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MARTIN, the only son of Martin Behaim and Joanna de Macedo, the daughter of Josse van Hurter, was born on April 6, 1489.(2) There were no other children-no second brother, as asserted by the untrustworthy Fructuoso-nor a sister. The inquiries made by Jorg Pock on behalf of Martin's relatives at Nuremberg admit of no doubt on that point.(3)
Young Martin either lived with his mother, who after her first husband's death had married D. Henrique de Noronha, a nobleman of Madeira, or in the house of his aunt Dona Isabel de Macedo, the widow of Francisco da Silveira, at Lisbon. Jorg Pock, who knew her well, speaks to this Dona Isabel (whom he calls Thona Issabl)(4) as "one of the most honourable and virtuous ladies in all Portugal, who proved a second mother to her young nephew." We know nothing of young Martin's early days or education. To all appearance he spent his days in idleness. Jorg Pock speaks of him as a "good and well-behaved (frum) man, singularly devout," not a "lady's man" (fraw-mann), but a "very virgin" as compared with the ordinary Portuguese, whom he denounces as rude (grob) and arrogant.(5) Of the Portuguese of his day he says that "they are the most arrogant people to be found in the world, ride about the market square all day with four servants running behind them, and when they get home again they dine off a radish and salt instead of chicken and roast meat. The poorest with us (in Nuremberg) eat and drink better than they do. Many of the Portuguese never take wine, as they look upon doing so as disgraceful, but when in church they belch to make one's soul shudder, and this they think quite well-behaved." Elsewhere(6) this same Pock says that "if a man has ten ducats he buys him a camlet coat, a silver-mounted sword, glossy boots and a viola to go at night into the street with, and serenade the strumpets; they poison the air with their arrogance!" Worthy Jorg Pock is severe, but it must be borne in mind that the ancient glories of Portugal had grown faint when he wrote;(7) an unwonted period of prosperity had resulted in demoralisation.
Young Behaim was evidently a person of most unsteady purposes, for he attained the age of twenty-eight years without having been able to make up his mind whether to apply for an appointment in the King's household, go to India in search of a fortune, or pay a visit to his relations in Nuremberg. In the end he decided to go to Germany. As a preliminary he paid a visit to his mother in Madeira and received from her sixteen cruzados towards his travelling expenses. On the voyage back to Lisbon a fellow traveller picked a quarrel, assaulted him, and was killed by young Behaim in self-defence.(8) As a result the latter found himself in prison, where he languished for two years, kindly looked after by his aunt Dona Isabel, and where, considering the protracted judicial proceedings of those days he might have remained to the end of his days, had not the payment of thirty cruzados, made to the Papal nuncio by Michael Imhof(9) (Incurio), induced that influential priest to intervene on behalf of the unfortunate prisoner and procure his release. But long before this the relatives of young Behaim had appealed for help to his kinsmen at Nuremberg. The influence of Uncle Michael was brought to bear upon the magistrates of the Imperial city, and an official letter(10) was addressed to the King, whose clemency was invoked on behalf of the homicide. But in addition to this, and undoubtedly at the suggestion of the Portuguese relatives, the magistrates informed the King that the Behaims were an illustrious family, who had resided for more than two centuries in Nuremberg and were entitled to coat-armour, and that Martin Behaim, the father, had married a Portuguese lady of high degree and had done long and faithful service to the King and his predecessors up to the time of his death.
This letter was written on June 7, 1518, but only reached Lisbon three weeks after young Martin had been discharged from prison. He acknowledged the receipt of this letter on August 13,(11) stating that owing to his illness -Jorg Pock wrote that he was suffering from jaundice - and a game leg, the letter had not yet been presented to the King, but that he intended to present it at an early date. However, a few days afterwards, on August 18, at a family council it was decided not to present the letter at all, as it was not deemed wise to remind a King, who held homicides in horror, of a matter which had by this time been forgotten. They desired at the same time that a second letter might be written giving an account of the rank among the nobility of his father and his father's family, so that the King might admit him to the Royal household without a fee (foro) being exacted, but that no mention be made of the homicide. This he wrote on August 18.(12) Not a word did he say in this letter about paying a visit to his friends in Germany. As an additional reason for not troubling the King he might have stated that the plague had invaded Lisbon in August,(13) that His Majesty denied himself to all visitors until he started for Crato to meet his fourth bride, Princess Eleanor, the sister of Charles V.
