From Satire to Silence: Hans Sachs's Commentary on Civic Decline Thesis by Sharon Baker in Partial Fulfilment of the Requireme
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From Satire to Silence: Hans Sachs’s Commentary on Civic Decline Thesis by Sharon Baker In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The Institute of Modern Languages Research School for Advanced Studies, University of London September 2017 Declaration I [Sharon Baker] declare that this thesis represents my own work. Where other sources of information have been used they have been acknowledged. Signed………………………………. Date………… ABSTRACT In this year devoted to celebrating Luther’s invitation to debate Indulgences in 1517, which led to the establishment of the Lutheran faith, it is timely to reassess the Fastnachtspiele of Hans Sachs, whose reputation varies from unskilled cobbler poet to ‘Verfechter der Reformation’. Previous research devoted to Hans Sachs and satire concentrates on his ability to produce amusing moral tales for the Carnival season, whereas this thesis searches for critical satire of contemporary political, religious and social issues within the chosen Fastnachtspiele. This is achieved by analysing the plays in the context of contemporary events, personalities and circumstances in Nuremberg during a turbulent period in the city’s history, when it faced internal religious conflict, invasion, declining influence as an imperial city and loss of wealth as an early industrial society. The results of the analysis suggest that Sachs’s Fastnachtspiele, which are celebrated for their didactic nature along with his religious Meistergesang and Reformation dialogues, contribute to a corpus of pro- Lutheran works which helped to shape Nuremberg’s Lutheran cultural memories and a cultural identity for its citizens. Scrutiny of Sachs’s personal library also informs us, contrary to his previous reputation, that Sachs was an educated and sophisticated author, who used classical literature and early German works on various subjects — history, politics and religion amongst others — not only as a basis for some of his plots, but also as a source for his desired type of critical satire, in order to write plays intended to reverse the decline he saw in Nuremberg. This thesis concludes that Sachs stopped writing Fastnachtspiele in December 1560 because of his personal quandary about his role as an author and because it had become dangerous to express his views on what he perceived as Nuremberg’s social, moral, political, economic and religious decline. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my two supervisors, Dr Anne Simon and Dr Godela Weiss-Sussex, for their constant support and advice in preparing me to write this thesis, without which I could not have concluded this study. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Christine Sauer of the Historisch-Wissentschaftliche Stadtbibliothek for her constant support during my research visits to Nuremberg. Similarly, I would also like to thank the librarians at the Stadtarchiv and the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg for their assistance. I would never have embarked on this journey of discovery without the help of Dr. Klaus Klein at the Philipps-Universität Marburg who introduced me to the delights of Mittelhochdeutsch during my Erasmus year, which prepared me for the world of Hans Sachs. I also need to acknowledge the assistance of Marlis Mulder who taught me German A Level through the Bristol Folk House and Stoke Lodge Centres and without whose support I would never have achieved a University place. At the Institute of Modern Languages Research thanks must be given to Jane Lewin and Cathy Collins, who have become friends as well as a reliable source of support and not least I should thank the Friends of the German Library for funding my fees whilst at the School for Academic Studies and the Robson-Scott Fund for financial assistance for research trips. I would also like to thank my family and friends for their patience, steadfast support and their belief in my ability to pursue this academic journey, especially my husband Gerald and my two children William and Victoria. A special thanks needs to be extended to my long-term penfriend and host on many trips to Germany, Dr. Christa Hedderich-Nolte and her family and friends. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I Introduction 1 Chapter II The Golden Period 43 Chapter III Decline and Downfall in the Plays of the 1550s 93 Der unersetlich geitzhunger genandt. 95 Der verdorben edelman mit dem weichen beht, das keyser 117 August wolt kauffen Chapter IV Religious Strife and a Strike: Sachs’s Satirical Comment 153 Fastnachtspiel, Der ketzermeister mit den vil kessel-suppen 154 Den wüecher und ander peschwerd petreffent 178 Chapter V Unconcealed Criticism of the City 222 Der Doctor mit der grossen nasen 224 Das gesprech Alexandri Magni mit dem philosopho Diogeni 257 Chapter VI From Satire to Silence 293 Bibliography 315 ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Hans Sachsn. Alter 51 IAR. Holzschnitt von Michael Ostendorfer. Frontis Drucker Hans Guldenmund. HAB: Mortzfeld A 18281 – Abb. 2. 