^ Thus in July of 1510 not only BUschler, but also Hans Baumann, who was married to a cousin of BUschler* s, Hans Ott, Michel Haug, and Korad Hbcklin were all removed from the council. Three aristocrats, Simon Berler, Hans von Morstein, and Michel Schlez, and two arti­ sans, Leonhard Wezel and Hans Eisenmenger, filled the now 26 vacant seats. The majority once enjoyed by Buschler and the middle class appeared irretrievably demolished, leaving in its wake an even stronger aristocratic political domina­ tion of the council than that preceding the events of 1509. With the possible exception of provision four, the major five stipulations of Dr. Neithart*s treaty did not alter the prior constitutional complexion of Schwabisch Hall. The aristocracy had always enjoyed a majority in the Council of Five as well as on the court, and, with the sole exception of Hermann BUschler, had controlled the important position of mayor. The crucial stipulations were in fact the tangen­ tial provisions dealing with the drinking tavern and the removal of all avid proponents of the resolution. Desiring to press their advantage, the seven aristocrats perhaps pressed too hard for a direct and somewhat revengeful attack

2“*For the treaty stipulations also see the StA Rats- protokolle, 4/206, 1509, pp. xc-xci. Herolt also provides an extremely critical interpretation of Dr. Neithart*s role in the affair. See Herolt, Chronica, pp. 170-172, 2^StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1510, p. xciii. 144

on a resolution only tangentially related to council busi­ ness. The charge of collusion appears q.uite warranted when speaking of Dr. Neithart's hasty settlement of the consti­ tutional crisis dividing the council. Had this commission even attempted to feign impartiality, the entire affair might possibly have subsided. Yet the harsh terras of May 25, 1510, insured the continued resistance of not a few citizens of the Schwelbisch Hall community.2^ Rejoicing in the triumph, Nagel publicly boasted that were BUschler to remain in the city, he might possibly have 28 to forfeit his head. Similar and more realizable threats against BUschler*s life were made by yet other members of the aristocratic circle. BUschler, hearing of the threats and still hoping to rectify the ever-worsening situation, left the city on May 21, the very day of the council meeting with Dr. Neithart.2^ Realizing that justice would not re­ sult from any of Dr. Neithart's proposals, BUschler did not care to forfeit precious time by awaiting the formal declaration of the imperial commission's decrees. Bilschler rather left for Wimpfen in order to seek, on behalf of him­ self and the citizens of Hall, the direct intervention of

2^Herolt, Chronica, pp. 170-175.

28HStA RKG, C3-8, B 6628. 2^Ibid. See also Wunder's "Die Haller Ratsverstorung von 1509H5T s 1512," WEr, Vol. 30, NE 20 (1955), pp. 57-61. 145 the emperor,^0 With this rather fateful decision, BUschler unwittingly committed himself to a two-year period of wan­ dering which would lead him on numerous visits to cities hosting meetings of the Imperial Court. Although Buschler returned at times to limpurg, his estate and possessions in Hall were left completely in the hands of his wife dur­ ing the years 1510-1512.^ This period of somewhat self- imposed exile from Schwabisch Hall was also one of frustra­ tion and continual setbacks for Biischler. As early as the summer of 1510, Hermann Buschler appeared before the emperor in Constance. Recounting the events of the preceding months, BUschler pleaded for impe­ rial assistance against those aristocrats who had threatened not- only him but also the well-being of his community. On September 12, 1510, the emperor commanded the imperial judge Count Adolf von Nassau that "since no one should be deprived of legal rights, BUschler's appeal must be inves- tigated.11" The seven city aristocrats, playing upon their

50Ibid. 31StA Beetlisten. 4/1858 (1511-1512) 8, Bl. Nr. 86.

52HStA RKG, C3-8, b '6628. ^ Ibid. Also present at the meeting with Biischler were Hermann.von Zeller and the Secretary Magistrate Vinzenz. Rudolf Nagel1s ability to undermine the promises granted Buschler at this imperial meeting has been attributed to these two supporters of the aristocracy who enjoyed the emperor's confidence. See Biirgerschaft WGQ, pp. 40-41. 146 relations in the Swabian League and the imperial entourage, succeeded in frustrating any attempts on behalf of Buschler. In the autumn of 1510 Rudolf Nagel was in Ulm three times and in Augsburg once, attempting to persuade the emperor to maintain support of the official findings of the Neithart 2 J commission. As a result the emperor reversed his earlier commitment to Biischler, ordering on December 30, 1510, that the Imperial Court “not bother his aristocratic friends in Schwabisch Hall again with this matter but rather let them work it out among themselves.11 ^ Nagel had apparently led. the emperor to believe that under the appearance of law and justice, Biischler had burdened the city with exorbitant debts and unleashed this unabated political quarrel. Nagel also contended that the newest treaty between the aristoc­ racy and the community, adopted in seeming unanimity, had been disparaged by Biischler thereby bringing the city into a state of near anarchy.^ On January 21, 1511» Biischler answered the Imperial Court in the following manner: the emperor had been induced to disregard the matter because

54StA St R, Nr. 336/337. ^This decree, issued along with fiscal reports also discussed at the Imperial Court meeting in Preiburg, may be seen in the HStA RKG-, C3-8, H 503. ^Ibid, One might also consult Biischler's rendition of RudoTTTTagel*s meddling nature and intrigues at the Imperial Court by consulting the documents referring to Biischler*s legal suit, HStA RKG, C3-8, B 6628. 147 the aristocrats from Schwabisch Hall had convinced him that the verdict had been justly and impartially decided. He pleaded once again to relate before a deliberative body the legal charges leveled against him along with a rebuttal of those charges. ’’Were anything less granted, X would still feel deprived of my rights," BUschler maintained,37 In response Biischler received on May 13, 1511, a safe- conduct pass to represent his matter to the council in Hall, the body to which the Imperial Court in desperation had referred the legal proceedings. Realising that the council could not and would not render a just settlement of the dis­ pute between himself and the seven aristocrats, Biischler viewed this development as the ultimate setback in a long series of disappointments. Yet luckily for Buschler the Schwabisch Hall city council itself anticipated trying the case no more than Biischler. Divided by inner cleavages regarding the entire affair, the city fathers astutely felt that the council could not reach a fair and unbiased deci­ sion in a matter so interwoven with the basic social com­ position of the city itself. Between April and July, Dr. Simon Berler, who in July had been elected mayor, and the city clerk Hans Mangolt waived their right to review BUsch- 7Q ler's case, again throwing it back to the Imperial Court.y

37Ibid. 38&melin, Hailische Geschichte, pp. 600-603* 148

Important is the very wording of Biischler*s appeal "before the Imperial Court* Designed as a humble suppli­ cation for justice, the petition also contains Buschler*s own rendition of the events leading up to his exile from Schwabisch Hall and implores the judges to enable him to return home with honor in the not too distant future. The actual petition reads as follows: Highborn and gracious lords, Imperial Roman Counselors, and other wellborn and honorable Magistrates and Judges, gracious and sympathetic lords on the Imperial Court: In comparison to your dignity, honor, and nobility, I am indeed unworthy to lay my difficulties at your feet but must as a necessity presume upon your graciousness to present a problem facing not only me but the good citizens of my community as well. In Schwabisch Hall, where I am a resident and a councilman, the citizens have for well over a hundred years observed- the obli­ gation and in truth the wise tradition that at any given time the inner or smaller council, as it ia known, should be composed of twenty-six persons, which before has consisted of twelve representatives from the distinguished aristocratic families, seven from the community, and seven from the artisan class.39 Even today the council is so constituted. With time, which seems to transform all things, many of the old aristocratic families have left the city. The tradi­ tion has thus conferred council membership on the same aristocratic families who now control twelve seats on the council while the growing ranks of middle- class and artisan citizens have contented themselves, with the original seats allotted them as a result of the noble decree of 1340. This custom and old tradition, when compared to other arrangements, is both a benefi­ cial and honorable practice which was expertly insti­ tuted and arranged by an honorable Roman Emperor of old. Due to this unique composition, the honorable council of Hall is especially free of institutional drawbacks

Although the twenty-six member council was in fact referred to as the "inner or smaller council" during this period, it later adopted the name larger or general council as opposed to the smaller body, the court. 149

and can blame not the tradition of council composi­ tion itself hut rather individual councilmen when someone serving as a representative seeks to quell discontent in the body by squelching a matter that should be considered by the entire council. Such affairs considered the sole concern of no one other than the seven honorable aristocratic councilmen or a faction of the seven should be dealt with consti­ tutionally by the entire body, and those attempting to divide and eliminate the freedom of expression within the council should be severely punished. Gracious and sympathetic lords: The past year about St. Martin's Day it happened that the honorable coun­ cil itself and a majority of councilmen had the good intention to construct in a house belonging to the hospital, a drinking tavern in which the council mem­ bers at times could meet in order to discuss council business among themselves and to enjoy the company of all citizens of the community. The matter, honorably discussed and decided upon, led to the adoption of the resolution and the beginning of construction on an open street in the city. Several councilmen who opposed the resolution finally succeeded in halting the construction when the head of the hospital was requisitioned for a wagon load of timber. He in turn approached the mayor, who, with several other aristo­ cratic councilmen, attempted once again to forestall construction of the tavern, citing the undue expenses such a building would entail.40 BUschler then proceeded to name Rudolf Nagel, Gilg Senft, Veit and TJtz von Rinderbach, Volk von Rofldorf, Hans Schult- heiB, and Werner Keck in his indictment, mentioning that they had secured imperial intervention in the matter on false pretenses and had controlled the decisions rendered by Dr. Matthes Neithart of Ulm, whose verdict favored the aristocratic interests. Biischler quoted Nagel as threaten­ ing to have the ex-officio mayor actually beheaded were he

40HStA RKG, C3-8, B 6628. 150 to remain in Hall, a threat which finally forced Buschler to forsake not only his rights as a citizen and his council seat hut even his wife and children in order to rectify the ever-worsening situation in his native city. He thus continued the petition in the following manner: I would also like to present to Your Most Honorable Judges one further facet of this case. I was repeat­ edly advised by numerous aristocratic friends whom I know through business channels, that within several days of the verdict rendered by Ur. Neithart they heard one Rudolf Nagel state in a city outside Hall's territory that were I to remain in Hall, he would have my head. Since it is undoubtedly illegal accord­ ing to imperial law for someone to disparage one's honor unjustly by using unduly the power of business pressures as well as for someone to threaten another with punishment for an alleged offense before such charges are substantiated through legal channels, I depend upon this Court for redress against the physi­ cal threats leveled against me. Nor should one be subjected to the necessity of fleeing from home and family or hindered from seeking legal recognition of his grievances according to our just imperial laws. Finally one's honor and good name in the community should not be freely besmirched as mine has been by those who still seek to intimidate me and my family, occupy my valuable time with needless and unprovoked remonstrations, and hinder my attempts to seek a ^ just and equitable settlement of our differences. At this point in the petition Biischler, worried lest he appear too presumptuous, softened his attack and adopted a somewhat pleading tone for any type of settlement that would allow him to do the one thing he most fervently desired— to return home.

41Ibid 151

Wishing to return to the simple cares of running my household and caring for my family, from whom I am separated by these seven aforementioned persons and their accomplices with whom they have conspired and united, I throw myself at the mercy of Your Honorable Judges, humbly seeking a merciful settlement between myself and the honorable seven Counselors and their cohorts who have burdened me with difficulties too numerous to relate and too heavy to endure. I beseech that Your honorable Judges might judge roe according to the just laws of the empire so that in a short time I might be allowed to return to my home content in the knowledge that the safety of my community’s traditions, safeguarded and secure, shall remain forever as a tribute to any of its fellow imperial citieB. If you do indeed find me innocent of the charges leveled against me before the close of this meeting of the Imperial Court, I humbly hope that you will see fit to release me from the odious neces­ sity of wandering from city to city without the hope of ever returning home. If, on the other hand, you find me guilty of inciting the grievous quarrel which has engulfed my community and legally bind me as re­ sponsible for injurious actions and demeanor, I will nonetheless accept your verdict readily and will faith­ fully submit myself to the just and impartial laws of the empire. As it can clearly be noticed from the documents before you which testify to my honor and good name, I will heartily accept the decision of this Court as a humble servant of the Empire. I always attempt to see and to hear that which testi­ fies to the impartial nature of imperial law and hope that you might graciously save me from this seemingly eternal period of exile from the home that I love and cherish.42 The petition, signed "Your humble servant, Hermann Biischler," requires little further explanation. Biischler simply asked the Imperial Court for justice and the defense of his honor. He appealed to the fact that no one should be condemned as guilty of a certain deed without due process of the law.

^ For the original transcript of the petition see the records of the judicial process itself contained in HStA KKG, C3-8, B 6628. 152

Thus imperial law in Germany at the time contained the ele­ ments not only of the so-called right to a writ of habeas corpus, but also a much more medieval concept of defending one's honor and respected stature in the community against unwarranted affronts. To Biischler's disappointment and consternation, the Imperial Court consistently refused to touch what they ap­ parently considered a strictly local matter to be resolved through local governmental and judicial institutions. The acts of the Imperial Court, which during this period held proceedings in Rothenburg, Heilbronn, and BinkelsbUhl, only recommended that the affair was nothing more than a private quarrel to be reconciled by the Schwabisch Hall mayor and council. The undated proceedings from November 10, 1511, to February 8, 1512, contain no mention of the affair whatso­ ever. Biischler later admitted that he had unsuccessfully attempted in each of these sessions to appear before the Court and that he had indeed been in these three cities at 4.3 the same time as the Imperial Court sessions. The beginning of 1512 marked an apparent shift in the temper toward Biischler's suit not only in the imperial entou­ rage but also in the imperial city itself. At the beginning of the new year the city clerk Hans Mangolt referred to the increasing tensions between Rudolf Nagel and his supporters

43Ibid. 155 and Hermann Biischler'b crowd (Rott) . ^ Indeed the politi­ cal climate was shifting against the intransigence of the aristocratic opponents and toward the settlement of the affair in a manner favorable to BUschler and the middle class in general. The counoil and indeed less vindictive mem­ bers of the aristocracy had previously differed with both Nagel and von Rinderbach over their intransigence in regard to the Biischler affair. In the final months of 1511 the council itself had overridden Nagel's opposition toward overtures designed to woo Biischler back to the city. In December of 1511 the council had even sought Biischler's friendship and "forgiveness" by offering him twenty-four casks of wine were he to return to Hall, This offer was extended while Biischler was residing in Gelbingen, under AC the protection of the Limpurgian lord. ^ The more amenable aristocratic judges apparently hoped to quiet Biischler while Btill offering him an honorable way to return to the city. These aristocrats, including Jbrg Berler and Engel- hart von Morstein, succeeded in gaining enough votes in July of 1512 to remove Nagel from the council, a grievous affront to the former aristocratic mayor and an open invi- - tation for Biischler to return to Schwabisch Hall.^

^ S t A St R, Nr. 342 (Pauli Bekehrung— Georgii 1512), ^St A St R, Nr. 341 (Simonis Judae— Pauli Bekehrung 1512). ^ S t A Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1512, p. ciiii. 154

Undoubtedly well aware of the more favorable political climate in his native city, Biischler was nonetheless wary of accepting proffered expressions of friendship from his fellow citizens until they could also extend promises that the adverse political developments which originally drove him from Schwabisch Hall had been completely resolved in favor of the middle-class interests. His increased suspi­ cions, aroused during the early months of 1512 by a visit of the city -mayor Simon Berler and the city clerk Hans Man- golt to the emperor, residing at the time in NUrnberg, only intensified his feelings of isolation. Berler and Mangolt had indeed met with the emperor in an apparent attempt to convince him to relieve the city council and city officials of the odious necessity of resolving the extended quarrel,^ Biischler himself felt that they had submitted proposals detrimental to his rights at NUrnberg and WUrzburg and later wrote that he stood "alone and without assistance,"^ forced, to bear patiently the insults and taunts of his opponents. Due to his nebulous status as a citizen of the empire, the former mayor of Schwabisch Hall filed on April 6, 1512, for imperial protection with the notary public Bernhard Hiifilin in Frankfurt. On April 10, 1512, BUschler again requested

^ S t A St R, Nr. 542 (Pauli Bekehrung— Georgii 1512). 48HStA RKG, C5-8, B 6628. 155

imperial protection from any retaliatory measures on the part of his adversaries while staying in Worms,^ Yet another setback ensued when the emperor ordered on May 7» 1512, that "since nothing of substance could presently be changed" without creating "apparent unrest and confusion at the same time, the Imperial Court should take no action whatsoever against the Schwabisch Hall city council on behalf of the complaint lodged by Hermann Biischler. Apparently undaunted by the most recent events, Biischler renewed in Worms his suit against the seven aristocrats as well aB a private suit against Daniel Senft, Philipp Schlez, and the feeble-minded lutz Keck. Biischler initiated this private suit on May 21, charging slanderous statements on the part of the three aristocrats.^ On May 29, the notary public Ulrich Castner lodged the complaint in Schwabisch

^ Ibid. Biischler's pessimism during this period perhaps reflected nis quite realistic appraisal of the influence he enjoyed with the Court as opposed to that of his opponents. Aristocratic involvement designed to thwart Buschler*s ap­ peals are at times recorded in the Hall documents of the period. In one such example, the documents refer to a chance meeting during the council break of July 1512, when the mayor Simon Berler, the city clerk, and several honorable members of the community happened to meet the emperor on the road to Trier. Shortly thereafter they met the seven aristocratic opponents of Biischler traveling together on the same road, ostensibly on a business errand. See the StA St R, Nr. 544 (Jakobi-Siraonis Judae 1512). _ ......

