NO ONE EXPECTS THE INQUISITION:
PROTESTANT STUDENTS IN SIXTEENTH-CENTURY SIENA1
DR ANDREA GÁLDY (UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER)
German students formed a large contingent of Italian universities’ intake of
foreigners.2 Perhaps due to the fact that sixteenth-century Tuscany already
contained sizeable communities of northern merchants and artisans, the
Tuscan universities proved to be especially attractive to prospective students
from the German states.3 Many students of the Natione Todesca chose to study
in post-conquest Siena (founded in 1246 and re-founded as ‘La Sapienza’ in
1416), giving the city’s university a much-needed boost.4 Although many of
them were Protestants, they appear to have been treated well enough. The
sons of former students followed their fathers’ choices of academic
institution. Given that these young men came from very good families, one
can observe something like an ‘old boys’ network’ in place towards the end of
the sixteenth century.5
The upheavals of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation made an
impact on university teaching and student life.6 There were cases of professors
getting in trouble with the Inquisition and having to correct their ways.
1
While working on my current postdoctoral project concerning ideas on collecting and
display at the two sixteenth-century courts of Florence and Dresden, I came across a
number of interesting documents in the archives of the two cities, detailing the plight of a
group of Protestant students in Siena. If not otherwise stated, translations are my own.
2
There were German Nations at Padua, Perugia, and Siena, but German students also
enrolled at Bologna, Florence, Ferrara, Pisa, and other universities of the Italian peninsula;
See P. Grendler, The Universities of the Italian Renaissance (Baltimore and London: The Johns
Hopkins University Press, 2002), esp. pp. 45-56, 152, 464. German students had been
present at Siena from the fourteenth century onwards, a German Nation was in existence
before its reorganisation in 1573: F. Weigle, Die Matrikel der deutschen Nation in Siena (15731738) (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1962), p. 1.
3
Grendler, The Universities, p. 55; the presence of these German communities is borne out
by many documents of the Mediceo del Principato (henceforth MP) in the Florentine State
Archives (henceforth ASF).
4
Grendler, The Universities, pp. 50, 165: ‘The presence of a large number of non-Italian
students, especially Germans of noble blood and deep pockets, was a mark of distinction’;
D. Marrara, Lo studio di Siena nelle riforme del Granduca Ferdinando I (1589 e 1591) (Milan:
Giuffrè, 1970), pp. 134-43, on the presence of German students in Siena, accompanying
problems, and the great interest the Grand Dukes took in protecting Protestant scholars in
Tuscany.
5
See ASF, MP 4467 (erratic foliation): letter by Johannes Georgius, Elector dated
‘propridie Kal Julij, Anno 1620’, no foliation, in which he recommended young Johann
Fridericus à Brand, son of Erasmus à Brand, who planned to study in Pisa and Siena.
Erasmus apparently had been to Siena thirty years previously, in the days of Grand Duke
Ferdinand.
6
Grendler, The Universities, ‘The Counter Reformation’, pp. 186-95.
However, the professors apparently could gain permission to own forbidden
books even though they were not allowed to hold or teach unorthodox
views.7 When the Index of Pope Paul IV was first introduced in Tuscany,
Duke Cosimo worried about the effect this might have not only on the
preservation of knowledge but also, perhaps more significantly from the
Duke’s perspective, on the book trade.8 Therefore he had bonfires consisting
of heretical books, only a few copies of books on the Index but not in any
way dealing with religious subjects, and one assumes copious amounts of
scrap paper, lit in Piazza Santa Croce in 1559, so he would be seen as
complying with the new regulations. His second son Giovanni, who was to
become Archbishop of Pisa in 1561, had to face similar problems, since there
was a flourishing university in his archbishopric. He tried to forestall possible
conflict by writing to Cardinal Alessandrino, inquisitor and future Pope Pius
V, in Rome on 5 April 1561. According to Giovanni:
Nasce inconveniente in questa mia Diocesi di Pisa, che per la inosservanza della
Bolla della santa Memoria di Papa Paolo IV sopra i libri proibiti, possono molti
essere incorsi in pena di escomunicazione, & particolarmente nella Città di Pisa;
dove per rispetto dello studio si trovano molti Dottori, e Scolari, i quali versano
continuo su le lettere: Et non essendo qua chi abbia autorità d’assolvere da
tal’escomunicazione, potrà essere, che tutti gl’incorsi restino questa Pasqua senza
pigliar la santa Eucaristia, o la pigliano indegnemente; che l’uno saria con
grandissimo pregiudizio dell’anime, l’altro con manifesto scandalo del Mondo.9
7
Grendler, The Universities, p. 190.
