Student
Studentes is a comedy in five acts by Christoph Stummel . The play was written in Latin in 1545and firstprintedin Frankfurt an der Oder in1549. The full title was Studentes, comoedia de vita studiosorum (German: The students, a comedy about student life ). The comedy is considered the first student comedy in world literature and "the first work of a previously non-existent literary genre."
story
Christoph Stummel was the son of the businessman and senator Andreas Stummel from Frankfurt an der Oder. At the age of twelve, Christoph enrolled at the University of Frankfurt . As a 19-year-old student he wrote the student comedy Studentes, comoedia de vita studiosorum , which was performed several times, including in Wittenberg . In doing so, he created one of the most widely read theater pieces of the 16th century, and at the same time founded a new genre.
In the summer of 1546, Stummel received both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree through a double doctorate . The Viadrina -Professor Jodocus Willich then encouraged him to publish the play, and recommended him to the local printing workshop of Johann Eichorn . The newly appointed university printer published the first edition of the Studentes in 1549 . Jodocus Willich wrote the foreword to the first edition, and another teacher from Stummel, Professor Christoph Cornerus , wrote an afterword.
Johann Eichorn was able to print the second edition as early as 1550. The piece saw between 21 and 24 editions in the following fifty years, in cities such as Antwerp (1551), Cologne (1552, 1557, 1561, 1565, 1569, 1574, 1577, 1579, 1589, 1593), Strasbourg (1562) , Stettin (1579), Magdeburg (1594, 1595, 1614), Leipzig (1596) and Erfurt (1597). The library of University College Dublin today has the only known copy outside of Germany (17.J.2; USTC 694761). It was printed in 1554 by Johann Eichorn in Frankfurt an der Oder. Stummel's comedy has also been performed in the Scandinavian countries and has even been translated into Swedish.
As Johann Cogeler , General Superintendent of Pomerania-Stettin, explained in his funeral sermon to the author and colleague, the play was performed twice in Wittenberg, where Stummel studied from 1551, before Philipp Melanchthon and the student body. His Wittenberg teacher Melanchthon expressed in three of Szczecin edition of 1576 accompanying letters a keen interest and promised stub in a letter to Christmas 1553 even a preface: ". Si huc venies Praefationem etiam addendam elegantissimae Comoediae tuae accipies" ( "If you come here, you will also receive a foreword to your elegantly written comedy. ")
By the Thirty Years War, the spectacle forgotten and the exact name of the author came was to "Strimmel, Stimmel, Stymmel" garbled .
Influences
The basis of the plot is the biblical parable of the prodigal son , which was given a new meaning through the Reformation . In Stummel's play there are two prodigal sons, Acolastus and Acrates. Already Burkard Valdis used the material for his in on February 27, 1527 Riga listed Shrovetide play De para bell vam vorlorn Szohn in which he the biblical parable about a Low German Satire redesigned.
Stummel knew the moralizing school comedy Acolastus (Antwerp 1529) penned by the Dutch humanist Wilhelm Gnapheus , as the use of the names Acolastus and Eubulus shows. Furthermore, Stummel must have been familiar with the Latin drama Asotus (1537) by Georgius Macropedius , because a dubious figure named Colax appears in it, whose name Stummel also took over.
contents
The play has five acts with a total of 25 scenes of different meters ( trimeter , octonare, senare). Three fathers decide to send their three sons to university, even if it may cost a lot of money. Before doing this, they warn the pupils about the debauchery and seduction of student life, as if there were alcohol, bad company and easy girls (“attendants”, “prostitutes”). While Philomates learns well, the other two, Acrates and Acolastus, get into bad company and indulge in drinking parties. Acrates forgets his studies through carpentry and card games and runs into debt, while Acolastus falls head over heels in love with Deleastisa, the Filia hospitalis , promises her marriage and impregnates her. Finally, the fathers of Acolastus and Acrates travel to the university town to end the hustle and bustle of the sons.
The play is preceded by a dedication from Stummel to the city fathers of his hometown Frankfurt an der Oder, in which he names intentions and target group and dedicates his poetry to them: “My hometown can rightly demand the fruits of my studies from me, as they do me so much good has proven. ”At the same time, he appeals to all fathers not to save money when educating their children, and to city leaders to“ continue to weigh in ”the sciences.
Dramatis Personae
All names come from ancient Greek and indicate the character of the person.
- Philargyrus (the money lover), 1st father.
- Eubulus (the good advisor), 2nd father.
- Philostorgus (the love of children), 3rd father.
- Philomates (the happy learner), son of Philargirus.
- Acolastus (the dissolute), son of Eubulus.
