Dr. Martin Luther writes to my Father--My Studies at Rostock and at
Greifswald--Something about my hard Life at Spires--I am admitted as a
Public Notary--Dr. Hose
My parents recalled me in 1538, having discovered that at Greifswald I
more often accompanied my grandfather in his strolls than sat over my
books. I attended school during the stay of a twelvemonth at the
paternal home.
One instance will show into what kind of hands the chief power had
fallen. In 1539, Duke Philip, travelling to Ruegen with his wife, made
his first entry into Stralsund, and Burgomaster Christopher Lorbeer,
who fancied himself to be the incarnation of eloquence, made the
following speech to him: "Philip, by the grace of God, Duke of Stettin,
Pomerania, of the Cassubes and the Wends, Prince of Ruegen, and Count of
Gutzkow, the council is indeed very pleased to see you. Be welcome." In
subsequent days I have often been chaffed about this speech; usher
Michael Kussow, among others, never opened the door to me without
crying out, the moment he caught sight of me, "And indeed Philip, by
the grace of God ..."
My brother Johannes had been admitted _magister_--the first of
thirteen--at Wittemberg, and on leaving he brought with him a
letter from Dr. Luther to my father, who, in consequence of the
Bruser-Leveling lawsuit, had stayed away for many years from the
Communion table. The letter was couched as follows: "To the honourable
guildmaster, Nicholas Sastrow, my good friend: Grace and peace
be with you. Your dear son, _magister_ Johannes, after having expressed
to me his sorrow at your having kept away for many years from the
Holy Communion table--which absence is calculated to create a bad
example--has requested me to rescue you from that dangerous path. Not
one hour of our lives in reality belongs to ourselves. His filial
solicitude, therefore, induced me to send you these present lines. Let
me exhort you as a Christian, as a brother, according to the precept of
Christ, to change your resolution, and well to remember the much
greater sufferings of the Son of God, who forgave His executioners.
Bear in mind that at your last hour you will be bound to forgive, as a
brigand who is tied to the gallows forgives. Wait for the decision of
the court before whom your suit is pending, but do not forget that
nothing prevents you from participating in the Holy Supper. If it were
otherwise I myself and our princes would have to remain away from the
Holy Board until our differences with the papists be settled. Leave the
matter in the hands of the law, and say to yourself for the comfort of
your conscience: 'It is the judge's place to decide where lies the
right; meanwhile, I forgive those who have wronged me and I will
partake of the Holy Communion.' You consider yourself as having been
wronged. You have had recourse to the courts; it is they who shall
decide. Nothing can be more simple. Take in a friendly spirit this
exhortation which was prompted to me at the instance of your son. May
God watch over you, Amen. Wednesday after _Miser. Dni_. 1540. Martinus
Luther."
[Illustration: MARTIN LUTHER. _From a Drawing by_ Lucas Cranach.]
I trust my descendants will transmit religiously from generation to
generation the autograph of the saintly man to whom the whole world
owes gratitude and affection. Together with this letter, and as a proof
of the wise outlay of the paternal allowance, my brother brought home
with him a number of his _poemata_ printed in a volume. My parents'
means not admitting of his being maintained in a foreign land, he spent
nearly four years at home, studying all the while. Besides the
_Progymnasmata quaedam_, issued from the Lubeck press in 1538, he
published in 1542 at Rostock an _Elegia de officio principis_ dedicated
to Duke Magnus of Mecklenberg; and in the same year at Lubeck, a
_Querela de Ecclesia_ and the _Epicidion Martyris Christi Doctoris
Ruberti Barns_, which caused a good deal of trouble both to him and his
printer.[25]
At the advice of my brother, my parents sent me to study at Rostock
with Arnoldus Burenius and Henricus Lingensis. My brother, who became
intimately acquainted with the latter, wrote to him that I had already
gone through the ceremony of initiation; but the students found out
that since then I had gone back to school at Stralsund, and each day my
entrance at the _lectorium_ caused a fearful tumult.[26] The
_depositor_ having pulled me by my cloak, I hurled a large inkstand
which I happened to have in my hand at him. The ink soaked his long
grey mantle with black fastenings, a fashionable garment of the time.
Verily, I got my reward, when, for the sake of peace, I submitted a
second time to the ordeal. It literally rained blows. The _depositor_
pressed my upper lip with his wooden razor and the wound was a long
while healing, for no sooner did it close up than my food, and, above
all, salted things inflamed it once more.
The two _magistri_ directed in common the purses (scholarships or
otherwise) of the Arnsburg, which was the most numerous, as it
consisted of thirty students. We took our meals at Jacob Broecker's,
and we paid sixteen florins per annum for our breakfast and two other
meals, _plus_, in the summer afternoons, some curdled milk or other
refreshments.
