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THE COUNTER¬
REFORMATION
IN THE VILLAGES
 Digitized by the Internet Archive
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THE COUNTER¬
REFORMATION
IN THE VILLAGES

Religion and Reform in the

Bishopric of Speyer, 1560-1720

MARC R. FORSTER

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS • Ithaca and London

Copyright © 1992 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book,
or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without
permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address
Cornell University Press, 124 Roberts Place, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 1992 by Cornell University Press.

International Standard Book Number 0-8014-2566-2

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 91-55564

Printed in the United States of America

Librarians: Library of Congress cataloging information

appears on the last page of the book.

© The paper in this book meets the minimum requirements

of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
FOR GISELA AND HORST
Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Glossary and Abbreviations xi

Introduction i
1 The Traditional Church and the Resistance to Reform 19
2 The Reform of the Clergy 58
3 The Reform in the Villages 94
4 Confessional Conflict and the Limits of Episcopal
Authority 117
5 The Thirty Years7 War and the Failure of Catholicization 144
6 The Tridentine Clergy and the Communal Church,
1650-1720 178
7 The Growth of Catholic Consciousness, 1650-1720 214
Conclusion 244

Bibliography 249
Index 263
Acknowledgments

It is impossible to thank the many people and institutions who

made this book possible. The Fulbright-Hays Foundation and the
Harvard University History Department funded research trips to
Europe. The R. F. fohnson Faculty Development Fund of Connecticut
College provided support in the final stages of this project. Most of
the research was done at the Badisches Generallandesarchiv in Karls¬
ruhe and the Landesarchiv in Speyer, and I especially thank the staffs
of those archives for their help. I also thank the staffs of the Archives
departementales du Bas-Rhin (Strasbourg), the Stadtarchiv Speyer,
the Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart, the Archivum Romanum Societas
Jesu (Rev. Francis Edwards, S.J.), and the Stadtarchiv Mainz.
Many people gave me advice and criticism along the way, including
Robert Bireley S.J., Thomas A. Brady, Jr., Mark Edwards, Joel Harring¬
ton, Benjamin J. Kaplan, Hans-Joachim Kohler, Jeff H. Lesser, David
Luebke, Mark Peterson, Simon Schama, Laura Smoller, and Bruce
Venarde. Carol Betsch and Elizabeth Holmes of Cornell University
Press, with the assistance of Andrew Lewis, saved me from many
serious errors and inconsistencies. Steven Ozment provided support,
counsel, and suggestions at all stages of the project. His contribution
is much greater than he would ever admit. I have benefited enor¬
mously from both the personal and professional assistance of my
parents, Elborg and Robert Forster. They read every page of the manu¬
script and gave both parental support and invaluable editorial advice.
X Acknowledgements

The greatest thanks goes to my wife, Tina, and daughter, Sara, for
their patience and company throughout the years of work on Speyer.
This book is dedicated to my aunt and uncle, Gisela and Horst
Cyriax, who gave me the appreciation of the German language, cul¬
ture, and history without which the book would never have been
written.
M. F.
Glossary and
Abbreviations

Units of Measure

Maher measure of grain equal to 1.5 hectoliters or approximately

4.2 bushels
Morgen measure of land equal to 32 to 36 ares or approximately
three-quarters of an acre
Fuder measure of liquid, usually wine, equal to 1,000 to 1,200 liters

Abbreviations in the Notes (Sources indicated are

cited in full in the bibliography. |

Archives

ADBR Archives departementales du Bas-Rhin (Strasbourg)

ARSJ Archivum Romanum Societas Jesu (Rome)
GLAK Badisches Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe
HStA.St. Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart
LASp. Landesarchiv Speyer
St.A.MZ Stadtarchiv Mainz
St.A.Sp. Stadtarchiv Speyer
xii Glossary and Abbreviations

Published References

Duggan Lawrence Duggan, Bishop and Chapter: The Governance of

the Bishopric of Speyer to 15 52
Duhr Bernhard Duhr, S.J., Geschichte der Jesuiten in den Landern
deutscher Zunge vom 16. bis 18. Jahrhundert, vols. I, 11/1,
II/2, and III.
Remling II Franz Xavier Remling, Geschichte der Bischofe zu Speyer,
vol. II.
Remling, UB Franz Xavier Remling, ed., Urkundenbuch zur Geschichte
der Bischofe zu Speyer, vol. II.
Stamer Ludwig Stamer, Kirchengeschichte der Pfalz, vols. II, III/1,
and III/2.
THE COUNTER¬
REFORMATION
IN THE VILLAGES
Introduction

In 1560 the people in the villages around Speyer considered

themselves to be Christians. By 1720 those villagers who lived under
the rule of the bishops of Speyer had become self-consciously Cath¬
olic Christians. In the sixteenth century there had been a relaxed
coexistence of Protestants and Catholics in this religiously frag¬
mented region; by the eighteenth century there were two distinct
and often mutually hostile confessional cultures.1 Even today local
people recall religious confrontations in the years before the Second
World War. Brawls between Protestants and Catholics were common.
Protestants worked openly on Catholic holidays, and Catholics
intentionally sent their religious processions through Protestant vil¬
lages. The establishment of these confessional cultures, which dis¬
tinguished German life from the eighteenth century until the migra¬
tions of the post-1945 period, was the most important religious
development of the early modern period. This book focuses on one

1. “Confession" is a general term referring to the three Christian religions in Germany

after the Reformation, that is, Roman Catholicism, Calvinism, and Lutheranism. Modern
Americans might call these “denominations." Before the Thirty Years' War religious groups
lived together peacefully in many German cities and in confessionally mixed rural regions
like the Palatinate, Baden, Swabia, and Alsace. See Etienne Francois, “De l'umformite a la
tolerance: Confession et societe urbaine en Allemagne, 1650-1800" Annales E.S.C. 37, no. 4
(1982): esp. 783; Paul Warmbrunn, Zwei Konfessionen in einer Stadt. Das Zusammenleben
von Katholiken und Protestanten in den paritatischen Reichstadten Augsburg, Biberach,
Ravensburg, und Dinkelsbiihl von 1548 bis 1648 (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1983); R.
Po-chia Hsia, Society and Religion in Munster: 1535-1618 (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1984); Hans-Christoph Rublack, Gescheiterte Reformation. Fruhreformatorische
undprotestantische Bewegungen in siid- und westdeutschen geistlichen Residenzen (Stutt¬
gart: Klett-Cotta, 1978). Both Hsia and Rublack attribute the end of religious coexistence to
the Counter-Reformation.
2 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

aspect of this development, the growth of Catholic consciousness in

the Bishopric of Speyer.2
In this region, as elsewhere in Germany, confessional divisions
were a long-term consequence of the Protestant Reformation. By the
mid-sixteenth century, cities such as Speyer and Worms and several
smaller territories had become Lutheran, and the most important
territory in the middle Rhine valley, the Electoral Palatinate, was
Calvinist. The people of the region, however, were slow to accept the
religious practices and modes of behavior promoted by official
churches. The Catholic villagers of the region, most of whom lived in
the territory of the bishops (the Hochstift Speyer) began to develop a
distinct Catholic lifestyle and religious culture only after 1650.
The rise of Protestantism created religious division, but the Cath¬
olic confessionalism of the Bishopric of Speyer was, in some sense at
least, also a consequence of the Counter-Reformation, the broad¬
ranging reform of the Catholic Church set in motion by the Council
of Trent (1545-63). However, neither the institutional reforms nor
the new models of piety favored by the Tridentine Church gained a
strong hold in Speyer. The popularity of Catholicism in the coun¬
tryside in the eighteenth century was instead the consequence of a
non-Tridentine process of Catholic renewal. Building on popular
forms of piety and traditional forms of ecclesio-political organiza¬
tion, especially the communal control of rural parishes, the local
Catholic Church successfully adjusted to the post-Reformation sit¬
uation. The Church reformed the worst abuses of the clergy, but did
not emphasize disciplining the laity, which in other places aroused
strong resentment. This limited policy was possible because here
there was no state firmly intent on using the Church to help disci¬
pline its subjects.
In many ways the Catholic Church succeeded in the Bishopric of
Speyer because of the moderation of the Counter-Reformation there.
This moderation, in turn, was a consequence of the divisions within
local Catholicism. Tridentine reform had few supporters in Speyer,
and the bishopric resisted outside influences at many levels. The
powerful Cathedral Chapter and five smaller aristocratic chapters
hindered all attempts to centralize the bishopric in order to defend
their traditions and privileges. Catholic authorities were unable and
often reluctant to follow the guidelines of Trent and impose new

2. The Bishopric of Speyer included much of the southern Palatinate (Pfalz) and northern
Baden and stretched in the east into Wiirttemberg. In the Napoleonic period, the bishopric
lost all its jurisdictions on the right (or east) bank of the Rhine. Today, the Bishopric of Speyer
covers all of the southern Palatinate.
 Introduction 3

religious practices on the Catholic population. The rural population

and traditionalist upper clergy favored traditional Catholic piety
with its local and regional particularities.
The example of Speyer challenges and thus helps us to refine
general interpretations of the Counter-Reformation. The develop¬
ment of a popular Catholic consciousness in a region without a
strong Catholic state calls for an adjustment of the so-called confes-
sionalization thesis. As presented by Ernst W. Zeeden, Heinz Schil¬
ling, and Wolfgang Reinhard confessionalization is, to quote Zeeden,
"the intellectual and organizational hardening of the diverging
Christian confessions . . . into more or less stable church structures
with their own doctrines, constitutions, and religious and moral
styles."3 By focusing on the organizational similarities rather than
the theological differences between the confessions, this thesis em¬
phasizes the parallels between the three official religions during this
process. All confessions in Germany tried to bring "true religion" to
the mass of the population. Educational measures, especially cate¬
chism classes, and disciplinary measures such as visitations of rural
parishes, were all designed to cause people to internalize the new
religion, whether it was Lutheranism, Calvinism, or reformed Ca¬
tholicism. Although this program suffered setbacks, these historians
argue that by 1618 "confessionalization" had profoundly changed
religious life in much of Germany.4
More important, confessionalization was closely tied to the emerg¬
ing territorial state. As princes and bureaucrats worked to expand
their authority, rationalize government, and centralize their states,

3. Quoted in Robert Bireley, S.J., "Early Modem Germany," in John O'Malley, ed., Ca¬
tholicism in Early Modern Europe: A Guide to Research (St.Louis: Center for Reformation
Research, 1988), 11. See also Ernst W. Zeeden, "Grundlagen und Wege der Konfessions-
bildung in Deutschland im Zeitalter der Glaubenskampfe," Historische Zeitschrift 185
(1958): 249-99; idem, Die Entstehung der Konfessionen. Grundlagen und Formen der
Konfessionsbildung im Zeitalter der Glaubenskampfe (Munich: R. Oldenbourg Verlag,
1965); Wolfgang Reinhard, "Gegenreformation als Modernisierung? Prolegomena zu einer
Theorie des konfessionellen Zeitalters," Archivfiir Reformationsgeschichte 68 (1977): 226-
52; Heinz Schilling, "Die Konfessionalisierung im Reich. Religioser und Gesellschaftlicher
Wandel in Deutschland zwischen 1555 und 1620," Historische Zeitschrift 246 (1988): 1-45.
Hans-Joachim Kohler, Obrigkeitliche Konfessionsanderung in Kondominaten. Eine Fall-
studie iiber ihre Bedingungen und Methoden am Beispiel der baden-badischen Religions-
politik unter der Regierung Markgraf Wilhelms (1622-1677) (Munster: Aschendorff, 1975).
4. Bernard Vogler, La vie religieuse en pays rhenan dans la seconde moitie du XVIe
siecle (1556-1619), 3 vols. (Lille: Service des reproductions des theses, 1974); idem, Le clerge
protestant rhenan au siecle de la Reforme (1555-1619) (Paris: Ophrys, 1976); idem, "Die
Ausbildung des Konfessionsbewufitseins in den pfalzischen Territorien zwischen 1555 und
1619," in Horst Rabe et al., eds., Festgabe fiir Ernst Zeeden zum 60. Geburtstag (Munster:
Aschendorff, 1976). Vogler argues that Protestants in the Palatinate (which is around Speyer)
developed a "confessional consciousness" by 1619, at least among an elite.
4 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

they also strove to create religious unity. In addition, they used the
parish network, which was an effective administrative link to the
countryside, to govern in the villages. Although the close ties be¬
tween the new states and the churches were most apparent in the
new Protestant territorial churches, they were also important in
Catholic areas of Germany, especially in Bavaria and the Habsburg
lands. Thus, according to the confessionalization thesis, the Protes¬
tant Reformation (at least after 1525] and the Counter-Reformation
were essentially programs in the development of the early modern
state.5
The Catholic population of the Bishopric of Speyer developed a
confessional culture without being confessionalized. This evolution
does not, of course, contradict the confessionalization thesis, for the
lack of strong state institutions certainly slowed the pace of the
Counter-Reformation and may have delayed the development of con-
fessionalism until after 1650. Yet even in regions with strong state
institutions, confessionalization occurred in the second half of the
seventeenth century.6 Perhaps the role of the state in the growth of
confessional allegiances has been overestimated; certainly large
parts of Catholic Germany lacked strong states yet still developed
vibrant Catholic cultures.7
The decades after 1650 were decisive for the development of confes-
sionalism and for the major achievement of the Counter-Reformation
in Speyer, the placement of reformed priests in the parishes. In this

5. Volker Press, Calvinismus und Territorialstaat. Regierung und Zentralbehorden der

Kuipfalz, 1559—1619 (Stuttgart: Ernst Klett, 1970); Peter Blickle, The Revolution of 1525.
The German Peasant’s War from a New Perspective (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
Press, 1981); idem, Gemeindereformation. Die Menschen des 16. fahrhunderts auf dem Weg
zum Heil (Munich: R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1985).
6. Confessionalization proceeded slowly even in Bavaria (Dieter Albrecht, "Gegenrefor-
mation und katholische Reform" and "Die Barockzeit," in Max Spindler, ed., Handbuch der
bayerischen Geschichte, vol. 2 [Munich: C. H. Beck, 1988], 714-35). In Tirol confessional-
ism took hold in the 1640s (Jurgen Bucking, Fruhabsolutismus und Kirchenreform in Tirol
(1565-2665). Ein Beitragzum Ringen Zwischen “Stadt" und “Kirche”in derfriihen Neuzeit
[Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1972]). In Alsace the period of confessional cultures was
after 1650 (Louis Chatellier, Tradition chretienne et renouveau catholique dans le cadre de
l’ancien Diocese de Strasbourg (1650-ijjo) [Paris: Ophrys, 1981]). For German cities see
Francois, "De l'uniformite a la tolerance," esp. p. 783; Warmbrunn, Zwei Konfessionen in
einer Stadt.
7. Although my analysis is based on one bishopric, its conclusions suggest a model of
Catholic reform applicable to large parts of Catholic Germany. The political and religious
fragmentation, division of authority, and weakness of ecclesiastical and state institutions, as
well as the popular traditional Catholicism that characterized the Bishopric of Speyer,
existed in much of southwest Germany, Switzerland, parts of Franconia, and the Rhineland.
There have been few studies of the Counter-Reformation outside the great principalities of
Bavaria, the Habsburg lands, and the prince-bishoprics of Mainz, Wurzburg, Trier, and
Munster.
 Introduction 5

sense, the confessional age continued through and beyond the Thirty
Years' War, instead of ending in 1618 or 1648. The traditional period¬
ization reflects the political conflicts of the second half of the six¬
teenth century, rather than the process of popular religious dif¬
ferentiation, which accelerated after 1650. Furthermore, German
historians of Catholicism have insisted on a break between the
Counter-Reformation (or Catholic Reformation! and baroque Cathol¬
icism, a distinction that has little validity for the Bishopric of Speyer.8
The continuities across the whole period of this book are much more
pertinent than the changes brought by the Thirty Years' War. This fact
has long been recognized by French historians of the Counter-Refor¬
mation, who emphasize that Tridentine reforms began to make an
impact in French dioceses only in the late seventeenth century.9
The history of Catholicism in Speyer, then, challenges the propo¬
nents of the confessionalization thesis to consider the smaller ter¬
ritories and the "individualized country" of the old Reich, and to
examine the process over a longer period.10 It is also a major theme of
this book that religious reform, and especially Catholic reform, was
not imposed exclusively from above. The beliefs, practices, and
modes of behavior of the Catholic population of Speyer changed and
developed through a dynamic relationship between Catholic reform
and popular reaction.11
One of the weaknesses of the acculturation thesis of Jean De-
lumeau and John Bossy is that it does not account for the local
development of religious reform. Delumeau and Bossy argue that the
Counter-Reformation (and the Protestant Reformation) was above all
an attack on traditional popular religion and popular culture. De¬
lumeau asserts provocatively that medieval Christianity was essen-

