FESTIVAL REPRESENTATION BEYOND WORDS: 
THE STUTTGART BAPTISM OF 1616 

by 
ANDREA IRMA IRENE THOMSETT 

B.A., The U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1970 

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF 
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF 

MASTER OF ARTS 

THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES 
DEPARTMENT OF FINE ARTS 

We accept t h i s t h e s i s as conforming 
t o the r e q u i r e d standard 

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA 

(c) Andrea Irma Irene Thomsett, 1990 

i n 

October, 1990 



In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced 
degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it 
freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive 
copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my 
department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or 
publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written 
permission. 

Department of fi^ /h*-™ 

The University of British Columbia 
Vancouver, Canada 

Date ^ g / ^ W //, /99Q . 

DE-6 (2/88) 



ABSTRACT 

The r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f a S t u t t g a r t c o u r t f e s t i v a l i n a 

f a s c i n a t i n g book o f p r i n t s has r e c e i v e d no a r t h i s t o r i c a l 

a t t e n t i o n . The c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n o f German lands i n a 

complex and obscure time d e s c r i b e d by one h i s t o r i a n as b e i n g 

p a r t i c u l a r l y b e r e f t of "textbook f a c t s " , has not e l i c i t e d much 

s c h o l a r l y i n t e r e s t . In the seventeenth c e n t u r y b e f o r e 

c o n f e s s i o n a l d i s p u t e s w i t h i n the Holy Roman Empire of the 

German N a t i o n t u r n e d i n t o armed c o n f l i c t , s m a l l German 

t e r r i t o r i a l c o u r t s modelled themselves on and assumed the 

c o u r t l y s t y l e o f the l a r g e r European c o u r t s . The S t u t t g a r t 

baptism of 1616 p r e s e n t s an i n t e r e s t i n g case study o f the use 

of a c o u r t l y s p e c t a c l e by a secondary c o u r t a t a time o f g r e a t 

i n s t a b i l i t y . The baptism f e s t i v a l served as a stage t o 

d i s p l a y an a l l i a n c e of some German P r o t e s t a n t p r i n c e s t h a t 

h e l d a promise of i n t e r n a t i o n a l support f o r the P r o t e s t a n t 

cause. 

The Wurttemberg c o u r t commissioned l e n g t h y t e x t s and a l a r g e 

number o f engravings t o r e p r e s e n t the event. T h i s study w i l l 

address the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by p r i n t e d images t o the 

f e s t i v a l program. The key documents f o r t h i s study are the 

t e x t s which complement and a t times d i v e r g e from the v i s u a l 

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . The d i f f e r e n c e s between the v i s u a l and 

t e x t u a l m a t e r i a l w i l l serve t o l o c a t e the f u n c t i o n o f the 

v i s u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of a f e s t i v a l h e l d a t a time o f 

impending c o n f l i c t . The triumphal p r o c e s s i o n format of the 



i i i 

engravings d i s c l o s e s a s t r a t e g y of d i s e n f r a n c h i s e m e n t of a 

powerful p a r l i a m e n t w h i l e i t s e r v e s t o a s s e r t the rank o f the 

c o u r t w i t h i n and o u t s i d e the German empire. The complex 

amalgams of imagery t h a t are i n t e r s p e r s e d i n the paper 

p r o c e s s i o n a l l u d e , I suggest, t o the problems p r e s e n t e d t o the 

Wurttemberg c o u r t by an uneasy a l l i a n c e of P r o t e s t a n t c o u r t s 

w i t h i n the empire. The engravings served t o encode r e f e r e n c e s 

t o p r o b l e m a t i c i s s u e s such as the s u r v i v a l of the Holy Roman 

Empire, the r i g h t s of P r o t e s t a n t t e r r i t o r i a l p r i n c e s t o form 

an a l l i a n c e and the hopes f o r o u t s i d e h e l p f o r the P r o t e s t a n t 

cause. 



i v 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Page 

A b s t r a c t i i 

L i s t o f I l l u s t r a t i o n s v 

Acknowledgments v i 

I n t r o d u c t i o n 1 

Chapter 1. The paper p r o c e s s i o n : a t r i u m p h a l 23 
e n t r y i n the c o n t e s t f o r a u t h o r i t y 

Chapter 2. P r i n c e l y v i r t u e and the "Kubelstechen" 44 

Chapter 3. A grotesque t r a n s l a t i o n o f the empire 49 

Chapter 4. The m i r r o r of a prudent e s t a t e 69 

Chapter 5. A P r o t e s t a n t Venus? 81 

C o n c l u s i o n 95 

I l u s t r a t i o n s 97 

B i b l i o g r a p h y 117 



V 

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

F i g u r e Page 

1. S t u t t g a r t L u s t g a r t e n . S t u t t g a r t ; 1616. 97 

2. F i r e w o r k s ; S t u t t g a r t , 1616. 98 

3. Kubelstechen; S t u t t g a r t , 1616. 99 

4. Head B a l l e t ; S t u t t g a r t , 1616. 100 

5. Arcimboldesques; a. Hunter; Saxony, 1596. 

b. T e r r a ; Munich, 1590's. 101 

6. Mirror-maker B a l l e t ; S t u t t g a r t , 1616. 102 

7. Germania and her C i r c l e s ; S t u t t g a r t , 1616. 103 

8. Concord and D i s c o r d ; S t u t t g a r t , 1616. 104 

9. Many-headed monsters; 
a. Seven-headed papal beast; c. 1530. 

b. S a t i r e on the C a t h o l i c c l e r g y ; 1556. 105 

10. Schembart m i r r o r costume. Undated 106 

11. Hungarian King; S t u t t g a r t , 1616. 107 

12. Venus and Cupid; S t u t t g a r t , 1616. 108 

13. Hungarians w i t h Turks 1 Heads; 
S t u t t g a r t , 1616. 109 

14. Hungarians w i t h a Moor's and Turks' heads; 
S t u t t g a r t , 1616. 110 

15. Venus; Strasbourg, 1494. I l l 

16. The Babylonian Whore; Luther B i b l e 1534. 112 

17. Commemorative medals f o r Reformation 

J u b i l e e of 1617. 113 

18. E n g l i s h L a d i e s ; S t u t t g a r t , 1616. 114 

19. T u r k i s h s o l d i e r w i t h c a p t i v e peasants; 
1st h a l f of 16th century. 115 

20. D r a c u l a ; Strasbourg, 1499. 116 



v i 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

I am i n d e b t e d t o Dr. Rose Marie San Juan who r e v e a l e d t o me 

the i n t e r e s t i n g s u b j e c t of the c o u r t l y f e s t i v a l i n e a r l y 

modern Europe. She g r e a t l y a s s i s t e d me w i t h comments and 

c r i t i c i s m i n the w r i t i n g o f t h i s paper. Dr. Serge G u i l b a u t 

i n t r o d u c e d me t o a r t h i s t o r y and I am g r a t e f u l f o r having been 

h i s student. 

I would l i k e t o thank David Thomsett who spent c o u n t l e s s hours 

improving h i s word p r o c e s s i n g s k i l l s w h i l e t y p i n g f o r me. I 

d e d i c a t e t h i s paper t o the memory of Dr. B o r i s F i r c k s e r , an 

argumentative C e n t r a l European whose wide-ranging i n t e r e s t s 

and l i v e l y anecdotes i n s p i r e d me. F i n a l l y , I would l i k e t o 

thank my p a r e n t s H e i n r i c h and Freda von Hahn f o r always 

l o o k i n g a f t e r me and f o r not l e t t i n g me f o r g e t my mother 

tongue. 



1 

INTRODUCTION 

When Duke Johann F r i e d r i c h of Wurttemberg had another son i n 

December o f 1615, an u n u s u a l l y l a v i s h program of 

entertainments was arranged and presented, t h r e e months l a t e r , 

t o a c a r e f u l l y s e l e c t e d assembly of g u e s t s . The c o u r t 

subsequently commissioned t h r e e books c o m p r i s i n g more than 

f o u r hundred pages of t e x t and a book of more than e i g h t y 

engravings. The p u r p o r t e d reason f o r these f e s t i v i t i e s was 

the baptism o f the c h i l d , but none of the p r i n c e ' s o t h e r 

c h i l d r e n had been f e t e d i n t h i s l a v i s h manner, nor had 

f e s t i v a l books been produced f o r o t h e r baptisms. In t h i s 

study I want t o c o n s i d e r some of the weight c a r r i e d by the 

v i s u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of t h i s f e s t i v a l which took p l a c e a t the 

b e g i n n i n g of one o f the most t u r b u l e n t p e r i o d s i n C e n t r a l 

European h i s t o r y , the T h i r t y Years War. 

The l a v i s h expenditure by a secondary c o u r t on numerous 

c o p p e r p l a t e engravings and l e n g t h y t e x t u a l accounts forms a 

p a r t of a system of c o s t l y c u l t u r a l patronage t h a t both 

o r i g i n a t e d from and r e i n f o r c e d the growth o f d u c a l power. By 

a m p l i f y i n g the impact of the f e s t i v a l , the book o f engravings 

performed a key f u n c t i o n i n the p o l i t i c a l program of the e a r l y 

modern c o u r t . In the f e s t i v a l the r u l e r o f Wurttemberg c o u l d 

make m a n i f e s t h i s domination over p o l i t i c a l l i f e w i t h i n h i s 

s t a t e and the augmented power of h i s secondary c o u r t w i t h i n 

the empire. 



2 

V o l t a i r e ' s dictum t h a t the Holy Roman Empire was n e i t h e r h o l y , 

nor Roman nor an empire was a p p l i c a b l e l o n g b e f o r e he 

pronounced i t . The d i s s o l u t i o n o f the " h o l y " (the u n i v e r s a l 

church) by the Reformation enabled even m i d d l e - s i z e d 

p r i n c i p a l i t i e s l i k e the duchy of Wurttemberg t o a s p i r e t o the 

s t a t u s of the l a r g e c e n t r a l i z i n g monarchies o f Europe. In 

1555 the Peace of Augsburg c o d i f i e d the r e l i g i o u s s t a t u s quo 

and gave t e r r i t o r i a l r u l e r s w i t h i n the Empire the r i g h t t o 

impose e i t h e r C a t h o l i c i s m or Lutheranism on t h e i r s u b j e c t s . 

P r o t e s t a n t p r i n c e s l i k e the dukes o f Wurttemberg were 

r e c o g n i z e d as the owners of e c c l e s i a s t i c a l p r o p e r t i e s they had 

s e i z e d d u r i n g the Reformation. Growth of t e r r i t o r i a l power 

became i n c r e a s i n g l y e v i d e n t i n P r o t e s t a n t p r i n c i p a l i t i e s where 

the r u l e r became the p a t r o n , defender and n u r t u r e r o f the 

church as w e l l as the owner of the l a n d h o l d i n g s of the 

c h u r c h . 1 P r o t e s t a n t p r i n c e s by t h e i r i n t e r v e n t i o n i n church 

a f f a i r s a l s o became o v e r s e e r s of e d u c a t i o n and s o c i a l w e l f a r e ; 

u n i v e r s i t i e s f l o u r i s h e d i n P r o t e s t a n t areas where the 

d i g r e s s i o n from C a t h o l i c s c h o l a s t i c i s m opened new areas of 
2 

study such as astronomy, p h i l o s o p h y and s t a t e c r a f t . 

U n i v e r s i t y - t r a i n e d nobles and burghers took j o b s i n the 

growing b u r e a u c r a t i c apparatus o f the Wurtttemberg c o u r t . As 

the c e n t r a l a u t h o r i t y of the Empire d e c l i n e d , t e r r i t o r i a l 

p r i n c e s became i n c r e a s i n g l y s e l f - c o n s c i o u s about t h e i r power 

and p l a c e . 



3 

T h i s new t e r r i t o r i a l s e l f - i m p o r t a n c e expressed i t s e l f not o n l y 

i n b u i l d i n g programs and defense p r o j e c t s but a l s o i n 

c o l l e c t i n g and a r t patronage. T h i s o r i e n t a t i o n towards v i s u a l 

d i s p l a y i s demonstrated i n the engraving of the " L u s t g a r t e n " , 

the expanded c o u r t complex t h a t appears as an i n t r o d u c t i o n t o 

the book of engravings devoted t o the baptism f e s t i v a l 

( f i g . l ) . The c o n s t r u c t i o n of the "Lusthaus" o r entertainment 

house which dominated the a r c h i t e c t u r e of the c i t y s i g n a l l e d a 

new p r i o r i t y o f the d u c a l c o u r t away from i t s f e u d a l 

r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r defense t o one of d i s p l a y of grandeur. 

W i t h i n the w a l l s of the c i t y the p a s t o r s , burghers and l e s s e r 

s o c i a l o r d e r s had n o t h i n g t o g a i n from the e r e c t i o n of an 

o p u l e n t stage f o r an e v e r - e s c a l a t i n g show of c o u r t l y power. 

The r e s i d e n t s of the s m a l l medieval market town o f S t u t t g a r t 

and o f the many o t h e r towns of Wurttemberg had no i n t e r e s t i n 

s u b s i d i z i n g the b a l l s , f e s t i v a l s and tournaments t h a t took 
3 

p l a c e i n t h e " L u s t g a r t e n " . The e x p l o i t a t i o n o f conspicuous 

consumption and c u l t u r a l patronage was beyond the means o f the 

s m a l l c o u r t ; t h i s e n t e r p r i s e r e q u i r e d ever g r e a t e r s u b s i d i e s 

from r e c a l c i t r a n t s u b j e c t s . The e s c a l a t i o n s i n p r i n c e l y s t y l e 

put g r e a t e r and g r e a t e r demands on the populace t h a t r e q u i r e d 

the l i f t i n g of l o c a l p r i v i l e g e s i n o r d e r t o r e s t r u c t u r e the 
4 

t a x a t i o n system t o the b e n e f i t of the c o u r t . 

In 1593, the same year the Lusthaus was completed, Duke 

F r i e d r i c h acceded t o the throne. T h i s e a r l y a b s o l u t i s t p r i n c e 



4 

v i g o r o u s l y pursued the s h i f t i n o r i e n t a t i o n o f d u c a l power 

away from l o c a l f e u d a l government concerns. The Wurttemberg 

c o n s t i t u t i o n had p r o v i d e d f o r p a r l i a m e n t a r y p a r t i c i p a t i o n by 

the r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of the towns w i t h i n the t e r r i t o r y . T h i s 

p a r l i a m e n t a r y body, t h a t a c t e d as a counterweight t o d u c a l 

power, was i g n o r e d by Duke F r i e d r i c h i n o r d e r t o suppress i t s 

a u t h o r i t y . H i s modernizing program was modelled on the more 

c e n t r a l i z e d and powerful c o u r t s he had v i s i t e d i n V a l o i s 
5 . . . . 

France and Tudor England . In a d d i t i o n t o F r i e d r i c h ' s t a c t i c s 

o f e x c l u d i n g h i s l o c a l p a r l i a m e n t a r i a n s from government he 

pursued an aggrandizement program i n the i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o u r t l y 

arena. 
t 

Duke F r i e d r i c h 1 s ambitions t o become a monarch o f 

i n t e r n a t i o n a l s t a t u r e i n c l u d e d a p l e a d i n g and p a t h e t i c 

campaign t o be admitted i n t o the E n g l i s h Order o f the G a r t e r 

by E l i z a b e t h I. A v i s i t and e l e v e n y e a r s ' worth o f l e t t e r s 

and g i f t s t o the Queen d i d not. b r i n g the d e s i r e d r e s u l t s f o r 

the duke whom the Queen c a l l e d "Cousin Mompelgart" (a name 

d e r i v e d from one of h i s l a n d h o l d i n g s , the t i n y 

Wurttemberg-owned area of M o n t b e l i a r d w i t h i n the borders of 

F r a n c e ) . A f t e r the death of E l i z a b e t h I Duke F r i e d r i c h 

pursued h i s g o a l of admission t o the Order w i t h her s u c c e s s o r 

James I and was f i n a l l y accepted i n t o the Order i n 1603. 6 

(Whether he a c h i e v e d the r e c o g n i t i o n he sought i s d o u b t f u l -

King James i s s a i d t o have asked: "Who i s t h i s Mompelgart?") 



5 

Duke Johann F r i e d r i c h became the r u l e r o f Wurttemberg a t the 

death o f h i s f a t h e r F r i e d r i c h i n 1608. P a r t s o f Johann 

F r i e d r i c h ' s d i a r y , the Calendarium Domesticum. are s t i l l i n 
7 

e x i s t e n c e . In them he r e v e a l e s h i m s e l f t o be the s o r t of 

German p r i n c e who contented h i m s e l f w i t h the time-honoured 

p u r s u i t s of h u n t i n g and d r i n k i n g . N e v e r t h e l e s s , the 

s t r u c t u r e s o f c o u r t l y ambition were i n p l a c e i n the showpiece 

c o u r t and h i s d i a r i e s i n d i c a t e t h a t he took the job of 

m o n a r c h i c a l d i s p l a y s e r i o u s l y . H i s agents i n Prague and 

Vienna kept him informed of the newest tournament games 

enjoyed a t those c o u r t s w h i l e an agent i n France sent him news 
Q 

of the l a t e s t f a s h i o n s i n c l o t h i n g . 

In the g r a n d i o s e f e s t i v a l staged f o r h i s 1609 wedding and 

seven y e a r s l a t e r f o r the baptism of one of h i s c h i l d r e n , 

Johann F r i e d r i c h c o n t i n u e d h i s f a t h e r ' s t a c t i c s o f c u l t u r a l 

d i s p l a y as a means t o d i s t a n c e h i m s e l f from h i s s u b j e c t s and 

t o e n f o r c e a new p o l i t i c a l s t r u c t u r e . The 1616 baptism 

f u r t h e r allowed f o r the p u r s u i t of an aggrandizement program 

on a n a t i o n a l and i n t e r n a t i o n a l l e v e l . C l e a r l y i t was the 

presence o f the P a l a t i n a t e r u l e r F r e d e r i c k V and h i s E n g l i s h 

w i f e , the daughter of James I, r a t h e r than the baptism, t h a t 

made t h i s event worthy of a major c e l e b r a t i o n . The use of a 

" p r i v a t e " f e s t i v e o c c a s i o n such as a baptism f i t s i n t o an 

e s t a b l i s h e d t r a d i t i o n of i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o u r t l y p r a c t i c e . The 

V a l o i s c o u r t had made e x t e n s i v e use of d y n a s t i c marriages t o 

employ the c u l t u r a l apparatus of the " f e t e " t o promote 



6 

c o n c i a l i a t o r y e f f o r t s d u r i n g the Wars of R e l i g i o n . In these 

French f e s t i v a l s the c o n f l i c t between w a r r i n g r e l i g i o u s 

f a c t i o n s was r e p l i c a t e d and performed i n a symbolic and 

f e s t i v e form. Such l a r g e r i s s u e s were a l s o addressed i n the 

1616 S t u t t g a r t f e s t i v a l but i n a somewhat d i f f e r e n t manner. 

The p r i v a t e d y n a s t i c o c c a s i o n of the S t u t t g a r t baptism 

f e s t i v a l served as a forum t o c e l e b r a t e and p u b l i c i z e a v i s i o n 

o f u n i t y o f what was i n a c t u a l i t y an uneasy a l l i a n c e o f 

P r o t e s t a n t f a c t i o n s . 

Wurttemberg was an arch-Lutheran s t r o n g h o l d ; i t s u n i v e r s i t y a t 

Tubingen was the main t r a i n i n g s c h o o l w i t h i n the empire f o r 

P r o t e s t a n t p a s t o r s . In the years f o l l o w i n g the 1555 T r e a t y of 

Augsburg which had been advantageous f o r Lutheran p r i n c e s 

Wurttemberg maintained a stance o f n e u t r a l i t y i n c o n f e s s i o n a l 

c o n f l i c t s . But the h i s t o r i a n R.J.W. Evans has p o i n t e d out 

t h a t i t i s a textbook f a c t (and almost the o n l y one t h a t can 

be s t a t e d about t h i s d i f f i c u l t period) t h a t a f t e r 1555 
10 

r e l i g i o u s squabbles grew. One major source o f c o n f l i c t 

o r i g i n a t e d i n the e x c l u s i o n of C a l v i n i s m from the 1555 a c c o r d ; 

C a l v i n i s t s became i n c r e a s i n g l y m i l i t a n t a f t e r t h i s s e t t l e m e n t 

i n which they had r e c e i v e d no guarantees. Towards the end of 

the s i x t e e n t h c e n t u r y C a t h o l i c s launched a new o f f e n s i v e t o 

r e e s t a b l i s h a s i n g l e , u n i f i e d church i n the empire. C a t h o l i c 

p r i n c e s , i n s p i r e d by J e s u i t t e a c h e r s who were determined t o 

r o u t out the heresy of P r o t e s t a n t i s m , became a g g r e s s i v e 

defenders of the Church o f Rome. By 1608, p o s t - T r i d e n t i n e 



7 

f e r v o u r had caused the o c c u p a t i o n o f the f r e e i m p e r i a l c i t y of 

Donauworth by C a t h o l i c f o r c e s and the demand by C a t h o l i c s f o r 

the r e s t i t u t i o n o f c l o i s t e r s s e i z e d a f t e r 1552. I n c r e a s i n g 

C a t h o l i c m i l i t a n c y had convinced a number o f P r o t e s t a n t s t a t e s 

and f r e e c i t i e s w i t h i n the German empire of the need t o form a 

union f o r defense. The C a t h o l i c p r i n c e s responded by forming 

a league under the l e a d e r s h i p o f M a x i m i l i a n o f B a v a r i a . In 

the l a s t decade b e f o r e the outbreak o f the T h i r t y Years War, 

the P r o t e s t a n t Union and the C a t h o l i c League f a c e d o f f i n a 

m i s t r u s t f u l and expectant way; these defense unions promoted a 

war-readiness t h a t rushed toward w a r . 1 1 

Duke Johann F r i e d r i c h of Wurttemberg j o i n e d t h i s union over 

the o b j e c t i o n s of the p a r l i a m e n t a r y assembly t h a t he had o n l y 

r e c e n t l y reconvened a f t e r the death of h i s f a t h e r . Any 

d e f e r e n c e the duke showed t o h i s p a r l i a m e n t was due i n l a r g e 

p a r t t o the t e r r i b l e f i n a n c i a l s i t u a t i o n of the c o u r t ' s 
12 

t r e a s u r y . The c o u r t was too bankrupt t o borrow money and 

needed p a r l i a m e n t a r y guarantees t o f i n d c r e d i t o r s . The duke 

needed the f i n a n c i a l support o f h i s p a r l i a m e n t t o j o i n the 

P r o t e s t a n t Union but the p a r l i a m e n t a r i a n s f e a r e d t h a t t h i s 

u n i o n would l o a d f u r t h e r f i n a n c i a l burdens on them and would 

e v e n t u a l l y l e a d t o war. The union r e p r e s e n t e d a dangerous and 

r e b e l l i o u s a l l i a n c e t h a t t h r e a t e n e d the c o n t i n u a t i o n o f the 

German empire whose i n s t i t u t i o n s p r o v i d e d a f i n a l c o u r t o f 

appeal i n i n t e r - e s t a t e d i s p u t e s . F u r t h e r , the staunch 

Lutherans of the Wurttemberg p a r l i a m e n t were v e r y r e l u c t a n t t o 



8 

j o i n i n t o a union w i t h C a l v i n i s t s w i t h whom d o c t r i n a l d i s p u t e s 

had reached a h i g h l e v e l of acrimony. 

The P r o t e s t a n t Union however was under the C a l v i n i s t 

l e a d e r s h i p o f the E l e c t o r F r e d e r i c k V, r u l e r o f the 

P a l a t i n a t e . For a l o n g time the P a l a t i n a t e , a l a r g e c e n t r a l 

t e r r i t o r y w i t h i t s d u c a l s e a t i n H e i d e l b e r g had l e d the 

C a l v i n i s t s i n the empire t o work towards u n i t i n g a l l 

P r o t e s t a n t s . C h r i s t i a n o f A n h a l t , the main a d v i s o r o f the 

v e r y young F r e d e r i c k V, o r c h e s t r a t e d the f o r m a t i o n o f the 

P r o t e s t a n t Union under P a l a t i n a t e l e a d e r s h i p . A n h a l t 

e x p l o i t e d the P r o t e s t a n t cause f o r the aggrandizement of the 

P a l a t i n a t e by a r r a n g i n g the marriage of F r e d e r i c k t o E l i z a b e t h 

S t u a r t , daughter of James I of England. The hope was t h a t 

t h i s marriage a l l i a n c e would secure the support o f England and 
13 

the Netherlands f o r the P r o t e s t a n t s i d e . In 1608 the 

m i l i t a n t P r o t e s t a n t s of the P a l a t i n a t e had succeeded a t the 

R e i c h s t a g , the i m p e r i a l p a r l i a m e n t , i n o r g a n i z i n g a union f o r 

defense. While emphasizing the maintenance of f i d e l i t y t o the 

i m p e r i a l f e d e r a t i o n some P r o t e s t a n t t e r r i t o r i e s agreed t o 

defend each other, t o c o n t r i b u t e t o a fund f o r t h i s purpose 

and t o communicate w i t h each o t h e r v i a a " s e c r e t 
14 

correspondence". 

While the C a t h o l i c League looked f o r support from Spain, the 

P r o t e s t a n t Union hoped t o encounter the i n c r e a s i n g l y m i l i t a n t 

C a t h o l i c Counter Reformation a l l i a n c e w i t h a i n t e r n a t i o n a l 



9 

P r o t e s t a n t b l o c . The P a l a t i n a t e marriage h e l d the promise of 

f u r t h e r i n g the cause of a Pan-European P r o t e s t a n t a x i s . Not 

l e a s t among the o b s t a c l e s t o forming a P r o t e s t a n t power b l o c 

were the i n t e r n a l d i v i s i o n s among German p r i n c e s o f the Holy 

Roman Empire o f the German N a t i o n . Lutheran p r i n c e s f e a r e d 

the m i l i t a n c y of the C a l v i n i s t P a l a t i n a t e s who were ready t o 

take up arms a g a i n s t the emperor, w h i l e Lutheran p r i n c e s knew 

they had n o t h i n g t o g a i n and much t o l o s e i n an armed 
15 

c o n f r o n t a t i o n . The d i s u n i t y among German P r o t e s t a n t s 
dampened the w i l l i n g n e s s of the Reformed powers o u t s i d e the 

16 

empire t o support the P r o t e s t a n t Union. The marriage of the 

E n g l i s h k i n g ' s daughter t o the P a l a t i n a t e r u l e r appeared t o 

g i v e the P r o t e s t a n t cause i n t e r n a t i o n a l s t r e n g t h . Past the 

e a s t e r n reaches o f the Empire the P r o t e s t a n t s c o u l d l o o k t o 

the "dubious h e l p of a weird, barbarous C a l v i n i s t p r i n c e from 
17 

T r a n s y l v a n i a named B e t h l e n Gabor". The P r o t e s t a n t Union 

sought f o r o u t s i d e support t h a t c o u l d r i v a l the s t r o n g e r 

i n t e r n a t i o n a l C a t h o l i c a x i s . 

The f e s t i v a l i n 1616 p r o v i d e d an i d e a l , and perhaps somewhat 

c o v e r t s e t t i n g f o r a meeting of those P r o t e s t a n t p r i n c e s who 

had j o i n e d the Union. The major success i n i n t e r n a t i o n a l 

P r o t e s t a n t p o l i t i c s t h a t the marriage of F r e d e r i c k V t o 

E l i z a b e t h S t u a r t r e p r e s e n t e d was t o be extended t o Wurttemberg 

by having F r e d e r i c k and E l i z a b e t h take the r o l e of godparents 

a t the baptism of the Wurttemberg p r i n c e l i n g . The 

i n t e r n a t i o n a l importance of the event i s i n d i c a t e d by the 



10 

extravagance o f the f e s t i v a l whose c o s t s f a r exceeded the 

means o f the c o u r t . I t i s known from government r e c o r d s t h a t 

the duchy a p p l i e d f o r and r e c e i v e d an e a r l y payout of i t s 
18 

share o f Union funds f o r 1616. While i t i s not known t o 

what e x t e n t , i f any, o t h e r s t a t e s c o n t r i b u t e d t o the event 

f i n a n c i a l l y , i t i s c l e a r t h a t the l a v i s h n e s s o f the event was 
19 

beyond the means o f the s m a l l t e r r i t o r y . Many y e a r s l a t e r , 

the b a p t i s m a l c h i l d h i m s e l f wrote i n h i s memoirs: 
"The baptism was c a l l e d the Great Baptism because of 
the g r e a t number of people and the t o o - g r e a t 
expenses t h a t went i n t o i t , f o r c o s t l y p r o c e s s i o n s , 
tournaments, f i r e w o r k s and expensive 
p u b l i c a t i o n s . . . w h i c h we are s t i l l p a y i n g f o r 
today." 