Uncle Michael not unnaturally was rather puzzled by the apparently irreconcilable wishes of his nephew, but sent word at once that his Nuremberg relatives would be glad to see him, and that Ulrich Futterer, one of his uncles, would lodge him for a month, as his own (Michael's) house only sufficed for his own needs, and there was no stable attached to it. (14) He must not, however, expect to live at Nuremberg at the expense of his relations, for after the expiration of this month he would have to provide for himself. In a letter which, a few days later, on November 12,(15) he wrote to his friend Jorg Pock, he expressed regret that his nephew had not come to Nuremberg immediately upon his father's death, had learnt a business and made a prudent marriage, instead of making a precarious living as a mariner. The sturdy German Reichsbürger evidently did not look with favour upon his nephew attaching himself as a "servant" to a Royal Court, "as Royal favours were not hereditary,(16) and his own father, who had been in high favour with the old King (King John II.), seemed to have fared ill under his successor (Manuel), "concerning which Pock was probably better informed than they at Nuremberg." He expressed at the same time anxiety at the extinction of the family of the Behaims, which, at the time he wrote, was represented only by five males. They were Uncle Michael himself, who was suffering from gout, and although married twenty-two years was as yet childless; two sons of his brother Stephen, of whom one was intended for the priesthood; Frederick, a grandson of Leonhard Behaim, and young Martin.(17)
Both Michael Imhof(18) and Jorg Pock advised young Martin against going to Nuremberg, as he knew no German, and the manners of Germany differed greatly from those prevailing in Portugal. Michael, however, did not quite approve of this advice, as it might lead young Martin and others to think that they in Nuremberg wanted him to stay away, so that his share of the inheritance, amounting in all to about 350 gulden, to which he had become entitled in consequence of the death of his uncle, Wolfgang, might be withheld from him. Incidentally, the uncle remarked that all financial matters between the family and Martin's late father had been definitely settled.(19)
Once the journey to Nuremberg was resolved upon worthy Jorg Pock gave his young friend the best advice in his power.(20)
He first of all pointed out to him that there was no need for him to go at all, as his business in connection with his inheritance could be transacted quite as satisfactorily by a confidential agent furnished with powers of attorney. He advised him, in case he should only stay a month, not to return without a letter recommending him to the King. He warned him against squandering his inheritance, for it would not go far in Portugal, but rather to seek to increase it, before he thought of marriage. On the other hand, if he proposed a prolonged stay in Germany he must not expect to be placed on a chair and made a gentleman of, or be waited upon, for work was looked upon as honourable in Germany, and he might even be asked to groom one or two horses, to sweep the house or carry fuel into the kitchen. All his relatives, in spite of their noble birth, had worked in this manner, and unless he was prepared to submit to all their hardships it would be better for him to stay at home. This advice was first of all given at Pock's office and repeated in the presence of Martin's mother and grandmother. It did not frighten him. He declared that he was anxious to go, and would shrink from no service that could be demanded from the humblest of his uncle's servants.
Young Behaim, before he left Lisbon, made his last will and testament, although, as far as Pock could see, he had no property whatever to dispose of; appointed a "good" man as his "factor," and his aunt Isabel his executor. Fifty cruzados which he raised on a bill of exchange(21) he invested in merchandise or expended in presents intended for his German relatives. These presents included five parrots for his uncle, three of which reached Nuremberg, as also a quantity of preserve of service berries, for which he paid his mother 2½ cruzados.
He left Lisbon on April 3, 1519, for Antwerp, where he arrived before May 12, "hale and hearty." Fritz Krausberger,(22) the representative of the Hirschvogels of Nuremberg, looked after the young traveller, bought him a horse and had him measured for clothes of a sober grey, which his friend Pock had warned him not to wear on his journey for fear of exciting the cupidity of highwaymen. It was arranged that he should accompany the messenger, who travelled regularly between Antwerp and Nuremberg. This man was paid 3 gulden for his services, and for looking after the parrots, of whom three were still alive, and 6 gulden for defraying the expenses of the road. The travellers left Antwerp on May 28, and on June 7 young Behaim reached his father's native town, having accomplished a distance of at least 370 miles in the course of eleven days. Altogether he had spent sixty-six days on the journey from Lisbon to Nuremberg, instead of about five weeks, which his uncle thought would suffice,(23) and thus, partly owing to a postponement of his departure, and apparently still more to a tedious sea voyage, he was unable to reach his destination by May 5, on which day the Imperial Crown jewels and relies were publicly exhibited in front of his uncle's house-a high holiday for the loyal Nurembergers.