51 HStA RKG-, C3-8, B 6628. 156

Hall and publicly appealed for "Godly, civic, and judicial support" on behalf of Biischler's cause.52 Following these long and tortuous endeavors punctuated by innumerable setbacks, Biischler was finally granted per­ mission once again to approach the emperor. The emperor's decision to grant Biischler the long-awaited interview stemmed largely from a desire to rid himself of the trouble­ some and tiresome series of legal proceedings which had become an increasing burden to the Imperial Court. Biisch­ ler, hoping to impress the emperor with the urgency of his plea, decided to attract the emperor's attention by means of an outlandish costume representing his plight. A wheel attached to his breast, ashes and soot strewn on his bare head, a rope around his neck, and dressed in woolen clothes carrying an unsheathed sword in one hand and a petition in the other, Biischler approached the emperor.55 He pleaded for merciful justice and declared himself ready to endure the verdict even if it called for the sword, the wheel, K A the rope, or death itBelf. ^ The emperor's immediate reac­ tion to this particular approach and entreaty has, alas, escaped mention by any of the court scribes or city chroni­ clers, Yet the fact remains that Biischler found the emperor

52Ibid. 55Herolt, Chronica, p. 173. 54Ibid. well disposed to the petition and to the cause of the middle class of Schwabisch Hall* The head of the Hall salt works, Hans Wezel, had only recently received his coat of arms from the emperor in Cologne,^ Accordingly, the emperor promised a new arbitration commission, composed of Count Joachim von Ottingen, the Abbot Jobst from Roggenburg, Walter von HUrnheim, Konrad Herwolt from Augsburg, Jakob Muffel from NUrnberg, Hans Jagstheimer from Rothenburg, and Ambrosius Bttchelberger from DinkelsbUhl.^ Two other representatives, Ernst von Welden and Wilhelm von Knoringen, who were mem­ bers of the original investigation commission, remained on the committee.^ On October 16, 1612, this new imperial commission entered Schwabisch Hall intent on finally resolving the two-year old quarrel. One hundred armored men were assigned to the protection of the commissioners and were stationed by the council house. The expectant enthusiasm coupled with hostility created an atmosphere of extreme tension, forcing the guards at times to patrol the streets. The commission, wanting to finish the affair in a manner that might ameliorate all factions, decided to deliberate at length,

^Faber, WUrtt, Familienstiftungen, Hr, 114, 15 tSup- plement, p. 48).

56HStA RKG, C3-8, H 503. 158 interviewing all concerned parties and interrogating the major participants in the legal suits.At one particular point in the sessions, the not too patient citizens of Hall marched on the city council house, where the commissioners were gathered. These irate citizens obviously felt that the commission had deliberated long enough and demanded that they conclude an immediate agreement, thereby resolving the entire affair. Brandishing torches, clubs, and guns, these citizens denounced the undue length of the proceedings and "encouraged” the commissioners to reach a settlement reflecting the com- raunity well-being. The commissioners announced that those concerned be quiet and return to their homes. Count Joachim von Ottingen announced to the mob that the results of the arbitration would be announced the next morning. Despite the disbelief of the crowd, on October 29, 1512, between eight and nine o'clock in the morning, the decision of the commission was posted on the free market and on the steps of St. Michael's.

5SIbid. •^Wilhelm German cited this event as a small revolution in itself, one which ultimately forced the commissioners to conclude a treaty favorable to middle-class and artisan in­ terests. The actual documents, however, indicate that the very composition of the commission was weighted in favor of BuBchler, and that the constant unrest in the city and this episode in particular proved more of a liability and a nui­ sance than an event forcing the commissioners to reach a hasty agreement benefitting Buschler and his somewhat impetuous group of artisan backers. See Wilhelm German, Chronik von Schwabisch Hall und Umgebung, pp. 138-139* 159

The commissioners, under the leadership of Count Joachim von Cttingen, assembled on the church steps at nine o'clock facing the three concerned parties: first, the mayor, the elder J5rg Berler, the council and the community; second, the seven aristocratic judges and their supporters; and third, Hermann Buschler and his following. The count reported that the commission, due to the absence of two commissioners, did not constitute a quorum. He continued that the commission­ ers nevertheless wanted to curtail the continuing bitterness between both parties which daily "divides, deepens, and widens," and had therefore advised both partieB to accept an amicable settlement. The count then declared Dr. Neithart's settlement, its imperial confirmation, and the relative man­ dates null and void. After revoking Dr. Neithart's treaty, the commission then reversed the enforcement acts which had been drawn up originally by the Imperial Court. At last the count read the arbitration treaty drawn up by the Beven com­ missioners and declared that all quarrels, misunderstandings, and dissension come immediately to an end. Since all of the "preceding enmity had only impaired and muddled the basically sound political complexion of the city," the decisions of the commission were read to the assembled citizens:^® 1) Emperor Bouis's Acts of 1340 would again be reinstated with their original force.

60HStA RKG, H 508. 160

2) The majority of the council should have the right to erect a tavern in the house belonging to the hos­ pital or in any other location. In case of yet another quarrel concerning the point, Count Joachim von Ottingen should act as an arbiter.

’5) Members of the council and court should not parti­ cipate on matters affecting their familial relations or business interests in a direct manner. 4) The poor people of honor in the countryside should not be overburdened with more services and legal pro­ ceedings, but rather should be freed from many of the obligations expected of their ancestors,

5) In the method for constituting the council and determining class representation on the council, absolutely no alterations should be made.°1 Following the promulgation of this act "publicly with good German words, and so loud that the citizens in the marketplace could hear and understand it all," the coun­ cil and the community, the assorted aristocratic partici­ pants, and Biischler swore "with upraised fingers to God and His Holiness a sounding oath, that they and their descen­ dants would abide by all the stipulations of this and

Emperor Louis's contract forever, and would neither deviBe 62 nor allow anything to contradict it." The commissioners

61Ibid. 62 The actual text of Herolt*s chronicle reads as follows on this important point: "Nachdem die Urkunde darttber, bffent- lich mit guten deutschen Worten und so laut, daB es manniglich am Markt wohl hbren und verstehen mogen, verlesen worden war, schworen Rat und Gemeinde, die 7 Adligen und Hermann BUschler, mit uffgeboten Fingern zu Gott und seinen Heiligen eine gelehrten Eid, daB sie mit ihren Nachkommen diesen und Kaiser Ludwigs Vertrag filr ewige Zeiten und unter alien Umstanden halten und nichts dagegen schaffen oder gestatten wollten." Herolt, Chronica, pp. 174-175. 161

then ordered the mayor, the councilmen, and the citizenry to live thenceforth "as devout people in harmony and peace."^ At that point the commissioners and the citizens of Hall admonished one another to enter the church "to praise God and to pray for continual peace." The church bells then began to peal, the choir to sing "Te Deum Laudamus," and the commissioners, the mayor, the councilmen, and the major portion of the assembled citizens to file into the church. The joyous and festive occasion did not excite several members of the Schwabisch Hall community, who promptly clustered around Rudolf Nagel and retired to the aristocratic drinking tavern in order to drown their sorrowa and discuss future plans of action.^ The festivities of October 29, 1512, provided the city a grand opportunity to celebrate the political stability and relative well-being of the corporate body of the old imperial city in the presence of numerous dignitaries from the surrounding cities of imperial stature. The notary Bernhard Vogelmann mentioned several of the visiting dig­ nitaries who witnessed this momentous occasion: the Comburg

6? ■'"Danach befahlen die Kommissare dem Stattmeister, dem Rat und.ihnen alien, als fromme Leut hinfiiro friedlich und eintrachtig beieinander zu leben. Darauf ermahnten sie ein- ander, in die Kirche zu gehen, Gott zu lobdanken und urn einen bestandigen Pried zu beten." Ibid.

64Ibid 162

Dean Peter von Aufsefl, a man Herolt singled out as the origi­ nator of a peaceful settlement,^ the Professor Dr. Johann Adler of TUbingen, the Wilrzburg councilman Dr. Eucharius Steinmetz, Araann Biichel of Worms, the physician Pranz Bach- mann of Nordlingen, Ciriakus Rinkenberger of EBlingen, Wilhelm Werrich of Wimpfen, Hans Punck of Memmingen, Hans Layding of Reutlingen, Hieronymus Kumpf of Windsheim, JSrg Mayrhofen of Gmttnd, and Hanns Schmid of Schweinfurt. These city repre­ sentatives as well as those from Heilbronn, Leonberg, and Stuttgart, were housed in the inn belonging to Hans Blank at 66 the expense of the city council. The actual deliberation and final pronouncements of the imperial commission did not alter the political constitution of Schwabisch Hall nearly so drastically as those events which followed in the wake of the new imperial treaty of October, 1512. Humiliated and utterly defeated, the antago­ nistic aristocratic opponents of Buschler decided to leave the city rather than endure the shame of defeat which they now felt had grown too heavy for them to bear. Herolt main­ tains that ”the animated lower 'classes, excited by these recent gains, had hardly cooled in their jubilation” before Rudolf Nagel ”hastened one morning across the Unterwohrd

65Ibid. ^StA St R, Nr. 344 (Jakobi-Simonis Judae 1512), 163 toward Gaildorf and freedom.Nor was he alone in his desire to forsake the city which had snubbed so resolutely the established tradition of aristocratic predominance in the social and political life of the community. Shortly thereafter on November 22, Veit von Rinderbach followed 68 Nagel*s example. Yet these two aristocratic judges, only the first of many who now chose to seek other locations in which to settle, were by no means representative of the Schwabisch Hall aristocracy at large, Nagel and von Rinder­ bach had fallen into disfavor with even their peers long before the events of October, and indeed Nagel had been voted out of the council as early as July of 1512, an act which perhaps more than the subsequent defeat in October at the hands of the imperial commissioners infuriated the former mayor to a point that he felt virtually forced to leave the imperial city lest he lose all respectability and dignity as a go wealthy and honorable member of the old aristocracy.

^"Rudolf Nagel, der bereits im Sommer 1512 aus dem Rat ausgeschieden war, fltichtete eines Morgens tiber den Unter- wohrd gen Gaildorf hin in die Preiheit." Herolt, Chronica, p. 175. Also see Birgerschaft tfGQ. pp. 42 and 470. ^8Herolt, Chronica, p. 175. Also of interest in Veit von Rinderbach* s decision to leave the city is the informa­ tion cited in BUrgerschaft WGQ, pp. 42 and 499. ^^StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1512, p. ciiii. Perhaps the most useful summary of Nagel’s role in the entire affair is Gerhard Wunder's "Der Haller Stettmeister Rudolf Nagel," Der Haalquell Nr, 8 (July 1962), p. 32. 164

Rudolf Nagel and Veit von Rinderbach., the two major opponents of BUschler, initiated only a small exodus of aris­ tocratic families who now decided that their native city no longer respected their status or apparently desired their participation in civic affairs. Herolt wrote that "the treaty did not suit the aristocracy at all. Approxi­ mately half of them gave up their rights as citizens," recounting unjust deeds perpetrated by their own neighbors, bemoaning the ingratitude shown them, "and yet forgetting that this, after all, was their home and native land."70 Herolt softens the implications of this statement, however, by mentioning that after each of the four upheavals in the history of Schwabisch Hall, representatives of the attacked social class promptly left the city.7^ After Nagel and Veit von Rinderbach, Hans SchultheiB and his sister Anna Volland left Schwabisch Hall along with Werner Keck and Melchior 72 Senft. In 1516 Bernhard von Rinderbach followed the lead, *■

70|,Der Vertrag gefiel den alten Geschlechtern gar nit, derohalben ihr etliche ihr BUrgerrecht uffgaben.ja ihren Einwohnern Leids getan und alles libels nachgeredet, unange- sehen daB dies ihr Vaterland." Herolt, Chronica, p. 175* 71Ibid.. p. 104. 72 ' Burgerschaft WGQ, p. 499. For Bernhard von Rinder­ bach1 s later process against the Hall city council see HStA RKG, R 2389, For information concerning Hans SchultheiB see BUrgerschaft WGQ, p. 588; StA St R, Nr. 350; HStA RKG, C3-8, M bos. For the widow of Ludwig Volland see BUrgerschaft WGQ, p. 242; HStA Rep 2409; and StA St R, Nr. 350*: For Werner Keck see Burgerschaft WGQ, p. 361 and for Senft see BUrger- schaft WGQ, p. 554. 165

and in 1517 the former mayor Simon Berler moved from the city after spending five days imprisoned in the tower. All the other members of the aristocracy, contrary to Herolt1s slightly exaggerated figure that half of the aris­ tocratic population left the city, remained in Hall.^* Among Biischler1s seven aristocratic opponents, Gilg Senft, Volk von RoJBdorf, and Utz von Rinderbach remained in the city. Naturally BUschler's aristocratic supporters on the council, Jdrg Berler and Engelhard von Morstein, as well as the new councilmen who in the next few years would play a leading role in civic affairs, decided to remain in Hall,^** The three private opponents of BUschler, Daniel Senft, Philipp Schlez, and lutz Keck, also stayed in the city following the upheaval,

^StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1517, pp. cxl-cxliv. ^See Herolt, Chronica, p. 175, StA Beetlisten, 4/1859 (1513-1514) 8, Bl. Hr'. S T through 4/1864 (1523-152T7, 8, Bl. Nr, 92. "^One of these new councilmen, Michel Schlez, together with the previous imperial magistrate Konrad Biischler became the greatest mayors of Hall* during the initial stage of the Reformation. See Biirgerschaft WGQ: Schlez, p. 564 and Biischler, p. 161. 76 Gmelin, Hallische Geschichte, p. 604. Gmelin attempts to rectify some information cited by Herolt in his Chronica, pp. 174-175. Contrary to statements by Herolt maintaining that Lutz Keck left the city following the upheaval, other documents of the period point to the fact that he indeed remained in Schwabisch Hall. Hans von Morstein1s later decision to accept Hohenlohe vassalage and the young Georg Berler1s decision to move to Rothenburg also apparently had nothing to do with the events of 1512. 166

The council election of July 1513 reflected these changes. Veit von Rinderbach, long absent from Schwabisch Hall, was officially removed from the council roles along with Werner Keck, Hans SchultheiB, and Melchior Senft, BUschler himself, Konrad Hocklin, Hans Ott, and the elder Gabriel Senft assumed these now empty seats on the council. The election thus guaranteed an aristocratic edge on the court of seven votes to five; yet considering the proclivi­ ties of Jbrg Berler and Engelhard von Morstein, the court lay in hands favorable to middle-class interests.^ The new orientation of the council was reflected almost imme­ diately during the renewed discussion concerning the erec­ tion of the long-awaited Ratskeller. On August 6, 1513, the large council concluded "that although many of those who frequented the exclusive tavern in the house belonging to the widow of Hans von Rinderbach have by now left the city," the new tavern in the apartment adjoining the hospi­ tal "in the future will also be needed."^8 Jos Mangolt, Konrad BUschler, Jcirg Berler the younger, and Hans Wezel then announced the decision to resume construction of the tavern to those patrons who frequented the exclusively

*^StA Ratsprotokollet 4/206, 1513, p. cxviil. ^8ibid., 4/206, 1513, pp. cxviii-cxxi. The middle-class and artisan representatives apparently still labored under the quite justified assumption that the aristocratic council­ men might still attempt to thwart future construction of the tavern. 167 aristocratic tavern. The aristocrats requested three days in which to decide whether they would again offer opposition to the measure. Yet on the next day, August 10, Gabriel Senft, Hans von Worstein, and Philipp Schlez requested that the four aforementioned representatives meet with them at St, Michael's. The aristocratic representatives then stated that they and their families did not want to increase the expenditures of the city council unnecessarily and therefore chose not to hinder the proceedings and judicial considera­ tions presently in progress dealing with the construction of the new tavern. When Konrad BUschler and Jos Mangolt informed the council of this decision on August 12, Hans von Morstein, apparently suffering from indecision, Utz von Rinderbach, and Volk von RoBdorf walked out of the meeting in protest.*^ Token opposition coupled with tacit approval enabled the middle-class and artisan representa­ tives to enact the necessary legislation and within the year the Ratskeller stood next to the aristocratic tavern as a not too moot testimonial to the rising political power 80 of the lower classes.