The c o s t and v a r i e t y of the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s of the f e s t i v a l 

d i s s e m i n a t e d a f t e r the event i t s e l f p o i n t s t o the f a c t t h a t 

the s p e c t a c l e was intended t o f u n c t i o n not o n l y w i t h i n the 

t e r r i t o r y o f Wurttemberg and the p a r t i c i p a t i n g German d u c a l 

s t a t e s . Three t e x t s were produced and the d i f f e r e n c e s i n 

s t y l e , language and content between these show an i n t e n t t o 

t a r g e t l o c a l and i n t e r n a t i o n a l audiences. While p u b l i s h i n g 

t e x t s of c o u r t f e s t i v i t i e s was not new, the v i s u a l 

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n the form of engravings was unprecedented and 

i n t r o d u c e d t o the Wurttemberg c o u r t d u r i n g the r e i g n of Johann 

F r i e d r i c h (1608-1628) . The baptism engravings p r e s e n t a 

f a n t a s t i c and b a f f l i n g a r r a y of images of costumed r i d e r s , 

pageant c a r s , g i a n t heads, g r o t t o s , the c o u r t l y s e t t i n g , 

f i r e w o r k s , impaled Turks, L a t i n mottos, a Maltese g a l l e y , e t c . 



11 

How d i d these images f u n c t i o n i n r e l a t i o n t o the d i v e r s e 

groups addressed by the t e x t u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s ? 

The Reformation, which had empowered t e r r i t o r i a l r u l e r s , had 

been f u e l e d by p r i n t e d m a t e r i a l which made unprecedented use 

o f v i s u a l imagery t o promote the d o c t r i n a l cause. The power 

o f p r i n t had been t e s t e d by the Reformation and had shown i t s 
21 

e f f e c t i v e n e s s as a medium o f mass propaganda. The proven 

power of v i s u a l p e r s u a s i o n , i r o n i c a l l y unleashed by a movement 

w i t h i c o n o c l a s t i c aims, was e n l i s t e d f o r a v i s u a l show of 

power t h a t communicated the wealth, e d u c a t i o n and t a s t e of the 

t e r r i t o r i a l r u l e r . 
" I t was the Reformation t h a t f i r s t drove the p o l i t i c i a n s 
and b u r e a u c r a t s of Europe t o s t r i v e f o r domination over 
the hears and minds of t h e i r s u b j e c t s f a r more t o t a l 
than any t h a t had been seen b e f o r e . " 

While the medium o f p r i n t had used l u r i d and s c a t o l o g i c a l 

images f o r r e l i g i o u s and s o c i a l commentary i n i l l u s t r a t e d 

broadsheets, t h i s absence of any standards o f decorum had 

proven an o b s t a c l e t o the s t a t u s of the p r i n t e d image among 
23 

the v i s u a l a r t s . The p r i n t e d image needed t o be made worthy 

as a medium of c o u r t l y r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . C h a r l e s T a l b o t l o c a t e s 

Durer's e x t e n s i v e use of p r i n t technology as the moment t h a t 

allowed the p r i n t e d image t o g a i n s t a t u r e t o become as 

a u t h o r i t a t i v e and as worthy a medium f o r the a r t i s t as 
24 

p a i n t i n g or s c u l p t u r e . In t h i s p a r t i c u l a r i n s t a n c e , i t 

would seem t h a t Duke Johann F r i e d r i c h r e a l i z e d t h a t h i s 

i n t e r e s t s were b e t t e r served by p r i n t s which c o u l d be w i d e l y 



1 2 

c i r c u l a t e d , than by p a i n t i n g s o r t a p e s t r i e s . The seventeenth 

c e n t u r y p a t r o n d i d not appear t o r e g a r d the m u l t i p l e p r i n t e d 

image i n low esteem, and i n f a c t , f o r the S t u t t g a r t c o u r t the 

p r i n t e d image h e l d advantages t h a t accrued from i t s v e r y l a c k 

o f uniqueness. As T a l b o t ' s a n a l y s i s o f p r i n t e d imagery s t a t e s : 

"... one supposes t h a t the p r i n t e d image c a r r i e d a 
c e r t a i n weight because of i t s p u b l i s h e d form, i m p l y i n g 
p u b l i c v e r i f i c a t i o n as f a r and wide as the c o p i e s were 
d i s s e m i n a t e d . The tendency t o b e l i e v e what appears i n 
p r i n t s u r e l y a p p l i e d i n some degree t o the b e h o l d e r of a 
v i s u a l image, j u s t as i t always has t o r e a d e r s . " 

The p r o d u c t i o n of p r i n t s i n m u l t i p l e c o p i e s assured the 

Wurttemberg c o u r t t h a t these d e p i c t i o n s would have the widest 

p o s s i b l e impact. 

I r o n i c a l l y , a r t h i s t o r i c a l s c h o l a r s h i p which v a l o r i z e s the 

a u r a t i c q u a l i t i e s of the unique o b j e c t has tended t o i g n o r e 

the p r i n t e d image i n f a v o r of p a i n t i n g or s c u l p t u r e . Another 

hindrance t o a r t h i s t o r i c a l i n t e r e s t i n the v i s u a l imagery 

produced by a secondary c o u r t must be the e x t e n t t o which the 

canon o f noteworthy a r t o b j e c t s i s formulated i n accordance 

w i t h "triumphant" p e r i o d s of h i s t o r y . The p r o d u c t i o n o f the 

German Renaissance i s l i n k e d t o the v i g o u r o f f r e e i m p e r i a l 

c i t i e s as c e n t r e s of a r t s and c r a f t s p r o d u c t i o n . The 

economic s t r e n g t h and wealth of the c i t y was i n d e c l i n e by the 

end o f the s i x t e e n t h century. At t h a t time the growth i n 

s t a t u r e o f t e r r i t o r i a l s t a t e s , generated by the Reformation 

which empowered t e r r i t o r i a l r u l e r s , e c l i p s e d the importance of 

the f r e e c i t y . The Reformation had p u l l e d German-speaking 



13 

Europe a p a r t along r e l i g i o u s l i n e s j u s t as o t h e r European 

peoples were s o l i d i f y i n g i n t o n a t i o n s . O u t s i d e t h e maritime 

powers w i t h experimental bourgeois regimes, most o f Europe 

found an e f f i c i e n t and s t a b l e model o f government i n 
27 

a b s o l u t i s m based on the French model. 

In the German empire, however, the many s m a l l domains adopted 

t h e c o u r t l y s t y l e o f a b s o l u t i s t regimes without a t t a i n i n g much 

s t a b i l i t y i n the p e r i o d o f the looming c o n f r o n t a t i o n o f the 

T h i r t y Years War. While the focus of a r t h i s t o r i c a l w r i t i n g 

s h i f t s t o the l a r g e r ascendant regimes of n o r t h e r n Europe and 

France, C e n t r a l Europe i s r e l e g a t e d t o the p o s i t i o n of a minor 

s i d e show of incompetent i m i t a t i o n o f the dominant s t y l e s . 

S a c h e v e r e l l S i t w e l l ' s d i s c u s s i o n i n h i s German Baroque a r t 

(1928) e x e m p l i f i e s the d i s d a i n the a r t i s t i c p r o d u c t i o n of the 

t u r n of the s i x t e e n t h c e n t u r y c a l l e d f o r t h when the s t y l e of 

the German Renaissance had e x p i r e d and the Baroque was not y e t 

i n p l a c e : 

"Both Durer and H o l b e i n were gone, and a p e r i o d of 
s t r a n g e d i s t o r t e d t a s t e was i n p r o g r e s s . . . t h e Augsburg 
goldsmiths were i n the midst of t h e i r m i c r o s c o p i c 
achievement; t h e r e were e l a b o r a t e woodcuts i n the Durer 
t r a d i t i o n s t i l l engraved and sold...some of the Ducal 
f a m i l i e s , t o judge by p o r t r a i t s , had by now a t t a i n e d 
through d y n a s t i c marriages a t r u l y p o r t e n t o u s p i t c h of 
u g l i n e s s . . .1 1 

Only i n r e c e n t years have e f f o r t s been made t o r e e v a l u a t e the 
29 

a r t i s t i c p r o d u c t i o n of t h i s p e r i o d . S t u t t g a r t e r H o f f e s t e . a 

1979 p u b l i c a t i o n , reproduces an a r c h i v a l c o l l e c t i o n o f the 

t e x t u a l and v i s u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s of two S t u t t g a r t f e s t i v a l s . 



14 

T h i s obscure b i b l i o g r a p h i c m a t e r i a l was o f f e r e d as a c h a l l e n g e 

f o r f u r t h e r study of t h i s n e g l e c t e d e r a . The unusual wealth 

o f t e x t u a l m a t e r i a l was r e - i s s u e d i n o r d e r t o c o n t e x t u a l i z e 

the Wurttemberg p o e t r y of Georg Rudolf Weckherlin, whose s h o r t 

German c a r e e r s t i l l a f f o r d e d him a p l a c e i n German Baroque 

l i t e r a r y h i s t o r y as an i n n o v a t o r i n c o u r t l y p a n e g y r i c . The 

engravings produced f o r the S t u t t g a r t baptism f e s t i v a l were 

r e p r i n t e d i n a separate volume as an addendum t o the t e x t u a l 

m a t e r i a l . 

In o r d e r t o i n v e s t i g a t e the complex i n t e r s e c t i o n s between the 

program of m u l t i p l e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s and the aims o f the 

f e s t i v a l i t s e l f , I i n t e n d t o e x p l o r e the j u n c t i o n s and the 

d i s p a r i t i e s w i t h i n these h i s t o r i c a l fragments. T h i s study 

w i l l s e t out t o uncover how the v i s u a l m a t e r i a l f u n c t i o n e d as 

both a s e p a r a t e and a complementary element of the t e x t u a l 

commemorative program. What c o u l d the v i s u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n 

o f f e r and what d i d i t o f f e r beyond the t e x t u a l m a t e r i a l ? d i d 

the engravings f u l f i l l the u s u a l f u n c t i o n of the c o u r t l y 

f e s t i v a l , which was t o b r i d g e d i f f e r e n c e s or t o d i s g u i s e 

o p p o s i t i o n s i n o r d e r t o show power a t a time o f c r i s i s ? 

While the f e s t i v a l i s r e p r e s e n t e d i n a s i n g l e s e t o f 

engravings, t h r e e t e x t s were commissioned by the c o u r t t o 

r e c o r d the event. Two t e x t s , w r i t t e n by Georg Rudolf 

Weckherlin, i n both German and E n g l i s h , have r e c e i v e d 

s c h o l a r l y a t t e n t i o n because o f t h a t poet's i n n o v a t i o n o f 



15 

i n t r o d u c i n g i n t o German the l o f t y s t y l e t h a t European c o u r t s 

had adopted f o r v e r n a c u l a r p a n e g y r i c . H i s s o p h i s t i c a t e d 

account, c a l l e d Triumphal1 Shews i n E n g l i s h , f o c u s s e d on the 

e l a b o r a t e costumed p r o c e s s i o n s o f the "tournaments" i n which 

the duke and h i s p r i n c e l y guests performed c a r e f u l l y 

choreographed d i s p l a y s of horsemanship and f o o t combat. With 

s u s t a i n e d a r t i f i c i a l n a i v e t e , the poet c o n v e r t e d the r o y a l 

parade i n t o p e r s o n i f i c a t i o n s of m y t h o l o g i c a l and h i s t o r i c a l 

monarchs. A c c o r d i n g t o one l i t e r a r y h i s t o r i a n , Weckherlin saw 

pageants as symbols o f the h i g h l e v e l of German c u l t u r e t h a t , 

as such, c o u l d a c t t o guarantee her s a f e t y i n t r o u b l e d times: 

" I n s t e a d of p e r i l o u s a c t u a l i t y , i n s t e a d o f the p r i n c e l y 
couple who f e l t t h e i r r e l i g i o n and t h e i r domain were i n 
s e r i o u s danger, Weckherlin d e s c r i b e s a r u l i n g f a m i l y of 
demi-gods l i v i n g i n p e r f e c t s e c u r i t y i n a p u r e l y 
imaginary l a n d . " 

What t h i s h i s t o r i a n i d e n t i f i e d as an U t o p i a n v i s i o n was 

necessary f o r the c u l t u r a l show of power t h a t was intended t o 

p l a c e the secondary Wurttemberg c o u r t of the same l e v e l as the 

l a r g e r c e n t r a l i z e d European c o u r t s . 

The need t o speak t o an i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o u r t l y audience i n an 

e l e g a n t and e q u i v a l e n t v o i c e s i g n a l s the importance o f the 

"baptism" as a show of a l l i a n c e of the P r o t e s t a n t p r i n c e s who 

had come t o g e t h e r i n a f e s t i v e o c c a s i o n . In the 

s o p h i s t i c a t e d language o f Weckherlin's c o u r t l y p r a i s e , as w e l l 

as the l a v i s h g r a p h i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n , the Wurttemberg c o u r t 

and i t s c o n f e d e r a t e s c o u l d , v i a c u l t u r a l patronage, a s s e r t 



16 

t h e i r power and worthiness as a l l i e s . (Perhaps t h e f e s t i v a l 

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n program can be read as an answer t o James I's 

doubts about the s i t u a t i o n o f the German t e r r i t o r i a l p r i n c e s : 

"Tant de p e t i t s p r i n c e s n'y f o n t r i e n q u i v a i l l e " , he i s 
31 . 

r e p o r t e d t o have s a i d . ) Weckherlm's r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f the 

f e s t i v a l pageantry i n both German and E n g l i s h was meant t o 

impress an i n t e r n a t i o n a l audience w i t h a s o p h i s t i c a t e d c o u r t l y 

s t y l e and w i t h an i d e a l i z e d image of P r o t e s t a n t u n i t y . 

Another t e x t was commissioned by the S t u t t g a r t c o u r t from a 

c o u r t s e c r e t a r y , Johann-Augustin Assum. T h i s account f o l l o w e d 

the o l d s t y l e o f German c o u r t l y p a n e g y r i c . The E n g l i s h 

n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y h i s t o r i a n , W i l l i a m Brenchley Rye, a p t l y 

d e s c r i b e s the nature of the l e s s up-to-date s t y l e o f c o u r t l y 

w r i t i n g t h a t was superseded by Weckherlin. A 1605 

court-commissioned t e x t c e l e b r a t e d another momentous 

i n t e r n a t i o n a l event f o r the Wurttemberg c o u r t , the i n v e s t i t u r e 

o f the duke i n t o the E n g l i s h Order of the G a r t e r . Rye 

d e s c r i b e s the book as "a most t e d i o u s and tiresome book t o 

c o n s u l t , b e i n g laden w i t h d i g r e s s i o n s on every c o n c e i v a b l e 
32 

s u b j e c t . A German n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y h i s t o r i a n a p p l i e s a 

s i m i l a r judgment t o Assum's 1616 Baptism p a n e g y r i c . He 

s t a t e s : 

" I t would go too f a r i f I were t o e l a b o r a t e on t h i s 
p e c u l i a r t e x t . T h i s same p r e s e n t s w i t h i t s p o i n t e d 
learnedness, i t s l a b o r i o u s n e s s and i t s f a r - r e a c h i n g 
d e t a i l , a most s o r r y r e a d i n g m a t e r i a l . " 



1 7 

The l e n g t h y d i g r e s s i o n s i n Assum's t e x t i d e n t i f y i t as the 

work o f a " p o l y h i s t o r " . Anthony G r a f t o n most r e c e n t l y 

reexamined t h i s p e c u l i a r l y German phenomenon o f s c h o l a r l y 

w r i t i n g which i s c h a r a c t e r i z e d by the p u r s u i t s o f humanism and 
34 

encyclopedism o r eloquence and e r u d i t i o n . These w r i t e r s 

generated the most l e n g t h y and t e d i o u s t r e a t i s e s packed w i t h a 

d i s p l a y o f e n c y c l o p e d i c knowledge. Assum's p e d a n t i c 

e x h i b i t i o n o f l e a r n i n g , a l b e i t i n a d r e a r y form, s e r v e d t o s e t 

the S t u t t g a r t f e s t i v a l i n t o an a p p r o p r i a t e l y grand h i s t o r i c a l 

framework. H i s t e x t i s ornamented w i t h l e n g t h y enumerations 

o f a n t i q u e and more r e c e n t precedents f o r the pageantry as 

w e l l as excursuses on p a s t g r e a t events i n the h i s t o r y o f the 

house of Wurttemberg. Assum's e f f o r t s t o p l a c e the f e s t i v a l 

i n t o a g l o r i o u s c o n t e x t o f h i s t o r i c a l antecedents and t o 

p r a i s e the Wurttemberg dynasty p o i n t s t o a r u l e r l e g i t i m i z i n g 

purpose t h a t was addressed t o a Wurttemberg audience. The 

l o n g l i s t s of names of the a r i s t o c r a t i c guests t h a t populate 

h i s d e s c r i p t i o n make c l e a r t h a t h i s t e x t was intended f o r a 

l o c a l German audience. 

A f u r t h e r document t h a t was not commissioned by the S t u t t g a r t 

c o u r t i s the handwritten account of the f e s t i v a l by the 

d i p l o m a t i c correspondent, P h i l i p p H a i n h o f e r . H i s account was 

commissioned by another German t e r r i t o r i a l r u l e r , the Duke of 

Pommern-Stettin. H a i n h o f e r ' s account was not p u b l i s h e d , but a 

number o f c o p i e s are known t o have been c i r c u l a t e d ; among the 

r e c i p i e n t s were the p r i n c i p a l guests of the baptism, the 



18 

P a l a t i n a t e r u l e r s . A c c o r d i n g t o an 1891 a n a l y s i s o f 

H a i n h o f e r ' s t e x t , the d i p l o m a t i c l e t t e r was meant t o g i v e an 

example f o r h i s p a t r o n of how such an important f e s t i v i t y was 
3 6 

t o be c e l e b r a t e d by a c o u r t . H a i n h o f e r ' s account g i v e s an 

e x t r a o r d i n a r i l y d e t a i l e d and v i v i d p i c t u r e of the c o u r t l y 

f e s t i v a l ; he d e s c r i b e s s e a t i n g arrangements, the v a l u e of 

g i f t s g i v e n , the contents o f the "Kunstkammer", the number of 

d i s h e s served, the p r e c i o u s gems adorning p r i n c e l y h a t s , the 

number of pages i n an entourage, e t c . , i n a t i r e l e s s 

assessment o f rank and s t a t u s f o r h i s p a t r o n . H i s i n d e l i c a t e 

a p p r a i s a l of the wealth of the h o s t and h i s guests l a i d bare 

the purpose of the event as a c o m p e t i t i v e show o f power and 

s o v e r e i g n majesty. Perhaps the most v a l u a b l e d e t a i l s i n 

H a i n h o f e r ' s d e s c r i p t i o n are those t h a t draw a t t e n t i o n t o the 

extreme c a u t i o n w i t h which the Wurttemberg c o u r t wanted the 

symbolic elements o f the pageantry handled. H a i n h o f e r ' s 

account, i n a t l e a s t two i n s t a n c e s , commented on segments of 

the f e s t i v a l t h a t the commissioned t e x t s l e a v e out. 

I t i s c l e a r t h a t the d i f f e r e n c e s i n s t y l e and language o f the 

t e x t u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s c o n s t r u c t e d s p e c i f i c audiences. The 

q u e s t i o n o f audience seems more c o m p l i c a t e d i n r e l a t i o n t o the 

s e t o f engravings. I i n t e n d t o show t h a t these embraced 

d i f f e r e n t v i e w i n g p o s i t i o n s . By f o c u s s i n g on where the v i s u a l 

and the t e x t u a l m a t e r i a l are a t v a r i a n c e and where they a c t i n 

c o n c e r t , the d i f f i c u l t i e s the Wurttemberg c o u r t f a c e d w i t h a 

s p e c t a c l e o f majesty w i l l h o p e f u l l y be brought t o l i g h t . 



19 

Chapter One w i l l c o n s i d e r the q u e s t i o n s o f e x c l u s i o n and 

i n c l u s i o n o f p a r t i c i p a n t s . How i s p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the 

f e s t i v a l c o n s t r u c t e d by the t e x t s and by the engravings? T h i s 

examination w i l l d i s c l o s e t h a t the a b s o l u t i s t image the c o u r t 

propagated d i d not correspond t o the a c t u a l power o f the 

c o u r t . The s t r u c t u r e of the g r a p h i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n a 

t r i u m p h a l p r o c e s s i o n format made v i s i b l e the h i e r a r c h y o f the 

Wurttemberg c o u r t and the p a r t i c i p a t i n g t e r r i t o r i a l c o u r t s . I 

w i l l suggest t h a t the e x c l u s i o n of a l l but a c o u r t l y e l i t e 

from the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n served t o r e i n f o r c e d u c a l attempts t o 

e s t a b l i s h the c o u r t as the s o l e l o c u s of a u t h o r i t y w i t h i n the 

r e t a r d a t o r y p a r l i a m e n t a r y government of the t e r r i t o r y . The 

f o l l o w i n g c h a p t e r w i l l d i s c u s s the s u r p r i s i n g appearance of 

the "Kubelstechen", a p a i d performance by s t a b l e grooms, which 

seems c u r i o u s l y out of sync i n a program w i t h r u l e r -

l e g i t i m i z i n g aims. 

The l a s t t h r e e c h a p t e r s w i l l focus on those engravings which 

seem t o stand out from the r e p e t i t i v e conventions o f a 

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f a t r i u m p h a l p r o c e s s i o n . While the show of 

c o u r t l y i n v e n t i v e n e s s and n o v e l t y might have subsumed 

p o t e n t i a l l y p r o b l e m a t i c images, these nonetheless r e g i s t e r 

complex r e l i g i o u s and p o l i t i c a l content. My i n v e s t i g a t i o n 

w i l l focus on how c o n t e n t i o u s i s s u e s such as the s u r v i v a l of 

the i d e a l of the Holy Roman Empire, the r i g h t s o f c o r p o r a t e 

s o l i d a r i t y o f t e r r i t o r i a l r u l e r s w i t h i n the s t i l l - v a l i d 

e s t a t i s t s t r u c t u r e of the German Empire and the f o r m a t i o n of 



20 

an i n t e r n a t i o n a l P r o t e s t a n t a l l i a n c e were addressed i n a 

v i s u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n which remained t r u e t o an 

all-encompassing e x p r e s s i o n of c o u r t l y power and m a g n i f i c e n c e . 

Attempting a h i s t o r i c a l e x p l a n a t i o n of the enigmatic 

v o c a b u l a r y of these images without guidance from the o t h e r 

forms o f r e p r e s e n t a t i o n or from documentary evidence of t h e i r 

r e c e p t i o n i s , of course, not without r i s k s . However, I w i l l 

argue t h a t t h e s e p a r t i c u l a r v i s u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s had the 

c a p a c i t y t o s e l e c t i v e l y address and c o n s t r u c t v i e w i n g 

audiences. 

1. F. S i e b e r , V o l k und v o l k s t u m l i c h e M o t i v i k im Festwerke  
des Barocks ( B e r l i n , 1960), p.X. 

2. Propylaen W e l t q e s c h i c h t e B e r l i n , (1929-1933), p.358. 

3. J.A. Vann, The Making of a S t a t e . Wurttemberg 1593-1793, 
p.29. 

4. J.A. Vann, p.21. 

5. J.A. Vann, p.54. 

6. W.B. Rye, England as Seen bv F o r e i g n e r s (London, 1865), 
pp.IX-XCII. 

7. Die Tagebucher des Herzogs Johann F r i e d r i c h von  
Wurttemberg aus den Jahren 1615-1617. Ed. I.Hanack, 
(Goppingen, 1972). 

8. I n g r i d Hanack's e d i t i o n of Johann F r i e d r i c k ' s d i a r y 
g i v e s an overview o f the duke's i n t e r e s t s i n the 
accoutrements of monarchical d i s p l a y . 

9. F. Yates, The V a l o i s T a p e s t r i e s (London, 1959). 

10. R.J.W. Evans, " C u l t u r e and Anarchy i n the Empire", 
C e n t r a l European H i s t o r y 18 (1985), p.19. 

11. Propylaen W.. o p . c i t . , p.390. 



21 

12. W. Grube, Der S t u t t g a r t e r Landtag. 1457-1957 ( S t u t t g a r t , 
1957), p.274-275. 

13. J.W. Zophy, The Holy Roman Empire (London, 1978), p.160. 

14. G. Benecke, Germany i n the T h i r t y Years War (London, 
1978), p.10. 

15. R. Krebs, Die P o l i t i s c h e P u b l i z i s t i k der J e s u i t e n und  
i h r e r Gegner ( H a l l e , 1890), p.93. 

16. A.A. van Schelven, "Der G e n e r a l s t a b des p o l i t i s c h e n 
C a l v i n i s m u s i n Z e n t r a l e u r o p a zu Beginn des 
d r e i s s i g j a h r i g e n K r i e g e s " , A r c h i v f u r  
R e f o r m a t i o n s g e s c h i c h t e 35-36 (1938-1939), p.118. 

17. H.A.L. F i s c h e r , A H i s t o r y of Europe, v o l . 1 . (Glasgow, 
1960), p.621. 

18. S t u t t g a r t e r H o f f e s t e . p.509. 

19. S t u t t g a r t e r H o f f e s t e , p.509. 

20. S t u t t g a r t e r H o f f e s t e . p.509. My t r a n s l a t i o n . 

21. R. S c r i b n e r , Popular C u l t u r e and Popular Movements i n  
Reformation Germany (London, 1987), p.277. 

22. L. Stone, The Past and the Present R e v i s i t e d (London, 
1987), p.100. 

23. G.P. Tyson and S.S. Wagonheim, eds., P r i n t and C u l t u r e  
i n the Renaissance (Newark, 1986), I n t r o d u c t i o n : P. 12. 

24. C h a r l e s T a l b o t , " P r i n t s and the D e f i n i t i v e Image" i n 
P r i n t and C u l t u r e i n the Renaissance, pp.189-205. 

25. C. T a l b o t , o p . c i t . , p.199. 

26. H. Trevor-Roper, "The General C r i s i s i n the Seventeenth 
Century", C r i s i s i n Europe 1550-1650 (Anchor, 1967) 
p.74. 

27. T h i s phenomenon i s analyzed by E . J . Hobsbawm, "The 
c r i s i s i n the Seventeenty Century", C r i s i s i n Europe  
1550-1660 (Anchor, 1967), pp.5-63. 

28. S a c h e v e r e l l S i t w e l l , German Baroque A r t (New York, 
1928), p.14. 

29. For example, a r e g i o n a l German r e v i s i o n i n a 1986 
K a r l s r u h e e x h i b i t i o n c a t a l o g Die Renaissance im  
deutschen Sudwesten zwischen Reformation und 



22 

d r e i s s i g j a h r i g e n n K r i e q o f f e r s a r e a p p r a i s a l of the 
v i s u a l a r t s of the pre-war e r a . 

30. C u r t von Faber du Faur, German Baroque L i t e r a t u r e (New 
Haven, 1958), p.XX. 

31. A.A. van Schelven, o p . c i t . , p.118. 

32. W.B.Rye, England as Seen be F o r e i g n e r s (London, 1865). 

33. A. von Oechelhauser, " P h i l i p p H a i n h o f e r s B e r i c h t uber 
d i e S t u t t g a r t e r K i n d t a u f e im Jahre 1616", Neue  
H e i d e l b e r g e r Jahrbucher 1 (1891), p.273. 

34. A. G r a f t o n , "The World o f the P o l y h i s t o r s : Humanism and 
Encyclopedism", C e n t r a l European H i s t o r y 18 (1985), 

pp.31-47. 

35. A.V. Oechelhauser, o p . c i t . , p.272. 

36. A.V. Oechelhauser, p.275. 



23 

CHAPTER 1 

The Paper P r o c e s s i o n : A Triumphal E n t r y  

i n the Contest For A u t h o r i t y 

T h i s c h a p t e r w i l l focus on the d e f i n i t i o n o f audiences by the 

the f e s t i v a l engravings. As o u t l i n e d i n the i n t r o d u c t i o n , the 

number and v a r i e t y of t e x t s produced t o commemorate the 

Baptism f e s t i v a l r e v e a l an i n t e n t t o t a r g e t v a r i e d audiences 

and the g r a p h i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n appears t o encode the same 

i n t e n t . H i s t o r i c a l i n f o r m a t i o n about the c i r c u l a t i o n o f the 

t e x t s and engravings i s s c a n t . I t i s known t h a t books of 

engravings and p a n e g y r i c t e x t s were t r a d i t i o n a l l y produced as 

s o u v e n i r g i f t s f o r the most important g u e s t s . 1 Some evidence 

a l s o e x i s t s t h a t the engravings bound w i t h Assum's book were 
2 

a v a i l a b l e f o r s a l e . By examining the form and c o n t e n t o f the 

v i s u a l m a t e r i a l i n comparison w i t h the commissioned t e x t s , I 

w i l l o f f e r some s p e c u l a t i o n s on how the engravings presume 

p a r t i c u l a r audiences. 

