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Nuremberg A. Imperial city, crafts and tradeThe Imperia…

A. Imperial city, commerce, craftsThe Free Imperial City of A., politically, economically and culturally speaking, was one of the leading cities of the Holy Roman Empire from the Late Middle Ages. Occupying a favourable location between the Rivers Lech and Wertach, on the trans-Alpine road connecting the upper Etsch (Adige) Valley with the Danube via the Reschen and Fern Passes ( via Claudia Augusta), A. in the Roman Imperial period, as the municipium (town with Roman citizenship rights) of Augusta Vindelicorum, was the major centre of the province of Raetia. The early medieval settlement suffered repeatedly from Hungarian attacks until the victory of Otto I at the Battle of Lechfeld (955). Records show that the council was granted legislative powers ( …

A. IntroductionAccording to the Humanist view, E. was a process by which a man was perfected ( perfectio hominis) by the free unfolding of his abilities ( ingenium). This process, through to the Reformation and beyond, was determined by content that was defined in respect of formal, intellectual, aesthetic, and moral goals. Concepts of education depended primarily on a greater…

A. LifeWillibald P., the German Humanist, scholar and writer, was born into a wealthy family of Nuremberg patricians on December 5, 1470 at Eichstätt and died on December 22, 1530 at Nuremberg. His ancestor, Hans P., already with a considerable fortune, had in 1386 been coopted into the Kleinerer Rat (‘Lesser Council’), the de facto ruling committee of the city, as Junger Bürgermeister (‘Young Mayor’). P.’s great-grandfather Franz P. (1388–1451) laid the foundations of the considerable family library, with a particular interest in traditional scholastic li…