Pamphilus Gengenbach 1480-1525: Writer, Printer and Publicist in Pre
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
PAMPHILUS GENGENBACH 1480-1525: WRITER, PRINTER, AND PUBLICIST IN PRE-REFORMATION BASEL PHILIP NAYLOR Thesis submitted to the University of London for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2002 Department of German University College London, University of London. ProQuest Number: U644324 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest U644324 Published by ProQuest LLC(2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT This study of the printer-writer Pamphilus Gengenbach is the first in English. It argues that his writings and his printed output of other authors can be treated as one body of work and develops a meaningful narrative of Gengenbach’s beliefs and intentions. It examines the content, language and form of his own writings, exploring common themes and ideas; and it examines the different audiences at whom Gengenbach was aiming and the messages he wanted to give them. The material he produced is seen as a measure of the ‘mood’ of the times, distinguished by its popular appeal: mostly short, written in the vernacular, and making extensive use of woodcut illustrations and verse. Alongside the more predictable themes that appear in his work - Luther, church reform, anti-clericalism, astrology, the coming apocalypse, the emperor and the pope - there are such themes as the Swiss intervention in Italy, mercenaries, Swiss nationalism, French expansionism, anti-Semitism, wealth and poverty, law and order, and sexual morality. / I The historical context is crucial for understanding Gengenbach as he was, above all, a commentator on social, political and religious questions and an analysis of his work can in turn provide important insights into contemporary events. The important influences on Gengenbach are discussed - Humanism, popular beliefs and traditions, and other writers, especially Sebastian Brant. The first chapter begins with some biographical background and a discussion of his place in Basel society, followed by a review of developments in the German print industry. Subsequent chapters follow in historical order; chapters 2 to 5 loosely so as they are thematically organised. Chapter 2 deals with Brant; chapters 3, 4 and 5 look primarily at Gengenbach’s carnival plays, which are his most significant contribution to German literature. Chapters, 6, 7 and 8 which deal with the coming Reformation, are straightforwardly chronological. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It was only possible to write this thesis because of a three year post-graduate scholarship from University College London, for which I am extremely grateful. The UCL Graduate School gave me an additonal grant to travel to a conference at Yale which was extremely stimulating and helped me to develop my ideas on the apocalyptic. A small but timely grant from the Conference of University Teachers of German made travel to Basel possible. Free access to libraries is a crucial resource for penurious post-graduates and I would like to acknowledge those that helped me - particularly the Basel Staatsarchiv, the Basel Universitatsbibliothek, the Warburg Institute, Senate House, the UCL library, the British Library, and the Institute of Germanic Studies, whose librarian Bill Abbey was unfailingly helpful. Frank Hieronymus of the Basel Universitatsbibliothek very kindly put me in touch with Kerstin Prietzel who generously sent me a copy of her thesis, without which I would have faced some insurmountable problems. Profound thanks, of course, to my supervisor Timothy McFarland whose breadth and capacity to acknowledge the validity of alternative perspectives is a model of academic tolerance that is depressingly rare. Personally, a thank-you to all the friends who listened and did not deride my interest in sixteenth century Switzerland as the mid-life crisis I sometimes think it has been. An especial thanks to Ian Lamming for coming with me to Basel, and for taking the trouble to read the first full draft and make such helpful comments on it. Lastly, tolerance of my obscure interest by my family and j their belief that I could finish this thesis, despite the prolonged time it has taken, has been j essential. It has placed heavy demands on my partner’s patience in the face of many things - the I competition for time to do things together, my grumpy self-absorption, and not least the j spreading piles of books and files. Despite all she generously undertook to proof-read my final I version - I am profoundly grateful to her for being so supportive. CONTENTS Chapter Page Bibliographical Note 5-6 Introduction: Themes and Issues 7-26 I. RESEARCH TO DATE 7 II SCOPE OF THIS THESIS 12 a. Work o f