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1493/94–1499: At the Court of Maximilian I and Philip the Fair

Markus Grassl

Augustin Schubinger was last recorded in Florence in 1493.[38] Soon after, he left the city and returned to Habsburg service. The exact timing of this transition is unknown, but it is assumed that Schubinger’s departure from Florence was due to the crisis the city faced following the death of Lorenzo de’ Medici in 1492, which significantly impacted the city’s musical life. In 1493, key musical institutions such as the chapels at the Cathedral, San Giovanni, and Santissima Annunziata were dissolved. Augustin was first documented as a musician for Maximilian I in February 1495.[39] It is possible – even if it cannot be proven – that he was among the cornett and trombone players who performed at the wedding mass of Maximilian and Bianca Maria Sforza on March 16, 1494, in Innsbruck, as described by an envoy from Ferrara  (» I. Music and ceremony in Maximilian’s Innsbruck. Maximilian in Innsbruck).[40]

Following the common practice of Habsburg rulers to make their servants available to other members of the dynasty for shorter or longer periods, Schubinger transferred to the service of Philip the Fair in 1496/97.

Abb. Philipp der Schöne (um 1500)

Meister der Magdalenenlegende (tätig um 1490 – um 1526 in Brüssel [?]), Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Gemäldegalerie (© KHM-Museumsverband).

 

It cannot be definitively proven that Schubinger’s move was related to Maximilian’s financial distress at the time, which forced him to partially dismiss his musicians, partially “outsource” them, or finance them from sources other than his Innsbruck Treasury, but this would not be implausible.[41] In any case, Schubinger received a one-time payment in January 1497 for the “bons et agréables services” he had rendered to Philip the Fair,[42] suggesting that Schubinger’s presence in the Low Countries began before the end of 1496/97. This makes the previously expressed assumption likely that he was the “teutonicus” who played the cornett (“cornu”) at a mass in the collegiate church of Sint Goedele in Brussels in 1496.[43]

A little later, on March 10, 1497, Schubinger was permanently appointed as “varlet de chambre et joueur des cornet et du lut,”[44] and consequently appears under the “pensionnaires” in the “Ordonnance de l’hôtel” of Philip, issued on that day.[45] Both indicate a privileged position: As a pensionnaire, Schubinger received an annual fixed salary independent of his presence at court, amounting to 270 livres, paid in four instalments every three months. This distinguished him from the majority of court employees, who received a daily wage only for the days they actually spent at court.[46] Furthermore, he held the position of va(r)let de chambre, which was granted to specially qualified individuals such as craftsmen or artists, representing the highest rank attainable at court and including direct personal interaction with the prince.[47] This was presumably a necessity given Schubinger’s appointment as lutenist, exercising a musical activity typically situated in a more intimate setting.

[38] Polk 1986, 68.

[39] D-Asa, Baumeisterbücher, vol. 89 (1495), fol. 17r: “Augustin Schubinger der K Mt Trumbetter.” Senn 1954, 21, mentions (but without further source reference) an “apparently temporary” presence of Schubinger in Innsbruck in 1493.

[40] A 1495/96 payment by the city of Basel to “des romischen konigs zinken bloser” may also refer to Schubinger. See Ernst 1945, 222; Polk 1989b, 88.

[41] Wiesflecker 1971–1986, vol. 2, 255–256; Schwindt 2018c, 94–95.

[42] Payment record January 1497, F-Lad B 2159, fol. 178r–178v.

[43] Haggh 1988, 219; Polk 1992b, 88.

[44] Appointment document March 10, 1497, F-Lad B 2160, No. 71187. My heartfelt thanks to Grantley McDonald for bringing this and the document mentioned in note 43 to my attention.

[46] Bessey et al. (Eds.) 2019, 23–24. I thank Werner Paravicini for relevant information (email, February 4, 2022).