USA > Pennsylvania > The Fatherland: (1450-1700) : showing the part it bore in the discovery, exploration and development of the western continent with special reference to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ; pt. I. of a narrative and critical history > Part 2
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FAC-SIMILE OF THE EARLIEST AMERICAN IMPRINT KNOWN.
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II
Arms of Pennsylvania.
explored and developed by Germans and under Ger- man supervision. Yet such is an historical fact, as I shall proceed to prove, not only to your satisfaction, but also, I trust to that of other critics.
VIRT
ERT
ARMS OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
AT THE CLOSE OF THE MEDIEVAL ERA.
SURVEY of the political situation of continental Europe at the middle of the XVth cen- tury, presents a condition of comparative peace. Frederick III of the Aus- trian dynasty of Haps- burg, and the last em- peror who was crowned at Rome, was on the Imper- ARMS OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE. ial throne of Germany ; Constantine II was upon the Imperial throne of the eastern Empire at Constantinople. Thomas di Sar- zano (Parentucelli) as Nicolas VI, occupied the Papal Chair at Rome. Charles VII was the acknowledged ruler of France; Henry VI was king of England. The first Christian held sway over Denmark, Norway and Oldenburg; Casimir III was king of Poland ;
I3
Social Conditions of Germany.
James II ruled Scotland; and in the far East, Mohammed II succeeded Amurat as Sultan of the Turks.
As to the social conditions of Germany during this period, the chief aims of the German nation at large were the extension of their commerce, a revival of learning,6ª and a release from narrow bonds, both re- ligious and political. Two great factors appear op- portunely at this time, to aid them in their efforts toward the coveted ends viz, :- the invention of printing,? and the improvements in making paper.8
It was in the year 1455 that Gutenberg completed his first great work. The effect of this invention was
6ª It was about this time that the first mention of private schools appears in German History. These schools were separate and distinct from the various Kloster-Schulen and were established by the laity, who engaged teachers, not in monastic orders. Vide Beiträge zur Geschichte des Schulwesens. Von Julius Hans. Zeit Schrift des Historischen Vereins fur Schwaben und Newburg, vol. ii, p. 101, etc.
" The invention of printing, as we now use the term, dates from the discovery and use of movable wooden and metal types by the Ger- mans Gutenberg, Faust and Schöffer (1440-1460) during which years the Bible was printed by them and the process of casting type was per- fected. For earlier attempts at printing, see Knight's Mechanical Dictionary, pp. 1789, etc. Article Printing. The Chinese invented print- ing some goo years before the Germans, and their art was described in Persian books. Had these books reached Europe earlier than they did, we should have learnt to print from the Chinese, instead of having to invent it for ourselves.
8 The improvement in the making of paper here alluded to consisted in the use of linen rags for the purpose, and a method for pulping the fiber by beating. The first paper-mill in Europe for making paper from linen rags was established at Nürnberg in Germany by Ulinan Strother as early as 1390. This mill was operated by two rollers, which set in motion eighteen stampers, a method which continued in use for over four centuries.
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1450-THE FATHERLAND-1700.
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9
THE "BEHAIM" HOUSE AT NÜRNBERG. SHOWING MURAL PAINTINGS. ( FROM PHOTOGRAPH FURNISHED BY GERMANISCHES NATIONAL MUSEUM.)
I5
The Vehm-Gericht.
secret Tribunal in Westphalia, known as the Vehin- gericht,10 before whose mandates even the most un- scrupulous nobles were apt to quail.
The most powerful organization, however, a strictly commercial one, and the most widespread and firmly united one in the old world of which we have any record,-was the Hanseatic League," which virtually dates back to the middle of the XIIIth cen- tury. This was a commercial alliance or union be- tween certain cities of Germany for the extension of their trade and for its protection, not only against freebooters at sea, but against government exactions, demands of petty rulers, and the rapacity of the rob- ber barons. Other objects of this celebrated league
10 The Vehm-gericht (Femgericht or Fem-court) was a criminal court of Germany in the Middle Ages, which took the place of the regular administration of justice (then fallen into decay) especially in criminal cases. These courts originated and had their chief jurisdiction in Westphalia, and their proceedings were conducted with the utmost secrecy. This system of secret tribunals was most terrible to noble malefactors during the 14th and 15th centuries. The last general Vehm- gericht was held at Zell, in the year 1568.