At the end of two years my parents complained of the expense involved
in my stay at Rostock; they were, moreover, displeased at my leaning
towards theology. In fact, I felt neither old enough nor sufficiently
advanced in learning to choose between the different faculties, but
being unwilling to relinquish my studies I exposed my difficult
position to my tutors, who at once decided to forego their fees, and
also induced our host Broecker to feed me for eight florins per annum.
Truly, I had to lay the table, attend at meals, to clear it, and in
addition to this to look after young Broecker, who was about my size
and who was afterwards confined at Ribbenitz, to dress and undress him,
to clean his shoes and to arrange his books. On the other hand, there
were certain services to be rendered to _magister_ H. Lingenfis. I had
to brush his shoeleather, make his bed, keep his room heated, accompany
him to church and to other places, and to carry his lantern in winter.
It seemed very hard to me at first not to be served any longer, and not
to sit down to meals with my college chums, but there was no help for
it.
Besides, we had fallen into good hands. Arnoldus Burenius read us twice
Cicero's _Offices_, which he interpreted in a thoroughly artistic
manner, and afterwards the orations _pro Milone_, _pro rege Deiotaro_,
_pro Marco Marcello_, _pro Roscio Amerino_, _pro domo sua_, and the _de
Aruspicum responsis_, the _Epistolae familiares_, the long and
beautiful chapter _ad Quintum fratrem_, the _Rhetorica ad Herennium_,
etc. His colleague expounded Terence, the _Dialectica Molleri_, even
the _Sphaera Joannis de Sacrobusto_, the _Theoriae planetarum_, the
_Computum ecclesiasticum Spangenbergii_, the _libellus de Anima
Philippi_, and finally he presided over useful _exercitia styli et
disputationum_.
My bedroom fellows were Franz von Stetten and Johannes Vegesack, the
nephew of the Bishop of Dorpat, who kept him on a grand footing, and
allowed him the staff of servants of a grand seigneur rather than that
of a youngster. Vegesack practised all kind of sword-play, but I have
heard that after the death of the bishop, he became a schoolmaster in
Livonia. My private tutor, Danquart, coached him in the _praecepta
grammaticae_, gave him themes to treat in German, and corrected his
exercises.
The money we received from our parents had to be handed to our tutor
Lingenfis; he gave it back to us as we needed it. We were bound to make
notes of even our most trifling expenses. My tutors showed much
interest in me, either out of consideration for my brother or because
of my own unwearied application. I, on the other hand; served them
zealously and faithfully, and was always at their bidding. The cross
looks of my fellow-students, however, suggested the advisability of a
change of residence; my brother counselled Greifswald.
In 1540 Duke Philip came to Greifswald for the ceremony of receiving
homage. The exiles came with him; some held the tail, others the
harness of his horse. My father was specially invited by the prince to
hold the stirrup. The duke took up his quarters at Hannemann's, his
wife with the Stoientins. Frau Stoientin, her daughter, her grandson,
and all the relatives, when doing obeisance to the princess, claimed
the upholding of the decree of expulsion against my father. The duchess
specially recommended two of her principal officers to transmit the
request to her august spouse; but the latter's reply effectually
prevented her from returning to the charge, and the gates of Greifswald
were reopened to my father.
I left Rostock in 1541. My stay at home was, nevertheless, very short.
I soon transferred myself and my books to Greifswald, where I rented a
room with Joachim Loewenhagen, the pastor that was to be of St.
Nicholas' at Stralsund. Master Anthony Walter who shortly afterwards
became rector of the Paedagogium of Stettin, instructed me in the
_Dialectica Caesarii_. Master Kismann explained and interpreted Ovid's
_Fasti_.
On Christmas Day, 1541, a vessel hailing from Colberg, and laden with
barrels for Falsterbo, anchored at Stralsund. The coopers were in a
great state of excitement, declared an embargo, and would not even
allow the cargo to be sold at Stralsund.[27] In vain did the council
guarantee proceedings against the purchaser of that merchandise; they
went on agitating, refused to buy the barrels themselves, and replied
with blows to those who spoke common sense. One burgher died from the
consequences of their ill-treatment. They finally destroyed the
barrels. Five people were arrested. Johannes Vogt, their dean, fled to
Garpenhagen, but he was brought back to Stralsund and placed under lock
and key. There was but a narrow escape from the executioner's sword.
The coopers were summoned to the Town Hall, where the prisoners made
their appearance with the iron collar round their necks and their hands
and feet fettered. The corporation was fined four marks per head. Its
privileges were withdrawn; it had, moreover, to rebuild at its own
expense part of the city walls.