8. Some historians recognize a "second wave" of Tridentine reform in the 1650s, 1660s,
and 1670s. After this, the period of baroque Catholicism starts. See for example Albrecht,
"Die Barockzeit," pp. 733-34; Manfred Becker-Huberti, Die tridentinische Reform im
Bistum Munster unter Fiirstbischof Christoph Bernhard v. Galen 1650 bis 1678 (Munster:
Aschendorff, 1978).
9. Jeanne Ferte, La vie religieuse dans les campagnes parisiennes, 1622-95 (Paris: Li-
brarie Philosophique J. Vrin, 1962). Louis Perouas, Le diocese de la Rochelle de 1648 a 1724:
Sociologie et pastorale (Paris: S.E.V.P.E.N., 1964); Alain Lottin, Lille, Citadelle dela Contre-
Reforme, 1598-1668 (Lille: Westhoeck, 1984). Alain Croix, La Bretagne aux i6e et i7e
siecles. La vie, la mort, la foi (Paris: Maloine SA, 1981).
10. See Mack Walker, German Home Towns: Community, State, and General Estate,
1648-1848 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1971), 1-2.
11. Historians of early Protestant movements have always been aware of the importance
of popular involvement in, pressure for, and reaction to, the Reformation. See, for example,
Loma Jane Abray, The People’s Reformation. Magistrates, Clergy, and Commons in Stras¬
bourg, 1500-1598, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1985); Suzanne Karant-Nunn,
Zwickau in Transition, 1500-1547: The Reformation as an Agent of Change, (Columbus:
Ohio University Press, 1987).
 6 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

tially "pagan." The goal of the Counter-Reformation was to "chris¬

tianize" Europe by attacking popular "superstitions" and "excesses"
and encouraging the proper practice of religion. Bossy objects to some
of what he has called Delumeau's "gratuitous assumptions" about
the nature of medieval Christianity and argues that medieval Chris¬
tianity was a successful family-based and community-oriented reli¬
gion. In general, however, Bossy accepts the acculturation thesis.
Both historians emphasize the Catholic Church's struggle to impose
elite religion on the population of Europe. The people often resisted
these reforms and, especially in France, resistance led to an aliena¬
tion of the population from the Church, strong peasant anticlerical¬
ism, and the "collapse of popular religion."12
In Speyer the Catholic villagers did not simply accept or resist
changes. The people supported some Tridentine reforms, for example
The requirement that priests reside in the parishes, and resisted oth-
~ers,"'especially efforts to limit popular festivities and reorganize par-
isr administration. Furthermore, some reforms, such as the new
marriage regulations, were manipulated by groups within the peas¬
antry, in this case village elders and parents, for their own benefit.13
The relationship between the reforming Church and the Catholic
people was characterized by compromise and cooperation as much as
by conflict and resistance.
This dynamic is nowhere more apparent than in the relationship
between the parish priests and their parishioners, which is a primary
focus of this book. It is increasingly apparent that the clergy was the
pivotal group in any attempt to reform popular religion. Both Bernard
Vogler, in his study of Protestantism in the Rhine Palatinate, and
Philip Hoffman, in analyzing the Counter-Reformation in Lyon, have
emphasized the role of the clergy in implementing religious change
in the countryside.14 The Counter-Reformation caused important
changes in the character of the Catholic clergy in the Bishopric of
Speyer as well. The late sixteenth-century "peasant-priests" with
their concubines were very different from the celibate, educated, and

12. John Bossy, "The Counter-Reformation and the People of Catholic Europe," Past and
Present 47 (1970); idem, Christianity in the West, 1400-1700 (London: Oxford University
Press, 1985); Jean Delumeau, Catholicism between Luther and Voltaire: A New View of the
Counter-Reformation (London: Bums and Oates, 1977); Philip Hoffman, Church and Com¬
munity in the Diocese of Lyon, 1500-1789 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984).
13. For other examples of this process see Thomas Robisheaux, Rural Society and the
Search for Order in Early Modern Germany (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1989), esp. chap. 4.; Hermann Rebel, Peasant Classes: The Bureaucratization of Property
and Family Relations under Early Habsburg Absolutism, 1511-1636 (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1983).
14. Vogler, Le clerge protestant rhenan-, Hoffman, Church and Community.
 Introduction 7

sometimes militantly Catholic priests of the early eighteenth cen¬

tury. I have found, however, that even the latter clergymen were not
"agents of the Counter-Reformation" as Hoffman would have it.
When caught between the desires of Church reformers and the needs
of their parishioners, the priests generally acted as mediators. At the
same time, the parish clergy was not passive. Reformed priests edu¬
cated in seminaries all over Germany dominated religious life in the
bishopric after 1700. Although they were unable to foster new forms
of piety, they did much to support and encourage a traditionalist
Catholic revival during the period from 1700 to 1720.
Acculturation also requires a unified elite, or at the very least, a
dominant group within the elite, possessing a unified program. In
Speyer no such group existed. The conservative upper clergy gener¬
ally resisted Tridentine reforms, which they correctly saw as a threat
to the Reichskirche, which reserved its benefices for the aristocracy.
In the absence of a strong state to force their compliance with the
decrees of the Council of Trent, conservative canons functioned as a
brake on the acculturation of the laity by reform priests and religious
orders.15. Divisions within the clerical elite make the standard dis¬
tinction between reforming elite and traditionalist population very
problematic. The cathedral canon in Speyer may have been as much a
part of the clerical elite as the Jesuit father, but in religious culture he
often had more in common with the local peasant.
Another emphasis of this book is the interplay between local Ca¬
tholicism and the international Church. The Counter-Reformation
in Speyer depended on outsiders for its leadership. Jesuits, above all,
but also ecclesiastical officials trained elsewhere, and reforming
priests educated in seminaries outside the bishopric formed the elite
that brought Tridentine Catholicism to Speyer. The traditions of
local religious life, anchored above all in lay and clerical institutions,
constantly hindered the activities of the reformers.
Naturally the upper clergy in the chapters played a major role in
weakening the Counter-Reformation. More significant for Catholi¬
cism in the countryside, however, was the village communes' control
of the rural parishes. Peter Blickle has focused attention on the
importance of rural communes (Gemeinden) in German religious
life, arguing that the communes supported the Protestant Reforma¬
tion in the early sixteenth century. In addition to favoring the Protes¬
tant insistence on the authority of Scripture, many peasants (and

15. The French, Spanish, Austrian, and Bavarian states often forced the ecclesiastical
hierarchy to comply with Tridentine decrees.
8 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

townspeople) understood the Reformation as an opportunity to in¬

crease local control over the Church.16 This hope ended with the
defeat of the Peasants' War (1525) and the development of the Protes¬
tant territorial churches. In Speyer, however, the communes found
the decentralized and disorganized Catholic Church receptive to
many of the ecclesio-political ideals of the "communal church" (Ge-
meinde Kirche). In the late sixteenth century, indeed throughout the
early modern period, these communes maintained and expanded
their considerable control over the local parish churches. They man¬
aged the finances of the parish, organized local religious life, and
wielded significant influence over the appointment and disciplining
of parish priests.
As the confessional consciousness of the Catholic inhabitants
grew, it remained linked to the communes. Catholicism became an
important part of the communal identity of these villages in this
predominantly Protestant region. This Catholic identity was espe¬
cially important after 1650, when the villages had to absorb large
numbers of immigrants as they recovered from decades of war.
Catholicism performed an important integrative function in these
villages especially because a close tie already existed between the
commune and the parish and between the villagers and traditional
Catholic practices.
In several important ways then, the communal church, which
Blickle argues lost its significance in the early sixteenth century,
thrived in the Catholic villages of the Bishopric of Speyer into the
eighteenth century. Furthermore, there is little evidence that the
communes came to be dominated by a peasant elite, who manipu¬
lated the gemeinde's control of the parish for its political or financial
benefit.17 The absence of a strong state or a local nobility allowed the
people meaningful influence in their own religious lives.
The nature of the transition from traditional Christianity to self-
conscious Catholicism in Speyer determined the character of local
Catholic culture. The strength of local institutions, the weakness of
Tridentine reform, and the tenacity of popular religion meant that
Catholicism at the end of our period remained more traditional than

16. Blickle, Gemeindereformation-, Peter Blickle, ed., Zugdnge zur bduerlichen Reforma¬
tion (Zurich: Chronos, 1987), esp. Rosi Fuhrmann, "Die Kirche 1m Dorf," pp. 147-86;
Franziska Conrad, Reformation in der bduerlichen Gesellschaft: Zur Rezeption refor-
matorischer Theologie im Elsafi (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden, 1984).
17. R. Po-chia FIsia, Social Discipline in the Reformation: Central Europe 1550-ij$o
(New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1989), 64-69; Rebel, Peasant Classes-, Franz Ortner,
Reformation, katholische Reform, und Gegenreformation in Erzstift Salzburg (Salzburg:
Universitatsverlag Anton Pustet, 1981).
 Introduction 9

Tridentine. The forms of Counter-Reformation piety, which empha¬

sized frequent confession and communion, individual prayer, and
austere self-discipline, had little resonance in the countryside.18 In¬
stead, the villagers favored a community-oriented piety with a focus
on weekly religious services, the Mass, processions, and local pil¬
grimages.
An older generation of German Catholic historians recognized the
traditional foundations of baroque Catholicism, with its ornate
churches, enthusiastic public piety, and ostentatious public reli¬
gion.19 Some recent studies have also emphasized the connections
between traditional Christianity and Tridentine Catholicism. Tri¬
dentine reform, especially in southwest Germany, caused an evolu¬
tion in popular religion but also allowed traditional forms of piety a
vital role.^ In Speyer, Catholicism experienced a popular revival
precisely becausealllmifeJ Counter-Reformation allowed traditional
religion to keep its vitality in the villages.21
The traditional nature of Catholicism in the Bishopric of Speyer
helps explain the renowned piety of the Germans in the eighteenth
century, a piety that contrasted with widespread anticlericalism and
religious indifference in much of the French countryside.22 This is a
reminder that regional and national differences within Catholicism
remained important, even as the Tridentine Church sought to cen¬
tralize the Church and regularize the experience of Catholics
throughout the world.

The Bishopric of Speyer in the

Sixteenth Century

The Bishopric of Speyer straddled the Rhine river in a prosperous

and densely populated part of Germany. This was an agricultural

18. Bossy, "The Counter-Reformation and the People of Catholic Europe"; idem, Chris¬
tianity in the West; Louis Chatellier, The Europe of the Devout: The Catholic Reformation
and the Formation of a New Society (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989).
19. The classic formulation of this viewpoint is Andreas Ludwig Veit and Ludwig Len-
hart, Kirche und Volksfrommigkeit im Zeitalter des Barock (Freiburg: Verlag Herder, 1956).
20. Chatellier, Tradition chretienne et renouveau catholique, part 4, chap. 5; idem,
Europe of the Devout; Hsia, Social Discipline in the Reformation, p. 90.
21. Here I disagree with the older view, which sees the revival of popular Catholicism as a
direct consequence of Tridentine reforms. See Stamer III/1 and III/2 and Andreas Ludwig
Veit, Kirche und Kirchenreform in der Erzdiozese Mainz, 1517-1618 (Freiburg: Herdersche
Verlagshandlung, 1920).
22. Timothy Tackett, Priest and Parish in 18th Century France: A Social and Political
Study of the Cures in the Diocese of Dauphine, 1750-1791 (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1977).
--

•< N

FRANCONIA

Stuttgart

Weil der Stadt

Heidelberg ;6wisheinf
Frankfurt
i SWABIA
t
\

Johlingen
I Worms
| Mainz

Strasbourg |

ALSACE
PALATINATE

Boundary of the Pre-

Refonnation Diocese

Catholic areas within the

Bishopric of Speyer

Other Catholic areas LORRAINE

All other areas are Protestant

The Bishopric of Speyer, 1600

The Palatinate, 1600. From Speyer to Weinstrasse showing confessional divisions
12 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

region of small towns and large villages. The peasants, whether they
lived in grain-growing villages in the Rhine plain or in the wine
villages at its edges and in the smaller valleys of the Kraichgau,
produced for the market. The rural population had commercial links
with the imperial cities of Speyer and Worms and with Heidelberg,
the capital of the Electoral Palatinate, as well as with such smaller
towns as Landau, WeiBenburg, Bruchsal, and Durlach.23 This area
was urbanized and commercialized, exposed to cultural and eco¬
nomic developments but also to invading armies and the plague.
Economic and social conditions tied the villages and towns of the
region together, just as political conditions divided them. This was a
region with a hodgepodge of tiny principalities, free imperial cities,
and ecclesiastical states typical of southern and western Germany at
that time. Within the boundaries of the diocese of Speyer were parts
of six major principalities, four imperial cities, and several smaller
territories, domains of imperial knights and independent monas¬
teries.24 The bishop of Speyer himself governed a scattered secular
principality which lay on both sides the Rhine.
The Reformation further compounded the fragmentation of au¬
thority and localization of power that characterized the region. Be¬
tween 1530 and 15 60, Protestantism captured about two-thirds of the
diocese, greatly reducing the effective spiritual authority of the bish¬
ops. Even within the remaining Catholic areas, princes, magistrates,
and powerful ecclesiastical institutions all claimed extensive pow¬
ers. These conditions would profoundly limit the progress of Cath¬
olic reform in the Bishopric of Speyer.