See Bartolomeo Concini’s letter (ASF, MP 210, f. 33) to Alessandro Strozzi on 11 March
1559: ‘The Duke my lord gave me this morning your lordship’s letters of last month and of
the ninth of this month, and he asked me to answer for him to explain his Excellency’s
mind that heretical books that deal with religion and faith should be suppressed according
to the orders of his Holiness. But in the case of others, which do not deal with such
matters, even though they are listed and forbidden in the Index, his Excellency would
prefer demonstration to execution, that is that one should add to those heretical books
mentioned above some of these from the latter category taken from the booksellers to
make up a pyre for ostentation. This should serve to show compliance with the orders
from Rome, and to save the poor booksellers, since otherwise they would be ruined.’ For
the Italian original see A. Panella, ‘L’introduzione dell’ “Indice’ di Paolo IV”’, Rivista storica
degli archivi toscani, 1929, I, pp. 11-25, esp. p. 19.
9
‘It is becoming a problem in my diocese of Pisa that because of their lack of observance
of the Bull of the late Pope Paul IV regarding forbidden books, many face
excommunication, and particularly in the city of Pisa, where many doctors and scholars
stay for the purpose of study, men who continuously discuss books: and since there is
nobody here with the necessary authority to rescind such excommunications, it is likely that
all those concerned will not be able to take the Eucharist this Easter, or that they will take
it without being entitled to it; the first of which would be to the greatest detriment of their
souls, and the other to the obvious scandal of the world.’; G.B. Catena (ed.), Lettere del
Cardinale Gio. De Medici Figlio di Cosimo I Granduca di Toscana non piu stampate estratte da un
Codice Ms. da Gio.Battista Catena, in Roma nella Stamperia di Antonio de’ Rossi MDCCLII,
pp. 378-9.
8
Foreign students seem to have enjoyed greater tolerance than Italians;
as late as 1564 a papal bull insisted for the first time that all students had to
adhere to the Catholic faith.10 Swearing an oath in the presence of a bishop
sufficed to fulfil the obligation. On the whole this bull seems not to have been
enforced with great vigour; especially when large numbers of German
students refused to swear the oath, as happened in Padua in 1565, ways were
found to get around this problem.11 German students, a major source of
revenue, seem largely to have got on with their accustomed lifestyle as if they
were still at home.
Italian universities certainly showed more forbearance than the
institutions of the Protestant North of Europe.12 But even if they had not, the
quality of the teaching would still have been a weighty argument for German
students to enrol at Padua, Bologna, or Siena.13 In Siena the protection of
Protestant students by the Tuscan Grand Dukes was a major selling point for
the university.14 As long as the behaviour of these students did not draw any
attention from Rome, their spending power, in conjunction with the prestige
gained by the Sapienza through their massed attendance, acted as a charm
against harassment by the Inquisition. Apparently there were so many ultramontane Protestant students by 1596 that the university authorities at Siena
considered building a special residence for them.15
This toleration seems to be confirmed by a letter written by the Grand
Duke, Francesco I, to the Tuscan ambassador, Orazio Urbani, at the Imperial
Court on 19 September 1585. This was in response to an enquiry by the
Imperial Vice-Chancellor and the Secretary Obernburg about the situation of
German students at the University of Siena. Francesco wrote that:
Non è dubbio, che la sapientia di Siena sta sempre piena per il gran concorso di
scolari forestieri, et massime Alemanni, raccomandatici dalla Maesta dell
Imperatore et da molti altri Principi di Germania. 16
10
Grendler, The Universities, pp. 190-1.
Grendler, The Universities, p. 191.
12
Grendler, The Universities, pp. 191, 194-5.
13
Grendler, The Universities, pp. 191-2; L’Università di Siena, 750 anni di storia (Siena: Monte
dei Paschi di Siena, 1991), for the university’s history, passim, and for the presence of
Protestant foreigners at the university see A. Brilli, ‘L’Università e la presenza degli
stranieri’, ibid., pp. 541-57.
14
Nevertheless in 1575 the German Nation sought to have their privileges re-established
according to the Paduan example. Archdukes Ferdinand of Tyrol and Charles of Steyrmark
were asked for their help, before an official petition went to Francesco de’Medici. Further
petitions for confirmation followed, usually at the death of a grand duke; Weigle, Die
Matrikel der deutschen Nation in Siena, pp. 7-9.
15
Grendler, The Universities, p. 193.
16
‘There is no doubt that the Sapienza in Siena is always well-attended because of the great
influx of foreign scholars, most particularly Germans, who are recommended by the
Emperor and by many other German Princes’; ASF, MP 267, ff. 40v-41.
