Stay at Pforzheim--Margrave Ernest--My extreme Penury at Worms, followed by great Plenty at a Receiver's of the Order of St. John--I do not lengthen this Summary, seeing that but for my Respect for the Truth, I would willingly pass over many Episodes in Silence

My brother accompanied me as far as Rheinhausen. From thence I got to Bruchsall, the residence of the Bishop of Spires, then to Heidelsheim, Brettheim, and at last to patria Philippi, Pforzheim. I entered upon my duties at the Chancellerie on June 24, 1544. My brother Johannes went with his master to the baths of Zell, where he met with an honourable, young, and good-looking girl from Esslingen. The young girl's guardian and her kinsfolk (licentiates, the syndic of Esslingen, and other notables) allowed the couple to plight their troth, subject to the consent of our parents. It was agreed that my brother should proceed to Italy to get his doctor's degree, that he should get married on his return, and take his wife with him to Pomerania. Johannes asked me to go to Esslingen to see the young girl and her family; her birth, character and dowry left nothing to desire. We wrote home each on his side; my parents opposed a categorical refusal. After that I never saw my brother really in good spirits. The young girl married a wealthy goldsmith of Strasburg. When my mother informed us that she and her husband gave their consent, it was, alas, too late. Poor Johannes, undermined by regret, was visibly wasting away.

Pforzheim is not a large place, and it has only one church. The town lies in a hollow amidst smiling plains, watered by a clear, health-giving stream, swarming with delicate fish. It is a charming place in the summer. The neighbouring lofty mountains are covered with dense, almost impenetrable forests full of game. Though lying in a valley, the castle commands the town. There are among the population a great many learned, modest, pleasant and well brought-up men. All the necessities of life, both in good and bad health, are at hand: apothecaries, barbers, innkeepers, artisans, etc.; in addition to these there are the canticles and sermons of the Evangelical religion. The life at court was conducted on economical principles, but on a very decent footing, however, and without the slightest attempt at parsimony unworthy of a prince. Yet the difference between their usages and those of Pomerania was great. The meals consisted of meat, fish, vegetables, dried figs, oatmeal porridge, cabbages and a fair ration of bread, and in a pewter goblet some ordinary wine, unfortunately in insufficient quantity, especially in summer. The counsellors were, however, served a second time. There was always plenty of work; there was a secretary of seventy, and a chancellor not much his junior, and the most morose of all doctors of law.

In 1545 Margrave Ernest concluded a pact of succession with his nephews; the negotiations were only waiting for an exchange of deeds. I was entrusted with the engrossing of one copy. The text was so long that it would scarcely hold on one skin of parchment; it was, therefore, necessary to write very close and small. I was rather frightened, for the chancellor was difficult to please; one might scrape and scratch till the erasure was invisible; he would light a candle in plain daylight, hold the deed before the flame, find out the flaw, and tear up the document while giving a strong reprimand.

I had been working at that copy for forty-eight hours, when all of a sudden an omission of at least a line struck me all at once. I had never been in such an awkward position in my life. I might count on several days' imprisonment; the only thing that could save me was a stratagem. The castle was on the heights, the chancellerie at the foot of them in the town itself. When the bugle sounded for dinner I stopped behind till everybody was gone; then in the twinkling of an eye I got hold of a cat, dipped its tail into the ink, and let it loose on the skin of parchment; the deed was all smeared over, the marks of the animals feet as distinct as possible. I shut it up and went to my meal. When it was over I let my colleagues go first; as they opened the door the cat flew at them, and on the table they caught sight of its latest masterpiece. At that moment I entered, and they showed me the disaster, explaining at the same time how the cat "went" for them. Naturally I played at being in despair, equally naturally they all tried to comfort me, and thus I came with flying colours out of what threatened to be an ugly scrape.

Whenever a condemned man was led to execution, Margrave Ernest made him come to him in order to reconcile himself with him. After having asked pardon of him for his compulsory sternness, he recommended him to show himself firm and bold, the blood of Jesus Christ having been shed not in order to save the righteous, but the unjust. Then he shook hands with him, and the wretched man was led away.

The Margrave had his apartments right over the principal entrance of the castle, so as to see everybody that came in or went out. One day he caught sight of the head cook taking away such a magnificent carp that its tail showed from under his cloak. "Just listen," exclaimed His Highness; "the next time you rob me, either take a carp less big or a longer cloak." While they were putting wine in his Highness's cellar, two cooks who were going into the town passed by; one had a couple of capons stuffed away in his belt. The Margrave called them to lend a hand, and wishing to be quick they flung off their cloaks. The scamp was not thinking about the birds, which began to peck at his arms while he was pulling the rope; thereupon they called all the serving wenches out to enjoy the spectacle. There is no need to add that they were the laughingstock of them all.