11 The Hanseatic League dates from the middle of the 13th century. A confederacy was formed of the cities of Hamburg and Lübeck, to mu- tually defend each other against all violence, and particularly against the attacks of the nobles This confederacy was shortly joined by other German cities, until the League consisted of no less than eighty-five cities and communities. About the same time four great factories or depots were established in foreign countries : at London, in 1220 ; at Bruges, in 1252; at Novgorod, in 1272; and at Bergen, in 1278. Diets were held at stated intervals by the League, which exercised judicial power at home and a strict discipline over its connections abroad. The laws prescribed to the agents of the English fur companies in America, such as the Hudson Bay Company, were patterned after those of the Hanseatic factories. The last Diet of the Hansa was held at Lübeck in 1630, when the old confederation was dissolved.
16
The Fatherland 1450-1700.
were the prevention of piracy and shipwreck, the in- crease of agricultural products, a develop- ment of the fisheries, the mining industry and the manufactures of Germany ;12 in fact, everything calculated to increase the wealth and importance of the nation.
One of the chief re- sults of the wise policy HANSEATIC ARMS. (LONDON.) pursued by the Han- seatic League was the fact that everywhere through- out the known world the German merchants and traders became famous for their probity and enter- prise. The influence of the League extended to England, Sweden, Russia and the lesser countries ; and by the perfection of its organization and co-oper- ation with the Venetians, the merchants of Germany at the period under consideration may be said to have controlled the trade of Europe, if not of the world.13
It is true that the Venetians and Genoese had a monopoly of the Mediterranean and Oriental trade, and virtually controlled Constantinople, then still the capital of the tottering Byzantine empire, and, like Alexandria, one of the great centres for East Indian
12Robertson's India (London, 1791, ) p. 120.
13 Ibid.
I7
German Commercial Enterprise.
"THE STEEL-YARD" WAREHOUSES OF THE GERMAN MERCHANTS INN LONDON, IN XVI CENTURY.
HANSEATIC ARMS. (BERGEN, NORWAY.)
products. But it must not be overlooked that a continuance of their commercial prosperity depended almost en- tirely upon the Ger- man nation and Han- seatic League. It was from the mines in northern Germany whence came the gold and silver needed for their barter with
18
The Fatherland 1450-1700.
India, H while the Hansa distributed the goods thus obtained ; first by land carriage, and again reshipping them from nothern ports. Then in return the Hansa supplied the Venetians and Genoese with the naval stores needed to build and maintain their fleet upon the Mediterranean.
Such was the condition of Continental Europe fifty years prior to the ad- vent of the Columbian era ;-- comparative quiet reigned over the major part of the land ; manufacturers and commerce flourished ; wealth was accumu- lated by legitimate means; and the mer- chant and patrician, and not the feudal baron, were the mighty HANSEATIC ARMS. (COMTOIR AT BRUGES.) power throughout the land.
Scarcely, however, had the century passed into its latter half, when a disturbing element appeared on
14 Robertson's India, p. 120. The gold and silver mines in the var- ious provinces of Germany were the most valuable and productive of any known at that time in Europe. See Zimmermann's Political Survey of Europe p. 102. The prosperity of these mines, mainly in the vicinity of Freiberg, continued until the influx of American silver from Mexico caused the price of silver to fall so low that the German mines ceased to be productive. This misfortune was hastened by the numerous wars, notably that known as the Thirty Years' War. See Festschrift zum 100 jährigen Jubilacum der Königlichen Berg Academie zu Freiberg, 1866.
IMPERATORISUIS
SVITANISMO
HAMMIES
Mohammed II. (The Great). Born, 1430. Died, 1481.
19
The Capture of Constantinople.
the Bosphorus, which was destined to affect the whole political situation of Europe, and at the same time bring about the greatest changes in commercial circles,-an event which stimulated a series of voy- ages and eventually led to the discovery of the West- ern world.
This event was the capture of Constantinople, after a heroic defence under the German Germani- cus15 by the Sultan Mohammed II16 in 1453, whereby the Turk not only obtained a foothold in Europe, but was at the same time in a position to control the most lucrative trade of the Mediterranean.17
The immediate effect of this Moslem occupation, so far as we are concerned, was two-fold : firstly, the expulsion, by the Turks, of the Grecian scholars who fled to Italy and Germany, and there obtained a foot-hold in the various universities of the two coun- tries, bringing about, as we all know, the Renais-
13 Johannes Germanicus (Johann der Deutsche, ) a German soldier and scientist, who was the engineer in charge of the defences of Constanti- nople during this memorable siege. He successfully defended the sea approaches by aid of a monster chain, and by countermines foiled the Turks in their attempts to blow up the walls of the city. It was by the ingenuity of this brave German that the breaches made by day were successfully repaired by night, and for so many days the Cross defied the Crescent.