The Diocese of Speyer

In the late Middle Ages, the bishops of Speyer claimed ecclesiasti¬

cal jurisdiction over a diocese that stretched from the Pfalzerwald in
the west to the Neckar river in the east and contained over three
hundred parishes. By the middle of the sixteenth century, however,
the spread of the Reformation meant that the bishops exercised real
authority only over those villages under their direct secular author¬
ity, an area of fewer than a hundred parishes.
Protestantism made steady progress in the middle Rhine region

23. Erich Keyser, ed. Stadtebuch Rheinland-Pfalz und Saarland (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer
Verlag, 1964), 124-25.
24. States: Electoral Palatinate (Kurpfalz), Pfalz-Zweibriicken, Baden-Baden, Baden-
Durlach, Wiirttemberg, Hochstift Speyer. Imperial cities: Speyer, Landau, Weil der Stadt,
Weifienburg.
 Introduction 13

after 1520. Luther had popular support in the cities of Speyer and
Worms long before those cities officially broke with the Catholic
Church in the 1540s. The leading principality of the region, the
Electoral Palatinate, followed a more tortuous path to Protestantism,
but in 15 63 Elector Frederick III published a Reformed (i.e., Calvinist]
church ordinance, beginning a period of aggressive anti-Catholic pol¬
icy by the government of the Palatinate.25 In the various territories,
Protestant princes removed Catholic priests, secularized monas¬
teries, and established territorial churches.
The Reformation changed the political as well as the religious
situation in the region. The traditional alliance between the bishops
of Speyer and the Palatinate became difficult to maintain, exposing
the bishops' small and vulnerable principality to the real danger of
"mediatization" by one of its powerful neighbors. The bishopric also
faced financial difficulties from the loss of income from fees and
fines that had accrued from the jurisdictional rights of the bishops.
Yet the financial impact of the Reformation should not be overesti¬
mated. Protestant and Catholic officials worked out methods of deal¬
ing with financial disputes. The Protestant Electors Palatine, for
example, held the patronage and tithe in several villages in the
bishop of Speyer's territory, but installed and paid the Catholic
priests appointed by the bishop. The bishop did the same in Palatine
villages where he held patronage rights. In this way, a general modus
vivendi was established.
The Catholic position in this region was politically weak, a condi¬
tion most apparent in areas where the bishops shared secular author¬
ity with Protestant princes (the Gemeinschaften). In the 1570s, the
Electoral Palatinate removed the Catholic priests from all twenty-
one villages in the two gemeinschaften of Landeck and Altenstadt.
The bishop protested half-heartedly and appealed to the people "to
stay with the Church and not take up the Calvinist teachings." At
the same time, both the bishop and the Cathedral Chapter feared that
too strong a protest might cause trouble with the Electoral Palati¬
nate. In the end, these areas became firmly Protestant.26 In territories
of shared or disputed authority, political power was decisive, and in
the sixteenth century the Catholic Church was on the defensive.
Protestantism did not have the popular appeal in the countryside
that it had in the cities of the region. Protestant authorities struggled
to impose new religious practices in their villages, and there were a

25. Press, Calvinismus und Territorialstaat.

26. Stamer III/i, pp. 51-52; GLAK 61/10942, pp. 516-20.
14 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

few Protestants in officially Catholic villages. The first episcopal

visitation of the Catholic villages of the bishopric in the 1580s re¬
vealed very few active Protestants, except perhaps in the villages
right outside the city of Speyer.27 There were, however, resilient
communities of Anabaptists throughout the bishopric. After about
1570 these people emigrated to Moravia in a steady stream.28
Several Catholic territories lay within the diocese of Speyer but
outside the bishop's secular principality. Here the authority of the
bishops over spiritual matters, and especially over the clergy, was
formally recognized but in practice rarely exercised. The margraves
of Baden-Baden, the city council in Weil der Stadt, and the von
Gemmingen family, a family of free imperial knights, all insisted on
their right to discipline the clergy within their territories, often
refused to recognize the patronage of rural parishes by ecclesiastical
institutions, and never recognized episcopal authority over marriage
cases.
Religious and political fragmentation was most profound in the
city of Speyer itself, where the official religion varied from house to
house. The imperial city became Lutheran in the 1540s, but there
was an important Catholic presence throughout the early modern
period. In the sixteenth century, between 13 and 17 percent of the
population of about 7,500 were Catholic clergy and their depen¬
dents.29 A treaty with the city (the Rachtung) regulated the rights of
the clergy and gave them economic privileges and legal exemptions.
There were also several hundred members of the Imperial Chamber
Court (Reichskammergericht| residing in Speyer, most of whom
were Catholic. These divisions led to some tensions, but surprisingly
few conflicts erupted between the Lutheran townsmen and Catholic
residents—partly because the Burger and the clergy had a variety of
common interests, including a desire to keep the bishop out of the
city, which they had done successfully since the fifteenth century. At
the same time, the staunch Lutheranism of the magistrates and the
city population deeply affected the consciousness of the ecclesiastics
living in Speyer. Local churchmen developed an awareness of Cath¬
olic weaknesses, a sense of the limits of Church reform, and a realis¬
tic understanding of the strength of Protestantism in the region—all
of which would deflate their enthusiasm for the Counter-Reforma¬
tion.

27. Stamer III/i, pp. 104-5.

28. Ibid., pp. 135-36; GLAK 61/11494, 11495, and later. The property of Anabaptists who
had left for Moravia was confiscated by the bishopric.
29. Willi Alter, "Von der konradinischen Rachtung bis zum letzten Reichstag in Speyer
(1420/22-1570)," in Stadt Speyer, Geschichte der Stadt Speyer (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer
Verlag, 1983), 554, 555, 584.
 Introduction 15

The Hochstift Speyer

This book focuses on the villages within the principality governed

by the bishops of Speyer, a medium-sized territory containing in the
late sixteenth century over eighty villages, three towns, and a popu¬
lation of about thirty thousand.30 Not an //enclosed,/ principality, it
consisted of four large enclaves and several smaller ones.
Nor was the Hochstift a centralized principality with strong state
institutions. The bishops did not pursue a policy of state-building.
Instead, a bewildering variety of social, political, and juridical condi¬
tions constantly limited the authority and freedom of action of the
ruling bishop. The geographical and territorial fragmentation of the
Hochstift, the institutional power of the Cathedral Chapter, and the
local power of the village communes together perpetuated this situa¬
tion throughout the early modern period.
The nucleus of the Hochstift was the area around the town of
Bruchsal. The bishop's authority was almost unchallenged in the
more than twenty villages of this region. Here he was the only lord,
held all judicial rights, was the patron of most of the parishes, and
was a major landowner. Most of the peasants were his serfs (Leibei-
gene). Outside this region, however, the situation became more com¬
plicated. Perhaps the richest villages of the Hochstift were along the
Palatine Weinstrafle on the left bank of the Rhine. Here the bishop's
authority was more circumscribed. The Cathedral Chapter held
most of the tithes and the patronage of the village churches, and
many of the serfs in these villages belonged to the Elector. Further¬
more, these villages were located in a series of enclaves surrounded
by Palatine territory and located on the other side of the Rhine from
the episcopal capital in Udenheim (Philippsburg|. The episcopal ad¬
ministration often had practical problems asserting the prince-
bishop's authority in these villages.
The village of Johlingen is a good example of the extent to which
power was fragmented even within the villages of the Hochstift
Speyer. The secular lordship of Johlingen belonged to the Cathedral
Chapter in Speyer, as did the patronage of the village parish. Many,
although not all, of the peasants were serfs of the chapter, and the
chapter held the power of low justice. The canons exercised this
power by sending two of their number and a secretary to Johlingen
twice a year to judge civil and minor criminal cases on the spot. Most
of the cases of this Vogtsgericht concerned brawls, financial and
property disputes, and family conflicts. The bishop held the power of
high justice in Johlingen, and all witchcraft and murder cases were

30. Duggan, pp. 7, 193-97-

16 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

forwarded to his court. The Cathedral Chapter, however, always in¬

vestigated these cases before sending them on. In general the Cathe¬
dral Chapter, not the bishop's government, dealt with most matters
of government, including tax assessments and the quartering of sol¬
diers. The rights of the neighboring Electoral Palatinate, which had
the power to collect certain tolls and imperial taxes in the village,
and which claimed some jurisdiction over Palatine serfs living in
Johlingen, also limited the chapter's authority. The margraves of
Baden-Durlach, princes of the other neighboring villages, claimed
similar, although less extensive, rights.
On a day-to-day level the kind of fragmentation of authority that
existed in Johlingen was unimportant. Economic relations with
neighboring villages and within the village proceeded without dis¬
ruption, taxes were collected, and criminals were punished. The
villagers, however, adeptly played different authorities off against
one another. This tactic proved most effective when it came to ob¬
structing new taxes or new statutes. In religious affairs it allowed the
villagers to resist changes ordered by reformers. The existence of
conflicting jurisdictions also meant that Church authorities could
not enforce new laws until complicated jurisdictional disputes had
been resolved.
At a higher level, the bishops of Speyer had to share political power
with the Cathedral Chapter. Lawrence Duggan has argued that the
chapter took a leading role in the government of the bishopric in the
Middle Ages. The canons based their power on canon law, which gave
them the sole right to elect and advise bishops and govern during
vacancies. As a result, "the bishop was obliged to consult with his
canons and to obtain their consent to a whole range of acts."31 Dug¬
gan equates the role of the Cathedral Chapter with that of a parlia¬
ment. By the sixteenth century, the bishop needed the approval of the
chapter for new taxes, for many important appointments, and for
major political decisions. In many ways the Cathedral Chapter "re¬
mained the center of stability in the see of Speyer."32 Of course the
canons were far from selfless in their interest in the bishopric. The
noblemen from the Kraichgau and the Rhine valley who dominated
the Cathedral Chapter preserved Church benefices and government
positions for members of their families.33
The government of the bishops of Speyer was small and rather

31. Ibid., p. 187.

32. Ibid., p. 187.
33. Volker Press, "Das Hochstift Speyer," in Volker Press, ed., Barock am Obenhein
(Karlsruhe: Kommissionsverlag G. Braun, 1985), 252-54.
 Introduction 17

ineffectual. The central administration, headed by the chancellor,

was located at the bishop's palace in Udenheim. Until the eighteenth
century, there was no integrated or centralized bureaucracy, a situa¬
tion that circumscribed the ability of the bishops to enforce their will
in the countryside.34 The local administrators were the Amtmanner,
of whom there were about eight in the sixteenth century. These
officials took advantage of the scattered territorial situation and their
distance from central authority to operate fairly independently, and,
in fact, the village communes (gemeinden) provided the day-to-day
administration of the villages.
Although the communes were administrative units of the Hoch-
stift, they were also autonomous, self-governing institutions, espe¬
cially in weakly administrated territories.35 The Schultheifien (or
headmen) acted as the bishop's bailiffs in the villages but also served
as members of the village gemeinde. In petitions to the bishop, the
schultheifien almost always appear together with the locally elected
members of the village councils, the Dorfmeister (or Burgermeister)
and the Gerichtsmanner. The schultheifi, together with the village
council (the Gericht) governed in the villages, assessed taxes, ad¬
judicated disputes, and represented the village before the bishop's
government. There was always the potential for conflict between the
schultheifien, who were appointed, and the other members of the
village council, who were elected by the commune, yet such disputes
were rare. The schultheifien were local men and seem to have worked
together with the villagers on all issues of importance.
The rural communes around Speyer, as in much of southwest
Germany, had strong traditions of resistance to outside authority.36
Furthermore, in Speyer, in the absence of a rural nobility or a strong
state, the communes could go beyond resistance and actually pursue
their own goals, in religious as well as political matters. Most com¬
munes also had the financial resources to maintain local autonomy.
They owned property and collected rents as well as a variety of fines
and dues and used this money to hire lawyers as well as shepherds,
policemen, and schoolteachers.
The power of the communes varied. Communal institutions in the
wine-growing villages on the left bank of the Rhine and in the more

34. Duggan, pp. 152-57; Press, "Das Hochstift Speyer," pp. 260-62.
35. Peter Blickle, Landschaften im Alten Reich: Die staatliche Funktion des gemeinen
Mannes in Obeideutschland (Munich: C. H. Beck, 1973), 124-26.
36. On communes see Blickle, The Revolution of 152s, and Gemeinde Reformation-,
Heide Wunder, Die bauerliche Gemeinde in Deutschland (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck und
Ruprecht, 1986).
18 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

isolated villages on the edges of the Kraichgau (such as Neipsheim

and Johlingen] seem to have been quite strong, probably because
these villages were far from the secular power of the bishops. The
villages in the Rhine valley and around Bruchsal, especially where
the prince-bishop was the only landlord, had weaker communes and
therefore less influence over political and ecclesiastical affairs. Most
appeals to the various Church authorities came from the "Schult-
heifl, Gericht, furatoren, Dorfmeister, und die ganze Gemeinde"
(the headman, the council, the elders or wardens, the mayor, and
the whole commune|. Certain powerful individuals could, and often
did, dominate communal institutions. Yet in Speyer, the gemeinden
maintained their autonomy and were never integrated into the state
apparatus.37 The influence of the communes meant that a localiza¬
tion of power characterized the secular government of the bishopric
as it did the political framework of the region.
This fragmentation of authority extended to ecclesiastic admin¬
istration as well. The various chapters in Speyer and in the coun¬
tryside exercised extensive patronage rights in the villages. Further¬
more, the provosts of the four chapters were also archdeacons of the
diocese, theoretically giving them a power to discipline the rural
clergy parallel to that of the bishop. These powers limited the bish¬
op's vicar general, who was the chief spiritual official of the bishop¬
ric. The vicars general in the sixteenth century were assisted by
several ecclesiastical judges and a small staff. The vicars occupied a
difficult position, especially in relation to the Cathedral Chapter.
Most of these men, although officials of the bishops, held benefices
in the cathedral in Speyer and were therefore beholden to the canons.
The position of vicar general had neither status nor clearly defined
powers, and even the most activist vicars general were obliged to
recognize the limits of episcopal power, even within the Hochstift.
The conditions examined here evolved between 1560 and 1720, the
most important political development being the growth in impor¬
tance of French power along the Rhine, especially after the Thirty
Years' War. At the local level and within the Catholic Church, how¬
ever, the essential fragmentation of authority and localization of
power remained a decisive factor in local religious life into the eigh¬
teenth century and were crucial determinants in the evolution of
Catholic reform.

37. Wunder, Die bauerliche Gemeinde, chap. 5, esp. pp. 80-82.

 I

The Traditional Church and

the Resistance to Reform

The structures of political and religious life in the Bishopric of

Speyer limited the impact of the Counter-Reformation there. We
appreciate this especially when we look at the nature and function of
the Catholic Church in the middle decades of the sixteenth century
before Tridentine reforms had a significant effect on the bishopric.
When examining Catholicism in Speyer, one must confront two
assumptions of all previous studies. The first premise dates back to
the sixteenth century. Most churchmen at the time, and Church
historians since, have held that the pre-Tridentine Church was in
terrible condition, especially in the countryside. The clergy was pro¬
fessionally incompetent and morally bankrupt, Church finances
were in disarray, and the people badly "infected" with Protestantism.
Given these conditions, the population naturally welcomed the ef¬
fort to reform the Church.1
The second, in many ways contradictory, assumption is that of
modern historians, who argue that the common people of Europe
defended traditional religion and resisted all religious reform.2 These
historians tend to see rural populations as above all conservative and
predisposed to resist change from outside. In this view, the villagers
necessarily reacted negatively to all reform.