As there was to be a diet at Worms, I was anxious to have an interview with my brother. In order to save time I hired a trotter, which carried me in a day to Spires, and back the next morning to Pforzheim. The return journey, though, nearly cost me my life. I was leaving the hotel of Brettheim when I was hailed by a horseman coming out of another inn. "Whither are you going?" he asked. "To Pforzheim." "That's capital; that's my road; we'll ride together." A mile farther on a side path of which I knew enabled us to cut across the country, but at its other end they had put down four poles. Instead of turning back I urged my horse, which at first puts a forepaw betwixt the poles; it does not free itself in time, gets its hind leg in the wrong place, and finally falls on its left side. My companion shouts to me to catch hold of the animal's head to prevent its moving; then he jumps down himself, unbridles and unharnesses my mount, and after having told me to leave go its head, starts it with a smart stroke of his riding whip, while I am on the ground seated in my saddle, and with one spur caught in the belly-band. Had I been alone and without Divine help, I should have been dragged along and dashed to pieces. When all danger was over, the horseman told me that our roads parted on that spot. In vain did I remind him of his intention to go to Pforzheim; he wished me good-night, recommending me to the care of God and all His angels. I was anxious to offer him a finger's breadth of wine at the next inn; he declined my offer, on the pretext that its acceptance would cause too great a delay. I shall never cease to believe that my saviour was a holy angel.

Johannes approved of my intention to leave Pforzheim for Worms, where the diet would most probably proceed with the reconstitution of the Imperial Chamber. Then would be the right moment to return to Spires. The Margrave when I left, sent me half a golden florin, besides a court dress.

All at once there grew under my right nostril a pustule as big as a grain of barley; I punctured it frequently, and there came more blood from it than one could have imagined, but the kind of tumour did not disappear, not even when the surgeon whom I consulted cut it. It kept growing again, so, in order to destroy its root, as he said, he rubbed it with what I suppose was aqua fortis, for it caused me a horrible pain. I suffered most when going to Spires, owing to the cold and the wind; my nose swelled enormously.

On April 17 my brother accompanied me to HÜtten, a mile and a half distant from Spires. There we parted, weeping bitterly; we had a presentiment that we should never see each other again, or even write. Next morning Johannes started for Italy.

His Imperial Majesty being detained in the Netherlands with gout, the king of the Romans opened the diet of Worms on March 24, 1545. Only a small number of princes came, so the emperor, when he arrived, prorogued the diet until the next year.

The spiteful, impious and fiendish wife of Procurator Engelhardt had made my life at Spires a misery, but at Worms I suffered hunger and thirst and all the wretchedness of downright distress. I wish this to be remembered not only by my children, but by all those who happen to read me. I carried the whole of my belongings upon me, namely: the court dress given to me at Pforzheim, two shirts, a sword with a silver tip to its sheath, and the six florins the Margrave had sent me, the whole constituting but a scant provision. The absence of the Emperor interfered with my livelihood; there was little work to do for copyists, and under those unfavourable conditions I stayed for twelve weeks. A canon, brother to Johannes' employer, gave me shelter during the first fortnight, after which he left for Mayence. The envoy of the dukes of Pomerania, Maurice Domitz, captain of UkermÜnde, who knew my family very well, put, it is true, his purse at my disposal, knowing as he did that he would be reimbursed at Stralsund; the syndic of Lubeck was also at Worms with Franz von Sitten, my Rostock chum; neither the one nor the other would have refused to do me a service; borrowing meant, however, imposing new sacrifices upon my parents, so I preferred to suffer privation.

My nose caused me severe pain for a long while; when it gave me some respite, my mornings and afternoons were spent in walks, either with my countrymen from Mecklenburg, Pomerania or Lubeck, or with the friends I had made in Worms. Nobody had any idea of my being as poor as I was. At the dinner hour, when everybody repaired to the inn, I bought a pfenning's worth of bread, and the public fountain supplied the drink gratis; it was very rare that I took a little soup with a piece of meat as big as an egg in it, at the eating house. The owner of the establishment allowed me, in consideration of a kreutzer, to spend the night on a wooden seat; a bed would have cost half a batz (a batz was equal to about a penny of those days), and the wooden seat seemed preferable, inasmuch as I had sufficient "live stock" of my own, without picking up that of others. I sold the silver tip of my sword sheath, an iron tip as it seemed to me, to meet all my requirements. I subsequently disposed of one of my two shirts for what it would fetch; the six florins had melted away, and I wanted the wherewithal to buy dry bread. When my remaining shirt was dirty I went to wash it in the Rhine, and waited in the sun while it was drying; all this was so much money saved, no cost of laundry, soap, ironing or pleating.