16 Mahomet II, emperor of the Turks, succeeded his father Amurath in 1451. He was a warrior and religious fanatic. He had sworn to ex- terminate the Christian religion ; and in attempting to carry out his oath he subdued two empires, twelve tributary kingdoms, and 200 towns, and was preparing to subjugate Italy when he died in 1481 after a reign of 31 years. His death caused a rejoicing throughout the whole Christian world.
17 Robertson's India, p. 128.
20
The Fatherland 1450-1700.
sance and the Reformation. Secondly, the capture of Constantinople effected the expulsion of the Genoese from the Le- vant; a circumstance which while it proved the downfall of Genoa as a commercial centre, was yet destined to in- crease the influence, com- merce and wealth of its rivals, the Venetians, who, by greater foresight ARMS OF GENOA, A. D. 1450. or good fortune, had se- cured favorable treaties with the Sultan of Egypt, and became for the time being masters of the Medi- terranean and of the commerce of the Indies.
The fortunes of the Venetians were so closely al- lied with those of the German merchants and Hansa, which united the north and south of Europe in com- mercial bonds18 that German mercantile circles ex- perienced an equal era of prosperity with their as- sociates of Venice.19 Great fortunes were amassed by some of the German mercantile towns and their citizens.20 A notable instance was that of the city of Augsburg, the Augusta Vindelicorum of old, whose
18 Robertson's India, p. 125. Robertson says : "In some cities of Ger- many, particularly Augsburg, the great mart for Indian commodities in the interior parts of that extensive country, we meet with early ex- amples of such large fortunes accumulated by mercantile industry as raised the proprietors of them to high rank and consideration in the Empire."
19 Ibid, p. 125.
21
Augusta Vindelicorum.
magnificent Town - hall with its golden ceiling,21 is still shown to attest its former greatness and commercial glory.
The great fortunes amassed by the Ven- etians22 naturally ex- cited the envy and jealousy of other maritime nations, and the fabulous riches of the Indies formed the chief ESCUTCHEON OF THE REPUBLIC OF VENICE. dream of the various rulers of countries bordering upon the seas. This feeling was heightened by the
20 The most prominent among these merchants were the establish- ments of the "Welser-Geselschaft" and the firm of Raimund and Anton Fugger.
21 The Golden Hall ( Golden Saal) of the Rathhaus at Augsburg is still shown as one of the town sights. This hall, the second story of the Rathhaus, is a large room 32.65 metres long, 17.33 metres wide, and 14.22 metres high. It is lighted by no less than sixty windows. Its chief beauty consists in the fine panelled ceiling, richly carved and heavily gilded. It is also embellished with numerous symbolical and allegorical paintings. This ceiling is so called a flying ceiling, being suspended from the roof-timbers by heavy chains. Many fine paintings and relics are to be seen in the Saal and the four Fürstenzimmer adjoin- ing.
. 22 Towards the end of the fifteenth century, Venice was the richest and most honored community in Europe. it exercised a powerful influence in the commercial as well as in the political world ; and it may be well said that her inhabitants comprised the most civilized people on earth,
22
The Fatherland 1450-1700.
glowing accounts of Cathay and the Island of Zipango related by Marco Polo,23 fragment- ary extracts of which appeared and were cir- culated in manuscript even before the art of printing was dis- covered.23a
One of the chief aims of all navigators HANSEATIC ARMS. (NOVGOROD RUSSIA.) was to find a way to reach by water, the El-Dorado described by Marco Polo. The great obstacle in the way, however, of maritime exploration was the lack of any method by which the navigator could tell where he was
among whom flourished all the arts and sciences. The wealth accumu- lated by some of her citizens was phenomenal, and was approached only by that of a few German merchants, who were in contact with both the Genoese and the Hansa.
23 Marco Polo, the celebrated traveller, was the son of a Venetian mer- chant, who, with his brother, had penetrated to the court of Kublai, the great Khan of the Tartars. This prince sent them back as his ambassa- dors to the Pope. Shortly afterwards the two brothers, accompanied by two missionaries and the young Marco, returned to Tartary, and re- mained there for seventeen years, visiting China, Japan, several of the East Indian islands, Madagascar and the coast of Africa. The three. Venetians returned to their native country in 1295, with immense wealth. Marco afterwards served in the wars against the Genoese, and being taken prisoner, remained many years in confinement, the tedium of which he beguiled by composing the history of the travels of his father and himself, under the title of "Delle Maraviglie del Mondo da lui vedute, G'c." He ultimately regained his liberty; but of his subsequent history nothing is known.