The reception which young Martin met with on the part of his relatives seems to have been very cordial, for he wrote to Jorg Pock that Uncle Michael and his wife treated him as if he were their son, at which his friends at Lisbon were highly pleased. He at the same time sent his Aunt Isabel a present of a rosary. Presents seem likewise to have been exchanged between Uncle Michael and this aunt.(24) We know, at all events, that the latter had intended to forward to her Nuremberg friends a present of marmalade(25) of quinces and of other delicacies, but did not do so, as fruit had failed that year. Subsequently Uncle Michael asked Dona Isabel to procure him two dozen boards of cypress and other costly woods from Madeira and S. Miguel. These boards, however, were not intended as presents, for Jorg Pock paid three ducats for them.
The legal business connected with the distribution of the inheritance of Wolfgang Behaim, whose death at Lisbon, on March 20, 1507, we have already noticed, appears to have been settled without much loss of time. On July 1, 1519, young Martin, who was utterly ignorant of his father's language, appeared before the Court, accompanied by Lazarus Nürnberger as his interpreter.(26) From the legal document drawn up on that occasion and published for the first time by Dr. Günther (p. 81) it appears that Wolfgang had either died intestate or had left his property to his brothers and the only sister who had not yet taken the veil, per stirpes, in equal shares.
The heirs were thus his brother Michael, the son of his brother Martin, the sons (jointly) of his brother Stephen, and his sister Ursula, the wife of Ulrich Futterer.
Young Martin had thus become entitled to a fourth share, or to a total sum of about 350 gulden, as declared repeatedly by his uncle Michael. I have carefully read the legal document referred to, and cannot agree with Dr. Günther (p. 71) when he suggests that Wolfgang left to his nephew the whole of his share in the house on the market, "because of qualms of conscience felt on account of the heartless manner in which he had condemned his `learned brother.'" (27)
Martin Behaim, on July 1 aforesaid, declared that he had sold his share of the house in the market square to his uncle Michael in consideration of his cancelling the debt which he owed him for various advances made to him up to that time.(28) The declaration does not mention the amount of the advances "paid and granted," but it must have exceeded 100 gulden. Furthermore Martin declared that he had received 250 gulden, being one fourth share of the remaining assets of his uncle Wolfgang. The money secured in this manner was laid out in wax, which Jorg Pock hoped would turn out a profitable speculation.(29)
Upon the settlement of the legal business Martin presented a hatchment and candelabrum to the Church of St. Catherine in commemoration of his father, after which he was sent to a schoolmaster at Bamberg to learn German and commercial arithmetic,(30) for his relatives were ashamed that so old a "boy" should not have acquired these accomplishments in his youth. It was intended eventually to establish him in the Netherlands or at Lisbon as a "factor,"(31) or commercial agent. But when his Portuguese relatives were made acquainted with this project, they most strongly objected to his being sent to Lisbon, saying that it would disgrace them, as Martin's father had been a highly esteemed (hochgehalten) gentleman and a knight.(32) Jorg Pock, who, of course, was not in sympathy with these narrow views, nevertheless objected to his being sent to Lisbon, as his friends there would most certainly try to live upon him, and as the trade of Lisbon was moreover going down, whilst that of Seville was rapidly increasing. He suggested that it might on these grounds be better to provide for him in Castile.
But even before the arrival of Jorg Pock's letter of March 27, 1520, which conveyed the earnest protest of Martin's Lisbon friends, the fate of the young man had been decided. He had evidently disappointed the expectations of his uncles, and having secured a second letter from the Senate of the same tenor as the first, except that no reference was made to the homicide, and dated May 12, 1520,(33) he was sent back to his aunt. His stay at Nuremberg had therefore not exceeded a year. Whether the letter he carried away with him helped him to an appointment in the King's household history doth not tell. With him the Portuguese line of the Behaims seems to have died out. Ernesto do Canto (`Archivo dos Açores,' VII., p. 401) knew of no descendants of his in the Azores.