^ Ibid.. 4/206, 1513, pp. cxviii-cxxvii. Such attention had been drawn to the probable responces of the aristocratic judges to this final action in regard to the new tavern that several judges walked out of the meeting, thereby reflecting their official disapproval and allowing them to maintain an honorable distance from the council project. 80Ibid. 168

A summary of the council upheaval also requires a men­ tion of the drawn-out proceedings with the aristocrats who left Schw&bisch Hall following 1513. Their duties as citi­ zens, their property claims, and their possessions were still legally subject to taxation. Thus, in 1513-1514 the mayor Simon Berler as well as the city clerks of Rothenburg and Dirikelsbtthl conducted a long affair with Rudolf Nagel OH concerning his back taxes* Nagel eventually paid in 1514 a sum of 860 gulden, an amount denoting total wealth of 8600* In the same settlement Nagel also returned the Eltershofen property to the city. The chroniclers mention Nagel's heroic death ten years later, but subsequent mention of him 82 in the documents of the city cannot be located* The city also sued Bernhard von Rinderbach in Crailsheim from 1516 to 1522,®^ Veit von Rinderbacli until 1524 in a lengthy process before the Imperial Court,84 and yet other aristo­ cratic citizens who left the city following the upheaval. In the caBe of Veit von Rinderbach the council contested his right to jurisdiction over the estates in Bibersfeld. The conflict ended only In 1524 when the council purchased

81StA St R, Nr. 347. QO ...... Herolt, Chronica, p. 209. Nagel died during the Peasants' War on April 16, 1525, at the hands of the uprising peasants,in Weinsberg. 85HStA RKG, .C3-8, H 506. 84Ibid. 169 the property at a sum agreed to by both parties.8-* Hans SchultheiB moved to Meramingen, Werner Keck to Crailsheim, Melchior Senft to Untermtinkheim and then into Hohenlohen vassalage, and Simon Berler died penniless after spending Rfi his later years roving aimlessly.00 Hermann Biischler, on the other hand, later served as mayor in 1514, 1517, 1520, 87 f and 1525. He also represented the city at the diets at Worms in 1513, at Ntirnberg in 1522, and at Speyer in 1527.89 He was "respected at home and abroad and loved for his unpretentious manners,"8^ thus enabling him in 1514 to act as the arbiter between the Count of Hohenlohe and Wendel Hipler, and again in 1525 between the council and community

^These property and tax settlements inevitably repre­ sented a mutually acceptable sum of money based on the equiv­ alent tax rate charged any citizen of the community. The Beet, which amounted at that time to one-half of one percent of a person's total wealth, provided the tax basis charged those citizens who left Hall while still owning taxable property and goods in the city. See HStA RKG, C3-8, H 508, as well as Biirgerschaft WGQ, p. 499. 8^Wilhelm German speculates that were the patriarchal head of the Berler family, the former mayor Simon Berler who governed Hall during the height of aristocratic power in the city, cognizant of the fate of his descendants and of the changes in Hall society and governmental institutions, he would certainly have "turned over in his grave" /er muBte in den Turm wandern^. German, Chronik von Schwabisch Hall und Umgebung, p. 138. 8^StA Ratsprotokolle: 1514, 4/206, p. cxxviii; 1517, p. cxl; 1520, 4/20b, obverse side of page cl; and 1525, p. clrvii. 88StA St K, Nr. 401 and BUrgerschaft WGQ, p. 161. 8^StA Stefan ffeyerabend, Be Belrabetho 5489* 170

of Hall and the peasants in Rothenburg.90 In 1527 BUschler retired from council duty and in 154-3 died in Hall, "a frank and courageous man enjoying the public's respect."91 indeed he was not a few times referred to as "the most distinguished citizen of Hall" during this period.92 His servant Idenhard Fomann stated almost ten years following BUschler*s death that "he became mayor through his own ability, and the people loved him dearly,"9'* It is true that BUschler*s struggle was not directed solely at the aristocracy aB such. His marriage itself had enabled him to claim aristocratic status, while his first election to the position of mayor proffered official recog­ nition of that attainment* His own son Philipp married a daughter of Hermann BUschler*s one-time opponent Gilg Senft in a manner resembling Hermann* s own marriage to an aristo­ cratic lady from Rothenburg. Thus Philipp could claim aris­ tocratic status as a Junker through birth and marriage* Yet through BUschler’s efforts the middle class and artisans streamed into the city council and court. No longer were certain seats in the court or Council of Five reserved

90StA St R, Nr. 394. 91HStA RKG, C3-8, H 506. 92Ibid., C3-8, B 6631. (Witness Testimony 1551— Konrad BUschler der Mittlere und lienhard Foraann). 95Ibid. for -the old aristocratic families. As late as 1512 the court consisted of eight aristocrats, three raiddle-class citizens, and one artisan.^ jn 1520 the constitution of the court included only four aristocrats as opposed to five middle-class citizens and three artisans,^ In 1527 and again in 1529 the number of aristocrats on the court dropped qg to three. Aristocratic power and participation in civic offices did not, however, completely decline or disappear. Despite the decreasing numerical representation of aristo­ cratic families in regard to the council and court, various posts and offices remained firmly in the hands of individual aristocrats throughout the first half of the century, Michel Schlez, for example, capably represented Schw&bisch Hall in the Imperial Court, before the emperor, to other imperial cities, and within meetings of the Swabian League. Yet Hall, following the second decade of the sixteenth century, no longer constituted an aristocratic city. The proud fam­ ilies of the prior century had either died out or moved away from the city, leaving behind them an ever-diminishing number of aristocratic citizens who could trace family heritages back to the days when they alone constituted the only citizens

^StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1512, p. iiii. ^ Ibid., 4/206, 1520, obverse side of page cli. ^Ibid., 4/206, 1527, obverse side of page clxii and 1529, p'. clxxvii.. 172

of the imperial city, The political upheaval and the ensuing exodus only served to culminate this deterioration which in fact had been proceeding unabated for well over half a century.

Attempts to analyze quite complex alterations in the political constitution of a community are often forced to rely upon considerations which do not ultimately deal with the political framework so much as with the social fabric. Absolutely no political questions were resolved as a result of the events of 1509-1512, In retrospect one might even ask whether any were actually posed. The seminal discom- forture rending the council and the community during this period was not the composition of the council. Aristocratic domination of that august body in fact represented a quite justifiable and natural state of affairs in the Schwabisch Hall of 1500. Given the history of the city and the still predominant economic power of the aristocratic families, contemporary middle-class and artisan councilmen often felt presumptuous to assail the seemingly entrenched power of the aristocracy in political matters. The only recorded affront directed against the political scheme as such, instigated by Wilhelm Sefller in 1488, not only failed to capture the imagination of his fellow middle-class and artisan council­ men but even led to his subsequent removal from the council. Not even Hermann BUschler desired to end aristocratic 173 supremacy in civic affairs. As a mayor and respected citi­ zen, BUschler apparently respected the political framework as it had existed since 1340 and hoped only to force the aristocratic members of the community to proffer the wealthy burghers of Schwabisch Hall a certain amount of social recognition in a matter which bore no relation to council affairs or indeed to the future composition of the council, A member of the new aristocracy himself, BUschler by 1508 had already succeeded in climbing the political ladder to a point previously unattainable by those not privileged enough to claim aristocratic birth, and his utterances before the Imperial Court only tend to reaffirm his basic contentment with the political constitution of the city as it had stood for well over a century and a half. Yet perhaps the most crucial contention which negates a strictly political approach to the events of 1509-1512 lies in the basically non-political resolution of the affair by the imperial commission. Under the leadership of Count Joachim von Ottingen, the commission undertook no sweeping reform of the method for council selection. On the con­ trary, the commission merely reinstated Emperor Louis's decree of 1340, an action which still assured the city aristocracy a constitutionally guaranteed basis for continuing to exert the predominant influence in political affairs within the city. Throughout the four years of the upheaval, only one attempt to realign the political constitution of the 174 council was even undertaken by any of the concerned parties, and it represented an aristocratic reaction to the preceding events rather than an effort on the part of middle-class and artisan councilmen to gain a firmer foothold in the political process. Dr. Neithart's treaty of 1510, which increased aristocratic domination of local governmental institutions, enjoyed a short-lived acceptance as well as a misdirected approach to the basically social nature of the problem itself. If the political upheaval of 1509-1512 did not pose and ultimately resolve political questions, one might jus­ tifiably question the essence of the dramatic changes that shook the community during these very pivotal years in its existence as an imperial city. Although no political set­ tlement resulted from the deliberations of the imperial commission or the remarkable persistence of the middle- class protagonist Hermann BUschler, political overtones did naturally exist. Yet historians have tended to regard, the entire affair as a political phenomenon, choosing to disregard at times the motivating factors which divorced the events from a purely political narrative of chronolog­ ical occurrences. Intent upon recoding the processes and suits placed before the Imperial Court, the two-year period of exile of Hermann BUschler, and the tumultuous state of the community throughout the final stages of the upheaval 175 itself, historians have tended to stress the political nature of the affair, forgetting that the initial question and final judicial settlement reflected social and prestige factors much more than political alternatives to the con­ stitution of the city governmental "bodies. In 1510 Hermann BUschler, distraught over the stiff rebuttal to his supplication for social acceptance as a legitimate member of the aristocracy, attempted to insure social equality on the part of the middle-class and artisan councilmen in the form of constructing a Ratsheller avail­ able to all honorable members of the community. Realizing that the aristocratic court would fail to accede to such a request, BUschler nonetheless secured acceptance of his proposal by the larger council. His very success in this matter demonstrated the ultimate power of the twenty-six member body as early as 1510 to govern the community in respect to initiating legislation and enjoying the final power to determine policy for the city* Had the aristo­ cratic purists not attempted to rectify the situation by summoning imperial aid, the matter might have ended honorably for both concerned parties. Yet succumbing to the oftentimes fatal instinct recommending intransigence, the seven aristocrats, led by Rudolf Nagel and Veit von Rinderbach, opted for aristocratic victory in both social and political terms. As a result of the decision rendered “by the imperial commission of 1512, the aristocratic elite did achieve a political victory in one sense* The constitution of the city remained unchanged from that which had allowed aris­ tocratic domination of the council throughout the his­ tory of Schwabisch Hall. Yet in terms of prestige, the aristocracy suffered a grievous affront, one which in their own eyes could not honorably be borne. The commission granted the council the right to erect a Ratskeller open to the general populace. This one crucial issue had indeed combined societal and prestigial resentments into a small yet explosive package that could be neither ignored nor defused. The resolution proffered by the imperial com­ mission in many ways only inaugurated the true upheaval of 1512— the mass exodus on the part of many of the aris­ tocratic families who heretofore had dominated the politi­ cal scene in Schwabisch Hall. This quite adverse reaction on the part of these aristocratic families and not the judgments of the imperial commission decimated aristocratic power in the city, leaving the community bereft of not only a source of civic wealth but more important by far the most distinguished class of the old imperial city. The chronicler Herolt, at times guilty of contemporary short-sightedness, felt that the departing aristocrats left the community stronger for their absence. An observer 177

of these pivotal events, Herolt felt a strong inclination toward the middle-class and artisan interests, a pro­ clivity which surfaces repeatedly throughout the entire chronicle, although most noticeably in the section dealing with the political upheaval itself. Herolt ended his ren­ dition of the prior events, for example, in the following manner:

They fih e aristocracy/ left the city at that time for here and there as once did the Trojans follow­ ing the destruction of Troy, and believed that Hall could not stand without them. But, thank God, since that time Hall grew from day to day, because God upholds the humble and destroys the haughty.97

It is true that following the upheaval the city enjoyed a greater civic revenue than ever before in its history, largely due to the acquisition of aristocratic property and goods left behind by the departing families. As a re­ sult of this increased revenue, Schwabisch Hall inaugurated a period of construction and fostered artistic works un­ equalled in the subsequent history of the community. In a larger sense, however, this temporary financial boon to the imperial city had accrued as a result of the loss of many of the elite families of the city, a loss that, alas,

^Trying times had indeed exacerbated tensions among the various classes in Schwabisch Hall, a fact which explains in part Herolt's somewhat caustic reference to the departing families. Herolt, Chronica, p. 175, 178 could neither he estimated in a monetary sense nor evaluated on a societal plane.

One might argue that Hermann BUschler unwittingly sacrificed the future growth of his city on the altar of middle-class and artisan political might. On the other hand, one might also contend that those aristocratic fam­ ilies, as Herolt pointed out, provided more of a hindrance to social well-being and future growth of the community than an asset. The question itself will perhaps remain a moot point due to the impossibility of reconstructing Hall on a different societal basis in order to judge whether the presence of greater amounts of capital would have aided subsequent growth during the course of the sixteenth cen­ tury. Yet one facet of the upheaval bears quite heavily on a crucial question transcending the singular status of a small community in the southwestern corner of a far-flung empire. Numerous historians have contended that the politi­ cal realignment of Schwabisch Hall in these pivotal years set the stage for a much more pervasive religious realign­ ment of the community on the dawn of the Reformation. In 1512 Hall was still an aristocratic city dominated by medieval concepts toward secular as well as religious mat­ ters. In 1522 Hall was a middle-class and artisan city gravitating toward "modern" views in regard to political structure as a reflection of the societal composition of 179 the city while still harboring a medieval awe of the Church, One might justifiably ask whether the political and social transformation of the city in 1512 facilitated an equally stark religious transformation ten years later. The coun­ cil, acting as a microcosm of the city, called and supported the new religious views espoused by Johannes Brenz, the young preacher of Lutheran doctrines in the city. An age of transition in political and social terms may in fact have aided in reforming religious concepts in the small imperial city on the Kocher. If such were indeed the case, the political upheaval of 1509-1512 may have produced side- effects characteristic of many German cities on this, the eve of the Reformation. CHAPTER FIVE

The Hall City Council and Johannes Brenz

Perhaps the most enigmatic and ultimately unresolvable question concerning these social and political alterations in the composition of not only the Schwabisch Hall city council hut also the imperial city itself lies in their subsequent impact on the reorientation of the small south German city*s religious views as it embraced the new tenets of Lutheran reform espoused by the young preacher Johannes Brenz and his coterie of religious as well as secular sup­ porters. The role of the city council in furthering the cause of the Reformation in Schwabisch Hall, often attrib­ uted to the new middle class and artisan complexion of the body, remains at best a perplexing dilemma of causal and residual factors. The composition of the Schwabisch Hall city council in 1522 still reflected the recent develop­ ments resulting from the political upheaval of 1509-1510. Two-thirds of the council members had been elected to the council during the preceding six yeara and represented the middle-class and artisan proclivities which now dominated the heretofore aristocratic body. As a result historians have attempted to cite if not a causal at least a favorable inclination on the part of these councilmen to continue and 1.80 indeed extend the social reconstitution of the city by challenging the yet medieval outlook on religious beliefs and practices in the churches of Schwabisch Hall.^ Julius Gmelin especially attempted to reach some type of defini­ tive conclusion regarding the interaction between these Bocial forces and the newer religious beliefs, both of which demanded a basic change in the climate of thinking on the dawn of the Reformation. Gmelin contends that the ro role of the artisans on behalf of Brenz and the Reformation provided a radical departure from the old aristocratic religious concepts still harbored by Engelhard von Morstein^ and Heinrich SpieB^ as well as numerous other aristocrats who still labored under medieval concepts of religious obligations. Gmelin cites the new composition of the coun­ cil, maintaining that in 1512 a new leading class in Hall established itself, selected by new capitalistic and civic criteria of success. Ho longer were the councilmen

<1 The literature concerning the introduction of Lutheran thought to the citizens of Schwabisch Hall, understandably vast in view of Brenz1 s later influence on V/urttemberg as a whole, includes the following major contributions: Wilhelm Hommel, "Johannes Brenz und die ReichsBtadt Schwabisch Hall in der Reformationszeit," Schwabisch Hall, pp. 191-205; Gerhard Wunder, "Der Haller Rat und Johannes Brenz 1522- 1530," WPr, Vol. 55, NP 45 (1971), pp. 56-66; German, Chronik von Schwabisch Hall, pp. 149-157; and Gmelin, Hall'is'che Geschich'te, 'pp. 598-606. o Widmann, Hallische Chronica, p. 360. ^Herolt, Chronica, p. 178. 182 representative of the old but rather of the new life styles characteristic of the next century.^ Whether such a class unity didf in fact, exist remains an open question that can only be answered through extensive research into the innumerable Individual cases of religious reorientation on the community level. Relatively little contemporary evidence from the Schwabisch Hall of 1522 has filtered down to twentieth- century scholars concerning the attitudes of not only the councilmen but also the various classes regarding Lutheran religious proclivities in the city prior to the calling of Brenz in 1522, She council records contain absolutely no mention of individual statements favoring or opposing the religious beliefs of the young preacher, Ihe extreme cau­ tion with which Brenz proceeded in regard to the institu­ tionalizing of his Lutheran creed even further complicates any attempt to draw lines of division between "modern" trains of religious thought as opposed to the existing medieval atmosphere pervading the city's churches at the time Brenz arrived in Hall. Thus the question remains a moot one whether the city councilmen in Schwabisch Hall realized in 1522 that by their actions the Lutheran struggle

