DOCSLIB.ORG

Englishmen at Wittenberg in the Sixteenth Century

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Englishmen at Wittenberg in the Sixteenth Century 422 AN 'ATTRACTED' SCRIPT July between the years 1358 and 1363, palaeography supplies an explanation. The scribe who during these years continued the thirteenth-century service book was ' attracted' by the hand of his predecessors, and either consciously or unconsciously copied it. G. R. COLB-BAKEB. Englishmen at Wittenberg in the Sixteenth Century THE matriculation-book of the university of Wittenberg contains Downloaded from many particulars of the Englishmen who resorted to it at the time when it had become the first capital of protestantism. The first to appear is ' Guillelmus Daltiei Ex Anglia 27 Maij 1524 ',x a name which, if this form be correct, cannot be identified. It is well known that William Tyndale went to Germany in May http://ehr.oxfordjournals.org/ 1524 and, according to the testimony of Coohlaeus, who saw him at Worms, went to Wittenberg to see Luther. In default of other evidenoe of this visit half the biographers of Tyndale are inolined to doubt that it ever took place.8 It is indeed con- oeivable that the name of Tyndale is concealed in this first entry,8 and there is no doubt of the name of ' Guilhelmus Roy ex landino, 10 Iu[nii] 1525 ',* that is, William Roy, who is known to have been Tyndale's assistant as the translator and author at University College London on June 5, 2016 of various tracts, and who is held by Dr. E. Nestle to have been the forger of the Greek manuscript which deceived Erasmus about the spurious verse in 1 John.4 It must have been about the same time that Roy was at Wittenberg, that Thomas Duagate, alias Bennet, visited the place. The reason given by himself at bis trial for heresy—ho was martyred on 15 January 1532—is as follows : ' Feeling him- self muoh cumbered with the concupiscence of the fleBh and too weak to overcome it ... he departed from Cambridge and went to Luther in Germany.' After he had declared his ' great 1 Album Aeademiae Vittbergtntis, ed. 0. E. Foerstomann, 1841, i. 121. • 8M biographies by B. Demans, 2nd ed., 1886, ed. R. Lovett, pp. 117 f.; the Diet, of Nat. Biog.; T. More, Workes, 1607, p. 223 d.; O. 0. Macaulay, ' The English Bible", Quarterly Review, 1911; A. W. Pollard, Records of (he Engliah Bible, 1911, pp. 31, 108 ; J. J. Momfret, Engliah Versions of the Bible, 1907, pp. 83 f.; Fronde, Bittory of England, 1875, ii. 31; Gairdner, LoOardy and the Reformation, 1908, il. 227; H. E. Jaoobe, The Lutheran Movement in England, 1890, pp. 14 f.; The Nation (New York), 16 M»y 1912; L. F. Gruber, ' The Troth about Tyndale's New Testa- ment ', LmOeron Chvrch Review, October 1916, April 1917. • Through the courtesy of Dr. Panl Hemming of Pf orta, I am able to state that In the opinion of Professor F. A- Weissenbom, the arohiviat of Halle, who kindly examined the mannsoript now in his keeping, my oonjeotoral emendation ' Daltin * for ' Dnltid ' U ' nieht gana aoigeschloeaen'. This might be taken as an anagram for' Tindal \ • Album, I. 126. • Introduction to the Critical Study of (he New Testament, p. 6. 1921 ENGLISHMEN AT WITTENBERG 423 frailty ' Luther gave him the advice ' that if by no lawful means he could not live chast, that he should take a wif and lyve a meane lyfe '. Of this visit nothing else is known.1 Luther's next English visitor was William Paget, afterwards Lord Paget, one of Henry VlII's diplomatic agents. Probably as early as 1531 he came to Wittenberg on the matter of the divorce. While there he told Luther of the death of the duke of Buckingham, whom the king had put to death in 1521. Paget blamed Wolsey for the execution, and told the reformer that the Emperor Charles V had said, with a pun on the duke's name, ' It is a pity so noble Downloaded from a buck should be slain by such a hound '.