Joachim Meyer's Dad and his Drunken Brouhaha
Making mischief in the streets of Basel
Last year we published an article outlining the handful of times Joachim Meyer’s brother and father had run-ins with the law, primarily sourced from the Basel urfehdenbücher. As a reminder, the urfehde was a legal instrument in the territories of the Holy Roman Empire. Historian Dr. Casimir Bumiller cites the following definition: “The German legal historian Wilhelm Ebel defined the urfehde as ‘the oath of satisfaction of the prisoner released from prison or penitentiary or pre-trial detention, in which he acknowledged that his imprisonment was justified and vowed not to take revenge for it’.”1 Individuals who appear in urfehde records accept something akin to a plea deal, admitting fault and promising better behavior.
Here is the first entry for Joachim’s dad Jacob, dated September 1532 when he would have been a young man, maybe still in his teens.
Jacob Meiger the papermaker
Citizen at Basel
Has eagerly sworn [= uttered curses] - cross, body and wounds - and kept himself otherwise inappropriately, but, since he wished to be angry, he has been fined five pounds. On the other Saturday, the 28th day of September, Saint Michael’s Eve, he was sent off on his own. He has sworn a complete Urfehde, in best form, under pain of the sword, and what he was vowed, he shall do.
With this he has been seriously warned to keep himself this way, for he will pay my gentlemen for both instances of anger and mischief if he is punished again, and incur punishments as severe as his misbehavior.
However, there was a lot more to this story than we initially thought. Jacob’s record is surrounded by similar admonishments for Hans Helg the miller and Jorg Zoss, where both parties are jailed and fined for anger and blasphemy.
Hans Helg the miller, citizen of Basel.
Outside of the usual times, during the night, he sat by the ‘Zum Kopf’ [= name of a house or tavern], drinking wine. Afterwards, in a wanton, riotous manner he hit the stones with drawn sword. He went, thus following the alley, to the ‘Mulboum’ and cursed, and caused much commotion and disturbance, to awaken [people].
On Saturday, Saint Michael’s Eve, the 28th September, he was sent off on his own. He was fined one pound pfennige. He has sworn a regular urfehde, in best form, under pain of the sword.
During this he has been told that he should keep himself according to it in the future - if he keeps offending in the future, one will take one thing into account with the other, and thus punish him severely.
Jorg Zoss, citizen of Basel.
During the night, in the alley, he was up to an inappropriate fuss and other commotion, with screaming and raging.
On Saint Dyonisius’ Day, the 9th day of October, he was sent off on his own. He has sworn a regular urfehde, in best form, under pain of the sword.
Both Hans Helg and Jorg Zoss would eventually be neighbors of Jacob and the Meyer family. Beginning in 1554, Hans Helg owned a portion of 12 St. Alban-Vorstadt, whereas the Zoss family owned a compound of buildings further east towards the St. Alban Tower. Since all of them had close ties to the St. Alban neighborhood, it seems that Hans, Jacob, and Jorg may have been childhood friends who had a bit of a wild night out, all ending up in the clink for the same offense.
In this article, we will present a new source from a separate book with the modern title “Kundschaften, Aussagen, Urfehden”. This is the record we are going to dig into today, exploring all the juicy details from Joachim Meyer’s dad’s run-in with the law.
The Kundschaften Book
Accessioned as Ratsbücher O 20, the kundschaften book, or reports book, is a collection of accounts and witness testimony for crimes that occasionally overlap with the judgments within the more focused urfehde books. We began exploring this source in April with the case of Antoni Gugger the fechtmeister who was eyewitness to a stabbing.
The circumstances surrounding Jacob Meyer’s jail time are massively expanded upon in the kundschaften book starting on digital page 335, which assigns an accurate job title of “papermaker workman”, lists Hans Helg and Jorg Zoss as additional suspects, and names an additional friend Erhardt Gernler (who would also live next door to Jacob Meyer as an adult).
The record below is presented in full, and is quite long, so I have interspersed it with additional findings that add context. It is an extensive set of eyewitness accounts, with each paragraph leading off with the name of a new witness adding their information into the prosecution’s hopper. These testimonies only occasionally include specific names within their accounts, but there are a couple of complex curses which line up with the reported swears in Jacob’s urfehde record (Jacob “... has eagerly sworn - cross, body and wounds”). It can thus be inferred that the court attributed at least some of these curses to Jacob!
Some individuals appear across these different accounts, such as the “Kutler lady” (Verena Kutlerin, possibly the wife or sister of a local Hans Kutler) who got involved in the shit talk and was in possession of a coat that was almost pilfered. All the accounts are peppered with references to drunken behavior and repeated insults to Swabians. Unfortunately, they do not proceed in a chronological manner, thus requiring us to understand them as specific snapshots.
Reports concerning the matter which happened at the ‘Bäumlein’ between Augustin Stecken, Hans Karcher and Arbogast Grob on one side, on the other Erhart Gernler, Jorg Zoss, Hans Helg and Jacob, a papermaker-servant. [unclear] on Monday, the 9th September, Anno etc. 32.