My small clothes fell on my heels; I myself could no longer repair them. The "snip" at Worms would have asked not less than a batz; at Spires, on the other hand, it would have been done for half the price. So I made up my mind to go to Spires. I only reached the outer fortifications after the closing of the gates. Dying with hunger, thirst and fatigue, I lay down in the moat where I almost perished with cold. Next morning, at the tailor's, after having undressed, I sat huddled up all the while he was mending my clothes. I went back to Worms at a "double quick," having done twelve miles to save half a batz.

The constant want of nourishment had made me weak, and with my blood in a bad state, incapable of holding a pen if I had found any copying to do. My distress was at its worst when one of my kindest acquaintances the secretary of the Bishop of Strasburg, informed me that being in need of a writer, he was going to recommend me to his master, but the prelate said no because Pomeranians professed the Evangelical religion. Finally, through the good offices of the secretary of the Order of St. John, the chancellor succeeded in getting me a place at the receiver's of the said order. Great indeed, was the deliverance, and joy reigned in my heart instead of despondency. It was only later on that my eyes were opened to the dangers of my new condition.

On July 9, 1545, then, Christopher von Loewenstein, receiver of the Order of St. John for Lower and Upper Germany (he had been present at the taking of Rhodes by the Turks), engaged my services as a scribe. He promised me a complete dress and boots, such as his other servants received, but he did not stipulate the amount of my salary; he gave me to understand, though, that I should have no reason to grumble.

The function of receiver consisted in collecting the revenues of the various commanderies on account of the knights of Rhodes actually at Malta. At the demise of a commander, the receiver takes possession of the property of the defunct, and despatches it with the ordinary interest by means of bills of exchange to the Grand Master of the Order, who at that time was a Frankish gentleman, Don Jean de Homedes. The Grand Master confers for life the vacant benefice upon this or that knight who has distinguished himself before the enemy. The right of installing the new commander belongs to the receiver, who derives enormous profits from his office.

My master had, moreover, seven commanderies of his own; he was, therefore, perfectly justified in having eight horses in his stable like a great noble. He gave me the money to take the coach to Oppenheim, whence I was to proceed by water to Mayence, where he himself was to make a stay of several days. Mayence, Frankfurt and Niederweisel were the three commanderies which most often required his personal attention.

Niederweisel is an imperial town of the Wetterau, between Butzbach and Fribourg. Herr von Loewenstein spent the greater part of the year in a magnificent dwelling, replete with every imaginable comfort; spacious dwellings kept in excellent condition had been erected around a vast court; granges, stables, riding school, brewery and bakery, kitchens, atop of which were the refectory and the servants' quarters; at one end of the court the master himself occupied a handsome room and dressing-room, affording an uninterrupted view of the whole. A deep moat crossed by a drawbridge ran round the structure. And I, after having wanted the strictly necessary at Worms, found myself suddenly wading in plenty. The effect of the abrupt change of fortune may easily be imagined.

Though short in height, my master had won his benefices by his bravery at the siege of Rhodes. In his riper age he remained the soldier he had been in his youth. Daily feasting, succulent cheer, washed down by copious libations--a numerous company always around him--his revenues enabled him to lead that kind of expensive existence. The commandery being on the high road, landsknecht and horseman, sure of liberal entertainment, regularly made a halt there; the neighbours themselves were not more sparing with their visits; in short, gaming, feasting and drinking took up all the time.

The commander had practically a concubine under his own roof. He chose her with an eye to beauty, dressed and adorned her according to his means; when he wished a little more freedom, he married her to one of his equerries, gave her a home at Butzbach, and provided her against want. Butzbach being within a stone's throw of Niederweisel, he reserved to himself the option of seeing her when he liked. In my time, he lived with Marie Koenigstein, the daughter of the defunct town clerk of Mayence; she was, moreover, his god-daughter, and by her father's will his ward. Beauty, education, excellent manners, kindliness: all these and many other qualities were hers. Why had she not met with a more staid and sober guardian? She was about eighteen, when one fine day the commander came to Mayence in a closed carriage, sent for the young girl, told her to get in for a few moments and drove her as fast as the horses would carry them to Neiderweisel. So effectually did he hide her that for seven or eight weeks her brothers and relations did not know what had become of her. Finally, by dint of gifts, the commander succeeded in mollifying the brother, whom he sent to the Grand Master of the Order. As for Marie, she had everything she could wish for in the matter of silken gowns, gold-embroidered cuffs and sable furs.