I have already mentioned that my brother _Magister Joannes_, had
various _poemata_ published at Lubeck and Rostock. From the latter city
he returned by stage coach to Stralsund in company of Heinrich
Sonnenberg and a woman. By their side rode Johannes Lagebusch and a
good-looking young man, Hermann Lepper, who had been to the mint at
Gadebusch to exchange 100 old florins for new coin. That money was in
the carriage. A gang of thieves, or rather highwaymen, got wind of the
affair. In consequence of the mild laws of repression, these gentry
swarmed throughout Mecklenburg, and the names of the noblest families
figured among them, which fact gave substance to the poet who wrote:
Nobilis et nebulo parvo discrimine distant,
Sic nebulo magnus nobilis esse potest.
Of course these lines do not apply to many honourable personages
belonging to the nobility. But to return to my story.
When the travellers had got beyond the village of Willershagen they
left the coach, and, provided with their firearms proceeded on foot,
for the country was by no means safe. Instead of prudently escorting
the vehicle the two horsemen went on in front. The brigands came up
with them and entered into conversation. Suddenly one of them snatched
the loaded pistol Lagebusch was carrying at his saddle-bow--the fashion
of carrying two had not come in--fired it at Lepper, who was galloping
back to the carriage, killing him there and then, while Lagebusch set
spurs to his horse in time to warn Sonnenberg, who hid himself in the
brushwood. My brother, armed with a pole, and standing with his back
against the carriage to prevent an attack from behind, offered a stout
and not unsuccessful resistance. He managed to wound in the thigh an
assailant who, carried away by his horse, bit the dust further up the
road. But another miscreant, charging furiously, sliced away a piece of
my brother's skull as big as a crown (the fragment of bone that adhered
to the skin was the size of a ducat), and at the same time dealt him a
deep gash at the throat. As a matter of course, my brother lost
consciousness; nay, was left for dead while the bandits sacked the
carriage, caught the horse of their wounded comrade, but seeing that he
could not be transported, abandoned him and decamped with their spoil.
They, however, did not take the carriage team. In a little while
Sonnenberg emerged from his hiding-place, and, with the aid of the
driver, hauled my brother into the carriage. The woman bandaged his
head and kept it on her knees. Lepper's body was placed between the
legs of the wounded young man, and in that condition they reached
Ribbenitz, where the surgeon closed the gash in the neck by means of
pins.
The Rostock council promptly sent its officials to the spot. The
brigand was conveyed to the city, but almost immediately after his
being lodged in prison, he died without naming his accomplices. There
was, moreover, no great difficulty in finding them out, but their
friends succeeded in hushing up the whole affair; the authorities acted
very mildly. The dead robber was nevertheless judged and beheaded. His
head remained for many years exposed on a pike.
Lagebusch brought the news to Stralsund, and the Council immediately
offered my father a closed carriage with four horses. We started that
same night, provided with mattresses, and reached Ribbenitz next
morning after daybreak. My brother was very weak. While the horses were
stabled and after the court had drawn up a detailed report, we gave
Lepper an honourable and Christian burial. We began our homeward
journey at dusk, going slowly all through the night, and got to
Stralsund at midday. Master Joachim Gelhaar attended to my brother, but
in spite of his acknowledged skill, he did not succeed in curing the
wound of the neck; the improvement of one day was counteracted the
next. In the end they discovered that the surgeon of Ribbenitz had
closed the wound askew; the edges did not join, and one had been
flattened by means of a large copper pin, the head of which had
disappeared. Master Joachim repaired the mischief, not without causing
great pain to his patient, who, however, promptly regained his health.
After reading the _Epicedion Ruberti Barns_, the King of England sent
ambassadors to threaten Lubeck, the book having been issued from
Johannes Balhorn's presses. Although the author had no connexion with
the city, the council nevertheless apologized for him on the ground of
his youth. He had simply aimed at giving a _specimen doctrinae_, but to
pacify the king, Balhorn was banished, and had to leave the city at
sunrise. He was allowed to return a few months later.
The costly Bruser lawsuit had deprived my parents of the means of
sending us to study in foreign countries, so they bought two horses and
dispatched me and my brother to Spires to watch the progress of the
affair, and to do as best we could for ourselves. We started from
Stralsund on June 14, 1542. Our parents accompanied us as far as
Greifswald, where we stopped one day to bid good-bye to our grandmother
and the rest of the family. I was in high spirits. Johannes was dull
and depressed. "Dear son," said our mother, "why this sadness? Look at
Bartholomaei, how gay he is." "My brother," replied Johannes, "has no
care weighing on his mind; he has no thought for the future."