The engravings are arranged i n a t r i u m p h a l p r o c e s s i o n format 

which served t o make v i s i b l e the h i e r a r c h y of the Wurttemberg 

c o u r t and t o d i s p l a y the rank of each p a r t i c i p a t i n g p r i n c e . 

Yet the t r a d i t i o n a l s o c i a l r i t e s o f the t r i u m p h a l p r o c e s s i o n 

were a l t e r e d i n t h i s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s i n c e o n l y h i g h nobles 

appear i n an e x c l u s i v e pageant. T h i s image of a r i s t o c r a t i c 

e x c l u s i v i t y r e p r e s e n t e d the Wurttemberg c o u r t as a p e r f e c t 



24 

a b s o l u t i s t s t a t e t o an i n t e r n a t i o n a l audience. On the l o c a l 

l e v e l , the g r a p h i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of a f e s t i v a l i n which the 

lower e s t a t e s have no p l a c e , e i t h e r as p a r t i c i p a n t s o r 

o n l o o k e r s , conforms t o the d u c a l s t r a t e g y of e x c l u s i o n as a 

means t o amass power. T h i s image o f an e x c l u s i v e c o u r t 

f e s t i v i t y i s somewhat a t odds w i t h the commissioned t e x t s i n 

which a more complex s o c i a l f i e l d of a c t i o n emerges. These 

d i s j u n c t i v e a s p e c t s o f the v i s u a l and t e x t u a l m a t e r i a l are the 

c r a c k s through which i t becomes p o s s i b l e t o c a t c h glimpses of 

the t e n s i o n s which beset the Wurttemberg c o u r t . In t h i s 

c h a p t e r I w i l l address the r o l e the f e s t i v a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s 

had i n a d v e r t i s i n g a n o t i o n o f the p e r f e c t a b s o l u t i s t c o u r t 

t h a t d i d not correspond t o i t s a c t u a l power. I hope t o show 

t h a t the image o f the f e s t i v a l w i t h i t s i m p l i c a t i o n of 

a b s o l u t e power of the c o u r t served t o d i s g u i s e o p p o s i t i o n s v i a 

a program of c u l t u r a l aggrandizement t h a t extended from the 

event i n t o i t s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s . 

The g r a p h i c d e p i c t i o n s of the c o u r t complex, one a t the 

b e g i n n i n g and one a t the end of the engravings book, a c t as 

v i s u a l c o n f i r m a t i o n of the grandeur of the c o u r t . T h e i r 

placement a t the o u t e r edges of the book a l l o w s them t o a c t as 

"frames" t h a t d e f i n e the s e t t i n g of the r e p r e s e n t e d pageantry. 

The f i r s t i l l u s t r a t i o n ( f i g . l ) , a view o f the c o u r t complex 

seen from w i t h i n the c o u r t gardens, i n t r o d u c e s the f e s t i v a l 

environment as ah empty stage. The c u b e - l i k e medieval c a s t l e 

i n the background i s the nucleus from which the d e c o r a t i v e 



25 

architecture, the tournament grounds, the sculpture gardens 

and botanical displays radiate. The orthogonals of Merian's 

engraving delineate the incremental expansion that had taken 

place since the l a t e sixteenth century to accommodate new 

c o l l e c t i n g , alchemical, sporting and c u l t u r a l pursuits of the 

duke. The engraving of the "Lustgarten" builds on the fame 

t h i s elegant court s e t t i n g had acquired amongst small German 
3 

t e r r i t o r i a l states. The a r c h i t e c t u r a l wonder of the new 

Lusthaus, shown as the f o c a l element of a new representative 

court s t y l e , i r o n i c a l l y seems to be modelled on the c i v i c 

buildings of the bourgeois-corporate Netherlands; but, unlike 

i t s urban models, the bulk and height of t h i s b u i l d i n g stands 
apart from the t i g h t l y b u i l t walled town, i n a i r y Renaissance 

4 
parterres. The court i s represented as a large e x t e r i o r 

entertainment "room" where a new representative ducal s t y l e 

can be unfolded i n front of a s e l e c t audience. This large 

e x t e r i o r space, as an extension of the private space of the 

c a s t l e , no doubt gave the court the means to define and 

control p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the f e s t i v a l to an extent that an 

urban space could not have. 

In the f i n a l engraving ( f i g . 2 ) , the entertainment and 

r e c r e a t i o n a l functions of the ducal amusement grounds are 

shown i n use. The old tournament grounds and the small old 

Lusthaus are the viewing stations for noble guests who are 

watching a spectacular fireworks. The courtly audience 

depicted i n the f i n a l i l l u s t r a t i o n could not have been the 



26 

o n l y audience o f the fabulous p y r o t e c h n i c a l d i s p l a y shown 

emanating from the c o u r t grounds. Yet t h i s event and a l l the 

r e p r e s e n t e d pageantry are e n c l o s e d w i t h i n the c o u r t complex as 

entertainments staged f o r and by h i g h n o b l e s . 

The engravings p r e s e n t the e l e g a n t s e t t i n g s t h a t were made f o r 

the hoped-for s e l f - f u l f i l l i n g prophecy i n which the show of 

power t h a t i s p r e s e n t e d becomes the v e r y substance of the 

r u l e r ' s a u t h o r i t y . The f u l l page engravings o f the c o u r t 

s e t t i n g a c t as l o c a t o r s f o r the b u l k of the engravings which 

are l e s s e l a b o r a t e l y i l l u s t r a t e d i n t h a t t h e i r backgrounds are 

l e f t blank. These framing elements p l a c e the t r i u m p h a l 

p r o c e s s i o n format of the g r a p h i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n w i t h i n the 

serene and s e p a r a t e arena of the c o u r t complex. 

The e x c l u s i v e a r i s t o c r a t i c nature o f the pageantry t h a t the 

f e s t i v a l engravings p r e s e n t are a departure from e a r l i e r 

t r i u m p h a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s . As of the l a t e Middle Ages, the 

d e p i c t i o n o f t r i u m p h a l p r o c e s s i o n s became the most f r e q u e n t l y 

used m o t i f , next t o r e l i g i o u s themes, f o r the g l o r i f i c a t i o n of 
5 . 

German r u l e r s . For the German i m p e r i a l c o u r t , and l a t e r , f o r 

t e r r i t o r i a l d u c a l c o u r t s , the t r i u m p h a l p r o c e s s i o n formed the 

c e n t r a l element of c o u r t c e r e m o n i a l . 6 In these ceremonies, 

the presence of c i t y f a t h e r s , g u i l d members and c l e r g y , had a 

l e g a l i s t i c f u n c t i o n i n which the bond between v a r i o u s e s t a t e s 

and the r u l e r was made e v i d e n t and r e a f f i r m e d . In France and 

elsewhere the p r o c e s s i o n l o s t i t s v a l i d a t i n g f u n c t i o n i n 

c o n s t i t u t i o n a l matters w i t h the growth of a b s o l u t i s m , but i n 



27 

those s t a t e s where the r i g h t s o f the e s t a t e s s t i l l h e l d 

s o v e r e i g n power i n check, the t r i u m p h a l p r o c e s s i o n c o n t i n u e d 
7 

t o c o n f i r m the t i e s between s o c i a l s t r a t a . 

The s t a g i n g of t r i u m p h a l p r o c e s s i o n s i n German t e r r i t o r i e s was 

a p r i v i l e g e t e r r i t o r i a l dukes had t o usurp f o r themselves (the 

use of t h i s ceremonial as a r i g h t o f the secondary s o v e r e i g n s 

was o n l y c o d i f i e d by the Peace of W e s t p h a l i a ) . The format of 

the engravings makes e v i d e n t the Wurttemberg c o u r t ' s 

conversance w i t h t h i s s t r a t e g y of government, but omitted from 

the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of the triumphal p r o c e s s i o n are images of 

the e s t a t e s t h a t do not form a p a r t of the d u c a l e n c l a v e . 

T h i s was not an a r b i t r a r y omission. The v i s u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n 

o f the p r o c e s s i o n i s meant t o convey an i m p r e s s i o n o f an 

a b s o l u t i s t c o u r t powerful enough t o do away w i t h a c t s o f 

s u b j u g a t i o n by i t s s u b j e c t s , even i f i n the a c t u a l event those 

elements were r e t a i n e d . 

The demonstration of a c o n f i d e n t a l l - c o u r t l y t r i u m p h a l 

p r o c e s s i o n might d i s c l o s e one audience f o r the f e s t i v a l 

engravings. Were the primary r e c i p i e n t s o f the show of power 

the c o u r t i e r s and a d v i s o r s of the duke? I t was a f t e r a l l t h i s 

group, as the f e s t i v a l h i s t o r i a n Berns p o i n t s out, t h a t h e l d 
9 

the g r e a t e s t danger f o r the r u l e r . A c c o r d i n g t o Berns, the 

p r i n c e ' s f e a r of h i s o f f i c i a l s and h i s c l o s e s t r e l a t i v e s was 

the most c o n s i s t e n t theme of German baroque drama; t h e r e the 

m o t i f s o f tyranny, r e g i c i d e , t r e a c h e r y and i n t r i g u e were 



28 

t i r e l e s s l y p l a y e d out. As a safeguard a g a i n s t such s t r i f e , 

the c o u r t ceremonial p r o v i d e d the means by which the duke and 

h i s s e l e c t e d c o u r t i e r s c o u l d make a show of mutual dependence 

and support. The pages of the f e s t i v a l book allowed the 

d e p i c t e d costume parade t o c o n f i r m the make-up o f the c o u r t l y 

r e t i n u e . 

T h i s f u n c t i o n o f the ceremonial i s g i v e n g r a p h i c e x p r e s s i o n i n 

t h e l e n g t h y f r i e z e - l i k e form o f the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n t h a t takes 

as i t s model the e a r l y 16th century woodcut s e r i e s Emperor 

M a x i m i l i a n I commissioned t o c e l e b r a t e h i m s e l f . While 

M a x i m i l i a n ' s i l l u s t r a t e d pageantry was not bound by a demand 

t o d e p i c t an a c t u a l event, h i s t r i u m p h a l paper p r o c e s s i o n s 

were emulated i n l a t e r event-based f e s t i v a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . 

And t h i s o v e r l y l o n g format, d e s c r i b e d by one a r t h i s t o r i a n as 

s a c r i f i c i n g impact by a s t u l t i f y i n g q u a n t i t y o f images " t h a t 

have no shore and no h o r i z o n " , n e v e r t h e l e s s proved u s e f u l t o 

t r a n s l a t e the week l o n g f e s t i v a l i n t o a Maximilianesque 

t r i u m p h a l e n t r y . 1 1 The core o f the engraving book i s a 

t r a d i t i o n a l band of images, t h a t u n l i k e M a x i m i l i a n ' s , f e a t u r e s 

o n l y costumed nobles p a r a d i n g a c r o s s e i g h t y pages w i t h blank 

backgrounds. The e l a b o r a t e pageantry of c h i v a l r i c e x e r c i s e s 

are the elements of the f e s t i v a l t h a t are the s u b j e c t of 

almost a l l o f the i l l u s t r a t i o n s . Introduced by ornamented 

t i t l e pages of coats-of-arms and the l e n g t h y names o f 

h i g h - r a n k i n g a r i s t o c r a t s , the main noble p r e s e n t e r s are shown 

accompanied by numerous a t t e n d a n t s . Trumpeters, s a d d l e boys 



2 9 

and s e r v a n t s are r e p r e s e n t e d i n s e v e r a l s e p a r a t e engravings; 

t h e i r number i n accordance w i t h the importance of the p r i n c e l y 

a c t o r i n each segment of the r e p r e s e n t e d parade. The 

p o r t r a y a l of a t t e n d a n t s i n o n l y s l i g h t l y v a r i e d poses over 

s e v e r a l p l a t e s u n d e r l i n e s t h e i r s i g n i f i c a n c e as s t a t u s - g i v e r s . 

What appears a t f i r s t t o be an unnecessary r e p e t i t i o n o f 

f i g u r e s has a f u n c t i o n i n emphasizing the r e l a t i v e importance 

o f each p r i n c e r e p r e s e n t e d . 

T h i s r e l e n t l e s s d i s p l a y of rank i s a theme t h a t i s a l s o found 

i n Assum's commissioned poetry, where a l l the members o f each 
1 2 

p r i n c e ' s entourage are named f o r a German audience. The 

engravings a t l e a s t were e n l i v e n e d w i t h d e p i c t i o n s of costume 

and ornament i n o f f e r i n g r e c o r d s of each p a r t i c i p a n t ' s p l a c e 

i n the h i e r a r c h i e s of German t e r r i t o r i a l c o u r t s as w e l l as of 

the i n d i v i d u a l ' s r a n k i n g w i t h i n each c o u r t . The v i s u a l and 

t e x t u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s are marked by the f u n c t i o n o f c o u r t 

f e s t i v a l s t o make e x p l i c i t the p l a c e of the c o u r t v i s - a - v i s 

the o u t s i d e world as w e l l as d e f i n i n g i t s i n n e r s t r u c t u r e . 

While the c o u r t - c e n t e r e d s u b j e c t of the engravings s e r v e d t o 

send the message t h a t the s t a t u s o f the duchy of Wurttemberg 

was equal t o t h a t of the r a n k i n g European c o u r t s , i t s c o u r t l y 

focus a l s o had a l o c a l dimension. The f e s t i v a l and i t s 

g r a p h i c commemoration form a p a r t of the p o l i t i c a l manoeuvres 

t h a t Wurttemberg dukes had u t i l i z e d along what the American 

h i s t o r i a n James A l l e n Vann has c a l l e d "...the road t o s t r o n g , 



30 

a g g r e s s i v e c e n t r a l government (which) was f i l l e d w i t h loops 
13 

and t w i s t s . " T h i s "looped road" has been the s u b j e c t of 
14 

monographs by c o n s t i t u t i o n a l h i s t o r i a n s . These s t u d i e s 

p r e s e n t a p i c t u r e o f the duchy t h a t d i f f e r s markedly from the 

a b s o l u t i s t image the c o u r t p r e s e n t e d i n the f e s t i v a l book. 

In the fragmented Holy Roman Empire of the German N a t i o n , the 

southwestern area had the l a r g e s t number of f r e e i m p e r i a l 

c i t i e s and t h i s urban element i n f l u e n c e d the make-up o f the 
15 

l a r g e r t e r r i t o r i e s such as Wurttemberg. 
"The g r e a t e r urban d e n s i t y o f the German southwest l e n t a 
more bourgeois c h a r a c t e r t o t h a t p a r t of the empire than 
t o o t h e r r e g i o n s of i t . But middle c l a s s c u l t u r e and 
middle c l a s s v a l u e s were not c o n f i n e d t o the f r e e towns 
a l o n e . The l a r g e s t duchy of Swabia, Wurttemberg, was 
a l s o t h e ^ o s t bourgeois t e r r i t o r y i n the Holy Roman 
Empire." 

While the burghers p l a y e d a l e a d i n g r o l e i n g o v e r n i n g the 

towns, the "bourgeois" c h a r a c t e r of Wurttemberg must not be 

read as t h a t of a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s emancipatory c l a s s , r a t h e r as 

one t h a t sought t o p r e s e r v e i t s p r i v i l e g e s i n the e s t a t e 
17 

h i e r a r c h y . The l e a d e r s h i p of the towns was i n the hands of 

a p a t r i c i a n c l a s s , the "Ehrbaren" or n o t a b l e s . In the l a r g e r 

c i t i e s of S t u t t g a r t or Tubingen, the " E h r b a r k e i t " had as much 

a t stake i n the s t a t u s quo as the d u c a l f a m i l y . The 

" E h r b a r k e i t " o f the l a r g e r urban c e n t r e s had l a r g e 

l a n d h o l d i n g s and can not be seen i n any sense as advocates f o r 
18 

the lower e s t a t e s . The "Ehrbaren" ran the f i f t y - e i g h t 

"Aemter" o r b a s i c l o c a l p o l i t i c a l u n i t s o f the t e r r i t o r y which 



31 

were the i n s t i t u t i o n s by which d u c a l c o n t r o l was 
. . 19 

a d m i n i s t e r e d . 

The n o t a b l e s , through the a d m i n i s t r a t i v e powers they h e l d i n 

t h e towns, were a b l e t o c o n s o l i d a t e t h e i r p o s i t i o n i n t o a 

p o l i t i c a l f o r c e w i t h i n the t e r r i t o r y . T h i s group d i d not so 

much r e p r e s e n t an economic c l a s s because t h e r e were wide 

d i f f e r e n c e s i n wealth among them, but r a t h e r i t r e p r e s e n t e d a 

p o l i t i c a l e l i t e whose p l a c e s i n the town m a g i s t r a c i e s a f f o r d e d 

them the r i g h t t o e x e r t p o l i t i c a l a u t h o r i t y i n t h e i r l o c a l 
20 

areas as w e l l as on the t e r r i t o r i a l l e v e l . These l o c a l 

" n o t a b l e s " p a r t i c i p a t e d i n the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f the s t a t e 

through t h e i r p o s i t i o n as the c o n s t i t u e n t members o f the 

"Landtag" o r t e r r i t o r i a l p a r l i a m e n t . 

While the Landtag, the p a r l i a m e n t a r y assembly of " n o t a b l e s " , 

was i n s t i t u t e d as a mechanism f o r t e r r i t o r i a l c o n t r o l , i t 

a c t e d as a counterweight t o d u c a l power. Throughout the 

s i x t e e n t h century, Wurttemberg dukes, empowered by the 

Reformation, had sought t o expand t h e i r sphere o f i n f l u e n c e . 

At the end of t h a t century, the r u l e of F r i e d r i c h I 

(1598-1608) was marked by an impetus t o i n c r e a s e d u c a l 

a u t h o r i t y . Duke F r i e d r i c h ' s e f f o r t s t o e s t a b l i s h a s t a n d i n g 

army, t o expand t r a d e and p r o d u c t i o n , t o i n s t i t u t e a s c h o o l t o 

t r a i n a r i s t o c r a t s f o r c o u r t s e r v i c e , t o c a r r y on d i p l o m a t i c 

r e l a t i o n s w i t h f o r e i g n P r o t e s t a n t s t a t e s and t o expand the 

d u c a l r o l e v i a a p r i v y c o u n c i l j o i n e d h i s c u l t u r a l patronage 



3 2 

t o promote a s t r o n g monarchy. He added t o h i s p r e d e c e s s o r ' s 

a r c h i t e c t u r a l i n n o v a t i o n s and adopted the l a v i s h c o u r t s t y l e 

he had observed i n h i s t r a v e l s . Among F r i e d r i c h ' s 

accomplishments was h i s i n d u c t i o n i n t o the Order o f the G a r t e r 
2 1 

- which a f t e r a l o n g campaign was f i n a l l y bestowed upon him. 

F r i e d r i c h ' s ambitious r e s t r u c t u r i n g of d u c a l a u t h o r i t y 

i n v o l v e d d i s e n f r a n c h i s i n g the Landtag; he r u l e d without 

p a r l i a m e n t a r y i n p u t - fewer and fewer p a r l i a m e n t a r y s e s s i o n s 

took p l a c e d u r i n g h i s r e i g n - and he a s s i g n e d h i s p e r s o n a l 
2 2 

a d v i s o r s t o take over t h a t body's a d m i n i s t r a t i v e f u n c t i o n s . 

An extravagant c o u r t c u l t u r e gave e x p r e s s i o n t o F r i e d r i c h ' s 

new p o l i t i c a l system, a system based on what the h i s t o r i a n 

Jurgen von Kruedener has c h a r a c t e r i z e d as a " c h a r i s m a t i z a t i o n " 

of the d u c a l r o l e . The l e g i t i m i z a t i o n of g r e a t e r d u c a l 

s o v e r e i g n t y , a c c o r d i n g t o Kruedener, was t o be based on the 

p r o d u c t i o n of a s o c i a l - p s y c h o l o g i c a l e f f e c t t h a t was t o 

emanate from a d i s p l a y of majesty a t c o u r t . Kruedener 

d e s c r i b e s t h i s s t r a t e g y as b e i n g u n s u c c e s s f u l ; the i n d i c a t o r 

f o r t h i s b e i n g t h a t the duke had t o f a l l back on o l d e r c l a i m s 

t o a u t h o r i t y such as the unimpeachable nature o f h i s h i g h 
2 3 

o f f i c e and of h i s d y n a s t i c h e r i t a g e . 

During F r i e d r i c h ' s r e i g n , c o n f l i c t between the duke and h i s 

p a r l i a m e n t a r i a n s grew t o the p o i n t where the p a r l i a m e n t seemed 
2 4 

t o have been e c l i p s e d . But when F r i e d r i c h ' s sudden death 

brought Johann F r i e d r i c h t o power, the new duke f e l t he needed 



33 

p a r l i a m e n t a r y a p p r o v a l , e s p e c i a l l y i t s f i n a n c i a l support, t o 

s t e p i n t o the c o n f e s s i o n a l c o n f l i c t by j o i n i n g the P r o t e s t a n t 
25 

Union. In 1608 Johann F r i e d r i c h r e c a l l e d the Landtag and 
s t a t e d t h a t the g o a l o f h i s p o l i c i e s was t o be the r e s t o r a t i o n 

o f "the o l d , good-hearted, t r u s t i n g a f f e c t i o n " between r u l e r 
2 6 

and s u b j e c t s . N e v e r t h e l e s s Johann F r i e d r i c h pursued o t h e r 
s t r a t e g i e s t o b u t t r e s s d u c a l a u t h o r i t y . 

"About the same time he a l s o c l a i m e d the r i g h t o f 
a p p o i n t i n g a l l parsons and deacons: a new system was 
b e g i n n i n g . Probably f o r s i m i l a r reasons he p r e f e r r e d 
f o r e i g n e r s and noblemen as h i s o f f i c i a l s - a p o l i c y which 
was c o n t r a r y t o the t r e a t y o f Tubingen ( c o n s t i t u t i o n of 
1514) - w h i l e h i t h e r t o most o f the d u c a l c o u n c i l l o r s and 
o f f i c i a l s had been from the ranks of the urban 
" E h r b a r k e i t " which a l s o dominated the E s t a t e s . " 

Nor d i d Johann F r i e d r i c h abandon h i s f a t h e r ' s c u l t u r a l 

patronage s t r a t e g i e s even i f the Landtag advocated a r e t u r n t o 

the o l d p a t r i a r c h a l r o l e of the duke. P a r l i a m e n t a r y 

d i s p l e a s u r e w i t h d u c a l programs i s r e c o r d e d i n the Landtag 

documents o f 1610: 

"When the excess and the f o r e i g n splendour and 
m a g n i f i c e n c e brought i n by s t r a n g e r s i s removed and 
t h i n g s a t c o u r t are d i r e c t e d i n the o l d , simple, y e t 
p r a i s e w o r t h y German manner so i t w i l l f o l l o w t h a t i n a 
s h o r t time the t r o u b l e s and debts w i l l end and a good 
supply o f money w i l l amass; such o l d Wurttembergian 
custom w i l l not be d e t r i m e n t a l t o the d u c a l r e p u t a t i o n , 
as the young or the misinformed, or those i n the s p e l l of 
f o r e i g n splendour or o t h e r well-meaning s o u l s might 
suppose; the duke's pre-eminence and r e p u t a t i o n does not 
r e s t on a l a r g e c o u r t r e t i n u e , outward ornament, and 
apparatus, which i s c a l l e d 'magnas p h a n t a s i a s ' i n h o l y 
s c r i p t u r e s , much r a t h e r on the duke's courage and 
manliness, s t e r n defense of the t r u e f a i t h and b e n e f i c i a l 
j u s t i c e , good p o l i c i e s both f o r the common f a t h e r l a n d and 
poor s u b j e c t s , and o t h e r eminent h e r o i c v i r t u e s and 
a t t r i b u t e s of which (the almighty be thanked) our now 
r e i g n i n g g r a c i o u s duke has no l a c k . J u s t as the 
Wurttemberg dukes of the l a s t 100 y e a r s have been h e l d i n 
h i g h esteem both i n s i d e and o u t s i d e the empire without 
any s p e c i a l g r e a t apparatus." 



3 4 

T h i s document r e v e a l s t h a t d u c a l attempts a t " c h a r i s m a t i s i n g " 

were no mystery t o the " n o t a b l e s " ; d u c a l e f f o r t s a t assuming 

the s t y l e o f f o r e i g n c o u r t s were t r a n s p a r e n t as c o s t l y 

s t r a t e g i e s t o abrogate t h e i r r i g h t s and p r i v i l e g e s . The 

Landtag demanded a r e t u r n t o the o l d r o l e o f the duke, t h a t of 

the p a t r i a r c h who r u l e d by v i r t u e o f h i g h moral p r i n c i p l e s and 

h i s g u a r d i a n s h i p of Lutheran orthodoxy. The Landtag's 

admonitions d i d not h i n d e r Johann F r i e d r i c h ' s resumption of a 

l a v i s h c o u r t c u l t u r e ; the f e s t i v a l r e c o r d s from the 1616 

Baptism f e s t i v a l a t t e s t t o t h i s . The duke seemed determined 

t o pursue h i s f a t h e r ' s p o l i c i e s of e l e v a t i n g h i s s t a t u r e by 

g a i n i n g esteem from o u t s i d e the t e r r i t o r y . The h i s t o r i a n 

Grube c i t e s t h a t i n the duke•s r e b u t t a l t o the Landtag•s 

r e p r o o f s , Johann F r i e d r i c h complained t h a t he was honored more 
29 

by f o r e i g n p o t e n t a t e s than by h i s own s u b j e c t s . 

The engravings r e p r e s e n t a l o f t y c o u r t s o c i e t y i n which 

s u b j e c t s p l a y no r o l e . The p r i n t e d images address the Landtag 

w i t h a d e n i a l of t h e i r demands f o r a v i r t u o u s p a t r i a r c h who i s 

c o n t e n t w i t h h i s p l a c e i n the l o c a l e s t a t e h i e r a r c h y . The 

v i s u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a v o i d s the r e t a r d a t o r y e s t a t e s t r u c t u r e 

o f Wurttemberg and submits an image of a c o u r t t h a t i s i n t e n t 

on t a k i n g i t s p l a c e i n an i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o n t e x t o f c e n t r a l i z e d 

c o u r t s . 

To r e p r e s e n t i t s e l f as an equal t o the more powerful c o u r t s , 

the Wurttemberg c o u r t employed some a r t i s t s who, through t h e i r 



35 

e x p e r i e n c e of f o r e i g n c o u r t s , were proven i n the a r t s o f r u l e r 

g l o r i f i c a t i o n . The engraver Merian, who was r e s p o n s i b l e f o r 

p a r t s of the g r a p h i c d e p i c t i o n o f the baptism f e s t i v a l had 

worked on a number o f r o y a l commissions i n France. H i s 

e a r l i e s t c l a i m t o fame was h i s work on the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of 

the "Pompes funebres du Due C h a r l e s I I I de L o r r a i n e " of 
30 . . 1610. In the f o l l o w i n g y e a r s Merian worked on the 

g l o r i f i c a t i o n programs of the young L o u i s X I I I and h i s mother 

Maria de M e d i c i s ; i n 1615, he produced two engravings t o 

commemorate the Bordeaux wedding o f L o u i s t o the Spanish 
31 

i n f a n t a . The secondary Wurttemberg c o u r t h i r e d a r t i s t s who 

were f a m i l i a r w i t h the s t y l e c u r r e n t i n the l a r g e r western 

European c o u r t s i n order t o address these c o u r t s . P a r t o f the 

w r i t t e n program f o r the Wurttemberg f e s t i v a l o f 1616 was l e f t 

t o Georg Rudolf Weckherlin, who had l e a r n e d the s t y l e and 
32 

manners of f o r e i g n c o u r t s i n h i s t r a v e l s . H i s l i n g u i s t i c 
a b i l i t i e s allowed him t o address h i s Triumf t o E l i z a b e t h 
S t u a r t i n her mother tongue and t o compose v e r s e s i n French 

33 

and L a t i n . The p o l y g l o t nature of Weckherlin's p o e t r y and 

Merian's c o u r t l y work h i s t o r y p o i n t t o the Wurttemberg duke's 

s t r i v i n g s t o g i v e h i s c o u r t an i n t e r n a t i o n a l aura and 

importance. The v i s u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f an e x c l u s i v e 

a r i s t o c r a t i c pageant forms a p a r t of the same p r o j e c t t o 

p r e s e n t the Wurttemberg c o u r t as a modern a b s o l u t i s t s t a t e t o 

an i n t e r n a t i o n a l audience. The t r i u m p h a l p r o c e s s i o n composed 

o n l y of h i g h nobles can be read as a single-minded campaign t o 



36 

p r e s e n t a powerful u n f e t t e r e d c o u r t i n which lower e s t a t e 

o r d e r s do not p a r t i c i p a t e . 