11
He then continued to encourage the two gentlemen to send their own and
their friends’ sons to study in Italy. A promise was added that ‘veli faremo
accommodare in tutti i modi, et comanderemo che ne sia tenuto particular
conto, et protettione per l’amore, et stima che portiamo al merito dell’uno et
l’altro di loro’.17 Francesco was indeed trying to strengthen the University of
Siena, which had been much neglected under his father Cosimo, and in his
endeavour found himself not just defending the university’s autonomy but
also the rights of foreign students.18 Under Francesco and his brother
Ferdinando the university underwent many reforms.19
However, the parents of prospective students occasionally found they
had reason to get worried about their offspring’s fate in Italy. On 21
November Francesco protested to the governor of Siena against the execution
of German ‘gentilhuomini’, most likely highborn students, insisting that in
future cases ‘é da andare molto considerato à permettere simili cose, che
possono fare alteratione à cotesto studio come può una nattione, cosi
principale come questa’.20 A short time later a group of German students were
arrested by the Inquisition. This sparked an international diplomatic crisis
between the Tuscan Grand Duchy and Saxony, from where many of the
students originated.
On 4 December the Saxon Elector Augustus wrote to Francesco, after
having been told by ‘Huguldus ab Einsiedel vir nobilis et quo iam per multos
annos fidelissimo Cancellario utimur’ (‘Huguldus von Einsiedel, a noble man
whom we have for many years employed as our most faithful Chancellor’) that
young Henry Abraham von Einsiedel
cum aliis quibusdam nobilis adolescentibus Ernesto Sisliet, Militicio, Joanne
Alemanno, Wolfgango Bachio, et Valentino Krappio, subditis nostris in Urbe
Senensi quae Dilectioni Vestrae Imperio paret, religionis causa ab inquisitionis
officio, quod vocant, in carcerem coniectos esse.21
17
‘we shall accommodate them in every possible way, and order that they will be
particularly esteemed and protected because of the love and respect that we have for the
merits of both of them’. ASF, MP 267, f. 41.
18
See G. Cascio Pratilli, L’università e il principe: gli studi di Siena e di Pisa tra rinascimento e
controriforma, Florence, 1975, pp. 58-9, and notes 140-1; Grendler, The Universities, p. 52.
19
See D. Marrara, Lo studio di Siena nelle riforme del Granduca Ferdinando I (1589 e 1591)
(Milan: Giuffrè, 1970), pp. 7-156.
20
‘one should consider carefully before allowing such things to happen, which could lead
to the alienation of a nation as important as this one from the university’. See Cascio
Pratilli, L’università e il principe, p. 59, n.141.
21
‘with certain other young noblemen, Ernst Sisliet, Militz, Johan Aleman, Wolfgang von
Bach, and Valentinus Krappen, our subjects in the city of Siena which is under the
jurisdiction of your Grace, have been thrown into prison for reasons of religion by the
office of the Inquisition, as they call it’; ASF, MP 4466, f. 316; Weigle, Die Matrikel der
deutschen Nation in Siena, p. 79: Henricus von Einsiedel had matriculated on 10 June 1584
(matr. 1078). He reappears (matr. 1173) with the date of 12 June on the list for 1585;
Ernestus Wilhelmus de Militz (1189), Johan Aleman (1190), and Valentinus Krappen
This was followed by a letter to the Florentine Grand Duke written by
Wolfgang Zündelin, who had been to the university of Padua and lived now
in Venice as procuratore of the German Nation of students, on 11 December.22
Zündelin complained about the arrests.23 The names of some of the prisoners
are repeated in the letter (‘Henricum Abrahamum ab Einsidel, Guilielmum
Ernestum a Miltiz, et Wolfgangum a Bachesse’), with the explanation that the
first of these ‘filium esse Cancellarij principis mei serenissimi Electoris et
Ducis Saxoniae’.24 Zündelin appealed to the Grand Duke’s prudence and
friendship to release these noble captives.
On 12 December 1585 Francesco responded swiftly to the official
complaints, explaining to Wolfgang Zündeling that:
L’inquisitione appartiene del tutto all Santa Sede Apostolica, et io ne miei stati per
zelo di Religione ne i casi partenenti ad essa, le permetto li terra l’essecutione; Si che
non è stato in man’mia l’ovviare da principio, che non seguisse quelche, è, successo
in Siena, ma subito inteso l’accidente, ci presi bene in aiuto loro espediente tale et
tali lettere scrissi a Roma, che non solo credo, che tutta la Natione Todesca, che
dimora in quella mia città, n’habbia hauta sodisfattione et ne sia per fare ella
medesima testimonianza in ogni luogo, ma che anco li carcerati stessi ne sentiranno
nella presta, et mite speditione loro, giovamento non piccolo.25
Even though the Inquisition was not acting under the Grand Duke’s orders,
he would do all that was possible to ensure a speedy and mild treatment of the
affair. The Natione Todesca residing in Tuscany could rest assured of
Francesco’s goodwill towards her: ‘et quanto io ami, et stimi quella Natione,
(1191) matriculated on 3 September 1585, Wolffgangus a Bach (1224) on 22 October of
the same year; ibid., pp. 82-4.