1. The best example of this school is Stamer, III/1 and III/2. Stamer's study is, however,
often very thoughtful and excellently grounded in the sources. See also Veit, Kirche und
Kirchenreform. For sixteenth-century views, see Chapter 2.
2. Especially, Bossy, "The Counter-Reformation and the People of Catholic Europe";
idem, Christianity in the West-, Delumeau, Catholicism between Luther and Voltaire.
20 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

These assumptions do not accurately explain conditions in the

Bishopric of Speyer between the 1560s and the 1580s. The sources
indicate that the Catholics of the bishopric had problems with the
Church, but were in general content with their priests and with the
overall operation of rural Catholicism. The villagers even favored
those reforms which improved the quality of local religious services.
The innovations they resisted were those that threatened the "com¬
munal Church." Beginning in the fifteenth century, village com¬
munes had widened their domination of rural parishes, a process that
accelerated in Speyer in the sixteenth century as ecclesiastical orga¬
nization disintegrated under the impact of the Reformation.3 From
the 15 60s to the 15 80s, the villagers of the Bishopric of Speyer fought
to maintain or even increase their control over the local Church.
The ecclesiastical elite of the bishopric responded to the Counter-
Reformation with equal ambivalence. Not surprisingly, many eccle¬
siastics feared that reform jeopardized the nobility's control of rich
benefices in the collegiate chapters and positions in the episcopal
administration. Nevertheless, the Protestant Reformation threat¬
ened the very survival of Catholicism in the region and forced the
hierarchy to take some action. The decrees of the Council of Trent
were a further impetus to action, although German churchmen re¬
mained skeptical of reform and accepted papal commands with a
certain selectivity.
If we examine the structures of Catholicism in the Bishopric of
Speyer in the mid-sixteenth century, both in the villages and at the
upper levels of the Church, we can see the obstacles faced by anyone
trying to implement the ambitious program of the Council of Trent.
Catholic reformers were never allowed to forget that village com¬
munes controlled the rural Church and the aristocracy dominated
the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Ultimately, all reform had to come from
outside the local Church. Under these conditions imposing such
reform was to be an uphill fight.

The Clergy and the Rural Parish, 1560-1585

In 1583, twenty years after the Council of Trent, the bishop of

Speyer ordered the first visitation of the Catholic villages of his
diocese. The visitors found that the rural Church was essentially
under the local control of village communes, which expected the
parish priest to live according to community rules, regulated a large

3. Fuhrmann, “Die Kirche im Dorf."

 The Resistance to Reform 21

part of the financial resources of the parish, and exercised consider¬

able influence over the appointment, disciplining, and removal of
parish priests. This situation resulted partly from the weakness of
higher authority, both political and spiritual, and partly from long¬
standing traditions of village government and Church organization.
The visitation also revealed that each village had a resident parish
priest, the primary concern of villagers. The priest was clearly a
member of the community and obeyed its rules. Generally he lived
with a concubine, farmed his fields, and dressed like a peasant. The
villagers expected the priest to perform regular church services, to
baptize children, to lead processions, and to give his blessing at
burials. Village communes generally procured parish priests they
liked and got rid of ones they found unacceptable. But although they
were happy with their priests, the villagers protested forcefully
against the financial exactions of the upper clergy. The aristocratic
chapters in Speyer, Weiftenburg, and Bruchsal absorbed such a large
part of the resources of the village churches, that the priests often
found their benefices too small to support themselves and their
families.
The villagers were mostly good Catholics, at least in the sense that
they attended Mass regularly and received communion annually.
The Protestant Reformation had disrupted the patterns of local re¬
ligious life to some extent. Protestant authorities forbade proces¬
sions that had traditionally linked the villages together from passing
through Protestant territory, and they reduced the financial re¬
sources of the local churches. Protestantism itself had a limited
appeal within the villages,- few peasants traveled to neighboring vil¬
lages for Protestant services. The villagers had no interest in confes¬
sional politics, per se. But to prevent unwanted changes in their
traditional practices and further financial exactions, they defended a
community-based church against the incursions of all outside au¬
thorities.
Although episcopal authorities had tentatively begun to introduce
reforms in the 15 60s, the rural Church reflected in the minutes of the
visitation of 1583-88 was essentially pre-Tridentine. Attempts to
eradicate clerical marriage and institute catechism classes, however,
are signs of a growing gap between the goals of reform-minded
churchmen and the interests of the villagers of the Bishopric of
Speyer.4 Above all, the authorities expected and demanded a rural

4. Much of the following section is based on the minutes of the visitation of 1583—88,
which are in GLAK 61/11262 and LASp. D2/306/10. For discussion of visitation records as
historical sources see Gerald Strauss, Luther’s House of Learning: Indoctrination of the
Young in the German Reformation (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978);
22 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

clergy that would perform the sacraments regularly, as required by

the statutes of the diocese, enforce the ordinances of the bishop, and
maintain the property of the church. Episcopal officials had also
begun to emphasize the everyday behavior of the parish priests, who
were supposed to avoid involvement in local conflicts, be sober,
moral, and above all celibate. These concerns, which reflect the
decrees of the Council of Trent, were not shared by the people in the
villages. Celibacy, for example, was not important to them, nor did it
bother them if their priest had a drink in the village inn. They did,
however, want a priest who resided in their village and was an active
member of the community.* * * * 5 The visitation indicates clearly tha
most rural priests met the expectations of the villagers better than
those of the ecclesiastical authorities.

Clerical Marriage and Concubinage

The enforcement of clerical celibacy was a major, if not dominat¬

ing, concern of sixteenth-century Catholic authorities. Historians of
the region have emphasized the prevalence of clerical marriage and
concubinage in the Bishopric of Speyer in the late sixteenth century
and have frequently cited this as a sign of the sad state of the Catholic
Church in the countryside.6 It is true that twelve of the twenty-two
Pfarrer visited in 1583 and 1584 were living with women, although
none seemed to have gone so far as to marry his companion.7 In fact,
the ongoing efforts of the bishops and their officials to prevent rural
Catholic priests from marrying had been effective. In 1563 the priest
in Deidesheim, Ulrich Meyer, apparently promised to marry his
housekeeper and was subsequently imprisoned.8 Ten years later, the
pfarrer in Deidesheim (perhaps the same man| was relieved of his
functions for having married. This case apparently caused scandal in
the bishopric.9 It served to make it clear to the rural clergy that they
could not marry their lifelong companions (often the mothers of their

James Kittelson, "Successes and Failures in the German Reformation: The Report from
Strasbourg," Archivfiir Reformationsgeschichte 73 (1982); Ernst W. Zeeden and Hans-Georg
Molitor, eds., Die Visitation im Dienste der kirchlichen Reform (Munster: Aschendorff,
1967).
5- Hoffman, Church and Community in the Diocese of Lyon, chap. 2; Bossy, "The
Counter-Reformation."
6. Remling II, pp. 374-75; Stamer III/1, pp. 90-95; Hans Ammerich, "Formen und Wege
der katholischen Reform in den Diozesen Speyer und Straftburg. Klerusreform und Seelsor-
gerreform," in Volker Press et al., eds., Barock am Oberrhein p. 298.
7. GLAK 61/11262; LASp. D2/306/10; Stamer III/1, p. 91-92.
8. Remling II, pp. 374-75. Remling incorrectly identifies this priest as Ulrich Mai.
9. Stamer III/1, p.40.
 The Resistance to Reform 2-3

children). Enforcing clerical celibacy, of course, was much more diffi¬

cult. During the episcopate of Bishop Marquard (1560-81), a quarter
of the rural priests who were imprisoned by the bishop's officials
were prosecuted for simple concubinage.10 Yet the visitation of
1583-88 shows how ineffective these disciplinary measures had
been.
Concubinage was apparently more widespread in the Bishopric of
Speyer than in many other Catholic dioceses in Europe. More than
half of the priests investigated in the 15 80s lived with concubines. By
contrast, in 1570 in the neighboring Archbishopric of Trier about
one-third of the rural priests were living with women.11 The overall
percentage of priests with concubines in Speyer may actually have
been somewhat lower than indicated by the visitation, since the
visitors probably concentrated on a region where abuses were more
prevalent. Nevertheless, the records show that the efforts of the
bishops to eradicate the widespread and open concubinage among
the rural clergy had failed.
The unstable and unclear confessional situation of the period from
1530 to 1560, when various territories in the region (especially the
Electoral Palatinate) reversed their positions on Protestantism sev¬
eral times, may have contributed to confusion among the clergy, as
may have the apologists for clerical marriage within the Catholic
Church itself. As late as 1564, after the Council of Trent had clearly
forbidden concubinage, there was correspondence between the
bishop of Worms and the Cathedral Chapter in Speyer on the desir¬
ability of clerical marriage.12
The most likely explanation for this phenomenon, however, is the
fact that by living with a concubine a parish priest was conforming to
the standards of his village. The visitors questioned the church war¬
dens, the villagers responsible for managing parish property, about
concubines and found that the peasants had no objection to the

10. GLAK 67/423. This figure is based on a review of the Urfehden [Uipheden], oaths
sworn by the priests when they were released from prison, usually promising not to return to
their evil ways.
11. Hansgeorg Molitor, Kirchliche Reformversuche der Kurfiirsten und Erzbischofe von
Trier im Zeitalter der Gegenreformation (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1967), chap. 4.
Clerical concubinage was apparently universal in rural Switzerland (Johan Georg Mayer, Das
Konzil von Trent und die Gegenreformation in der Schweiz, vol. 2 [Stans: Hans und Matt,
1901], chap. 1). Concubinage was more prevalent in parts of the Bauland region of the
Bishopric of Wurzburg than in Speyer (Helmut Neumaier, Reformation und Gegenreforma¬
tion im Bauland unter besonderer Beriicksichtigung der Ritterschaft [Wurzburg: Bohler
Verlag, 1977], pp. 223-24.
12. GLAK 61/11494, pp. 75v-76r. The Lutheran example and the confusion over Catholic
policy may have led to increased concubinage after 1550 (Neumaier, Reformation und
Gegenreformation im Bauland, p. 222).
24 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

priests' companions.13 Most wardens responded to the visitors' ques¬

tions in a matter-of-fact manner. In Hainfeld, for example, one war¬
den said that the pfarrer, Michael Krailin, "behaves well, in that he
and his current housekeeper (kochin| have brought up four children."
Another added, "He leads a pious life, lives with his housekeeper,
with whom he has four children, as it is customary among priests."
One of the visitors added a "nota bene" in the margin of the minutes
next to that statement. In Venningen, the wardens seemed somewhat
more concerned about their priest's concubine. "He has a maid with
whom he has a child, [but] otherwise he has been a fine servant
(thiener) for almost thirty years." "He behaves well and lives frugally,
the only thing is that he has a little child by his servant."14 In most
villages the reactions of the laity to the priests' concubines fell some¬
where between indifference and mild discomfort, the latter reaction
probably more a result of the insistent questioning on this subject.
When the villagers expressed dissatisfaction with the pfarrer's life¬
style, they usually had quite normal objections that could have been
leveled at any member of the community. In Weyer unter Rietburg a
church warden reported complaints about the priest, Joachim Roser,
for constantly quarreling loudly with his housekeeper and his two
sons. Family quarrels were not unusual in early-modern villages.
What had shocked the wardens in this case was the cause of the
disputes: the concubine and the two children had directly disobeyed
Roser's orders in the "family."15 Perhaps the villagers hoped that the
visitors would help straighten out the situation, since the pfarrer's
special status precluded direct legal intervention by the usual village
authorities.
The parishioners in Kirrweiler suspected their parish priest, The¬
odor Schobman, of a much more serious transgression. The sacristan
explained that the priest had three maids, one who worked the fields,
a second, an elderly woman, who was the mother of his child, and a
third—the problem—"who comes from Landau and is the daughter
of a cleric." The older woman had "been heard to say in their house
that he plans to get rid of her and go to Speyer and openly marry the
maid from Landau."16 There is good reason to suspect that this story
was only rumor or perhaps an effort to discredit Schobman, since he
had several influential enemies in the village and, moreover, had

13. The visitors asked pointed questions, but also allowed the wardens to respond at
length. The responses seem open and honest.
14. LASp. D2/306/10, pp. 423^ 426r, 263^ 265V.
15. Ibid., pp. 34ir, 343r.
16. Ibid., p. I36r.
 The Resistance to Reform 25

been the pastor in Kirrweiler since at least 1561 without causing

problems.17 Nevertheless, it is clear that the villagers judged their
priests by the same standards as their other neighbors: having a long¬
term partner was acceptable, but discarding an elderly woman in
favor of a younger one was not.
The behavior of Johann Fischer (Vischerius), pfarrer in Hambach
and dean of the rural chapter, was the cause of scandal throughout the
region. As early as August 1582, the Cathedral Chapter in Speyer, the
patron of the parish, had discussed the removal of Fischer, on the
grounds that he was ''very neglectful and had a scandalous life."18 In
the summer of 1583, the visitors found Fischer's behavior not only
well known in the large and wealthy village of Hambach, but com¬
mon knowledge also among the other parish priests in the area. The
villagers accused him of womanizing. Like Schobman in Kirrweiler,
he had abandoned a long-time companion and her children in favor of
a younger servant. Then he compounded the problem by getting a
third woman pregnant. As a result, Fischer had lost the respect of his
parishioners. One church warden lamented that there were many
disobedient parishioners, a result of the pfarrer's "scandalous domes¬
tic life" and neglect of his duties. "Many hesitate to receive the
sacraments from him."19
Other priests, some of whom had concubines themselves, also
found Fischer's behavior reprehensible. Although the visitors asked
each priest to report on the other priests in the region, most hesitated
to comment on their colleagues' domestic arrangements. Only
Fischer's name came up repeatedly. Herr Schobman from Kirrweiler,
himself suspected of having two women, remarked that Fischer's
conduct had caused great public scandal and added "no one should do
this sort of thing." The pfarrer in St. Martin discussed Fischer's
failings at great length. According to the villagers, Fischer had several
other faults, including a tendency to drink too much and a passion for
gambling. Many other parish priests had these weaknesses, but in
most places the parishioners did not mind too much. In Hambach,
the priest's domestic situation served to turn Fischer's lesser failings
into part of a general pattern of behavior of which his neighbors
disapproved. As one warden said, "He drinks with us, but all the
trouble is due to the [pregnant] maid."20 Of all the priests discovered

17. GLAK 61/10947, pp. I7ir, 171V; GLAK 67/425, p. 49 (Investiture of Theodoricus
Schobman).
18. GLAK 61/10945, p. 892.
19. LASp. D2/306/10, pp. 55V-56V.
20. Ibid., pp. 125v, 226V, 59V.
26 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

to have concubines, only Fischer had violated the local standards of

acceptable behavior to the extent that his parishioners questioned
the efficacy of the sacraments received from him.
The people of the bishopric demanded only that their priests be¬
have as members of the community and seem to have found some of
the visitors' inquiries strange, if not amusing, an example being their
interest in the priests' clothing. The wardens almost invariably re¬
sponded that the priest wore his black coat to services and otherwise
dressed like a peasant. The villagers clearly considered this normal
and proper. Drinking was another concern of the ecclesiastical au¬
thorities that the villagers did not share. "He does what other people
do, he drinks himself full of wine." In a wine-growing region this was
accepted, as long as it did not interfere with the priests' duties. Even
fighting was not a major offense. A warden in Harthausen admitted
that the parish priest "had gotten into fights several times in [the
neighboring village of] Heinhofen, but, he thought, with good rea¬
son."21
Some priests were hard-working and ambitious farmers. Johann
Sielius, pfarrer in Niederlauterbach, was a careful manager of the
village church's property, and a wealthy man in the village in his own
right. Not only did Sielius keep careful track of all tithes and dues
owed to him, but he was also a successful winegrower. In 1583, a good
year, he earned over 200 gulden on wine alone, and was able to invest
270 gulden of his own money on repairs and improvements on the
parsonage. The villagers reacted to his success with envy mixed with
admiration. He was a "good neighbor," but there were also references
to the usual village disputes in which Sielius was a party. "[Sielius]
has been here a while and produces rather abundantly. . . . [There are
no problems with his behavior] except that there have been some
disputes with him because of his cows, which he lets run free and
which do a lot of damage. [He also] has a big belly and can put away
four mafi [of wine?] before it has any effect on him." In addition to his
success as a farmer, Sielius was a proud paterfamilias. He had seven
surviving children, apparently all by the same woman, to whom he
was planning to pass on his fortune. He did not hesitate to display his
wealth. "He held a baptism [for his own child] as if it were a church
festival. Everyone has to have a triumph."22 While it is perhaps true
that Sielius was not necessarily well liked by all his neighbors, it is
obvious that they saw no conflict between his activities as family
man and peasant and his position as a priest.