—______^Gmelin, Hallische Gesohichte, pp. 598-606. Also see Gmelin1s "Hall in der zweiten Ualfte des 16. Jahrhunderts," WFr, Vol. 18, HP 8 (1903), pp. 141-201. 183 would catapult Hall into a leading position as a Lutheran stronghold in southwestern Germany. Following the summer elections of 1522, the newly- selected council called the twenty-three year old teacher Johannes Brenz from Heildelherg to the position of preacher at St. Michael’s. While in Heidelberg, Brenz had already been forced to defend his reformist posture to the satis­ faction of university officials and surrendered his now tenuous position as rector of the Swabian hostel at the university in order to accept the offer of the imperial city.-* The young preacher, himself the native son of a Swab­ ian city, Weil der Stadt, had attended schools in his birth­ place and Vaihingen before entering the University of Heidel­ berg as a promising fifteen-year old. While in Heidelberg he studied Greek under Johannes Oecolampadius and formed friendships with Martin Bucer and Johannes Eisenmenger, the son of a wealthy Schwabisch Hall tanner, Ludwig Eisen­ menger. As early as 1318 these four scholars all had fallen under the sway of Martin Luther, who came in April of 1518 to Heidelberg in order to defend his evangelical views before the young theologians of the Palatinate.^

c ^Hommel, Schwabisch Hall. ppv 191-193. The best biog­ raphy of Brenz remains Julius Hartmann and Karl Jdger’s Johann Brenz; nach gedruokten und ungedruckten Quellen. 2 vols. (Hamburg, 184-5 and Leipzig, 1842). g Homrael, Schwab!Bch Hall, pp. 192-193. 184

This personal encounter influenced Brenz to change the di­ rection of his studies. As a result he subsequently trans­ ferred from the philosophy faculty to that of theology,'* The reaction against the new religious teachings and the threat of stronger measures against Lutheran thought fol­ lowing the 1521 Diet of Worms forced Brenz to seek safer religious pastures, a search facilitated by his friendship with young Eisenmenger. Yet connections with a prominent Schwabisch Hall fam­ ily was not the Inly powerful force gravitating in favor of the appointment of the young cleric to the prestigious post of preacher at St. Michael's. Immediately after the city council had secured the right to fill and regulate the position of preacher, a prerogative secured in 1502, it called Dr. Sebastian Brenneisen from Heidelberg to Q fill the post. Following the death of the native AlBatian in 1513, the council turned once again to Heidelberg in summoning his successor, the Hessian Dr. Johannes Tholde, who in 1522 combined the posts of pastor and preacher at St. Michael's only to prove himself unequal to the task of filling both positions.^ As a result Dr. Tholde limited

7Ibid. ,/ 8StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1502, pp. iii-xvi 9Ibid. 185 himself almost immediately thereafter to the duties of pastor, an action which forced the council to search once again for a suitable cleric to assume the crucial and 1 o pivotal position of preacher, The city council again turned to the University of Heidelberg, thereby increasing Brenz's chances of utilizing his friendship with Johannes Eisenmenger as a leverage with the Schwabisch Hall city councilmen. The council records of 1522 contain no mention of any civic commission designed for the specific.purpose of find­ ing a preacher for the city. The entire selection process in fact remains obscured by the lack of any extant refer­ ences to the motives and methods underlying the council's decision to call Brenz to St. Michael's. Hartmann and Jager contend that Brenz was introduced to the Schwabisch Hall council through a letter of recommendation from his 11 fellow student, Johannes Eisenmenger. The actual letter, alas, has not survived the intervening years. Nor cam one ascertain with any degree of absolute certainty the recip­ ient of the letter. Despite the anonymity of this council­ man, subsequent historical research has singled out Anton Hofmeister, a wealthy middle-class Judge, as the probable

^StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1522, p. clvi. 11 Hartmann and Jager, Johann Brenz. Vol. I, p. 41. 186 recipient of the letter and the major supporter of the yet 12 unknown cleric within the council. In retrospect it appears that Johannes Eisenmenger approached Hofmeister with the matter because no member of the family belonged to the council at that particular time. Indeed, no member of the Eisenmenger family, with the possible excep­ tion of Hans Wezel, had belonged to the council following the 1521 retirement of Lutz Eisenmenger, the uncle of the theological student. The Eisenmenger family during this period remained a wealthy household of tanners residing in the suburb on the opposite bank of the Kocher, and as a result the family enjoyed only sporadic representation in civic concerns in comparison to the wealthier and more estab­ lished families boasting homes in the inner city.^ The young Eisenmenger*s decision to channel his recommendation through Anton Hofmeister, the third wealth­ iest member of the council, assured Johannes Brenz a much more influential spokesman on behalf of his candidacy.

12 Julius Gmelin, "Hall im Reformations-Jahrhundert," WFr, Vol. 17» NF 7 (1900). German, Ohronik von Schwabisch Hall, pp. 149-152. Gerhard Wunder, "Wer hat“7ohannes hrenz nach Hall geholt?" Per Haalquell. Vol. 15, Nr. 16 (November 1961), pp. 81-82, ancT“"Der Haller Rat und Johannes Brenz 1522-1530," WFr, Vol. 55, NF 45 (1971), pp. 56-58. ^ S t A Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1521, p. cliiii. U StA Beetlisten, 4/1861 (1517-1518) 6, Bl. Nr. 89 through 4/1S65 (1525-1526) 10, Bl. Nr. 93. Also see Biirger- schaft WGQ, pp. 201-205. 187

Unfortunately tlie chain of events connected with the acutal summoning of Johannes Brenz to Hall begins and ends with this single, nonexistent letter of recommendation. No indications of council temperament regarding Brenz exists. Nor can one locate any record of council debate on the ac­ tual selection process. In attempting to evaluate the 1522 council in regard to orthodox and evangelical religious thinking, not a few historians have turned to later opin­ ions uttered by these councilmen, hoping to correlate the subsequent views with those perhaps advanced as early as 1522. Yet such a procedure ultimately seeks to impose later religious proclivities on an occurrence which, pre- dated any sharp lines of division with respect to individual religious beliefs.

Brenz1b actual offer apparently reflected a quite ordinary aspect of council business which did not cause any undue debate among the councilmen. Par removed from the initial centers of Lutheran thought, the Schwabisch Hall councilmen apparently secured Brenz without fully realizing the subsequent implications of their actions. The very unheralded nature of the summons indicates that the coun­ cilmen of 1522 regarded Brenz1s appointment as a purely routine matter of no undue importance distinguishing it from earlier such decisions regarding Brenneisen and Tholde. The extreme caution which marked Brenz1s institutionalizing 188 of Lutheran reforms also tended to delay any sharp con­ flict of consciences in the religious spectrum until the period 1524-1530, when the actual import of religious reorientation surfaced in the small imperial city. As a result, the actual selection of Johannes Brenz for the position of preacher at St. Michael's neither generated any discernible religious controversy nor foreshadowed necessarily the later religious proclivities of those councilmen who actually bore the official responsibility for summoning the Lutheran prelate to Schwabisch Hall in 1522.15 Brenz delivered his first sermon in Schwabisch Hall on September 8, 1522. This trial sermon proved so success­ ful that the council unanimously voted the following week 16 to approve the young theologian for the post. The very unanimity of the council in extending a welcome to Brenz reflected initial agreement concerning his well-known abilities as an orator more than official sanction of his yet unknown underlying religious outlook. In fact, during the first year in Hall, Brenz chose to forego any reforms that might prove premature, preferring instead to officiate over religious ceremonies in a traditional manner that

^Wunder, MWer hat Johannes Brenz nach Hall geholt?" Per Haalquell XIII, Nr. 16 (November 1961), pp. 61-63.

^ S t A Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1522, p. clvii. 1 8 9 would prove acceptable to the community. His dissatisfac­ tion with the staid religious atmosphere of the community during this period surfaced only in his private eorrespon- 17 dence. 1 Intent upon consolidating his position before launching into a rejuvenation of the city's churches, Brenz perhaps hoped to avoid the possibility of once again facing reprimands for espousing heretical religious doctrines. Indeed his experience at Heidelberg helped him to judge much more accurately than before the most propitious methods for furthering church reorganization along lines 4 Q sympathetic to Lutheran religious doctrine. Despite a decided stress on the doctrine of justifica­ tion by faith alone, the early sermons Brenz delivered in his new position as preacher at St. Michael's bear little resemblance to his previous position at Heidelberg and his later utterances following the actual ordination as a 4Q priest* J An important Schwabisch Hall financial entry refers to Brenz's first Mass as an ordained priest, which he conducted in his native city of Weil der Stadt during

^ F o r one such example see Brenz*s letter to Johannes Oecolarapadius of June 27, 1524, Anecdota Brentlana. Unge- druckte Briefe und Bedenken yon Johannes Brenz. compiled and edited by' Theodor fressei (Tubingen: J.J. Heckenhauer, 1868), p. 2. 1 s Julius Hartmann, Johannes Brenz. Leben und ausge- wahlte Schriften. Leben"uhd auagewahlte schrlfjben der Vater und Begrunder"~5er ltTEEerlschen klrche’ (ElberfelcT: k.t. FricLerichs, 1862),' pp. 7-13, 19Ibid. 190

20 the summer of 1523. The document alludes to Brenz1s "Hochzeit," thereby bestowing the spiritual connotation to the middle-high German word which was frequently used to describe the newly-ordained priests first Mass. Earlier historians have repeatedly contended that Brenz had been ordained as a priest in 1520 while serving as a 21 canon in the Holy Ghost Church in Heidelberg, In actuality, however, it now appears that Brenz secured the position in Schwabisch Hall prior to his ordination, a fact which might possibly explain his temerity in broach­ ing the controversial theological questions during the first year of his appointment. Supporting this thesis is the fact that at that time tradition dictated that ordination should not precede 22 one's twenty-fifth birthday. Brenz arrived in Schwabisch Hall at the age of twenty-three, and on June 24* 1523* the day of his ordination, Brenz was still only twenty- four. The slight discrepancy was perhaps overcome by Brenz1s successful service in Schwabisch Hall coupled with his close connections with the Bishop of Speyer, under

^StA St R, Nr. 387. “Item Hanns Wetzel 2 gl 2 Q /5chilling7 ufs predigers Hochzeyt, im zu Sold 12 B.M Hans Y/ezel represented the city council at this auspicious occasion in Weil der Stadt, 21 Hartmann, Johannes Brenz, p. 6. 22 Wunder, "Wer hat Johannes Brenz nach Hall geholt?" p. 62. 191

whose jurisdiction lay Brenz1s small native city.2-* With the ordination behind him, Brenz undoubtedly felt secure in his position in Schwabisch Hall and began to prepare for the church reforms he had previously envisioned as a natural extension of his solidly Lutheran theological beliefs. Shortly after his return from Weil der Stadt, Brenz carefully began to introduce the Reformation in Hall. As early as July 25, 1523, he spolce against the veneration of saints.2^ Resting heavily upon the twin doctrines of the priesthood of all believers and justification through faith alone, Brenz pushed forward from one church reform to another. In 1524 he did away with the Corpus Christ! pro­ cessional and advocated the dissolution of the Pranciscan Order.2** On Christmas Day of 1525 Brena gave for the first time the Lutheran communion at St. Michael*s, and in 1526 he laid before the council his church ordinances in which 26 the Mass no longer had a place. Despite the alluring

25Ibid. 2*HStA Uric 681. 25 -'Anecdota Brentiana, p. 2, and Herolt, Chronica, p. 43. Brenz did succeed in 1524 in transforming the Pran- ciscan monastery in Schwabisch Hall into a school. Herolt also mentions that a priest who condemned Brenz's stance was forced to leave Hall by order of the city council. Herolt, Chronica, p. 47. 2^StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1526, p. clxxi. 192 nature of Brenz's reforms as he formulated his quite well- defined approach to the problem of church order, the salient question under consideration hinges around the effects of these reforms on Brenzfs relationship with the city council* Brenz's unanimous support in 1522 and 152? stemmed from the extremely slow and calculated pace with which he proceeded in advocating points of Lutheran theology* Despite the seeming unanimity of thought concerning the selection and early support of the young preacher, religious lines of departure soon surfaced among the city councilmen* Judging from the council members of 1522, three middle-class and two artisan representatives later became close friends and supporters of Brenz while one middle-class, two aristocratic, and two artisan councilmen opposed the young prelate's later reforms.2^ The leading civic figure of the period, Hermann Bttschler, remained adamantly opposed to Brenz throughout his lifetime while his cousin Konrad worked together with the preacher, help­ ing him in difficult timeB to overcome opposition on the part of reluctant council members. 2 8 Michel Schlez, Heinrich SchultheiB, and the now departed Werner Keck, all

2 7 'For a list of the council members in 1522 see StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1522, p. clvi. 29Bilrgerschaft WGQ, p. 161. 193 early aristocratic supporters of the Reformation, provide examples of upper-class reorientation in regard to the new religious ideas and practices espoused by Brens,Hans Kbler the cobbler and Reinhard Truchtelfinger the butcher, on the other hand, remained hostile to Brenz and Reforma­ tion doctrines all of their lives.Unfortunately, in recording the unanimous decision of the council in 1922 to accept Brenz as the new preacher at St. Michael's, no mention exists concerning which councilmen actively sup­ ported Brenz's candidacy and which members merely acceded to the majority decision.^ Nevertheless, such a notation in 1922 would provide relatively little information con­ sidering the lack of stark opposition prior to the actual institution of Lutheran practices in the churches of the imperial city. Judging from later statements and attitudes, however, one may safely state that among the judges in 1922, the aristocratic Michel Schlez and the middle-class Konrad BUschler and Anton Hofmeister developed into strong sup­ porters of Brenz while the aristocratic Hans von Morstein

2^Ibid. For Schlez see p. 964; SchultheiB, p. 588; and Keck', p, 361 • ■50 Ibid. For Kbler see p. 389, and for Truchtelfinger see p. 184-1 In 1520 Hans Kbler had made a pilgrimage, a fact which tends to reinforce his assuredly orthodox reli­ gious beliefs during this period.- *^StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1922, p. clvii. 194

and Volk von RoBdorf and the middle-class Hermann Bttschler rto opposed Brenz's reforms. Among the councilmen for the same year, the aristocratic Heinrich SchultheiB and the middle-class Hans Wezel supported Brenz while Kbler and Truchtelfinger opposed the Reformation.^ Yet these lines of division had not surfaced as early as 1522, a fact which negates in many ways historical attempts designed to ascertain council attitudes toward Brenz hased on the membership of the council which actually selected him to serve the city as preacher. ^ A more reliable method for determining Brenz's acceptability among the leading members of the community during his early years in the imperial city focuses upon his relationship to other clerics and families within the imperial city. Brenz's friendship with Johannes Eisen- menger, through whom the young theologian secured the prestigious position at St. Michael's, naturally proved a bond built upon a community of interests which survived into later years, uniting the families of both reformers.^ In fact, Brenz's close association with the Eisenmengers

^2Ibld. See Blirgerschaft WGQ for the respective individuals.

35Ibid. '^Julius Gmelin first inaugurated this particular approach in his "Hall ira Reforraations-Jahrhundert," pp. 6-9. ^^Blirgerschaft WGQ, pp. 150-151 and 202-204. 195 provided the basis for his close ties with the council as well as the imperial city itself. The mutually related families headed by Ludwig Eisenmenger, Kaspar Grater, and Hans Wezel furnished Brenz a solid foundation of support throughout his career in Schwabisch Hall# Johannes Eisen­ menger, who followed Dr. Tholde as pastor at St. Michael's in 1524, worked together with Brenz in the formulation of guidelines for the new church organization. Michel GrSter, the University of Heidelberg-educated son of the wealthy baker, served from 1521 to 1533 as the pastor at •57 St. Katharine's. Together the three reformers provided a united front against those who opposed the church re­ forms now engulfing the imperial city.^8 Hans Wezel, a wealthy saltmaker who had played a crucial role in aiding Hermann Bttschler gain imperial recognition in 1512, also contributed heavily to Brenz's success. The councilman responsible for representing the city at Brenz's ordina­ tion, Wezel, had first met Brenz through his own son, who at the time was studying for a law degree at the University

56Ibid., p. 202. Also see StA St R, Nr. 599. •^Bttrgerschaft WGQ, p. 275. •^This somewhat unusual yet highly favorable combina­ tion of like-minded clerics thoroughly engaged in the problems of church reorganization within the city helped smooth the difficult adjustments which might have prevented Brenz alone from succeeding in gaining approval for his reforms• 1 9 6

of Heidelberg. ^ Hence, as early as 1522 Brenz could count upon the support of three Schwabisch Hall families who also enjoyed some influence on the council. Indeed Brenz*s ties with these families increased continuously, reaching a notable peak in 1530, when Brenz married the young Margar- ete Grater, the widow of Brenz* s loyal supporter Hans Wezel.Despite the relatively small influence these families enjoyed in council affairs in 1522, by 1530 Brenz could count upon Michel Eisenmenger, the younger Xaspar Grater, and Deter Wezel as solid supporters and personal friends.41 During the first decade of Brenz*s tenure in Schwab­ isch Hall, he obtained a modicum of court and council sup­ port coupled with a notable freedom from council scrutiny or supervision of his actions. The council maintained a remarkable restraint in approaching matters which might possibly seem to restrict the freedom of movement enjoyed by the young clerics of the city. During the first half of the decade, Brenz and his coterie of religious supporters had acted circumspectly in regard to councilmen who pri­ vately opposed his reforms. By 1529, however, Brenz

^^BUrgerschaft WGQ, p. 657. '

40Ibid., p. 150. 41StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1530, obverse side of page clxxx. 197

felt secure in his position to a point that he openly attacked those councilmen who had criticized the Protest of Speyer, thereby unleashing popular sentiment against the same councilmen sufficient to cause their removal from

council ranks.^2 The aristocratic Yolk von RoBdorf and the butcher Reinhard Truchtelfinger both lost their posi­ tions as judges due to Brenz's attack, while in the lower council Michel Seyboth and Jos Sulzer found themselves 4.3 dropped by their fellows, The next year Konz Feyerabend and Hans Kbler succumbed to the same fate, removals which left the council firmly in the hands of those who favored Brenz's recent reforms and wished to proffer him council support in any and all matters. Thus, one may safely state that by 1530 Brenz was an institution in Schwabisch Hall, unassailable and secure in his position as titular head of the city's religious life. The council had not forced Brenz to consider the wishes of councilmen but had rather been swept up in the enthusiasm displayed on behalf of the forceful and dynamic cleric. Brenz, in fact, had forced the council to accommodate itself to the reforms

^2Ibld., 4/206, 1529, p* clxxvii.

