Johannes Pauli (about 1455 – after 1530 at
Thann in
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...
) was a German
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
writer.
Life
What little is known of his life rests upon unreliable information.
Ludwig von Pastor rejected the story that he was of Jewish descent, and had been baptised at an early age, taking the name of Johannes Pauli from his godfather.
Pauli became Master of Arts in
Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
, entered the Franciscans (the "Barefooted"), and delivered his first sermon in
Thann in 1479. Two years later, he was sent to the convent at
Oppenheim
Oppenheim ( or ) is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
Location
The town lies on the Upper Rhine in Rhenish Hesse between Mainz and Worms. It is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde (special ad ...
; in 1504 the conventual monastery at
Bern
Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
desired him as a guardian. He held the same office in Strasbourg 1506-10; in 1516 he is mentioned as preacher in
Sélestat
Sélestat (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Schlettstàdt''; German: ''Schlettstadt'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Grand Est region of France. An administrative division (Subprefectures in France, sous-préfecture) of the Bas-Rhin Depa ...
; later in
Villingen
Villingen-Schwenningen (; Low Alemannic: ''Villinge-Schwenninge'') is a city in the Schwarzwald-Baar district in southern Baden-Württemberg, in south-western Germany. It had 89,743 inhabitants as of September 2024.
History
In the Middle Ages, ...
in the
Black Forest
The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...
, and finally in Thann.
Works
Prompted by his acquaintance with
Geiler of Kaisersberg, he published in 1515 "Das Evangelienbuch"; in 1516 "Die Emeis, Buch von der Omeissen"; in 1517 "Die Brösamlin Geilers"; in 1520 "Das Narrenschiff, aus dem Latein ins Deutsch gebracht".
His own work, which assured him a lasting place in German literature, is the collection of farces and humorous stories "Schimpf (Scherz) und Ernst". This a genuine "folk book", written in an easy and plain style, filled with humour and pointed satire, intended to instruct while it amused. "He did not desire," as
Georg Rollenhagen says in his preface to "Froschmäusler", "to make people laugh without teaching them something; his book was like the old legends and sagas, full of fabulous happenings and incidents, but written so that in them, as in a comedy, there are combined with poetry and imagination the plain, unvarnished, bitter truths of life, worded so as to tell serious things in a jocular manner, with a laugh and a smile."
Pauli drew his information from a variety of sources, and his farces became the inspiration of the later German poets, especially for
Hans Sachs
Hans Sachs (5 November 1494 – 19 January 1576) was a German ''Meistersinger'' ("mastersinger"), poetry, poet, playwright, and shoemaking, shoemaker.
Biography
Hans Sachs was born in Nuremberg (). As a child he attended a singing school that w ...
. He exercised a wide influence upon the culture of the whole century.
References
;Attribution
* The entry cites:
**Karl Veith, ''Ueber den Barfüsser Johannes Pauli'' (Vienna, 1839);
**
Hermann Oesterley, ''Johannes Paulis Schimpf und Ernst'' (Stuttgart, 1866);
**
Eubel
Konrad Eubel or Conradus Eubel (19 January 1842 – 5 February 1923) was a German Franciscan historian. He is known for his reference work, the ''Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi'', on medieval popes, cardinals and bishops. It appeared in thre ...
, ''Gesch. der oberdeutschen Minoritenprovinz'' (Wurzburg, 1886);
**
Johannes Janssen, ''Gesch. des deutschen Volkes'', ed.
Ludwig von Pastor, VI (Freiburg, 1901);
**Felix Bobertag, ''Deutsche Nationallitteratur'' (Kürschner), XXIV;
**, ''Deutsche Volkschwänke des 16. Jahrhunderts'' (Kempten, 1909).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pauli, Johannes
1455 births
German Franciscans
Year of death unknown
German male writers