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Regiomontanus.
when out of sight of land. This problem was not solved until the German mathematician, Johannes Müller (Regiomontanus)24 of Königsberg, calcu- lated his Ephemerides,25 and Martin Behaim of Nürnberg, perfected the astrolabe.26
This brings us down to the last quarter of the XVth century. Portugal, under the wise reign of Henry, the Navigator, had gradually forged its way into the foremost rank of sea-faring nations, and was now
13. Marco Polo's Travels, a folio edition of this work was published in German at Nürnberg by Fritz Creusner as early as 1477. This was fol lowed by another edition by Anton Sorg, at Augsburg, 1481.
24 Regiomontanus, (Camillus Johannes Müller) b. at Königsberg, Franconia, in 1436. He studied at Leipsic, and then placed himself under Purbachius, professor of mathematics at Vienna. Later he be- came one of the most noted astronomers and mathematicians of his day. In 1471-1475 he sojourned at Nürnberg, where he built an observatory and established a printing-press. both under the patronage and by the aid of a wealthy patrician named Bernhard Walther, the local representa- tive of the celebrated Welser firm of Augsburg. Here Regiomontanus printed the first German Almanac in 1474, calculated for the year 1476; the price for which was twelve golden gulden each. But five copies are known at the present day. His most important contribution to science was the publication of his astronomical observations, 1475-1506, under the title Ephemerides or Nautical Almanac. Notwithstanding the high price of twelve ducats per copy, the edition was soon exhausted. Among his many works, the most valuable are: Calendarium ; De Reformatione Calendarii; Tabula magna prima Mobilis; De Cometa Magnitudine Longitudineque ; De Triangulis. He also simplified the astrolabe and the meteoroscope, and suggested various instruments for the use of navi- gators. Regiomontanus died in 1476 by poison administered by a jealous scientist.
25 Ephemerides, in astronomy, a collection of tables showing the present state of the heavens for every day at noon ; that is, the places wherein all the planets or heavenly orbs are found at that time.
26 An instrument formerly used for taking the altitude of the sun or stars at sea. The instrument by that name used by the ancients was similar to the modern armillary sphere.
24
The Fatherland 1450-1700.
under the sway of King John II, an enlight- ened Prince, who planned new expedi- F tions of discovery to sail south along the western coast of Africa. 27 These ven-
tures, in which the German merchants and the Hansa were well represented by men, vessels, and ship stores,28 were conducted with ardor and scien- tific method.
30, 90,90
F
To improve the study ASTROLABE OF THE ANCIENTS. of navigation, King John established, prior to 1481, the celebrated Junta de Mathematicos, a board or commission of scientific men to examine the different nautical instruments, almanacs, calculations and maps of the period, and report upon their utility.
This commission consisted of Don Diego Ortiz, Bishop of Ceuta and Calcadilha," together with
27 The chief rulers of Europe at that period were : Friedrich III, Em_ peror of Germany; Alexander VI. Pope; Ferdinand and Isabella, Spain, Naples and Sicily ; Charles VIII, France ; Henry VII, England : Jo- hannes Albertus, Poland ; James IV, Scotland ; Vladislaus, Hungary and Bohemia ; Bajazet II. Sultan of Turkey ; Johannes, Denmark and Norway.
28 Kunstmann, Deutsche in Portugal. (München)-Ruge Endeckungs- geschichte der Neuen Welt. pp. 33-34. (Hamburg 1892.)
" Don Diego Ortiz was Bishop of Ceuta, but by contemporary writers
25
The Junta de Mathematicos.
.....
the king's two physicians in ordinary, Rodrigo 30 and Josef Judio (an Israelite) and the German cosmog- rapher, Martin Be- haim,30ª a pupil of Regiomontanus, whose reputation as a mathematician and astronomer had pre- ceded him. The three latter were
ROYAL ARMS OF PORTUGAL.
is usually called Doctor Calcadilha, as he was a native of Calcadilha in Galizia. It was he who, after Rodrigo and Josef had officially de- nounced Columbus's scheme as a negocio fabuloso, advised King John II, to secretly avail himself of the scheme disclosed by Columbus .: Hum- boldt, vol. i, p. 232.