^ Ibid.. 4/206, 1530, obverse' side of page clxxx. Volk von RoBdorf later reentered the council as an assuredly reluctant supporter of the Reformation. Considering his age and position in the community, one must marvel that Brenz’s supporters commanded sufficient strength to oust a judge who could be considered little less than a pillar of the community. 198 he offered the city in ever-increasing numbers, Ihe willing­ ness on the part of the councilmen to accede to his desires attests to Brenz's power within the community. Yet the first decade of Brenz's tenure in Schw&bisch Hall reflected his desire to consolidate his position before venturing out with impractical or hasty reforms that might militate against his esteem and influence within the community. She council, in turn, acted as a benevolent parent, allowing Brenz more liberty to proceed with his reforms than other clerics had ever enjoyed in the churches of the imperial city. Nonetheless, a healthy relationship and mutual admiration between Brenz and the city council aided in establishing a sense of mutual trust between the religious community and the political leadership of the city. As a result one should not represent the introduc­ tion of the Reformation in Schwabisch Hall summarily as being instituted from the beginning by rigid parties and unetiuivocable stances. All of the generalized accounts become untenable due to this one flaw that appears through­ out the entire literature, namely that the aristocracy, the representatives of the old nobility, unanimously opposed the Reformation.^ At least Schlez, SchultheiB, and the

^Gmelin, "Hall ira Reformations-Jahrhundert," WFr, Vol. 17» NP 7 (1900), pp. 6-13. Gmelin first attempted to draw a correlation between class membership and religious orien­ tation on the eve of the Reformation in Schwabisch Hall. 199 now departed Keck supported the Reformation at a very early AC date. Through marriages Hofmeister and Konrad Bttschler also Belonged to the city aristocracy By this period, and Both were outspoken friends of the reformer.^® Among the enemies of the Reformation among the city's aristocracy one could assuredly name Engelhard von Morstein and Hein­ rich SpieB, and the latter did not Belong to the council.^ At the Beginning Volk von RoBdorf also opposed the reform­ er* s work. Following 1529, however, he had to adjust to the new developments.^® Exactly the opposite can Be said aBout the artisans who had previously entered the council following the 1509-1512 struggle with the aristoc­ racy. Among the artisans, Truchtelfinger, FeyeraBend, and Kttler of the older generation and Sulzer and SeyBoth of the younger unequivocaBly opposed the Reformation.^ Neither class nor wealth always determined whether one supported or opposed the new preacher. Only personal matters and individual convictions seemed to dictate one's

45HStA RKG H 506. ^Herolt, Chronica, p. 14. Also see StA St R. Nrs. 411 and 416-417. ------^HStA Rep 2413 and StA BttrgerBuch and St R, Nr. 434. ^®StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1529. P. clxxvii, and HStA RKG H 522a.' ^ S e e Bttrgerschaft WGQ for the respective pages. 200

attitudes toward Brenz and the Reformation in Schwabisch Hall* Undoubtedly, however, the climate of change per­ meating the imperial city facilitated religious reforms of the nature proposed by Brenz. The very fact that so many

new men entered the council after 1517 facilitated the arduous task of introducing the Reformation. Yet one could not extend the comparison to state that the new com­ position of the council caused the Reformation in Hall or that the aristocracy irrevocably opposed the young preacher while the middle class and artisans furnished only loyal supporters of the Reformation. Such a drastic class dif­ ferentiation of a phenomenon which remains primarily per­ sonal and Individual grossly stretches the facts. The atmosphere pervading SchwSbisch Hall, following the

political upheaval of 1509-1512 still appeared conducive to change. Yet to contend that the political events of 1512 led to the subsequent introduction of the Reformation in the city by placing two willing classes, both loglng to extend their political and social victory into the religious arena, does not prove valid. Brenz’s base of support transcended class or economic lines. Nor were his enemies drawn merely from one class or economic plane. Those who supported Brenz in the crucial years of his early career did so out of individual proclivities albeit shaped by class or educa­ tional backgrounds. Yet any concerted class support of 201

Brenz simply did not exist. The city council proved a trusted and trustworthy benefactor throughout Brenz's early career, allowing him the opportunity to devote the major portion of his time to the important reforms free from worries connected with pleasing the secular authori­ ties. Thus, the mutual dependence which characterized the relationship between Johannes Brenz and the Schwabisch Hall city council during the second decade of the sixteenth century furnishes a classic example of mutual aid and cooperation between secular authorities and religious officials on the eve of the Reformation. CONCLUSION

Hermann Btisohler, perhaps the central figure Schwabisch Hall’s evolution Into a middle-class and artisan city, maintained before the Imperial Court that time indeed seemed to transform all things* Perhaps this somewhat adept epithet best summarizes the slowly evolving character of any age as an age of transition* She Schwabisch Hall of

1500 was an aristocratic, somewhat isolated, and basically medieval-oriented society* The Schwabisch Hall of 1530, on the other hand, a middle-class city embroiled in the reli­ gious controversies of the empire, provided the very core of Lutheran reform in southwestern Germany, Whether the political events of 1509-1512 served as a catalyst creating an atmosphere conducive to such a religious reorientation remains today a somewhat moot question* The salient point which surfaces following a study of Schwabisch Hall in the first several decades of the sixteenth century is the fact that the very atmosphere of change seemed to permeate every level of community endeavor, facilitating not only the political and social reconstitution of the imperial city but also the readiness to accept quite thorough changes in the city's heretofore unassailable religious orthodoxy.

202 203

Led by Hermann SUschler, the middle elass and artisans had by 1312 established predominance in the political organs of Schwabisch Hall while many aristocratic families had chosen to leave the city rather than accommodate themselves to the new social order• Despite the antipathy many of these middle-class and artisan citizens shared toward the young preacher and his church reforms, the very atmosphere of change that they had previously wrought in the secular attitudes of the community aided an equally drastic reori­ entation in the religious sector* As a result aristocratic as well as lower-class citizens felt themselves more open to accommodation in regard to the new theological con­ cepts than would have been the case had Schwabisch Hall remained the haven for aristocratic domination previously characteristic of the small imperial city* A strong case could be drawn contending that the events of 1309-1512 had no bearing whatsoever on the subsequent introduction of Lutheran reforms in Schw&bisch Hall* Brenz had friends and enemies in all the classes of the city* Ho class proffered unanimous or even near-unanimous support for the young theologian. In fact, of the three classes, the aristocracy comprised his most solid group of support­ ers while some of his most determined opponents were members of the middle class and artisans* Perhaps the basis for aristocratic support lay in the fact that the aristocratic members of the community who chose to disre­ gard the earlier affront to their prerogatives to lead the community in the social and political spectrum now felt themselves obligated to condone and even help further the religious reorientation of the community while the middle class and artisans felt no concurrent necessity to accom­ modate themselves as a class to the religious reforms advocated by the young theologian. Yet whatever the under­ lying reasons calling for change in theological matters, one can safely state that the atmosphere of rejuvenation now engulfing the community affected virtually all areas of civic life. The Schwabisch Hall which welcomed Johannes Brenz had already weathered sophisticated alterations in its secular constitution and now appeared ready to debate yet another reorientation in its religious attitudes. Yet as in the former struggle which had forced individuals to assess their purely private attitudes toward the larger events engulfing the community, the religious questions posed between 1522 and 1530 ultimately affected individuals and not social classes. The motives underlying one's decision to follow Brenz into the uncharted avenues of Reformation and another's determination to maintain allegiance to the Church and its institutions in a more traditional manner devolved upon individuals much more than the secular con­ cerns arising from the events of 1509-1512, A common 205 mentality binding each of the classes as somewhat separate entities did, of course, surface in the decisions rendered by individuals within the various classes. Yet the human­ istic education now available to members of the middle class and artisans tended to allow university-educated citizens to break away from seemingly outmoded attitudes toward theological questions while the more '’provincial” artisans remained obstinate in their refusal to condone Brenz's tampering with the sacred edifice of the yet medieval churches of the community. As a result one must judge reactions to Brenz's reforms on a strictly individual level, always mindful that the basic mentality of class membership, while serv­ ing as a foundation for personal attitudes, did not solely determine one's decision to follow or resist Lutheran re­ form, Following a reconstruction more thorough than that of 1512-1515, the council in 1529 purged itself of ele­ ments hostile to the young preacher. Yet a similar assess­ ment of common citizens remains a much more difficult task due to the obscure or nonexistent records dealing with strictly community attitudes toward Lutheranism. The social implications of the upheaval of 1509-1512 and the political alterations during the first two decades of the sixteenth century prepared the way for Brenz and characterized an era in the life of Schwabisch Hall which was marked by 206 drastic changes in the outlook of the small community. With the coming of Brenz in 1522 Schwabisch Hall unwittingly entered the period of history during which the city would exert its maximum influence on imperial affairs, largely due to the importance of the reformer, Schwabisch Hall became the religious center of Lutheranism in southern Germany. The stormy decades of the early sixteenth century had indeed produced a civic body and community outlook far different from that of 1500, and the period of transition in the history of Schwabisch Hall marks this era as the division between the medieval and modern worlds.

/ APPENDIX

SCHWABISCH HALL CITY COUNCILMEN 1487-1530 208

SCHWABISCH HALL CITY COUNCILMEN 1487 1488 MAYOR: Matthis von Rinderbach MAYOR: Fritz Schletz The Court: The Court: JiJrg Berler (J) Jbrg Berler (J) Hans BUschler (MC) Hans BUschler (MC) Peter BUrbrech (MC) Peter BUrbrech (MC) Burkhard Eberhart (J) Burkhard Eberhart (J) Kaspar Eberhart (j) Kaspar Eberhart (J) Eberhard Nagel (j) Eberhard Nagel (J) Matthis von Rinderbach (J) Matthis von Rinderbach (J) Seitz Risp (MC) Seitz Risp (MC) Fritz Schletz (J) Fritz Schletz (j) J8rg Schletz (j) JUrg Schletz (J) Michel Senft (J) Michel Senft (j) Wilhelm Sefller (MC) Wilhelm SeBler (MC) The Council: The Council: Peter Biermann (cobbler) Hans Baumann (MC) Konrad BStschmann (MC) Peter Biermann (cobbler) JiSrg Goldschmied (goldsmith) Ludwig Folmar (smith) Peter Grunbach (clothier) Peter Grunbach (clothier) Hans Hofacker (architect) Hans Hofacker (architect) Kuntz Keck (J) Kuntz Keck (J) Seitz Maybach (locksmith) Hermann Mangolt (tanner) Hermann Mangolt (tanner) Hans Merstadt (J) Hans Merstadt (J) Utz von MUnkheim (J) Utz von Mtinkheim (J) Ulrich Rormann (MC) Gilg Senft (J) Hans Spaiglin (MC) Hans Spaiglin (MC) Michel Sulzer (clothier) Michel Sulzer (clothier) Heinz Virnhaber (butcher) Heinz Virnhaber (butcher) Kunz Vogelmann (MC)

Court Council. > t s Total Court Council Total J) 8 4 12 J) 8 5 11 MC) 4 2 6 MC) 4 4 8 ART) 0 8 8 ART) 0 7 7

StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205 1487, p* 167 and 1488, pp. 191-192, “

i 2 0 9

SCHWABISCH HALL CISY COUNCILMEN 1489 1490 MAYOR: Michel Senft MAYOR: Pritz Schletz tfhe Court: She Court: Hans Baumann (MC) Hans Baumann (MC) Jtirg Berler (J) Jbrg Berler (J) Hans Bttschler.(MC) Hans Bttschler (MC) Peter Dttrbrech (MC) Peter Dttrbrech. (MC) Burkhard Eberhart (J) Burkhard Eberhart (J) Kaspar Eberhart (J) Kaspar Eberhart (J) Eberhard Nagel (J) Eberhard Nagel (J) Matthis von Rinderbach (J) Matthis von Rinderbach (J) Seitz Risp (MC) Seitz Risp (MC) Pritz Schletz (J) Pritz Schletz (J) Jbrg Schletz (J) JtSrg Schletz (J) Michel Senft (j) Michel Senft (J) She Council: She Council: Peter Biermann (cobbler) Peter Biermann (cobbler) Peter Grunbach (clothier) Peter Grunbach (clothier) Hans Hofacker (architect) Hans Hofacker (architect) Kuntz Keck (J) Kuntz Keck (J) Hermann Mangolt (tanner) Hermann Mangolt (/tanner) Seitz Maybach (locksmith) Seitz Maybach (locksmith) Utz von Mttnkheim (J) Utz von Mttnkheim (J) Ulrich Rormann (MC) Ulrich Rormann (MC) Burkhard Senft (j) Burkhard Senft (j) Hans Spaiglin (MC) Hans Spaiglin (MC) Michel Sulzer (clothier) Michel Sulzer (clothier) Daniel Sreutwein (J) Daniel Sreutwein (J) Heinz Virnhaber (butcher) Heinz Virnhaber (butcher) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Kunz Vogelmann (MC)

• *« Court Council Sotal Court Council Sotal

J) 8 4 12 J) ' 8 4 12 MC) 4 3 7 MC) 4 3 7 ARS) 0 7 7 ARS) 0 7 7 * ./

StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1489, p. 243 and 1490, p* 285 • . .. ,, 21 0

SCHWABISCH HALL CITY COUNCILMEN 14-91 1492 MAYOR: Michel Senft MAYOR: Fritz Schletz The Court: The Court: Hans Baumann (MC) Hans Baumann (MC) JiJrg Berler (J) JSrg Berler (J) Hans BUschler (MC) Hans BUschler (MC) Peter BUrbrech (MC) Peter. BUrbrech (MC) Burkhard Eberhart (j) Burkhard Eberhart (J) Kaspar Eberhart (J). Kaspar Eberhart (J) Eberhard Nagel (J) Utz von MUnkheim (J) Seitz Risp (MC) Eberhard Nagel (J) Pritz Schletz (J) Seitz Risp (MC) Jbrg Schletz Fritz Schletz (J) Michel Senft & JtJrg Schletz Daniel Ireutwein (j) Michel Senft © The Council: The Council: Peter Biermann. (cobbler) Peter Biermann (cobbler) Hermann Eisenmenger (tanner) Hermann BUschler (MC) Peter Grunbach (clothier) Hermann Eisenmenger (tanner) Hans Hofacker (architect) Hans Hofacker (architect) Kuntz Keck (j) Kuntz Keck (J) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Hermann Mangolt (tanner) Seitz Maybach (locksmith) Seitz Maybach (locksmith) Hans von Rinderbach (j) Utz von MUnkheim (J) Crilg Senft (J) Hans von Rinderbach (J) Hans Spaiglin (MC) Hans Spaiglin (MC) Hans Stadmann (MC) Michel Sulzer (clothier) Michel Sulzer (clothier) Heinz Virnhaber (butcher) Heinz Virnhaber (butcher) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Court Council Total Court Council Total

8 3 11 8 3 11 4 2 6 4 4 8 0 9 9 0 7 7

StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1491, p. 315 and 1492, p* 338, SCHWABISCH HAH. CITY COUNCILMEN

