Johannes Salat (also ''Hans Salat'', ''Hans Seiler'', born 1498 in

Sursee Sursee is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Sursee (Amt), Sursee in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Lucerne (canton), Lucerne, Switzerland. Sursee is located at the northern end of Lake Sempach, not far from wh ...

, died before 23 October 1561) was a Swiss chronicler, dramatist and mercenary. Much of his life is documented in his diary entries, covering the years 1517 to 1550. A rope-maker by education, he may also have attended the Latin college in

. He lived in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

during 1511 to 1519, and again in Sursee during 1519/20 before moving to

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

, where he lived during the 1520s and 1530s, during 1522 to 1527 intermittently participating in several military campaigns in French service in the

Italian Wars The Italian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between 1494 and 1559, mostly in the Italian Peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and Mediterranean Sea. The primary belligerents were the House of Valois, Valois kings o ...

as quartermaster, and in the

Musso war The Musso War (or War of Musso) was an armed conflict between the federation of the Three Leagues (), which functioned as an associate state of the Old Swiss Confederacy, and the Duchy of Milan early in the 16th century. The conflict took place in ...

in the service of Lucerne. He was also present in the

Wars of Kappel The wars of Kappel (''Kappelerkriege'') is a collective term for two armed conflicts fought near Kappel am Albis between the Catholic and the Protestant cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy during the Reformation in Switzerland. First War The ...

against

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

in 1529 and 1531. He received Lucerne citizenship in 1529 (after the First War of Kappel), and from 1531 he worked as secretary to the Lucerne court of justice, a prestigious position earlier held by other notable Swiss chroniclers ( Melchior Russ,

Petermann Etterlin Petermann Etterlin (c. 1430/40 – c. 1509) was born in Lucerne, Switzerland, as the son of Egloff Etterlin, who served as chronicler of the city of Lucerne from 1427 to 1453.Müller, p. 397. Although his parents had destined him for an eccl ...

), and published literary works, often of a polemical and satirical nature. He also compiled historical works commissioned by the Catholic cantons of the Swiss Confederacy. He attacked the reformation in his 1531 ''Tanngrotz'' (a term for "fir-sprig", the badge of the Catholic troops). When

Heinrich Bullinger Heinrich Bullinger (18 July 1504 – 17 September 1575) was a Swiss Reformer and theologian, the successor of Huldrych Zwingli as head of the Church of Zürich and a pastor at the Grossmünster. One of the most important leaders of the Swiss Re ...

reacted in a pamphlet ''Salz zum Salat'' (i.e. "salt for the salad", punning on Salat's surname), he followed up with the much more acrimonious ''Triumphus Herculis Helvetici'' which portrayed Zwingli and his Reformation as an obscene

witches' sabbath A Witches' Sabbath is a purported gathering of those believed to practice witchcraft and other rituals. The phrase became especially popular in the 20th century. Origin of the phrase The most infamous and influential work of witch-hunting lor ...

. In 1537, Salat published a more conciliatory "book of warning to the

Thirteen Cantons The early modern period, early modern history of the Old Swiss Confederacy (''Eidgenossenschaft'', also known as the "Swiss Republic" or ''Republica Helvetiorum'') and its constituent Thirteen Cantons encompasses the time of the Thirty Years' W ...

". Salat was also in charge of several dramatic performances during his time at Lucerne, the most notable of which was the Easter play at Lucerne in 1538. He lost his employment in Lucerne due to fraud in 1540 and worked in Fribourg as school-master during the 1540s. He does not appear to have fared well in Fribourg, repeatedly imploring the Lucerne authorities to let him return, even threatening to change his allegiance to the Protestant camp should they refuse. In 1547 he lost his post as a school-master due to the performance of a students' play that was considered lewd. From that time, he survived offering his services as a leech, alchemist and astrologist, until he was allowed to return to Sursee in 1552 after which there are no more records of him. He was dead by October 1561.

Bibliography

*1531 ''Tanngrotz, ein schöner Spruch von dem Krieg der fünf Orte'' (versified account of the

Second War of Kappel The Second War of Kappel () was an armed conflict in 1531 between the Catholic and the Protestant cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy during the Reformation in Switzerland. Background The peace concluded after the First War of Kappel two yea ...

from the Catholic perspective; ''Tanngrotz'' is a word for "fir-sprig", the badge of the Catholic troops during the wars of Reformation; ed. Baechtold 1876). *1532, ''Triumphus Herculis Helvetici'' ("the triumph of the Swiss Hercules", in satirical reference to

Ulrich Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a Swiss Christian theologian, musician, and leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swis ...

, preserved in a 17th-century copy; compares the Reformation to a

) *Chronicle of the Swiss Reformation, 1517–34 (ed. Ruth Jörg, Zürich 1986
e-helvetica copy
*1537 ''Der verlorene Sohn'' ("the prodigal son", drama, ed. in: Walter Haas; Martin Stern: ''Fünf Komödien des 16. Jahrhunderts.'' Bern 1989, 61–181) *1537 ''Eyn nutzlichs biechlin in warnungs wyss, an die XIII Ort'' (polemical treatise) *''Life'' of

Niklaus von Flüe Niklaus may refer to: In Swiss geography: * Feldbrunnen-St. Niklaus * St. Niklaus People with the given name or surname Niklaus: * Niklaus (name) See also *Jack Nicklaus * Nicholas (name) Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of ...

, published as: **1537 ''Rechte ware History, Legend und leben des frommen, ... Nicolausen von der Flü, gebornenn Landsman ob dem Wald inn Underwalden...'' (Augsburg), ed. Franz Josef Schiffmann as ''Das Leben des sel. Bruder Klaus von Johannes Salat, Gerichtsschreiber in Lucern'' in: Geschichtsfreund 23, 1868, 107-153. **1571 ''Warhafftige wunderbarliche Histori und Leben des recht frommen andächtigen Gottseligen weytberümpten Nicolausen von der Flü...'' (Dillingen) *Diary (ed. Baechtold 1876)

References

* * *

Jakob Baechtold Jakob Baechtold, surname sometimes spelled as Bächtold (27 January 1848, in Schleitheim – 7 August 1897, in Zürich) was a Swiss literary scholar. He studied German studies, German philology under Adolf Holtzmann at the University of Heide ...

, ''Hans Salat, ein schweiz. Chronist und Dichter aus der ersten Hälfte des XVI. Jahrhunderts. Sein Leben und seine Schriften'', Basel, 1876. * * Kuno Müller: ''Das abenteuerliche Leben des Luzerner Dichters Hans Salat, 1498-1561''. Luzern 1967. * Frech, S. “PROVERBIALITY IN THE REFORMATION CHRONICLE BY JOHANNES SALAT (1498–1561)”. ''Proverbium'' - Yearbook, vol. 40, no. 1, July 2023, pp. 68-88, doi:10.29162/pv.40.1.353.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salat, Johannes 1498 births 16th-century deaths People from Sursee District Swiss Roman Catholics Swiss chroniclers Swiss medical writers 16th-century Swiss writers Swiss mercenaries