12 Fig. 2 Statue of Hans Sachs (author’s own photograph) 5 Fig. 3 Hans Sachs Haus, Hans Sachs Gasse um 1900 – from a postcard 5 Fig. 4 ‘Der Schuhmacher’ in Hans Sachs and Jost Amman, Eygentliche 5 Beschreibung aller Stände auff Erden, hoher und nidriger, geistlicher und weltlicher, aller Künsten, Handwercken und Händeln (Frankfurt/Main: Georg Raben/in Verlegung Sigmund Feyerabents, 1568) (ww.digitalis.uni-koeln.de) Fig. 5 Holzschnitt mit Nürnberger Stadtansicht aus der Schedel’schen 47 Weltchronik, Woodcuts by Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. Blatt 99v/100r. Fig. 6 Map of Nuremberg’s City Walls and Major Buildings, from: 47 William Smith, A description of the cittie of Noremberg (Beschreibung der Reichsstadt Nürnberg) 1594, MGVN, 48 (1950), 194–245 (p.208). Fig. 7 Heiltumsweisung am Schopperschen Haus, printed by Peter 47 Vischer, 1487. Fig. 8 Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1529. Galleria degli 96 Uffizi, Florence. Inventario 1890: 1160. Fig. 9 Kürfurst Moritz von Sachsen by Lucas Cranach the Younger 96 Staatlich Kunstsammlung Dresden, University of Jena, Das Kollegium Jenense, Bild. Nr. 208. Fig. 10 Markgrafen Albrecht Alcibiades von Brandenburg-Kulmbach c. 96 1557 by Andreas Reihl (c. 1515–1567) Artothek, Object 11120. Fig. 11 Rockenstuben, c. 1524. Sebald Beham, Museum of Art and 194 Archeology, Oxford. Fig. 12 Der Bauer’, in Hans Sachs and Jost Amman, Eygentliche 194 Beschreibung aller Stände auff Erden, hoher und nidriger, geistlicher und weltlicher, aller Künsten, Handwercken und Händeln (Frankfurt/Main: Georg Raben/in Verlegung Sigmund Feyerabents, 1568) (ww.digitalis.uni-koeln.de). Fig. 13 ‘Der Messerschmidt’, in Hans Sachs and Jost Amman, Eygentliche 195 Beschreibung aller Stände auff Erden, hoher und nidriger, geistlicher und weltlicher, aller Künsten, Handwercken und Händeln (Frankfurt/Main: Georg Raben/in Verlegung Sigmund Feyerabents, 1568) (ww.digitalis.uni-koeln.de) Fig. 14 ‘Der Kauffmann’, in Hans Sachs and Jost Amman, Eygentliche 195 Beschreibung aller Stände auff Erden, hoher und nidriger, geistlicher und weltlicher, aller Künsten, Handwercken und Händeln (Frankfurt/Main: Georg Raben/in Verlegung Sigmund Feyerabents, 1568) (ww.digitalis.uni-koeln.de) Fig. 15 Jüngstes Gericht Hölle Lorenzkirche West Portal – Wolfgang 231 Sauber Fig. 16 Fürsten der Welt Sebalduskirche Photo by H.B. 231 a & b https://tinyurl.com/yc46ryen Fig. 17 Hieronymus Paumgartner (1553) by Joachim Deschler. Samuel H. 237 Kress Collection, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1957.14.1204.a. Fig. 18 Christus an der Gießelsäule by Albrecht Dürer Titelblatt zur kleinen 243 Passion 1509. Kupferstich, Archiv RDK at the Zentral Institut für Kunstgeschichte. Fig. 19 Hans Sachs aged 81 (attr. Unknown). 314 ABBREVIATED REFERENCES DWB = Der Digital Grimm: Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm auf CD Rom und im Internet <http://dwb.uni-trier.de/de/> LW = Martin Luther, D. Martin Luthers Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe (Weimar: Böhlau, 1883) KG = Hans Sachs, ed. by A. v. Keller and E. Goetze, 26 vols, reprographischer Nachdruck der Ausgabe Stuttgart 1870 (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1964) MB = Melanchthons Briefwechsel: Kritische und kommentierte Gesamtausgabe, im Auftrag der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften herausgegeben von Heinz Scheible and Walter Thüringer, 12 vols (Stuttgart: Frommann-Holzboog, 1977) MVGN = Mitteilungen des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt Nürnberg Fig. 1 Hans Sachs im 51. Lebensjahre Holzschnitt von Michael Ostendorfer. 1 CHAPTER I Introduction Dergleich vil poetischer fabel, Welche samb in einer parabel Mit verborgen, verblümten worten Künstlich vermelden an den orten, Wie gar hochlöblich sey die tugend Beide bey alter und der jugend, Dergleich, wie laster sind so schendlich.1 As the five-hundredth anniversary of Martin Luther’s protest against abuses in the Catholic Church approaches, it is time to revisit the works of Hans Sachs (1494–1576), Nuremberg’s poet, playwright and musician, who is best known for his Meistergesang and his role as a champion of the Lutheran faith through his religious Dialogues written in 1524 and the moral satires found in his Fastnachtspiele. Many scholars have judged Sachs harshly without examining in depth his body of work. As Horst Brunner says: ‘Das heute verbreitetste, populärste, freilich auch gedankenloseste Bild des Dichters Hans Sachs speist sich nicht aus der Kenntnis seines Lebens und seines umfangreichen literarischen Werkes, vielmehr aus der als degoutant empfundenen Vorstellung der Verbindung von Flickschusterei und Dichtkunst’.2 Although little research3 has