22
B. Marx, ‘Künstlermigration und Kulturkonsum. Die Florentiner Kulturpolitik im 16.
Jahrhundert und die Formierung Dresdens als Elbflorenz’, Deutschland un Italien in ihren
wechselseitigen Beziehungen während der Renaissance, ed. B. Guthmüller,
(Wiesbaden:
Harrassowitz Verlag, 2000), pp. 211-97, see p. 273 and n.202. In 1590 Zündelin travelled in
the company of Otto von Starschedel to Florence; ibid., and Dresden HStA Loc. 8236/19
Saechsische Gesandte im Ausland, 16. und 17. Jahrhundert, Dr. Otto von Starschedel: 1590 nach
Florenz, Ferrara, Mantua, p. 112; Dr Wolgang Zündelin (Zindelino): 1590 nach Ferrara,
Florenz, Mantua, p. 133.
23
ASF, MP 778, f. 768.
24
‘is the son of the Chancellor of my prince the most serene Elector and Duke of Saxony’;
ASF, MP 778, f. 768.
25
‘The Inquisition belongs entirely to the holy Apostolic See, and I allow it to execute its
office in my states in those cases that fall under its jurisdiction for reasons of religious zeal;
therefore it was not for me to intervene immediately to prevent what has happened in
Siena, but as soon as I heard of the incident I was happy to help in speeding things up for
them, and wrote such letters to Rome that I am certain that the entire German Nation in
this city of mine will be satisfied and will itself give testimonial of this everywhere, but that
also the prisoners themselves will be not a little pleased by the swift and reasonable
expedition of their case’; ASF, MP 267, f. 134.
me ne rimetterò alli commodi, honori, et privilegij, che nelle cose
immediatamente dependenti dame ella riceve ad ogn’hora’. 26 He concluded
the letter by adding that he would do anything in his power to satisfy the
Elector of Saxony. Francesco’s letter arrived in Venice, from where it was sent
on to Saxony as is attested by another missive from Zündelin on 21
December 1585.27
In the meantime the Tuscan ambassador to Prague, Urbani, also had to
face enquiries about the students’ arrest. On 31 December 1585 he reported
to the Grand Duke about conversations with Marshall Trausen and the ViceChancellor.28 Apparently Trausen was only interested in what happened to
one young man, perhaps fittingly called Teufel (‘devil’), of whose release he
had been informed. Urbani was to ask Francesco to show ‘della solita sua
benignità in tutto quanto detto giovane possa esserne capace’.29 There was no
doubt that Teufel was a good Catholic like all in his family had always been,
‘et fa tuttavia il fratello che è Cameriere dell’Arciduca Ernesto’.30 The ViceChancellor, however, was interested in the fate of all the arrested students,
and brought the subject up on the Emperor’s orders, who was also about to
write to the Grand Duke about this matter.
Urbani had to explain ‘sotto che termini e rigori passino nelli stati di
Vostra Altezza Serenissima le cose della fede’.31 This was not new to the ViceChancellor, whose previous enquiries with the papal Nuncio had already
shown that:
non sia inpotestà di Vostra Altezza Serenissima l’assolutione, e la liberatione, come
desidera l’Imperatore onde necessariamente le bisogni usar la negativa, et la
legittima scusa, con rappresentarsi a quello che sia per risolverne la giustizia
mediante l’offitio dell’inquisitione; cio a Sua Maesta et ai sopradetti ministri non
sarà punto cosa nuova.32
26
‘and I shall transfer how much I love and esteem this nation into the benefits, honours
and privileges which in those matters for which I am immediately responsible it [i.e. the
German Nation] hourly receives’; ASF, MP 267, f. 134.
27
ASF, MP 4466, f. 643.
28
ASF, MP 4341, f. 388.
29
‘all the usual goodwill towards the above-mentioned young man which he could muster’:
ASF, MP 4341, f. 388.
30
‘and so is his brother, the Chamberer of Archduke Ernest’; ASF, MP 4341, f. 388. There
are two Teufels enroled for 1586: ‘1249 Johannes Christophorus Teufel liber baro [free
baron or Freiherr] in Gunderstorf 15. Jul.’ and ‘Wolfgangus Mattheus Teuffl liber baro in
Gunderstorff 15. Jul.’; Weigle, Die Matrikel der deutschen Nation in Siena, p. 85.