T h i s campaign c o n t i n u e s i n the t e x t s where the poets l a y c l a i m 

t o an e l e v a t e d and h i e r a r c h i c a l l y d e f i n e d language and content 

i n o r d e r t o c o n s t r u c t an e x c l u s i v e audience. The e l e g a n t 

t r i u m p h a l form o f the v i s u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n and i t s c o u r t l y 

c o n t e n t s are m i r r o r e d i n Assum's i n t r o d u c t i o n t o h i s 

composition. Assum promotes the e r u d i t e and e x c l u s i v e nature 

o f h i s w r i t i n g by s e t t i n g up a most i n t e r e s t i n g c u l t u r a l 

d i v i s i o n : 

"And so d i d order and wish H i s Ducal Grace/ t h a t he, 
P h i l o p a t r i s (Assum's nom-de-plume)/ s h o u l d summarize a l l 
the memorable proceedings most d i l i g e n t l y i n h i g h German 
language/ n e v e r t h e l e s s not l i k e the common R e l a t i o n e 
H i s t o r i c a , as i n the weekly newsheets/ o r those t h a t the 
F r a n k f u r t s p r i n g and f a l l f a i r s b r i n g / Rather i n such 
manner o f i n v e n t i o n and d i s p o s i t i o n : so t h a t a l l persons 
o f h i g h e s t a t e and gentlemen/ along w i t h the 
h i g h l y - p r a i s e d l a d i e s / be hereby enabled and s t i m u l a t e d 
t o a l i v e l y r e a d i n g / and the w o r l d l y - w i s e and l e a r n e d t o 
many • D i s c o u r s ' " . 

Assum's d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n between the audience of book f a i r 

t r a c t s and h i s e l e g a n t c o u r t l y book cannot h e l p t o gauge who 

the r e a d e r s of the t e x t a c t u a l l y were. As J o s e M a r a v a l l 

s t a t e d i n C u l t u r e of the Baroque: " . . . i n the seventeenth 

c e n t u r y the d i a t r i b e a g a i n s t the common people became 

aggravated p r e c i s e l y i n those works d e s t i n e d f o r widespread 
35 

consumption..." I t i s worth n o t i n g t h a t Assum's contempt 
f o r p o p u l a r newsheets may come out o f d e s i r e of the c o u r t t o 

pre-empt the u n a u t h o r i z e d d i f f u s i o n of newspaper accounts o f 
3 6 

the f e s t i v a l . S i n c e we know l i t t l e of how t h i s book was 



37 

c i r c u l a t e d , i t i s not p o s s i b l e t o a s c e r t a i n t h a t h i s 

" R e l a t i o n " had o n l y a c o u r t l y r e a d e r s h i p . What i s c l e a r , 

though, i s t h a t the author emphasized t h a t t h e r e i s a cleavage 

between the c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n o f the c o u r t , such as h i s 

work, and the "common" books a v a i l a b l e a t the F r a n k f u r t f a i r s . 

Assum's advertisement f o r the i n a c c e s s i b i l i t y of h i s n a r r a t i o n 

t o those o f l e s s than e l e v a t e d s o c i a l o r i g i n s i s echoed i n h i s 

account o f how the c o u r t attempts t o c o n t r o l audiences. 

Assum's account made b r i e f mention of o r g a n i z e d and s a n c t i o n e d 

p a r t i c i p a t i o n by non-nobles. In the ceremony h e l d t o g r e e t 

the most important H e i d e l b e r g guests a t the entrance t o the 

c i t y , Assum's account has "800 s e l e c t e d burghers b e a r i n g 

weapons" who are d e s c r i b e d as " j o y f u l l y s t a n d i n g 
37 . . s e p a r a t e l y . " The j o y f u l burghers do not f i n d t h e i r p l a c e 

i n t o t h e engravings, nor do they appear i n Weckherlin's t e x t ; 

the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of such a demonstration o f f e a l t y may have 

been c o n s i d e r e d t o have been too outmoded t o be worthy of 

commemoration. While the a c t u a l event s t i l l used the 

t r i u m p h a l e n t r y as a ceremony t o c o n f i r m t i e s between s o c i a l 

s t r a t a , the v i s u a l and t e x t u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i s marked by an 

i n t e n t t o c o n s t r u c t a new s e l f - c o n s c i o u s l y a r i s t o c r a t i c image 

o f the c o u r t . The e x c l u s i o n of the lower e s t a t e s from the 

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s m i r r o r s the e l e v a t e d c u l t u r a l h o r i z o n Assum 

c l a i m s f o r h i s t e x t . Both the t e x t s and the engravings 

c o n t a i n the i n t e n t t o speak i n a h i e r a r c h i c a l l y d i f f e r e n t i a t e d 



38 

language, but t h i s language may be d i r e c t e d a t those s o c i a l 

s t r a t a i t aims t o exclude. 

U n l i k e Assum's p o e t r y , the elegance and c o u r t l i n e s s o f 

Weckherlin's Triumf d i d not need t o be p r e f a c e d by c l a i m s t o 

e x c l u s i v i t y . The i n n o v a t i o n of French v e r s e form, which he 

i n t r o d u c e d i n t o German poetry, s u f f i c e d t o demonstrate the 

grandeur o f the genre. In Weckherlin, the new Wurttemberg 

c o u r t c u l t u r e had found a poet, who was capable of i n v e s t i n g 

the c o u r t l y pomp and magnificence of the f e s t i v i t i e s i n a 

f i t t i n g language. While Weckherlin's t e x t , l i k e the p r i n t s , 

f o c u s s e d on the e l a b o r a t e costumed p r o c e s s i o n s which he 

a r t f u l l y c o n v e r t e d i n t o a parade of m y t h o l o g i c a l and 

h i s t o r i c a l monarchs; the amazed c i t i z e n r y i s mentioned o n l y 

c u r s o r i l y . To observe the "gorgious o s t e n t a t i o n s " o f "our 

w o r t h i e s and k n i g h t s " : 

"The people runneth from a l l s i d e s t o the garden: t h e r e 
i s a s t r a n g e crowd: the s c a f f o l d s are f u l l : so are the 
t r e e s : the tops and windows of a l l houses and towr's 
t h e r e a b o u t are f i l l e d w i t h s p e c t a t o u r s . Ioy i s every 
where." 

Crowds l i n e the s e t t i n g of each event: 

"As soone as the beames of the sunne d i d g u i l d the toppes 
o f the mountaines, the s c a f f o l d s i n the t i l t - g a r d e n were 
againe f i l l e d w i t h people. The m a g n i f i c e n c e had 
y e s t e r d a y so much d e l i g h t e d the eyes o f the s p e c t a t o u r s ; 
and n e v e r - s i l e n t Fame d i d thus t h i c k l e the eares, and 
i n t i c e the mind of those, t h a t e i t h e r by too much 
b u s i n e s s e , or too g r e a t an i d l e n e s s e had n e g l e c t e d so 
r a r e a s i g h t , t h a t now th'one as w e l l as t h ' o t h e r s 
t h r u s t e d i n t o the p l a c e , and waited t h e r e p a t i e n t l y f o r 
the midday." 

Weckherlin's crowds are no more than a p a t i e n t l y w a i t i n g -

backdrop t o the e x t e n s i v e l y and m e t a p h o r i c a l l y d e s c r i b e d 



39 

U t o p i a n scenes o f heroes and gods, even t h e i r " i d l e n e s s e " was 

o n l y t o t h e i r own disadvantage. 

Assum's t e x t , however, g i v e s a p i c t u r e o f crowds t h a t need t o 

be c o n t r o l l e d . As the p r i n c e s , dukes and o t h e r nobles ( l i s t e d 

a c c o r d i n g t o rank) proceed by c a r r i a g e and horseback from the 

banquet i n the o l d S c h l o s s t o the new Lusthaus, t h e guards and 

a t t e n d a n t s who f o l l o w them have a hard time f e n d i n g o f f the 

d i s o r d e r l y crowd of common f o l k assembled i n the g a r d e n s . 4 0 

These p a l a c e guards then proceeded i n t o the Lusthaus b a l l r o o m 

t o keep the middle of the room f r e e ( f o r the b a l l e t 

performance?). The tournament p r o c e s s i o n s seem t o have 

p r e s e n t e d crowd c o n t r o l problems as w e l l , a c c o r d i n g t o Assum: 

"Then one c o u l d c l e a r l y see, l o o k i n g down from the 
windows o f the c a s t l e , how the e r e c t e d hoardings on the 
r i g h t s i d e of the tournament grounds were taken up and 
f i l l e d w i t h thousands of men and women-folk, so t h a t 
d i f f e r e n c e s c o u l d not be made i n keeping w i t h the 
p r o p r i e t y o f the s e s s i o n : s i n c e one had not e n l i s t e d the 
h e l p o f the guards and a t t e n d a n t s i n time t o f i l l the 
p r e s c r i b e d and d i s t i n c t p l a c e s f o r the noble knighthood, 
the l e a r n e d c l e r g y and persons of renown: and t o b a n i s h 
the d i s o r d e r l y heaped r a b b l e t o t h e i r s p e c i a l 
q u a r t e r s . " 

The nobles, each named i n order o f rank, are then shown t o 

proceed w i t h t h e i r p r e p a r a t i o n s , without harassment or 

displacement by the u n r u l y mob. Assum's g u i l e l e s s account of 

t h e " i n a b i l i t y " of p a l a c e guards t o secure the r i g h t f u l p l a c e 

o f honor f o r the knighthood, the c l e r g y and the " n o t a b l e s " , 

which he d e l i v e r s from the h e i g h t s o f the c a s t l e , makes 

t r a n s p a r e n t how the f e s t i v a l was used t o d i s t i n g u i s h and 

d i s t a n c e c o u r t s o c i e t y from those groups immediately below i n 



40 

the e s t a t e o r d e r . T h i s s t r a t e g y served t o sever the pyramid 

of e s t a t e h i e r a r c h y by e l e v a t i n g the t i p of t h i s s t r u c t u r e : 

the duke and h i s c o u r t . By e x c l u d i n g the burgher e l i t e from 

t h e i r p l a c e i n the f e s t i v a l , t h i s e l i t e found i t s e l f abandoned 

t o the r a b b l e o f s u b j e c t s who s t r a i n e d t o see the s p e c t a c l e of 

a r i s t o c r a t i c m a g n i f i c e n c e . 

T h i s program o f e x c l u s i o n was not c o n f i n e d t o t h i s ceremonial 

o c c a s i o n but had i t s c o u n t e r p a r t s i n o t h e r a r e a s . 

D i s p u t e s arose i n the 1610's about the a c c e s s i b i l i t y o f 

e d u c a t i o n . The Landtag saw t h i s path t o v e r t i c a l s o c i a l 

m o b i l i t y and c o u r t employment c l o s i n g and asked f o r access t o 

t h e a r i s t o c r a t i c "Collegium I l l u s t r e " , the s c h o o l f o r 

c o u r t i e r s , f o r i t s sons. Johann F r i e d r i c h r e p l i e d t h a t he 

would t e a r the "Collegium" down b e f o r e "peasant c h i l d r e n " were 
42 

admitted. In 1620, the duke r e l e a s e d a l l burghers from 
t h e i r p o s i t i o n s as p a l a c e guards; from then on they were t o 

43 

a c t as n i g h t watchmen o u t s i d e the c o u r t b u i l d i n g s . The 

f e s t i v a l engravings, Weckherlin's p a n e g y r i c , and Assum's l e s s 

r i g o r o u s account are a l l marked by t h i s same impetus t o 

c o n s t r u c t an e x c l u s i v e c o u r t s o c i e t y . Looked a t i n t h i s 

l i g h t , the f e s t i v a l and i t s images d i s c l o s e a s t r a t e g y t o 

d i s e n f r a n c h i s e i t s powerful " E h r b a r k e i t " w h i l e a s s e r t i n g the 

rank o f the c o u r t w i t h i n and o u t s i d e the German Empire. 

The " n o t a b l e s " r e l e g a t e d t o the u n d i f f e r e n t i a t e d mob as 

s p e c t a t o r s , are p a r a d o x i c a l l y , by t h i s a c t of e x c l u s i o n , 



41 

foregrounded as r e c i p i e n t s of the d i s p l a y of c o u r t l y 

m a g n i f i c e n c e . T h i s powerful p a t r i c i a n c l a s s , through t h e i r 

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n the p a r l i a m e n t , o f f e r e d the g r e a t e s t 

impediment t o expansion of d u c a l power. In t h a t moment o f 

c o n f e s s i o n a l c o n f l i c t , the c o u r t s t r o v e t o a s s e r t i t s e l f as 

t h e s o l e l o c u s o f a u t h o r i t y and f o r e i g n p o l i c y a d m i n i s t r a t i o n 

v i a a program o f c u l t u r a l aggrandizement. T h i s c u l t u r a l 

program i s extended i n the t e x t u a l commissions o f t h e f e s t i v a l 

which i n s i s t on the s o c i a l l y e l e v a t e d nature of t h e i r medium 

o f c o u r t l y d e s c r i p t i o n j u s t as the g r a p h i c medium submits an 

image o f an e x c l u s i v e a r i s t o c r a t i c s o c i a l sphere. 

1. These k i n d s o f p u b l i c a t i o n s appear i n l a r g e numbers i n 
German lands a f t e r the m i d - s i x t e e n t h c e n t u r y . Lexikon  
des Buchwesens. ed. Joachim K i r c h n e r , Bd. 1 ( S t u t t g a r t , 
1952). 

2. The authors sent a l e t t e r t o the c i t y of Lucerne o f f e r i n g 
t h e i r works f o r s a l e . S t u t t g a r t e r H o f f e s t e . ed. L. Krapf 
and C. Wagenknecht (Tubingen, 1979), p.VII. 

3. The S t u t t g a r t c i v i c h i s t o r i a n Otto B o r s t r e p o r t s t h a t 
e a r l y t r a v e l guides, r e p o r t s and p e r s o n a l l e t t e r s 
e u l o g i z e d the beauty and magnificence o f the Wurttemberg 
c o u r t . S t u t t g a r t . Die G e s c h i c h t e der S t a d t ( S t u t t g a r t , 
1973), p.99. 

4. 0. B o r s t , p.100. 

5. K. T e n f e l d e , "Adventus, Zur h i s t o r i s c h e n I k o n o l o g i e " , 
H i s t o r i s c h e Z e i t s c h r i f t . Band 235 (1982), p.56. 

6. K. T e n f e l d e , p.57. 

7. K. T e n f e l d e , p.58. 



42 

8. K. T e n f e l d e , p.61. 

9. J o r g Jochen Berns, "Der nackte Monarch und d i e nackte 
Wahrheit", Daphnis, v o l . 11 (1982), p.325. 

10. J . Berns, p.325. 

11. Georg Dehio, G e s c h i c h t e der deutschen Kunst 
( L e i p z i g , 1 9 2 6 ) , p.21. 

12. The guest l i s t s , p u b l i s h e d t w i c e d u r i n g the f e s t i v a l , 
a l s o were comprehensive i n d i c a t o r s of wealth and s t a t u s . 
Each p r i n c e l y guest i s l i s t e d f o l l o w e d by an i n v e n t o r y of 
h i s entourage, c a t a l o g u e d a c c o r d i n g t o rank g i v i n g exact 
numbers of nobles, c i v i l s e r v a n t s , l a c k e y s , cooks, 
t a i l o r s , and d r i v e r s . They f u r t h e r served Assum t o 
p o p u l a t e h i s p a n e g y r i c w i t h the names of a l l the 
a r i s t o c r a t i c a c t o r s . L. Krapf and C. Wagenknecht, 
S t u t t g a r t e r H o f f e s t e (Tubingen, 1979), p.478. 

13. James A l l e n Vann, The Making of a S t a t e . Wurttemberg  
1593-1793 ( C o r n e l l , 1984), p.57. 

14. Vann, a l s o Walter Grube, Der S t u t t g a r t e r Landtag  
1457-1957 ( S t u t t g a r t , 1957). 

15. Helen P. L i e b e l , "The B o u r g e o i s i e i n Southwestern 
Germany, 1500-1789: A R i s i n g C l a s s ? " , I n t e r n a t i o n a l  
J o u r n a l o f H i s t o r y . 10(1965), p.285. 

16. H. L i e b e l , p.295. 

17. 0. B o r s t , o p . c i t . , p.74. 

18. O. B o r s t , pp.78-79. 

19. J.A. Vann, o p . c i t . , p.58. 

20. J.A. Vann, p.43. 

21. W i l l i a m Brenchley Rye, England as seen by F o r e i g n e r s 
(London, 1865), p. IX-XCII. From the y e a r 1592 on, 
F r i e d r i c h sent l e t t e r s and ambassadors t o Queen E l i z a b e t h 
t o ask f o r h i s i n d u c t i o n i n t o the Order of the G a r t e r : 
a f t e r e l e v e n years h i s s o l i c i t a t i o n s bore r e s u l t s . Rye 
c h r o n i c l e s the l e n g t h y and stubborn s u p p l i c a t i o n s by t h i s 
secondary monarch. 

22. E r n s t M u l l e r , K l e i n e G e s c h i c h t e Wurttembergs ( S t u t t g a r t , 
1963), pp.124-125. 

23. Jurgen von Kruedener, Die R o l l e des Hofes c i t e d i n I n g r i d 
L a u r i e n , 'Hofische' und 1 B u r g e r l i c h e 1 Elemente i n den 



43 

" G a i s t l i c h e n und W e l t l i c h e n G e d i c h t e n 1 Georg Rodolf  
Weckherlins (1648) ( S t u t t g a r t , 1981), pp.23-24. 

24. F.L. C a r s t e n , P r i n c e s and P a r l i a m e n t s i n Germany from the  
F i f t e e n t h t o the E i g h t e e n t h Century (Oxford, 1959), p.47. 

25. W. Grube, O p . c i t . , p.274. 

26. W. Grube, p.275. 

27. F.L. C a r s t e n , o p . c i t . , pp.51-52. 

28. C i t e d i n I. L a u r i e n , o p . c i t . , p.24. My t r a n s l a t i o n . 

29. W. Grube, o p . c i t . , p.275. 

30. L. H. Wuthrich, Das druckgraphische Werk von Matthaus  
Merian d. 'A' ( B a s e l , 1966), p.XI. 

31. L.H. Wuthrich, p.XII. 

32. I. L a u r i e n , o p . c i t . , p.26. 

33. I . L a u r i e n , p.27. 

34. Johann-Augustin Assum, Warhaffte r e l a t i o n . . . e t c . 
( S t u t t g a r t , 1616) p . l . My t r a n s l a t i o n . 

35. J . M a r a v a l l , C u l t u r e o f the Baroque (Minneapolis, 1986), 
p.93. 

36. While weekly newspapers were p u b l i s h e d i n German 
t e r r i t o r i e s s i n c e 1609, (Johann F r i e d r i c h ' s d i a r y 
r e c o r d s h i s r e c e i p t of such p u b l i c a t i o n s ) concerns about 
the dangers t h a t t h i s medium h e l d f o r r u l e r s were not 
v o i c e d u n t i l mid-century. J . J . Berns i n "Der nackte 
Monarch und d i e nackte Wahrheit" (ftn.9) a n a l y s e s the 
debate about newspapers t h a t takes p l a c e i n the l a t e 
seventeenth century. 

37. J.A. Assum, o p . c i t . , p.26. 

38. G.R. Weckherlin, Triumpha11 Shews. p.17. r e p r i n t e d i n 
S t u t t g a r t e r H o f f e s t e . o p . c i t . 

39. G.R. Weckherlin, p.86. 

40. J.A. Assum, o p . c i t . , p.28. My t r a n s l a t i o n . 

41. J.A. Assum, p . l . 2nd p a r t . My t r a n s l a t i o n . 

42. W. Grube, o p . c i t . , p.279. 

43. O. B o r s t , o p . c i t . , p.113. 



CHAPTER 2 

P r i n c e l y V i r t u e a n d t h e " K u b e l s t e c h e n " 

An a d v a n t a g e t h e t e x t u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s h a d o v e r t h e v i s u a l 

medium a s a n e x t e n s i o n o f t h e f e s t i v a l p r o g r a m was t h a t t h e 

c o u r t l y p o e t r y c o u l d d e c l a i m p r i n c e l y v i r t u e s i n a way t h e 

e n g r a v i n g s c o u l d n o t . B o t h t h e v i s u a l a n d t h e t e x t u a l 

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s c e n t e r e d o n t h e t h e a t r i c a l c h i v a l r i c e x e r c i s e s 

p e r f o r m e d b y n o b l e a c t o r s . I n t h e t e x t s t h e n a r r a t i v e i m p a c t 

o f t h e s e d r a m a t i c p e r f o r m a n c e s c o u l d b e r e p l i c a t e d t o 

u n d e r s c o r e a r i s t o c r a t i c v i r t u e s . I n t h e p r i n t e d i l l u s t r a t i o n s 

t h e s e d i d a c t i c p l a y s w e r e t r a n s p o s e d i n t o t h e t r i u m p h a l 

p r o c e s s i o n f o r m a t t h a t s e r v e d , a s we h a v e s e e n , t o i n d i c a t e 

i n n e r a n d i n t e r - c o u r t r a n k w h i l e p r o m o t i n g a v i s i o n o f 

e x c l u s i v e a r i s t o c r a t i c a u t h o r i t y . The t e x t s e u l o g i z e d t h e 

v i r t u e s t h a t j u s t i f i e d a r i s t o c r a t i c p r i v i l e g e a n d a n d 

p r o c l a i m e d t h e q u a l i t i e s t h a t d i s t i n g u i s h e d t h e h i g h n o b i l i t y 

a s l e g i t i m a t e r u l e r s . The p a r a d e o f l a v i s h l y c o s t u m e d n o b l e s 

r e p r e s e n t e d i n t h e e n g r a v i n g s c o u l d n o t s u f f i c i e n t l y b r i n g t h e 

r u l e r - l e g i t i m i z i n g c o n t e n t o f t h e c h i v a l r i c p l a y s t o l i f e . 

The p r e v i o u s c h a p t e r a n a l y z e d t h e p r o n o u n c e d a r i s t o c r a t i c a n d 

e x c l u s i v e n a t u r e o f t h e c o m m e m o r a t i v e v i s u a l a n d t e x t u a l 

c o m m i s s i o n s b y t h e c o u r t a n d s p e c u l a t e d o n w h i c h a u d i e n c e s 

t h i s m a t e r i a l was i n t e n d e d t o a d d r e s s . T h i s s e g m e n t w i l l 

e x a m i n e t h e s i n g l e e n g r a v i n g i n t h e s e r i e s w h i c h f e a t u r e s 

n o n - n o b l e s . The g r a p h i c d e p i c t i o n o f t h e " K u b e l s t e c h e n " 



45 

breaks rank w i t h the t r i u m p h a l p r o c e s s i o n format o f the s e r i e s 

and enjoys a prominence t h a t t h i s event i s not g i v e n i n the 

t e x t u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s ( f i g . 3 ) . Only Weckherlin's Triumphal1 

Shews expands on t h i s p a r t i c u l a r German p r a c t i c e i n t h i s 

E n g l i s h v e r s i o n d e d i c a t e d t o the E n g l i s h p r i n c e s s . S e v e r a l 

paragraphs are devoted t o the e x p l a n a t i o n o f the 

"Kubelstechen": 

"...the p r i n c e s s E l e c t r i c e her highnesse, a l l t h 1 o t h e r 
P r i n c e s , Lords and L a d i e s went a f t e r d i n n e r againe i n t o 
the t i l t - g a r d e n , t h e r e t o e n t e r t a i n e t h e i r t o o - w o r t h i e 
s i g h t w i t h an o t h e r turney, or r a t h e r a darke shadow of a 
turney, r e p r e s e n t e d by tub-headed a d v e n t u r e r s . T ' i s a 
s p o r t , I never saw but i n Germanie, and t h e r e f o r e doe I 
not know,, how t o tearme i t . But t o s e t i t downe the b e s t 
I can, me t h i n k s t h a t even as one may see the unspotted 
sun s h i n e i n a f i l t h i e puddle, or upon a d u n g h i l l , so 
doeth appeare some r e f l e c t i o n , o f the worthinesse of 
l u s t r o u s c h i v a l r i e on those c o u n t e r f e i t r i d e r s . For they 
are commonly horsekeepers and groomes o f the s t a b l e s , 
t h a t b e i n g armed, as I w i l l t e l l you, hazard themselves 
t o get some manie f a l l s without money, or some money not 
without f a l l s . " 

The poet goes on t o d e s c r i b e how. the r i d e r s who are " b l u n t l y 

g a r n i s h e d " i n "bigge sacks, bombasted w i t h hay" are 
2 

" c o n s t r a i n e d t o f a l l down"; The unwieldy g r a c e l e s s r i d e r s 
stage a performance i n which: 

"...some went over, f l y i n g l i k e s h i t t l e c o c k s , t h a t have 
but two f e a t h e r s : and o t h e r s , t h a t had more s k i l l i n 
horsemanship, h i t t i n g t h e i r ennemies d i d push themselves 
downe: so t h a t t h e r e was n o t h i n g seene but tumbling 
downe, and g e t t i n g up t o tumble down a g a i n . " 

T h i s p a i d performance by s t a b l e boys i s b r i e f l y mentioned i n 

H a i n h o f e r ' s r e p o r t as an amusement t h a t provokes much 

l a u g h t e r . Weckherlin's E n g l i s h d e s c r i p t i o n makes c l e a r t h a t 

t h i s b u f f o o n e r y i s performed as a clumsy c o n t r a s t t o the noble 

tournament. The poets do not devote many words, i n the German 



4 6 

t e x t s , t o t h i s event which d i v e r g e s from the grandeur of the 

p r e c e d i n g pageantry. 

In the engravings t h i s doomed c o n t e s t of awkward and b u l k y 

r i d e r s i s f a i t h f u l l y d e p i c t e d i n a p r i n t which f e a t u r e s the 

h a t c h e d - i n t e r r a i n where t h i s performance t a k e s p l a c e . The 

d i s o r d e r and g r a c e l e s s n e s s o f t h i s b a t t l e i s a c t e d out i n an 

"earthbound" space, i n c o n t r a s t w i t h the e t h e r e a l plane evoked 

by the blank h o r i z o n s of the noble parade. The f a c t t h a t t h i s 

scene o f f a l l e n and tumbling horsemen i s g i v e n a t t e n t i o n i n 

the g r a p h i c work p o i n t s t o i t s u s e f u l n e s s i n h i g h l i g h t i n g the 

l o f t y and u n a t t a i n a b l e nature of the a r i s t r o c r a t s 1 c h i v a l r i c 

d i s p l a y s . The "Kubelstechen", by i t s a n t i t h e s i s o f dynamic 

d i s a r r a y e n l i v e n s the r a t h e r u n i n s p i r i n g s u c c e s s i o n o f gods 

and heroes p r e s e n t e d i n the t r i u m p h a l p r o c e s s i o n format of the 

engravings. While t h i s p r o c e s s i o n arrangement o f the 

d e p i c t i o n s served w e l l t o d i s p l a y rank, the poet's t e x t s added 

another l a y e r o f meaning by i n c o r p o r a t i n g the " c a r t e l s " or 

c h a l l e n g e s , which were read out a t the f e s t i v a l b e f o r e each 

tournament d i s p l a y , i n t o t h e i r r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s . These v e r s e s 

(and sometimes songs) which are r e p r i n t e d i n Assum*s and 

Weckherlin's accounts, i d e n t i f y the k n i g h t l y a t t r i b u t e s shared 

by the p r e s e n t e r and h i s m y t h o l o g i c a l or h e r o i c a l t e r - e g o . 

T h i s was no mere p l a y - a c t i n g , as the f e s t i v a l h i s t o r i a n s 

Alewyn and S a l z l e p o i n t out: 

" I t i s no l e s s than the e x p r e s s i o n of a s o c i a l and 
p o l i t i c a l c l a i m . In the f e s t i v a l , c o u r t l y s o c i e t y 
a t t a i n s i t s most v a l i d form. In the f e s t i v a l , i t 
r e p r e s e n t s t h a t which i t wants t o be, t h a t which i t 



47 

imagines t o be, and i n any case, t h a t which i t wants t o 
appear t o be. I t i s an impassioned demonstration, i n 
which t h i s s o c i e t y uses a l l the r h e t o r i c a l metaphors w i t h 
which i t l i k e s t o c e l e b r a t e i t s e l f , as a mask, and tb^en 
i t l i f t s t h i s masquerade t o the l e v e l of mythology." 

