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The Behaims of Schwarzbach, in the fifteenth century, already occupied a prominent position among the Geschlechter or Patricians of Nuremberg. The founder of the family is supposed to have left his native place of Schwarzbach in the Bohemian district of Krumlau, in consequence of the persecution suffered by the Christian inhabitants after the death of Duke Wratislaw in 916. This tradition is confirmed, to some extent, by the family name, for Behaim, or Beheim, merely means " Bohemian," the modern "Boehm," whilst the wavy bend sable, which crosses the family shield diagonally, is clearly intended to represent the Schwarzbach or "Black beck."(1) At Nuremberg the Behaims engaged in trade, acquired wealth, gained admission among the patrician families and assumed a coat of arms. As early as 1332, a member of the family, one Albrecht Behaim, a grocer, was elected one of the burgomasters of the city, and occupied that honourable position until 1342. The Senate of Nuremberg was consequently fully justified when, in a letter addressed to King Manuel on June 7, 1518, (2) on behalf of Martin Behaim's son, it spoke of "familia Bohemorum in civitate nostra Nurembergensis ultra ducentos annos honestissime et egregie perdurasse." In a second letter the senate, as if doubtful whether the king would recognise the members of Patrician families as "noblemen," added that the family held likewise several feudal estates outside the city. These estates included two male fiefs at Rückersdorf, near Lauf, on the Pegnitz, and at Kurssendorf (Kurzendorf), a few miles to the south of Ansbach, as also a grange at Katerbach, to the north of Ansbach conferred by the Bishop of Würzburg.(3)
Martin Behaim, (4) the father of the "Navigator," was the younger son of Michael Behaim (b. 1400) and of E. Hirschvogel. He was born on November 10, 1437, (5) married, in 1458, Agnes, the daughter of Wilhelm Schopper and Mistress Muffel, was elected Senator in 1461, and died on August 6,1474. He was a general merchant, and in his younger years business had taken him as far as Venice. His wife survived him thirteen years and died on July 8, 1487. She had borne her husband seven children, of whom Martin, the subject of this history, was the eldest and cannot therefore have been born earlier than 1459.(6) Among the executors of her last will and testament is to be found the name of Bartholomew von Eyb, whom I shall have occasion to refer to later on, in connection with Martin's commercial training. Both parents were buried in the church of the Dominicans.
In what follows I shall give some information on the children of Martin Behaim and Agnes Schopper.
Martin Behaim, the eldest of the three sons, was probably born in 1459, and will be fully dealt with later on.
Stephan, the second son, was born about 1460, married Margareta Ortolph in 1500, and died in 1511. He was Assessor of the City Court and of the Court for matrimonial causes. He left two sons, of whom his brother Michael writes in 1518 that the elder was intended for the priesthood, whilst the younger was not very robust (notvest).(7) His widow married Hans von Obernitz, who subsequently held the post of Imperial bailli or Reichsschulteis.
Michael, the third son, is stated to have been born in 1474. He married Catherina Lochner in 1495, was knighted (probably by the Emperor Maximilian), elected a member of the Senate in 1502 and died in 1522. He had no children, a fact which he deplores in a letter to Jörg Pock, written in 1518. His widow died in 1527. It was Michael who at the request of the Emperor Maximilian, during a visit to Nuremberg in November, 1500, consulted the antiquary Sebald Schreyer why an eagle on one of the ceilings of the Burg was painted yellow instead of black as usual.(8) Michael took a friendly interest in the son of his brother Martin.(9)
Wolf or Wolfrath, the youngest of the brothers, and hence occasionally referred to as Wölflein- Little Wolf - spent most of his life abroad. Between 1491 and 1496 he was at Lyons, in the service of the Tucher, and subsequently at Geneva. Letters from him during this period are still extant, but they only contain two incidental references to his brother Martin, which shall be quoted in due course. On February 2, 1503, whilst on a visit to Nuremberg, he rode in a tournament, and was awarded the seventh prize. In 1505 or 1506 he came to Lisbon, as agent of his maternal uncle Hirschvogel, and died there on March 20, 1507, a bachelor. He was buried in the church of Sta. Maria da Conceição, by the side of Paulus Imhof or Incurio, (10) a fellow townsman. Wolf seems to have dabbled in science, for genealogists refer to him as "astrologus."