We made for Stettin, then for Berlin and Wittemberg; in fact, "we rode
straight on," as people say. At Wittemberg, Johannes ran against Dr.
Martin Luther, standing before the bookshop near the cemetery. Dr.
Luther shook hands with me. Philip Melanchthon and other learned
personages gave us letters of introduction to the procurators and
advocates of Spires.
Half-way between Erfurt and Gotha there is a big inn where we halted
for half a day to rest our horses and to mend our clothes. We settled
our bill before going to bed. Next morning on reaching Gotha my brother
found he had lost his purse; he had left it under his pillow. It was a
great misfortune, for we were not overburdened with means, and the look
of the inn left but little hope of getting our own back again.
Immediately after my horse had had its feed, I retraced my steps,
galloping all the way. When I reached the hotel I tied up my horse and
in the twinkling of an eye ran up to the room with the servant at my
heels. We both flung ourselves on the purse. I had the luck of laying
hands on it first, but I fancied he was entitled to a tip. If either
the girl or the young man had come near the bed after our going we
should have never seen our money again.
In spite of the gathering darkness, I was in the saddle again, for it
would have been unwise to spend the night alone under such a roof. Half
a mile (German) farther there was a nice village, and as night had set
in altogether I made up my mind to stop there. The inn was full of
peasants. It happened to be Sunday, and these worthy folk, who had
noticed my riding by like possessed two hours before, said to each
other: "Well, we were mistaken after all. It's His Highness'
messenger." Thereupon the host told the servant to look to my horse;
nothing would induce him to let me do it myself. He, moreover, insisted
on my sitting down to the table immediately; they brought me boiled and
roast meats and excellent wine. The peasants in their turn show me all
kinds of attentions, and when I mention the settlement of my bill
before going to bed, the host declares that he could not hear of such a
thing, and moreover swears by all his household gods that he'll not let
me go in the morning without a good basin of soup, and that if I were
to stay for a week he would not accept a farthing, because he could
never do enough for his gracious prince. They put me into a very white
and very soft bed, where I slept long and soundly.
While I was enjoying every comfort, my poor brother was bemoaning his
imprudence of having sent me to look for the purse. I did not know the
country, the hotel had a queer appearance. I had not returned, although
it had been settled that the town gates should be opened to let me
pass. My brother's anxiety may therefore be readily imagined. He
dispatched an express messenger with a description of myself, and that
of the horse; the messenger passed the inn at the very moment I was
starting. He recognized me and informed me of my brother's anxiety.
At Spires we put up at the _Arbour_, and when our horses were
sufficiently rested my brother sold them to the landlord of the
_Crown_. We could not afford, though, to stay at the inn, so we rented
a small room with one bed, and with this we had to be content for more
than five weeks. At meal times we went to eat three or four rolls under
the city walls, after which we drank half a measure of wine at the
tavern. The days when Bartholomaei Sastrow led the dance, and feasted at
the big wine cellars like _Koenig Arthur_ and the _Rathskeller_ were
over.
Philip Melanchthon had recommended us to his half-brother, Doctor
Johannes Hochel, procurator, and to Doctor Jacob Schenck, advocate at
the Imperial Chamber. Thanks to the latter, Johannes found bed and
board, _mensa splendida et delicata_ at the provost's of the chapter, a
great personage occupying the handsomest mansion of Spires, the
habitual quarters of the Emperor. This provost entertained daily a
number of guests, but he himself lived upon fowl broth and apothecary's
stuff prescribed by his doctor. He was fond of listening to the
discussions of his guests, some of whom sided with Luther and others
with the pope. If, at the end of the debate, he now and again added a
few words, it was simply to admit that he had never read "St. Paul,"
but that, on the other hand, he had read in Terence: "_Bonorum
extortor, legum contortor_." He was practically in the same boat with
the Bishop of Wurzburg, who is reported to have said: "I thank heaven
that I have never read 'St. Paul,' for I should have become a heretic
just like Luther."
On August 10, Dr. Hochel obtained a place for me at Dr. Frederick
Reiffstock's, one of the oldest procurators of the Imperial Chamber, a
most learned lawyer and excellent practitioner, who was altogether
unlike the majority of the procurators at Spires. He had spent several
years of his youth at Rome as auditor of the "Rote" (ecclesiastical
jurisdiction). He was very conscientious and energetic. At the issue of
the sittings, he immediately wrote to the party whose case had been
called; then, the moment the minutes and other documents had been
copied by his principal clerk, he sealed the whole, and deposited it in
a large box on the table of his office. When this or that messenger
came to announce his next departure the procurator examined the box to
see whether there was anything to dispatch in that direction, and he
marked on the outside wrapper the vail to be given according to the
condition of the roads or their distance from the main ones. His
practice was made up of princes, nobles, and eminent personages. One
day he replied to Duke Albrecht of Mecklenburg who had sent him a case,
that, unless new facts could be adduced, he advised the withdrawal of
the suit. The fees were nevertheless very considerable. The duke handed
the case to Dr. Leopold Dick, who allowed himself to be directed to the
_juramentum calumniae_ and lost the whole affair.