1493 1494 MAYOR: Michel Senft MAYOR: Pritz Schletz She Court: The Court: Hans Baumann (MC) Hans Baumann (MC) JSrg Berler (J) JUrg Berler (J) Hans BUschler (MC) Hans BUschler.(MC) Peter BUrbrech (MC) Burkhard Eberhart. (J) Burkhard Eberhart (J) Kaspar Eberhart (J) Kaspar Eberhart (j) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Utz von MUnkheim (J) Utz von MUnkheim (j) Eberhard Nagel (J) Eberhard Nagel (J) Seitz Risp (MC) Seitz Risp (MC) Pritz Schletz (J) Pritz Schletz (J) Jorg Schletz (j) JSrg Schletz (J) Michel Senft (J) Michel Senft (j) The Council: The Council: Peter Biermann (cobbler) Peter Biermann (cobbler) Hermann BUschler (MC) Hermann BUschler (MC) Paul Eberhardt (clothier) Paul Eberhardt (clothier) Hermann Eisenmenger (tanner) Hermann Eisenmenger (tanner) Hans Hofacker (architect) Hans Hofacker (architect) Kuntz Keck (J) Kuntz Keck (J) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Hans KrauB (clothier) Seitz Maybach (locksmith) Seitz Maybach (locksmith); Hans von Rinderbach (J) Hans von Rinderbach (J) Michel Seckel (butcher) Michel Seckel (butcher) Gilg Senft (J) Gilg Senft (J) Hans Stadmann (MC) Hans Stadmann (MC) Michel Sulzer (clothier) Michel Sulzer (clothier) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Court Council Total Court Council Total

J) 8 3 11 (J) 8 3 11 MC) 4 3 7 CMC) 3 3 6 ART) 0 8 8 (ART) 1 8 9

StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205. 1493. P* 360 and 1494, P. 378,..... 212

SCHWABISCH HALL CITY COUNCILMEN 1495 1496 MAYOR: Michel Senft MAYOR: Pritz Schletz The Court: The Court: Hans Baumann (MC) Hans Baumann (MC) JSrg Berler (J) JSrg Berler (J) Hans BUschler.(MC) Hans BUschler.(MC) Burkhard Eberhart (j) Burkhard Eberhart (j) Kaspar Eberhart (J) ... Kaspar Eberhart (J) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Utz von MUnkheim (J) Utz von MUnkheim (J) Eberhard Nagel (J) Eberhard Nagel (J) Seitz Risp (MC) Hans Neyffer (MC) Pritz Schletz (J) Seitz Risp (MC) JSrg Schletz (J) Pritz Schletz (j) Michel Senft (j) Michel Senft (J) The Council: The Council: Peter Biermann (cobbler) Eckart BUchner (cobbler) Hermann BUschler (MC) Hermann BUschler (MC) Paul Eberhardt (clothier) Paul Eberhardt (clothier) Hermann Eisenmenger (tanner) Hermann Eisenmenger (tanner) Kuntz Keck (J) Kuntz Keck (J) Hans KrauB (clothier) Hans KrauB (clothier) Hans Neyffer (MC) Hans von Morstein (j) Hans von Rinderbach (J) Hans von Rinderbach (j) Peter Schweicker (baker) Peter Schweicker (baker) Michel Seckel (butcher) Michel Seckel (butcher) Gilg Senft (J) Gilg Senft (butcher) Michel Sulzer (clothier) Michel Sulzer (clothier) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Ludwig Volmar (smith) Ludwig Volmar (smith) Court Council Total Court Council Total ;j) a 3 11 7 3 10 MC) 5 3 6 4 2 6 ’art) 1 8 9 1 9 10

StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1495, p. 398‘ and 1496, p, 417. 213

SCHWABISCH HALL CITY COUNCILMEN

1497 1498 MAYOR: Michel Senft MAYOR: JSrg Berler The Court: The Court: Hans Baumann (MC) Hans Baumann (MC) JSrg Berler (J) JSrg Berler (J) Hans BUschler (MC) Hermann BUschler (MC) Burkhard Eberhart (j) Burkhard. Eberhart (j) Kaspar Eberhart (J) . Kaspar Eberhart (j) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Utz von MUnkheim (j) Hans von Morstein (J) Eberhard Nagel (J) Utz von MUnkheim (J) Hans Neyffer (MC) Eberhard Nagel (J) Seitz Risp (MC) Hans Neyffer (MC) Pritz Schletz (j) Gilg Senft (J) Michel Senft (j) Michel Senft (J) The Council: The Council: Eckart BUchner (cobbler); Peter Biermann (MC) Hermann BUschler (MC) Eckart BUchner (cobbler) Paul Eberhardt (clothier) Konrad BUschler (MC) Hermann Eisenmenger (tanner) Paul Eberhardt (MC) Kuntz Keck (j) Hermann Eisenmenger (tanner) Hans KrauB (clothier) JSrg Goldschmied (goldsmith) Jos Mangolt (MC) Kuntz Keck (J) Hans von Morstein (j) Hans KrauB (clothier) Hans von Rinderbach (J) Jos Mangolt (MC) Michel Seckel (butcher) Utz von Rinderbach (j) Gilg Senft (J) Michel Seckel (butcher) Michel Sulzer (clothier) Michel Sulzer (clothier) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Ludwig Volmar (smith) Ludwig Volmar (smith) Court Council Total Court Council Total

(J) 7 4 ‘11 (J) 8 2 10 (MC) 4 3 7 (MC) 3 5 8 (ART) 1 7 8 (ART) 1 7 8

StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205, 1497, P. 436 and 1498, p, 458. 214

SCHWABISCH mill c m COUNCILMEN 1499 1500 MAYOR: Michel Senft MAYOR: Jorg Berler The Court; The Court: Hans Baumann (MC) Hans Baumann (MC) Jbrg Berler (J) Jbrg Berler (J) Hermann BUschler (MC) Hermann BUschler (MC) Kaspar Eberhart (J) Kaspar Eberhart (J) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Hans von Morstein (J) Hans von Morstein (j) Utz von MUnkheim (j) Utz von MUnkheim (j) Eberhard Nagel (j) . Eberhard Nagel (J) Hans Neyffer (MC) Hans Neyffer (MC) Gilg Senft (J) Gilg Senft (J) Michel Senft (J) Michel Senft (J) Michel Sulzer (clothier) Michel Sulzer (clothier) The Council: The Council: Peter Biermann (MC) Peter Biermann (MC) Eckart BUchner (cobbler) Eckart BUchner (cobbler) Konrad BUschler (MC) Konrad BUschler (MC) Paul Eberhardt (clothier) Paul Eberhardt (clothier) Hermann Eisenmenger (tanner) Hermann Eisenmenger (tanner) Jbrg Goldschmied (goldsmith) Jbrg Goldschmied (goldsmith) Kuntz Keck (J) Kuntz Keck (J) Hans KrauB (clothier) Hans KrauB (clothier) Jos Mangolt (MC) Jos Mangolt (MC) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Philipp Schlez (J) Philipp Schlez (J) Michel Seckel (butcher) Michel Seckel (butcher) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Ludwig Volmar (smith) Ludwig Volmar (smith) Court Council Total Court Council Total

J) 7 3 10 J) 7 3 10 MC) 3 4 7 MC) 3 4 7 ART) 2 7 9 ART) 2 7 9 V

StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/205. 1499, P. 478 and 1500, p 488. “ . . 215

SCHWABISCH HALL CITY COUNCILMEN 1501 1502 MAYOR: Michel Senft MAYOR: Jbrg Berler The Court: The Court: Hans Baumann (MC) Hans Baumann (MC) Jbrg Berler (j) Jbrg Berler (J) Hermann BUschler (MC) Hermann BUschler (MC) Kaspar Eberhart (J) Kaspar Eberhart (J) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Hans von Morstein (J) Hans von Morstein (J) Utz von MUnkheim (J) Utz von MUnkheim (J) Philipp Schlez (J) Philipp Schlez (J) Hans Neyffer (clothier) Hans Neyffer (clothier) Gilg Senft (J) Gilg Senft (J) Michel Senft (J) Michel Senft (J) Michel Sulzer (butcher) Michel Sulzer (butcher) The Council: The Council: Peter Biermann (MC) Peter Biermann (MC) Eckart BUchner (cobbler) Konrad BUschler (MC) Konrad BUschler (MC) Paul Eberhardt (clothier) Paul Eberhardt (clothier) Jbrg Goldschmied (goldsmith) Jbrg Goldscmied (goldsmith) Michel Haug (merchant) Michel Haug (merchant) Konrad Hbcklin (MC) Hans KrauB (clothier) Hans KrauB (clothier) Jos Mangolt (MC> Jos Mangolt (MC) Rudolf Nagel (J) Rudolf Nagel (j) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Veit von Rinderbach (J) Veit von Rinderbach (j) Michel Seckel (butcher) Michel Seckel (butcher) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Ludwig Volmar (smith) Ludwig Volmar (smith) Court Council Total Court Council Total

(J) 7 3 10 (J) 7 3 10 (MC) 2 4 6 (MC) 2 5 7 (ART) 3 7 10 (ART) 3 6 9

StA Rats-protokolle, 4/205, 1501, p* 505 and 4/206, 1502, p. iii. , . 216

SCHWABISCH HALL CITY COUNCILMEN 1505 1504 MAYOR: Michel Senft MAYOR: Jbrg Berler The Court: The Court: Hans Baumann (MC) Hans Baumann (MC) JSrg Berler (J) . Jbrg Berler (J) Hermann BUschler (MC) Simon Berler (j) Kaspar Eberhart (J) Hermann BUschler (MC) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Kaspar Eberhart (j) Hans von Morstein (J) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Rudolf Nagel (J) Hans von Morstein (J) Hans Neyffer (clothier) Rudolf Nagel (J) Philipp Schlez (J) Hans Neyffer (clothier) Gilg Senft (J) . Philipp Schlez (J) Michel Senft (J) Gilg Senft (J) Michel Sulzer (butcher) Michel Sulzer (butcher) The Council: The Council: Simon Berler (J) Peter Biermann (MC) Peter Biermann (MC) Sixt Ermel (tanner) Konrad BtiBchler (MC) Michel Haug (merchant) Michel Haug (merchant) Konrad Hbcklin (MC) Konrad Hocklin (MC) Hans KrauB (clothier) Hans KrauB (clothier) Jos Mangolt (MC) Jos Mangolt (MC) Hans Merstadt (j) Hans Merstadt (J) Utz von Rinderbach (j) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Veit von Rinderbach (J) Veit von Rinderbach (J) Volk von RoBdorf (j) Voile von RoBdorf (J) Michel Seckel (butcher) Michel Seckel (butcher) Jbrg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Ludwig Volmar. (smith) Ludwig Volmar (smith) Court Council Total Court Council Total

J) 7 ' 5 12 (J) 7 4 11 MC) 2 5 7 (MC) 2 4 6 ART) 5 4 7 (ART) 3 6 9

StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1503, p* xvii and 1504, p. xxxiii.. . 217

s c h w Ab i s c h h a l l c m c o u n c i l 1505 1506 MAYOR: Rudolf Nagel MAYOR: JUrg Berler The Court: The Court: Hans Baumann (NC) Hans Baumann (MC) J8rg Berler. (J) . JSrg Berler (j) Simon Berler.(j) Simon. Berler (J) Hermann BUnchler (MC) Hermann BUschler (MC) Kaspar Eberhart (j) Kaspar Eberhart (J) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Hans von Morstein (J) Hans von Morstein (J) Rudolf Nagel (J) Rudolf Nagel (j) Veit von Rinderbach (J) Veit von Rinderbach (j) Philipp Schlez (J) Philipp Schlez (J) Gilg Senft (J) Gilg Senft (j) Michel Sulzer (butcher) Michel Sulzer (butcher) The Council: The Council: Peter Biermann (MC) Peter Biermann (MC) Sixt Ermel (tanner) Sixt Ermel (tanner) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Michel Haug (merchant) Michel Haug (merchant) Konrad Hocklin (MG) Konrad HiScklin (MC) Hans KrauB (clothier) Hans KrauB (clothier) Jos Mangolt (MC) Jos Mangolt (MC) Hans Merstadt (J) Engelhard von Morstein (J) Engelhard von Morstein (j) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Volk von RoBdorf (J) Volk von RoBdorf (J) Bartholomdus Rot (painter) Michel Seckel (butcher) Michel Seckel (butcher) Jbrg Seiferheld (saltmaker) JSrg Seiferheld (saltmaker); Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Court Council Total Court Council Total

J) 8 4 12 J) ‘ 8 3 11 MC) 2 4 6 MC) 2 4 6 ART) 2 6 8 ART) 2 7 9

StA Ratsprotokolie, 4/206, 1505, p. xliiii and 1506, P. li.. . ---- . . . 218

SCHWiiBISCH HALL CITY COUNCIL 1507 1508 MAYOR: Rudolf Nagel MAYOR: Hermann Bttschler The Court: The Court: Hans Baumann (MC) Hans Baumann (MC) JSrg Berler (J) . Jttrg Berler (J) Simon Berler (J) Hermann Bttschler (MC) Hermann Bttschler (MC) Kaspar Eberhart (j) Kaspar Eberhart (j) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Peter Kemmerer (clothier) Jos Mangolt (MC) Engelhard von Morstein (j) Engelhard von Morstein (j) Rudolf Nagel (J) Rudolf Nagel (J) Veit von Rinderbach (J) Veit von Rinderbach (j) Philipp Schlez (J) Volk von RoBdorf (J) Gilg Senft (j) Gilg Senft (j) Michel Sulzer (butcher) Michel Sulzer (butcher) The Council: The Council: Peter Biermann (MC) Heinz Beck (baker) Sixt Ermel (tanner) Peter Biermann (MC) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Hans Bttschler (MC) Michel Haug (merchant) Sixt Ermel (tanner) Konrad Hocklin (MC) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Hans KrauB (clothier) Michel Haug (merchant) Jos Mangolt (MC) Konrad Hocklin (MC) Hans Ott (MC) Werner Keck (J) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Hans KrauB (clothier) Volk von RoBdorf (J) Utz von Rinderbach (j) Bartholomttus Rot (painter) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Michel Seckel (butcher) Michel Seckel (butcher) Jiirg Seiferheld (saltmaker) JSrg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Court Council Total Court Council Total

J) 8 2 10 J) 7 2 9 MC) 2 5 7 MC) 3 4 7 ART) 2 7 9 ART) 2 8 10

StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1507, p* lvii and 1508, p. lxvi. . 219

SCHWXBISCH hail city c o u n c i l 1509 1510 MAYOR: Veit von Rinderbach MAYOR: Gilg Senft Hans Baumann (MC) Jiirg Berler (J) Jiirg Berler (J) Simon. Berler (j) Peter Biermann (MC) Peter Biermann (MC) Hermann Bttschler (MC) Hans KrauB (clothier) Hans KrauB (clothier) Jos Mangolt (MC) Jos Mangolt (MC) Engelhard von Morstein (J) Engelhard von Morstein (J) Hans von Morstein (j) Rudolf Nagel (J) Rudolf Nagel (j) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Utz von Rinderbach (j) Yeit von Rinderbach (J) Veit von Rinderbach (J) Volk von RoBdorf (J) Volk von RoBdorf (J) Gilg Senft (J) Gilg Senft (J) The Council: The Council: Heinz Beck (baker) Heinz Beck (baker) Hans Bttschler (MC) Hans Bttschler (MC) Sixt Ermel (tanner) Hans Eisenmenger (tanner) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Sixt Ermel (tanner) Michel Haug (merchant) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Konrad Hocklin (MC) Werner Keck (J) Werner Keck (J) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Hans Ott (MC) Michel Schlez (j) Bartholoraaus Rot (painter) Hans SchultheiB (J) Hans SchultheiB (J) Michel Seckel (butcher) Michel Seckel (butcher) Jiirg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Jiirg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Peter Virnhaber (MC) Peter Virnhaber (MC) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Lienhard Wezel (cobbler) Court Council Total Court Council Total

(J) 7 2 9 (J) 9 3 12 (MG) 4 5 9 (MC) 2 3 5 (ART) 1 7 8 (ART) 1 8 9

StA Ratsprotokolle» 4/206, 1509* p. lxxiiii, and 1510, p. xciii* 220

SCHW.XBISCH HALL CITY COUNCILMEN

1511 1512 MAYOR: Simon Berler MAYOR: Jbrg Berler The Court: The Court; Jbrg Berler (J) jbrg Berler (J) Simon Berler (J) Simon Berler (J) Peter Biermann (MC) Peter Biermann.(MC) Hans KrauB (clothier) Hans KrauB (clothier) Job Mangolt (MC) Jos Mangolt (MC) Engelhard von Morstein (j) Engelhard von Morstein (J) Hans von Morstein (j) Hans von Morstein (J) Rudolf Nagel (J) Utz von Rinderbach (j) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Veit von Rinderbach (J) Veit von Rinderbach (j) Volk von RoBdorf (j) Volk von RoBdorf (J) Gilg Senft (J) Gilg Senft (J) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) The Council: The Council: Heinz Beck (baker) Heinz Beck (baker) Hans BUschler (MC; Dietrich Blank (clothier) Hans Eisenmenger (tanner) Konrad BUschler (MC) Sixt Ermel (tanner) Sixt Ermel (tanner) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Werner Keck (j) Werner Keck (J) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Michel Schlez (J) Michel Schlez (J) Hans SchultheiB (J) Hans SchultheiB (J) Jbrg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Jbrg Seiferheld (saltmaker). Reinhard Truchtelfinger Melchior Senft (j) (butcher) Reinhard Truchtelfinger Peter Virnhaber (MC) (butcher) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) peter Virnhaber (MC) Lienhard Wezel (cobbler) Lienhard Wezel (cobbler) Court Council Total Court Council Total