80 Evidently Maestre Rodrigo Faleiro or Falero, an astronomer of note. Barrow Voyages, &c. London, ISIS, p. 28.
30a Martin Behaim (Behain or Beheim, Martin von Böhmen, Martinus Bohemus, M. Boheimo, Martin de Bohemia), the celebrated German cosmographer, was a member of the ancient Bohemian family of Schwarzbach, and was born at Nürnberg, according to some writers in the year 1430, but more probably in 1436 according to Navarrete, the same year in which Columbus was born.) According to Humboldt he was a descendant of Matthias Behaim, who in 1343 made the first MS. translation of the Bible into the German language (copy still preserved at Leipzig) and of Michael Baheim, one of the noted Meistersänger in 1421 Little is known of Behaim's youth. He appears to have been in the cloth trade, and in the interests of his house travelled to Venice in 1457. In 1477-'79 we find him in Mechelen Antwerp and Vienna ( Regiomontanus sojourned in Nürnberg, 1471-1475-) From 1480 to 1484, we find Behaim at Lisbon, where Columbus then was. In 1486 to 1490, he was at Fayal, and there married the daughter of Stadthalter Jobst von Hurter (Jobst Dutra) who was governor of the Flemish colony there. He returned to Nürnberg, 1491-1493, where he constructed his
26
The Fatherland 1450-1700.
constituted a sub-committee with the special injunc- tion to discover of navigating the the altitude of the mathematical 000 struments suitable
some sure method seas according to sun31 and construct and nautical in- for the purpose. It was upon this occasion that Be- COMMERCIAL SEAL OF MARTIN BEHAIM haim brought to the notice of the Portuguese the celebrated calculations and tables of his former tutor, Regiomontanus,33 which had been printed at Nürn- berg as early as 1474. 33a. He also here produced his improved astrolabe,34 which was of metal, and could be attached in a vertical position to the main-mast of a vessel.35 This was the first application of the
famous Globe. In 1494, he went to France, and thence to Fayal, where he appears to have remained until 1506. Returning to Lisbon, he died there, July 29, 1507.
31 Dr. Sophus Ruge, Geschichte des Zeitalters der Endeckungen, (Berlin, 1881,) p. 98. Also Ghillany, Geschichte des Seefahrers Ritter, Martin Behaim, (Nürnberg IS53,) P. 53
32 Der Verdienst Martin Baheim, (Dresden 1866,) p 59.
33 Von Murr, (Diplomatische Geschichte) questions the statement that Behaim was a scholar of either Regiomontanus or Bercalden, but is forced to acknowledge that he was well versed in mathematics and the science of navigation before he came to Lisbon, and that so far history is correct in stating that the fortunate discovery of the application of the Astrolabe to navigation gave him the reputation of a leading cosmog- rapher v. Murr, pp 68-69 )
3ª The first edition of Regiomontanus's German Almanac was printed from wooden blocks. In later editions, printed in both German and Latin, and in his Ephemerides in 1475, moveable types were used. Gelcich, "Lösung der Behaim Frage" (Hamb. Festschrift, vol. i, p. 74) 3+ Die Verdienste Martin Behaim, (Dresden, 1866,) p. 61.
35 See Die wissenschaftliche Bedeutung des Regiomontanus (Dresden, 1866,) p. 63 ; also Humboldt, Ex. Critique, vol. i, pp. 234-5-
1450-THE FATHERLAND-1700.
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MARTIN BEHAIM. (BORN 1429, DIED JULY 29, 1506. )
27
The Astrolabe of Behaim.
portable astrolabe to navigation, and together with the Jacobstaff,35ª also introduced by Be- haim,36 taught the 350 300 IO 20 1 30 /20 sea-farer how to dis- 30 6020100] 00 / 100 130 | 100 110/IRO cover the position of a vessel at sea with- out the use of the === magnetic needle, and 7 0v2 002 /082 042 long and intricate calculations. It was the introduction of 082 022 / 012 these nautical in- struments into Port- ugal,37 together with PORTABLE ASTROLABE OF MARTIN BEHAIM. the tables of Regio- montanus which gave the navigators of that land so
5ª Gelcich, in his "Lösung der Behaim Frage," states :
"Es wird sich möglicherweise herausstellen, dass der deutsche Fach- mann, wenn nicht durch Einführung des Jakobsstabes, so doch in anderer Weise. zu den schon angeführten noch wesentliche Dienste der Schiffahrt leistete " Hamburger Festschrift, vol. i.
26 According to Fournier, (Hydryographie, ed. 1643) the Junto and more especially Behaim in the first instance, improved the nautical in- struments of the period by the introduction of smaller portable astro- labes, and by furnishing mariners with tables of the sun's declination. Upon referring to any date these tables would furnish the requisite data, to obtain which it was formerly necessary to enter into long and difficult calculations.
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