Murner, Thomas
Murner, Thomas
Greatest German satirist of the sixteenth century, b. at Oberehnheim, Alsace, 24 Dec., 1475; d. there, 1537. During the epoch immediately preceding and during the early years of the Reformation, three figures are especially prominent among the loyal champions of the Church in Germany, namely Johann Geller von Kaysersberg, his friend, Sebastian, the well-known satirist, and Thomas Murner, the ablest and most formidable of Luther’s opponents. In 1481 Murner’s parents, pious people in comfortable circumstances, settled in Strasburg, where his father practised as an advocate. Thomas, who was of delicate health, entered the Franciscan Order at the age of sixteen. After his ordination, he began his restless and unsettled life, visiting the most celebrated universities either as a student or as a teacher. He studied theology at Paris, philosophy and mathematics at Cracow, and law at Freiburg, where he was awarded the degree of bachelor of Theology in 1500. Six years later, when again at Freiburg, he was made Doctor of Theology. In 1518 he graduated Doctor of Laws at Basle. His impulse towards a roving life was due, not only to his love of learning, but also to his mission as a preacher and his zeal for the interests of his order. From 1519 he took part in the controversies which began with the appearance of Luther as a reformer. In 1523 he went to England and was cordially received by Henry VIII, whose book on the sacraments he had translated into German the previous year. On his return to Strasburg, he found himself compelled to fly before the rebellious peasants and seek refuge at Lucerne. Here he became the most determined adversary of Zwingli. Together with Dr. Eck, he took part in the religious discussion at Baden in 1526. When Lucerne was taken in the first War of Kappel (1529), Murner was to have been given up. He managed, however, to escape, and, after many wanderings, was appointed pastor in his birth-place, where he spent the rest of his days.
As an author, Murner was at first an enthusiastic friend of Humanism. In Cracow he lectured on literary æsthetics, and in Freiburg on Vergil, whose “Æneid” he had translated. In token of gratitude for his appointment as poet-laureate in 1505, he dedicated this translation to Emperor Maximilian. In his “Ludus studentum Friburgensium” (1511),Murner explains the rules of prosody and quantity after the fashion of a game of chess and backgammon. This method he had already employed four years before at Cracow in his “Chartiludium logicæ”, but his application of it to jurisprudence provoked the derision of the lawyers. His sympathy with Humanism did not save him from the resentment of the Alsacian Humanists, when he attacked Wimpfeling’s “Germania”, which aimed at proving that Alsace had never belonged to France. Murner’s defence of his position, the “Germania nova”, was suppressed by the Strasburg authorities: a further attempt at justifying himself against the attacks of the partisans of Wimpfeling also proved unsuccessful, and did not prevent his opponents from distorting his name into Murnar (growling fool). Even, in this early controversy, Murner had shown a sharp eye for his opponents’ weaknesses, and a marked gift for exposing them to ridicule: in his subsequent writings, he is revealed as a master of satire. Just as Geiler illustrated his popular sermons with comparisons drawn from everyday life, Murner compares, in his “Andächtige geistliche Badefahrt” (1511), the forgiveness of sins to a hydropathic treatment. In “Narrenbeschwörung” and “Schelmenzunft” he deals with the same subject as Brant’s “Narrenschiff”, but his work is entirely original in treatment and far surpasses the earlier work in its popular appeal, its wit, and its vigour¯degenerating, indeed, at times into coarseness. His subsequent satires, “Gäuchmatt” (Fools’ Meadow) and “Die Mühle von Schwindelsheim und Gretmüllerin Jahrzeit”, in which he severely criticizes a special kind of fools, the “fools of love”, form a kind of sequel to the “Schelmenzunft”. There is no station, either clerical or lay, that is spared from his castigation.
The appearance of Luther diverted Murner’s satire into a new course. Regarding the Wittenberg monk at first as a well-intentioned ally in the battle against the evils afflicting the Church, Murner addressed to him in 1520 an appeal entitled “Christliche und brüderliche Ermahnung an den hochgelehrten Doctor Martin Luther”, which was followed by other pamphlets refuting and warning him and beseeching him to abandon his ruinous undertaking. In his “Neues Lied vom Untergang des christlichen Glaubens” (1521), Murner gives feeling expression to his sorrow over the destructive tendencies of the religious innovation. But, when the sole effect of his attempts at conciliation was to bring upon him a shower of lies and calumnies, Murner dealt Luther a crushing blow in his work, “Von dem grossen Lutherischen Narren wie ihn Doctor Murner beschworen hat”. Here Murner rises to heights of satire elsewhere unattained during his whole epoch. All the reformatory endeavours are embodied in the “Great Fool”, and the newly-founded church is treated allegorically as Luther’s daughter Adelheid, who “has a shocking scald-head.” Murner wrote many other satires against the reformers, but none which in energy and wit equals this work. This work, so full of fight and honest zeal for the old Faith, was subjected to much calumny and derision during his lifetime, but was never vanquished in controversy. Later generations did him justice. Lessing intended to write a “defence” of Murner, and literary historiographers (especially Kurtz, Vilmar, and Gödeke) have recognized his great importance in the history of literature. Critics have pointed out in his works a peculiar and original metrical and rhythmical system, which distinguished him from all poets of his time. His writings show that he possessed in a conspicuous degree the culture of his age. No doubt is entertained to-day of the purity of his intentions and the probity of his character.
