Clara Hätzlerin

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Clara Hätzlerin (* around 1430 in Augsburg ; † probably 1476 or the following year) was a wage clerk in the 15th century. She is the only documented woman who made handwritten copies of German codes against payment . It can be proven in the Augsburg tax books between 1452 and 1476.

origin

Clara Hätzlerin came from a notary family typical of Augsburg at the time . Her father Bartholomäus is attested as a so-called letter writer who, as a representative of rich citizens, regulated their legal claims. He is documented both in tax books between 1409 and 1443 as well as by an entry in the Augsburg Missive Book and as a witness in a mortgage note from Marx Lang. When Bartholomäus died in 1444/45, the eldest son Bartholomäus, who is documented as notarius publicus between 1451 and 1496, took over the office and thus also the tax liability.

Clara as a nun

In medieval studies research was long believed, Clara Hätzlerin was a nun have been. This misunderstanding arose because in the 15th century women were quite often represented as writers, but not outside the clerical field. The logical assumption that Clara was a writing nun was questioned for the first time when she looked through her songbook, as it contained some “offensive” songs. The most conclusive evidence of rebuttal is provided by the Augsburg tax books, from which it emerges that Clara paid taxes in her father's house for 24 years, which as a nun she could never have done, since in this case her assets would have gone to the monastery .

Salary and professional clerk in Augsburg

The profession of wage and professional clerk is a phenomenon of the 15th century, a time when the writing business flourished and the need for useful literature grew. The city of Augsburg played a pioneering role in this area and has a list of over 30 proven payroll clerks. Wage clerks were mainly lay people who made cheap copies of manuscripts for the public by copying them by hand and no longer, as was customary up to then, members of the clergy who had specialized in the elaborate design of magnificent manuscripts. In addition to Clara Hätzlerin, the calligraphers Heinrich Molitor and Heinrich Lengefeld or Konrad Bollstatter also belonged to this group of people. It was quite common for professional writers to work on the side in public, legal or administrative writing. Clara Hätzlerin also worked in the office of her father Bartholomäus Hätzler and her brother of the same name. As a sideline , she made handwritten copies of commissioned books there. Some manuscripts from her pen, which are mainly utility manuscripts , have been preserved to this day.

Position in German Medieval Studies

Clara Hätzlerin was not an author in the strict sense, but rather a writer of medieval manuscripts. Accordingly, she did not write the texts of her codices herself, but wrote already known works by hand, and thus in the best case literally. For this reason, Clara Hätzlerin was given very little attention in German medieval studies for a long time. However, recent research shows its importance, especially in the field of palaeography . Clara wrote her texts in a very legible and carefully crafted script , which is often cited by paleographers as the prototype of the chancellery bastarda in the 15th century. Last but not least, the consistent appointment of writers at the end of all codices enabled them to be included in the DAmalS project of the Institute for German Studies at the Karl-Franzens University in Graz . Medievalists try to identify the scribes' hands of a manuscript with the help of databases and use the manuscripts of the Hätzler woman as a means of paleographic comparison.

Works

So far, eight traditions of the Hätzler are known. The number of 9 codices also appears occasionally in the research literature. This is based on the assumption that the two-part Salzburg manuscript on “The Holy Life” should be viewed as separate works. Her writings are legal books , hunting literature, a work on the subject of mysticism and magic and the collective manuscript "Songbook". All 8 codices date from the period between 1467 and 1473, were written in a typeface typical for Clara Hätzlerin, namely Kanzleibastarda , and could be assigned to Clara Hätzlerin as the scribe without a doubt, as she signed most of the manuscripts herself .

expenditure

  • Songbook by Clara Hätzlerin. From the manuscript of the Bohemian Museum in Prague. Edited and provided with an introduction and dictionary by Carl Haltaus (library of all German national literature from the oldest to the more recent; 8), Quedlinburg a. Leipzig: Basse 1840 (no longer meets today's scientific requirements).

