Niklas Brobst from Effelt

Niklas Brobst (right) takes the oath of office as town clerk, Volkacher Salbuch (fol.406r)

Niklas Brobst von Effelt (also Niklas Brobst ; * after 1450 in Eichfeld , today Volkach ; † around 1506 in Volkach) was a notary and town clerk in the Lower Franconian town of Volkach. He emerged as the author of the Volkacher Salbuch , a legal codification that laid down the municipal law of the official city in the late Middle Ages and early modern times.

Live and act

Niklas Brobst was born between 1450 and 1455 in the village of Eichfeld, which at that time belonged to the Grafschaft Castell . Very little is known about his parents. Only the names of the two have survived: They were called Hans and Anna Brobst. Nothing is known precisely about the early training of the young Niklas. It was only when he began his studies that he became comprehensible in the sources again. Niklas took up a spiritual career in the Cistercian monastery in Ebrach , where he also received the minor consecration.

Soon afterwards, however, Brobst broke off his training as a priest. He married Barbara Geickner, who came from Volkach, and moved with her to Wildbad in the Black Forest, where he taught as a schoolmaster. The twins Sebastian and Antonia Brobst were born there on January 19, 1476. He informed his parents of his decision to lead a worldly life in a letter in 1477, in which he also offered to return to Franconia soon .

Brobst returned in 1478 or 1479 and accepted a schoolmaster's post in nearby Prichsenstadt , which he held until 1480. With the acquisition of a house in Volkach by Niklas' father Hans, the town became the family's permanent residence from 1480. In 1481 Johann Hümpferer, Rector of the Latin School and City Clerk, gave up his office for reasons of age and Niklas Brobst applied for the position. On February 22nd, 1481 he took his oath of office in front of the Würzburg City School and the Lord Mayor.

A few years later, in 1491, the family moved into a befitting house on the town's market square . Niklas Brobst, who now called himself “von Effelt”, probably to underline his origins, acquired vineyards, bought and sold land and traded in wine. In 1499 the son Sebastian became his father's assistant. Together with him, Niklas wrote the Volkacher Salbuch in 1504 , which crowned his career.

The division of the city made the work necessary. Three city lords , the Würzburg prince-bishop , the counts of Henneberg and the lords of Weinsberg owned Volkach, which suffered from high prices and poor harvests. Brobst also expressed displeasure with the situation in his work. At the same time, he recognized the need to advance and maintain the administration and legalization that began.

With the Salbuch a legal standard work was created , which was probably unique in the German-speaking area at the time. Towards the end of his life, Brobst and his son tried to reform the city's administration. Around 1506, Niklas Brobst von Effelt, "Alt Staatschreyber", died in Volkach. His son Sebastian took over the position of town clerk and notary. The city of Volkach honored the notary with Niklas-Brobst-Straße in the 20th century.

plant

• Niklas Brobst: The Volkacher Salbuch . Volvo 1504.

literature

• Gerhard Egert: Niklas Brobst - notary and town clerk . In: Ute Feuerbach (Ed.): Our Main Loop. 1993-2007 . Volkach 2008.
• Gerhard Egert: Niklas and Sebastian Brobst, town clerks and notaries 1504 . In: Ute Feuerbach (Ed.): Our Main Loop. 1993-2007 . Volkach 2008.
• Otto Riedner: The town clerks Brobst zu Volkach aM In: Ute Feuerbach (Hrsg.): Our Main Loop. 2008-2017 . Volkach 2018. pp. 13–18.
• Karl-Sigismund Kramer: Franconian everyday life around 1500. Oath of the market and customs in the Volkacher Salbuch . Wuerzburg 1985

Web links

Commons : Niklas Brobst von Effelt  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Egert (Niklas and Sebastian Brobst, p. 196) assumes the years 1450 to 1455.
2. ^ Egert, Gerhard: Niklas and Sebastian Brobst . P. 196.
3. ^ Egert, Gerhard: Niklas Brobst . P. 255.
4. ↑ See: Kramer, Kar-Sigismund: Franconian everyday life around 1500 .