Christoph Eschenfelder

Christoph Eschenfelder (* probably 1470 in Groß-Gerau ; † April 27, 1547 in Boppard ) was an electoral customs officer, bailiff and humanist . In 1518 he met the traveling Erasmus of Rotterdam , whose works he had studied with enthusiasm. A pen friendship developed until the death of Erasmus, who dedicated his last work to him.

Life

Eschenfelder was born in Groß-Gerau in the County of Katzenelnbogen (today: in Hesse), probably in 1470. In 1502 he is mentioned as a notary in Limburg . From 1504 he was active in the administration of the Electorate of Trier, became an electoral notary in 1508, and in 1513 he became a bailiff and customs clerk in Boppard. So Eschenfelder was head of the Boppard customs house and at the same time head of the administration of the Electoral Trier office of Boppard .

In September 1518 Erasmus traveled from Rotterdam by ship on the Rhine. When he was in Boppard, where his ship was being inspected at the Kurtrier customs station, one of the customs officers drew Eschenfelder's attention to the traveler. Eschenfelder greeted Erasmus enthusiastically and invited him to his home with his family, while he appeased the boatmen who were pushing for onward voyage with wine and the promise to exempt them from customs on their return journey. Erasmus found his own works among the customs documents in Eschenfelder's house. After that, both remained permanently in correspondence. They wrote their letters in Latin, in which Erasmus named Eschenfelder Cinicampianus ( Latinized from "Aschenfelder"). Some of the letters have been lost, but at least one of Erasmus' letters from 1518 and two from Eschenfelder from the 1530s have survived.

Together with the clergyman Johann Flaming , who also worked in Boppard , Eschenfelder became the point of contact for humanists traveling along the Rhine. In May 1520 Ulrich von Hutten was his guest. Eschenfelder gave him a collection of letters from the church schism in the late 14th century in which Hutten had shown interest. Hutten published the collection of letters in the same year as a sharp criticism of the papacy under the name De schismate extinguendo . Also in 1520, Eschenfelder supported Albrecht Dürer , who was traveling through , by issuing customs duties for him.

In a letter Eschenfelder asked Erasmus to interpret a psalm. In 1536 Erasmus completed his last work, De puritate tabernaculi sive ecclesiae christianae (Eng. On the purity of the tent or the Christian church ), an interpretation of Psalm 14 ( Psalm 15  EU according to today's numbering), which he personally dedicated to Eschenfelder. In the dedication Erasmus wrote that while Matthew by Christ from the tax collectors office for gospel was called Eschenfelder contrast, even Christ and the Gospel led to the tax collector office.

Eschenfelder died in 1547 at the age of 77 and was buried in the Church of St. Severus in Boppard. The grave monument has not been preserved. In 1773, however, the clergyman Conrad d'Hame, provost of the Marienberg Benedictine convent , signed the grave inscription and the family coat of arms and received them for posterity.

Eschenfelder's letter and Erasmus' dedication

Eschenfelder's letter to Erasmus, March 12, 1535

Dedication by Erasmus, January 27, 1536

Eschenfelder: “I was filled with great joy by your most recent letter, highly learned Erasmus, through which I learned that you are still enjoying your earlier and correct health to this day. I am entirely of the opinion that not only the literary world, but Germany itself will be delighted if it keeps you, its light and its adornment, for as long as possible. In fact, I am no less happy that you are happy and really good than my dear ones, that is, my wife and the children, whom you too (thank you!) Wish so much well-being. Incidentally, I will not abandon that Konrad [Nyder] - if only because of you, because your letter recommended him to me - whenever the opportunity arises. May I only ask you for this one thing, which I asked you for earlier through your co-worker, it may not be repugnant to you, that psalm that I like more than all the others: "Happy the man who fears the Lord, etc., your wife will be like a vine etc. " [Psalm 128 / Vulgate 127] for the sake of me and my family with an appropriate interpretation. In doing so, you would do something that I would be delighted to do at the same time, and all the good would recognize that I am loved by Erasmus to a more than usual extent. Stay healthy, highly learned man, stay with us and all of Germany for a long time! My wife greets you with adoration and love.
Boppard, March 12, 1535 entirely give your disposal:
Christoph Esch fields by hand
the well gelehrtesten all men, Mr. D. Erasmus of Rotterdam, his lord and master ... "

