[Footnote 54]: At a grand ball at the court of Philip V of Spain, the Duke de Saint Simon saw nearly two centuries later the ladies seated on the carpet covering the floor of one of the reception rooms.--Translator.
[Footnote 55]: Jacob Sturm, of Sturmeck, the great magistrate and reformer of Strasburg, "the ornament of the German nobility," and who undertook not less than ninety-one missions between 1525 and 1552. He was born at Strasburg in 1489, and died therein 1553.--Translator.
[Footnote 56]: Of all the towns of Upper Germany Constance was the last to submit to the emperor. On August 6, 1548, it was suddenly placed without the ban of the Empire, and on the same day a contingent of Spaniards endeavoured to take it by force. Though surprised, the inhabitants took up arms. The enemy, already master of the advanced part of the town, made for the bridge over the Rhine, and it was feared that they would enter pell-mell with the retreating defenders. At that critical moment, a burgher who was hard pressed by two Spaniards, performed an act of heroism; he took hold of his adversaries, and recommending his soul to God, dragged them into the stream with him, giving his townsmen time to close the gates. Constance escaped for the nonce, but, after having vainly waited for help, it had to capitulate on the following October 14.--Translator.
[Footnote 57]: Sastrow's portrait is wanting in the collection of portraits of the burgomasters of Stralsund. The passage above suggests Sastrow's likeness to Jacob Sturm.--Translator.
[Footnote 58]: The "Interim" was the document drawn up by Charles V in 1548, which, until the decision of a general Church Convocation, was to guide both Catholics and Protestants, which document was disliked by both.--Translator.
[Footnote 59]: Johannes Walther von Hirnheim belonged to an old knightly family and had no children by his wife Margaret Goeslin.--Translator.
[Footnote 60]: In 1548, after the promulgation of the "Interim," Melanchthon and some other theologians proposed a modus vivendi which was called the "Leipzig Interim." They accepted the jurisdiction of bishops, confirmation and last unction, fasts and feasts, even those of the Corpus Domini, and nearly the whole of the ancient Canon of the Mass. All this, according to them, was so much adiophora, in other words, things of no importance, to submit to which was perfectly permissible for the sake of the unity and peace of the Church. This concession, which was considered as a sign of weakness by many, caused an animated polemical strife.--Translator.
[Footnote 61]: The Lloytz were the richest merchants of Stettin. They went bankrupt in 1572 for twenty "tuns" of gold, i.e. for 280,000 pounds sterling. Half a century later the council of Stettin still attributed the bad state of business to that failure.--Translator.
[Footnote 62]: The letter of the celebrated geographer is in Latin and reads as follows: "I received thy letter dated from Spires January 22, together with a large bundle of manuscripts and maps coming from Pomerania. The ducal chancellor Citzewitz when I saw him promised me those documents before Christmas without fail. We even waited for another month, and nothing having come, we proceeded with our work. The same thing happened with the Duchy of Cleves. In the one case as in the other, I decline all responsibility, for in both I gave the rulers of those countries ample notice. Herr Petrus Artopaeus asks me to send thee the map of Pomerania, which he dispatched to me from Augsburg two years ago. I comply with his wish; thou no doubt knowest what to do with it. At the Frankfurt fair I shall write to the Chancellor of Pomerania; I am too busy to do so at present: We are printing the last sheets of the Cosmographiae; the printer must be ready to offer this costly work for sale at the next fair, and it must be illustrated with a number of figures. Among the things sent from Pomerania, I have found the drawing of a big black fish with an explanation which I detach from it in order for thee to copy it clearly, for I have my doubts about the word 'Braunfisch' (if I have read aright), and even stronger doubts with regard to the English and Spanish. I shall feel obliged by thy writing me those names more distinctly and to send them to me at the Easter vacation by one of the many merchants from Basle who pass through Spires on their return from the fair. Meanwhile, I wish thee good health! Basle, Wednesday after Riminiscere (the second Sunday in Lent)." The printer of the Cosmographie was H. Petri. Artopaeus points out the theologian Peter Becker as the author of the description of Pomerania largely consulted by Münster.--Translator.
[Footnote 63]: A very ancient custom obliged the Ammeister, or first magistrate of Strasburg, regularly to take his two meals per day during his year of office at the expense of the city, at "The Lantern," unless he preferred the stewpans patronized by his own tribe. The table was open to every one willing to pay the fixed price. "Ad istum prandium omnibus et incolis et peregrinis pro certo pretio accedere licet," says the Itinerarium Germaniae of Hentzer, who visited Strasburg in 1599. Seven years later a gentleman from the March mentions also in his journal the Ammeisterstube (the Ammeister's room), where the Ammeister and two Stadmeister take their daily meals. Everybody is free to go in and to be served by paying. Each tribe (set) has its particular stewpan. What becomes of the Ammeister's usual haunt when the Ammeister is a member of that particular tribe? Nevertheless, the establishment mostly patronized is that of the Grain Market, which is conveniently situated. Among other strictly observed formalities are the blessing and the grace, announced by the rapping with a wand, and the proceedings are always opened by a reminder of the submission due to the authorities. The custom no doubt had its origin in the provisions for public order which induced the magistrates of Geneva to close all the taverns in 1546. They were replaced by five so-called abbeys, each having at its head one of the four syndics or their lieutenant; but after a few weeks, this reform, the idea of which had been brought, perhaps, from Strasburg by Calvin had to be abandoned. The Ammeister for 1570 being too feeble to eat twice a day at the expense of the city, the supper was suppressed. It would appear, however, that the magistrates "forgot themselves" at table, for the Council of Fifteen made an order in 1585 obliging the Ammeister to be at the Town Hall at one o'clock. "The magistrates too often only appeared at the Senate and at the chancellerie between three and four o'clock," says a chronicler. Apparently the order did not remedy the evil, as in 1627 it was decided to do away with the ancient institution.--Translator.