(J) 9 5 12 (J) 8 " 4 12 (MC) 2 5 5 (MC) 3 2 5 (ART) 1 8 9 (ART) 1 8 9

StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1511• P# ci, and 1512, p, ciiii. 221

SCHWABISCH HALL CITY COUNCILMEN 1513 1514 MAYOR: Simon Berler MAYOR: Hermann BUschler {the Court; The Court: Jbrg Berler (j) Jbrg Berler (J) Simon Berler (J) Simon. Berler (J) Peter Biermann. (MC) Peter Biermann (MC) Hermann Btischler (MC) Hermann BUschler (MC) Hans KrauB (clothier) Hans KrauB (clothier) Jos Mangolt.(MC) J ob Mangolt (MC) Engelhard von Morstein (J) Hans von Morstein (j) Hems von Morstein (j) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Volk von RoBdorf (j) Volk von RoBdorf (J) Gabriel Senft (J) Gilg Senft (J) Gilg Senft (J) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) The Council; The Council: Heinz Beck (baker) Martin Autenried (clothier) Dietrich Blank (clothier) Heinz Beck (baker) Konrad BUschler (MC) Dietrich Blank (clothier) Sixt Ermel (tanner) Konrad BUschler (MC) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Konz Feyerabend (tanner) Konrad Hocklin (MC) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Hans Ott (MC) Konrad Hocklin (MC) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Hans Ott (MC) Michel Schlez (j) BartholomUus Rot (painter) Jbrg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Michel Schlez (J) Gabriel Senft (J) Jbrg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Reinhard Truchtelfinger Reinhard Truchtelfinger (butcher) (butcher) Peter Virnhaber (MC) Peter Virnhaber (MC) Lienhard Wezel (cobbler) Lienhard Wezel (cobbler) Court Council Total Court Council Total

(J) 7 2 9 (J) 7 1 8 CMC) 4 4 8 (MG) 4 4 8 (ART) 1 8 9 (ART) 1 9 10

StA Ratsprotokolle. 4/206, 1513, p. cxvlii and 1514, p. cxxv-iii. 222

SCHWABISCH HALL CITY COUNCILMEN 1515 1516 MAYOR: Simon Berler MAYOR: Hans von Morstein The Court: The Court: Jbrg Berler (J) jbrg Berler (J) Simon Berler (J) Simon Berler (J) Peter Biermann (MC) Peter Biermann (MC) Hermann BUschler (MC) Hermann BUschler (MC) Hans KrauB (clothier) Hans KrauB (clothier) Jos Mangolt. (MC) Jos Mangolt (MC) Hans von Morstein (J) Hans von Morstein (J) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Volk von RoBdorf (J) Volk von RoBdorf (J) Michel Schlez (J) Michel Schlez (J) Gabriel Senft (J) Gabriel Senft (J) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) The Council: The Council: Martin Autenried (clothier) Martin Autenried (clothier) Heinz Beck (baker) Heinz Beck (baker) Dietrich Blank (clothier) Dietrich Blank (clothier) BartholomUus BUschler (MC) Bartholomaus BUschler (MC) Konz Feyerabend (tanner) Konz Feyerabend (tanner) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Konrad Hocklin (MC) Konrad Hbcklin (MC) Hans Ott (MC) Hans Ott (MC) Bernhard von Rinderbach (J) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Jbrg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Jbrg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Peter Seitzinger (architect) Reinhard Truchtelfinger Reinhard Truchtelfinger (butcher) (butcher) Peter Virnhaber (MC) Peter Virnhaber (MC) Lienhard Wezel (cobbler) Lienhard Wezel (cobbler) Court Council Total Court Council Total

(J) 7 1 8 J) 7 0 7 CMC) 4 4 8 MO) 4 4 8 (ART) 1 9 10 ART) 1 10 11

StA Ratsprotokolle» 4/206, 1515, p* cxxxv and 1516, obverse side of page cxxxvii. 225

SCHWABISCH HALL CITY COUHCILMEN 1517 1518 MAYOR: Hermann BUschler MAYOR: Hans von Morstein The Court: The Court: Martin Autenried (clothier) Martin Autenried (clothier) Jiirg Berler (J) Jorg Berler (J) Peter Biermann. (MC) Peter. Biermann (MC) Hermann BUschler (MC) Hermann BUschler (MC) Hans KrauB (clothier) Konrad BUschler (MC) Jos Mangolt (MC) Hans KrauB (clothier) Hans von Morstein (j) Jos Mangolt (MC) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Hans von Morstein (J) Volk von RoBdorf (J) . Utz von Rinderbach (J) Michel Schlez (J) Volk von RoBdorf (J) Gabriel Senft (J) Michel Schlez (J) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) Kunz Vogelmann (MC) She Council: The Council: Hans Baumann (MC) Hans Baumann (MC) Heinz Beck (baker.) Heinz Beck (baker) Dietrich Blank (clothier) Dietrich Blank (clothier) Bartholomaus BUschler (MC) Ludwig Bisenmenger (tanner) Konz Feyerabend (tanner) Konz Feyerabend (tanner) Konrad Hbcklin (MC) Anton Hofmeister (MC) Hans Ott (MC) Hans Ott (MC); Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Jbrg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Heinrich SchultheiB (J) Peter Seitzinger (architect) Jdrg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Jos Sulzer (clothier) Jos Sulzer (clothier) Reinhard Sruchtelfinger. Reinhard Truchtelfinger (hutcher) . (butcher) Peter Virnhaber (MC) Peter Virnhaber (MC) Hans Wezel (MC) ~ Hans Wezel (MC) Court Council Total Court Council Total

(J) 6 0 6 J) 5 1 6 CMC) 4 6 10 MC) 5 5 10 (ART) 2 8 10 ART) 2 8 10

StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1517, P* cxl, and 1518, obverse side or page cxiv. , SCHWABISCH HALL : COUNCILMEN 1519 1520 MAYOR: Michel Schlez MAYOR: Hermann BUschler The Court: The Court: Martin Autenried. (clothier) Martin Autenried (clothier) Hermann BUschler (MC) Hermann BUschler (MC) Konrad BUschler (MC) Konrad BUschler (MC) Anton Hofmeister (MC) Anton Hofmeister (MC) Hans KrauB (clothier) Hans KrauB (clothier) Jos Mangolt (MC) Jos Mangolt. (MC) Hans von Morstein (j) Hans von Morstein (J) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Hans Ott (MC) Volk von RoBdorf (J) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Volk von RoBdorf (J): Michel Schlez (j) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Konrad Vogelmann (MC) Michel Schlez (J) The Council: The Council: Hans Baumann (MC) Hans Baumann (MC) Ludwig Eisenmenger (tanner) Ludwig Eisenmenger (tanner) Konz Feyerabend (tanner) Konz Feyerabend (tanner) Jos Haug (furrier) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Hans Kbler (cobbler) Jos Haug. (furrier) Hans Ott (MC) Hans Koler (cobbler) Heinrich SchultheiB (J) Heinrich SchultheiB (J) Jbrg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Jbrg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Gabriel Senft (J) Gabriel Senft (j) Jos Sulzer (clothier) Jos Sulzer (clothier) Reinhard Truchtelfinger Reinhard Truchtelfinger (butcher) (butcher) Peter Virnhaber (MC) Peter Virnhaber (MC) Bernhard Werner (baker) Bernhard Werner (baker) Hans Wezel (MC) Hans Wezel (MC) Court Council Total Court Council Total

J) 4 2 '6 J) 4 2 6 MC) 5 4 9 MC) 5 3 8 ART) 3 8 11 ART) 3 9 12

StA Ratsprotokolle, t 1519t obverse side of page cli. 225

SCHWABISCH HALL CITY COUNCILMEN 1521 1522 MAYOR: Konrad BUschler MAYOR: Michel Schlez The Court; The Court: Martin Autenried (clothier) Martin Autenried (clothier) Hermann BUschler (MC) Hermann.BUschler (MC) Konrad BUschler (MC) Konrad BUschler (MC) Anton Hofmeister (MC) Anton Hofmeister (MC) Jos Mangolt (MC) Jos Mangolt (MC) Hans von Morstein (j) Hans von Morstein (J) Hans Ott (MC) Hans Ott (MC) Utz von Rinderbach (j) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Volk von RoBdorf (J) Volk von RoBdorf (j) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Bartholomaus Rot (papainter) Michel Schlez (j) Michel Schlez Gabriel Senft (J) Gabriel Senft $ The Council: The Council: Hans Baumann (MC) Hans Baumann (MC) Konz Feyerabend (tanner) Adam Gutmann (tanner) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Jos Haug (furrier) Jos Haug (furrier) Hans KSler (cobbler) Hans Kbler (cobbler); Bastian KrauB (clothier) Bastian KrauB (clothier) Hans Scherb (MC) Hans Scherb (MC) Heinrich SchultheiB (j) Heinrich SchultheiB (j) Michel Seyboth (saltmaker) J8rg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Jos Sulzer (clothier) Jos Sulzer (clothier) Lienhard. TroBmann (baker) Reinhard Truchtelfinger Reinhard Truchtelfinger (butcher) (butcher) Peter Virnhaber (MC) Peter Virnhaber (MC) Bernhard Werner (baker) Bernhard Werner (baker) Hans Wezel (MC) Hans Wezel (MC) Court Council Total Court Council Total

1 6 6 5 (J) 5 1 MC) 5 4 9 5 4 9 [ART) 2 9 11 K > 2 9 11

StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1521, obverse side of page cliiil and~Y522, p . clvl. 226

SCHWABISCH H A H CITY COUNCIL 1525 1524 MAYOR; Konrad BUschler MAYOR; Michel Schlez The Court; The Court; Martin Autenried (clothier) Martin Autenried (clothier) Hermann BUschler (MC) Hermann BUschler (MC) Konrad BUschler (MC) Konrad BUschler (MC) Anton Hofmeister (MC) Anton Hofmeister (MC) Hans Ott (MC) Hans Ott (MC) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Utz von Rinderbach (J) Volk von RoBdorf (J) Volk von RoBdorf (J ) . Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Michel Schlez (j) Michel Schlez (J) Heinrich SchultheiB (J) Heinrich SchultheiB (J) Gabriel Senft (J) Gabriel Senft (j) Peter Virnhaber (MC) peter Virnhaber (MO) The Council; The Council; Hans Baumann. (MC) Hans Baumann (MC) Dietrich Blank (clothier) Dietrich Blank (clothier) Adam Gutmann (tanner) Adam Gutmann (tanner) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Jos Haug (furrier) Jos Haug (furrier) Hans Koler (cobbler) Bastian KrauB (clothier) Bastian KrauB (clothier) Lienhard Mangolt (clothier) Lienhard Mangolt (clothier) Hans SchnUrlin (shopkeeper) Michel Seyboth (saltmaker) Michel Seyboth (saltmaker) Jos Sulzer (clothier) Jos Sulzer (clothier) Lienhard TroBmann (baker) Lienhard TroBmann (baker) Reinhard Truchtelfinger Reinhard Truchtelfinger (butcher) (butcher) Bernhard Werner (baker) Bernhard Werner (baker) Hans Wezel (MC) Hans Wezel (MC) Court Council Total Court Council Total 0 0 J \ 5 5 5 5 MC) 5 2 7 5 2 7 [ART) 2 12 14 2 12 14

StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1523, p« clviii and 1524, clxv.. 227

SCHWABISCH HALL CITY COUNCILMEN 1525 1526 MAYOR: Hermann BUschler MAYOR: Michel Schlez The Court: The Court: Hermann BUschler (MC) Hermann BUschler (MC) Konrad BUschler (MC) Konrad BUschler (MC) Anton Hoftoeister (MC) Jos Haug (furrier) Hans Ott (MC) Anton Hofmeister (MC) Utz von Rinderbach (j) Hans Ott (MC) Volk von RoBdorf (J) Utz von Rinderbach (j) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Volk von RoBdorf (J) Michel Schlez (j) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Heinrich SchultheiB (j) Michel Schlez (J) Gabriel Senft (j) Heinrich SchultheiB (J) Peter Virnhaber (MC) Peter Virnhaber (MC) Hans Wezel (MC) Hans Wezel (MC) The Council: The Council: Hans Baumann (MC) Dietrich Blank (clothier) Dietrich Blank (clothier) Konz Feyerabend (tanner) Konz Feyerabend (tanner) Kaspar Grater (baker) Adam Gutmann (tanner) Adam Gutmann (tanner) Heinrich Halberg (goldsmith) Christof Hafl (wine merchant) Jos Haug (furrier) Hans Kbler (cobbler) Hans KSler (cobbler) Bastian KrauB (clothier) Bastian KrauB (clothier) Hans SchnUrlin (shopkeeper) Hans SchnUrlin (shopkeeper) Wilhelm Seckel (butcher) Michel Seyboth (saltmaker) Michel Seyboth (saltmaker) Jos Sulzer (clothier) Jos Sulzer (clothier) Lienhard TroBmann (baker) Lienhard TroBmann (baker) Reinhard Truchtelfinger Reinhard Truchtelfinger (butcher) (butcher) Bernhard Werner (baker) Bernhard Werner (baker) Court Council Total Court Council Total

(J) 5 0 5 (J) ~ 4 0 4 (MC) 6 1 7 (MC) 6 0 6 (ART) 1 13 14 (ART) 2 14 16

StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1525, p. clxvii and 1526, p. clxx. 228

SOHWABISCH HALL CITY COUNCILMEN 1527 1528 MAYOR: Anton Hofmeister MAYOR: Michel Schlez The Court: The Court: Dietrich Blank (clothier) Dietrich Blank (clothier) Konrad BUschler (MC) Jos Haug (furrier) Jos Haug (furrier) . Anton Hofmeister (MC) Anton Hofmeister (MC) Hans Ott (MC) Hans Ott (MC) Volk yon RoBdorf (J) Volk von RoBdorf (j) BartholomUus Rot (painter) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Michel Schlez (J) Michel Schlez (J) Heinrich SchultheiB (J) Heinrich SchultheiB (J) Gabriel Senft (J) Reinhard Truchtelfinger Reinhard Truchtelfinger (butcher) (butcher) Peter Virnhaber (MC) Peter Virnhaber (MC) Hans Wezel (MC) Hams Wezel (MC) The Council: The Council: Konz Feyerabend (tanner) Martin Autenried (clothier) Kaspar Grfiter (baker) Konz Feyerabend (taimer) Adam Gutmann (tanner) Kaspar Grater (baker) Christof HaB (wine merchant) Adam Gutmann (tanner) Hans KSler (cobbler) Christof HaB (wine merchant) Bastian KrauB (clothier) Hans Koler (cobbler) Hans SchnUrlin (shopkeeper) Bastian KrauB (clothier) Wilhelm Seckel (butcher) Hans SchnUrlin (shopkeeper) Lienhard Seitz (cobbler) Wilhelm Seckel (butcher) Gabriel Senft (J) Lienhard Seitz (cobbler) Michel Seyboth (saltmaker) Michel Seyboth (saltmaker) Jos Sulzer (clothier) Jos Sulzer (clothier) Lienhard TroBmann (baker) Lienhard TroBmann (baker) Bernhard Werner (baker) Bernhard Werner (baker) Court Council Total Court Council Total J) 3 1 4 J) 4 0 4 MC) 5 0 5 MC) 4 0 4 ART) 4 13 17 ART) 4 14 18

StA Ratsprotokolle, 4/206, 1527, obverse side of page clxil and Ybku, p, clxxiiii. SCHWABISCH HALL CITY COUNCILMEN 1529 1550 - MAYOR: Anton Hofmeister MAYOR: Michel Schlez The Court: The Court: Dietrich Blank (clothier) Martin Autenried (clothier) Cbristof HaB (wine merchant) Jakob Berler (j) . Jos Haug (furrier) Dietrich Blank (clothier) Anton Hofmeister (MC) Christof HaB (MC) Hans Ott. (MC) Jos Haug (furrier) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Anton Hofmeister (MC) Michel Schlez (J) Hans Ott (MC) Hans SchnUrlin (shopkeeper) Bartholomaus Rot (painter) Heinrich SchultheiB (j) Michel Schlez (J) Gabriel Senft. (J) Hans SchnUrlin (shopkeeper) Deter Virnhaber (MC) Heinrich SchultheiB (J) Hans Wezel (MC) Gabriel Senft (J) The Council: The Council: Martin Autenried (clothier) Hans Eisenmenger (saltmaker) Jakob Berler (J) Michel Eisenmenger (tanner) Michel Eisenmenger (tanner) Lienhard Peuchter (innkeeper) Konz Peyerabend .(tanner) Kaspar Grater (baker) Kaspar Grater (baker) Adam Gutmann (tanner; Adam Gutmann (tanner) Bastian KrauB (clothier) Hans Kbler (cobbler) Ludwig von Morstein (J) Bastian KrauB (clothier) Hieronymus Schutter (MC) Hieronymus Schutter (MC) Wilhelm Seckel (butcher) Wilhelm Seckel (butcher) Jbrg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Jbrg Seiferheld (saltmaker) Lienhard TroBmann (baker) Lienhard Seitz (cobbler) Ludwig Virnhaber (MC) Lienhard TroBmann (baker) Bernhard Werner (baker) Bernhard Werner (baker) Peter Wezel (saltmaker) Court Council Total Court Council Total J) 5 1 4 (J) 4 1 5 MC) 4 1 5 CMC) 3 2 5 ART) 5 12 17 (ART) 5 11 16