- Acrates (the immoderate), son of Philostorgus.
- Colax (the flatterer), 1st student.
- Myspolus (the mouse tripler), 2nd student.
- Philostasius (the contentious), 3rd student.
- Musopolus (the servant), 4th student.
- Euprositus (the accessible), 4th father.
- Eleutheria (the prejudice-free), his wife.
- Deleastisa (the tempting one), daughter of both.
- Paedeutes (the teacher), university professor.
- Phrontistes (the caretaker), his servant.
- Danista (the usurer), landlord.
- nameless journeyman craftsmen.
performance
On the occasion of the 500th university anniversary of the Viadrina on April 26, 2006, Stummel's student comedy was performed again in the Audimax of the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), and thus returned to the place of its origin. The performance was a production of the Frankfurt Theater in cooperation with the International Student Theater of the European University and directed by Frank Radüg.
reception
Follow-up comedies
As early as 1560, the moral comedy The Disobedient Child by the otherwise unknown author Thomas Ingelend ("late student in Cambridge") appeared in England . Instead of studying at university, as suggested by the father, the son would rather marry his beloved and lead a married life. Without the academic training, however, the son gets into financial hardship. Love grew cold, the woman beats him up, and the son had to go to the wood.
In 1600 the Latin comedy Cornelius Relegatus ("The lost student") by Albert Wichgreve was performed at the University of Rostock . Despite the independent work of the author (detailed description of the deposition , the relegation to ten years, etc.), the comedies of Gnapheus and Stummel remain clearly recognizable as role models.
plagiarism
An unknown Dutch author published his own interpretation under the pseudonym Ignoto Peerdeklontius (Dutch-Latin "Unknown horse dump" or "Anonymous horse apple"). Lachmann called it plagiarism because it largely corresponds to the original and has almost the same title: Studentes sive Comoedia de vita Studiosorum autore Ignoto Peerdeklontio. Alentopholi. In Aedibus Iberiorici Nobilimi MDCXLVII. (1647, 1662, 1775; probably in Amsterdam). The fake printing location Alentopholis probably goes back to a misprint and would then stand for "Alethopolis" (city of truth or true to the truth ). Acrates is called Isgeestus here and the final scene has also been changed significantly.
- Studentes sive Comoedia de vita Studiosorum, Autore Ignoto Peerdeklontio. Alentopholi 1662 ( digitized version )
expenditure
- Studentes, Comoedia de vita Studiosorum, nunc primum in lucem edita autore M. Christophoro Stummelio, F. Eiusdem carmen de iudicio Paridis. Addita est Praefatio Jodoci Willichii et Epilogus a M. Christophoro Cornero. Francoforti ad Viadrum in officina Joannis Eichorn anno MDXLIX. (First edition from 1549, digitized .)
- Studentes, Comoedia de vita Studiosorum. Excvdebat Iohannes Eichorn Francofordii ad Viadrum, Anno MDL. (Second edition from 1550.) ( Digitalisat 1 ) ( Digitalisat 2 )
- Studentes, Comoedia de vita Studiosorum, nunc primum in lucem edita authore M. Christophoro Stummelio F. Eiusdem carmen de iudicio Paridis, Excudebat Ioannes Verwithaghen , Antwerp 1551. ( digitized version )
- Student; comoedia de vita studiosorum ... eiusdem carmen de indicio Paridis , excudebat Io. Eichorn, Frankfurt / Oder 1554.
- Studentes, comoedia de vita studiosorum, nunc primum in lucem edita, authore M. Christophoro Stummelio. F. Eiusdem carmen de iudicio Paridis. Excudebat Petrus Horst, Coloniae 1561. ( digitized version )
- Comoedia duae: I. ISAAC. De immolatione Isaac. II. STVDENTES. De vita & moribus Studiosorum. Stetini in Officina Andreae Kellneri, Anno 1579. Edition corrected, reissued and expanded by Stummel. ( Digitized version )
Translations
- The students. A comedy in five acts. Hersfeld an der Fulda with Johann Adolph Hermstädt, 1771.
- F. Hermann Meyer: Studentica. Life and manners of German students in earlier centuries. Mostly drawn from literary rarities and curiosities . As an appendix: “The students. A comedy by Christoph Stymmel, written 1545 "(pp. 63–100), Leipzig 1857. ( digitized version )
- Fritz Richard Lachmann: The "students" of Christophorus Stymmelius and their stage. A translation of the piece and 44 images from Johann Rasser's Christlich Spil about child breeding on 15 plates are attached. Inaugural dissertation for the winter semester 1925/26 at the University of Leipzig, Verlag von Leopold Voss, Leipzig 1926; Reprinted in the series Theatergeschichtliche Forschungen , Volume 34, Kraus Verlag, Nendeln / Liechtenstein 1978. ISBN 3-262-00513-4 .
literature
- Struve: About a Latin comedy from the mid-sixteenth century. Describing traits of student life at that time. Read in the K. Deutsche Gesellschaft zu Königsberg on March 25th, 1831. In: Preußischen Provinzial Blätter , Volume 7, 1832.