* Robert Barnes was the most constant friend of the reformers. Coming bo Wittenberg first as a political refugee, he was later employed by Henry on several diplomatic errands.3 Like other travellers he often went through Hamburg, where he apparently made good friends. The http://ehr.oxfordjournals.org/ treasurers of that city sent money by Barnes to Wittenberg to pay for the graduation of Aepinus as a doctor.4 Here also he became acquainted with some pious women, whose conversion to protestantism, perhaps through his agency, brought much joy to Luther.6 At Wittenberg Barnes made friends with Peter Beskendorf, Luther's barber and friend, to whom the reformer dedicated a tract on prayer. The pious barber, who in a moment of aberration murdered his son-in-law, kept an at University College London on June 5, 2016 autograph album in which many famous men entered their names. That of the Englishman appears there, with a German biblical quotation, as ' Doctor Antonius Anglus, Reg. Angl. Legatus '." On 20 June 1533 Barnes matriculated at Wittenberg under the name ' D. Antonius Anglus Theologiae Doctor Oxoniensis ', Melanchthon later writing his true name in the margin.7 Barnes must have been married at this time, though of this nothing seems to be known to any of his biographers. On 14 February 1533 Nicholas Hausmann of Zwickau, writing to George Helt of Wittenberg, sends greeting to Antonius Anglus and his wife.8 This is the only reference to the lady 1 British Museum, Harleian MS. 410, fo. 120. This paper once belonged to John Foze, but in his Aetes and Monuments, v. 18, he departed widely from the original. On Dusgate see also Diet, of Nat. Biog., and Isaoke, Antiquities of Exeter, 1734, p. 116. • Lather, Werkt, KritistAe Qtsamtausgabe, TiseJmden, i. no. S37. On Paget's visits, ante, xxv. 669 {., xxvii. 6761. « On Barnes, Diet, of Nat. Biog.; Qalrdner, i. 029, n. 2; ante, xxr. 665 f. • Letter of the Hamburg Treasurers to Bugenhagen and his reply, 28 April and 8 May 1633, in O. Vogt, Bvgtniagen's BriefietcMsel, 1888, pp. 1871 • Letter of Luther to Abekke Sohelhoves and other*, 30 Jane 1033; Luther* BriefveeJuel, ed. Enders-Kawerau-Flemming, rvii. 310 L • N. MftDer, ' Peter Beskendorf', in Aus DeutseUands kireUieher Vergangtnheit, 1912, p. 67. ' Album, i. 140. This fact is not noted in Oaiidner's life of Barnes in the Diet. of Nat. Biog. • Otorg HtUs BriefveeMsel, ed. 0. Clemen, 1907, p. 44. 424 ENGLISHMEN AT WITTENBERG July I have found, unless one may so interpret a greeting sent by Roger Ascham in 1551 to Bucer at Oxford and to ' mine hostess Barnes'.1 In 1535 Thomas Cromwell made a special effort to form an alliance with the Schmalkaldic princes, with the purpose of frustrating the calling of a council by the pope. The diplomatic work of his envoys has been sufficiently treated,1 but several hitherto unnoticed, incidents of their visit may be here recorded, and twp letters of Barnes written at this time are given as an appendix to this article. One of the ambassadors was Edward Downloaded from Fox, bishop of Hereford, and one was Nicholas Heath, archdeacon of Stafford and afterwards archbishop of York. They brought a handsome present to Melanchthon as an acknowledgement of his dedication of a new edition of his Loci Communes to Henry.8 Indeed, there was much talk of their taking Melanchthon with http://ehr.oxfordjournals.org/ them to England, and when they failed to get him, they thought of another reformer, Prince George of Anhalt.4 The English talked freely of affairs to Luther. They complained of the tyranny of their king and admired the freedom of the German theologians.* Barnes, however, told Luther more good of his king than the reformer could readily believe,* but he and the others agreed that Henry did not care for religion,7 and the others added, ' Rex noster est inconstans '. They told a strange at University College London on June 5, 2016 tale of a king of England and a rustic, which appears thus in the Table Talk: 8 When the king of England was wandering in the woods, he came to the hut of a poor rustic who did not know him bat received him kindly and offered him food left over from a meal. When the king spurned Borne of it, the rustic hit him, remarking,' Don't you know that every one is king of his own house ?' The king bore this patiently and later invited the rustio to a dinner at court. There he offered him many courses, and the rustio ate some of every one. Laughing, the king said,' Tou are wiser than I; otherwise you also would have been smitten,' and dismissed him. 1 Aaoham, Wort*, 1761, p. 378. • Ante, xxv. 666 (., xxvii. 671 L ; R. B. Merrimao, Life and Utters of T. Cromwell, 1902, pp. 218-41, 372, 410; 0. MenU, JoJutnn friedricX von Saehstn, 1908, ii. 80 ff. ; Q. Hants, Die Wittenberg* Artikel torn 1636, 1906. • This dedication, August 1636, Corpus Seformatorum, ii. 920. Henry's letter to Melanchthon, 1 October 1636, ibid., p. 947; Melanchthon's thanks, 1 December 1636, ibid., p. 996. Aooording to a letter of A. Musa, dated Wittenberg, 11 December 1686, Fox brought 300 or 600 crowns to Melanchthon and Aleriui 200 (BnchwmJd, Zw Wittenberger Stadt- und VnivertitSU-QtMthielUt, 1893, p. 113). • F. Wectphftl, firtt Otorg tow Anhalt, 1907, p. 34; Seokendorf, Hiitoria Lvthera- nismi, iii. 111. • Luther to Buoer, 14 October 1639, Enders, Luther* Briefvethad, iii. 260. ' Lather's preface to Bamw's Setantnu* des Qlaubeas, Wittenberg, 1640 (British Museum 3906, cc 10).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Law, Counsel, and Commonwealth: Languages of Power in the Early English Reformation