I was lucky enough to find favour with the commander. Every peasant-tenant of the seven commanderies held his homestead on a lease; and I had a crown for each renewal. I wore a dress like that of the equerries. Madame Marie looked to my shirts, handkerchiefs and night-caps and kept them in good condition. A nice well furnished room, close to the drawbridge did duty both as a bedchamber and study. I had my meals at the commander's board with his guests, Marie, the chaplain and the three equerries. Well fitting clothes, a sword with a silver sheath-tip, and a golden ring on my little finger contributed greatly to transform me into a young gallant; my pitiful figure of Worms was completely transformed; I improved physically and found favour in the eyes of the fair.

As for my duties, they were not very heavy; the only commanderies that gave us trouble now and again were those of the Landgrave of Hesse; they grudgingly settled their dues in consequence of the antipathy of the landgrave, for my master, who did not worry himself much about religious matters, was neither a papist nor a Lutheran, only Knight of the Order. The intrigues of the court compelled Herr von Loewenstein, therefore, to summon the Hessian commanderies before the tribunals; and the results, as far as I was concerned, were frequent journeys to Cassel and to the chancellerie of Marburg.

The commander had a rich collection of bits, bridles, saddles and saddle-cloths; he kept three equerries, though only one bore that title; the stable held seven or eight young stallions from Friesland that had been bought at the Frankfort fair. When the commander went out on horseback, a frequent occurrence, I accompanied him with the equerries; he made us change our mounts each time and entrusted us with horses costing between sixty and seventy, while he himself only rode an indifferent cob not worth half-a-score of florins. His horses were all of the same colour; when he grew tired of that colour he sold the cattle at half-price or gave them away, just to get rid of them. On one occasion he fancied a good ambling animal; he had happened to meet with a dappled grey, strong, clean-limbed and a capital pacer. It was valued at a hundred crowns; he, however, soon afterwards offered it to the Elector of Mayence who was very anxious for it and reserved it for his personal use.

The commander kept a fool of about eighteen, but who had been downright mad from the day of his birth. On one occasion the fellow entered his master's room and told him that he had been embracing the cowherd's daughter in the shed. He spoke out plainly without the least disguise. "After dinner, we mean to begin again in the same spot," he added. "Beware of St. Valentine's evil," said the commander. "Yes, sir, at the stroke of twelve, at the grange; your Grace will be able to bear witness to it." The commander hurried up and arrived opere operato. He sent to Friburg for the operator and signified his sentence to the fool who kicked against it. The commander, however, promised him a pair of crimson boots. "True, will your Grace give me your hand on the promise?" said the idiot. The commander gave him his hand; thereupon the fool exclaimed: "Come, Master Johannes, make haste." The operator stretched him on a bench, where the other servants kept him motionless, for at the first cut of the razor he began to resist. Master Johannes proceeded quickly and surely.^[31] ... The patient remained for nine days on his back on a narrow couch, bound hand and foot so that he could not move an inch. The commander had given instructions to treat him with every care.

Master Johannes very soon deemed the fool sufficiently recovered to get rid of him, but at the commander's wish he kept him for some time longer in his room to the great annoyance of Master Johannes' young and good-looking wife; the latter had a strong objection to the fool's telling all sorts of tales about herself and her husband, on whose doings he spied night and day. He became a great nuisance, for in spite of his operation he grew fat and saucy, and at the death of the Commander, Landgrave Philippe sent for him to come to Cassel.

The chaplain was a fine specimen of the young debauchee. Instead of preaching the pure doctrine of Luther he performed mass twice a week in the chapel of the commandery. To get to the chapel he had to go through the servants' refectory just at breakfast time. He simply sat down, got hold of a spoon and dipped it into the soup. "Master Johannes," said we, "you know it is forbidden to eat before the mass?" "Nonsense," he replied; "the Saviour gets through bolts and locks; the soup won't stop him."

Herr von Loewenstein owned an old ape, a strong customer, who could get into formidable passions. The animal, which was kept on a chain, would only allow its master, the baker and myself, to come near it. Most dangerous was it when showing its teeth, as if laughing. When I sat down within its reach, I dared not get up without its leave; perched on my shoulder, it amused itself by scratching my head, and I had to wait till it got tired; then I shook hands with it and I was allowed to go. One day a landsknecht, a handsome, well built fellow, tempted by the prospect of a good meal, came into the commandery. He carried a javelin, and the ape, who unfortunately was free of his chain, jumped at him, and after having wrenched the weapon from him, bit him in several places that it was most pitiful to see; after which it crossed the moat, climbed to its master's window, opened it, and made its way into the room. With one glance the commander perceived that the animal was in a rage; he endeavoured to soothe it with kindly words. It so happened that a silver dagger was lying near the window sill; our ape ties it round its waist; thereupon the commander gently draws the weapon from its sheath, plunges it into the animal, and notwithstanding its bites, holds it pinned down until the breath is out of it. There is no denying that an ape is a terrible creature when it gets on in years and grows big.