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Aueodota Brentlana. Ungearuckte Briefe und Bedenken von Johannes iBrenz. Compiled and editecPBy Theodor Pressel. Tubingen: Verlag von J.J. Heckenhauer 1868. Die Bttrgerschaft der Reichsstadt Hall von 1395 bis 1600. Compiled and "edited by Gerhard WuncTer in coITabora- tion with Georg lenckner. Wiirttemberglsche Geschichts- quellen, Vol. XXV. Edited by the kommission-fur geschichtliche Landeskunde in Baden-Wtirttemberg. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1956. Die evangelischen Kirchenordnung des seohszehnten Jahr- ~hunaerts. Urkunden und Regesten zur keschlchie des Rechts und der VerfaBSung aer evangelischen klrche in Deutschland. Edited by Aemilius Ludwig Richter.VoT. T: Vom An’fange der Reformation bis zur BegrUndung der Conslstorialverfassung im jahre T5T2" Vol. ll: vom Jahre lb42 Pis zu iSnde ctes secHszehnten Jahrhunderts. Nieukoop: B. de Graaf,1 1967 • (keprint of the Weimar edition of 1846). Faber, Friedrich Ferdinand. Die wttrttembergischen Familien- stiftungen. Hr. 1-125. STEuttgart: w• Kohlhammer, 1938. Geschichtliche Lieder und SprUche Wttrtt ember gs. Compiled and edited" by Karl""S'telff and (leonard MeHring. Stutt­ gart: Yrtirttembergische Kommission fiir landesgeschichte, 1899-1912. Das Haalarchiv in Schwabisch Hall. Inventar der Urkunden. Akten und Rand'e. Compiled by Robert tihland. inven­ tar e der nichtstaatlichen Archive in Baden-Wtirit em- berg. Hr. 10. Edited by the StaatTTche Archiwer- waltung. KarlsrUhe: Verlag G. Braun, 1965. Herolt, Johann. Chronica der lbblichen Reichsstadt' Schwabischen Hall, DancTBChaiJft. abgestorbenen Adels, und Zerstohrung^erselbeh Burgs. 1541. ______. Chronica. Transliterated and edited by Christian Kolb. Wiir11embergi s che Geschichtsquellen. Vol. I. Edited by the Kommission iur geschichtliche . landeskunde in Baden-Wlirttemberg. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1894. 233

Hohenlohesches Urkundenbuch. Vols. I-III. Edited by Karl Weller, 1 Stuttgart: ?. Kohlhammer, 1899-1912, Regesta chronologico-diplomatica Ruperti Regis Romanorum. Euszug aus aenim k.k. Archive zu Wiensich belindenden heicharegistraturblTcHerrL vom TaIire T4-00r bis H i p. Edited by Joseph chrnel. Frankfurt amEalET “Tranz Varrentrapp, 1834. Sehling, Emil, ed. Die evangelischen Kirchenordnungen des XVI. Jahrhunderts. leipzig: Reisiand, iy02-1966. Seuffert, Burkhard. Drei Register aus den Jahren 1478- 1519. Das landtagsregister des kaiser Friedrich III. InhsbruckT Univ. Verl. Wagner, 1934. Die Urkunden des Archivs der Reichsstadt Schwabisch Hall, "Vol. l'(Tlb6-l399). ' Compiled by Eriedrich Pietsch. VerSffentlichungen der Staatlichen Archiwerwaltung BaAen-Wtirttem'berg, Vol. XXI. Stuttgart: V/, Kohl> hammer, 1967. Urkunden zur Geschichte des Schwabischen Bundes, 1488-1533, Edited by Karl August KlUpi’el. Stuttgart: literar- ischer Yerein, 1846. Widmann, Georg. Hallische Chronica, 1550. . Hallische Chronica. Transliterated and edited by Chris-bran Kolb. V/urt t embergis che Geschichtsquellen. Vol. VI. Edited by the kommission i’iir geschichtliche Landeskunde in Baden-Wiirttemberg, Stuttgart: W. Kohl­ hammer, 1904. WUrttembergisches Urkundenbuch. Edited by the Konigliches Staatsarchiv in Stuttgart. 11 vols. Stuttgart: WUrttembergische Archiwerwaltung, 1849-1913.

II. Secondary Accounts

A. Books

Beresford, Maurice. New Towns of the Middle Ages: Town Plantation in England, Wales, and Glascony. New York; Frederick A. Praeger, 1967. 234

Bibliographie der WUrttembergischen Geschichte. Edited by the Wurttembergische Kommission fur Landesgeschichte. Pounded by Wilhelm Heyd. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1895-1971. Brecht, Martin. Die frtthe Theologie des Johannes Brenz, Beitrage zurr historiscKen Theologie, Edited by Gerhard "Ebeling. Tubingen: J'.G.b. Mohr iPaul Siebeck), 1966. Dickinson, Robert E. The West European City: A Geograph­ ical Interpretation. London: Routledge dTkegan Paul rtar, 1951. German, Wilhelm. Chronik von Schwabisch Hall und Umgebung von den alteslen Zeit'en bis zur Gegenwart. Schwabisch hall: Wilhelm TFerman Verlag, 19TJZ57 Gmelin, Julius. Hallische Geschichte. Stuttgart: W. Kohl­ hammer, 1896. Hartmann, Julius. Johannes Brenz. leben und ausgewahlte Schriften. Leben und ausgewahlte Schrllten der Yater und l3egrunder*~der lutherischen Kir che. ElberTeldT^ K.l. jPriderichs, 1dbii. Hartmann, Julius and JSger, Karl. Johann Brenz: nach gedruckten und ungedruckten Quelien. z vols'i Hamburg, Ti340 and Leipzig, 1642. Hermelink, Heinrich. Geschichte der evangelischen Kirche in Wiirttemberg von der helhrmalion bis zur Gegenwart. Has Reich (jotteh in Y/irtemberg. StuffigarTT: Rainer" Wunderlich Verlag-Hermann Leins, 1949• Hommel, Wilhelm. Schwabisch Hall. Ein Buch aus der Heimat. Schwabisch Hall; E. SchwendschenBuchcfruckerei, 1937. Keim, Theodor. Schwabische Reformationsgeschichte bis zum Augsburger Reichstag, kit vorzugiicher kucksicEI aul die entscheldenden Schlussjahre 1528"BTs 1^5T~. Tubingen: L. P. Pues, 1&35. Kreil, Dieter. Der Stadthaushalt von Schwabisch Hall. Eine finanzgeschlchtliche untersucEung. schwabisch hall: Hans p. Eppinger, 1965^ KrUger, Eduard. Schwabisch Hall mit Gross-Komburg. Klein- Komburg. SteTnbach und Limpurg. Ein Gang duroh Creschichte und IcuhsTT* Schwabisch hall: Hans p. Eppinger, 1357, 235

______. Pie Stadtbefestigung von Schwabisch Hall. SchwabiscF"Hall: Hans P. Eppinger, 1966. Marquardt, Ernst. Geschichte V/Urttembergs. Stuttgart: Carl Ernst Poeschel, 1961. Mauersberg, Hans. Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte zentraleuropaischer stadte In neuerer Zeit. S-ott ingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 196U7 Planitz, Hans. Pie deutsche Stadt im Mittelalter. Von der Romerzeit bis zu~den ZunftkampfenI Cologne: BaEXau- Verlag, 195TT

Preuss, Hugo. Pie Entwlcklung des deutschen Stadtewesen3. Vol. I: Entwicklungsgeschichte der deutschen stadte- verfassung. Aalen: Sclentla Verlag-- 196&. (Hew printing of the 1906 Leipzig edition). Rabe, Horst. Per Rat der niederschwabischen Reichsst&dte. Rechtsge schichtliche tJntersuchungen u'ber"cTTe Katsver- faBsung der Reichsstadte jjiederschwabens his zum Ausgang der Zunftbewegungen im Rahmen der"h»herjeutschen Relchs- und Mschofsstadte. “Cologne, I966. Romer, C. Kirchliche Geschichte Wurttembergs. Stuttgart: Verlag der evangelischen Bucherstiftung, 1865.

Riicklin, Gertrud. Rcligioaes Volksleben des au3gehenden Mittelalters in den Jkelchsstadten ITeiibrohn und Hall, heidelberg: HXstorische Studien Verlag, 19337“ Pie Stadt des Mittelalters. Vol. I: Begriff. Entstehung und Aushr¥ItungI Vol. II: Recht'~und Verfassung. Edited by Carl Haase. Darmstadt: l/Issenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1969 and 1972. Stadtewesen und Biirgertum als geschichtliche Krafte. Edited by A. von Brandtand W. Koppe. Lubeck: Max Schmidt-Romhild, 1953. Stalin, Paul Friedrich. Geschichte Wurttembergs. Vols. I and II. Geschichte der europaischen staaten. Edited by A.H.L. Heeren, P.A. Ukert, and W. von Giesebrecht. Gotha: Friedrich Andreas Perthes, 1882 and 1887. Studien zu den Anfangen des europaischen Stadtewesens. Voutrage und Forschungen, Vol. I'v, Edited by the InstItut fur Geschichtliche Landeaforschung des Boden- seegebietes. Constance: Jan Thorbecke Verlag, 1958. 236

Swiridoff, Paul. Schwabisch Hall. Schwabisch Hall: Hans P. Eppinger, 1969. Ulshofer, Kuno. Schwabisch Hall. Schwabisch Hall; Hans P. Eppinger, 1969. Untersuchungen zur gesellschaftlichen Struktur der mittel- alterlichen Stadte in Europa. 7orirag e und" P'orschungen, Vol. XI. Edited byThe Konstanzer Arbeitskreis fiir mittelalterliche Geschichte. Constance: Jan Ihorbecke Verlag, 1966. Weller, Karl. Wtirttembergische Geschichte. Edited by Arnold Weller. Stuttgart: £ilberburg Verlag, Werner Jackh, 1957.

B* Articles

Bosl, K. "Die mittelalterlichen Grundlagen der modernen deutschen Gesellschaft." WUrttembergisch Franken. Vol. 44, HP 34 (1960), p p . ------Bossert, G. "lebensbilder aus Pranken. Johann Herolt, der Haller Chronist." Wiirttembergjsche Viertel.jahrshefte fiir Landesgeschichte, iV 11831}. pp. 289-295. Carlfe, Walter, 11 Johann Wilhelm Thon und die kbnigliche Saline zu Schwabisch Hall, Ein noch unbekanntes Kapitel in der Salinengeschichte." Wiirttembergisch Pranken, Vol. 51, HP 41 (1967), pp. 2T-357 Biittner, H. "Staufische Territorialpolitik im 12. Jahr- hundert." WUrttembergisch Pranken, Vol. 47. NF 37 (1963), p p . T - 2 7 . ------Decker-Hauff, Hansmartin. "Der Ohringer Stiftungsbrief." WUrttembergisch Pranken, Vol. 41. HP 31 (1957). PP. 17-51. Dtirr, G. "Zur Geschichte der Haller Mttnzstatte und des Hellers." Wiirttembergisch Pranken, Vol. 23. IIP 13 (1922), pp.'" 7 - 3 3 . ------German, Wilhelm. "Geschichte der Buchdruckerkunst in Schwabisch Hall bis Ende des 17. Jahrhunderts." Wiirtt embergisch Franken, Vol. 21, HP 11 (1914), pp. 1-162. 237

Gmelin, Julius. "Bevolkerungsbewegung im Hallischen seit Mitte des 16. Jahrhundert." Sonderabzug aus All- emeines Statistisches Archiv,- pp. 240- 2857’ ' EcfTted fy Georg von Mayr. 5?Hbingen: H. laupp'schen Buch- handlung, 1897. ‘ "Hall in der zweiten Halfte des 16. Jahr- hunderts." WUrttembergisch Franken. Vol. 18. NF 8 (1905), PP. 141- 201. Gutohrlein, F. "Die Kocherfischerei im Ablauf der Jahr- hunderte," WUrttembergisch Franken. Vol. 46, NF 36 (1962), pp. iFf-174. Grater, F. "tlber 700 Jahre Weinbau am Kocher urn Schwab­ isch Hall." WUrttembergisch Franken, Vol. 46. NF 36 (1962), pp. 1 7 5 = 2 5 2 . ------"Das Haalgericht." Der Haalquell. Nr. 9 (November 1953), pp. 33-35. Hommel, Wilhelm. "Keltische und mittelalterliche Salz- gewinnung in Schwabisch Hall," Y/Urttembergisch Franken, Vols. 30-31, NF 20-21 (T540), pp. 129-144. Kolb, Christian. "Des Haller Chronisten Georg Widmanns leben." WUrttembergisch Franken, Vol. 16. NF 6 (1897), p p . 44- 77.’ ------. "Die Handschriften der Yfidman1 schen Chronik," "Wiir it embergisch Franken, Vol. 16, NF 6 (1897), pp. 21- 43. Kost, E. "Die Keltensiedlung Uber dem Haalquell im Kocher- tal in Schwabisch Hall." WUrttembergisch Franken, Vols. 32-33, NF 22-23 (1945)7"PP. 39-111.------Krodel, Gottfried G. "State and Church in Brandenburg- Ansbach-Kulmbach 1524-1526." Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History, V (195&X, pp."T39-213• "Die Metzgerfamilie Seckel in Hall und Gaildorf." Der Haalquell, Nr. 1 (February 1954), pp. 1-4. Moeller, Bernd. "Reichsstadt und'Reformation." Schriften des Vereins fUr Reformationsgeschichte. Vol. b9, Nr. 160 (1962), pp. 7-79. Nau, E. "Haller Pfennige." WUrttembergisch Franken, Vol. 44, NF 34 (1960), pp. 25=521 : 238

Rosenberger, Karl-Siedfried. "Die Entwicklung des Rates von Schwabisch Hall bis zum Jahre 1340." Wurttem- bergisch Pranken, Vol. 40, HP 30 (1955), pp. 33-56. Schuram, Karl. "Die hallische landheg." WUrttembergisch Pranken. Vols. 27-28, HP 17-18 (193677"pp. 140-175. . "Das Paulinereremitenkloster Goldbach." Wurttembergische Vierteljahreshefte fur landes- geschlcixteT XTT951). u p . 109-137. "Die Stattmeister der Reichsstadt Hall." Der Haalquell. Hr. 1 (January 1962), pp. 1-3* Veeck, W. "Eine keltische Solesiederei in Schwabisch Hall." WUrttembergisch Pranken, Vols. 32-33. HP 22-23 (1940). pp. 112-128. Weller, Karl. "Die Ohringer Stiftungsurkunde von 1037." WUrttembergische Vierteljahreshefte fur Dandes- geschichte, XXXlKTnT33) ."W. 1-24'. Wunder, Gerhard. "Die Bewohner der Reichsstadt Hall im Jahre 1545. Ein Betrag zur Sozial- und Wirtschafts- struktur der Vergangenheit." WUrttembergisch Pranken, Vol. 49, HP 39 (1965), pp. 34-5ST ------• "Die Entstehung der Stadt Hall." Wttrttem- bergisch Pranken, Vol. 41, HP 31 (1957), pp. 32-38. . "Die Haller Ratsverstorung von 1509 bis 1512." jfettembergib oh Pranken, Vol. 30, HP 20 (1955), pp. 57-68. . "Der Haller Stettmeister Rudolf Hagel." Der kaalquell, Hr. 8 (July 1962), pp. 32-35. - --- _ _ "Heimatgeschichte und Weltgeschichte," WUrttem- bergisch Pranken, Vol. 46, NP 36 (1962), pp. 5-167^ . "Die Ratsherren der ReichBstadt Hall 1487- 16b5." WUrttembergisch Pranken. Vol. 46. HP 36 (1962), pp." 110-125.------. "Stattmeister Hermann BUschler." Der Haal- quelX, Hr. 7 (December 1954), pp. 25-27. 239

C. Unpublished Dissertations

Berger, Friedrich. "Die Farailiennamen der Reichsstadt Schwabisch Hall im Mittelalter." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Heidelberg, 1927. Matti, Werner. "Verfassung und Wirtschaftspolitik der Saline Schwabisch Hall bis zum Jahre 1802." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Heidelberg, 1952. Rosenberger, Karl-Siegfried. "Die Entwicklung des Rates von Schwabisch Hall bis zum Ende des 16* Jahrhunderts," Ph.D. dissertation, University of Heidelberg, 1954.