In t h e v i s u a l medium, a l l t h i s masquerade, even i n i t s d i s p l a y 

of wealth and i n v e n t i o n , remains j u s t t h a t , and does not 

f u l f i l l the r e s i d u a l f u n c t i o n t h a t the o b s o l e t e c h i v a l r i c 

e x e r c i s e s d i s c l o s e i n the p o e t i c t e x t s . The poet p r o v i d e d the 

s t o r y , v i a the c a r t e l s , i n which the v i r t u e s o f the " k n i g h t s " 

were a c t e d out. The c a r t e l s were important because as one of 

Weckherlin's a s s e r t s : 

"The r e p u t a t i o n of a k n i g h t does not c o n s i s t i n outward 
shew, but i n t h a t h e e 5 i s a b l e t o performe and t o defend 
m e r r i l y and q u i e t l y . " 

The poet's s c r i p t allowed the p r i n c e l y a c t o r t o "performe or 

defend m e r r i l y and q u i e t l y " w i t h the assurance t h a t h i s 

a t t r i b u t e s (be they bravery, h u m i l i t y , c o n t i n e n c e , g e n e r o s i t y , 

etc.) would be expressed t o the audience. 

The tournament, having abandoned i t s medieval form o f combat 

as a t e s t o f the r u l e r ' s prowess, remains as an empty s h e l l of 

words which r e t a i n s an i d e o l o g i c a l f u n c t i o n . T h i s s h e l l now 

comprises v i r t u e s which are o n l y a t t r i b u t a b l e t o the formal 
7 . 

noble r u l i n g c l a s s . These v i r t u e s belong s o l e l y t o an e l i t e 

whose p o s i t i o n i s beyond q u e s t i o n . The f e s t i v a l , where these 

a r i s t o c r a t i c a t t r i b u t e s are a c t e d out and c e l e b r a t e d , then 

c o n f i r m s the c l a i m s t o power of the noble e l i t e as the s o l e 

h o l d e r s o f h e r o i c and g o d - l i k e v i r t u e s . 



48 

The a l l e g o r i c a l s c r i p t s convey the " i n n e r q u a l i t i e s " t h a t mark 

the r u l e r and t h a t speak t o the r o l e o f the duke t h a t the 

Landtag sought. In the f e s t i v a l , and i n i t s t e x t u a l 

documentation, the duke c o u l d a c t out r o l e s which 

a l l e g o r i c a l l y r e v e a l him t o be a j u s t , brave, and wise 

defender o f the f a i t h and the f a t h e r l a n d , a l b e i t i n a v e h i c l e 

the p a r l i a m e n t a r i a n s found w a s t e f u l and f o r e i g n . While the 

t e x t s imbued the k n i g h t l y p r e t e n s e s w i t h a c o n f i r m a t i o n of the 

moral c l a i m s t o power o f the c o u r t , the l e g i t i m i z i n g v i r t u e s 

o f the e l i t e c o u l d not be adequately underscored i n the 

engravings. Here, the d e p i c t i o n of the "Kubelstechen" i s 

c a l l e d i n t o p l a y w i t h a l l the might of the r h e t o r i c a l d e v i c e 

o f a n t i t h e s i s , t o r i d i c u l e the n o t i o n o f f i n d i n g k n i g h t l y 

a t t r i b u t e s o u t s i d e the ranks of the c o u r t n o b i l i t y . 

1. G.R. Weckherlin, T r i u m p h a l l Shews, p.162, r e p r i n t e d i n 
S t u t t g a r t e r H o f f e s t e . o p . c i t . 

2. G.R. Weckherlin, o p . c i t . , p.163. 

3. G.R. Weckherlin, o p . c i t . , p.163. 

4. R i c h a r d Alewyn and K a r l S a l z l e , Das g r o s s e W e l t t h e a t e r 
(Hamburg, 1959), p.16. My t r a n s l a t i o n . 

5. G.R. Weckherlin, o p . c i t . , p.78. 

6. I n g r i d L a u r i e n , 'Hofische' und 1 B u r g e r l i c h e 1 Elemente i n  
den ' G a i s t l i c h e n u. W e l t l i c h e n G e d i c h t e n 1 Georg Rodolf  
Weckherlins (1648) ( S t u t t g a r t , 1981), p.30. 

7. I . L a u r i e n , o p . c i t . , p.30 



CHAPTER 3 

A Grotesque T r a n s l a t i o n Of The Empire 

The b a n a l i l l u s t r a t i v e q u a l i t y o f the t r i u m p h a l p r o c e s s i o n 

format, f o r a l l i t s uses i n the e x p o s i t i o n of s o c i a l 

h i e r a r c h i e s , c o u l d not f u l f i l l an i n t e n t t h a t was s t a t e d i n 

Assum's t e x t . The p a n e g y r i c t e x t promised t o enable and 

s t i m u l a t e a l i v e l y d i s c o u r s e among those o f e l e v a t e d s o c i a l 

s t a n d i n g and l e a r n i n g . 1 The i n t e n t to. provoke and c h a l l e n g e 

l e a r n e d d i s c u s s i o n f o r a s o c i a l e l i t e t h a t Assum expressed i s 

r e p l i c a t e d i n the symbolic t a b l e a u x which are i n t e r s p e r s e d i n 

what would otherwise be an e s s e n t i a l l y t e d i o u s r e p r e s e n t e d 

parade. I n t o the standard s o c i a l d i s c i p l i n i n g f u n c t i o n o f the 

t r i u m p h a l p r o c e s s i o n are i n s e r t e d complex and v i s u a l l y 

e x c i t i n g elements which address the s p e c i f i c o c c a s i o n o f the 

f e s t i v a l . These are the most e y e - c a t c h i n g engravings o f the 

v i s u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n ; here n o v e l t y and i n n o v a t i o n are f r e e l y 

deployed t o evoke wonder and amazement i n what has been shown 

t o be a r a t h e r d i v e r s e audience. But these c h a l l e n g i n g images 

do not "speak" on t h e i r own and the t e x t s do not make them 

"speak" e i t h e r . U n l i k e t h e i r antecedents, the i l l u s t r a t e d 

broadsheets, where t e x t and image a c t e d i n c o n c e r t t o produce 

meaning f o r wide and even i l l i t e r a t e audiences, the c o u r t l y 

v i s u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s have no e x p l a n a t o r y c a p t i o n s . These 

segments of the v i s u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n remain l o c k e d i n a 

language t h a t was not a c c e s s i b l e t o a l l but a s e l e c t audience 

t h a t was c l o s e t o i t s c o u r t l y producers. 



50 

These e x t r a o r d i n a r i l y s u g g e s t i v e y e t d e l i b e r a t e l y obscure 

elements o f the f e s t i v a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n encode an i n t e n t t o 

exclude; t h a t a l s o makes t h i s m a t e r i a l dangerous t e r r i t o r y f o r 

a r t h i s t o r i c a l study. The v i s u a l medium i n i t s p a r t i c u l a r 

a b i l i t y t o s i m u l t a n e o u s l y accommodate m u l t i p l e s i g n s and 

symbols extends an i n v i t a t i o n f o r i c o n o g r a p h i c excess. My 

e f f o r t s t o access these assemblages o f v i s u a l v o c a b u l a r i e s 

must stand as s u g g e s t i o n s f o r r e f l e c t i n g on t h i s d i f f i c u l t 

m a t e r i a l . In e x p l i c a t i n g the m u l t i p l e metaphors o f the p r i n t s 

I hope t h a t my a n a l y s i s w i l l not s t r a y beyond the 

circumstances i n and f o r which these images were i n v e n t e d and 

the audiences they addressed. 

T h i s c h a p t e r w i l l focus on the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f the "head" 

b a l l e t which appears i n the second f u l l - p a g e i l l u s t r a t i o n o f 

the g r a p h i c work ( f i g . 4 ) . T h i s performance was staged on the 

f i r s t evening of the f e s t i v a l and must have had a key f u n c t i o n 

as a thematic i n t r o d u c t i o n t o the f e s t i v a l program. The 

p i c t o r i a l t r a n s m i s s i o n of t h i s strange dance f e a t u r e s the 

combinatory form of the grotesque t o p r e s e n t a most i n t r i g u i n g 

image. I w i l l propose t h a t the g i a n t head d e p i c t i o n can be 

a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the a p o c a l y p t i c R o s i c r u c i a n t e x t s t h a t emerged 

i n the y e a r s b e f o r e the T h i r t y Years War. T h i s n a r r a t i v e base 

f o r the b i z a r r e head b a l l e t i n i t s c h i l i a s t i c s t o r y l i n e seems 

t o take up the theme of a never-performed masque intended as 

p a r t o f the 1613 f e s t i v i t i e s h e l d i n honor o f the P a l a t i n a t e 

marriage i n London. 



51 

The S t u t t g a r t f e s t i v a l , w h i l e b i l l e d as a baptism, does not 

pay hommage t o t h i s event i n the engravings. A l l the 

i n n o v a t i v e s k i l l s of the f e s t i v a l d e s i g n e r s went i n t o an 

awesome b a l l e t which c e l e b r a t e d the t r u e s i g n i f i c a n c e of the 

f e s t i v a l , the v i s i t of the E l e c t o r F r e d e r i c k o f t h e P a l a t i n a t e 

and h i s w i f e , P r i n c e s s E l i z a b e t h . A c c o r d i n g t o the poet 

Weckherlin, i t was the E n g l i s h p r i n c e s s whose " b l e s s e d 
2 

presence was the c h i e f cause of the shews." 

The b a l l e t found a s u i t a b l e theme f o r t h i s important s t a t e 

v i s i t . Four g i a n t heads appeared i n the Lusthaus b a l l r o o m 

and, a c c o r d i n g t o Weckherlin"s account, each e x p e l l e d t h r e e 
3 

dancers, a l l i n d i f f e r e n t n a t i o n a l costumes. Only 

H a i n h o f e r ' s r e p o r t t e l l s who each of the twelve dancers was; 

Duke Johann F r i e d r i c h of Wurttemberg appeared as the "blacke 

moore" w h i l e h i s c o u r t i e r s r e p r e s e n t e d the e l e v e n o t h e r 

" n a t i o n s " . A c c o r d i n g t o Weckherlin, these were an Englishman 

f i r s t , f o l l o w e d by a "Scottishman", an "Irishman", a 

"Frenchman", a "High-Dutchman", a "Laponian", a "Spaniard", an 

" I t a l i a n " , a " P o l o n i a n " , a "blacke a moore", a "Turke" and an 
4 . . " I n d i a n , or Americaine". Each performed h i s own dance which 

the o t h e r s c o p i e d i n t u r n , u n t i l a l l were f i n a l l y dancing the 
5 . . same way. T h i s p a r a b l e of i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o o p e r a t i o n 

addressed "the cause of the shews", the presence o f the 

P a l a t i n e E l e c t o r F r e d e r i c k V and h i s w i f e E l i z a b e t h and 

c e l e b r a t e d more than j u s t a meeting of German P r o t e s t a n t 

p r i n c e s . The f e s t i v a l , w i t h James I daughter i n attendance, 



52 

h e l d the hope of overcoming the o v e r r i d i n g problem t h a t f a c e d 

those who wished t o oppose the might o f the C a t h o l i c a x i s , 

which was the welding of the numerous enemies of the Habsburgs 

i n t o a coherent r i v a l i n t e r n a t i o n a l a l l i a n c e . 6 

The E n g l i s h King James I s t i l l seemed t o be promoting a 

P r o t e s t a n t a l l i a n c e when he agreed t o the 1613 marriage of h i s 

daughter E l i z a b e t h t o the l e a d e r o f the P r o t e s t a n t Union o f 

German p r i n c e s , F r e d e r i c k V. L a v i s h f e s t i v i t i e s took p l a c e 

from London t o H e i d e l b e r g t o c e l e b r a t e "the union o f the 
7 

Thames and the Rhine". The S t u t t g a r t baptism p r o v i d e d a 

forum t o extend and c o n f i r m t h i s d y n a s t i c a l l i a n c e t o 

Wurttemberg and t o the member s t a t e s o f the German P r o t e s t a n t 

Union. A s h o r t h i s t o r i c a l d e s c r i p t i o n of the baptism ceremony 

w r i t t e n by an anonymous Wurttemberg r e p o r t e r t e l l s t h a t the 
g 

E n g l i s h p r i n c e s s was l e d i n t o the church " l i k e a b r i d e " " 

T h i s emphasis on the b r i d e - l i k e s t a t u s of E l i z a b e t h S t u a r t 

i n d i c a t e s t h a t the baptism and the many marriage f e s t i v a l s had 

an analogous purpose. A c c o r d i n g t o the German f e s t i v a l 

h i s t o r i a n Berns, the o c c a s i o n - s p e c i f i c elements of a f e s t i v a l 

and i t s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n r e q u i r e d ever new but f u n c t i o n a l l y 

s i m i l a r symbolic m a t e r i a l f o r the d i d a c t i c and demonstrative 
9 

purposes o f each d y n a s t i c event. 

A r e c e n t study by David Norbrook, "'The Masque of T r u t h ' : 

Court Entertainments and I n t e r n a t i o n a l P r o t e s t a n t P o l i t i c s i n 

the E a r l y S t u a r t P e r i o d " p r e s e n t s evidence t h a t a masque w i t h 



5 3 

such a " f u n c t i o n a l s i m i l a r i t y " t o the g i a n t head b a l l e t was t o 

have been p r e s e n t e d a t one of the London marriage 

f e s t i v i t i e s . 1 0 Norbrook examines the i n t e r e s t i n g case o f a 

masque, composed f o r the wedding, t h a t never was performed, 

even though i t s d e s c r i p t i o n was p r i n t e d i n a French 

commemorative pamphlet. The theme o f t h i s suppressed masque, 

as Norbrook p o i n t s out, may have been p i c k e d up i n the G i a n t 
1 1 

Head B a l l e t h e l d a t the S t u t t g a r t 'baptism 1 . "The Masque of 

T r u t h " would have been, had i t been performed, one o f the most 

s p e c t a c u l a r entertainments y e t staged a t the E n g l i s h c o u r t , 

and o f a s c a l e and grandeur f a r s u r p a s s i n g t h a t o f the 

S t u t t g a r t b a l l e t . 

Norbrook o f f e r s a summary of the never-performed s p e c t a c l e 
1 2 

from i t s f i c t i t i o u s d e s c r i p t i o n i n the French t e x t . The 

masque begins w i t h muses s i n g i n g the p r a i s e s of King James, 

the muses then l e a d A t l a s t o England where h i s globe opens t o 

r e v e a l Europe and her f i v e daughters (France, Spain, Germany, 

I t a l y , G r e e c e ) ; each has t h r e e pages and a l l are i n n a t i o n a l 

costume. They are f o l l o w e d by the Ocean, h i s w i f e the 

Mediterranean, and by the c h i e f r i v e r s of Europe. The p r i n c e s 

o f Europe appear and dance w i t h the d a u g h t e r s / p r i n c e s s e s . The 

same procedure takes p l a c e w i t h A s i a and A f r i c a and t h e i r 

daughters. The muses then c a l l on the i n t e r n a t i o n a l 

assemblage t o abandon t h e i r q u a r r e l s , t o l o o k t o King James 

and i m i t a t e h i s z e a l f o r the t r u e r e l i g i o n . "The masque ends 

w i t h one more s p e c t a c u l a r e f f e c t : " The globe s p l i t s i n two 



54 

and d i s a p p e a r s , l e a v i n g behind i t a p a r a d i s e guarded by an 

angel b e a r i n g a f l a m i n g sword, w i t h a s k u l l a t h i s f e e t . 

T r u t h i n v i t e s the queens and t h e i r f o l l o w e r s t o overcome t h e i r 

f e a r of death w i t h repentance and f a i t h and e n t e r P a r a d i s e . 

A t l a s and the Muses l e a d the n a t i o n s i n t o P a r a d i s e and the 

sword and s k u l l v a n i s h ; then the gates of P a r a d i s e c l o s e 
13 

behxnd them. 

A c c o r d i n g t o Norbrook, t h i s masque breaks from the o l d 

p a n e g y r i c topos of England as a 'world d i v i d e d from the 

world', and addresses the marriage as the b a s i s o f an 

i n t e r n a t i o n a l r e l i g i o u s r e f o r m a t i o n and not j u s t as a d y n a s t i c 

union. The r e l i g i o u s z e a l o t r y i m p l i c i t i n the a p o c a l y p t i c end 

t o the masque "goes beyond the c a u t i o n o f o f f i c i a l 

pronouncements on the match. And the p r e s e n t a t i o n o f 

t r a d i t i o n a l l y mighty powers l i k e Spain and France bowing down 

b e f o r e B r i t a i n and the P a l a t i n a t e i s h a r d l y t a c t f u l i n the 
14 

c o n t e x t o f European diplomacy." 

The m i l i t a n t P r o t e s t a n t message i n the masque was p r o b l e m a t i c 

t o James whose g o a l i t was t o pursue a pragmatic f o r e i g n 

p o l i c y t h a t responded t o changes i n the European balance of 
15 . . . power. In f a c t , James regarded r e l i g i o u s enthusiasm as a 

dangerous f o r c e t h a t might p r e s e n t a p o l i t i c a l t h r e a t t o h i s 
16 

a u t h o r i t y . Norbrook e x p l o r e s evidence t h a t p o i n t s t o the 

c o l l a p s e o f the p o l i c y o f rapprochement w i t h European 

P r o t e s t a n t i s m t h a t o c c u r r e d w i t h the death of P r i n c e Henry 



55 

s h o r t l y b e f o r e the marriage of h i s s i s t e r E l i z a b e t h t o the 

P a l a t i n a t e E l e c t o r . 

I r o n i c a l l y , the E n g l i s h wedding was taken as a s i g n of James' 

s o l i d a r i t y w i t h the anti-Habsburg cause of the P a l a t i n a t e 

p r i n c e ; h i s ambivalence towards the c o n f e s s i o n a l i s s u e d i d not 

become e v i d e n t u n t i l i t was too l a t e and F r e d e r i c k V had 

a l r e a d y embarked on the i l l - f a t e d Bohemian adventure. At the 

1616 "baptism", the marriage of the Rhine and the Thames s t i l l 

was a cause f o r c e l e b r a t i o n f o r those P r o t e s t a n t p r i n c e s t h a t 

the m i l i t a n t C a l v i n i s t s of the P a l a t i n a t e had managed t o 
17 

e n l i s t i n t o a union f o r defense. The c e n t r a l m o t i f of the 

meeting was p r e s e n t e d i n the b a l l e t on the f i r s t evening of 

the f e s t i v a l ; t h i s performance i s t h e m a t i c a l l y l i n k e d t o the 

too f e r v e n t E n g l i s h masque. Norbrook c h a r a c t e r i z e s the 

S t u t t g a r t b a l l e t t h i s way: "...though l e s s o v e r t l y r e l i g i o u s 

i n tone, i t s symbolism, and the g e n e r a l o c c a s i o n would s u r e l y 

have r e c a l l e d t o ( P r i n c e s s E l i z a b e t h ) the dance of the many 
18 

n a t i o n s o r i g i n a l l y planned f o r her wedding f e s t i v i t i e s " The 

"Masque o f T r u t h " , even i f never performed, may w e l l have been 

known t o the Wurttemberg d e s i g n e r s of the f e s t i v a l from i t s 

French t e x u a l d e s c r i p t i o n . The i n v e n t i o n o f a t h e m a t i c a l l y 

s i m i l a r v a r i a t i o n c o u l d a l s o have addressed the knowledgeable 

e l i t e Assum's t e x t claimed as the w o r l d l y - wise r e c i p i e n t s o f 

h i s German p a n e g y r i c . The s i m i l a r i t y of the o c c a s i o n of the 

wedding and the baptism allowed f o r the u t i l i z a t i o n of the 

same theme, but i n keeping w i t h the need f o r n o v e l t y ( t h a t 



56 

Berns i d e n t i f i e d as a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of c o u r t l y f e s t i v a l 

p r a c t i c e ) , a new form was found. T h i s new symbolism i m p l i e d , 

c o n t r a r y t o Norbrook's a n a l y s i s , the v e r y same a p o c a l y p t i c 

moment t h a t was c o n t a i n e d i n the suppressed masque. 

To l o c a t e the source of the a p o c a l y p t i c moment i m p l i e d i n the 

b a l l e t , the commissioned t e x t s o f Assum and Weckherlin o f f e r 

no i n t e r p r e t i v e guidance. Berns a n a l y z e s t h i s f r u s t r a t i n g 

q u a l i t y of c o u r t l y r e p o r t a g e : i t s r e p e t i t i o n o f the 
19 

u n i n t e r p r e t e d s i g n . The r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of the f e s t i v a l i s 

c a r r i e d out without commentary; the s i g n system i n use i s not 

made a c c e s s i b l e by the a b s o l u t i s t c o u r t , when, i n the process 

o f s e c u l a r i z a t i o n of i t s c l a i m s t o power, i t foregrounds a 

shock e f f e c t t h a t i s designed t o numb the audience. The 

complex o f m u l t i p l e a l l e g o r i e s t h a t r e p l a c e d the 

r u l e r - v a l i d a t i n g s a c r e d ceremonial s u b o r d i n a t e d communication 

p o t e n t i a l t o a p a r a l y z i n g show of magnificence. The l e s s e r 

mechanism o f symbol t r a n s m i s s i o n c o u l d , however, not be 

abandoned by the secondary e a r l y a b s o l u t i s t c o u r t of 

Wurttemberg - i n c o n t r a s t w i t h James' I c o u r t , which had 

suppressed "The Masque of T r u t h " i n f a v o r of masques which 
2 0 

emphasized mystery and ceremony. The "baptism" f e s t i v a l , 

h e l d a t a moment of c r i s i s , s t i l l u t i l i z e d a r e p e r t o i r e of 

a l l e g o r i c a l m a t e r i a l t h a t addressed the hopes and f e a r s of the 

c o u r t and i t s s u b j e c t s . 



57 

A key t o some of the f e s t i v a l symbolism can perhaps be found 

i n the w i d e l y - c i r c u l a t e d m i l l e n a r i a n t r a c t s a t t r i b u t e d t o the 

Wurttemberg t h e o l o g i a n Johann V a l e n t i n Andreae. The h i s t o r i a n 

R.J.W. Evans d e s c r i b e s these " R o s i c r u c i a n " t r a c t s as a 

"strange corpus of w r i t i n g s c l a i m i n g t o o f f e r u n i v e r s a l 

enlightenment through the medium of s e c r e t wisdom, w i t h p l e n t y 
21 

o f c h i l i a s t i c i n t i m a t i o n s " . Frances Yates study o f these 

t e x t s (The R o s i c r u c i a n Enlightenment) connects the appearance 

o f the R o s i c r u c i a n pamphlets t o the hopes r a i s e d by the 
22 

supposed a l l i a n c e o f England and German P r o t e s t a n t s . Y a t e s 1 

r e a d i n g o f these e s o t e r i c t e x t s has been b i t i n g l y c r i t i c i z e d 

f o r her too a v i d h y p o t h e s i z i n g about the t r a n s m i s s i o n of 

hermetic thought v i a symbol, a l l u s i o n and supposed p e r s o n a l 

c o n t a c t s throughout Europe which f i n a l l y , i n her a n a l y s i s , had 
r e p e r c u s s i o n s i n the i n i t i a l stages of the s c i e n t i f i c 

23 

r e v o l u t i o n . The R o s i c u c i a n t e x t s , a c c o r d i n g t o the evidence 

she presented, arose out of the E n g l i s h i n f l u e n c e on 

P a l a t i n a t e c u l t u r a l and i n t e l l e c t u a l l i f e and came t o form a 

p a r t o f P a l a t i n a t e propaganda campaigns a g a i n s t Habsburg 

power. Her a n a l y s i s has been too a l l u s i v e and i n d i r e c t t o 

convince o t h e r h i s t o r i a n s . The c o n n e c t i o n o f these t e x t s t o 

the t u r m o i l of the pre-war years i s much l e s s i n doubt. A 

l e s s f a r - r e a c h i n g a n a l y s i s by the German h i s t o r i a n R i c h a r d van 

Dulmen does not go beyond the t e r r i t o r y o f Wurttemberg where 
24 

the presumed author Andreae wrote the t r a c t s . A c c o r d i n g t o 

h i s r e a d i n g these hermetic t e x t s promoted a second P r o t e s t a n t 

r e f o r m a t i o n by p r o v i d i n g an i r e n i c a l t e r n a t i v e t o the deep 



58 

d i v i s i o n s among C a l v i n i s t s and Lutherans. The e a r l i e s t 

R o s i c r u c i a n m a n i f e s t o s which appeared around 1605, the Fama 

and the C o n f e s s i o , f o r e t e l l , i n a powerful and p r o p h e t i c 

a p o c a l y p t i c tone t h a t a g r e a t r e f o r m a t i o n i s a t hand which 
25 

w i l l s i g n a l the r e t u r n t o the s t a t e o f Adam i n P a r a d i s e . 

The s u b t e x t of the p r o p h e c i e s i s a c a l l f o r a second 

P r o t e s t a n t r e f o r m a t i o n t h a t w i l l b r i n g f o r t h the m i l l e n i u m . 

The Fama. which i s the core o f the R o s i c r u c i a n myth, c a l l e d 
2 6 

f o r t h a l o t o f i n t e r e s t from a l l s o c i a l l e v e l s . 

The passage o f the Fama t h a t i s r e l e v a n t t o the g i a n t head 

b a l l e t i s found i n the e x p l i c a t i o n of the R o s i c r u c i a n credo 

where P r o t e s t a n t f e r v o u r and e x p r e s s i o n s o f a l l e g i a n c e t o the 

Empire are tempered w i t h i n t i m a t i o n s of g r e a t change: 

"In P o l i t i a we acknowledge the Roman Empire and Quartam 

Monarcham f o r our C h r i s t i a n head, a l b e i t we know what 

a l t e r a t i o n s be a t hand, and would f a i n impart the same w i t h 
27 

a l l our h e a r t s t o o t h e r godly l e a r n e d men..." 

The acceptance of the t h e o r y of the f o u r monarchies, 

pronounced i n the R o s i c r u c i a n manifesto r e f e r s t o the medieval 

i d e a o f the " t r a n s l a t i o n " of the Roman Empire t o Germany, from 

which the Holy Roman Empire o f the German N a t i o n took i t s 

name. The r e v e l a t i o n i n the book o f 

D a n i e l t h a t p r o p h e s i e d t h a t the world would be r e i g n e d over by 

a t o t a l o f f o u r monarchies or empires u n t i l the Apocalypse, 

was c o d i f i e d i n medieval s c h o l a r s h i p where the monarchies were 

i d e n t i f i e d as the Babylonian, the P e r s i a n , the Greek and 



59 

f i n a l l y , the Roman. Charlemagne's r e i g n , whose "Roman" 

endorsement s i g n i f i e d the t r a n s f e r of the f i n a l empire onto 

German s o i l , was the b a s i s o f the c o n t i n u e d a u t h o r i t y of the 
29 

t h e o r y . The b e l i e f t h a t the world would end w i t h t h e f a l l 

o f the f o u r t h empire c a r r i e d weight i n t o the seventeenth 

c e n t u r y and beyond; not o n l y as a h i s t o r i o g r a p h i c fundamental, 
. . 30 but a l s o as a p o l i t i c a l source of s t r e n g t h . In 

c o n s t i t u t i o n a l and l e g a l t r e a t i s e s the b e l i e f i n the 

G o d - w i l l e d s u r v i v a l o f the Roman empire s h i n e s through as a 

f i r s t - c l a s s i d e o l o g i c a l weapon a g a i n s t i n t e r n a l and e x t e r n a l 

enemies of the German empire. D a n i e l ' s prophecy was always 

r e c a l l e d as evidence t h a t the Roman-German empire c o u l d not 
31 

f a l l b e f o r e the end of the world. Even Luther, w h i l e 

r e j e c t i n g the Roman " t r a n s l a t i o n " t h e o r y as a v a l i d a t i o n o f 

p a p a l a u t h o r i t y , c i t e d D a n i e l ' s r e v e l a t i o n as empowering 

evidence f o r the i m p o s s i b i l i t y of the e c l i p s e o f the 
32 

German-Roman empire by the Turks. 

In the s i x t e e n t h century, German h i s t o r y t e a c h e r s c o n f i n e d 

themselves t o a p o l i t i c a l n a r r a t i v e o f the f o r t u n e s o f the 
33 

f o u r b i b l i c a l monarchies. The t h e o r y o f the " t r a n s l a t i o n " 

o f the Roman empire t o the German empire formed the 

underpinnings o f the c o n s t i t u t i o n a l and the l e g a l system. 