My master had four sons, all of whom took their doctor's degree. The
three elder had returned, one from France, the two others from Leipzig;
hence I had three horses to take care of, and three rooms to keep
heated. Doctor Reiffstock was determined I should not be idle. One day
he placed before me a bundle of documents as thick as my hand but very
well written. He told me to copy them, and then to collate them
carefully with his second clerk. I was under the impression that it was
a most important affair; when it was finished the procurator told me
that he simply wished to give me something to do.
On December 14, 1542, an imposing deputation of the Protestant States
repudiated as suspect the Imperial Chamber, and declared its decisions
and enactments null and void until its complete reformation. The
procurators immediately reduced their staff, and Dr. Reiffstock
dismissed me, which grieved me very much. As I foresaw, my parents
would think me guilty of some grave misconduct, but a letter from
Johannes soon undeceived them.
Though a writer's place could easily be had away from Spires, I would
not leave my brother or the city before the termination of the lawsuit.
We also hoped that the chamber would be reconstituted at the next diet.
For all these reasons combined I entered into the service of my
father's procurator, Simeon Engelhardt. I might as well have taken
service in hell. Dr. Engelhard was an honest man, but he and his family
belonged to the Schwenkfeld sect.[28] He had three daughters and a son
between eight and nine whom I had to teach his declensions and
conjugations. The matron of the establishment was a virago of the worst
description, mean and bitter-spoken, who grudged her husband his food.
Often and often did I see her snatch the glass from his lips. People
may think she did it for the best, lest he should get drunk. Not in the
least; she did that kind of thing at the family table; besides, his
worst enemy could not have called him a wine-bibber. The pewter goblet
of each child (there were two grown-up daughters) held about the
contents of a pigeon's seed-box. The cup was filled once with wine,
twice with Mayence beer (an abominable concoction), after which you
were at liberty to swill as much water as you pleased. As for the two
servants and the two scribes, the pittance was meagre indeed. A piece
of meat not as big as an egg, floating in beef tea pellucid to a
degree. This was followed by cabbages, turnips, lentils, herbs, oatmeal
porridge, dried potatoes, etc., even on fish days. At the end of the
meal a goblet (?) of wine. Whoever was thirsty after that--a by no
means uncommon state of things--could go and pull the well-rope. Truly,
it would be difficult to say how much water I swallowed in that house.
Dr. Simeon Engelhardt had nearly as many lawsuits on hand as Dr.
Reiffstock, about four hundred. Each document was copied four times.
The first remained with the principal bundle of papers, the second was
sent to the client, the third and fourth went to the registry of the
court which kept one, wrote the word "Productum" on the other, and
dispatched it immediately by the beadle to the procurator of the
opposing party. There were two sittings per week, sometimes a third for
fiscal cases.
The copying of the protocol and of the acts imposed very hard work upon
us. Being only two clerks, there was no time, on court days, for
swallowing a piece of bread. On the other hand, the mistress of the
house took no notice of anything like that. What her daughters or the
servant girls could have done, namely, laying the table, bringing the
cold or hot water for washing up, clearing the table and getting rid of
the dish-water; all this came to Bartholomaei's share, whether he
happened to be head over heels in other work or not, and the master of
the house did not dare to utter a syllable. Amidst the biggest stress
of business, when we did without our meals, the lady cried across the
yard: "Bartholomaei, will you mind troubling yourself to come and throw
the dish-water away?" And as if the satire was not obvious enough, she
added: "Look at the lazy scamp. He has not attended to the water at
all." I was forbidden to go out without asking, even to call upon my
brother. Nor was this all. In the morning I saved the servant girls
marketing; a basket slung on my arm like Gretchen, I bought the
provisions for the household; cabbages, turnips, bread, and what not,
and when I came back there was faultfinding without end for not having
haggled enough. On washing day, which came round too often to please
me, I pumped the water. When the pump was out of order it was I who
went down the well to repair the mischief. And I was not a child, but a
young man of twenty-three. I was paying for the good times of
Stralsund. At each visit my brother was bewailing my fate and preaching
patience. "In days to come, when you shall have a wife, children, and
servants of your own, you will be able to tell them of your less happy
days."