Ursula, though stated to have been born as late as April, 1473, seems to have been the eldest of the three sisters. In 1489 she married Ulrich Futterer, a wealthy merchant, who left her a widow in 1524. She survived him until October 29, 1529.
Elsbeth, said to have been born in 1466, became a nun in the convent of Sta. Clara, and died in 1536.(11)
Magdalena entered the convent of St. Catherine in 1482, and died there in 1538. Her aunt, Anna Schopper, likewise lived in this convent, which had been founded in 1380, and the chapel of which is still used as a place of worship.
Among other members of the family are the following :
Leonhard, the elder brother of Martin's father, born about 1432. He married Kunigunde Volkamer in 1455 and died in the family mansion in Zistel Street, (12) on December 1, 1486. His wife, born in 1438, died in 1488 (or 1496). He was a member of the Senate. After his brother's death he took an active interest in the widow and orphaned children. Martin Behaim addressed this uncle as Vetter or cousin, and kept up a desultory correspondence with him for twenty-four years.
Michael, a son of Leonhard, was born in 1459. He was therefore of the same age as his cousin Martin. He, too, was intended for a commercial career, for in 1478 he was sent to Vienna, into a grocery business; (13) but later on he settled at Nuremberg, where he married, and held several municipal offices, and, like other members of the family, advanced to the dignity of Senator. He died in 1511, his wife, née Winter, surviving him until 1519. Martin Behaim, during his visit to Nuremberg, 1490-93, resided with this Michael, and Wolf corresponded with him up to the time of his death, in 1507.
Frederick, a son of Michael, born 1491, married an Imhof, and died in 1533.
(1) The following is a description of the coat of arms of the Behaims: - Shield gules and argent, party per pale, and charged with a wavy bend sable. Crest: a white phoenix, rising, with black collar. I am able - thanks to the kindness of Baron Behaim-to present the readers with a design of this coat by Albert Dürer, together with a copy of the letter written by the famous artist (see Appendix XIII.). back
(2) The Behaims of Schwarzbach had no doubt done excellent service in the government of their city, but none amongst them had won distinction in art, science or literature, whilst several namesakes of theirs, not belonging to the family, had done so. Dr. Christoph Scheurl (whose interesting autobiography is published in the `Mittheilungen d. Vereins für die Geschichte Nürnberg's,' V.) in an obituary on Dean A. Kress (1513), who was succeeded by a nephew of the famous architect Hanns Behaim, had the temerity to dwell upon this point, whereat the Town Council felt highly indignant, severely reprimanded him, and ordered this obituary to be suppressed (G. W. K. Lochner, `Allgem. Deutsche Biographie.') G. W. Lochner was born 1798, and died 1882. back
(3) For the two letters of the Senate, see Appendix XII. The three feudal estates are mentioned by Lochner, `Selecta Archivalia,' I., 243, and Günther, p. 7. back
(4) The numerous MS. "genealogies" to be found at Nuremberg abound in discrepancies and obvious mistakes, nor is J. G. Biedermann's `Geschlechtsregister des hoch adligen Patriciats in Nürnberg' (Baireuth, 1745) always to be trusted. back
(5) Ghillany (p. 17) opines that he must have been born earlier, say in 1430, as there are still extant letters written by him between 1455 and 1457, when he was travelling and collecting debts due to the firm. He publishes two of these letters, and thinks he must have been older than eighteen when entrusted with such duties. However, 1437 is the date given in all genealogies and in the `Familienbuch.' back
(6) Murr (p. 45), who saw the letters referred to above, erroneously assumed them to have been written by Martin the son, and thus was led into making serious mistakes as to dates. The subject is fully discussed by Ghillany, pp. 10, 25. back
(7) Michael to Jörg Pock (Ghillany, p. 112). back
(8) Ghillany and C. Heideloff, `Der deutsche Adler und die deutschen Farben,' Stuttgart, 1848, p. 9. back
(9) For letters written by him in 1507 (to his nephew) and in 1518 (to Jörg Pock), see Ghillany, pp. 107-113. back
(10) According to Pock's letter of March, 1519 (Ghillany, p. 114), but see c. xv. back
(11) This convent was founded in 1380, and is at present used as a municipal pawnshop. back
(12) Now No. 4 Albert Dürer Street, a house of business. back
(13) See Martin Behaim's letter of September 17, 1478. The letters, written between 1455-7 and published by Ghillany, pp. 101-2, are by Martin's father. back
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