Even as the P r o t e s t a n t p r i n c e s were o r g a n i z i n g themselves i n t o 

a union t o defend themselves a g a i n s t t h e i r C a t h o l i c 

c o u n t e r p a r t s , they make i t c l e a r t h a t they d i d not have the 



60 

g o a l o f b r e a k i n g up the empire, as r e v e a l e d by the preamble t o 

the c o n s t i t u t i o n o f the Union: 

"In view o f the urgent n e c e s s i t y , we, the undersigned 
E l e c t o r s and E s t a t e s of the Holy Roman Empire, much l e s s 
t o damage but much more t o s t r e n g t h e n and uphold peace 
and u n i t y i n the Holy Empire, as d e d i c a t e d and obedient 
E s t a t e s o f the Empire of the German N a t i o n , our beloved 
f a t h e r l a n d , i n order t o advance the common w e l l - b e i n g , 
our l a n d and people and a l s o those E s t a t e s who w i l l i n 
f u t u r e j o i n us t o f u r t h e r peace, o r d e r and p r o t e c t i o n i n 
t h e name o f God the Almighty, have one and a l l r e a p e d 
the p r e s e n t amicable and c o n f i d e n t i a l agreement... 

Continued a l l e g i a n c e t o the p r e c e p t s of empire and emperor was 

a l s o a b a s i c demand of the r e l u c t a n t Wurttemberg Landtag 

members when f a c e d w i t h Johann F r i e d r i c h ' s d e c i s i o n t o j o i n 
35 

the P r o t e s t a n t Union. 

The appearance of the f o u r g i a n t heads a t the "baptism" 

f e s t i v a l must have v e r y r e a d i l y evoked the i d e a o f the f o u r 

world monarchies as i t was embodied by the f o u r g i g a n t i c and 

m o n a r c h i c a l physiognomies. The g i a n t e f f i g i e s were a v i s u a l 

a f f i r m a t i o n of the i d e a of i m p e r i a l a l l e g i a n c e t o which 

H a i n h o f e r ' s commentary on the performance o f f e r s 

c o r r o b o r a t i o n . The i m p e r i a l theme of the b a l l e t i s s p e l l e d 

out a t the end of the " n a t i o n s " dance: "they made, i n 

dancing, an F and an E, a P and an 0, by t h a t a l l u d i n g t o the 

p r i n c e and p r i n c e s s 1 names and t o the i m p e r i a l o r b . " 3 6 

But t h i s i s not a s t a t i c image of a f f i r m a t i o n of a t r a d i t i o n a l 

world view. The monstrous heads cannot 

" c o n t a i n " a new e x p e r i e n t i a l world. These pregnant, y e t 

b o d i l e s s , e f f i g i e s are u n l i k e the limbed g i a n t puppets t h a t 



61 

t r a d i t i o n a l l y appear a t p o p u l a r and c o u r t l y f e s t v a l s . The 

heads t h a t r e v e a l t h e i r c o n s t i t u e n t p a r t s , the n a t i o n s , have 

more i n common w i t h the form o f the l l Arcimboldesque , , , an 

engraving w i t h g r e a t c u r r e n c y i n German lands around 1600, 

which was i n s p i r e d by Arcimboldo's strange a l l e g o r i c a l 
38 

p o r t r a i t s of Rudolf I I . These grotesque d e p i c t i o n s of heads 

made up o f symbolic elements had many i m i t a t o r s 

( f i g . 5 ) . Warncke's study of German grotesques a t t r i b u t e s the 

p r e v a l e n c e of the grotesque a t the b e g i n n i n g o f the 

seventeenth c e n t u r y t o the a b i l i t y of t h i s form t o meld 

d i v e r s e s i g n s : 
"Under the mantle of the grotesque, l e g i t i m i z e d by 
a n t i q u e precedents, were u n i t e d the most d i v e r s e aims, 
and w i t h t h a t , a l l the e x p r e s s i v e and i n t e r p r e t i v e 
p o s s i b i l i t i e s of monsters, fabulous c r e a t u r e s and 
mongrels t h a t had been i n v e n t e d over the c e n t u r i e s . The 
grotesque rescued whole image worlds, through a l t e r a t i o n 
and a b s o r b t i o n , out of the upheaval brought about by the 
s e c u l a r i s a t i o n of h i s t o r i c a l thought. When we see the 
grotesque c l e a r l y r e v e a l i t s e l f as a means t o overcome 
c o n t r a d i c t i o n s i n a seemingly u n c e r t a i n world, then the 
power of tha^| form l i e s i n i t s power t o t r a n s f o r m by 
s y n t h e s i s . " 

T h i s impulse t o s y n t h e s i z e new s e c u l a r knowledge i s 

demonstrated i n the d e p i c t i o n of the grotesque heads out o f 

which the " n a t i o n s " emerge as s i g n s of a new e x p e r i e n c e o f 

phenonema t h a t cannot e a s i l y be a s s i m i l a t e d i n t o t r a d i t i o n a l 

t e a c h i n g s about the world. The s t e a d f a s t l o y a l t y t o r e v e a l e d 

knowledge, r e p r e s e n t e d by the heads, breaks i n t o an image of 

change, as the twelve n a t i o n s are r e l e a s e d t o p r e s e n t an 

expanded cosmos of h i s t o r y and geography. 



62 

I t i s the i n t e g r a t i v e i n t e n t o f the "grotesque" form of the 

b a l l e t t h a t p o i n t s t o a r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h R o s i c r u c i a n i d e a s . 

These t r a c t s , which achieved an immediate and e x t e n s i v e 

resonance, e x h i b i t an a p p a r e n t l y c o n t r a d i c t o r y t r e n d , as the 

h i s t o r i a n R.J.W. Evans observed. The " o c c u l t i z i n g p u r i t a n i s m " 

o f Andreae's U t o p i a n t e x t s m a n i f e s t s a r e l i g i o u s enthusiasm 

t h a t went w i t h "an uncomfortable stance towards l e a r n i n g , 

b l e n d i n g moral f e r v o r w i t h c o n t i n u i n g i n t e l l e c t u a l commitment 

t o a s p e c t s o f the Renaissance t r a d i t i o n , e s p e c i a l l y the 

r e j e c t i o n o f dogmatism."40 The c a l l f o r a s p i r i t u a l 

r e f o r m a t i o n which would combine d i s p a r a t e elements o f 

orthodoxy and m y s t i c i s m came out of the profound c r i s i s t h a t 

shook the e a r l y modern P r o t e s t a n t t e r r i t o r i a l s t a t e . I t i s 

the c o n s c i o u s n e s s of an "end" t h a t emerges immediately b e f o r e 

the T h i r t y Years War t h a t , a c c o r d i n g t o R i c h a r d van Dulmen's 

a n a l y s i s , Andreae's t r a c t s bear witness t o . The m i l l e n a r i a n 

v i s i o n s come out of an awareness of b e i n g a t the end o f 

C h r i s t i a n u n i v e r s a l i s m , of the end of the u n i t y o f p o l i t i c s 

and r e l i g i o n and o f the end of the c o n s t i t u t i o n a l balance o f 

the i n s t i t u t i o n s of the empire and the emperor.41 

I t would not be s u r p r i s i n g t h a t Andreae's c h i l i a s t i c c a l l s f o r 

a new and b e t t e r P r o t e s t a n t world order would make an 

appearance i n the S t u t t g a r t f e s t i v a l b a l l e t . The l e a r n e d 

f a m i l y o f t h e o l o g i a n s Andreae was born i n t o had c o n n e c t i o n s t o 

the Wurttemberg c o u r t ; h i s f a t h e r , a p a s t o r , was on f r i e n d l y 

terms w i t h Duke F r i e d r i c h , whose i n t e r e s t s i n alchemy he 



63 

shared, and i n 1601, when Andreae's f a t h e r d i e d , Duke 

F r i e d r i c h g r a n t e d the job of c o u r t apothecary t o h i s mother.42 

There can be no doubt t h a t h i s w r i t i n g s would have been 

f a m i l i a r t o the d e s i g n e r s of the S t u t t g a r t c o u r t f e s t i v a l . 

H i s t r a c t s p r o v i d e d a n a t i v e and c u r r e n t n a r r a t i v e t h a t c o u l d 

r e p l a y the a p o c a l y p t i c theme o f the suppressed E n g l i s h masque 

- complete w i t h i t s v i s i o n of i n t e r n a t i o n a l harmony. The Fama 

and o t h e r R o s i c r u c i a n t r a c t s which Andreae c a l l e d " l u d i b r i u m " , 

o r games f o r the c u r i o u s , were not w r i t t e n as t h e o r e t i c a l 

d i s s e r t a t i o n s , but i n s t e a d used the d e v i c e s o f dreams, f a b l e s 

and emblematic imagery t o convey a C h r i s t i a n U t o p i a n message 
43 

i n the form of a r i d d l e . 

In the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f the b a l l e t , the P r o t e s t a n t f e r v o u r of 

the R o s i c r u c i a n t r a c t s i s not r e p l i c a t e d but o n l y a l l u d e d t o -

u n l i k e the suppressed E n g l i s h masque's open m a n i f e s t a t i o n of 

King James' r o l e f o r the " t r u e r e l i g i o n " . Both Assum's and 

Weckherlin's accounts make c l e a r t h a t F r e d e r i c k and E l i z a b e t h 

are b e i n g honored by the b a l l e t , but o n l y H a i n h o f e r ' s account 

o f the b a l l e t o f f e r s who the e a r t h l y promoters o f the 

m i l l e n i u m might be i n h i s " p r i v a t e " d e s c r i p t i o n o f the dance 

where the P a l a t i n a t e r u l e r ' s i n i t i a l s and the i m p e r i a l orb 

were c o n s e c u t i v e l y "signed". The symbols o f t h i s dance r e c a l l 

Jane Newman's summation o f the hopes r a i s e d by the 

English-German marriage a l l i a n c e : "In a b e t t e r , P r o t e s t a n t 

world, the Tudors and t h e i r v a s s a l s would o f f s e t , perhaps even 
44 

r e p l a c e , the Habsburgs as guarantors of the European peace." 



64 

The s t r a t e g y of "replacement" of the C a t h o l i c - H a b s b u r g 

domination o f the Holy Roman Empire o f the German N a t i o n o n l y 

became v i r u l e n t w i t h the P a l a t i n e e l e c t o r ' s acceptance of the 

Bohemian crown i n 1619 - and i t was a move t h e Union of 

P r o t e s t a n t p r i n c e s on the whole opposed as b e i n g too 
45 

dangerous. The i d e a of a P r o t e s t a n t empire may be an 

a c c u r a t e p i c t u r e o f what the wedding promised t o the 

P a l a t i n a t e r u l e r s , but as David Norbrook has shown i t was not 

the message the Jacobean c o u r t wanted t o send out, a t l e a s t i n 

England. 

The Wurttemberg head b a l l e t remains "headless" i n i t s v i s u a l 

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n f o r much the same reasons. A P r o t e s t a n t empire 

under the P a l a t i n a t e E l e c t o r would have been an unacceptable 

cause f o r the Landtag t o r a l l y around. The p a r l i a m e n t a r i a n s 

had made i t c l e a r t h a t even i f Wurttemberg's union w i t h o t h e r 

P r o t e s t a n t p r i n c i p a l i t i e s was unavoidable, then under no 

circumstances would they t o l e r a t e an a l l i a n c e w i t h C a l v i n i s t s 
45 . . . o r o t h e r s e c t a r i a n s . The Union, w i t h i t s P a l a t i n a t e l e a d e r , 

r e p r e s e n t e d j u s t such an a l l i a n c e . For the f e s t i v a l the 

R o s i c r u c i a n t r a c t s p r o v i d e d a r e l i g i o u s n a r r a t i v e framework 

which s t o o d o u t s i d e the s i g n i f i c a n t f r i c t i o n t h a t e x i s t e d 

between the Reformed c o n f e s s i o n s i n Germany. The pansophic 

o program o f R o s i c r u c i a n i s m i s perhaps b e s t understood as a 

r e a c t i o n t o the p o l i t i c a l and r e l i g i o u s d i v i s i o n s of Germany 

s i n c e the Reformation, e s p e c i a l l y the d i s p u t e s between 
47 

C a l v i n i s t s and Lutherans. The vague U t o p i a n r i d d l e s were 



65 

encoded i n t o the f e s t i v a l s i g n system without c a l l i n g 

a t t e n t i o n t o the many o p p o s i t i o n s t h a t e x i s t e d both i n s i d e and 

o u t s i d e Wurttemberg. The f e s t i v a l , a t l e a s t i n i t s o f f i c i a l 

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n , r e p l i c a t e d a l l the c o n c i l i a t o r y 

n o n - s p e c i f i c i t y o f the u n i v e r s a l i s t p u z z l e s of R o s i c r u c i a n i s m , 

w h i l e p r e s e n t i n g them i n an a w e - i n s p i r i n g form t h a t must have 

generated amazement i n any audience and i n v i s u a l symbols t h a t 

must have been a c c e s s i b l e o n l y t o an e x c l u s i v e audience. The 

v i s u a l medium allowed the complex problems o f i m p e r i a l 

a l l e g i a n c e and r e b e l l i o u s P r o t e s t a n t u n i f i c a t i o n t o be 

accommodated i n an a l l u s i v e and non-committal manner. 

1. J o h a n n - V a l e n t i n Assum, Warhaffte r e l a t i o n e t c . 
( S t u t t g a r t , 1616), p . l . 

2. G.R. Weckherlin, T r i u m p h a l l Shews, o p . c i t . , p . l . 

3. G.R. Weckherlin, o p . c i t . , p.9. 

4. G.R. Weckherlin, pp.10-11. 

5. G.R. Weckherlin, p.11. 

6. G. Parker and L.M. Smith, the General C r i s i s of the  
Seventeenth Century (London, 1978), p.67. 

7. F. Yates, The R o s i c r u c i a n Enlightenment (London, 1972), 
ch. 1. 

8. S t u t t g a r t e r H o f f e s t e . o p . c i t . , p.313. 

9. J . J . Berns, "Die F e s t k u l t u r der deutschen Hofe zwischen 
1518 und 1730", Germanisch Romanische M o n a t s s c h r i f t 65 
(1984), p.300. 

10. David Norbrook, "'The Masque of T r u t h 1 : Court 
Entertainments and I n t e r n a t i o n a l P r o t e s t a n t P o l i t i c s i n 



66 

the E a r l y S t u a r t P e r i o d " , The Seventeenth Century. 
v o l . 1 , no.2 ( J u l y 1986), pp.81-110. 

11. D. Norbrook, o p . c i t . , p.98. 

12. D. Norbrook, pp.82-83. 

13. D. Norbrook, p.83. 

14. D. Norbrook, p.89. 

15. D. Norbrook, p.88. 

16. D. Norbrook, p.100. 

17. C l a u s - P e t e r Clasen, The P a l a t i n a t e i n European H i s t o r y .  
1555-1618 (Oxford, 1963), p.5. 

18. D. Norbrook, o p . c i t . , p.98. 

19. J . J . Berns, "Der nackte Monarch und d i e nackte 
Wahrheit", Daphnis. v o l . 1 1 (1982), p.342. 

20. D. Norbrook, o p . c i t . , p.83 c i t e s t h i s p r e f e r e n c e of the 
Jacobean c o u r t . 

21. R.J.W. Evans, " C u l t u r e and Anarchy i n the Empire, 
1540-1680, C e n t r a l European H i s t o r y , v o l . 1 8 , no.1 
(1985), p.21. 

22. F. Yates, o p . c i t . , pp.30-34. 

23 B. V i c k e r s , "Frances Yates and the W r i t i n g of H i s t o r y " , 
J o u r n a l o f Modern H i s t o r y . 51 (1979), pp.287-316. A l s o 
R.J.W. Evans' review o f The R o s i c r u c i a n Enlightenment. 
The H i s t o r i c a l J o u r n a l . XVI, 4 (1973), pp.865-868. 

24. R i c h a r d van Dulmen, Die U t o p i e e i n e r c h r i s t l i c h e n  
G e s e l l s c h a f t . Johann V a l e n t i n Andreae (1586-1654) T e i l 1 
( S t u t t g a r t - B a d C a n n s t a t t 1978). 

25. R. van Dulmen, p.82. 

26. R. van Dulmen, o p . c i t . The e a r l y R o s i c r u c i a n pamphlets 
e l i c i t e d much w r i t t e n response, n e a r l y two hundred such 
documents are s t i l l i n e x i s t e n c e . 

27. Fama F r a t e r n i t a s . a t t r i b u t e d t o J.V. Andreae, c i t e d i n 
F. Yates, o p . c i t . , p.53. 

28. J.W. Swain, "The Theory of the Four Monarchies", 
C l a s s i c a l P h i l o l o g y 35 (1940), p . l . 

29. Gertrude Lubbe-Wolff, "Die Bedeutung der Lehre von den 



67 

v i e r W e l t r e i g h e n f u r das S t a a t s r e c h t des Romischen 
R e i c h s " , s t a a t 23 (1984), p.370. A l s o : Werner Goez, 
T r a n s l a t i o I m p e r i i (Tubingen, 1958). Goez' book 
t r a c e s the i d e a of the t r a n s f e r of the f o u r t h empire i n 
German p o l i t i c a l and h i s t o r i c a l t h e o r i e s from medieval 
t o e a r l y modern times. 
And: Notker Hammerstein "'Imperium Romanum cum onmibus 
s u i s q u a l i t a t i b u s ad Germanos e s t t r a n s l a t u m ' Das v i e r t e 
W e l t r e i c h i n der Lehre der R e i c h s j u r i s t e n " i n J . 
Kunisch, ed., Neue s t u d i e n zur f r u h n e u z e i t l i c h e n  
R e i c h s g e s c h i c h t e ( B e r l i n , 1987). 

30. G. Lubbe-wolff, o p . c i t . p.371. 

31. G. Lubbe-Wolff, p.371. 

32. G. Lubbe-Wolff, p.372. 

33. A. G r a f t o n , "The World of the P o l y h i s t o r s , " C e n t r a l  
European H i s t o r y 18 (1985), p.37. 

34. In G. Benecke, Germany i n the T h i r t y Years War (London, 
1978), p.9. 

35. W. Grube, o p . c i t . , p.275. The s u r v i v a l of the empire 
h e l d g r e a t importance f o r members of the lower e s t a t e s 
because the i m p e r i a l c o u r t a c t e d as the f i n a l c o u r t o f 
appeal i n d i s p u t e s w i t h the t e r r i t o r i a l r u l e r . P e t e r 
B l i c k l e examines the p r e v a l e n c e of l e g a l r e c o u r s e i n 
i n t e r - e s t a t e d i s p u t e s i n German t e r r i t o r i e s i n "Peasant 
R e s i s t a n c e i n Sixteenth-and Seventeenth-Century Germany 
i n a European Context", R e l i g i o n . P o l i t i c s and S o c i a l  
P r o t e s t . B l i c k l e , Rublack, Schulze, eds. (1984). 

36. P. H a i n h o f e r i n S t u t t g a r t e r H o f f e s t e , o p . c i t . , p.331. 

37. The urban Nuremberg Schembartlauf, as w e l l as f e s t i v a l s 
a t the Habsburg c o u r t f e a t u r e d " g i a n t s " . 

38. C-.P. Warncke, Die ornamentale Groteske i n Deiuschland  
1500-1650 ( B e r l i n , 1979) pp.77-78. 

39. C P . Warncke, o p . c i t . , p.78. My t r a n s l a t i o n . 

40. R.J.W. Evans, p.22. 

41. R i c h a r d van Dulmen, o p . c i t . , p.15. 

42. R. van Dulmen, pp.95-96. 

43. R. van Dulmen, p.93. 

44. Jane 0. Newman, "Marriages of Convenience: P a t t e r n s of 
A l l i a n c e i n H e i d e l b e r g P o l i t i c s and O p i t z ' s P o e t i c s " , 



68 

MLN 100 (1985), p.547. 

45. F. Yates, o p . c i t . , p.19. 

46. W. Grube, o p . c i t . , p.275. 

47. F. Yates, o p . c i t . , p.98. The c o n c i l i a t o r y aims o f 
R o s i c r u c i a n i s m are a l s o d i s c u s s e d i n L.W. F o r s t e r , Georg  
Rudolf Weckherlin. Zur Kenntnis s e i n e s Lebens i n England 
( B a s e l , 1944), pp.81-83. 



69 

CHAPTER 4  

The M i r r o r Of A Prudent E s t a t e 

In the p r e v i o u s chapter I have suggested t h a t the g i a n t head 

b a l l e t r e p r e s e n t a t i o n put forward a r a t h e r a t t e n u a t e d n o t i o n 

of i m p e r i a l a l l e g i a n c e . The i l l u s t r a t i o n t h a t f o l l o w s o f a 

b a l l e t t h a t was performed i n immediate s u c c e s s i o n p r e s e n t s , I 

propose, an e f f o r t t o come t o g r i p s w i t h a c o r o l l a r y problem. 

T h i s second b a l l e t ( f i g . 6 ) , a g a i n performed by the Wurttemberg 

duke and h i s c o u r t i e r s , t h i s time as Nuremberg mirror-makers, 

can be seen t o address the dangers p r e s e n t e d by the 

u n i f i c a t i o n agreements between P r o t e s t a n t powers w i t h i n the 

Empire. The f o r m a t i o n of t h i s a l l i a n c e l e f t the c a u t i o u s 

Wurttemberg c o u r t open t o a c c u s a t i o n s of r e b e l l i o n . 

T r a d i t i o n a l l y the s t i l l - v a l i d medieval e s t a t e h i e r a r c h y of the 

empire allowed t e r r i t o r i a l r u l e r s t o l e g i t i m a t e l y stand 

t o g e t h e r as an e s t a t e i n i n t e r n a l i m p e r i a l c o n f l i c t s . The 

d e p i c t i o n of the c o u r t l y r e t i n u e i n the assumed r o l e s of 

another e s t a t e , even i f the l a v i s h costumes remained t r u e t o 

t h e d i s p l a y of c o u r t l y grandeur, depended on a c o n t r a s t 

between appearance and a c t u a l i t y t h a t c o u l d o n l y be v i s u a l l y 

pronounced. A solemn e v o c a t i o n of the e s t a t e s t r u c t u r e t h a t I 

suggest the mirror-maker b a l l e t r e p r e s e n t s may have been 

o f f e r e d t o ward o f f any charges of s e d i t i o u s n e s s from o t h e r 

German t e r r i t o r i e s as w e l l as from l o c a l p a r l i a m e n t a r i a n s . In 

t h i s c h a p t e r I w i l l examine how the Wurttemberg c o u r t s t r o v e 



70 

t o g i v e a l e g i t i m a t e and p l a c a t i n g image t o i t s a l l i a n c e w i t h 

the a g g r e s s i v e l y a n t i - C a t h o l i c P a l a t i n a t e s . 

That the Wurttemberg c o u r t wanted t o approach the i s s u e s of 

dangerous a l l i a n c e w i t h g r e a t c a u t i o n i s brought out i n 

d i s c r e p a n c i e s i n the d e s c r i p t i o n s of another segment of the 

f e s t i v a l . The f a c t t h a t the court-commissioned v i s u a l and 

t e x t u a l m a t e r i a l i s n o t a b l y d i f f e r e n t from H a i n h o f e r ' s 

" p r i v a t e " account about t h i s p a r t of the pageant demonstrates 

t h a t the c o u r t intended t o modulate the use o f 

p o l i t i c o - r e l i g i o u s p o l e m i c a l imagery i n the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s . 

The d i s c r e p a n t d e s c r i p t i o n s of the Duke of Baden's tournament 

e n t r y ( f i g . 7 ) p r e s e n t evidence f o r how c a r e f u l l y the 

Wurttemberg c o u r t wanted c o n t e n t i o u s i s s u e s o f p o l i t i c s and 

r e l i g i o n handled i n the v i s u a l and t e x t u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s . 

T h i s c a u t i o n i s manifested i n the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f the 

Empress Germania f o l l o w e d by her t e n " c i r c l e s " o r n a t i o n s i n 

an a n a c h r o n i s t i c v i s i o n t h a t d i d not r e f l e c t the t e r r i t o r i a l 

d i v i s i o n s or the a c t u a l c o n f e s s i o n a l power b l o c s w i t h i n the 

post-Reformation empire. In the engravings Germania's 

" c i r c l e s " are shown h o l d i n g m i r r o r s , an emblematic r e f e r e n c e 
l 

t o " P r u d e n t i a " o r "the r e c o g n i t i o n of a p p r o p r i a t e n e s s " . The 

a l l e g o r i c a l duo of "Concord" and " D i s c o r d " , a f a m i l i a r d e v i c e 

o f f e s t i v a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n German t e r r i t o r i e s f o l l o w s the 
2 

c i r c l e s ( f i g . 8 ) . The commissioned t e x t s do not e l a b o r a t e on 

the i d e n t i t y of these symbolic f i g u r e s ; " D i s c o r d " i s 

i d e n t i f i e d g e n e r i c a l l y as a "monster" o r as a " h e l l i s h 



7 1 

p e a c e - d i s t u r b e r " . Only the d i p l o m a t i c correspondence of 

H a i n h o f e r i s forthcoming i n d e s c r i b i n g the "monstrum" as b e i n g 

made up o f f i g u r e s r e p r e s e n t i n g a "Spaniard, a J e s u i t , a 
3 

Capuchin, e t c . who are d i s q u i e t i n g Germany". A c c o r d i n g t o 

H a i n h o f e r the e v i l of the bound S p a n i s h - C a t h o l i c monster i s 

a c t e d out by a horned boy d r e s s e d as a b l a c k d e v i l who emerges 

from under the monster's f e e t and runs o f f . The monster i s 

g i v i n g e x p r e s s i o n t o the g r e a t e s t f e a r of the P r o t e s t a n t 

p r i n c e s and t h a t i s t h a t the i n t e r e s t s o f the Spanish King 

P h i l i p I I and C a t h o l i c f o r c e s would combine t o impose a new 

C a t h o l i c u n i v e r s a l monarchy. 

Only Hainhofer, whose account was d i r e c t e d a t a s m a l l audience 

of P r o t e s t a n t p r i n c e s , "made the obvious i n f e r e n c e t h a t (the 

monster) r e p r e s e n t e d the m i l i t a n t f o r c e s o f the 
4 

Counter-Reformation." The c o u r t commissioned accounts as 

w e l l as the engravings take a f a r more c a u t i o u s approach. The 

g r a p h i c d e p i c t i o n of the "monster" i s c l o s e t o Weckherlin's 

d e s c r i p t i o n : " h i s shape b e i n g l i k e a man, but h a v i n g i n f i n i t e 
5 

f a c e s , armes and l e g g ' s " . The s h o r t t u n i c the monster wears 

i s perhaps c a s s o c k - l i k e but the h i g h hats o f the monster do 

not i n s i s t on i t s c l e r i c a l s t a t u s . Under the s i g n o f 

" P r u d e n t i a " the f e s t i v a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n m a i n t a i n s a n e u t r a l 

tone w h i l e u t i l i z i n g the e n e m y - i d e n t i f y i n g p r o p a g a n d i s t i c t o o l 

a t the a c t u a l event. 



7 2 

Robert S c r i b n e r * s a n a l y s i s of how p o p u l a r broadsheets and 

p o p u l a r p r o c e s s i o n a l propaganda were used t o f u r t h e r the cause 

of the Reformation can be a p p l i e d t o the s a t a n i c a l nature of 

the C a t h o l i c monster t h a t was p r e s e n t e d t o the f e s t i v a l 

a u d i e n c e . 6 Reformation propaganda, a c c o r d i n g t o S c r i b n e r , 

reduced complex p o l i t i c a l and c o n f e s s i o n a l i s s u e s i n t o a 

c o n f r o n t a t i o n between good and e v i l t h a t was expressed i n 

e a s i l y r e c o g n i z e d symbols, i n v e r y m a t e r i a l ways o r i n terms 

o f c l e r i c a l persons. While the " D i s c o r d " monster seems t o 

have taken such a r o l e a t the f e s t i v a l , h i s i d e n t i t y i s f a r 

more obscure i n the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s . H i s many-headedness 

s t i l l r e c a l l s Reformation propaganda "monsters" where t h e i r 

monstrous s t a t u s was taken t o be a v i s i b l e s i g n o f s i n t h a t 
7 

a c t e d as a warning from God. Many-headed popes and 

many-headed Luthers were a common d e v i c e o f c o n f e s s i o n a l 

p o l e m i c a l imagery i n the s i x t e e n t h c e n t u r y ( f i g . 9 ) . 