its time 12 b. Kerstin Prietzel's work 13 c. Printing and writing as a coherent whole 17 d. Other writers ^ 20 e. Gengenbach and the Reformation 20 / ‘Die Totenfresser ' 22 III. ATTRIBUTION 22 Chapter 1: The Printer and his Trade 27-45 I. A MODEST SUCCESS 27 a. Early years 27 b. The Gardeners ’ Guild 29 c. Gengenbach prospers 33 II THE PRINTER AND HIS TRADE 37 a. Printing in Basel 37 b. Gengenbach's output 43 Chapter 2: The Legacy of Sebastian Brant 46-68 I. INTRODUCTION 47 II. ‘DASNARRENSCHIFF'{\A9A)mD 48 ‘LIBER VAGATORUM’ (‘BETTLERORDEN) (1511-13) III. ASTROLOGICAL PHENOMENA 52 a. Calendars 54 b. ‘PracticaDeutsch ’(1515) 56 IV; MEDICINE 58 V. EARTHLY PHENOMEMA 59 VI. ‘DERBUNDSCHUH' {\5U) 62 Chapter 3: Carnival and the first twoPolitische Moralitaten 69-97 I. INTERNATIONAL POLITICS 69 II. ‘WELSCHFLUSZ‘(\5U) K m ‘ALTEYDGNOSZ‘(\5\^) 71 III. THE SWISS IN ITALY 75 IV. GENGENBACH AND NATIONALISM 82 V. THE FASTNACHTSPIEL TRADITION 84 VI. POLITISCHE MORALITÀTEN 88 1 Chapter 4: Carnival and Morality 98-122 I. ALTER'{\S\5) 99 II. ‘DIEGOUCHMAT’i\5\9 7) 105 a. Dai big the play 107 b. The titlepage 107 c. Laurentius Fries 109 d. 'Hofgesitid Veneris ' (Sachs), and Ein Spit von fiirsien iind herren ' 110 e. Marriage, prostitulion and the Protestants 112 / Thomas Murner 115 g. The development of Gengenbach's dramatic writing 118 h. A play out o f its time ? 119 111 ‘TOD, TEUFEL UND ENGEL ' (UNDATED) 120 IV. SONGS 121 Chapter 5: Politics and Religion:Der Nollhart and Fiinf Juden 123-157 I. ‘DER NOLLHART' {\5\iy INTRODUCTION 123 II. ‘DER NOLLHART' {\5\iy POLITICAL THEMES 128 a. Merignano 128 b. International politics 133 III. ‘DER NOLLHART' G^^'^y RELIGIOUS THEMES 135 a. Religious criticism and doubt. 13 5 b. The Anti-Christ 137 c. The Turk and the Anti-Christ 138 d. The Jew as Anti-Christ and anti-Semitism 141 IV. ‘FÜNF JUDEN ’(1516) 147 V. RELIGION AND POLITICS COMBINE 152 Chapter 6: The Emperor Fails to Deliver 158-201 I. THE EMPEROR’S ROLE 160 a. The Emperor as agent of change 160 b. Latin printing about the Emperor 165 c. Ulrich von Hutten 166 II. GENGENBACH AND CHURCH REFORM 170 a. Luther and Gengenbach 170 b. Devotional literature and religious views 172 c. Gengenbach stops printing Luther. 176 d. Luther and the Basel humanists 178 III HUMANIST INFLUENCES ON GENGENBACH 180 a. Gengenbach prints Latin 180 b. Latin schoolbooks 181 c. ‘Fachliteratur ' 186 d. Humanism and popular drama 188 Chapter 6: The Emperor Fails to I continued 158-201 IV. ASTROLOGY AND THE COMING APOCALYPSE 191 a. ‘ Wiener Prognosticon ' (1520) 191 b. 'Sintflut' prophesy 193 c. Gengenbach and Fries 194 d. Conclusions 199 Chapter 7: Theologians and Religious Corruption 202-232 I THE CHURCH STARTS TO LOSE ITS GRIP 203 II. THE LAST OF LATIN 208 a. 'SchweizerBauer' (1521-22) 208 b. ‘Der LaienspiegeV (1521-22) 209 c. ‘Der Pfaffenspiegel ' (1522) 210 d. ‘Planctus ' (1522) 213 e. ‘Novum Instrumentum ' (1522) 213 / ‘Quatuuor heresiarchis ' (1521-22) 214 g. Summary 215 III. EBERLIN’S ‘DIEFÜNFZEHNBUNDGENOSSEN'{\52\) 216 IV. ‘DIE TOTENFRESSER ' ( 1522) 219 a. Introduction 219 b. Some question marks 220 c. The link with carnival 222 d. The play's three themes: theological, anticlerical, and economic 225 e. Luther on poverty 229 f. Conclusions 231 Chapter 8: Gengenbach the Reluctant Reformer 233-276 I. THE CHURCH RETREATS 234 a. Internal policies o f the council 234 b. Relations with the confederates 238 II. THE CRITICS AND GENGENBACH’S LAST 240 PUBLICATIONS: 1522-25 a. Introduction 240 b. The problems o f attribution 241 III. TRACING SOME NEW THREADS 248 a. ‘Kldgliches Gesprdch ' (Autumn 1522) 249 b. ‘Evangelischer Bürger' (1522-mid 1523) 252 c. ‘DenkspiegeV (August/September 1523) 258 d. ‘Drei Christen ' (February-August 1523) 259 e. ‘Anzeigung ' (June 1523-1524) 262 f The world turned upside down: ‘KniicheV (Whitsun-August 1523) 264 g. Good works: ‘Kurze Antwort ' (February-August 1523) 268 h. Luther reappears: ‘Novella ' (February-August 1523) 270 7. ‘Ein neues evangelisches Lied' (June 1523-1524) 274 j. ‘Antwort a u f Georg Fener ' (June-end 1523) 274 IV. THE THREE KEY THEMES 275 Chapter 9: An Assessment 277-301. 1. IDEOLOGICAL UNITY AND THE TENSIONS IN 277 GENGENBACH’S WORK II GENGENBACH, THE PEASANTS’ WAR AND THE 281 REFORMATION III THE WORK AND THE TIMES 283 IV. HOW UNIQUE WAS GENGENBACH AS A PRINTER ? 289 a. Lutheran Printers 289 b. Printers of Gengenbach 290 c. Other printer-writers: Kobel and Folz 293 V. THE WRITER 295 a. Principal influences 295 a. The religious critic 297 b. The dramatist 298 APPENDICES: 302-322 A: The Printed Works of Pamphilus Gengenbach 302 B: 16th Century Reprints of Gengenbach’s Works 312 C: 16th Century copies of Gengenbach’s Works in British Libraries 315 D: Microfiches of publications printed by Gengenbach 321 BIBLIOGRAPHY 1.