literature

  • Karl August Barack : The manuscripts of the princely-Fürstenbergischen court library to Donaueschingen. Laupp & Siebeck, Tübingen 1865.
  • Karl Bartsch :  Hätzlerin, Clara . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 11, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, p. 36.
  • Eduard Gebele: Clara Hätzlerin. In: Pictures of life from Bavarian Swabia . Volume 6. Hueber, Munich 1958, pp. 26-37.
  • Eduard Gebele:  Hätzlerin, Clara. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 7, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1966, ISBN 3-428-00188-5 , pp. 455 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Elvira Glaser : The pickling book in the copy of Clara Hätzlerin. A testimony to the Augsburg writing language in the 15th century (tone vocalism). In: Linguistic studies on older and newer German . Universitätsverlag C. Winter, Heidelberg 1996, pp. 29-46. (Contribution to: Beizbüchlein)
  • Elvira Glaser: The grapheme system of Clara Hätzlerin in the context of the manuscript Heidelberg, Cpg. 677. In: German language in space and time . Edition Praesens, Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-7069-0087-4 , pp. 479–494. (Contribution to: The coronation of Emperor Fridrich)
  • Elvira Glaser: Writing systems for two Augsburg manuscripts of the 15th century. In: Studies on Early New High German . (= Göppinger Papers on German Studies No. 476) Kümmerle, Göppingen 1988, pp. 113–129. (Contribution to: Augsburg city law)
  • Elvira Glaser: From transcription to sound historical interpretation. In: Edition and History of Language . Pp. 25-41. (Contribution to: The coronation of Emperor Fridrich)
  • Elvira Glaser: On the Clara Hätzlerin's graphical system: Portrait of a wage clerk in the early New High German period. In: Working on Early New High German . (= Würzburg Contributions to German Philology No. 11) Würzburg 1993, pp. 53–73. (Contribution to: Schwabenspiegel)
  • Ingeborg Glier: Article Hätzlerin, Klara . In: Author's Lexicon , Volume 3. 1981, ISBN 3-11-008778-2 , Column 547-549
  • Inta Knor: Clara Hätzlerin's songbook as a document of urban culture in the late 15th century. University and State Library of Saxony-Anhalt (publications on the library system in Saxony-Anhalt; 90). Halle (Saale) 2008.
  • Karin Schneider : professional and amateur writer. To the lay writing business in late medieval Augsburg. In: Literary life in Augsburg during the 15th century . Max Niemeyer, Tübingen 1995, ISBN 3-484-16507-3 , pp. 8-26

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ingeborg Glier: Hätzlerin, Klara . In: Author's Lexicon . Volume 3, 1981, ISBN 3-11-008778-2 , column 547-549
  2. ↑ a b c Eduard Gebele: Clara Hätzlerin . In: Pictures of life from Bavarian Swabia . Volume 6, Hueber, Munich 1958, pp. 26-37.
  3. ^ Karl August Barack : The manuscripts of the Princely-Fürstenbergische Hofbibliothek zu Donaueschingen . Laupp & Siebeck, Tübingen 1865.
  4. ↑ Karin Schneider: Professional and amateur writer. To the lay writing business in late medieval Augsburg . In: Literary life in Augsburg during the 15th century . Max Niemeyer. Tübingen 1995, pp. 8-26.
  5. ↑ DAmalS: Project to identify medieval scribes' hands ( Memento from March 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Signature "Clara Hätzlerin" in the handwriting Cpg. 677
  7. ↑ Digital copy of Die kaiser Fridrichs crowning  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / diglit.ub.uni-heidelberg.de  
  8. ^ Digitized by Johannes Hartlieb: Book of all forbidden art ( Memento of the original from April 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / diglit.ub.uni-heidelberg.de
personal data
SURNAME Hätzlerin, Clara
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Wage clerk
DATE OF BIRTH around 1430
PLACE OF BIRTH augsburg
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: 1476