The German line, however, survives to the present day, and the gloomy forebodings of Michael Behaim have not yet been realised.(34)
(1) Ghillany, `Geschichte des Seefahres Ritter Martin Behaim' (Nürnberg, 1853), pp. 107-122, publishes a series of documents bearing upon the history of young Martin, and extending from June 7, 1518, to January 1, 1522. They include two letters from young Martin, three letters from Michael, the brother of Martin, to his nephew and to Jorg Pock, the factor of the Hirschvogels at Lisbon, four letters of Jorg Pock, two letters written by the Magistrate of Nuremberg to the King of Portugal, &c. I have not thought it worth while to reproduce the whole of this correspondence, but have carefully sifted it, and embodied my gleanings in the narrative given above. Translations of the two letters of the Senate have, however, been given by me (see Appendix XII.). back
(2) Michael Behaim, December 16,1518 (Ghillany, p. 113). back
(3) J. Pock to Michael Behaim, March 25, 1519 (Ghillany, 116). Jorg Pock was the "factor" of the Hirschvogels at Lisbon. He went out to India in 1521. back
(4) J. Pock to Michael Behaim, March 25, 1519 (Ghillany, 115). back
(5) J. Pock, March 25, 1519 (Ghillany, p. 115). back
(6) In a letter of January, 1523 (Ghillany, p. 120). back
(7) How things grew much worse by the end of the century may be gathered from Diogo do Couto's `Dialogo do Soldado Pratico,' written 1611, and published Lisbon, 1790. D. do Couto was "chronista" and keeper of the archives of India. back
(8) This is Martin's first version of this incident (see J. Pock's letter of March 13, 1518), but subsequently Pock wrote (August 16, 1518) that Martin had told him that the quarrel took place on the voyage to his mother, with whom he intended to leave 300 cruzados in money and merchandise, which he wished her to take care of during his absence in Germany. No wonder the Nuremberg uncle was puzzled. Michael Behaim to Jorg Pock, December 16, 1518 (Ghillany, p. 113). back
(9) The same to Jorg Pock, November 12, 1518 (Ghillany, p. 112). back
(10) For this letter see Appendix, p. 115. back
(11) Ghillany, p. 107. back
(12) See Ghillany, p. 109. back
(13) Damião de Goes, `Chronica do Rei II. Emanuel,' Coimbra, 1790, IV., c. 34. back
(14) See letter of November 5, 1518 (Ghillany p. 111). back
(15) See Ghillany, p. 112. back
(16) "Herrendienst erbt nit." back
(17) See on these relations p. 15. back
(18) See a letter to his brother-in-law, Frederick Behaim, Ghillany, p.1l6. back
(19) See Michael Behaim's letter of December 16, 1518 (Ghillany, p. 113). back
(20) See Pock's letter of March 25, 1519 (Ghillany, p. 114). back
(21) For a copy of this Bill of Exchange see Ghillany, p. 110. back
(22) Ghillany, p. 117. An account of the money laid out at Antwerp between May 12-27 on behalf of Martin Behaim is still to be found in the Family Archive. back
(23) Michael Behaim's letter, December 16, 1518 (Ghillany, p. 44). back
(24) Uncle Michael repeatedly expressed a wish to send to this lady, for whom he expressed a high respect, an "acceptable present" (verehrung). See, for instance, his letter of November 5, 1518 (Ghillany, p. 111). back
(25) Pock (Ghillany, p. 118) mentions "gut mermalada kütten lattwergen unnd anders." Marmalade may, of course, be made of various fruits, but in Portugal it is usually, if not always, made of quinces. back
(26) Lazarus Nürnberger had returned from India in 1518, bringing with him an ointment supposed to be an excellent remedy for Michael Behaim's gout. In March, 1520, he was back at Lisbon, and in 1521 went out to India for a second time. (Pock's letter of December 16, 1518, and March 27, 1520; Ghillany, pp. 113, 118.) back
(27) See p. 51. back
(28) "Wan er Im ein Nemliche summa gulden dero er von Im gar In seinen Nutz bezalt, gewerbt, und darumb benügig were." back
(29) Pock, March 27, 1520 (Ghillany, p. 118). back
(30) Pock, December 1519 (Ghillany, p. 117). back
(31) A "factor" is the agent of a firm established abroad and commissioned to buy and sell goods on its behalf. He receives no salary, but a commission in lieu thereof. back
(32) Behaim's letter of December 16, 1518, and Pock's of March 27, 1520 (Ghillany, pp. 113, 118). In 1434 King Ferdinand had prohibited knights, priests and men of position to engage in business, so as not to injure the merchants. Fernão Lopez, `Chronicle do Re Ferdinand I. (`Meditos de historia Portuguese,' IV., 127). back
(33) For a translation of this letter see Appendix XII., p. 115. back
(34) The Nuremberg branch of the family is at present represented by Friedrich, Freiherr von Behaim (b. 1854), senior familiae, a bachelor, his younger brother, Wilhelm (b. 1857), the father of four children-three daughters and one boy (b. 1891). back
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