31
‘the limitations and strict enforcements religious matters have to undergo in the states of
Your Most Serene Highness’; ASF, MP 4341, f. 388v.
32
‘absolution and liberation, as hoped for by the Emperor, are not in the power of Your
Most Serene Highness, therefore one necessarily has to use the negative but legitimate
excuse that justice will be done by the office of the Inquisition; this will not be news to His
Majesty and to the above-mentioned ministers’; ASF, MP 4341, f. 388.
Urbani subsequently pointed out in his letter that if Francesco found that he
had the means to
poter condescendere a qualche dimostratione di misericordia e favore, tanto
maggiore verrà a esser l’obligatione con la quale haran cagione di restarle Sua
Maesta et detti signori Marescial, et ViceCancelliere.33
Therefore, one wonders whether the initial reluctance to intervene was not
mainly diplomatic strategy.
Generous loans to the Emperor and to Philip II of Spain were likely to
speed up any unfinished business Tuscany had with the Empire,34 but any
additional advantage was useful in Tuscan negotiations with the Empire
regarding Giovanna d’Austria’s dowry and the problem of precedence with
Ferrara.35 Baron Hans Albrecht von Sprinzenstein, important for the
relationship between Florence, the Empire and the German Principalities,36
was another alumnus of the University of Siena.37 As well as embarking upon
diplomatic missions to Florence, Prague, and Dresden, he also tried to play a
more direct role in the negotiations Urbani was conducting for Grand Duke
Francesco. However Francesco was not too sanguine about either
Sprinzenstein’s efforts or the information he put at Urbani’s disposal,
declaring on 8 August 1585 that ‘Poco si può sperare nelli offitij che sia per
fare il Barone di Sprinzenstain per conto della rescussione della nostra Dote
[...]’.38 In fact, Francesco had already become so disenchanted with the Baron
that he was likely to dismiss any service he might have been able to perform
for the Grand Duchy:
Quello che vi ha detto il Barone Sprinzenstain in torno allo sdegno circa
all’ArciDuca Ferdinando è una chimera, et cantafavola, et facesti accortamente a
non vi lassare indurre aparlarne senza proposito nessuno con Sua Altezza, et a
replicarli nella maniera, che facesti, et quanto a noi poco o niente ci curiamo di
33
‘be able to condescend to some demonstration of mercy and favour, the obligation felt
towards you by His Majesty and the aforementioned Marshall and Vice-Chancellor will be
much greater’; ASF, MP 4341, f. 388v.
34
G. V. Parigino, Il Tesoro del Principe, funzione pubblica e privata del patrimonio della famiglia
Medici nel cinquecento (Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 1999), ‘I prestiti concessi’, pp. 132-7.
35
R. Williams, ‘The Sala Grande in the Palazzo Vecchio and the Precedence Controversy
between Florence and Ferrara’, Vasari’s Florence & Artists and Literati at the Medicean Court,
ed. P. Jacks (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 163-81, and Dresden HSta
Loc 8233/7 Schriften belangend die underschiedtliche Beziehungen so Churf. Augustus zu
Sachsen [...] Anno 1581, passim.
36
Marx, ‘Künstlermigration und Kulturkonsum’, pp. 241-2.
37
Weigle, Die Matrikel der deutschen Nation in Siena, p. 58: matricle 439 Hans Albrecht
Freiherr von Sprinzenstain auf Neuhaus 28 Okt. [1577].
38
‘One can expect but little from the services Baron Sprinzenstein is about to contribute to
the reimbursement of our dowry’; ASF, MP 266, f. 116.
lettere del detto Barone nemeno di sua venuta; Con tutto cio voi dissimulate pur
seco, dandoli buone parole, et stando fra tanto con gl’occhi aperti.39
Another gentleman at court, ‘Il signor Arrach’ (Harrach), was to be cultivated
by Urbani for his ‘gran bontà, et prudentia, et verso di noi s’e dimostro
sempre affettionato, et amorevole’.40 Again, one of the incentives to be used
was a place at the University of Siena and grand ducal protection for
Chancellor Harrach’s relatives: ‘se voglia mandare a Siena, li due suoi nipoti ci
farete sapere il tempo della loro venuta, et l’assicurerete, che ne terremo
conto, et protettione, come di figliuoli nostri.’41
Urbani had concluded his above-mentioned letter with a description of
the students’ religious practices by Monsignor Nunzio, who was not in favour of
inviting such heretics into the country, and who intended to tell the Pope how
ordinariamente gli heretici Todeschi doppo che havendo abiurato in Italia sene
tornano alle patrie loro, non solo ritornano anco subitamente alvomito, ma
imperversano di maniera contra la vera religione, et contra tutti i Cattolici che
appariscano piu tosto furie infernali che huomini, et son cagione di molti
inconvenienti; onde per tendere al minor male giudicherebbe spediente l’andar
usando in si fatti casi con questa natione qualche desterità et avvertenza, diverse da
quelle che ordinariamente è solito usarsi con l’altre.42
On 11 January 1586 Francesco wrote directly to the Elector of Saxony.
