The Joachim Meyer Death Letters
Exploring the V-series documents
In all my time doing HEMA research there have been certain white whales that have eluded me. Little footnotes from other researchers that I can’t quite track down myself, transcriptions that I can’t quite get right, or dead ends that taunt me for months on end. An example of these phantasms were the two letters contained within the V-series of the Strasbourg archives (“general administration”), V14 #110 and #141, both of which relate to Joachim Meyer’s death in 1571. They have been cited in countless Meyer articles and publications, have translations posted in small fragments, have old scans posted in an old slow-loading HROARR article, but never available in full. After asking some folks in-the-know, seeing if anyone had the scans lying around for sharing and coming up empty-handed, I finally bit the bullet and requested the letters myself from the Strasbourg archives.
Today I present the translations of the letters in full. They will now be easy to find, easy to search and reference, and lower the barrier of entry of doing Meyer research by having all associated resources in an open document.
All translations below were completed by my research partner Miriam. Transcription of #110 was completed by Chris VanSlambrouck with small revisions by myself and Miriam. Transcription of #140 was completed by myself and Miriam.
Full transcriptions and translations are available HERE in my Joachim Meyer open-source data document. Scans of the letters are available HERE in HD in this Google Drive folder.
V14 document #110
May 14th, 1571
Antoni Ruhlman to the Strasbourg Council
Supplication of Anthoni Rulman as vogt [= legal representative] of Appolonia, erstwhile the widow of Joachim Meyer the fechtmeister, for an intercession with Duke Hans Albrecht of Mecklenburg.
Read before the councils and XXI, Monday the 15th of May, in God’s Year etc. 1571.
Noble, rigorous, respectably prudent, honorably wise, gracious and commanding gentlemen, Your Graces receive my subservient and most diligent plea that you may listen graciously to my burdensome responsibility and request (as far as I could no longer keep it from my beloved authorities, as vogt) and answer me with a gracious response.
Without a doubt Your Graces will graciously remember that Joachim Meyer the fechtmeister, my late brother-in-law, left for Schwerin in the great cold, on the Thursday following this year's oath-day, according to the wishes of my Gracious Lord, the Illustrious Highborn Prince and Lord, Lord Johann Albrecht Duke of Mecklenburg, Prince of the Wends, Count of Schwerin, Rostock, Stargard etc. - willing to teach fencing to the young lords and sons of His Princely Grace, and thus to fulfill his commitment.
And although the same, my late brother-in-law, obligated and pledged himself to serve my highly esteemed Gracious Prince and Lord for a year with the permission of Your Graces as his proper authorities, in my Princely Grace's hope that he would serve the full year, instead God the Almighty has commanded him and, approximately fourteen days after he arrived in Schwerin, called him out of this fleeting vale of tears and into eternal joy and blissfulness - as reported in the letter which the distinguished and devout Herr Johann Schenckbecher XVer received from my highly esteemed Gracious Prince and Lord many weeks ago.
Now because of my sister and the one for whom I advocate subserviently, I cannot withhold from Your Graces that her aforementioned late husband published in print a special artful book with figures, approximately a year ago, in which the entire art of fencing is demonstrated and displayed in such a manner that not many books like it (as I report) have been seen or read before. This work he published at his own expense, also he let many appertaining blocks be prepared and cut, and because of this work he went into great debt with which she is now stuck.
Even though this work with the blocks and books, of which he by then gathered a good number, would’ve paid 300 crowns before Christmas, he didn't want to sell it for this price, but hoped to earn more at the courts of the princes and high lords. For this, he sealed a stübich [= large barrel] full of copies including a capital buch [= financial record] (so by that is contained the entire foundation and basis of this knightly art of fencing), alongside two special additionally gilded and velvet-covered books, one of which is worth over 30 guilders. He sent [the copies] to Schwerin, in the hope of earning more from honorable, dignified [members] of the nobility, but unfortunately he died too soon.
My gracious and commanding gentlemen, because my well-mentioned brother-in-law entered the service of my highly esteemed Gracious Prince and Lord and left for a foreign country in just about the greatest cold from heaven (which undoubtedly contributed not just a little to his quick deadly demise) and because the touched-upon books still lie at Schwerin despite my willingness to have them brought back here if it can be done cheaply, but because it is a concern that a lot has to be transported and these books might perhaps not sell for the same price [here] as in the above-mentioned place, even without [taking into account that?] my highly esteemed Gracious Prince and Lord commits himself in the touched-upon letter to assist my sister - owing to her late husband’s completed long journey and encountered difficulty - and [also] to show himself most gracious towards her at this juncture…
therefore my subservient and most diligent plea reaches Your Graces, that you may intercede with my highly esteemed Gracious Lord in this matter and request from his Princely Grace that the nonissue may consist of tending to my sister charitably and giving her something in honor of her lost and deceased husband - also taking gracious measures that his left-behind clothes and books might be delivered here by a convenient shipment.
But if it is the case that his Princely Grace has a penchant or special interest in such books, then hereby she intends to give the same to his Princely Grace as a gift, asking him most humbly to graciously receive them from a poor and left-behind widow - and to be her Gracious Prince and Lord, as towards her husband.
