DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48088#0180
MAXIMILIAN I.
153
“Do you not know what has happened, your Majesty? The Bishop of Bamberg had a very
narrow escape; and your Counsillor, Dr. Muggenau, cannot safely appear in public.”
“Is this the manner in which you treat this learned man, who is a native of your own
town?” cried the Emperor, angrily standing up, and walking impatiently to and fro.
“My Liege, I have treated him as if he were my own son, but I must soon separate
from him.”
“Why? his honour is as unblemished as his piety.”
“My Lord, the second day after his arrival he began to pay court to Maxentia.”
“And why not? Doctor Sebaldus Muggenau is a handsome man of eight and twenty!”
“He is not agreeable to me, my Liege,” answered Pyrkheimer bluntly.
“Well,” said the Emperor smiling, “this is a question to be decided by the young lady,
not by the burghermaster and Town Council of Nuremberg; I must confess that I am come to
woo my goo-daughter on behalf of Dr. Muggenau, if you have no objection.”
“This evening will cause me bitter grief, instead of the joy for which I had hoped,” said
Pyrkheimer, who had become quite pale. “Maxentia will have nothing to do with the Imperial
Councillor, and I dislike him, because he has brought back no true Nuremberg heart from his
journeys to Prague, Bologna, and Rome.”
“Wilibald, he enjoys my Imperial confidence.”
“That is true, and he is a sufficiently good Papist to justify your trust,” said Pyrkheimer,
rising with dignity. “A burgher of a free Imperial town, your Majesty, sometimes judges matters
from a different point of view to that entertained by the Emperor and the princes of the Empire.”
“Wilibald, Friend Wilibald!” cried the Emperor, “Your wine hes led us over dangerous
paths, we have all begun to meddle with disputed questions, let us leave theology alone. We
shall have time for that in the future; meanwhile let us forget all such matters, and praise your
wine as it deserves, by drinking it. I propose the health of Maxentia!”
But no warmth could be imposed into the Councillor; he had become quite quiet.
When he had conducted his guests to their rooms, and Dietrichstein had begun to assist
the Emperor in undressing, Max exclaimed:
“Ah! how could I have foreseen this! I should have counted on Wilibald as a tower of
Strength, but now he has joined my enemies, and dares to resist me.”
“And how about the money, which your Majesty expected to find here,” sighed the Count.
“Oh, I do not yet despair of that,” remarked the Emperor with his old cheerfulness. “There are
many other people besides Pyrkheimer, who have authority in the town. I shall see Master Dtirer.”
“Perhaps he may agree with his learned and energetic friend Wilibald,” said Count
Dietrichstein. “The Evil one has seized our times by the forelock, as our old Dominican father
aptly explained to us yesterday, and everything in the realm now dances to the devil’s pipe.”
“But not the Emperor,” answered Max, as he drew the bedclothes over his shoulders, “at
east not to-night; for the dance can only be in his dreams.”
While the three were engaged in their grave discussion, Maxentia was seated downstairs in
the little room near the staircase, wondering who the strangers might be and what cause had
led them to Nuremberg and to the house of Master Wilibald. The guests must be of high rank,
for Pyrkheimer had taken the wine from that part of the cellar which he regarded as an inviolable
sanctuary. And the splendid chain! On whose behalf did the venerable old man with a beardless
chin come to woo her? Or was he joking, when he spoke of marriage?
Art Treasures
20
153
“Do you not know what has happened, your Majesty? The Bishop of Bamberg had a very
narrow escape; and your Counsillor, Dr. Muggenau, cannot safely appear in public.”
“Is this the manner in which you treat this learned man, who is a native of your own
town?” cried the Emperor, angrily standing up, and walking impatiently to and fro.
“My Liege, I have treated him as if he were my own son, but I must soon separate
from him.”
“Why? his honour is as unblemished as his piety.”
“My Lord, the second day after his arrival he began to pay court to Maxentia.”
“And why not? Doctor Sebaldus Muggenau is a handsome man of eight and twenty!”
“He is not agreeable to me, my Liege,” answered Pyrkheimer bluntly.
“Well,” said the Emperor smiling, “this is a question to be decided by the young lady,
not by the burghermaster and Town Council of Nuremberg; I must confess that I am come to
woo my goo-daughter on behalf of Dr. Muggenau, if you have no objection.”
“This evening will cause me bitter grief, instead of the joy for which I had hoped,” said
Pyrkheimer, who had become quite pale. “Maxentia will have nothing to do with the Imperial
Councillor, and I dislike him, because he has brought back no true Nuremberg heart from his
journeys to Prague, Bologna, and Rome.”
“Wilibald, he enjoys my Imperial confidence.”
“That is true, and he is a sufficiently good Papist to justify your trust,” said Pyrkheimer,
rising with dignity. “A burgher of a free Imperial town, your Majesty, sometimes judges matters
from a different point of view to that entertained by the Emperor and the princes of the Empire.”
“Wilibald, Friend Wilibald!” cried the Emperor, “Your wine hes led us over dangerous
paths, we have all begun to meddle with disputed questions, let us leave theology alone. We
shall have time for that in the future; meanwhile let us forget all such matters, and praise your
wine as it deserves, by drinking it. I propose the health of Maxentia!”
But no warmth could be imposed into the Councillor; he had become quite quiet.
When he had conducted his guests to their rooms, and Dietrichstein had begun to assist
the Emperor in undressing, Max exclaimed:
“Ah! how could I have foreseen this! I should have counted on Wilibald as a tower of
Strength, but now he has joined my enemies, and dares to resist me.”
“And how about the money, which your Majesty expected to find here,” sighed the Count.
“Oh, I do not yet despair of that,” remarked the Emperor with his old cheerfulness. “There are
many other people besides Pyrkheimer, who have authority in the town. I shall see Master Dtirer.”
“Perhaps he may agree with his learned and energetic friend Wilibald,” said Count
Dietrichstein. “The Evil one has seized our times by the forelock, as our old Dominican father
aptly explained to us yesterday, and everything in the realm now dances to the devil’s pipe.”
“But not the Emperor,” answered Max, as he drew the bedclothes over his shoulders, “at
east not to-night; for the dance can only be in his dreams.”
While the three were engaged in their grave discussion, Maxentia was seated downstairs in
the little room near the staircase, wondering who the strangers might be and what cause had
led them to Nuremberg and to the house of Master Wilibald. The guests must be of high rank,
for Pyrkheimer had taken the wine from that part of the cellar which he regarded as an inviolable
sanctuary. And the splendid chain! On whose behalf did the venerable old man with a beardless
chin come to woo her? Or was he joking, when he spoke of marriage?
Art Treasures
20