Ulrich Vetterlin, shoemaker, has sworn and says that he lay in his bed, slept, then the same heard in his sleep something which made him wake and made him think that the city had been captured.
He reportedly rose, then he heard [Hans] Kufer say to the Kutler lady that she should take the coat which is by the hearth, which the Kutler lady had been tailoring.
Thereupon she took the coat and brought it into the house. Then he heard one, whom he didn't know, say:
"May God’s cross, wounds and suffering debase you! Why did you not let us do it? We would have beaten the Swabians in such a way that the sun would've shone through them, and [beaten them] black.”
Now there was a repeated spate of “wounds, cross and suffering”, then the Kutler lady defended them [= the holy things] [and said], "no way you swore that!" If a man had sworn, how would he have been treated?
Then he reportedly heard someone say, "may God’s wounds debase you, lick my ass with your tongue etc." And it was a tumultuous affair.
But who they all were, this he does not wish to know, for he did not recognize them in the dark of night. And so forth etc.
On one September night in 1532, Jacob and his compatriots were totally shattered and out for a fight. It seems they ran into a group of “Swabians” - likely Augustin Stecken, Hans Karcher and Arbogast Grob. This animosity towards Swabians appears many times across Basel sources and can be traced back to the 1499 Swabian War, where Swiss armies duked it out with both Swabian and Habsburg forces. While Basel had remained neutral during this conflict and it had been before Jacob’s time, we know all too well how these sorts of old, lingering feuds can live on for decades. Similar insults were thrown at Hieronymus Holzach when he was stabbed fifteen years later, as recorded in Antoni Gugger’s witness testimony, so this rivalry must have kept simmering for some time.
Ulrich Meyer, church payment officer, has sworn and says that he was lying in the first sleep, then woke from the yelling and hubbub in the alley. So he heard someone get beaten up - he thinks there were about twenty and two parties. He also heard one party run away, and the other swear repeatedly and extensively in a terrible manner. There was talk about suffering, wounds and the cross.
“Swear with other words,” said the Kutler lady, “no way you swore that! What God takes from the knights, he gives to the rogues." If a man had sworn like this, something much worse would've happened to him.
Immediately someone, whom he cannot identify, said to the Kutler lady, "God's wounds debase you, lick my ass."
With this they went to the ‘Bäumlein’, he heard one cry, "hey, Basel is burning and the barns! May God's wounds debase you! For once, I'd like to strike a Swabian, [and] put him on the ground!"
But who they all were, he does not know at this moment and so on.
The reference to the “Bäumlein” (“little tree”) indicates that these events took place around the Bäumleingasse, an alley just west of the St. Alban suburb where Jacob Meyer lived and worked. The Bäumleingasse likely took its name from a small tree at its entrance, which appears in old maps and was recently replanted in 2022. The curses here were considered highly objectionable due their perceived blasphemous nature and are well-attested for this time period.2
Hans Kufer "at the Mulboum" has sworn and says that he woke from the furious commotion, looked out of the window and saw one standing by his door who swore, "may God’s cross debase all of you Swabians!" Then in turn someone said, "may God’s wounds debase the Swabians! We will hunt them."
But who they all were he reportedly does not know. Then he told the Kutler lady to fetch the coat by the hearth, to remove it from him who had sworn so wickedly. There was also one standing by the wall, who said, "hey Basel", cried, "a Baseler has died" etc. [= see below]
Peter Kistler, printer, has sworn and says that he did not hear the beginning, but then his wife woke him, and he looked out of the window [and] saw one (whom he could not identify) deliver two [sword] strokes towards his friends and swear up a spate. “May God’s suffering debase them, may God’s wounds debase all Swabians!”
One proceeded in a nasty manner, from Dr. Oswald's house down to Falkysen the locksmith's house, he cried, "hey, Basel! Tonight I, a Baseler, wish to die! May God's cross, body and wounds debase all Swabians!"
There was the Kutler lady who said, "in beautiful Basel houses a gallows with this swearing!" The same as before said, "God’s suffering debase you, lick my ass". [Peter Kistler] adds that a coat was lying by the hearth, which the one, who had sworn so wickedly, wished to take. But the others, who stood by him, commanded him to let it lie there. They reportedly stopped him and tried to get him away, but he cared little, he was utterly enraged against the Swabians.
But who one or the other were, the witness also does not know and so forth.
This testimony from Peter Kistler is a godsend, as it outlines the path that our miscreants took through the streets and names specific locations and names for homeowners. I was able to use a historical register in the Basel Archives to cross-references many names within the kundschaften entry, resulting in these maps that set our story at the intersection of the Bäumleingasse and the Freiestrasse.
There are some names I was unable to tie to exact properties, but there is enough data to triangulate a specific area of Basel where Joachim’s dad was out on a drunken walkabout, equivalent to this location on Google Maps today. The reference to the group proceeding from Kistler’s house to the Falkysen home gives us at least a hint towards their direction. Most buildings in this area are new construction (i.e. after 1800) and filled with outlets for fancy brands like Hermes, but the fountain and the tree can still be found in or near their respective places.