Erasmus: “Desiderius Erasmus from Rotterdam to Christopherus Eschenfelder, customs collector in Boppard
Christ called Matthew away from the customs house to the gospel; You, Christopherus, introduced Christ and the Gospel into the customs house because you carry out the commission of an earthly prince in such a way that between the worldly promissory notes there is always one of those books that teach your spirit in the heavenly philosophy, so that you can truly be a bearer be your name [pheronymus], that is, correspond to your name through actions, namely not a gold bearer [Chrysophoros], as most of this profession are, but a Christ bearer [Christophoros]. For you are far from the view of some who think that Christ is nowhere except in the monasteries, since he is rather common to all like the sun and shines equally on the whole world. There is room for Christ in the courts of the princes, in the soldiers' camps and on the rowing benches of the sailors, if there is a pious heart. Although you love me in Christ not only through my merit, but also beyond measure, it is not enough for your love that I imitate you in mutual love, you want to have your own and lasting pledge of our friendship with you, through which you can imagine Erasmus [the amiable one, playing with your own first name] as present and relieve the longing [desiderium, playing with your own first name] for the absent. You indicate that this could happen if I send you a psalm with my interpretation. The person, first and then the friend, did not like to refuse the supplicant a thing that is ultimately pious and, moreover, easy. You can be sure that you have not been sent a paper gift from Erasmus' poor study, but a precious gem from the world of the Holy Spirit, which you should not carry with your fingers but keep in your heart. I do not remember exactly whether you referred to the psalm. Because your letter is hidden under a pile. That is why I reached for what fate offered. Goodbye Basel, 6th of the calendars of February [27. January] in the year since the birth of the Lord 1536 "

family

According to his epitaph, Eschenfelder was married to his wife Elisabeth, née Merten, for 50 years. Together they had three sons: The eldest, Christoph II. († 1557), also entered the financial administration of the Electorate of Trier and became a rent master in Koblenz . Balthasar, the middle one, was initially secretary to the Elector of Trier and later became a judge in Siegen . The youngest son Gabriel was enrolled at the University of Heidelberg in 1526 , where he received his Baccalaureus in 1528 . In 1532 his father Christoph reported to Erasmus that Gabriel had entered an order. A daughter of Eschenfelder named Elisabeth lived in 1511 in the Marienberg monastery in Boppard.

literature

• Hansgeorg Molitor : Christoph Eschenfelder . In: Peter G. Bietenholz, Thomas Brian Deutscher (Eds.): Contemporaries of Erasmus. A Biographical Register of the Renaissance and Reformation , Volume I. University Press, Toronto 1985, p. 443 ( Google Books ; limited preview).
• Eberhard J. Nikitsch: The German inscriptions . Volume 60: The inscriptions of the Rhein-Hunsrück district I. Wiesbaden 2004. P. 186–187 ( www.inschriften.net ).

Web links

• Entry on Christoph Eschenfelder in the Rhineland-Palatinate personal database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Eberhard J. Nikitsch: The German inscriptions . Volume 60: The inscriptions of the Rhein-Hunsrück district I. Wiesbaden 2004. P. 186–187.
2. ↑ Walter Köhler (Ed.): Erasmus of Rotterdam. Letters. Dieterichsche Verlagbuchhandlung, Wiesbaden 1947. p. 209.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Peter G. Bietenholz, Thomas B. Deutscher (Ed.): Contemporaries of Erasmus, V.1 A – E. University of Toronto Press 1985, p. 443.
4. ↑ Desiderius Erasmus, RAB Mynors, DFS Thomson, Peter G. Bietenholz: The Correspondence of Erasmus. Letters 842 to 992, 1518-1519. University Press, Toronto 1982. pp. 150-151.
5. ^ Arnold Becker: Ulrichs von Hutten polemical dialogues in the field of tension between humanism and politics. Bonn University Press, 2013. pp. 171-174.
6. ^ Carlheinz Gräter : Ulrich von Hutten. A picture of life . K. Theiss, Stuttgart 1988. p. 154.
7. ^ Anton Springer : Albrecht Dürer. Grote'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 1892. pp. 124–125.
8. ^ De puritate online
9. ^ Willehad Paul Eckert : Erasmus of Rotterdam. Humanism and reformation. Wienand, Cologne 1967. p. 488.
10. ↑ Text and translation (inschriften.net)
11. ↑ Eschenfelder, Manfred In: Thesaurus Personarum. Palatine personal history from the 16th to the 18th century. (PDF)
12. ^ ^{A b} Desiderius Erasmus, Clarence H. Miller, James M. Estes: The Correspondence of Erasmus. Letters 2635 to 2802, April 1532-April 1533. University Press, Toronto 1974. p. 153.
13. ↑ Heinz Scheible : Melanchthon's Correspondence Vol. 11: People A – E. Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 2003. p. 419.