In the f e s t i v a l engraving of the monster, the d e s a c r a l i z i n g 

i n t e n t o f s a t a n i c , s c a t o l o g i c a l or b e s t i a l imagery o f the 

broadsheets i s d e l e t e d , even i f i t s s a t a n i c nature was a c t e d 

out i n the a c t u a l event. The m u l t i - l i m b e d but innocuous 

l o o k i n g monster i s shown b e i n g l e d away by an e q u a l l y 

composite female "Concord" b e a r i n g i m p e r i a l d e v i c e s ; the use 

o f the f a m i l i a r p o l e m i c a l image o f the monster i s defused by 

t h i s j u x t a p o s i t i o n . I f the purpose of propaganda, as S c r i b n e r 

s t a t e s , was t o i n c i t e people t o d i r e c t a c t i o n r a t h e r than t o 

j u s t change o p i n i o n s , such imagery had no p l a c e i n the 



73 

S t u t t g a r t f e s t i v a l . The Wurttemberg c o u r t d i d not i n t e n d t o 

make any c a l l t o a c t i o n on c o n f e s s i o n a l matters. The c o u r t 

wanted t o r e p r e s e n t the Union as a s t r i c t l y d e f e n s i v e a l l i a n c e 
9 

which would p r o t e c t P r o t e s t a n t i n t e r e s t s . I t was the 

d e f e n s i v e c h a r a c t e r of the Union t h a t Duke Johann F r i e d r i c h 

emphasized t o h i s p a r l i a m e n t . 1 0 While the C a l v i n i s t 

P a l a t i n a t e had d i s t i n g u i s h e d i t s e l f by i t s m i l i t a n t and 

a g g r e s s i v e a n t i - C a t h o l i c p o l i c i e s , the Wurttemberg c o u r t 

s t r o v e t o p r e s e n t an appeasing image of t h i s a l l i a n c e . 

The h i s t o r i a n C l a s e n f i n d s the c o n t r a s t between the P a l a t i n a t e 

and o t h e r German p r i n c e s e x p r e s s i n g i t s e l f i n the " s t e r e o t y p e d 

formulas which c o n s t a n t l y r e c u r i n the d i p l o m a t i c 
11 

correspondence". While the P a l a t i n e s c o n t i n u a l l y speak of 

the "advancement of the g l o r y of God and of the e s t a b l i s h m e n t 

o f h i s Church," the o t h e r German P r o t e s t a n t s never cease t o 

emphasize the "steady maintenance and n u t u r i n g of the beloved 

peace, q u i e t , and u n i t y of our beloved F a t h e r l a n d the German 
12 . . . n a t i o n . " To b r i d g e these c o n f l i c t i n g m i s s i o n statements the 

f e s t i v a l engravings p r e s e n t a t r a d i t i o n a l p r i n c i p l e f o r a l l 

P r o t e s t a n t p r i n c e s and s u b j e c t s t o r a l l y around. The i s s u e of 

c o n f e s s i o n a l d i f f e r e n c e s i n the German Empire was too 

c o n t e n t i o u s t o be c l e a r l y enunciated i n the f e s t i v a l books; i n 

i t s p l a c e the medieval c o n c e p t i o n o f the Empire as a h i e r a r c h y 

of e s t a t e s was c a l l e d upon. The p r i n c e s c o u l d o n l y r i g h t f u l l y 

stand t o g e t h e r as an e s t a t e , as they had i n the p a s t , t o 

defend t h e i r i n t e r e s t s a g a i n s t those of the Emperor, thereby 



74 

b y p a s s i n g a charge o f r e b e l l i o n t o which the f o r m a t i o n o f the 

P r o t e s t a n t Union came p e r i l o u s l y c l o s e . The n o t i o n o f the 

e s t a t e s as the c o n s t i t u e n t p a r t s of the Empire i s , I suggest, 

a l l u d e d t o i n the engraving f o l l o w i n g t h a t d e p i c t i n g the g i a n t 

head b a l l e t . 

The second theme-setting b a l l e t performance by the Wurttemberg 

duke and h i s c o u r t i e r s g i v e s g r a p h i c e x p r e s s i o n t o the 

h i e r a r c h i c a l e s t a t e s t r u c t u r e of "Germania". The w r i t t e n 

accounts have the g i a n t heads " v a n i s h " t o be r e p l a c e d by a 

d a z z l i n g m i r r o r e d shop t h a t moves i n t o the b a l l r o o m . Assum 

expresses s u r p r i s e t h a t a " p r i n c e l y " dance d i d not f o l l o w , 

i n s t e a d twelve dancers, the duke and h i s c o u r t i e r s , appear i n 

costumes Assum i d e n t i f i e s as those of Nuremberg mirror-makers. 

The emblematic s i g n i f i c a t i o n of the m i r r o r s of " P r u d e n t i a " i s 

eminently a p p l i c a b l e t o the f r e e i m p e r i a l c i t y of Nuremberg 

which had been an important m e r c a n t i l e c e n t r e s i n c e the 

t h i r t e e n t h c e n t u r y . The c i t y had j o i n e d the P r o t e s t a n t Union 

i n 1610 w h i l e c o n t i n u i n g w i t h a l o n g - s t a n d i n g gulden diplomacy 

which i n v o l v e d c o n t r i b u t i n g t o i m p e r i a l c o f f e r s w h i l e s e c r e t l y 
13 

sending money t o P r o t e s t a n t powers. Nuremberg had the 

r e p u t a t i o n o f b e i n g the most " d i s t i n g u i s h e d " c i t y o f the 

empire even though i t s r e l a t i o n s h i p t o the house of Habsburg 

had c o o l e d markedly a f t e r the c o n f e s s i o n a l s w i t c h o f 1524. 

Nuremberg, where a l l the i m p e r i a l i n s i g n i a and the s a c r e d 

o b j e c t s o f the empire were s t o r e d , a l s o was the most favoured 
14 

s i t e f o r i m p e r i a l s o j o u r n s . The c i t y o f Durer and Hans 



75 

Sachs was seen as a r e p o s i t o r y o f "Germanness" t h a t stood f o r 

the o p p o s i t e of the " f o r e i g n " Western European c u l t u r e o f 

d u c a l r e s i d e n c e s . 1 5 

The costumes and the shop of the mirror-makers of the 

S t u t t g a r t b a l l e t found an u n d i s p u t a b l y German model i n the 

f e s t i v a l books which d e s c r i b e d and i l l u s t r a t e d the "Nuremberg 

Schembartlauf". The u r b a n - a r t i s a n a l "Schembart" c a r n i v a l was 

s a i d t o have begun i n the e a r l y f o u r t e e n t h c e n t u r y as a 

p r i v i l e g e granted t o the b u t c h e r s ' g u i l d as a reward f o r t h e i r 

l o y a l t y t o the C o u n c i l of the c i t y i n a r e b e l l i o n by f r a c t i o u s 

c i t i z e n s . 1 6 Over time the r i g h t s t o the costumed and masked 

dance of the butchers were bought up by the p a t r i c i a n c l a s s , 

the members of the o l i g a r c h y o f f o u r hundred f a m i l i e s t h a t 

governed the c i t y and i t s v a s t r u r a l h o l d i n g s . The l a s t year 

o f the Schembartlauf was 1539. The c o u n c i l a b o l i s h e d the 

f e s t i v a l t h a t y e a r when c e l e b r a n t s used the o c c a s i o n o f the 

dance t o p r o t e s t a g a i n s t the c h i e f Lutheran p r e l a t e ' s 

i n j u n c t i o n o f the c e l e b r a t i o n of C a r n i v a l . From s h o r t l y 

b e f o r e a b o l i t i o n u n t i l w e l l i n t o the e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y 

Schembart books c o p i e d and reproduced images and d e s c r i p t i o n s 

o f the costumes and events which recorded the h i s t o r y of the 
17 

f e s t i v a l most l i k e l y w i t h the a i d of o l d e r manuscripts. The 

"Schembart" h i s t o r i a n , H.-U. R o l l e r , i d e n t i f i e s the impulse 

t h a t generated these books w e l l a f t e r the demise o f the 

p r a c t i c e as a f o l k l o r i s t i c one t h a t emerged out o f the 

widening c u l t u r a l h o r i z o n s of the Renaissance. The books 



76 

served p a t r i c i a n i n t e r e s t s of s e l f - r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n which the 

grandeur of an indigenous German p a s t c o u l d be c e l e b r a t e d . 

The wealth of documentation found i n the "Schembartbucher" has 

o f f e r e d an u n u s u a l l y r i c h documentation, d e s p i t e i t s b e l a t e d 

nature, o f p o p u l a r f e s t i v a l forms. Because o f the d e a r t h o f 

g r a p h i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s of p o p u l a r f e s t i v a l s the Schembartlauf 

has e l i c i t e d much a t t e n t i o n as a documentation o f the 

e v o l u t i o n o f f e s t i v a l form from i t s c o r p o r a t e - a g r a r i a n 

o r i g i n s t o a f i n a l phase of p a t r i c i a n d i s p l a y . The 

Schembartlauf has served as a paradigm o f the s h i f t o f 

f e s t i v a l p r a c t i c e from i t s r i t u a l i s t i c and p a r t i c i p a t o r y 

f u n c t i o n s t o t h a t of a c o n t r o l l e d " r e p r e s e n t a t i o n " , d e s p i t e 
18 

the d i f f i c u l t y p r e s e n t e d by the d a t i n g of the i l l u s t r a t i o n s . 

The m i r r o r d e c o r a t i o n s o f the duke's and c o u r t i e r s ' costumes 

and the mirror-makers shop l i n k the S t u t t g a r t b a l l e t t o the 

Nuremberg Schembartlauf r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . In e a r l y v e r s i o n s of 

the f e s t i v a l t r e e s decorated w i t h m i r r o r s were c a r r i e d i n a 

p r o c e s s i o n ; i n l a t e r v e r s i o n s costumes were adorned w i t h 

m i r r o r s ( f i g . 1 0 ) . The shop of the mirrormakers i s a l s o a 

r e c r e a t i o n o f a Nuremberg c a r n i v a l form; the "Kramladen", a 
s o r t o f g e n e r a l s t o r e , was used as a pageant s l e d i n the 1512 

19 
c a r n i v a l . 

The a n t i q u a r i a n removal of the Schembartlauf m o t i f s t o the 

c o n f i n e s o f the c o u r t b a l l r o o m marks y e t another s h i f t i n 



77 

f e s t i v a l p r a c t i c e . As the S t u t t g a r t h i s t o r i a n Otto B o r s t has 

remarked: 

" I t i s noteworthy t h a t , as renewed p r o h i b i t i o n s o f 
c a r n i v a l c e l e b r a t i o n s were on the i n c r e a s e , t h e 2 g o u r t ' s 
e f f o r t s t o conform t o these e d i c t s d i m i n i s h e d . " 

As P r o t e s t a n t towns e n f o r c e d the s u p p r e s s i o n o f the C a r n i v a l 

the S t u t t g a r t c o u r t used the model of the h i s t o r i c 

Schembartlauf as a source f o r an a r i s t o c r a t i c d i s p l a y of 

c o u r t l y s k i l l . What had begun as a r i t u a l i s t i c s t r e e t 

f e s t i v i t y was transformed i n the S t u t t g a r t b a l l e t i n t o a 

rehearsed and c o n t r o l l e d performance of measured movements by 

the duke and h i s c o u r t i e r s . The u n d i s p u t a b l y "German" 

Schembartlauf may have been u t i l i z e d i n response t o the 

Landtag's d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h the new " f o r e i g n " showiness and 

refinements of the c o u r t . The p a r l i a m e n t a r i a n s wished f o r a 

c o u r t t h a t was based on, as they s a i d , "the o l d , simple, y e t 

p r a i s e w o r t h y German manner." The urban Schembartlauf theme of 

the c o u r t b a l l e t , even though i t was a l t e r e d i n t o a d e l i c a t e 

performance o f dancing s k i l l , c o u l d be read as a s i g n o f the 

subsumption of an urban form by a newly dominant c o u r t 

c u l t u r e . 

The p l a c e accorded t o the m i r r o r maker b a l l e t as an a d j u n c t t o 

the t h e m e - s e t t i n g g i a n t head b a l l e t and as an i n t r o d u c t o r y 

element o f the f e s t i v a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n p o i n t s t o the 

c e n t r a l i t y of i t s "urban-estate" theme. The importance of the 

g u i l d - a r t i s a n costume o f the duke and h i s c o u r t i e r s l i e s i n 

the s t r a n g e d u a l i s m of a b s o l u t i s m and of the c o n s e r v a t i o n of 



78 

the e s t a t e h i e r a r c h y t h a t e x i s t e d i n German lands b e f o r e the 

T h i r t y Years War. I n g r i d L a u r i e n ' s 1981 s o c i a l - h i s t o r i c a l 

a n a l y s i s o f Weckherlin's E n g l i s h and German c a r e e r s addresses 

t h i s i s s u e . The c o n s t i t u t i o n of the German empire was q u i t e 

u n l i k e t h a t of o t h e r Western European s t a t e s : 

"Germany i n the e a r l y modern p e r i o d p r e s e n t s on one and 
the same l e v e l the i n t e r e s t i n g drama of the r i g o r o u s 
enforcement of the two c o n f l i c t i n g and a n t i t h e t i c a l 
b u i l d i n g p r i n c i p l e s o f the epoch: the e s t a t e h i e r a r c h y 
p r i n c i p l e won out i n the upper l e v e l o f the empire, the 
m o n a r c h i c a l p r i n c i p l e , under the s i g n of a b s o l u t i s m was 
r e a l i z e d i n the important areas of the second l e v e l , the 
t e r r i t o r i e s . . . German c o n s t i t u t i o n a l h i s t o r y s i n c e tljie 
M i d d l e Ages was d e f i n e d by the f a c t o f b i f u r c a t i o n . " 

T h i s d u a l i s t i c c o n c e p t i o n of the German empire allowed 

t e r r i t o r i a l dukes t o band t o g e t h e r a g a i n s t o t h e r dukes, or 

even t h e emperor, where the s o v e r e i g n t y of the e s t a t e o r d e r 
22 

was endangered by a t t a c k s a g a i n s t the P r o t e s t a n t c o n f e s s i o n . 
German P r o t e s t a n t i s m h e l d no a n t i - a b s o l u t i s t t e n d e n c i e s y e t 

t e r r i t o r i a l dukes d i d not adhere t o an a n t i - e s t a t e p o l i c y on 
23 

a l l l e v e l s . The P r o t e s t a n t Union p r e s e n t e d i t s e l f as an 
a l l i a n c e t h a t guaranteed the t r i u m v i r a t e of t e r r i t o r i a l r u l e , 

24 

P r o t e s t a n t i s m and e s t a t e p r i v i l e g e . L a u r i e n s t a t e s t h a t i t 

i s no c o i n c i d e n c e t h a t Weckherlin i n the Triumf c a l l s the duke 

and the e s t a t e s p r o t e c t o r s of "Teutschland" i n one and the 

same b r e a t h . He i n t e r p r e t e d the p o s i t i o n of the duke as a 

member of an e s t a t e of the empire and so c o u l d c e l e b r a t e the 

t e r r i t o r i a l dukes as the p r o t e c t o r s of those v e r y p r i v i l e g e s 

which these dukes were c u r t a i l i n g w i t h i n t h e i r own 

t e r r i t o r i e s . ^ 



79 

The g r a p h i c , and f e s t i v e , t r i b u t e t o the Nurembergers then i s 

g i v e n such prominence because i t c o n t a i n s a c o n f i r m a t i o n of 

t h e e s t a t e h i e r a r c h y - even i n the pronounced a r i s t o c r a t i c 

t o t a l i t y o f the f e s t i v a l . In the r e t a r d a t o r y e s t a t i s t 

s t r u c t u r e of the empire the j u s t i f i c a t i o n o f a dangerous 

a l l i a n c e w i t h the P a l a t i n a t e which d i d not appeal t o the 

Wurttemberg e s t a t e s c o u l d be found, b y p a s s i n g charges o f 

r e b e l l i o u s n e s s or d o c t r i n a l compromise. 

1. S. Henkel and A. Schone, Emblemata ( S t u t t g a r t : 1967), 
p.1350. 

2. F. S i e b e r , V o l k und v o l k s t u m l i c h e M o t i v i k im Festwerk  
des Barocks ( B e r l i n : 1960), p.139. 

3. P. H a i n h o f e r i n S t u t t g a r t e r H o f f e s t e . o p . c i t . , p.333. 

4. D. Norbrook, o p . c i t . , p.98. 

5. G.R. Weckherlin i n S t u t t g a r t e r H o f f e s t e . o p . c i t . , p.60. 

6. R. S c r i b n e r , Popular C u l t u r e and Popular Movements i n  
Reformation Germany (London, 1987), p.295. 

7. C. Andersson, "Popular Imagery i n German Reformation 
Broadsheets". P r i n t and C u l t u r e i n the Renaissance 
(Newark, 1986), p l 2 9 . 

8. R. S c r i b n e r , p.299. 

9. C P . Clasen, The P a l a t i n a t e i n European H i s t o r y .  
1555-1618. (Oxford, 1966), p.4. 

10. I . L a u r i e n , o p . c i t . , p.50. 

11. C P . C l a s e n , p.5. 

12. C P . C l a s e n , p.5. My t r a n s l a t i o n . 

13. J.W. Zophy, The Holy Roman Empire. A d i c t i o n a r y handbook 



80 

( C o n n e c t i c u t , 1980), p.340. 

14. B.-M. Baumunk, "Hauptstadt-aber wo l i e g t s i e ? " , Die Z e i t , 
no. 29, 20 J u l y 1990, p.17. 

15. B.-M. Baumunk. o p . c i t . 

16. H.-U.Roller, Der Nurnberger Schembartlauf. (Tubingen, 
1965), R o l l e r f i n d s the h i s t o r i c a l documentation too 
f r a i l t o make a s s e r t a t i o n s about the o r i g i n s o f the 
Schembartlauf. p.22. 

17. H.-U. R o l l e r , p.13. 

18. Most r e c e n t l y : Samuel K i n s e r , " P r e s e n t a t i o n and 
R e p r e s e n t a t i o n : C a r n i v a l a t Nuremberg, 1450-1550", 
R e p r e s e n t a t i o n s 13, Winter 1986, pp.1-41. K i n s e r ' s 
i n t e r t e x u a l a n a l y s i s uses t e x t s by two well-known 
a r t i s a n - p o e t s t o analyze the " s h i f t s i n c o n s c i o u s n e s s " 
t h a t l e d t o the end of the Schembartlauf. 

19. H.-U. R o l l e r , p.125. 

20. 0. B o r s t , o p . c i t . , p.110. 

21. Gerhard O e s t r e i c h , "Die v e r f a s s u n g s p o l i t i s c h e S i t u a t i o n 
der Monarchie i n Deutschland vom 16. b i s 18. J a h r 
hundert" c i t e d i n I. L a u r i e n , p.52. 

22. I . L a u r i e n , p.52. 

23. I . L a u r i e n , p.52. 

24. I . L a u r i e n , p.52. 

25. I . L a u r i e n , p.52. 



81 

CHAPTER 5  

A P r o t e s t a n t Venus? 

In t h i s c h a p t e r I w i l l suggest an i n t e r p r e t a t i o n f o r one of 

the most m u l t i - l a y e r e d and c o m p e l l i n g segments of the book of 

p r i n t s . I have attempted t o show t h a t the Wurttemberg c o u r t 

t r e a t e d p o l i t i c o - r e l i g i o u s i s s u e s w i t h g r e a t c a u t i o n and 

r e t i c e n c e . While the f e s t i v a l must have had the aim of 

b r i n g i n g t o g e t h e r a consensus o f the u n i t e d P r o t e s t a n t r u l e r s , 

the Wurttemberg c o u r t t r i e d t o m a i n t a i n what the h i s t o r i a n 

Walter Grube c a l l e d a stance of "armed n e u t r a l i t y " . The 

v i s u a l medium t h a t l e f t i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s open was i d e a l l y 

s u i t e d t o e n c l o s e such an ambiguous p o s i t i o n w i t h i n the 

s t a n d a r d i n v e n t i v e extravagance of r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s of c o u r t l y 

m a g n i f i c e n c e . The m u l t i p l i c i t y of symbols and a l l u s i o n s i n 

the g r a p h i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n p r o v i d e d an i d e a l cover f o r the 

i n c l u s i o n of a t e n t a t i v e p o l i t i c a l d i s c o u r s e t h a t would o n l y 

be a c c e s s i b l e t o a l i m i t e d audience. The v i s u a l medium, I 

suggest, c o u l d be made t o c a r r y a l l u s i v e and e l u s i v e p o l e m i c a l 

m a t e r i a l t h a t c o u l d not be e n t r u s t e d t o the t e x t u a l 

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . 

I want t o e x p l o r e some p o s s i b l e t e x t u a l and v i s u a l sources 

t h a t may e x p l i c a t e the s i g n i f i c a n c e of an enigmatic 

c o m p i l a t i o n o f c l a s s i c a l and h i s t o r i c a l r e f e r e n c e s which 

appear t o be encoded i n a segment of the g r a p h i c 

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . The commissioned t e x t s do not o f f e r more than 



82 

a t r i t e d e s c r i p t i o n of the strange amalgam o f images p r e s e n t e d 

i n the g r a p h i c medium. I contend t h a t the c o m p e l l i n g v i s u a l 

elements of t h i s s e c t i o n of the engravings i n v i t e d some 

contemporaries t o "read" a d i s c o u r s e d e r i v e d from an i r e n i c 

R o s i c r u c i a n p a r a b l e t h a t was pronounced i n a p r e e x i s t i n g and 

a l l u s i v e v i s u a l v o c a b u l a r y . The v i s u a l medium, I suggest, 

couched r e f e r e n c e s t o a s t r o n g e r i n t e r n a t i o n a l P r o t e s t a n t 

a l l i a n c e i n a form t h a t was s t i l l expedient t o promote an 

image of n e u t r a l i t y f o r the Wurttemberg c o u r t . 

Perhaps the most impenetrable images o f the engravings s e r i e s 

are those p o r t r a y i n g the tournament p r o c e s s i o n by the 

Wurttemberg duke's p r i v y c o u n c i l l o r . T h i s opaque assemblage 

of images mixes c l a s s i c a l and h i s t o r i c a l elements i n t o a v e r y 

s t r a n g e c o n c o c t i o n . A dead Hungarian k i n g i s shown i n a 

V e n e t i a n boat p r o p e l l e d by s e a - c r e a t u r e s , f o l l o w e d by 

perfume-egg throwers w i t h T u r k i s h s w o r d s ( f i g . 1 1 ) . Another 

s e a - f l o a t f o l l o w s w i t h Venus, t h i s Venus, a c c o r d i n g t o the 

m y s t i f y i n g s t o r y i n Assum's and Weckherlin's t e x t s , who i s 

a l s o the k i n g ' s daughter, i s preceded by a bound Cupid and i s 

f o l l o w e d by sword-bearing angels and a draped " s o u l o f 

C u p i d " ( f i g . 1 2 ) . The p r o c e s s i o n c o n t i n u e s w i t h Hungarian 

s o l d i e r s c a r r y i n g g h o u l i s h t r o p h i e s : severed Turks' heads 

impaled on s t a k e s ( f i g . 1 3 ) . The f i r s t s o l d i e r c a r r i e s the head 

o f a Moorish p r i n c e impaled on a s c i m i t a r ( f i g . 1 4 ) . 



83 

The t e x t s o f f e r a p r o s a i c d e s c r i p t i o n of t h i s sequence o f the 

pageantry; the n a r r a t i v e framework o f f e r e d by the poets t e l l s 

t h a t the Venus/daughter had f a l l e n i n l o v e w i t h the Moorish 

p r i n c e who then was executed by beheading. Weckherlin's t e x t 

conveys t h i s p l o t as a s c e n a r i o of a c h i v a l r i c romance 

performed w i t h i n the tournament pageantry. 

What i s remarkable about t h i s sequence i n the t e x t s and the 

engravings i s t h a t i t c l o s e l y p a r a l l e l s the core o f the most 

well-known R o s i c r u c i a n t r a c t : The Chemical Wedding o f 

C h r i s t i a n Rosenkreuz. 1 A p l a y w i t h i n t h a t complex and 

a l l u s i v e n a r r a t i v e d e s c r i b e s a c o u r t l y marriage f e s t i v a l 

witnessed by the n a r r a t o r , Rosenkreuz. The wedding p l a y a c t s 

as a microcosmic summary of the s u r f e i t of emblematic imagery 
2 

and events of the t o t a l n a r r a t i v e . In t h i s c o u r t l y drama 

i n t e r l u d e of the "Chemical Wedding", an o l d k i n g r e c e i v e s news 

o f a l a n d d e v a s t a t e d by a Moorish k i n g . Only one daughter of 

the l o c a l dynasty s u r v i v e s the a s s a u l t . T h i s s u r v i v i n g 

p r i n c e s s who was t o marry the o l d k i n g ' s son escapes but i s 

l u r e d back by the Moor. The o l d k i n g and h i s army f r e e the 

p r i n c e s s ; the k i n g r e t u r n s her kingdom t o her and vows t o 

marry her t o h i s son. The p r i n c e s s behaves b a d l y ; once a g a i n 

f a l l s under the sway of the Moor and hands her kingdom t o him. 

The Moor imprisons the p r i n c e s s and another b a t t l e w i t h the 

Moor ensues u n t i l she i s f r e e d by the k i n g ' s son. The Moor i s 

beheaded, the b r i d e i s f r e e d and sent t o the c o u r t preacher. 

The e v i l c o u r t preacher misuses h i s power and i s banished from 

the kingdom. The s t o r y ends w i t h the wedding. 



84 

T h i s s k e l e t a l summation o f the p l a y w i t h i n the "Chemical 

Wedding" r e p r e s e n t s an e l a b o r a t e a l l e g o r y t h a t a t f i r s t 

p a r a l l e l s O l d Testament t e a c h i n g s about the r e l a t i o n s h i p o f 

God t o h i s people. A f t e r Satan d e s t r o y s God's people, God 

sends h i s son t o f r e e them. The temptation of Satan (the 

Moor) remains so g r e a t t h a t they succumb a g a i n . Only through 

the t o t a l a n n i h i l a t i o n of Satan by the son o f God can the 

church be r e e s t a b l i s h e d . When the Roman church misuses i t s 

power i t i s r e p l a c e d . F i n a l l y the marriage t h a t God d e s i r e d 

between the church and C h r i s t can take p l a c e i n the 
3 

Reformation. 

The f a i t h l e s s Venus/bride of the R o s i c r u c i a n s t o r y , the poets 

t e x t s and the engraving can be seen t o r e p r e s e n t a metaphor 

f o r the reformed church. The v i s u a l metaphor o f Venus as a 

dangerous temptress r e l i e s on a p i c t o r i a l t r a d i t i o n t h a t was 

a l r e a d y i n use i n the pre-Reformation e r a ; i n a 1494 woodcut 

i n S e b a s t i a n Brant's N a r r e n s c h i f f Venus subjugates by the 

power o f l o v e . ( f i g . 1 5 ) . Reformation propaganda r e - u t i l i z e d 

t h i s f a m i l i a r r h e t o r i c i n a t t a c k s on the church of Rome; 

Cranach, f o r example, reworked the d e v i c e o f the s e d u c t i v e 

temptress t o i l l u s t r a t e Luther's B i b l e of 1534 ( f i g . 1 6 ) . The 

Roman church i s shown as the Babylonian whore who has taken 

the p l a c e o f C h r i s t i n the church and has made men 

s u b s e r v i e n t . 



8 5 

The Venus of the S t u t t g a r t baptism i s a "redeemed" v e r s i o n of 

the "whorish" type; t h a t the redemption of Venus i s e f f e c t e d 

by a Lutheran Reformation (as i n the R o s i c r u c i a n parable) may 

be g i v e n a v i s u a l i n d i c a t o r by the swans who precede her i n 

t h e a r t i f i c i a l water. Swans had been used as an emblematic 

a l l u s i o n t o Luther s i n c e the b e g i n n i n g of t h e seventeenth 

c e n t u r y and became a w i d e l y used m o t i f i n commemorative medals 
4 

f o r the Reformation J u b i l e e of 1617 ( f i g . 1 7 ) . In t h e 

engraving, the " P r o t e s t a n t " Venus i s f o l l o w e d by the p h a l l i c 

"Anima C u p i d i n i " whose s l e e p m i r r o r s the i m m o b i l i z a t i o n o f the 

bound c u p i d . T h i s p i c t o r i a l d e n i a l of s e x u a l i t y conforms t o 

the R o s i c r u c i a n f a b l e i n which Cupid r e p r e s e n t s " c r e a t i v e , 

n a t u r a l l o v e (that) i s unable t o comprehend the ( s t o r y of 
5 

S a l v a t i o n ) and remains unmoved by the p a i n s o f redemption". 