21. Ibid., pp. 54r, 520V.

22. GLAK 61/11262, pp. 259, 276, 294, 290, 264.
 The Resistance to Reform 27

In his sense of family, his desire to pass his hard-earned wealth on

to his children, and his need to demonstrate his position and status in
the community, Sielius was no different from any other wealthy and
influential villager. Nor is this surprising. Like the clergymen in the
neighboring Protestant territories, Catholic priests were often good
fathers and family men. Unlike the homes of Protestant pastors,
however, the parsonages in Catholic areas were not "seats of culture"
or islands of a new morality in a traditional village.23 As part of the
village community, the pfarrer differed very little from their neigh¬
bors and shared their interests. It was more difficult for Catholic
priests than for Protestant pastors to pass benefices and status on to
their children, but there do seem to have been priestly "dynasties" in
the cities, where sons followed their fathers into the clergy. This was
not as frequent in the countryside. Some indication, however, of the
social position of a priest's family can be found in one of the few
clerical wills that survive from the sixteenth century.
In 1592 Johann Merckell, the former priest in Johlingen, dictated a
detailed will while in retirement in Bruchsal. After paying the bishop
the usual fees, and willing his library to the church in Johlingen,
Merckell left all his property to his nine grandchildren. Unlike
priests in the eighteenth century, he funded no masses for his soul.
The will specifically required that his two children be passed over
and that the property be administered for the grandchildren until
they married or took clerical orders. MerkelPs daughter was married
to a citizen of Johlingen, and his son seems to have been resident
there as well. Merckell's family was rooted in the village where he
had served; like any good father, Merckell in his old age was con¬
cerned with the welfare of his descendants.24
If there was one difficulty the parishioners had with their parish
priests, it was that they were often "foreigners." More than half of the
priests who appear in the minutes of the visitation, were not natives
of the Bishopric of Speyer. Most of these outsiders came from the
Bishopric of Constance, although there were individuals from as far
away as Merseburg (in Saxony) and Cologne. It was an old tradition
for priests to come down from the mountainous and perennially
overpopulated region of Swabia (most of which was in the huge
Bishopric of Constance) into the wealthier bishoprics of the Rhine
valley (Basel, Strasbourg, Speyer, Worms). The percentage of non¬
native priests in Speyer was apparently rising in the second half of the
sixteenth century. In a group of parishes investigated in 1556, only

23. Vogler, Le clerge protestant rhenan, chaps. 4 and 5.

24. GLAK 42/2491.
28 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

about one-third of the priests could be categorized as "foreign/' and

most of these were from the neighboring Archbishopric of Trier.25
The villagers viewed "foreign" priests with suspicion, but in the
sixteenth century most seem to have worked hard to assimilate into
the community.

The Duties of the Parish Priest

An important purpose of the visitation of 1583-88 was to deter¬

mine if the parish priests were fulfilling their pastoral duties prop¬
erly. The visitors focused their attention in three areas, all of which
had been given new emphasis by the Council of Trent: preaching, the
administration of the sacraments, and the teaching of the catechism.
The laity, by contrast, had less interest in preaching and the cate¬
chism than the ecclesiastical officials. Furthermore, the lay people
ignored the sacraments of Confirmation and Extreme Unction. They
wanted a priest who lived in the village and gave weekly services.
Here again, the concerns of the village community dominated condi¬
tions in the rural parishes.
By the 1580s the sermon had become, in Catholic as well as in
Protestant areas, the central event of the Sunday service. All the rural
parish priests in the Bishopric of Speyer preached in the vernacular at
the end of the service. The visitors were generally satisfied that the
sermons took place, although reports on their quality and impact are
rare. The church wardens usually commented on the method used by
the pfarrer. Some used notes, some read from books (especially the
Bible), and others preached from memory. The most common obser¬
vation was that the priest "preached as his duty required."26 The
documents suggest that the sermons neither particularly impressed,
nor deeply moved the people. A warden in Diedesfeld quite toler¬
antly, but tellingly, said that the parish priest "preaches as well as he
can, but he [the warden] has certainly heard better, [also] has never
heard an Our Father from him, and does not believe he can [say
one]."27
While most priests preached in the fashion of the pfarrer in Diedes¬
feld, there were a few sermons that caught the attention of the
listeners. Johann Fischer, the pfarrer in Hambach, preached a full

25. Francis Rapp, Reformes et Reformation a Strasbourg: Eglise et societe dans le Diocese
de Strasbourg (1450-1525) (Pans: Ophrys, 1974), 313, for the tradition of Swabian priests in
the Rhine valley. For conditions in 1556 see LASp. D2/306/8.
26. GLAK 61/11262 and LASp. D2/306/10.
27. LASp. D2/306/10, p. 194V.
 The Resistance to Reform 29

hour on the subject of the Passion, but given his general unpopularity,
one doubts that he impressed the villagers positively. The priest in
Edesheim was especially diligent, preaching and praying more than
required by the ecclesiastical authorities.28 This was exceptional.
Most of the parish priests fulfilled their preaching duty in a mechan¬
ical and unimaginative way.
In their investigation of the administration of the sacraments, the
visitors found that the impact of recent changes in sacramental
practice had barely penetrated into the villages. Extreme Unction
remained unknown, as did Confirmation. Most of the parish priests
argued that this was not their fault. They all claimed to have the
necessary oil and instructions to perform last rites, but no one ever
requested it. The situation with Confirmation was similar. The pfar-
rer in Kirrweiler did claim to teach the sacrament, but this was rare.
Typical was the comment of the priest in Steinfeld: "He says [that] of
course he believes that Confirmation is a sacrament, but the practice
is not taught."29 There is absolutely no comment from the lay people
concerning either of these two sacraments. They were not interested.
The priests were also closely questioned about baptism, especially
concerning godparents. Most claimed that they obeyed the regula¬
tions allowing only one godparent of each sex, which may have been
the tradition in many of these villages anyway. Some were more
flexible. One pfarrer admitted to allowing two or three godparents of
each sex if the poor people (pauperi) requested it.30 Almost all the
priests were satisfied that their parishioners fulfilled their peniten¬
tial duties by confessing and taking communion at Easter. The visi¬
tors, however, expressed concern that some of the priests heard
group, rather than individual, confessions. Most of the priests denied
this charge, although in the far southwestern corner of the diocese
the practice of group confession seems to have survived. A few of the
priests also collected money for administering some of the sacra¬
ments, always claiming that this was a traditional practice and freely
offered by the parishioners.31
Just before the visitation, Bishop Eberhard had published a new
marriage ordinance to implement the reforms in marriage practice
ordered by the Council of Trent. Although the changes in the
Church's marriage law were not extensive, the Church now required

28. Ibid., pp. 59r, 6ov, 3761:.

29. GLAK 61/11262, p. 603.
30. Ibid., p. 287.
31. One example of this was in Salmbach (GLAK 61/11262, p. 406). See also Stamer III/1,
pp. 90-100.
30 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

advance publication of the intent to marry (the posting of banns).

Furthermore, priests had to keep a marriage register. Since the new
ordinance had only recently been published, the visitors were most
interested in finding out if the priests were properly publicizing it
from the pulpit. In every case the priests claimed to be doing their
duty, a claim confirmed by the church wardens.32
Although the visitation of 1583-88 showed that there had been an
effort by the rural clergy to conform to new episcopal regulations, it
is also clear that they were still serving their parishes in a "tradi¬
tional" way. The parish priests did not try to force any new sacramen¬
tal practices on their parishioners, nor did they seem particularly
committed to these new practices themselves. Reflecting this disin¬
terest was the continued use of the Speyer Agenda of 1512. This
book, which prescribed liturgical practices, was in use in about half
of the parishes visited in the 1580s, although it had officially been
superseded in the 1560s by the Mainz Agenda of 1551. There were
several cases where the priest had both at his disposal, but used the
older Speyer one by preference. In doing so he may have stayed closer
to local traditions, but he failed to benefit from the new exhorta-
tiones (Ermahnungen) in the Mainz Agenda, passages designed to
encourage the "simple" parish priests to emphasize the sacramental
teachings of the Church in their sermons.33 Sacramental practices in
the Bishopric of Speyer, by preference of both the laity and the rural
clergy, had changed little since the early sixteenth century.
The teaching of the catechism was the innovation par excellence
of the Reformation era. At various times in the 1570s the bishops of
Speyer had ordered the priests to begin catechism lessons. In the
1580s, however, few of the priests were in fact complying with these
orders. Only five of the twenty-two parish priests investigated even
claimed to be catechizing. Most of the others said that they had
stopped the classes during the plague of the previous year and had not
gotten around to resuming them. Other pfarrer blamed their failure
to teach on the unwillingness of the village youths to attend the
catechism class. Catechism classes were not very popular among the

32. Collectioprocessuum synodalium et constitutionem ecclesiarum diocesis Sphensis

ab anno 1397 ad annum 1720 (Bruchsal, 1786), 385; Stamer III/1, p. 101. Parish registers,
with records of baptisms, marriages, and burials rarely survived the destructive wars of the
seventeenth century. Where they exist, marriage and baptism records begin in the late 1580s
and 15 90s. See the Parish Register Collection of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints, especially Films 0367712 (Hochdorf), and 1049306 (Waibstadt).
33. Alois Lamott, Das Speyerer Diozesanrituale von 1512 bis 1932. Seine Geschichte und
seine Ordines zur Sakramentliturgie (Speyer: Verlag der Jaegerschen Buchdruckerei, 1961),
58-59.
 The Resistance to Reform 3i

villagers either. In Hainfeld the wardens thought that the priest was
doing a good job, "although he had not taught the catechism since the
previous bishop died." In GleiEweiler the villagers also reported that
the pfarrer neglected the catechism.34 The local people had no inter¬
est in receiving instruction from their pfarrer on the rudiments of the
faith or the efficacy of the sacraments. As far as they were concerned,
the duties of their priests were to perform baptisms, marriages, fu¬
nerals, and Sunday services—and no more.
The most important event of rural religious life was, of course, the
Sunday service. Generally this ceremony included the Mass followed
by a sermon. Many of the church wardens used the visitation as an
opportunity to criticize their parish priests' performance of these ser¬
vices. Although many parish priests were complimented for continu¬
ing traditional practices (alte Brduche), a comment perhaps directed
against both neighboring Protestant clergy and reforming Catholic
authorities, the villagers reproached some pfarrer for infrequent ser¬
vices. They accused the unpopular pfarrer in Hambach, Johann
Fischer, of failing to hold services every Sunday, of not preaching on
feast days, and of holding the required Saturday services only three
times the previous year.35 Some villagers pushed for more frequent
masses. In Niederlauterbach, for example, villagers went out of their
way to protest that their priest preached regularly but did not hold
Mass every week.36 In general, however, the laity seemed satisfied
with the weekly services. There were no complaints of long, boring
ceremonies, as there were in neighboring Protestant areas in this
period.
Only one parish priest protested that his parishioners did not re¬
main until the end of his sermons. This complaint came from one
Michael Tonsoris, a very diligent priest who had been sent out to
Edesheim from Speyer three years earlier and still returned to the
Jesuits in Speyer regularly for confession. Tonsoris also found his
parishioners less than satisfactory in their paying of tithes and in
their charitable offerings. He seems to have been one of the first of
the "reformed priests" in the countryside.37
Although the rural clergy and their parishioners were in general
agreement on the duties of the priests, this does not mean that the lay

34. LASp. D2/306/10, p. 4231:, 459r.

35. Ibid., p. s6r.
36. GLAK 61/11262, p. 260.
37. For Protestant areas see Vogler, La vie religieuse en pays rhenan. For conditions in
Edesheim see LASp. D2/306/10, pp. 374V and 370V. Concerning Tonsoris's appointment to
Edesheim see GLAK 61/10945, PP- 361-62.
32 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

people in the Bishopric of Speyer were completely happy with how

the parish clergy had performed those duties. In almost every village
the wardens complained that the priests had fled the village during
the previous year's plague. Their absence had serious ramifications
for two reasons. The villagers expected their priests to comfort the
sick and hear the confessions of the dying. Perhaps more important,
the parish priest was needed to participate in the processions that the
villages organized in an attempt to appease God and ward off the
plague. "During the plague he did not want to do his duty by the poor
sick and instead went to Speyer and stayed away several days," one
warden reported. The rural clergy were not the only offenders. The
Franciscan monks who were acting as parish priests in Heiligenstein
were unwilling to come out of the city during the plague.38 Priests
who fled to Speyer, which in the peasants' opinion was full of useless
and parasitic clergymen, during the plague drew the ire of their
parishioners for their lack of loyalty to the village community. Some
priests performed better, if not perfectly, during the plague. The
pfarrer in St. Martin was apparently unwilling (or afraid) to visit the
sick and the dying, but he did encourage the people to come to him
for confession before they fell ill so they would not die in a state of
sin. He, at least, seems to have remained in the village during the
plague. A few parish priests actually received compliments from
their parishioners for their behavior during the plague.39
In end effect, the local people expected certain services from their
parish priest and saw the episcopal visitation as an opportunity to
voice complaints and seek improvements in the quality of that ser¬
vice.