When Mistress Engelhardt was in her "tantrums," she went about for a
week without addressing a friendly word to her husband. At such periods
her son Solomon would come into the office to tell me that his father
was a dissipated brute who had not slept with his mother for a week,
etc., etc. The youngest of the girls fell ill and died; her mother put
the corpse into a sack in guise of a coffin. An old crone carried it to
the cemetery on her back. One can only hope that she dug a grave and
placed her burden into it, for no one accompanied the dead child; no
one superintended the burial.
Thanks to his capital practice, made up of the nobles and the cities
paying him yearly retaining fees, thanks also to the avarice of this
virago, Dr. Engelhardt easily put aside two thousand florins per annum.
He lent money to the client-cities at interest. For two years running I
made payments of two thousand florins each on a simple receipt.
In 1543, on his return from Italy, the emperor hurried on his
preparations for a war against the Duke of Juliers. Ulm and Augsburg
cast some magnificent pieces of field artillery, with their carriages
and wheels; and as it was considered easier to transport the carriages
separately, a numberless troop of Swabian carters was engaged. His
Imperial Majesty stayed at Spires, the artillery not being ready.
Autumn overtook him, and as the roads of the Netherlands were very bad
at that season, his Majesty, to his great vexation, had to defer the
attack. One day, being on horseback, he hustled a waggoner whose team
proceeded too slowly to his taste, and spoke, moreover, very harshly to
him. The Swabian, who had no idea of the identity of his interlocutor,
merely made a grimace and shrugged his shoulders. A smart rap with a
riding crop from the emperor was the result. So far from submitting,
however, the stubborn clown promptly belabours his assailant's head
with his whip, uttering imprecations all the while: "May the thunder
strike and blast you, you scum of a Spaniard," and so forth. Of course
the emperor's suite laid hold of him, and he had to pay dearly for his
mistake. Not so dearly, though, as he might have done if the colonels
entrusted with inquiries and the drawing up of the indictment had not
purposely dragged the thing along to let the emperor's anger spend
itself. Charles had forgotten all about the affair. He probably thought
that his orders had been carried out and that the Swabian culprit was
comfortably swinging from this or that gibbet, when the said colonels
and captains humbly submitted the reasons for his being pardoned. There
was first of all the ignorance of the waggoner, secondly the often
excessive roughness of the Spaniards towards these poor Swabians.
Furthermore, there was the august leniency of all great potentates and
the gratitude of which the army would feel bound to give proof, if it
were exercised upon such an occasion as the present. The prince
relented to the extent of deciding that the culprit should have his
nose cut off in memory of the assault. The colonels and the captains
expressed their respectful gratitude, and the condemned man learnt the
commutation of his sentence with great joy. They cut off his nose flush
with his face. He bore the operation with a good grace, and for the
remainder of his life sang the praises of the emperor. For many years
he could be seen urging his cattle along the roads between the Rhine
and the Danube. I happened to come several times into contact with him
at the inns. I asked him before other travellers about the nature of
the accident that had cost him his nose, whether he had left it in the
French country. "Nay, nay," he replied, and with great glee recounted
his adventure, showering blessings on his Imperial Majesty.
While the emperor was warring in Africa, Martin van Rosse[29] profited
by the diversion to work his own will in the Netherlands. He had, for
instance, imposed a ransom on Antwerp on the penalty of burning it to
the ground. His Majesty, having learnt that he was conducting the
expedition as a landsknecht, felt curious to get a glimpse of this
personage. Martin van Rosse was warned too late; the emperor was
already there. He pulled up his horse before the rebel. The latter,
dropping on his knee, begged that the past might be forgotten, and
swore to shed his last drop of blood for the emperor, who touched him
lightly with his stick on the shoulder, and forgave him everything. "We
forgive you, Martin," he said, "but do not begin again."
On February 20, 1544, the Diet was opened at Spires. I have heard it
said that the Elector Palatine Lewis always endeavoured to dissuade his
Majesty from choosing that town, because his _mathematicus_ had
predicted that he should die at Spires. In consequence of this,
perhaps, he presented himself in person to the emperor at the very
beginning of the session, and at the end of a few days took his leave
to return to Heidelberg, where he died on March 16.
In default of a church, the Elector of Saxony had religious service
performed in a tavern where he had put up a seat for the ministers.
Lutes, fifes, cornets, trumpets and violins, instead of an organ,
constituted a most agreeable concert. The elector's horse was a most
robust animal, and there was a stepping stone attached to his saddle.