    Law, Counsel, and Commonwealth: Languages of Power in the Early English Reformation Christine M. Knaack Doctor of Philosophy University of York History April 2015 2 Abstract This thesis examines how power was re-articulated in light of the royal supremacy during the early stages of the English Reformation. It argues that key words and concepts, particularly those involving law, counsel, and commonwealth, formed the basis of political participation during this period. These concepts were invoked with the aim of influencing the king or his ministers, of drawing attention to problems the kingdom faced, or of expressing a political ideal. This thesis demonstrates that these languages of power were present in a wide variety of contexts, appearing not only in official documents such as laws and royal proclamations, but also in manuscript texts, printed books, sermons, complaints, and other texts directed at king and counsellors alike. The prose dialogue and the medium of translation were employed in order to express political concerns. This thesis shows that political languages were available to a much wider range of participants than has been previously acknowledged. Part One focuses on the period c. 1528-36, investigating the role of languages of power during the period encompassing the Reformation Parliament. The legislation passed during this Parliament re-articulated notions of the realm’s social order, creating a body politic that encompassed temporal and spiritual members of the realm alike and positioning the king as the head of that body. Writers and theorists examined legal changes by invoking the commonwealth, describing the social hierarchy as an organic body politic, and using the theme of counsel to acknowledge the king’s imperial authority.
    [Show full text]
  • '[A] Litle Treatyse in Prynte and Euen in the English Tongue': Appeals to The
    University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2010 ‘[A] litle treatyse in prynte and euen in the english tongue’: Appeals to the Public during the Early Years of the English Reformation Bradley C. Pardue University of Tennessee - Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Intellectual History Commons Recommended Citation Pardue, Bradley C., "‘[A] litle treatyse in prynte and euen in the english tongue’: Appeals to the Public during the Early Years of the English Reformation. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2010. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/733 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Bradley C. Pardue entitled "‘[A] litle treatyse in prynte and euen in the english tongue’: Appeals to the Public during the Early Years of the English Reformation." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in History. Robert J Bast, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Thomas Burman, Palmira Brummett, Heather Hirschfeld Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R.
    [Show full text]
  • Region and Religion
    Durham E-Theses Theatre, Catholic Communities, and Popular Entertainment in England's North-East, c.1600-1625 JAKOVAC, GASPER How to cite: JAKOVAC, GASPER (2018) Theatre, Catholic Communities, and Popular Entertainment in England's North-East, c.1600-1625 , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12668/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Theatre, Catholic Communities, and Popular Entertainment in England’s North-East, c.1600-1625 By Gašper Jakovac A Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of English Studies Durham University 2018 Copyright / Declaration Declaration No material in this thesis has been previously submitted for a degree at this or any other university. Statement of Copyright The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the author’s prior written consent, and information derived from it should be acknowledged.