- Hugo Holstein: The drama of the prodigal son. A contribution to the history of drama , 1880 ( digitized version )
- Franz Spengler: The Prodigal Son in the Drama of the XVI. Century , Innsbruck 1888, p. 137f. ( Digitized version )
- Georg Voss: Christoph Stummel (Stymmelius). His life and his works. Annual report for the school year 1902, Königliches Kaiser-Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Aachen. ( Download PDF )
- Ralf-Rüdiger Targiel : Christoph Stummel and the first student comedy. In: Annual report (Research Center for Comparative University History; Förderverein zur Erforschung der Geschichte der Viadrina), (2004) 4, pp. 84–87.
See also
- Cornelius Relegatus , student comedy by Albert Wichgreve from 1600
- Jobsiade by Carl Arnold Kortum from 1784
- L'auberge espagnole , European student comedy from 2002
- 13 semesters , German student comedy from 2009
Web links
- Ralf-Rüdiger Targiel: Christoph Stummel and the first student comedy. In: UNIon, No. 30 (May 2001), p. 23.
- Drew Thomas: Early Modern Student Debauchery on Preserving the World's Rarest Books (English)
- Christoph Stummel: Studentes - The students , Berlin 2021. ISBN 9783754923306
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dr. Fritz Richard Lachmann, The "Studentes" of Christophorus Stymmelius and their stage , dissertation at the University of Leipzig, 1926, p. 60.
- ↑ Ralf-Rüdiger Targiel , Christoph Stummel and the first student comedy . In: ( UNIon, No. 30, May 2001 ), p. 23.
- ↑ Freie Universität Berlin: Department of History and Cultural Studies: Personal testimonies in German-speaking countries: Christoph Stymmelius .
- ^ Drew Thomas, Early Modern Student Debauchery .
- ^ Georg Voss, Christoph Stummel (Stymmelius). His life and works , annual report for the school year 1902, Königliches Kaiser-Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Aachen, p. 6.
- ↑ Dr. Fritz Richard Lachmann: The "students" of Christophorus Stymmelius and their stage. Dissertation, Leipzig 1926, p. 55.
- ^ Drew Thomas, Early Modern Student Debauchery .
- ↑ Jan Bloemendal, Howard Norland (ed.), Neo-Latin Drama in Early Modern Europe , Leiden / Boston 2013, pp. 10 and 662.
- ^ Karl Gustav Konrad , The German student body in their relationship to the stage and drama , Berlin, 1912, p. 57.
- ^ Georg Voss, Christoph Stummel (Stymmelius). His life and works , annual report for the school year 1902, Königliches Kaiser-Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Aachen, p. 8.
- ^ Georg Voss, Christoph Stummel (Stymmelius). His life and works , annual report for the school year 1902, Königliches Kaiser-Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Aachen, p. 1.
- ^ Hugo Holstein: The drama of the prodigal son. A contribution to the history of drama , 1880, p. 2.
- ^ Waldemar Kawerau : Waldis, Burkard . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 40, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, pp. 701-709.
- ↑ Otto Brunken, Handbook on Children's and Young People's Literature. From the beginning of book printing to 1570 , Stuttgart 1987, pp. 440–468.
- ↑ Daniel Hänichen : Acolastus, That is: The unwedded, lost, but returning son. (1604).
- ^ Hugo Holstein: The drama of the prodigal son. A contribution to the history of drama , 1880, p. 7.
- ^ KG Konrad: The German student body in their relationship to the stage and drama , Berlin, 1912, p. 357.
- ^ Hugo Holstein: The drama of the prodigal son. A contribution to the history of drama , 1880, p. 50.
- ^ Max Bauer : Sittengeschichte des Deutschen Studententums, Dresden 1926, p. 141.
- ^ Fritz Richard Lachmann: The "students" of Christophorus Stymmelius and their stage. Dissertation, Leipzig 1926, p. 56.
- ↑ Dr. Fritz Richard Lachmann: The "students" of Christophorus Stymmelius and their stage. Dissertation, Leipzig 1926, p. 56.
- ↑ Available at James Joyce, Special Collections (17.J.2) , Library use only.