On the eve of Maundy Thursday at sunset twenty-four flagellants of both
sexes marched by in their shirts, their faces covered with pieces of
stuff into which were cut holes for their eyes and mouth, their backs
sufficiently bare for the birch provided with steel-pointed hooks to
touch the flesh. It was a hideous spectacle, the hooks tearing pieces
of flesh away, and causing the blood to trickle down to the ground. The
penitents advanced very slowly, one by one, in two single files,
divided as it were by Spanish gentlemen of high degree, each carrying a
thick wax candle. The whole street was lighted with them. When they
reached the church of the barefooted Carmelites the procession fell on
its knees and dragged itself from the porch to the crucifix in the
choir in that way. Near the entrance the surgeons dressed the wounds;
rumour had it that two corpses were carried away.
The emperor washed the feet of twelve poor men; the King of the Romans
did the same. Care had however been taken to ascertain that those
people were in good health; nay, their feet had been washed beforehand.
The two sovereigns with napkins round their waists merely dried the
feet, after which they waited upon the poor at table. "Friends," they
cordially said to them, "eat and drink."
Like all gatherings of eminent personages, this diet entailed a rise in
the prices of food, but especially of fish. A Rhine salmon cost sixteen
crowns; for half of one the purveyor of the Duke of Mecklenburg paid
eight crowns.
A Spanish gentleman who had taken up his quarters with an amiable widow
who was looking to his comfort, became imbued with the idea that she
would not refuse him her favours; so one night he crept into her bed;
but the widow having got hold of a knife plunged it into his body and
killed him there and then. Of course, she did not know how to get rid
of the body; but though certain of her own ruin, she did not stir from
her home. Her anguish at the prospect of the consequences had reached
its height when the emperor, informed of the real state of the case,
sent to reassure her. The Spaniards came to take the body of their
countryman, and to perform the last duties to it.
On March 20, 1544, the emperor granted the privilege of a coat of arms
to my brother Johannes, and conferred the title of poet laureate[30] on
him, in recognition of a poem dedicated to him. Johannes Stigelius also
offered the emperor a _scriptum poeticum_. His Majesty replied to him
through the pen of his vice-chancellor, Seigneur Jean de Naves:
"_Carmen placet Imperatori; Poeta petat, quid velit habebit; Si
voluerit esse nobilis, erit; si poeta laureatus, erit id quoque; sed
pecuniam non petat, pecuniam, non habebit._" It might serve as a
warning to Stralsund not to lavish its money on the first comer who
thinks fit to dedicate some poor rhymes to it.
On May 19, 1544, I was made a notary by Imperial diploma. Prelate Otto
Truchess, of Waldburg, bestowed upon my brother a gold chain for a
_carmen gratulatorium_ on the occasion of his recent installation in
the see of Augsburg.
Doctor Christopher Hose, ex-procurator and advocate of Stralsund, who
had been struck off on account of his evangelical faith, had built
himself a handsome residence at Worms. He came to Spires during the
Diet. A veteran practitioner, a straightforward and agreeable man, he
was a favourite with his colleagues, and especially with the young
ones. He was, however, highly esteemed by everybody, and nobody minded
him exposing the astute moves of his adversaries. A learned doctor had
invited him and several colleagues, Master Engelhardt among the number.
When I got there with my lantern to escort my master home, the evening
cup was being poured out, and whether I liked it or not, the host and
Dr. Hose, who were acquainted with my family's circumstances, made me
sit down at the lower end of the table and offered me cakes, pastry,
etc. Thereupon Master Engelhardt got up brusquely and wanted to go.
"Seeing that my servant is sitting down, I had better go. At any rate I
shall not sit down again unless he remains standing to attend to me,"
he said. Dr. Hose, however, went on with his little speech to me. "Look
you here, Pomeranian," he remarked, "the words 'procurator at the
Imperial Court' are simply synonymous with those of hardened rogue, and
that is the gist of the matter." (The latter was a favourite
interjection of his.) "At your age," he went on, "I was also with a
procurator who run up costs very heavily with his clients without doing
much for them. Now, just listen to this story. A Franconian gentleman
entrusted a most important case to my master, gave him a considerable
retaining fee, and promised him another big sum at the end of the year.
