Anton Niclas

Anton Niclas (* 1593 in Ofterdingen ; † December 1636 in Tübingen ) was a Württemberg gold worker in Tübingen and mayor of this city from 1635 to 1636 .

Life

Anton Niclas was a son of Hans Niclaus from Ofterdingen. As a journeyman goldsmith, he applied for Tübingen citizenship in 1614. This prompted master goldsmiths from Tübingen to protest, because there were already eight master goldsmiths in Tübingen. In addition, five town sons, three sons of the late goldsmith Georg Beck, and two other town sons would be on journeyman journeys. In Tübingen there wasn't enough work for so many goldsmiths. Nevertheless he got the citizenship and he settled down. Because of his poverty, however, he did not work as a goldsmith, but as a goldworker, ie he usually worked for other goldsmiths such as Christoph Schnierlin and Jacob Heim in Tübingen as well as Johann Kobenhaupt and J. Pfaffenbruch in Stuttgart. In 1616 he married Barbara Kepler, a daughter of Ludwig Kepler from Weil der Stadt .

In connection with a fraud affair in which most of the goldsmiths in Württemberg were involved, his activities around 1618 were also examined by the Vogt . The princely horse gear made of gold-plated silver and set with amethysts by Niclas on behalf of Pfaffenbruch in 1616 showed strong irregularities, some of which were expressly forbidden in the guild regulations. The 50 marks of silver used for this were under-soldered, i. H. had less fine silver than the 18 lot prescribed in Württemberg . The prescribed minimum fine gold content of 18 carats was constantly undercut in his products. Nor did he adhere to the obligation to deliver his products "on display" (ie for inspection). For all of these offenses, given his poverty, he was sentenced to 50 florins and four weeks in prison.

This past did not prevent Niclas from becoming a court relative and mayor of Tübingen in 1635. After the lost battle of Nördlingen and the conquest of Württemberg by the imperial troops, as well as the spread of the plague in Tübingen, chaotic conditions prevailed at the appointment , which led to the extinction of half of the population.

As mayor, Niclas has apparently committed to the Catholic side. He held the same opinion (together with the rest of the citizenry) as the Catholic authorities (Duke Eberhard III had fled to Strasbourg ), who wanted to restrict the tax privileges of the University of Tübingen , was therefore an opponent of the then University Chancellor Lukas Osiander , who tried to to maintain the special position of the university with regard to its tax privileges. On the occasion of a negotiation between the university and the city in 1636, Niclas treated Osiander "so scornfully and rampantly" that he felt compelled to resign from any church service.

Niclas was, however, mayor and court relative only for a short time, until his untimely death in late 1636. He, too, fell victim to the still raging plague.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Died at the age of 43.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Werner Fleischhauer: Renaissance ... , p. 422 and 423
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Rudolf Seigel: judgment and advice ... . P. 251
4. ↑ ^{a b} Hans Klaiber: Archival contributions to the history of goldsmithing ... , p. 337
5. ↑ Wolfram Angerbauer: The Chancellery at the University of Tübingen ... , p. 52

literature

• Wolfram Angerbauer : The Chancellery at the University of Tübingen and its owners 1590-1817 , JC Mohr (Paul Siebeck): Tübingen 1972, ISBN 3-16-833471-5
• Werner Fleischhauer : Renaissance in the Duchy of Württemberg , Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 1971
• Rudolf Seigel: Court and Council in Tübingen. From the beginnings to the introduction of the municipal constitution 1818–1822 , Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 1960 (= publication of the Commission for Historical Regional Studies in Baden-Württemberg)
• Hans Klaiber: Archival contributions to the history of goldsmithing, painting and sculpture in the time of the Württemberg ducal . In: Württemberg past. Festschrift of the Württemberg History and Antiquity Association , Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 1932