The Deterioration of the Benefice System

In a wide-ranging and detailed study of the Bishopric of Strasbourg

in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, Francis Rapp shows
how the temporal, especially the financial, concerns of the clergy
hampered the efforts of pre-Reformation Church reformers. One of
the greatest problems, particularly in the countryside, was a "deterio¬
ration of the benefice system." In the Middle Ages many parishes had
been incorporated into ecclesiastical institutions (mostly Stifter or
chapters, but sometimes monasteries as well). This process siphoned
off resources to pay wealthy aristocratic canons and, at times, episco-

38. LASp. D2/306/10, p. 13iv. For Heiligenstein see Stamer III/1, p. 100.
39. LASp. D2/306/10, pp. 232r, 34or.
 The Resistance to Reform 33

pal administrators. The income of the rural benefices shrank consid¬

erably. Economic conflicts brought on by the reliance of much of the
clergy on income derived from loans to the peasantry exacerbated the
deteriorating relations between the Church and the people. In peri¬
ods of economic growth this system functioned fairly well, but dur¬
ing the repeated agricultural crises of the early sixteenth century
many peasants defaulted on their loans, leaving the parish priests
impoverished. These priests were forced to accumulate several bene¬
fices. They often circumvented the Church regulation against hold¬
ing two benefices cum euro (i.e., benefices charged with care of souls)
by holding one benefice cum euro and one (or more) benefice sim¬
plex. The latter, mostly chaplaincies, only required the fulfillment of
certain services. Economic problems not only made the clergy less
sympathetic to the efforts of Church reformers, which threatened to
eliminate such practices; they also meant fewer clerics in each par¬
ish, which led to general popular disaffection with the Church.40
To be sure, conditions in the Bishopric of Speyer in the late six¬
teenth century were somewhat different from those in Alsace eighty
years earlier. The most important difference was that two-thirds of
the parishes in Speyer had become Protestant, a situation that had
financial as well as religious consequences. Nevertheless, Catholic
priests (and the Church reformers) in Speyer also faced the threat of a
complete breakdown of the benefice system, a threat caused by many
of the same problems that existed in Strasbourg at the beginning of
the century. Incomes were small; many priests held several benefices
at once; and the laity complained constantly about the resulting
decline in the number of priests and the quality of services.
In 1556, as part of the process of creating a Protestant territorial
church, the officials of the Electoral Palatinate investigated condi¬
tions in thirty-seven villages on the left bank of the Rhine. Catholic
priests still held benefices in these villages and still peformed Cath¬
olic services. The purpose of this investigation was to inspect the
economic condition of the benefices in order to prepare for the in¬
stallation of new Protestant clergymen. Although strongly and
openly anti-Catholic, the report presents a clear picture of the finan¬
cial difficulties faced by the rural clergy in the pre-reformed Church.
The most important issue was that of vacant benefices. Several
parishes were too poor to support their own priest and had to share a
priest with another village. In several villages benefices had re-

40. Rapp, Reformes et Reformation a Strasbourg, esp. book 3, chap. 2, "La deterioration du
systeme beneficiale," and p. 317.
34 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

mained vacant for long periods, while the patrons (usually in this
area the Cathedral Chapter) collected the income. In the village of
Zeiskam, the pfarrer preferred to live in the nearby town of Ger-
mersheim. He had not been to his parish in ten years, and left the
services up to a poorly paid substitute.41
The villagers reserved their strongest complaints for the higher
clergy in Speyer. They felt they were served by poor-quality priests
because most of the income of the churches went to Speyer. The
villagers in Bellheim said that theirs was a wealthy parish, but that
most of the tithe went to Speyer and, as a result, they got a "bad
person" as a priest. They would prefer a married priest over the
"temporary priests" they had been sent. In Wolmersheim the vil¬
lagers complained that they paid a very large tithe, but that the
priest's income was small, and as a result only young and uneducated
priests were willing to serve the parish. In Rohrbach the priest was
forced to live on the money from endowed masses, endowments that
were losing value owing to inflation and difficulty in collecting
debts.42 In addition, most of the chaplaincies were either vacant or
held by nonresident priests in monasteries or in the city.
It was frequently suggested that these funds be used to help the
poor. There were strong strains of anticlericalism in some villages:
"The poor people complained in this way about the priests, as they do
in many places, [saying] that it is a pity above all [that] in the cities,
where the fewest people are, the priests lie about in great idleness,
while [the parishes] in the countryside, where most of the people
are, are completely abandoned [although they) support the cities,
the princes, and the clergy."43 In a similar vein, the Gemeinde of
Edesheim, when warned in 1572 to pay the tithe, said that the clergy
(.Pfaffen, a derogatory variant of pfarrer) had enough wine, whereas
the villagers needed to get bread for their children.44
Complaints by parish priests about their income were, of course,
endemic. The Cathedral Chapter, where many of the priests regis¬
tered their complaints, was not unsympathetic. In 1568, after re¬
peated complaints by the new pfarrer in Deidesheim (one of the best-
endowed parishes in the bishopric), the canons admitted that the
parish had a small income. One proposal was to incorporate a chap¬
laincy to improve the priest's situation. A few years previously the
pfarrer in Geinsheim rather pitifully requested that he be allowed to

41. LASp. 02/306/8, pp. i6v, 17V, i8r, i8v, 24r-25r.

42. Ibid., pp. 23r, 23% 27V-28V, 40V, 4ir.
43. Ibid., p. 30V.
44. Stamer III/1, p. 41.
 The Resistance to Reform 35

continue to use a garden that belonged to the primissary in the

village. His financial situation was especially desperate after two
straight years of poor grain and wine harvests.45 In the years around
1570 the Cathedral Chapter reacted positively to quite a few requests
for increases to parish incomes.
Even the wealthiest parish priests could complain bitterly about
the financial sacrifices they were forced to make in the Bishopric of
Speyer. This was the case of Georg Hennenberg, who in 1571 was the
newly appointed parish priest in the episcopal residence town of
Udenheim (later Philippsburg). Although Hennenberg's income of
over 250 gulden per year was probably considerably greater than that
of any other parish priest in the diocese, he found it insufficient to
support his household and quite a bit smaller than that of his pre¬
vious post. He suggested that the bishop find another priest for this
parish, someone who had a smaller household. What is most appar¬
ent from this case is that the bishops of Speyer did not have the
resources to hire good priests away from other dioceses, even to fill
their best benefices.46
The village communes often supported their priests in these re¬
quests for more income. In Rot im Bruhrein, in 1564, the gemeinde
asked the bishop to improve the income of the parish, perhaps by
giving the pfarrer an additional benefice. The priest had threatened to
leave. The local episcopal official was ordered to negotiate with the
priest, but the Bishop's Council warned that this could set a bad
precedent. "The pfarrer should be told to be happy with this [im¬
provement], and not come back next year and ask for another raise."
Nevertheless, in 1573 a similar request from Rot was forwarded to
the bishop, and the priest was once again given a raise, apparently for
the second year in a row.47
The parish priests and the villagers usually knew exactly how
much money, grain, and wine the village had paid in tithe and what
part of it was returned to the priests as income. In 1565 the pastor in
Kirrlach complained that the patron of the village, the Chapter of St.
German in Speyer, took the tithe for itself, "and gave him, as the one
who did the work, the smallest part." The village gemeinde sent
along a petition supporting the priest. The bishop was sympathetic
and wrote to the chapter, requesting that the canons increase the
pfarrer's income, adding that he did not like to see priests changing

45. GLAK 61/10941, pp. 845, 854, 858, 876, 145, 146, 115, 156, 214, 215.
46. GLAK 218/237.
47. GLAK 61/11494, pp. 3r, 3V; GLAK 61/114943, p. ir.
36 The Counter-Reformation in the Villages

parishes so frequently. They should be paid enough to remain in one

place for more than a few years. The bishop was very hard with St.
German, probably because it was widely known that the urban chap¬
ters habitually stinted their parish priests.48
St. German was certainly not the only offender. The Cathedral
Chapter, which held the patronage of over thirty parishes, collected
large tithes from these villages and paid only a small portion of this
income to support the rural clergy. The village of Geinsheim, for
example, paid the chapter 180 Maker of grain in 1577. During the
same period the parish priest received about 50 maker.49 In general
the parish priests received about a third of the tithe, an amount that
often left them impoverished, even in wealthy villages.50
The poor incomes of the parish clergy concerned both the laity in
the villages and the episcopal authorities. A major reform of the
benefice system would require confronting many entrenched institu¬
tions in the Church. No sixteenth-century bishop of Speyer was
willing, or indeed able, to challenge the privileged chapters that
derived the greater portion of their income from the patronage of
parish churches. This problem would continue to plague Catholic
reformers for quite some time to come.

Local Church and Communal Control

The village of Riedseltz is located on the southern edge of the
Bishopric of Speyer. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries its
secular lord was the Order of Teutonic Knights. Although surrounded
by Protestant territory, the village remained Catholic. Ultimate ec¬
clesiastical authority in the village was held by the Bishop of Speyer,
but immediate control in religious matters was exercised by the
chapter in WeiBenburg, a few kilometers away. In 1573, the com¬
mune complained to the representative of the Teutonic Knights (also
in WeiBenburg) that the Catholic people of Riedseltz had been living
without a parish priest for many years. For this they blamed the
chapter, which, although it held the patronage of the village church
and collected the tithe, refused to install a priest. The canons argued
that the village church was only a "filial" (or branch) church and that
the Riedseltzers were supposed to go to the neighboring village of
Steinseltz for services.
48. GLAK 61/11494, pp. 177V, i78r.
49. A maker in Baden was 1.5 hectoliters, or about 4.2 bushels.
50. For Geinsheim, and tithes collected by the Cathedral Chapter in 1577, see GLAK
67/484. Concerning the pastor's income, see LASp. D2/306/10, p. i88r. There are many
complaints about insufficient income in the minutes of the Cathedral Chapter.
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 CHARACTERS.
The Old Woman who lived in a Shoe.
Santa Claus, disguised as a Beggar.
Ten or twelve Children, Boys and Girls of various ages.

Scene.—The exterior of "Copper Toe Shoe House,"

which is set at back of platform.

Chorus (invisible); air, "Revolutionary Tea" (p. 194,

"Golden Wreath").

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe;

Of children she had a score:
So many had she, to know what to do
Was a question which puzzled her sore.

(Head of Child appears at 1.)

To some she gave broth without any bread;

But never contented were they,
Till she whipped them all soundly, and put them to bed,

And then very happy were they,

And then very happy were they.

(Head appears at 2.)

"Now, mother, dear mother," the young ones would cry,

As they dropped off with a nod,
"To train up a child in the way to go,
O mother, dear, ne'er spare the rod.
 (Child's head appears at 3.)

For broth without bread is a watery waste;

And never contented are we,
Till with your good stick it is thickened to taste;

(Three heads appear at 4.)

And then, oh, how happy are we!

And then, oh, how happy are we!"

Enter Old Woman, R. Her costume, bodice, quilted petticoat, sugar-

loaf hat, high-heeled shoes, and cane.

O. W. Aha! (Heads disappear quick.)

Good gracious! can't I leave the house a minute,
But what a head's at every window in it?
Don't let me see the tip of a single nose;
For, if you do, we'll surely come to blows.
Poor dears! they want the air. Well, that is cheap
And strengthening; for they live on air and sleep.
Food is so high, and work is so unstiddy,
Life's really wearing on this poor old widdy.
 FRONT VIEW OF COPPER TOE SHOE HOUSE.

1. Split in the Heel.

2. Patch on the best Corn.
3. Copper Toe.
4. Lookout, or Observatory at top of House.

(Heads appear, one after the other, as before.)

Ah me! here's good old Christmas come again.
How can I join in the triumphant strain
Which moves all hearts? I am so old and poor,
With none to aid me from their generous store.
Child at 1. Mother, I want a drum.
Child at 2. I want a doll!
 Child at 3. Gimme a sword!
Three Children at 4. Got presents for us all?
O. W. Aha! (Heads disappear quick.)
Poor dears! if with the will I had the power,
The choicest Christmas gifts should on them shower.

Song: Old Woman; air, "Comin' through the Rye."

If a widdy's with her biddies,

Living in a shoe,
If a widdy's work unstiddies,
What'll widdy do?

(Heads appear as before.)

Every mother loves her biddies;

Many a one have I;
But where get gifts to fill their fists,
When I've no gold to buy?

Aha! (Heads disappear quick.)

There is a sprite oft comes this night,

Whom children love full well;
But what's his name, and where's his hame,
He does not always tell.

(Heads appear as before.)

Lads and lassies know good Santa,

With presents not a few;
Would he were here, my chicks to cheer,
Living in a shoe!
 Aha! (Heads disappear.)
Well, I'll get in, and make the children warm.
Tucked in their beds, they're always safe from harm.
And in their dreams, perhaps, such gifts will rise
As wakeful, wretched poverty denies.

(Disappears behind shoe.)

Enter cautiously, R., Santa Claus; his fabled dress is

hidden by a long domino, or "waterproof;" he has, swung about his
neck, a tin kitchen, on which he grinds an imaginary accompaniment
to his song.
Santa. "You'd scarce expect one of my age"—
For gray hair is the symbol of the sage—
To play at "hide-and-seek," to your surprise.
Here's honest Santa Claus, in rough disguise.
But 'tis all right, as I will quick explain,
For I've a mystic project "on the brain."
I've dropped down chimneys all this blessed night,
Where warmth and comfort join to give delight;
I've filled the stockings of the merry elves,
Who, to fond parents, are rich gifts themselves;
And now I've come, resolved to make a show
In that old mansion with the copper toe,
Where dwells a dame, with children great and small,
Enough to stock a school, or crowd a hall.
If they are worthy of our kind regard,
Christmas shall bring to them a rich reward.
So I have donned for once a meaner dress,
To personate a beggar in distress.
If to my wants they lend a listening ear,
The rough old shoe shall glow with Christmas cheer:
If they are rude, and turn me from the door,
Presto! I vanish, and return no more.

Song: Santa Claus; air, "Them blessed Roomatics."

 My name's Johnny Schmoker, and I am no joker;
I don't in my pockets no greenbacks perceive.
For, what with high dressing in fashions distressing,
I can't with a morsel my hunger relieve.
My stomach so tender, that aches there engender;
The whole blessed day I am crying out, "Oh!"
Drat these grand fashions! they wakens my passions,
A-nippin' and gnawin' my poor stomach so!

(Heads appear as before.)

I've had the lumbager, dyspepsy, and ager,

With tight-fitting veskits and pantaloons too;
Highsterics and swimins, delirious trimins,
St. Vestris's dance, and the tick dolly-oo.
But not the whole gettin', one's body tight fits in,
Is noffin' to this, which is drefful. Oh, oh!
Drat these grand fashions! they wakens my passions,
A-nippin' and gnawin' my poor stomach so!

(Heads disappear.)

Now, there's a touching song to move the heart,

Hark! what's that? I thought I heard them start.

Song: Children, outside; air, "Oh, dear, what can

the matter be?"
 Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
Dear, dear, what can the matter be?
Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
Somebody's groaning out there!
A hungry old beggar has come here to tease us,
By grinding an organ he knows will not please us.
He hopes it may bring him a handful of pennies,
To buy him a loaf of brown bread.

Enter Old Woman, with Children, L., from behind shoe.