When the case had been put upon the rolls, the procurator put the
documents relating to it into a bag, showing the names of the parties
to the suit in large letters; after which he suspended the bag in the
usual way with many others in the registry room with which you are
familiar. At the end of the year he claimed his fees, announcing at the
same time the termination of the suit and his hurrying on of the
judgment. The client added to the sum agreed upon a gratification and a
present for us, the engrossing and copying clerks. Nevertheless, he
fancied the affair was dragging along, and one fine day he came to
Spires and rung at our door, and on its being opened my master a once
recognized the visitor. You are aware that procurators generally have
their own rooms facing the door, in order to see who came in and went
out. Thereupon my master runs to the registry chamber, takes down the
bag in question, and places it on the table. After which he has the
Franconian shown in, receiving him very cordially, imbuing him at the
same time with the idea that he never loses sight of his documents. He
also tells him that he was constantly demanding the execution of the
judgment, but that he will insist still more strongly, and will send an
express to his noble client. The latter departed exceedingly satisfied,
after having offered a rich gift to the procurator's lady. Well, as a
fact, the lawsuit was not even in its first stage.
"Take my word for it," he went on, "the procurators of the Imperial
Chamber are past-masters of trickery, and that's the gist of the
matter. If you have made up your mind to practise at Spires,
Pomeranian, you must provide yourself with three bags: one for the
money, one for the documents, and the third for patience. In the course
of the suit you will see the purse get flatter, the documents grow
bigger, and patience desert altogether; but you will comfort yourself
with the thought that the emperor writes to you: 'We, Charles V, by the
Grace of God Roman Emperor, Perpetual Aggrandizer of the Germanic
Empire, King of Spain, the Two Sicilies, Jerusalem, Hungary, Dalmatia,
etc., assure our dear and faithful Bartholomaei Sastrow, of our grace
and goodwill.' Think of the pleasure and the honour of receiving that
missive, while you are sitting in the inglenook amidst your family.
Assuredly it is money well spent." That was the manner of Dr. Hose's
discourse.
The diet dissolved. King Ferdinand with his two sons, Maximilian and
Ferdinand, reconducted the landgrave. At their return there was a
terrible storm, accompanied by hailstones as big as hazel nuts. In
Spires itself several hundred florins worth of windows were broken. The
cavalry, hussars and royal trabans fled panic-stricken; it was nothing
less than a general rout, and the gathering darkness increased the
confusion. The runaways only reached Spires after the gates were
closed, and lay down in the outer moats in order to save their lives.
King Ferdinand appeared on the scene, absolutely alone. He called and
knocked, shouted his name, and finally succeeded in finding some one
who recognized him, when of course the gates were thrown open, and they
sped towards him with many torches. The first question of the king was
about his sons; nobody had seen them come up. Thereupon more confusion,
shouting, questioning, and contemplated saddling of horses; but just in
the nick of time the princes rode up, escorted by a small number of
men. The trabans pleaded mortal danger in excuse for their neglect of
duty, and their wounds in fact confirmed the plea, for the king, having
made them strip, could see how the hailstones had literally riddled
their bodies. All declared that their mounts no longer answered the
bit.
The reconstitution of the Imperial Chamber was adjourned. I should have
regretted returning to the paternal roof before our lawsuit was in a
fair way of being settled; on the other hand, life at Master
Engelhardt's was intolerable in consequence of his accursed wife, who
was a fiend incarnate. Her dreadful character inspired me from that day
forward with an aversion for petticoat government, and I am likely to
preserve it until I draw my last breath. My father's interest dictated
resignation, for my stay at Spires in hurrying up affairs also saved
expenses of procedure and of correspondence, the latter of which
threatened to be heavy now and again, when a messenger had to be
dispatched to Stralsund. I was sufficiently versed in the scribal art
and in High-German to find employment elsewhere. I was offered a post
at the chancellerie of the Margrave Ernest of Baden and Hochberg,
Landgrave of Sansenberg, Overlord of Roetteln and Badenweiler, etc.,
whose residence was at Pforzheim. It was only six miles (German)
distant from Spires, and I accepted.
I and my fellow-scribe had been constantly engaged in engrossing deeds.
As a rule these were petitions addressed either to the emperor or to
some prince in behalf of the Jews of Swabia or of the Palatinate, who
paid largely. Our master left us free in that respect. He knew that we
were not inclined to work for nothing. Eager to earn money we even
encroached upon our hours of sleep in order to get all the possible
benefit of the diet. We had, furthermore, the tips of clients in return
for our promise not to neglect their affairs. The receipts were dropped
into a solid iron box, secured to the window of the office. Dr.
Engelhardt kept the key of it. We estimated the treasure at a hundred
crowns, and looked forward with joy to its division. When I was about
to leave, the procurator came into the office, opened the box in my
presence, and emptied it. We gloated over the admirable collection of
florins, crowns, and other specimens of beautiful German and Welch
coinage. Master Engelhardt gave me a crown, another to my fellow-clerk,
and pocketed the rest. Stupefied and dumbstricken we saw him walk away
with the proceeds of our vigils and our labour. No! Dr. Hose did not
libel Master Engelhardt.