The p u r i t a n i c a l credo i m p l i c i t i n the R o s i c r u c i a n s t o r y as a 

P r o t e s t a n t t r a c t i s not o n l y a r e j e c t i o n of the "Babylonian 

whore" of the Church of Rome, but a l s o speaks t o the r e j e c t i o n 

o f the s e x u a l power t h a t Reformation polemic a t t r i b u t e d t o the 

C a t h o l i c c l e r g y . R e l i g i o u s p a s s i o n s were aroused, a c c o r d i n g 

t o Robert S c r i b n e r ' s a n a l y s i s , by what was p e r c e i v e d t o be the 

s e x u a l p r e d a t o r i n e s s of the p r i e s t h o o d . S c r i b n e r l o c a t e s the 

p e r c e p t i o n of e x c e s s i v e powers of the c l e r g y i n the r u l e s of 

s e x u a l conduct t h a t p e r m i t t e d p r i e s t s behaviour denied t o the 

l a i t y , i n the power p r i e s t s e x e r c i s e d i n the c o n f e s s i o n a l i n 

e n q u i r i e s i n t o s e x u a l s i n s and i n the c l e r g y ' s r o l e as 
6 

marriage c o u n s e l l o r s and b r o k e r s . A g a i n s t t h i s image o f 

C a t h o l i c s e x u a l i n c o n t i n e n c e the P r o t e s t a n t c l e r g y produced a 



86 

" s t r o n g l y m o r a l i s e d cosmos, i n which d i s o r d e r was seen as the 

r e s u l t o f human weakness and s i n f u l n e s s " . 

In the engraving of the " P r o t e s t a n t " Venus i n her redeemed 

s t a t e , she i s d r e s s e d i n E n g l i s h f a s h i o n (the f a n c o l l a r and 

low-cut b o d i c e are i d e n t i f i e d as E n g l i s h d r e s s i n another 

engraving i n the s e r i e s r e p r e s e n t i n g " E n g l i s h l a d i e s " , 

f i g . 1 8 ) . T h i s costume i s perhaps meant t o pay t r i b u t e t o 

E l i z a b e t h S t u a r t "the c h i e f e cause of the shews" as the h e i r 

t o E l i z a b e t h I, the " V i r g i n Queen" and defender o f the 

P r o t e s t a n t church. Frances Y a t e s 1 study of the E l i z a b e t h a n 

c u l t examined how the P e t r a r c a n theme of the "Triumph o f 

C h a s t i t y " was e x p l o i t e d as an a n t i - p a p a l symbol. Yates 

suggests t h a t : 

" i f we f o l l o w the r e l e n t l e s s argument of the E l i z a b e t h 
symbolism t o i t s l o g i c a l c o n c l u s i o n , we may b e g i n t o see 
t h i s Chaste Lady as a Pure Church, the o p p o s i t e o f an 
unreformed Whore of Babylon". 

I t i s u n f o r t u n a t e t h a t Frances Yates was not f a m i l i a r w i t h the 

S t u t t g a r t baptism engravings where t h i s theme i s a p p a r e n t l y 

p i c k e d up. In Yates' The R o s i c r u c i a n Enlightenment her 

r e a d i n g o f the "Chemical Wedding" does not touch on the 

Reformation a l l e g o r y of the t r a c t ; i n her a n a l y s i s : "The main 

events i n the 'Wedding' e v i d e n t l y r e f l e c t or i n some way r e f e r 

t o ceremonies and r i t u a l s connected w i t h the o r d e r s of 
g 

c h i v a l r y . " 

For Yates the c o u r t l y content of the R o s i c r u c i a n p a r a b l e i s 

pre-eminent; her s u g g e s t i o n t h a t the c o u r t l y a r c h i t e c t u r e and 



87 

ceremonial of the story show the influence of English culture 

on the Wurttemberg author Andreae i s too tenuous. In Yates 

Anglocentric analysis, i t i s Andreae's supposed attendance at 

the F r i e d r i c h I Garter induction ceremony presided over by an 

English embassy i n Wurrtemberg and the p o s s i b i l i t y of 

Andreae's f a m i l i a r i t y with what she termed as the "Jacobean" 

renaissance at the Heidelberg court that i n s p i r e the settings 
9 

of the "Chemical Wedding". (Even Yates has to cast doubt on 

the l o c a t i o n of the c a s t l e of the story i n Heidelberg because 

the f i c t i t i o u s one i s on a sea-shore - the sea-motif of the 

Stuttgart pageant vehicles also alludes to a seaside s e t t i n g ) . 

The English costume of the redeemed Venus of the engraving may 

have offered corroboration for Yates' ruminations about 
10 

English a l l u s i o n s i n the Rosicrucian t r a c t . The Reformation 

allegory of the play ,however, eluded her analysis and she 

interpreted the text as an impenetrable c h i v a l r i c - a l c h e m i c a l 

t a l e whose o r i g i n s were thoroughly English. Yates' reads the 

"microcosmic" play within the fable as an "extremely simple 

p l o t about a king, a Moor, and a princess", punctuated by 

B i b l i c a l emblems. 
Studies of the "Chemical Wedding" that came a f t e r Yates" The 

Rosicrucian Enlightenment (1972) put forward the B i b l i c a l and 
12 

Reformation allegory as the i n t e r p r e t i v e key. The German 

h i s t o r i a n Richard van Dulmen locates the work f i r m l y on German 

s o i l ; he characterizes Rosicrucianism as a p a r t i c u l a r early 

seventeenth century reaction of a group of Lutheran 



88 

Wurttemberg s c h o l a r s t o the c r i s e s they p e r c e i v e d i n the s t a t e 

r e g i m e n t a t i o n o f the church, i n the dangers posed by Roman 

C a t h o l i c i s m on the p o l i t i c a l f r o n t and i n the s e c u l a r i z a t i o n 

o f s c i e n t i f i c knowledge o u t s i d e the i n s t i t u t i o n s of l e a r n i n g 

which c h a l l e n g e d the s c h o l a s t i c r i g i d i t y o f s c h o o l s and 

u n i v e r s i t i e s . The d e l i b e r a t e l y m y s t i f y i n g and enigmatic t e x t s 

promoted an e g a l i t a r i a n C h r i s t i a n s o c i e t y where t h e growth of 

s e c u l a r l e a r n i n g would be coupled w i t h an i n t e r n a l i z e d 

p i e t i s t i c p r a c t i c e . The u t i l i t y of t h i s U t o p i a n s u b t e x t of 

the R o s i c r u c i a n t e x t s f o r the S t u t t g a r t f e s t i v a l i s t h a t i t 

developed a r e l i g i o u s - p h i l o s o p h i c a l p o s i t i o n t h a t stood 

o u t s i d e the d o c t r i n a l d i s p u t e s the t e r r i t o r i a l church was 
13 

engaged i n w i t h C a t h o l i c s and C a l v i n i s t s . 

While Wurttemberg R o s i c r u c i a n i s m r e f l e c t s disenchantment w i t h 

the r e s u l t s o f the c e n t u r y - o l d Reformation as expressed by a 

group o f "bourgeois" s c h o l a r s , i t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o note t h a t 

the proposed reforms s t i l l m i r r o r Luther's i d e a s about the 

separateness o f the saCred and s e c u l a r spheres. In the 

d e s i r e d "second Reformation", the w o r l d l y o r d e r would be l e f t 

i n t a c t : n e i t h e r church, nor s t a t e , nor the e s t a t e h i e r a r c h y , 
14 

nor the p o l i t i c a l c o n s t i t u t i o n were c a l l e d i n t o q u e s t i o n . 

While Andreae sought f o r change, t h i s change would o n l y be 
15 

sought f o r i n a C h r i s t i a n i z a t i o n o f l e a r n i n g and m o r a l i t y . 

The R o s i c r u c i a n c a l l s f o r a p i e t i s t i c r e v i v a l i n Wurttemberg 

d i d not p l a y a major r o l e i n the p a r l i a m e n t a r y o p p o s i t i o n t o 

a b s o l u t i s t r u l e , i n c o n t r a s t w i t h P u r i t a n i s m , the E n g l i s h 



89 

seventeenth-century v e r s i o n of p i e t i s m , as Mary Fulbrook's 

comparative study has shown. In her P i e t y and P o l i t i c s .  

R e l i g i o n and the R i s e o f A b s o l u t i s m i n England. Wurttemberg.  

and P r u s s i a (1983), she examined how the p i e t i s t a f t e r l i f e of 

Andreae's R o s i c r u c i a n pamphlets came t o be i n c o r p o r a t e d and 

t o l e r a t e d w i t h i n the Wurttemberg t e r r i t o r i a l c h u r c h . 1 6 

In the 1616 f e s t i v a l the R o s i c r u c i a n n a r r a t i v e base cannot be 

read as an i n c o r p o r a t i o n of an o p p o s i t i o n a l d i s c o u r s e . The 

i r e n i c P r o t e s t a n t framework of the R o s i c r u c i a n t e x t s may have 

spoken t o the Wurttemberg e s t a t e s concept of the d u c a l r o l e 

which understood the l e g i t i m a c y of the r u l e r not i n h i s 

g o d l i k e q u a l i t i e s , but r a t h e r i n h i s C h r i s t i a n v i r t u e and 

defense of the t r u e f a i t h . Perhaps the R o s i c r u c i a n p a r a b l e 

w i t h i t s a l l u s i o n s t o C h r i s t i a n v i r t u e may have a c t e d as a 

response t o the p i c t u r e of the C h r i s t i a n p a t r i a r c h t h a t the 

s t i l l i n f l u e n t i a l Wurttemberg e s t a t e s h e l d up i n t h e i r 

o p p o s i t i o n t o l a v i s h d u c a l s e l f - r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . 

The i s s u e o f the defense of the t r u e f a i t h t h a t the a l l e g o r y 

o f t h e redeemed Venus and the beheaded Moor i n t r o d u c e s i s 

f u r t h e r o v e r l a i d w i t h imagery t h a t does not occur i n the 

R o s i c r u c i a n p a r a b l e but which i s a l s o based i n the 

c o n f e s s i o n a l c o n f l i c t . The b a f f l i n g b l e n d of Hungarians, 

Turks, a V e n e t i a n boat and the E n g l i s h - d r e s s e d Venus, I 

suggest, c o n t a i n a p o l e m i c a l i n t e n t behind a veneer o f c o u r t l y 

e x o t i c i s m . These are not random c h o i c e s o f accompaniment f o r 



90 

an a l l e g o r i c a l Reformed church. The V e n e t i a n boat and the 

Hungarian k i n g are i n the same m e t a p h o r i c a l boat as the 

E n g l i s h Venus. The a n t i - p a p a l V e n e t i a n r e p u b l i c and the 

C a l v i n i s m of the e a s t e r n reaches o f the Habsburg empire are 

a l l u d e d t o as a l l i e s of the P r o t e s t a n t cause i n the Hungarian 

i d e n t i t y of the k i n g i n the gondola. The t e x t s p l a c e the 

Hungarian rescue of the Venus i n t o a foggy h i s t o r i c a l p a s t 

t h a t d i s g u i s e s any contemporary import t o t h e i r presence. The 

Hungarian s o l d i e r s c a r r y the Moor's head o f the R o s i c r u c i a n 

f a b l e but a l s o c a r r y the impaled heads of twelve Turks. The 

g h o u l i s h t r o p h i e s the Hungarians are c a r r y i n g are u n l i k e any 

a n t i - T u r k i s h propaganda images c u r r e n t a t the time. Rudolf I I 

had e x t e n s i v e l y e x p l o i t e d the theme of v i c t o r y over the Turks 

f o r p e r s o n a l propaganda of h i s r o l e as Hungarian k i n g but the 

many p a i n t i n g s and t a p e s t r i e s commissioned f o r h i s p r i v a t e 

rooms and the medals he had made u t i l i z e d a b l a n d imagery of 
17 

c a p t u r e d T u r k i s h weapons and a r t i f a c t s . A r i c h l y 

i l l u s t r a t e d Hungarian a r t h i s t o r i c a l monograph e n t i t l e d "Let  

us g i r d o u r s e l v e s w i t h the sword a g a i n s t the heathen" a n a l y s e s 

a n t i - T u r k i s h imagery c u r r e n t i n s i x t e e n t h and seventeenth 

c e n t u r y C e n t r a l Europe; i t o f f e r s no models f o r the gruesome 
18 

t r o p h i e s p o r t r a y e d i n the S t u t t g a r t f e s t i v a l . Only 

broadsheets w i t h an a n t i - T u r k i s h theme made use of images of 

i m p a l i n g - and then i t i s the Turks who are the impalers 

( f i g . 1 9 ) . The gory impaled heads of the S t u t t g a r t f e s t i v a l 

may be connected t o e a r l i e r pamphlet imagery o f the D r a c u l a 

s t o r y . The d r e a d f u l deeds of V l a d the Impaler were among the 



91 

most p o p u l a r broadsheet woodcuts i n c i r c u l a t i o n i n f i f t e e n t h 
19 

c e n t u r y Germany ( f i g . 2 0 ) . The Hungarian impalers o f the 

S t u t t g a r t f e s t i v a l may, by making a p i c t o r i a l a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h 

T r a n s y l v a n i a and i t s gruesome h i s t o r y , be r e f e r r i n g t o a more 

contemporary concern. The Hungarian kingdom o f the e a r l y 

seventeenth c e n t u r y was no l o n g e r s o v e r e i g n and u n i t e d . I t 

c o n s i s t e d of t h r e e p a r t s ; the T u r k i s h o c c u p i e d area, the 

Habsburg r u l e d area and a t h i r d area r u l e d by a T u r k i s h 
20 

v a s s a l , B e t h l e n Gabor. The Habsburg area, which was almost 
e n t i r e l y P r o t e s t a n t was a c e n t r e of c o n f l i c t w i t h the emperor 

21 

i n the f i r s t decade of the seventeenth c e n t u r y . But i t was 

the T r a n s y l v a n i a n r u l e r , the C a l v i n i s t T u r k i s h v a s s a l , who was 

the most important Hungarian f i g u r e i n the pre-war y e a r s 
22 

because he promised t o advance the C a l v i n i s t cause. In the-

f a c e o f E n g l i s h and N e t h e r l a n d i s h r e l u c t a n c e , as the h i s t o r i a n 

van Schelven has p o i n t e d out, B e t h l e n Gabor o f f e r e d a g r e a t 

and f i n a l hope t o m o b i l i z e a pan-European P r o t e s t a n t a l l i a n c e ; 

even i f h i s l a t e r p o l i t i c s d i d not c o n s i s t e n t l y conform t o h i s 

r e l i g i o u s o r i e n t a t i o n . The strange phenomenon o f a C a l v i n i s t 

a l l y who i s a l s o a T u r k i s h v a s s a l l e d van Schelven t o q u e s t i o n 

how such a r u l e r c o u l d have had enough p r e s t i g e t o even be 

c o n s i d e r e d as a c a t a l y s t t o u n i f y a l l P r o t e s t a n t Europe. The 

hopes B e t h l e n Gabor embodied were brought t o the f o r e as o t h e r 

e f f o r t s t o u n i f y a g a i n s t the C a t h o l i c a x i s met w i t h f a i l u r e . 

Perhaps t h i s strange a l l y of the P a l a t i n a t e cause i s g i v e n 

c r e d i b i l i t y i n the engravings v i a the gory heads o f vanquished 



92 

Turks which serve t o deny h i s s t a t u s as l i e g e s u b j e c t of the 

S u l t a n . By u t i l i z i n g the images of impaled heads B e t h l e n 

Gabor's T r a n s y l v a n i a n h e r i t a g e i s r e c a l l e d and the famous 

c r u e l t y of D r a c u l a becomes a p o s i t i v e a t t r i b u t e o f an a l l y . 

The n o t i o n o f a Hungarian a l l y t o the P r o t e s t a n t cause i s not 

mentioned i n the commissioned t e x t s . The poets' commentaries 

do not go beyond what i s r e p r e s e n t e d ; i n s t e a d , the a l l e g o r i c a l 

n a r r a t i v e s are removed i n t o a c o u r t l y nether world o f h e r o i c 

a c t i o n s by h i s t o r i c a l and m y t h o l o g i c a l f i g u r e s . The 

engravings are r e l e a s e d i n t o a separate f i e l d o f a c t i o n where 

contemporary p o l i t i c a l and r e l i g i o u s a l l u s i o n s are t h e r e t o be 

read. These r e a d i n g s are, however, detached from c o u r t 

a u t h o r s h i p ; the " r e a d a b i l i t y " of the symbolic commentary of 

the g r a p h i c work i s a c c e s s i b l e t o those c l o s e t o the "author", 

the Wurttemberg c o u r t , but t h i s author had a b d i c a t e d a r o l e as 

i n t e r p r e t e r of the imagery and any d i r e c t p o l e m i c a l i n t e n t was 

subsumed by grandeur and i n n o v a t i o n i n the form and wealth of 

the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . 

By m a i n t a i n i n g an a l l e g o r i c a l tone the f e s t i v a l 

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s avoided c o n f l i c t - r i d d e n i s s u e s o f r e l i g i o n and 

a l l i a n c e t h a t might have f u e l e d f u r t h e r d i s s e n t both w i t h i n 

and o u t s i d e the t e r r i t o r y w h i l e a l l o w i n g the g r a p h i c 

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n t o d i s s e m i n a t e an ambiguous bundle of a l l u s i o n s 

f o r the P r o t e s t a n t Union t o r a l l y around. The e q u i v o c a l 

v i s u a l language o f the Venus n a r r a t i v e was u t i l i z e d , I 



93 

suggest, t o a l l u d e t o the hopes o f a P r o t e s t a n t renewal 

without naming any dangerous and r e b e l l i o u s a l l i a n c e s t h a t 

might have brought i t about. 

1. Joh. V a l e n t i n Andreae, Fama F r a t e r n i t a s (1614). 
C o n f e s s i o F r a t e r n i t a t i s (1615), Chymische H o c h z e i t .  
C h r i s t i a n i Rosencreutz, Anno 1459 (1616), e d i t e d by 
R i c h a r d van Dulmen ( S t u t t g a r t , 1973). The t e x t o f the 
"Chemical Wedding" was w r i t t e n i n 1605 o r 1606 and 
p u b l i s h e d i n 1616 i n Strasbourg, p.9. 

2. J.W. Montgomery, Cross and C r u c i b l e . Johann V a l e n t i n  
Andreae (1586-1654) Phoenix of the t h e o l o g i a n s (The 
Hague, 1973), p.276. 

3. Montgomery, a l s o R. van Dulmen, Die U t o p i e e i n e r  
c h r i s t l i c h e n g e s e l l s c h a f t . T e i l l ( S t u t t g a r t , 1978), 
o f f e r t h i s r e a d i n g of the Reformation a l l e g o r y . 

4'. R.W. S c r i b n e r , Popular C u l t u r e and Popular Movements i n  
Reformation Germany (London, 1987), pp.342-344. 

5. J.W. Montgomery, o p , c i t . , p.411. 

6. R.W. S c r i b n e r , o p . c i t . , pp.246-250. 

7. Frances Yates, A s t r a e a . The I m p e r i a l Theme i n the  
S i x t e e n t h " C e n t u r y (Penguin, 1977), p.114. 

8. F. Yates, The R o s i c r u c i a n Enlightenment, o p . c i t . , p.68. 

9. F. Yates, o p . c i t . , p.68. 

10. F. Yates, o p . c i t . , p.67. 

11. F. Yates, o p . c i t . , p.63. 

12. J.W. Montgomery, a l s o R. van Dulmen, see notes 2 and 3. 

13. R. van Dulmen, op. c i t . , p.47. 

14. R. van Dulmen, op. c i t . , p.203. 

15. R. van Dulmen, op. c i t . , p.203. 



94 

16. Mary Fulbrook, P i e t y and P o l i t i c s (Cambridge, 1983). 

17. K a r l V o c e l k a , Habsburqische Hochzeiten 1550-1600 
(Vienna, 1976). 

18. G a l a v i c s Geza, Kossunk Kardot Az Poganv E l l e n (Budapest, 
1986). 

19. G r i g o r N a d r i s , "A F a n t a s t i c Attempt o f D r a c u l a t o 
Conquer England" Comparative L i t e r a t u r e S t u d i e s (3), 
1966, p. 374, A l s o : 

D i e t e r Harmening, Der Anfanq von D r a c u l a . Zur G e s c h i c h t e  
von G e s c h i c h t e n (Wurzburg, 1983). 

20. G a l a v i c s Geza, o p . c i t . , p.161. 

21. Kalman Benda, "Le D r o i t de R e s i s t a n c e de l a B u l l e d'Or 
h o n g r o i s e e t l e c a l v i n i s m e " i n Noblesse f r a n c a i s e  
Noblesse h o n g r o i s e . B e l a Kopeci and Eva H. B a l a z s , eds. 
(Budapest/Paris, 1981). 

22. A.A. van Schelven, "Der G e n e r a l s t a b des p o l i t i s c h e n 
C a l v i n i s m u s i n Z e n t r a l - e u r o p a zu Beginn des 
D r e i s s i g j a h r i g e n K r i e g e s " , A r c h i v f u r  
R e f o r m a t i o n s g e s c h i c h t e 35-36, 1938-1939, pp.117-141. 



95 

CONCLUSION 

In the h i g h l y p o l i t i c i z e d c u l t u r e o f the e a r l y modern p e r i o d , 

a r t i s t i c p r o d u c t i o n s e t i n motion i n an unprecedented manner 

the accumulation of power by the c o u r t . The f e s t i v a l w i t h i t s 

extravagant use of a l l c u l t u r a l forms was perhaps the 

consummate means by which an e a r l y a b s o l u t i s t c o u r t c o u l d not 

o n l y r e p r e s e n t but a l s o formulate i t s a u t h o r i t y . The baptism 

f e s t i v a l p r e s e n t s an i n t e r e s t i n g case study of the use of t h i s 

c u l t u r a l s t r a t e g y by a secondary German t e r r i t o r i a l c o u r t . 

Conversance w i t h the i n t e r n a t i o n a l r e p e r t o i r e o f c o u r t l y 

m a g n i f i c e n c e enabled a c u l t u r a l d i s p l a y designed t o a d v e r t i s e 

and implement the a c c r e t i o n of power by the minor c o u r t on the 

l o c a l , n a t i o n a l and i n t e r n a t i o n a l l e v e l . The m u l t i - l e v e l rank 

e x p l i c a t i n g f u n c t i o n of the f e s t i v a l was p r o g r a m m a t i c a l l y 

heightened by i t s t r a n s l a t i o n i n t o a v i s u a l medium. V i a the 

e x t e n s i v e use of the p r i n t medium the secondary c o u r t c o u l d 

r e l e a s e the e f f e c t s of the event from the domination of the 

immediate and the l o c a l . 

In a d d i t i o n t o s o c i a l s t a t u s e x p l i c a t i n g f u n c t i o n s , the v i s u a l 

medium extended the c o n v e n t i o n a l use of the f e s t i v a l as an 

instrument t o encounter p o l i t i c a l c r i s i s . The r e p r e s e n t a t i o n 

of the c o u r t l y s p e c t a c l e d i s s e m i n a t e d a show of s t r e n g t h t h a t 

masked a l e s s than p e r f e c t P r o t e s t a n t a l l i a n c e a t a time o f 

impending c o n f e s s i o n a l c o n f l i c t . Some o f the most 



96 

e y e - c a t c h i n g images, as I have suggested, a l l u d e t o the 

c o n s i d e r a b l e i n s t a b i l i t i e s brought about by the 

p o l i t i c o - r e l i g i o u s c r i s i s . In the engravings the hopes and 

f e a r s r a i s e d by a p o t e n t i a l l y r e b e l l i o u s a l l i a n c e c o u l d be 

t r a n s m i t t e d i n a symbolic form t h a t d i f f e r e n t i a l l y addressed 

the l o c a l and i n t e r n a t i o n a l spheres of a c t i o n . Mediated by 

the h i e r a r c h i c a l l y d e f i n e d language o f c o u r t l y g l o r i f i c a t i o n , 

the c o n t e n t i o u s i s s u e s of a dangerous P r o t e s t a n t a l l i a n c e were 

v i s u a l l y expounded and i n a sense overcome by a show o f 

v i r t u o s i t y and i n v e n t i o n . The d i f f i c u l t i e s p r e s e n t e d by 

j o i n i n g a p o t e n t i a l r e b e l l i o n were sublimated i n a c o n f i d e n t 

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of c o u r t l y e l e v a t i o n and elegance t h a t 

p r e c l u d e d c o a r s e p o l e m i c a l content. 

I f the problems f a c e d by the Wurttemberg c o u r t i n j o i n i n g the 

P r o t e s t a n t Union would have been more d i r e c t l y addressed, 

perhaps the P a l a t i n a t e r u l e r would not have taken the 

dangerous s t e p of a c c e p t i n g the Bohemian crown i n 1619. The 

P a l a t i n a t e s must have had an i n f l a t e d sense o f P r o t e s t a n t 

s o l i d a r i t y when F r e d e r i c k V p r e c i p i t a t e d an empire-wide armed 

c o n f l i c t when he took the s i d e of the Bohemian r e b e l s . 

N e i t h e r the P r o t e s t a n t Union nor the E n g l i s h k i n g came t o h i s 

a i d when he was e x p e l l e d by C a t h o l i c f o r c e s ; Duke Johann 

F r i e d r i c h t r i e d t o d e c l a r e n e u t r a l i t y but Wurttemberg was soon 

overrun by i m p e r i a l t r o o p s . The p o p u l a t i o n o f Wurttemberg 

t h a t had numbered 450,000 a t the b e g i n n i n g o f the c e n t u r y was 

reduced t o 90,000 by the end of the T h i r t y Years War. 



M. Merian. 



98 
C O V T J t A E C r a DES K/KSTLKHES FfWOTlCKS 50 BE f DES NE/GEBORXEXr/N'GEN" PRJVTZEN" FR1DERICHEN HERTTOG 2 7 

F i g u r e 2. Fireworks; S t u t t g a r t , 1616, engraving. 



F i g u r e 3. Kubelstechen; S t u t t g a r t , 1616, engraving. 





o 
F i g u r e 5. Arcimboldesques: H 

a. Hunter. Saxony, 1576, e t c h i n g . H e i n r i c h Goding. 
b. T e r r a . Munich, 1590's, e t c h i n g . Unknown master. 







F i g u r e 8. Concord and D i s c o r d ; S t u t t g a r t , 1616, engraving. £ 



Jywfihettbnbrtg pabfittr ©fftnbarung j|db«nm»CciftlOM'. s.Cap. 

© < f c a a » i i A n 6M | i b c n r « » b n g t i c * 
GVann. thai bex g f l a l i vnb tnamt* 
Wu "Job ami** gifcbcn bat 
ir in m r an btt m t n * gtflat 
Du>t< fiton vngtlti^n tw »b' 
l*bfn^< rx» pabflw* gtUobi 
t > « warm all grf ntm M M 
ZMcblatxmba gaffltû cnlcvf 

l)cu«Vi gartbg pfintmwa 
fcaaibtamis^wwiLfUnmf 

IStx ui jt vcrfrifif<$« junsj 
£ > a » tb*cr «a« aim ptu6*l grirufe 
3i*NIK txc Ywpfl m oiNfii?* r a ^ 
fc>a« <Ukfe bwrtl^ btu4> t u<uvMT 
2Uk* v u im mtatgm f.-r 
31Kb | a fea i baa cttKT pnw pĴ  
C-tai M* Ni« iEjiangc't f\i|> 
jlfl vonbtm boftwn onbammn 
v«f<^*n/wib<dEct vfi trrf nracn 

ibwi bet aad) aatt\6w<n mimj 
2*b<m t*$ bAffbrn M M I fd̂ ianb 

3 par pallium n«fe a muu im 
Y'«mi,^pfrt p<i4 /̂fiiff« »d<Bc«»b«nfi 
£' anb wfc Urn ?,unt4Tn<$ rmi rn *nfl 
t ) i f l < # a i l < » twnn|i<t>Polct4.mbm 
* . a * rbwi fntrfvnfl am i<JMi*i> nnbffl 
fctiu baa ftoaa (butin bj< gfcfeubai 
t > « * bap (bum tiblidj mmb grbwtxn 
POu bcmo**mbt* S3mtn munb 

g t i b a a t a f l o * g«5il gmnb. 

F i g u r e 9. Many-headed monsters: 
a. Seven-headed p a p a l b e a s t ; c. 153 0, woodcut 
b. S a t i r e on the C a t h o l i c c l e r g y ; 1556, t r i c k 

woodcut. 



106 

F i g u r e 10. Schembart m i r r o r costume, manuscript i l l u s t r a t i o n 



F i g u r e 11. Hungarian King; S t u t t g a r t , 1616, engraving. H 
o 
- 0 



F i g u r e 12. Venus and Cupid; S t u t t g a r t , 1616, engraving. 



F i g u r e 13. T u r k i s h T r o p h i e s ; S t u t t g a r t , 1616, engraving. 





F i g u r e 15. Venus; S e b a s t i a n Brant's Ship of F o o l s , 1494, 
woodcut. 



F i g u r e 16. The B a b y l o n i a n Whore; Luther B i b l e 1534. 



F i g u r e 17. Commemorative medals f o r Reformation J u b i l e e o f 
1617. 

H 



F i g u r e 18. E n g l i s h L a d i e s ; S t u t t g a r t , 1616, engraving. 
H 
H 



115 



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F i g u r e 20. D r a c u l a ; S t r a s b o u r g , 1499, woodcut. 



117 

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