The largest hangs on to her skirts, the next in size to the largest, until
they dwindle to the smallest; repeat song as they enter slowly, turn to
R., march across stage; turn to L., march across again; turn to R., and
form across stage.
O. W. Now go away, old man. 'Tis very queer
That you should seek to waste your sweetness here;
For we've no money, not a cent, to pay
For music; so you'd better up and move away.
Santa. Alas, alas! and can you be unkind
To one who's been by Fortune left behind;
Who has no friend, no money, and no clo'es;
The hunted victim of unnumbered woes?
Good dame, I ask not money: if you please,
A simple crust my hunger to appease.
O. W. Good gracious! Starving! Children, do you hear?
The old man's hungry: quickly disappear!

(Children scamper behind shoe.)

Santa. She drives them in. To me 'tis very clear

Old Santa fails to find a welcome here.
O. W. We're very poor, have fasted many a day,
Yet from our door ne'er drove the poor away.
 Song; air, "Balm of Gilead," by the Children, who march in as before,
carrying sticks, on which are stuck apples, potatoes, crusts of bread,
turnip, carrot, "beat," &c. They move around the stage, singing as
they pass Santa; the last time, pitch their potatoes, &c., into his tin
kitchen. He stands L. of stage; Old Woman, R.
Oh, you sha'n't be hungry now,
Oh, you sha'n't be hungry now,
Oh, you sha'n't be hungry now,
Down at Copper Toe Shoe.
Cold potato—tato,
Cold potato—tato,
Cold pota—to,
Down at Copper Toe Shoe.

(No interlude.)

Oh, you sha'n't be hungry now,

Oh, you sha'n't be hungry now,
Oh, you sha'n't be hungry now,
Down at Copper Toe Shoe.
Crusts for breakfast—breakfast,
Crusts for breakfast—breakfast,
Crusts for break—fast,
Down at Copper Toe Shoe.

Oh, you sha'n't be hungry now,

Oh, you sha'n't be hungry now,
Oh, you sha'n't be hungry now,
Down at Copper Toe Shoe.
Broth for supper—supper,
Broth for supper—supper,
Broth for sup—per,
Down at Copper Toe Shoe.

Oh, you sha'n't, &c.

 Santa. Well, well, I'm puzzled! Here's a grand surprise.
Bless me, the tears are dropping from my eyes!
Thank you, my children. This is quite bewitchin';
With eatables you've nearly filled my kitchen.
Ah, little ones! you've learned the better part.
They are the poor who lack the kindly heart;
And they the rich, the noble, and the high,
Who never willing pass the sufferer by.
Now comes my triumph. Children, speak up bright:
What day is this?
All. Christmas.
Little No; 'tis Christmas night!
Girl. That's true. Now tell me who, against the laws,
Santa. Drops down the chimneys?
All. Why, old Santa Claus!
Santa. Bless me! how bright and nice these children are!
Each eye doth sparkle like the evening star.
Now, then, suppose I were that ancient sprite,
What would you ask, to give you most delight?
Child I'd have a sled.
1. A doll.
Child A kite for me.
2.
Something still better.
Child
3. What?
Child A Christmas tree!
4. Oh, my! Good gracious! Wouldn't that be grand?
Santa. Too grand, my chicks, for you to understand.
Child Why, such a tree within our old shoe spread,
4. Would from their fastenings tear out every thread;
 All Make every peg to start from out its socket,
Children. And send the buckle flying like a rocket.

O. W. Good, good! there's fun beneath that wrinkled phiz.

At playing Santa Claus, let's make a biz.
Santa. Suppose me Santa Claus. I bless you all:
Then from my waistcoat let this oven fall,

(Takes off kitchen.)

Throw off this mantle with a sudden jerk,

(Throws off disguise, and appears as Santa Claus.)

And in an instant set myself to work.

Childr 'Tis Santa Claus!
en. You're right. I am the man,
Santa. Yours to command. I'll serve you if I can;
For I have found, good dame, that honest worth
Can burrow in the lowliest spot on earth;
That sweet compassion's ne'er so poorly fed,
But what she finds an extra crust of bread.
Now, to reward your generous hearts, my chicks,
Into the earth these magic seeds I sticks;
These cabalistic words in Hebrew mutter,—
"Ene, mene, moni, suti, sutter;"
Presto! appear! and, glittering bright and free,
Beams on your sight the mystic Christmas tree.

(Shoe divides, and disappears R. and L. Curtains at

back open, disclosing tree.)

Song: "We'll gather round the Christmas Tree." Santa Claus and
Old Woman distribute presents to the company. Curtain falls.
 REAR VIEW OF COPPER TOE SHOE HOUSE.

Note.—This entertainment was prepared for a Sunday school's

Christmas Eve, and was arranged as follows: A stage, fourteen
feet square, was fitted with a "roll-up" curtain in front. Drapery
was hung at the sides and back; a Christmas tree, filled with
presents, was placed well back on the stage, and hidden by
curtains arranged to separate in the middle. In front of these was
placed "Copper Toe Shoe House." The rear view represents the
frame made of wood, in two pieces, to separate in the middle, of
the following dimensions: ten feet from toe to heel, five feet and
one half from heel to top, four feet and one half across top, heel
about twenty inches long, eight inches high. Cover front, in two
separate sections, with black cambric; for toe, copper tinsel paper;
for sole and patch, brown cambric; for buckle, silver tinsel paper;
the patch fastened only at bottom. A curtain, of same material or
color as back stage, should be hung in rear of shank, that children
standing behind may not be seen. A settee is placed behind it, on
which the children in the dwelling stand. 1, 2, and 3 lie upon the
stage, and stick their heads out when required. The characters
can pass between the curtains at back, to their places. When the
tree is disclosed, all the characters are in front, the settee is
removed, the braces unfastened, and, at a signal, two boys run
off the shoe, and others draw the curtains.

THE TOURNAMENT OF IDYLCOURT.

 THE
TOURNAMENT OF IDYLCOURT.

AN ALLEGORY.
 CHARACTERS.
Justicia, Genius of Idylcourt.
Primeva, Goddess of Nature.
Majesta, Guardian of the Mountains.
Loftie, Aerie, Mountain-Spirits.
Flora, Guardian of the Fields.
Pomona, Agria, Field-Spirits.
Oceana, Guardian of the Sea.
Shellie, Wava, Sea-Spirits.
Genia, Goddess of Art.
Blenda, Genius of Painting.
Classica, Genius of Sculpture.
Harmonia, Genius of Music.
Faith, Hope, Charity, Classica's Models.
Religion, Prayer, Sorrow, Joy, Blenda's Picture.
Poesie, a wandering Maiden.

Scene.—Idylcourt. For a school exhibition, the chorus should be

seated right and left of an open space in the centre of the
platform, for the speakers. There should be a raised platform,
six or eight inches high, at the rear of this, with a dark
background for the more effective display of tableaux.

Opening Chorus; air, "Shady Groves."

 Idylcourt, in fame and beauty
Glorious, bright thy realms appear;
Idylcourt, in love and duty
Willing hearts to thee draw near,
Wise Justicia's words to hear,
Wise Justicia's words to hear.
Court of genius, home of beauty,
Court of genius, home of beauty,
Court of genius, home of beauty,
Willing hearts to thee draw near;
Court of genius, home of beauty,
Court of genius, home of beauty,
Court of genius, home of beauty,
Willing hearts to thee draw near;
Court of genius, love and duty
Render homage to thy beauty,
Render to thy beauty,
Court of genius, love and duty.

During the singing of the Chorus, enter, R., Primeva, Majesta, Flora,
and Oceana. Enter L., Genia, Classica, Blenda, Harmonia. At the
conclusion, enter Justicia R., and stands C. Positions are indicated
by the following diagram:—
 Justici Welcome, fair sisters, to our regal court;
a. Your tuneful measures breathe of good report;
Twin guardian spirits of the fruitful earth,
To glad mankind creation gave you birth.
To you, Primeva, Nature bends in awe;
From you, fair Genia, Art receives its law.
Your free acclaim, upon this regal seat,
Justicia placed, all arguments to meet
With ear impartial; bade her voice decide,
That blissful harmony might here abide.
Your graceful homage, to our royal ear
Is but the foretaste of more welcome cheer.
You need our aid: unto our grateful heart
Your mission's import quickly now impart.
Prime Fair genius—
va. Sweet Justicia—
Genia. Our decree,
Justici By courtly rule, admits no double plea.
a. Be gracious, sisters.
Genia.
 I was wanting grace,
And humbly bend to give Primeva place.
Prime Justicia, yonder proud and haughty sprite
va. Usurps a name Primeva claims by right.
I would have justice!
Justici Art thou just to her?
a. Genia usurper! 'tis a cruel slur.
Brave, truthful speech bears no envenomed sting,
But, like good metal, has an honest ring.
Prime It was an honest truth, I dare repeat;
va. I may be rough in speech, but scorn deceit.
Genia. 'Tis true, Justicia, in a friendly way,
I chanced to cross Primeva's path to-day,
And held some converse with my sister sprite,
Whose bold, free speech is often my delight.
Our theme was conquest; and, in pleasant strife,
Each boasted of her power o'er human life;
And, half in jest, this boast I gayly hurled,—
"I, Genia, am the empress of the world."
Prime 'Tis false. It was no jest.
va. Primeva, cease!
Justici Your angry humor doth disturb our peace.
a. Primeva met my jest with frowning brow,
Genia. And angry words, so bitter in their flow,
My jesting humor fled. We argued long
To whom, by right, that title should belong;
Leaving all else but this great truth behind,—
She is the greatest who best serves mankind.
Justici Who won the battle?
a. That you must decide.
Genia. By your impartial fiat we abide.
 Prime On this we are agreed. Justicia, hear,
va. And let your judgment be both wise and clear.
Nature's own goddess, crowned and sceptred, I
Stand forth all meaner powers to defy.
I rule the field, the mount, the sky, the sea:
Who shall presume in power to rival me?
I wave my hand; and, o'er the barren waste,
Upspringing flowers to meet my coming haste.
I smile: the trees, o'erburdened with their fruit,
Bend low, with blushing cheeks, for my salute.
I speak: the bristling hillocks, far and near,
Present in homage many an opening ear;
The grand old mountains, stately and serene,
Welcome my coming, own me as their queen;
Adown their sides I loose the mimic streams,
To sport and revel in the sun's warm beams.
I rule the mighty sea by wave and tide;
I deck with starry gems the heavens wide;
I hurl the storm upon the maddening sea;
The shifting winds, obedient, follow me;
I bind the waters in an icy band,
And spread a snowy pall o'er all the land;
With all the elements I sport at will,
And, fast or loose, all my commands fulfil.
Fair genius, 'tis but just, that, so renowned,
As empress of the world I should be crowned.
Justici There's anger in thy speech, pride in thine eye;
a. Ambition's soaring pinions lift thee high.
What says your rival to this weighty claim?
Can aught be found to heighten Genia's fame?
Genia. Justicia, I a mightier sceptre sway,
And make Primeva's realms but pave the way
To grand achievements. Through her flowery field
I drive the plough, and bounteous harvests yield;
With skilful husbandry I trim and train,
And bursting garners from wild growth obtain;
Tunnel her mountains with resistless force,
And make a pathway for the iron horse;
Gird up her waters to obey my will,
And move the strong arm of the whirring mill.
Across her broad expanse, the mighty sea,
My white-winged messengers move swift and free;
From out their earthen graves I pluck the gems
That warm and shape, or glow in diadems.
In aërial flights I wander through her sphere,
Or with rare science draw her planets near,
With touch electric feel the farthest clime,
And count the storm-specks on the wings of time.
She empress of the world! it cannot be;
All her possessions minister to me.
Rough and ill-shaped the treasure she displays;
I mould and carve, and make the jewel blaze.
I claim the crown. Justicia, be thou true;
She must be greatest who can all subdue.
Justici Unto this haughty speech, and fulsome praise,
a. We've listened, Genia, in a wild amaze.
Hast thou forgot, self-laudatory boast
Was ne'er the leader of a conquering host?
But that to sober justice we're allied,
We should be merry at such foolish pride.
Genia. We wait your verdict.
Prime 'Twill give me the crown.
va. Primeva, cease.
Genia.I care not for your frown.
Prime Betwixt the false and true she must decide:
va. Mine is the wise, and yours the foolish pride.
Justici This idle skirmish doth our court defame;
a. A silly quarrel for an empty name.
 Prime A silly quarrel! Is Justicia fair,
va. To shun a verdict by excuse so bare?
Genia. She's bound to rule whene'er we make appeal:
Be wise, Justicia, and your choice reveal.
Justici Hear, then, the judgment which we now proclaim:—
a. As each has sought to blazon her own fame,
The key to right in this one truth we find,—
She is the greatest who best serves mankind.
On this you are agreed. Here rest your case,
And leave the verdict to the human race.
Ofttimes, in Idylcourt, you've chanced to meet
An earthly maid, who favors our retreat,
With curious, watchful eyes, as though she sought
Food for the nourishment of new-born thought,—
A goodly type of fair, ingenuous youth,
About whom floats an atmosphere of truth.
Woo her, fair sisters, with all fair device,
Which should in honest rivalry suffice;
In peaceful tourney meet to win the maid;
And on the victor shall our hand be laid
In benediction of so wise a choice;
Then harmony prevails, and all rejoice.
Prime An admirable plan.
va. Justicia's right.
Genia. Prepare your forces for the bloodless fight.
Justici Be earnest in the strife, but loyal ever,
a. And some success must crown a right endeavor.

Chorus; air, "New-mown Hay."

 Then gayly to the tourney hie,
And struggle for the crown;
The strong in right shall all defy,
The wrong in shame go down.
In peaceful contest meeting,
All courteous be the greeting.
We arm, the contest to begin:
Hurrah! the right shall win!

At the words, "All courteous" Justicia extends her right

hand; Primeva lays her left hand upon it; Genia lays her right. They
stand thus until the chorus ends. Then repeat the chorus. Justicia
steps back, and exit R.; Primeva and Genia with their attendants
countermarch, and exeunt R. and L. As the song ceases, enter from R.,
Poesie.
Poesie. Vanquished again! Was ever mortal maid
By wild, illusive phantoms so betrayed?
Taught by a wise old seer that Idylcourt
Of guiding genii is the famed resort,
I've wandered in and out for weary hours,
Seeking the leaders of those mighty powers
That robe the earth in beauty, seasons guide,
Hang out the stars, and shift the changing tide,
Endow with action all the sons of earth,
And to the good and beautiful give birth.
Alas! my search is vain. About me glide
Tormenting shadows, that my calls deride.
I feel their presence in the fragrant breeze;
I touch their fingers in the fruited trees;
I spy their images in mirrored fount;
I hear their music in the echoing mount.
I know that at their touch fair cities rise;
That at their call delighted progress flies;
That at their smiles e'en towering genius soars
To loftier heights, and richer spoil secures.
And yet far off they stand. I cannot meet
The love-light of their eyes, or at their feet
Drink in the wisdom of inspiring speech.
The springs of power rise far beyond my reach.
Hear me, ye spirits, wonderful and grand!
Upon your charmèd ground I fearless stand.
Come ye in frightful shapes, or forms of grace,
I challenge you to meet me face to face.