The letter survives in two copies, one in the Florentine State Archives and the
second in the Dresden Hauptstaatsarchiv.43 Perhaps following Urbani’s
advice, the Grand Duke declared that the Inquisition, ‘per zelo di religione’
(‘moved by religious zeal’), had considerable jurisdictional power in his
territory. However, as soon as he had been informed of the incident by a letter
from the Elector, Francesco had made sure that all those listed by name were
39
‘What Baron Sprinzenstein told you about the offence to Archduke Ferdinand is a
chimera and a nursery rhyme, and you would do well not to let yourself be led into
discussing it for whatever reason with his Highness, and to answer him in the manner you
did; and as for us, we care little or nothing about the letters of this Baron and even less
about his visit; in all this dissimulate when you are with him, talk in a friendly manner but
keep your eyes open’; ASF, MP 266, f. 65.
40
‘great probity and prudence, and [because he is a man] who has always shown himself to
be affectionate and friendly towards us’; ASF, MP 266, f. 65v.
41
‘if he wants to send his two nephews (or grandsons?) to Siena, let us know the date of
their arrival and assure him that we shall hold them in high regard and under our
protection as if they were our sons’; ASF, MP 266, f. 65v.
42
‘normally the German heretics, after they have abjured in Italy, return home: [like dogs]
they not only immediately go back to their vomit, but also make fun of the true faith and of
all Catholics, so that they seem more like hellish furies than men, and they are the reason
for many problems; therefore to reduce the risk he judges it expedient to use some
dexterity and care in these cases with this nation, different from those typically used with
others’; ASF, MP 4341, f. 388v.
43
ASF, MP 267, f. 159; Dresden Hauptstaatsarchiv, Loc. 8517/05, f. 208.
freed. The young men themselves could attest to the grand ducal protection
they had received, and had already thanked Francesco for it. All of this had
been done out of respect and affectionate goodwill towards the Elector. A
similar letter was sent to the city of Augsburg, from where some other of the
students who had been arrested apparently came.44 These letters seem to have
been sent via Zündelin in Venice, who wrote on 18 January 1586 that the
letters to the Elector and to the city of Augsburg had arrived.45 The crisis
seemed resolved.
Nevertheless, on 24 January Robert Ausserdorfer wrote from Mantua
to Cavalier Vinta, after having received a letter from Andreas Paul, the
‘Consiglier secretario’ of the Saxon Elector.46 News of the arrests of the sons
of high-ranking officials at the Saxon court had arrived, and now Ausserdorfer
was entreating Vinta to help free the students so they could return home
massimo non havendo essi datto colpa niuna per tal prigionia, ne cattivi esempi che
loro sapiano, è questo si è ancor molto contrario al nostro proposito, havendoli
invidiati per veder et sentir li Nostri predicatori, et la vitta che noi altri faciamo
contrario al suo pensiero, per darli ocasione che tanto più presto loro si
reconosossin di suoi errori.47
Ausserdorfer then pointed out to Vinta that:
hora Il serenissimo Elettore non lassia pratichar ne suoi statti niuna heresia ecetto
quella li della confessio Augustana et tutti li altri sono banditto con pena della Vitta,
Pero lascerà pratichar li Nostri Catolici, et questo è statto dopo la mia partitta, si
aricordo Vostra Signoria Illustre che io le dissi che la loro fede lutterana si era
disfatta, che di la direi, ven’erano sette, calfini, Ugonotti, Anabatisti, et altri, erenie,
come già si veduto in franza, fiandra Et enghelterra, et altri luochi come Vostra
Signoria sa benissimo.48
44
ASF, MP 267, f. 159.
ASF, MP 779, f. 207.
46
ASF, MP 779, f. 81. The lawyer Dr. Andreas Paul had also once studied at the university
of Padua; Marx, ‘Künstlermigration und Kulturkonsum’, p. 273.
47
‘mainly since they have not done any culpable offence to result in such imprisonment,
nor given bad examples as far as they know. And this is very much contrary to our
intention, who have envied them for being able to see and hear your preachers, and the life
that we lead in contrast to their thinking, for giving them the opportunity to become aware
of their mistakes much more quickly’; ASF, MP 779, f. 81.
