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Xerox University Microfilms 900 North Zeab Road Ann Aibor, Michigan 48106 t 74- 17,801 RICE, Edward Lloyd, 1933- THE INFLUENCE OF TOE REFORMATION ON NUREMBERG'S PROVISIONS FOR SOCIAL WELFARE, 1S21-1528. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1974 History, m o d e m ■' i i i University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan (§) Copyright by Edward Lloyd Rice 1974 th is dissertation h a s been microfilmed ex ac tly a s r ec eiv ed . THE INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON NUREMBERG'S PROVISIONS FOR SOCIAL WELFARE, 1521-1528 DISSERTATION Presented In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Gradulate School of The Ohio State University By Edward Lloyd Rice, B.A., B.S., M.A ★ * * * * The Ohio S ta te U n iv e rsity 1974 Reading Committee: Approved by Franklin J. Pegues Francis P. Weisenburger Harold J. Grinm Department of History ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study was made possible by the generosity and encouragement of numerous individuals and institutions. The Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the Ohio State University through various grants enabled me to obtain microfilms of sources used in my research. The Ohio State University provided a travel grant which permitted me to work In the archives in Nuremberg. In Nuremberg, the advice and generous cooperation of the following persons were of great aid to me: Archlvdlrektor Dr. Otto Puchner, NUrnberg Staatsarchiv; and Archlvdlrektor Dr. Gerhard Hirschmann, NUrnberg Stadtarchlv; and the respective staffs of these archives. I would like to add here the name of the late Archiv- dlrektor Dr. Werner Schultheiss, NUrnberg Stadtarchlv and that of Hr. Hans Kreutzer, NUrnberg Staatsarchiv who were exceptionally kind. I would like to thank my wife, Ellen Pollard Rice, for all her patience and help with my work, ii With particular gratitude, 1 acknowledge the unfailing aid of my adviser, Professor Harold J. Grimm, who combines great scholarship with great humanity. i l l VITA i / | 28 July* 1933 . .Born - Charleston, West Virginia 1955 .......................B.A., West Virginia University, Morgan town, West Virginia 1959 .......................B.S., Morris Harvey College, Charleston, West Virginia 1963 . • • • .M.A., Ohio S tate U n iv ersity 1965^1969 . .Graduate Associate, Department of History The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio Research in NUrnberg, Germany 1969rl974 • . .Instructor, Department of History, The Ohio State University, Mansfield Regional Campus, Mansfield, Ohio. j FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Renaissance and Reformation Professor Harold J. Grimm Greek and Roman. P ro fesso r W illiam F. McDonald Medieval Europe. Professor Franklin J. Pegues Social and Economic History of the United States. P ro fesso r Mary E. Young Social and Economic History of the United States. Professor Robert H. Brenner City and Regional Planning. Professor Israel Stollman Iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ARG Archly fUr Raformationageachlchtc Bb BrlefbUcher MVGN Mlttellungen dea Verelna ffir Geachlchte der atadt NUrnberg NStadtA Stadtarchlv, NUrnberg Ratschlag RatachlagbUcher RB Ratabilcher RV Rataverltfaaa SIAN Staatsarchiv, Nurnberg WA D. Martin Luther's Warke (Weimar, 1883--) table of contents Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................................... 11 VITA .......................................................................................... lv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS...................................................... v INTRODUCTION........................................................................ 1 C hapter I . CHARITY HOMES FOR THE AGED AND THE HOSPICES............................................................... 28 I I . THE CHARITY HOSPITALS................................... 63 I I I . THE CHARITIES FOR CONTAGIOUS DISEASES . 96 IV. THE ORPHANAGES AND OTHER CHARITIES . 151 V. THE BEGGING PROBLEM....................................... 202 V I. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMON CHEST . 239 CONCLUSION............................................................................ 286 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................ 297 vl INTRODUCTION Nuremberg's provisions for charity and the influence exerted upon those provisions by the Reformation were con ditioned by the organization of the city's government, social structure, and wealth. Nuremberg at the beginning of the sixteenth century was near the peak of its powers.. It was a free imperial city, or Relchsstadt. which also controlled approximately 450 square miles around its walls.* This was more land than any of the other German cities possessed. Its population was between 20,000 and 30,000 inhabitants and its surrounding territory had approxim ately the same number. The city possessed an important geographical advantage because of its crossroads position on a number of major trade routes. The Baltic-Mediterannean routes came through i t as did the ro u te s from the Rhineland and the west leading to the cities in eastern Europe. There Berner Schultheiss, Klelne Geachlchte Ntlmberg (Ntfrnberg: Franckenverlag Lorenz Splndler, 1966), p. 43. were twelve major routes In all converging upon the city. Nuremberg was an entrepot with a group of very wealthy merchants who had formed a patriciate. Nuremberg also possessed extensive and highly profitable manufacturing industries. Its metal products were especially well- known. The manufacturers imported their raw materials and exported the finished products to be sold all over Europe. These products were highly prized for their excellence In quality which the city government insured by strict controls and inspections. The manufacturing industry's main source of energy was a medium sized river, the Pegnltz, which turned the water wheels of the manufac turers as it coursed through the center of the city. Nuremberg also controlled extensive forest reserves within its territory. The forests supplied the charcoal used especially in metal manufacturing. The leading merchant families who formed the patriciate possessed a widespread system of trade connec tions which was actively encouraged by the government through its political efforts. These big merchant firms tended to be very stable, being owned and organized around a continuing line of managers drawn from the same families. This organization of trade through particular families gave a stability to the city government since the leading merchant families also composed the leadership of Nurem berg's government. This system had grown up over several centuries and in 1521 membership in the governing ranks was closed* At this time Nuremberg was among the three or four most powerful and wealthy cities in the Empire. The city was envied and widely copied in its institutions and laws. Nuremberg, by virtue of its trade position, had developed into a cosmopolitan city alert to new trends in ideas and the arts. This cosmopolitan quality made it more susceptible to the Reformation in spite of the con servatism inherent in the structure of its government. Many sons of patricians were sent to Italy to complete their education before being brought into the family firms and government. During this period of the early 1500's, the city acquired a group of humanists within its leader ship with such men as Caspar Ntitzel, Hleronymous Holzschuher, Christoph Scheurl, Willibald Pirckhelmer, Lazarus Spengler, and Albrecht DUrer, to name only a few. The commercial and political advantages which the city had gained were due to the shrewdness of its great merchant fam ilies. Through their efforts, Nuremberg had become a self-governing state.,. This position had