Stealing from a Thief: Pilfering from Paulus Hector Mayr
A letter from Augsburg to Strasbourg
Paulus Hector Mair (Mayr) was famously executed by the city of Augsburg in 1579 under the charge of embezzelment, stealing tens of thousands of guilders from the city over his long career as a civil servant. However, even he was not immune to being stolen from, as evidenced by a record sourced from the Strasbourg Archives, in V 19 document number 42a.
Dated December 26th, 1574, this letter outlines the property stolen from Mair, a physical description and name of the suspected thief, and a plea to Strasbourg to assist in keeping their peepers peeled for this ne’er-do-well.
The full transcription of this letter is available in my V-Series translation/transcription Google Doc. Unfortunately it is damaged, according to the archivist Gilles le Berre possibly by rats gnawing on the folded margin of the note, and the deletions are noted within both the translation and transcription as […].
The Letter
To the prudent, honorable and wise masters and council of the city of Strasbourg, our special, dear and good friends! We who give counsel to the city of Augsburg, first offer you our friendly service and what we honor, with dear and good ability.
Prudent, honorable, wise, especially dear and good friends, we cannot hide from your gentlemen that considerable damage has been caused to our council-servant Paulus Hector Mair through a pilfering attack in our Rathaus, and a value of many hundreds of guilders, in gold, many coins and silverware, has been stolen.
We plausibly arrived at [the conclusion that] someone by the name of Ulrich Reysch of Augsburg has committed and performed this thievish removal - a young, short, compressed person, approximately 25 or 26 years old, with a high mouth or lips, grey under-circled eyes, a beautiful white face [beautiful face = usually means a face without pockmarks] and teeth, sporting a small or half-beard - but he has removed himself from here and made himself a fugitive.
[...] specifically the truth [...] friendly with special diligence [...] he shall [...] since he [...] in the same city or area [...] and imprison him well and report it to us immediately [...] we will [...] additional necessary legal documents about his committed crime.
May this be done and induced as your gentlemen promote justice according to their own disposition, in this and other [...] to earn this in a most friendly and obliging manner.
Dated [covered] 1574.
[on the outside:]
To the prudent, honorable and wise masters and council of the city of Strasbourg, our special, dear and good friends.
Read to the council on December 29, '74.
Received on Monday, December 26, '74.
[on the side:] Augsburg: because of a thief [calling] himself Reysch.
The Council of XXI records for December of 1574 are missing, a rarity in these typically quite extensive records, with the writing ending in November. I reviewed the first half of the 1575 records manually (there is no index), as well as the Council of XV records for both years, and found no additional reference to this subject. It seems that the letter was read to the council, who was subsequently unable to find Ulrich lurking within the city walls.
Alas, it seems that Paulus may have been out a pretty decent chunk of change, with his bloated coin purse slightly lighter of ill-gotten gains!
Thank you
Massive thanks to Gilles le Berre at the Strasbourg archives. Your help in providing the scans for this (and all the other recently requested V-series records) have been huge in advancing our record and perception of fencing masters. I cannot say thank you enough!
Additional thanks to Miriam for your help in correcting my transcription and translating the note. Each time I try I am getting better and better on my own under your expert tutelage, and I am so grateful to have you as a teacher, resource, and friend.
I didn't know that Mair was executed for embezzlement. I don't know how to feel about him now. Pillaging cities in Italy during all those long wars as a condottiere is fine, glorious, even recommanded as a good way to make money. But a corrupt public servant in the HRE... nope, not my style!
I geek out over the fact that when Machiavelli was accused by Florence for steeling money from the city, at the end of the investigation, they found out that they actually owed Machiavelli money and had to pay the man. That's how I like my public officials, honest to the core.