    [Show full text]
  • Edward Hasted the History and Topographical Survey of the County
    Edward Hasted The history and topographical survey of the county of Kent, second edition, volume 8 Canterbury 1799 <i> THE HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEY OF THE COUNTY OF KENT. CONTAINING THE ANTIENT AND PRESENT STATE OF IT, CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL; COLLECTED FROM PUBLIC RECORDS, AND OTHER AUTHORITIES: ILLUSTRATED WITH MAPS, VIEWS, ANTIQUITIES, &c. THE SECOND EDITION, IMPROVED, CORRECTED, AND CONTINUED TO THE PRESENT TIME. By EDWARD HASTED, Esq F. R. S. and S. A. LATE OF CANTERBURY. Ex his omnibus, longe sunt humanissimi qui Cantium incolunt. Fortes creantur fortibus et bonis, Nec imbellem feroces progenerant. VOLUME VIII. CANTERBURY PRINTED BY W. BRISTOW, ON THE PARADE. M.DCC.XCIX. <ii> <blank> <iii> TO WILLIAM BOYS, ESQ. F. S. A. OF WALMER. SIR, IT is with much pleasure that I seize this oppor= tunity of acknowledging your kind and liberal friend= ship to me, upon every occasion, especially in the continued assistance you have afforded me towards my publication of the HISTORY OF KENT, from the earliest period of it. Such assistance, from a iv gentleman of your established literary character, cannot but stamp additional credit on the History, and contribute both pleasure and satisfaction to the Readers of it. Please, Sir, to accept my most grateful thanks for these constant marks of your favor and regard, and believe me to be, with the greatest esteem and respect, Your much obliged and faithful humble servant, EDWARD HASTED. LONDON, JUNE 24, 1799. <v> INDEX. The letter A refers to the Appendix of additions and corrections to the seventh and eighth volumes, added at the end of this volume.
    [Show full text]
  • Doctor Augustine, Physician to Cardinal Wolsey and King Henry Viii
    DOCTOR AUGUSTINE, PHYSICIAN TO CARDINAL WOLSEY AND KING HENRY VIII by E. A. HAMMOND* I. THE WOLSEY YEARS It is odd that Augustine de Augustinis, M.D., native of Venice but denizen of England for more than twenty years, has not drawn more attention from Tudor historians. Until the publication in 1960 of the first volume of the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (Rome, 1960- ), which includes Mario Rosa's sketch, only meagre biographical details had appeared in print. And yet Augustine's service as the personal physician of Cardinal Wolsey and his subsequent position as physician-in- ordinary to King Henry VIII projected him into the mainstream of English political life. In the former post he had been a colleague of Thomas Cromwell, who was to discover in him a useful agent for espionage and diplomacy, while his propinquity to the monarch during the Reformation years enabled him to profit munificently from the allocation of ecclesiastical properties and transformed him in remarkably short order from household servant to member ofthe bourgeoisie. The career of Augustine bears a bizarre, even sinister, quality. His political assign- ments, frequently carried out in the penumbral milieu of Renaissance diplomacy, now and then took him away from the court itself into the shadowy world of taverns, inns and back streets, not only in London, but in Antwerp, Brussels, Regensberg, Bologna, Florence and Rome. There he trafficked in the intrigueswhose details itwas his mission to seek out and report to his employers at the English court. The fact that he survived two arrests and two incarcerations in the Tower of London stamps him as a nimble agent and suggests why he was able to end his days quietly in Lucca.
    [Show full text]
  • Doctor Augustine, Physician to Cardinal Wolsey and King Henry Viii
    DOCTOR AUGUSTINE, PHYSICIAN TO CARDINAL WOLSEY AND KING HENRY VIII by E. A. HAMMOND* I. THE WOLSEY YEARS It is odd that Augustine de Augustinis, M.D., native of Venice but denizen of England for more than twenty years, has not drawn more attention from Tudor historians. Until the publication in 1960 of the first volume of the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (Rome, 1960- ), which includes Mario Rosa's sketch, only meagre biographical details had appeared in print. And yet Augustine's service as the personal physician of Cardinal Wolsey and his subsequent position as physician-in- ordinary to King Henry VIII projected him into the mainstream of English political life. In the former post he had been a colleague of Thomas Cromwell, who was to discover in him a useful agent for espionage and diplomacy, while his propinquity to the monarch during the Reformation years enabled him to profit munificently from the allocation of ecclesiastical properties and transformed him in remarkably short order from household servant to member ofthe bourgeoisie. The career of Augustine bears a bizarre, even sinister, quality. His political assign- ments, frequently carried out in the penumbral milieu of Renaissance diplomacy, now and then took him away from the court itself into the shadowy world of taverns, inns and back streets, not only in London, but in Antwerp, Brussels, Regensberg, Bologna, Florence and Rome. There he trafficked in the intrigueswhose details itwas his mission to seek out and report to his employers at the English court. The fact that he survived two arrests and two incarcerations in the Tower of London stamps him as a nimble agent and suggests why he was able to end his days quietly in Lucca.
    [Show full text]