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GÖDEKE, Grundriss (2nd ed., 1884-1904), II, 215-20, mentions all Murner’s (59) works. Recently edited are: Schelmenzunft by MATTHIAS; Gäuchmatt by UHL; Narrenbeschwörung by SPANIER. Consult POPE, Die Metrik u. Rhythmik M.’s (1898); OTT, Ueber M.’s Verhältnis zu Geiler (Allemania, 23). Murner is, of course, not forgotten in the numerous Protestant writings on the Reformation, which generally criticize him severely. Among recent Catholic writings of JANSSEN-PASTOR, Gesch. des deutschen Volkes, VI (15th ed., 1901); SALZER, Illustrierte Gesch. der deutschen Lit. (in course of publication), pp. 520-24.
N. SCHEID. Transcribed by WGKofron
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XCopyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Murner, Thomas
a noted German satirist and most decided opponent of the Reformation, was born in Strasburg December 24, 1475. He early entered a Franciscan monastery, and then studied at the principal universities of Europe, devoting himself particularly to theology and philosophy, and quickly gained a reputation for ability, marred, however, by a want of earnestness and a quarrelsome disposition. At Paris he acquired the degree of A.M., and in 1506 the emperor Maximilian nominated him poeta laureatus. He lost a place in the conventual Latin school of Strasburg by his invective against Wimpfeling, and afterwards led an unsteady life, preaching for some time at Frankfort-on-the-Main (1512). At this time he battled against the clerical crimes and abuses, generally incurring the displeasure of his congregation by the coarse personalities of his sermons. He was successively expelled from Freiburg, Troves, and Venice. In 1512 he edited his Narrenbeschworung, of which his Der Schelmen Zunft (Frankfort, 1512) may be regarded as a continuation. These works, which show considerable satirical talents, are remarkable imitations of Sebastian Brandt’s celebrated poem, called Narrenschif. In his Gauchmatt (Basle, 1519) he ridicules the effeminate manhood of some of his contemporaries; and in his Logica memorativa, or Chartiludium logicae, and in his Ludus studentium Friburgensium he proves himself a predecessor of the renowned pedagogue, Basedow, trying to show how logic and prosody may be studied to advantage at different games.
In 1519 he seems to have resumed his functions in the conventual school of Strasburg, and made himself conspicuous as one of the most virulent opponents of the Reformation. When Hedio and Capito were preaching at Strasburg, Murner opposed them violently (see Hottinger, Helvetische Kirchengesch. 3:145). As ambassador of the bishop of Strasburg, he afterwards attended the Diet at Nuremberg to accuse the Council of Strasburg (Sleidan, volume 4). He opposed Luther’s book, An den Adel deutscher Nation, by a work of similar title, An den grossmachtigsten und durchlauchtigsten Adel deutscher Nation, dass sie den christlichen Glauben beschirmen wider den Zerstorer des Glaubens Christi, Martinum Luther, einen Verfuhrer der einfaltigen Christen. Although he translated Luther’s Letter against Henry VIII, and his Babylonische Gefangenschaft from Latin into German, he rejected all his teachings entirely. He called Luther a Catilina, and received himself the name of Lutheromastix. According to a letter of Luther to Brismann, Murner left the monastery (De Wette, 2:58). This statement, however, is incorrect. In 1523 Murner repaired to England, in compliance with an invitation from Henry VIII, but troubles in his convent compelled him to return. Some of his writings against the Reformation had already been burned by order of the Diet of Worms. To elude the vigilance of the authorities he established a press of his own, which, however, was destroyed by a mob, together with his house. He was compelled to flee to Switzerland, whence he was in time likewise expelled. His most celebrated satirical work is entitled Von dem grossen Lutherischen Narren (Strasburg, 1522; new edition by Henry Kurtz, Zurich, 1848), which was answered by Murnarus Leriethus vulgo dictus Halbnarr odes Gansprediger. The latter part of his personal history is not known, although he is supposed to have lived in misery, and to have died at Heidelberg about 1536. See Waldau, Nachricht. v. Thom. Murner Leben and Schriften; Panzer, Annales d. deutsch. Litt.; Ruchat, Histoire de la Reform. de la Suisse; Yung, Gesch. d. Refoarm. i. Strasburg, page 238 sq.; Hagen, Deutschland’s liter. uand relig. Verhaltnisse im Reformatiozs-zeitalter, 2:61, 183 sq.; Hagenbach, Kirchengesch. volume 3; For. Qu. 20:74.