Chorus: "The Fairy's Revel."

The mountains are sending their forces in might;
The fields are upspringing, and girding for fight;
The sea is outpouring, the air is alive,
For thee, fair Primeva, in tourney to strive.
During which, enter, R., Primeva; Flora, bearing flowers;
Pomona, bearing basket of fruit; Agria, with a bundle of dried grass,
hay, and grain; Oceana, Shellie, Wava, Majesta, Loftie, Aerie, and take
positions according to following diagram:—

Poesie Conquered at last; and yet with strange affright

. I am possessed at this most dazzling sight.
Fair spirits, at my call you've kindly met.
I'm little skilled in your court etiquette:
Accept the homage of a grateful heart,
That long will cherish what you may impart.
Prime A suitor for that heart behold in me,—
va. Primeva, Nature's goddess, strong and free.
Follow my footsteps, and the path of life
Shall be with beauty and instruction rife.
Nature's grand empire all inviting opes,
To crown with joy and bliss thy youthful hopes.
The realm of matter owns my sovereign sway;
All working forces my commands obey.
But give to me thy heart, and onward press,
For I've the power to beautify and bless.
Come thou, fair Flora, guardian of my fields,
Display the charms thy rich dominion yields.

(Flora steps upon platform at L. of Poesie. Pomona

and Agria step behind them.)

Flora. Broad and bright, in beauty and in worth,

The realms I govern stretch about the earth:
In pastures where the meek-eyed cattle graze,
In clustering woodlands, musical with praise,
In mighty forests where the untamed rove,
O'er rich plantations, through the tropic grove,
O'er plain and prairie, noiseless to the tread,
My regal green luxuriously is spread.
Out of my thrifty soil mankind's supplies,
At lusty labor's call, obedient rise.
With fancy's touch I skilfully combine
Grove, hill, and river in a rare design,
And spread for Genius, rich, attractive views
She fails to catch, yet hopefully pursues.
Come to my realms, fair maid! Primeva's heart
With warmest love shall purest joys impart.
Agria.
 Haste, gentle maid, into our fair retreat:
Agria will lay her treasures at thy feet.
Pomo And in thy lap, from her abundant store,
na. Pomona will her choicest treasures pour.
Flora. Thou shalt be welcomed with a matchless song,
Our heaven-taught singers joyously prolong;
On mossy beds recline for happy hours,
Charmed by rich perfumes, decked with lovely flowers.

Tableau: "Flora's Tribute." Music.

Poesie sinks on one knee, making a "lap" of her dress

with her hand. Flora steps behind, holding flowers over her head.
Agria at R., kneeling, in the act of laying her treasures at her feet.
Pomona, L., bending forward, about to pour her fruits into her lap.
Oceana with her arms about Wava and Shellie, R. and L., kneel. Majesta,
Loftie, and Aerie form a standing group, with arms thrown about each
other. Pomona passes to back, L. corner. Flora looks down at Poesie.
Poesie has her head thrown back, looking up at Flora. All the others
look at Poesie. Music continues until the group is well settled in
position, then,—

Chorus; air, "The First Violets."

Come with gentle Flora, fair fields to rove.

She can deck with beauty, she will share with love.
Bathed by the sunlight, and fed by the dew,
Her bright and verdant regions are opening to you.

Poesie (springing to her feet; others retiring to their

first positions).

Sweet, gentle Flora, take me to your heart;

In all your joys I long to bear a part.
 Prime Nay, not so fast, fair maiden. List again.
va. Majesta burns your homage to obtain;
She is the guardian of the mountains high,
Whose peaks in grandeur pierce the arching sky.
Majest Where the fierce eagle builds her dizzy nest,
a. Amid the clouds, I take my regal rest.
The sun on me his morning kiss bestows,
And nightly wraps me in his farewell glows.
The storm-king grimly musters round my throne,
And sends his chariots to the farthest zone.
My realms stretch far and wide o'er all the land,
And monuments of awe-inspiring grandeur stand.
Within my treasure-caverns locked secure,
Are precious stones, and veins of gleaming ore;
Marbles and granites—sleeping giants—lie,
Long to escape the crafty builder's eye.
Come to my realm, fair maid, and thou shalt find
The golden talisman that lures mankind.
From towering summits watch the creeping world;
See beauty's colors gloriously unfurled;
Heap the weird echoes bound from steep to steep;
And see the lightning take his earthward leap.
Primeva's fortress shall thy guardian be:
Give me thy hand, and upward mount with me.

Tableau: "The Listeners." Music.

Majesta stands C., with left hand pointing up over

audience. Poesie, kneeling R., places her left hand in Majesta's left, and
bends forward, intently gazing in the direction in which she points, her
right hand behind her ear. Loftie passes to L. of Majesta, and kneels
with her hand on the waist of Majesta. Aerie in same position, R. of
Poesie. Oceana and her sprites form a standing group, R., back. Primeva
steps back of all; and Flora and her sprites form standing group, L.,
back. Music continues until all arranged, then,—
 Chorus; air, "The Herd-Bells."

Amid the mountains fleeting,

The echoes linger long,
Earth's song of praise repeating,
In chorus rich and strong.
The grand old mountains proudly
Their heads in beauty raise,
And, bathed in blushing glory,
Accept the song of praise.

[The effect could be heightened by concealing a chorus

at the farther end of the hall, and introducing an echo refrain in the
song.]

Poesie (springing up; the others resuming their former

positions).

Upward, Majesta, guide my willing feet;

I long to share the joys of your retreat.
Prime Curb your impatience once again, I crave.
va. Speak, Oceana, guardian of the wave.
Ocean Know me, fair maid, as guardian of the sea,
a. The wealth of waters stretching far and free,
Deep basined in the world; in peace as mild,
As bright and beauteous, as a sportive child;
Dancing in sunlight up and down the sand;
Leaping, with white-capped waves, the rocky strand;
Creeping to shady nooks on pebbly bed;
Sleeping in moonlight 'neath a silvery spread.
Over her rolling roads, in strength and pride,
The floating treasure-chests of nations glide;
In emerald pastures deep beneath her crest,
The fin-clad wanderers from their gambols rest.
At mankind's call she hastes to do her part,
And from her herds bestows with generous heart.
Far, far below, fair cities rear their walls
With jewelled keeps, and coral-caverned halls.
Come to my realms, fair maid, and float with me
Upon the bosom of the swelling sea.
Hark to the song of Naiads far below;
See in the sunlight yonder billows glow.

Tableau: "The Gazers." Music.

Oceana kneels on one knee R. of Poesie, pointing off R.
Poesie places her left hand on Oceana's shoulder, leans forward, shades
her eyes with right hand, and looks in the direction of pointed hand.
Shellie comes L. of Poesie, a little behind her, and kneels quickly,
holding a shell in her hand. Wava kneels in front of all, with her finger
to her lip, and her hand waving silence to Primeva, who stands L. Aerie
and her sprites form a standing group, L., back, and Majesta and her
sprites the same, R., back; all looking in the direction in which Oceana
points. Music continues until the picture is complete, then,—

Chorus; air, "Boating Song."

Gayly, ye billows, among you we play;

Take us up gently, and bear us away;
Light on the surface of ocean we glide;
Deep in her bosom we fearless abide.
Roving at pleasure, joyous and free,
Rocked in the arms of the murmuring sea.

Poesie (starting up; others resume former positions).

Among thy happy scenes I long to roam;

Bright Oceana, take me to thy home.
Prime Thou shalt be free to roam field, mount, and sea,
va. If thou but give thy gentle heart to me.
These sisters three, my ministers of state,
My edicts to enforce, obedient wait;
And I, submissive to a heavenly will,
With mighty powers its commands fulfil.
I own no earthly rule, no rival fear;
Beauty and grandeur at my voice appear;
What title, Poesie, will you here bestow
On one in whom such rare endowments glow?
Poesie Thy glorious visions wrap me in amaze;
. Speech were too poor, in eloquence of praise,
To frame a title that would fitly stand
To mark a power so wonderful and grand.
What title can I give? I pray thee tell.
Prime The empress of the world would suit me well.
va.
Enter Justicia, R.

Justici Hold, rash Primeva! not to gain applause

a. Should wild ambition overstep our laws.—
What thou hast heard, fair mortal, ponder long,
For hasty action often strengthens wrong;
Another suitor comes; give willing ear;
Weigh well all doubts; then let the truth appear.
[Exit, R.

Chorus: "The Fairy's Revel."

The armies of Genius outpour in their might,

Fair Science is marching her clans to the fight.
At the call of its mistress Art's realms are alive,
For thee, lovely Genia, in tourney to strive.
(During the chorus, all upon the platform move round
back of Poesie, and form in line. Enter L. Genia, Blenda, and Classica.)
Poesie Another brilliant throng, so fair and bright,
. My spirit quickens with a new delight.
Welcome, sweet friends: if me you come to greet,
Such glowing honors lay me at your feet.
Genia. Kneel not to me; I come to win thy heart.
The suitor here should choose the lowly part.
Fair mortal, listen. Genia is my name:
Art's chosen goddess, mighty is my fame.
Thou art the offspring of that sovereign Thought,
Under whose sway the universe is brought;
And I, the guiding genius of mankind,
In bonds submissive, Nature's realms to bind.
Before my birth, the world was filled with strife,
And all the squalor of barbaric life;
The human race in ignorance sunk deep,
Content to live and die in sloth and sleep.
But, with my coming, energy awoke,
And reason through the deadening chaos broke;
Awakened Thought, in wonder, sought by lore
Creation's mystic riddle to explore;
And, as she strove, the world's great change was wrought,
With purer joys from deeper delvings brought.
Beneath my sway, all's wonderful and grand
Where taste and culture deck what Nature planned.
Give me thy heart, and with all-conquering might
I'll guide thy steps through life to realms of light.
I bring three sisters in my regal train,
Who high in Art's supreme dominion reign.—
Blenda, approach. Thy skill to Poesie show,
And let rare colors on thy canvas glow.
Blenda In Nature's studio, Blenda's models rise
. In various shapes to gladden and surprise.
The shadows of their beauties to secure,
Leads genius many trials to endure.
But what a triumph waits the earnest heart,
Who on the canvas sees her trophies start
To life and action, adding, age on age,
To history many a bright, illumined page!
Portraying vice with rarely gifted hand,
She sees a warning light 'gainst passion stand.
Depicting virtue in her pure attire,
She warms all hearts to worship and aspire.
Inwrapping sense and soul with pleasure high,
To homage leads the world's applauding cry.
Look on the picture I will now display,—
Religion standing in the heavenly way,
Her finger pointing in the Book of truth,
Instruction pouring in the ears of youth.

Tableau: "The Heavenly Way" Music.

Blenda takes Poesie's hand, and leads her R., then turns,
and points to C. Poesie falls upon her knees with clasped hands. Primeva
and her sprites, who are in a line, back, separate R. and L., disclosing
group. Religion, standing C., an open Bible supported on her left hand,
rests upon her arm, the open pages towards audience; her right hand
rests on the page, with one finger pointing. At her right hand, kneels
Joy, pointing with her left hand to Religion, her right on the shoulder
of Sorrow, who is crouching before her, with her face buried in her
hands. Left of Religion, Prayer kneels, joining the hands of a little child
who is in front of her: she is looking up at Religion. Music soft and low,
until the group is formed, then,—

Chorus: "How gently, how calmly."

 So gently, so calmly descending,
Religion glides over the earth,
So pure, so bright,
She decks the earth with heavenly light,
That charms to calm and sweet repose.
Oh, lovely spirit!
Genia in triumph shall soon arise;
Blenda calls beauty from out the skies;
She shall be honored evermore;
Goddess of Art, your crown is secure.
Joyous are we, &c.

(Music continues until all change to their old positions.)

Poesie I am enraptured with your beauteous art;
. Sweet Blenda, let me henceforth share your heart.
Genia. Classica waits, fair maid: we hold her dear;
With words of counsel let her now draw near.
Classic Dull, senseless stone, I train to living grace,
a. Trace beauty's lines upon the pallid face;
From sullen marble draw the prisoned heart,
And strength and sense to meaner clay impart.
Over the earth I rear the grandest homes,
With towering pinnacles, and stately domes;
While tombs and pyramids for ages stand,
To mark the workings of my gifted hand.
Who follows me must labor hard and long,
Be brave in trial, and in patience strong.
The tasks I spread, by perils oft beset,
The sculptor strengthen, when courageous met;
Through me, life-studies he must ponder o'er,
And dive deep down in streams of classic lore;
And, if he fails to reach his ideal plan,
Out of his struggles he has carved—a man.
But, if he triumphs, grand is his renown;
Fame can bestow no more enduring crown.
Upon my marbles, maiden, look with me;
Faith, Hope, and Charity,—the peerless three.

Tableau: "The Peerless Three" Music.

Classica takes Poesie's hand, and leads her R., then
turns, and points C. Poesie falls upon her knees. The characters at back
separate, showing group: Charity, a tall figure, C., her left hand upon
the left shoulder of a child, who stands nearly in front of her, half
turned towards her, with outstretched hand, into which Charity is in
the act of dropping a coin, with her right hand. At R. of Charity stands
Hope, leaning upon an anchor, looking at Charity. On her L. stands
Faith, with her arms folded about a large cross, which rests upon the
platform, and reaches above her shoulder. Faith and Hope should be a
little shorter than Charity. All the figures in plain white, no colors; the
cross and the anchor should be white. Music soft and low until all is
arranged, then,—

Chorus; air, "How gently, how calmly."

How calmly, how sweetly relieving,

Moves Charity over the earth,
With Faith and Hope!
They deck the earth with heavenly light,
That charms to calm and sweet belief.
Oh, lovely spirits!
Genia in triumph shall now arise;
Classica calls from out the skies;
Her works for ages shall endure;
Goddess of Art, your crown is secure.
Joyous are we, &c.

Poesie (starting up; line at back changing as

before).
 Classica, thy sculptured forms are all divine.
Has Art another realm can equal thine?
Genia. Thou shalt be judge, fair maid; within my train,
Is one who can the wildest heart enchain;
She rules the realm of song, melodious moves,
Gathering the warbled sweets of woodland groves;
And thence distilling soul-entrancing lays,
That fill the earth with peace, the heavens with praise.
Spirit of music, sweet Harmonia, wake:
Of thy rich gifts bid Poesie partake.
Music. Characters at back separate. Harmonia
discovered, C., standing erect, a lyre in her left hand, the fingers of
her right upon the strings. Poesie moves up, and kneels at her feet,
looking up at her with clasped hands. The characters group
themselves in sitting and reclining positions about her. Primeva and
Genia stand at extreme R. and L., back.

Solo and chorus: "So merrily over the Ocean

Spray."

Harmonia sings the three solos, then full chorus.

Solo. I am queen of the realm of song,

My home the harmonious sea,
Where the spirits of music prolong
Unceasing a welcome for me.
From the song wave they merrily brave,
Melodious voices glide;
Oh, sweet is their song as it floateth along
The crest of the tremulous tide!
Choru So merrily over the sea of song,
s. Rising and falling we float along;
So merrily over the sea of song,
Gayly we float along.
Gayly over the sea,
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