48
‘Now the most serene Elector does not allow practice of any heresy in his states, with the
exception of that of the confessio Augustana, and all others are forbidden on pain of death.
However, he will let our Catholics practice their faith, and this occurred after my departure.
Your Illustrious Lordship may recall that I told you that their Lutheran faith is dissolving
and I would say that there are seven: Calvinists, Huguenots, Anabaptists, and other
heresies, as has already been witnessed in France, Flanders and England and other places as
Your Lordship very well knows’; ASF, MP 779, f. 81. The confessio Augustana was a
declaration of Lutheran faith, presented to Emperor Charles V at the diet of Augsburg in
1530.
45
Meanwhile Urbani had presented the Grand Ducal answer regarding
the treatment of the German students to the Emperor. In another report to
Florence he explained to the Grand Duke how he had emphasised
Francesco’s concern for the welfare of the arrested young men and his work
‘per benefitio e favor di detti scolari’.49 Apparently Urbani had received
detailed instructions about what he was supposed to say. The Emperor
showed himself well satisfied with the explanations given. Urbani next spoke
to the Vice-Chancellor who also seemed glad about the happy ending of the
affair, showing himself conscious ‘della verità del fatto, et dell’obbligo che si
deve haver a Vostra Altezza Serenissima’. 50 However, the Vice-Chancellor
was worried that such arrests had taken place in the Grand Duchy and that
the Elector and other interested princes ‘facilmente senza cercar più oltre
possin restar con mala sodisfattione’.51 In fact, only a couple of days earlier a
German had urgently sought a passport from the Emperor for his son whom
he wanted to send to Italy ‘con dire che lo desiderava favorito piu che fussi
possibile, poiche intendeva la nation Alemanna esservi [in Italia] molto mal
trattata’.52
Discrimination against foreign students was by no means limited to
Tuscany, where after all they enjoyed the Grand Duke’s protection. As late as
April 1586 the arrest in Siena was still haunting Urbani. In his view, the ado
created in the German states about the imprisoned students should really have
been converted into ‘obligo et gratitudine verso Vostra Altezza Serenissima
per i molti favori et offitij fatti da lei in benefitio di detti scolari’.53 However,
news of a ‘maggiore strepito’ (‘greater clamour’) had just arrived in Prague,
which most likely would cancel out any memory of the Sienese incident. In
Venice a young Bohemian of good family had died. His relatives had not been
granted permission to bury him there, presumably for reasons of religious
affiliation, so that the corpse had to be sent to the territory of Archduke
Charles. Violent protests with the Venetian ambassador ensued; but the
ambassador would pay no heed, and had furthermore found an ally in the
Vice-Chancellor.
Late that year Urbani travelled to Dresden. On his return to Prague he
wrote another report to the Grand Duke, dated 10 June 1586.54 Shortly before
49
‘for the benefit and favour of the aforementioned students’; ASF, MP 4342, f. 73.
‘of the truth of the facts, and of the obligation which he owes to Your Most Serene
Highness’; ASF, MP 4342, f. 73v.
51
‘could easily remain unsatisfied without making further enquiries’; ASF, MP 4342, f. 73v.
52
‘saying that he wanted it [to be] as favourable as possible, since he understood that the
German nation was very badly treated [in Italy]’; ASF, MP 4342, f. 73v.
53
‘obligation and gratitude to Your Most Serene Highness for the many favours and
services you granted for the benefit of the aforementioned students’; ASF, MP 4342, ff.
119-121.
54
ASF, MP 4342, ff. 160r-164r; parts of this letter are published in Marx, ‘Künstlermigration
und Kulturkonsum’, doc. 3, pp. 276-8.
50
his departure Urbani was told by the two courtiers who had been keeping him
company that the Elector wished Francesco to take on a page who was the
relative of one of his chamberlains and a vassal of the Margrave of
Brandenburg. There was much insistence that Urbani should take the boy
with him immediately. He replied that with all of Francesco’s goodwill
towards any wish the Elector might have, they should consider:
la diversità della religione, et come questa casa non solamente nella sua corte, ma in
tutti i suoi stati è incompatibile, et diedi loro l’esempio del successo delli scolari
tedeschi in Siena, di che il testimonio era molto pronto, poiche uno d’esso scolari,
che è figliuolo del Cancelliere del signor elettore, et parente d’uno di detti consiglieri
si trovava ogn’hora quivi presente, facendo egli et il padre ogni possibil
dimostratione dell’obligo che confessano havere a Vostra Altezza Serenissima. 55
Even though the courtiers showed themselves to be convinced by this
testimonial, they nonetheless – perhaps fired up by the boy’s relatives – kept
insisting that Urbani should take the page with him.56 Urbani finally managed
to get away with the excuse that he was not himself returning to Florence but
living in Prague, and that he would have to contact the Grand Duke before
taking any further steps.
