DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48092#0034
i6
durer’s literary remains.
[chap.
Niirnberg could not help becoming an important town. Her
situation afforded opportunities for manufacture and exchange
possessed by few other places. The main stream of European
trade passed her gates and a swift river flowed through her walls.
In her store-houses the wealth of the Indies on its way from
Venice to the north met the woven fabrics of the Netherlands,
the wool of England, and the products of all the Hanse towns.
Thus, as the industry and wealth of Europe increased, the im-
portance of Niirnberg advanced with equal strides.
We are not called to concern ourselves with the growth of
her civic institutions, the insurrections of her inhabitants against
the exactions of their feudal lords, and their consequent acqui-
sition of charters and finally of practical municipal freedom.
Suffice it to say that the government of the city, at the time
about which we are interested, was in the hands of an oligarchy,
similar in constitution to that which ruled Venice. Its members
wielded the power committed to them on the whole wisely.
They governed well as long as the heart of the people was
sound and public opinion healthy. They were considered up-
right even in their dealings with men of their own class. Their
government was paternal, and looked with the best care it could
after the interests of all members of the community, even such
as were absent on foreign soil. Some might call the Council
meddlesome, as, for instance, when they advised Hans Sachs to
stick to his cobbling and stop writing poetry. But judging their
work by its effects, the nett result of what they undertook was
good. They acted wisely when need for action arose, and the
townsfolk prospered under their rule.
In Niirnberg, of course, as in all mediaeval towns, civic feeling
was strong. Those men felt the value of unity, who by their
union had wrested privileges from their oppressors, driven off
robber barons, and made their city respected as a power in the
world. By union alone could they maintain their rights in an
age of insecurity. The individual was helpless. Only in com-
bination with others could each find his own security. Thus the
town was an object of pride and affection to a degree we can
hardly realize. The building activity of the Middle Ages was
one of the modes whereby this feeling found expression. Fine
municipal buildings added to the prestige of a city and so
durer’s literary remains.
[chap.
Niirnberg could not help becoming an important town. Her
situation afforded opportunities for manufacture and exchange
possessed by few other places. The main stream of European
trade passed her gates and a swift river flowed through her walls.
In her store-houses the wealth of the Indies on its way from
Venice to the north met the woven fabrics of the Netherlands,
the wool of England, and the products of all the Hanse towns.
Thus, as the industry and wealth of Europe increased, the im-
portance of Niirnberg advanced with equal strides.
We are not called to concern ourselves with the growth of
her civic institutions, the insurrections of her inhabitants against
the exactions of their feudal lords, and their consequent acqui-
sition of charters and finally of practical municipal freedom.
Suffice it to say that the government of the city, at the time
about which we are interested, was in the hands of an oligarchy,
similar in constitution to that which ruled Venice. Its members
wielded the power committed to them on the whole wisely.
They governed well as long as the heart of the people was
sound and public opinion healthy. They were considered up-
right even in their dealings with men of their own class. Their
government was paternal, and looked with the best care it could
after the interests of all members of the community, even such
as were absent on foreign soil. Some might call the Council
meddlesome, as, for instance, when they advised Hans Sachs to
stick to his cobbling and stop writing poetry. But judging their
work by its effects, the nett result of what they undertook was
good. They acted wisely when need for action arose, and the
townsfolk prospered under their rule.
In Niirnberg, of course, as in all mediaeval towns, civic feeling
was strong. Those men felt the value of unity, who by their
union had wrested privileges from their oppressors, driven off
robber barons, and made their city respected as a power in the
world. By union alone could they maintain their rights in an
age of insecurity. The individual was helpless. Only in com-
bination with others could each find his own security. Thus the
town was an object of pride and affection to a degree we can
hardly realize. The building activity of the Middle Ages was
one of the modes whereby this feeling found expression. Fine
municipal buildings added to the prestige of a city and so