In order to subserviently rebuke this or earn it from Your Graces with indebted obedience and according to my poor ability, I can always be found ready, determined and eager.
Awaiting hereby a gracious response,
Your Graces' subservient and obedient citizen, Antoni Rulman, as vogt of Appolonia, erstwhile the left-behind widow of Joachim Meyer the freifechter.
Insights:
The letter mentions a “stübich", a type of barrel that was used to transport merchandise and often sealed for protection - in this case it contained all of the fechtbuchs Meyer was taking along to his new job in Mecklenburg to sell.
There is no direct mention of the overall debt Meyer incurred in his publishings efforts. Rather, the “300 crowns” refer to a total price that Meyer supposedly skipped on by not selling the completed blocks and books at Strasbourg, instead hoping to earn more money by selling the latter at court in Mecklenburg. Whether this signals that the total cost of publishing the 1570 edition of the Gründtliche Beschreibung was actually lower than 300 crowns I can only hypothesize about, but it seems likely if he meant to make a profit from his work.
One of the more challenging transcriptions and translations lies in the mention of a “capital buch” included within the sealed barrel. Here, the translation as a “financial record” was chosen over a “chapter book” due to the handwritten emphasis on the second “a” within “capital,” and “kapitalbuch” (“a book of capital”) being a more common term in Meyer’s time.
V14 document #141
July 10th, 1571
Response letter from Duke Johann Albrecht of Mecklenburg
By the Grace of God, Johans Albrecht, Duke of Mecklenburg, Prince of the Wends [= Slavs].
Our favorable greetings and gracious commitment in advance; honorable, wise, beloved, special! We have understood through your letter the nature of your intercession which you communicated to us, as is required - for the pious left-behind widow of our former fechtmeister, regarding her late husband's outstanding salary and other concerns.
Although we learned of our mentioned fechtmeister's sudden and unexpected deadly demise not only with special affliction but rather would've gladly wished him his long life, for it should've been God's gracious will, we must allow God's providence, which cannot be altered anymore, to take its course.
Meanwhile it should be well-observed that this death shall have moved us to commiseration with his left-behind widow. Therefore we ordered that all terms of our appointment established at Speyer shall be graciously fulfilled, after accounting for the time in which he departed from this vale of tears, and we ordered everything which we wrote on the list created for his employment to be paid in cash [and] bestowed.
Regarding the merchandise barrel in which there were the specified copies, we have ordered it to be hewn open in the presence of many of our people and notaries, they found that it had been stored so poorly that all copies were completely and utterly ruined by water. But for the kunstbuch [= “art book”], which the widow humbly gave us as a gift, we are graciously thankful and have sent the widow a gracious reimbursement along with the entire fee for the messenger.
This we wish to report to you in turn as an answer, and we are favorable and well-disposed towards you, with Princely graces.
Given at Schwerin on the 10th of July, Anno '71. By his own hand: [monogram of Johann Albrecht]
[Added note:]
The fechtmeister's appointment began on New Year's Day of this current 71st year, and he afterwards died on the 24th of February. He therefore served My Gracious Hochgeboren [= address of the Dukes of Mecklenburg until 1659] for seven weeks and five days. Because he died in the first quarter of his service, My Gracious Hochgeboren has sent to his left-behind widow fifty thalers according to the appointment, and then thirty thalers as a gracious gift, fifteen half-thalers for the messenger as his entire fee, also all clothes and hats of the deceased fencing master out of the inventory, and his weapons.
Insights:
The letter states that Meyer was hired in Speyer, where the Imperial Diet was in session from July to December 1570. The “kunstbuch” that Johann Albrecht took as a gift may possibly refer to the Fechtbuch zu Ross und zu Fuss, Meyer’s compilation fechtbuch that is housed in the University Library of Rostock.
One of Johann Albrecht’s titles, “Prince of the Wends”, might interest readers. The Duchy of Mecklenburg grew out of the domain of the Slavic Obotrites, with an ancestor of the Dukes being a prince named Niklot. The term “Wends” comes from a name for an ancient people by the Baltic Sea, but was later applied to speakers of Slavic dialects.
This letter also refers to the same “stübich" barrel as Antoni’s initial document does, with the image of the sealed container needing to be broken open to reach the contents. Alas, the barrel had been poorly stored, and the contents ruined by water damage. There are hypotheses about this being a lie and the books being pilfered, but Duke Johann Albrecht had (by virtue of a shared Protestant faith) political connections with the councilors and big names of Strasbourg, and might not have been predisposed to steal very valuable goods from a Strasbourg citizen and risk condemnation if found out. I personally find it more likely that a seal on the barrel could have been poorly fitted and let water in when left out in winter rains, a casualty of what would’ve otherwise been a typical percentage loss when transporting goods.
Thank yous
Thank you to Chris VanSlambrouck for the #110 transcription. Additional thanks to Michael Chidester and Kendra Brown for lending thoughts and information, and massive thanks to the Strasbourg Archives and Gilles le Berre, who was infinitely helpful in providing the high quality scans of the letters. And I cannot say thank you enough to Miriam for her continued amazing help in doing all of this research. Tackling a long document like this, which would otherwise be intimidating, feels like a fun challenge and project with you at my side. Thank you!