Despite these events, German students continued to enrol at the
University of Siena. Those who were Catholics perhaps found the intellectual
climate less restrained than in Protestant Germany, while the Protestants may
have felt that the quality of the education was such that a little dissimulation
was worth their while. For the university, admitting these foreign students was
a source of income and prestige, while the students and their families
obviously took great pride in their Italian education. To have a son studying in
Siena was a mark of distinction. For the Tuscan Grand Dukes, the enrolment
of German students at Tuscan universities became yet another diplomatic tool
to be used in their negotiations with the Empire and the German princes.
Curzio Pichena, telling Belisario Vinta about the latest political intrigues being
played out in Prague, was quick to report a conversation with the ‘Cancelliere
dell’Amministratore di Magdeburg’ during which it had become apparent that
‘l’Amministrator suo Patrone fece l’anno passato far offitio di congratulatione
con Vostra Altezza per il nascimento del Principe, da un figlio dell’istesso
55
‘the difference in religion, and how this house not only in its court but in all its states is
incompatible, and I gave them the example of what happened to the German students in
Siena, whose testimonial was very prompt, since one of them who is the son of the
Chancellor of the Elector, and a relative of the mentioned councillors, was present all the
time, protesting with his father the obligation they owe to your most serene Highness’;
ASF, MP 4342, f. 163v.
56
ASF, MP 4342, f. 164.
Cancelliere che anco si trova in Siena’.57 In the covering letter of the same date
Pichena returned to the person of the Cancelliere who ‘mi riesce una persona
di molta prudenza e sodezza, et da farne conto e capitali, però se Vostra
Signoria procuressi che il suo figliuolo receva in Siena qualche favore, sarà
benissimo impiegato.’58 He had not been able to catch the man’s name, but
promised to rectify this as soon as possible. Pichena, about to return to
Florence was also hoping to combine the journey with a secret mission in
Germany. He asked
se con l’occasione del mio ritorno mi potesse esser comandato da Sua Altezza di
passar da alcuni di questi Principi a far qualche sorte d’offitio, perche mi darebbe il
cuore di passarci con una segretezza mirabile, et che non mi sarei conosciuto seno
di quelli a che io mi volessi far conoscere et per tutto potrei haver degli amici e de
mezzi fidati: a Dresda conosco un di questi Consiglieri principali, e un figlio del
Cancelliere dell’elettor vecchio, che gia fu scolare in Siena;59
Even though Pichena seems to have gone straight home in the end, it is
nevertheless telling that a university career in Siena, under the protection of
the Grand Dukes and with the odd ‘favore’ thrown in, was seen as
instrumental for creating friends and allies at the German courts.
Andrea Gáldy studied Italian literature, classical archaeology and ancient history at the
Universities of Augsburg, Perugia, and Hamburg. In 2001 she transferred her PhD from
Hamburg to the University of Manchester to complete ‘‘Con bellissimo ordine’: Antiquities
in the Collection of Cosimo I de' Medici and Renaissance Archaeology’, in 2002 under the
supervision of Dr Suzy Butters. Her postdoctoral project sponsored by a two-year Henry
Moore fellowship (March 2003 to March 2005) will result in a book-length study:
Sculpture and the Kunstkammer: Collecting and Display in Early Modern Florence and
Dresden. Her main research interests are the early history of archaeology, of sixteenthcentury collections and forms of display in Italy and northern Europe.
57
‘the Administrator, his Patron, conveyed his congratulations to Your Highness last year
on the occasion of the Prince’s birth, through the Chancellor’s son who was then in Siena’;
ASF, MP 4349, f. 723, ‘Inserto delli 22 d’ottobre [1591]’, parts of it in code.
58
‘he seems to me a person of much prudence and firmness, which can be used to
advantage, but if Your Lordship could arrange that his son in Siena receives some favour, it
would be all to the good’; ASF, MP 4349, f. 729.
59
‘whether on the occasion of my return I could not be ordered by His Highness to visit
some of these Princes to make some kind of deal, since this would give me heart to travel
through with admirable secrecy, and I would not be known by any other than those to
whom I make myself known, and in this I could have friends and nearly trustworthy
acquaintances: in Dresden I know one of the principal councillors who is a son of the
Chancellor of the old Elector who once studied in Siena’; ASF, MP 4349, f. 729v.