After the harvest our master wished to go partridge-hawking, for his hawks were well trained. As his dapple-grey was being brought round--the one that ambled so capitally--the unexpected visit of several strange horsemen interrupted the party; the commander gave me his hawk, telling me to go without him. Just as I am getting my right leg over the saddle the bird beat its wings, the horse frightened, gets out of hand of the groom, and I am caught in the stirrup; more concerned for the hawk than for my safety, I drop backward, the horse continues to plunge, drags me along, kicking me all the while, the commander and his frightened guests looking powerlessly on. Luckily my shoe and my left hose give way and stick to the stirrup, while I am left on the ground, with nothing more serious, though, than a couple of swollen limbs. Nevertheless, on that day I had a very narrow escape from death.

The Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse constantly raising levies against the Duke of Brunswick, the commandery swarmed with colonels and captains.^[32] They offered me the post of secretary; the arrangement was, in fact, concluded, but I did not wish to go except with the consent of the commander. He granted me my leave, though giving me to understand that I should not expect to return to his service after the war. And inasmuch as the war was to be a short one, the warning gave me food for reflection. The winter was coming on; I certainly had no wish for a repetition of my privations at Worms. I remained, for the following lines recurred to my memory:

Several companies of landsknechten were reviewed; and nothing could have been more diverting than to watch the inspector examine the weapons and the shape of the men, their dress and their gait. He made them march past him rather twice than once. How each man tried to hide his shortcomings, and how those who were "passed" as fit blew themselves, and swaggered and talked loud and boastfully like the hirelings they were. The war came to an end on October 21, with the capture of Duke Henry of Brunswick and his son, Charles Victor; his second son, Philippe, hastened to Rome to ask for help of the pope.

At the autumn fair Herr von Loewenstein took up his quarters at Frankfurt with the whole of his household for six weeks. My old chum, Franz von Stiten, coming across me once more, I told him everything about my position, and when I had given him the address of the House of the Knights of St. John, he arranged to come and pay me a visit one morning before the commander was stirring. And, in fact, he came, and had a long conversation with Marie, to whom he gave particulars about my parents, birth, and family circumstances. The information still further disposed the damsel in my favour; in short, I am bound to confess that I lost all claim to the meritorious reputation of Joseph the chaste. Since then I have acknowledged my sin to the Almighty, and I have sufficiently expiated it during my journey to Rome to count upon my pardon; besides, amidst the privations, dangers and trials which I am about to relate, however just the punishment may have been, the Divine mercy has never failed me, sending me protection and deliverance as it did in its admirable ways.

While my master drank and gamed with his guests (he was rarely alone, and in Frankfurt less than elsewhere) I read, in the quietude of my own room, the Institutes, which I nearly always carried about with me. In vain did Herr von Loewenstein tell me again and again not to expect to become a doctor of law while I was with him. I did not fear any opposition from that quarter.

In February 1546 my master having been summoned to Spires, the habitual residence of the superior of the Order for Germany, only left Marie and myself behind at Mayence. A letter from my parents, telling me of the death of my brother in Rome, made me decide upon my journey to Rome. There was not the slightest trace left of the sufferings I had undergone at Worms; my health was excellent, I had a well-stocked wardrobe, and my purse was fairly lined. On the other hand, the loose morals of the Knights of St. John were calculated to take me to hell rather than to heaven; the money earned in such a service could not bring luck; it was better to spend it on the high roads, and to cut myself adrift from such a reprehensible mode of life. Undoubtedly the time had come. Besides, it was absolutely necessary to ascertain the circumstances of my brother's death; I knew the sum of money he had with him, and the idea of his having spent it in so short a time was inadmissible. I told my reasons, though not all, to Marie; we parted on the most amicable footing. In the letter she gave me for the commander, she informed him of the sum she had given me at my departure, leaving it to him to increase it. Herr von Loewenstein wished me happiness and luck, and advised me, if I valued my life, to abstain in Italy, but above all in Rome, from all theological controversy; finally, he added a double ducat to Marie's gift. From Spires I went a little out of my way to see my friends at Pforzheim; after having said goodbye to them I began my long journey, alone and on foot, under the holy safeguard of the Almighty.