Back to the note!
Verena Kutlerin says that many sung in the alley at night, afterwards she reportedly heard them give out beatings, she looked out of the window but knew nobody. Then she heard them swear body, cross and wounds, so that it was too much. Hence she told them, "if a ‘Hans’ had sworn like this, he would've been placed in the cage." [Hans = similar to ‘guy’, someone of no great importance]
One whom she did not know told her to lick his ass. She told him that the hangman should lick his ass.
Meanwhile, a coat was lying by the hearth, she carried it into her house at the behest of Kufer etc.
Felix Eigerman, scribe in the hospital, says under sworn oath that he lay in the bed, and roughly between twelve and one [o'clock] he heard a commotion and affair, that two reportedly went up the alley and placed themselves by the ‘Bäumlein’. Then he heard many come down the alley and there was a wild proceeding among them, to such an extent that they hit the stones [with swords] in the end.
Thereupon he scrambled to the window and said, "stay quiet! May God's rites debase you! What are you doing!" Thereby it became quiet again. He did not hear or see anything else.
Hals Falkysen, locksmith, says under sworn oath that he didn't hear the beginning and how someone got beat up, but awoke due to the commotion after the three had fled. He looked out of the window, saw two stand in front of his door, they had their hands on each other's shoulders [= a classic example of drunk posing]. He asked them what they were doing, [and said] they should be quiet.
Because of this, one spoke, "we are good Swiss Confederates and Baselers, and we will die as good Baselers, and God's cross shall debase all Swabians."
With this, they left the house of this witness and went upwards to the ‘Zachtshof’[?]. There he heard one say, "by God's breath, here we find a coat, let's take it." Then another one said, "hey, we shall not take it."
And there happened such an unspeakable swearing - body, cross and wounds - because of this coat that it was all too much. One wanted to take it, the other not, the Kutler lady interjected that they should not swear so fiercely, and she tried to frighten[?] them.
One spoke to the Kutler lady that she shall lick his ass, [and] with this the coat was carried into the Kutler lady's house, and everything happened this way. And he does not know who one or the other was, and so on etc.
Veltin Psetzer and Simon Spel the tavern keeper have sworn and say that they started drinking together with all of them at the ‘Bäumlein’ and had the last drink at the ‘Zum Roten Eisen’ [= a house or tavern name], where it was ending.
The miller [Hans Helg] went out of the door, drew his sword and hit the stones, but called out nobody. Then Erhart Gernler spoke that he shall sheathe it again which he did.
The neighbors must've been frightened, that was done by the miller, they all went up the alley with the same, and they, the witnesses, went home and so forth etc.
We can combine these testimonies to form a picture of what happened on this fateful night. Sounds like a bit of a brouhaha! After getting their fill of wine, the St. Alban-Vorstadt gang popped out on the town to pick fights and steal clothes. There is only one mention about someone possibly being beaten up, in the testimony of Hans Falkysen, so it is likely that the crew was all bark and no bite. Hans seemed to be the most far gone, drawing his sword and slashing at the cobblestones, only to have Erhart be like, “DUDE PUT THAT THING AWAY!” There is no associated urfehde recorded for Erhart Gernler, so it’s likely that the court honored his role in trying to de-escalate (and possibly preventing the theft of the coat).
It seems that a fair bit of this bad behavior was tied to Jacob himself, since he received a massive fine of five pounds. However, the nature of these eyewitness accounts does not allow us to directly attribute any of the recorded utterances to Jacob. In Jacob’s case, there is perhaps an added degree of complexity to this event. The most important family in the papermaking business, the Dürr family, was of somewhat recent Swabian origin and the Basel papermakers employed journeymen from Swabian cities such as Reutlingen (where the Dürr family had originated). Maybe Jacob felt that he was not getting his due as a “good Baseler”.
In any case, this note allows us a glimpse into the sort of wild night out for teenage journeymen that was likely commonplace in these 16th-century cities, and of which there exist many modern equivalents.
Thank Yous
Thank you to the Staatsarchiv Basel-Stadt for the amazing digitized resources that allowed this research to happen. Additional and infinite thanks to my research partner Miriam for her help in translation and transcription of this super long record, as well as in proof reading this article. It was a doozy getting everything all tied together, and I cannot say thank you enough!
Bumiller, Casimir. Urfehden, in: Südwestdeutsche Archivalienkunde. LEO-BW, July 10, 2017. https://www.leo-bw.de/themenmodul/sudwestdeutsche-archivalienkunde/archivaliengattungen/urkunden/urfehden. Citing: Ebel, Wilhelm. Die Rostocker Urfehden. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des deutschen Strafrechts. Rostock, 1938.
See for example: Gerd Schwerhoff, Gott und die Welt herausfordern. Theologische Konstruktion, rechtliche Bekämpfung und soziale Praxis der Blasphemie vom 13. bis zum Beginn des 17. Jahrhundert, 2004, https://d-nb.info/973426160/34, p. 247.