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1499–1500: Back with Maximilian I

Markus Grassl

Augustin Schubinger returned to Maximilian’s court in 1499. He may have joined his new (and former) employer at the beginning of the year while Maximilian was in the Low Countries.[48] However, Schubinger is documented in Augsburg as “augustin pfeiffer […] des Ro. künigs diener” (Augustin piper […] servant of the Roman king)[49] at the end of November or beginning of December, and from the end of the year, his whereabouts matched the royal itinerary. Maximilian spent the winter from November 1499 to February 1500 at Innsbruck. On 23 January 1500, Schubinger received a payment there “zu zerung vnnd vnnderhaltung auf seinen diennst” (for sustenance and maintenance for his service).[50] In January 1500, the Milanese envoy Erasmo Brascha tried unsuccessfully to lure the virtuoso, highly esteemed by Maximilian and his entire court, to Mantua.[51] From June to August 1500, Schubinger received additional payments from the court, “auff seinen soldt” (for his salary) and for Liefergeld, that is, a reimbursement of expenses, in this case to cover the costs of horse maintenance.[52] It is noteworthy that other musicians of Maximilian, the “Pusawners” Peter and Jörg Holland, Jobst and Jörg Nagel, also received Liefergeld between April and September,[53] and that these payments were made in Augsburg.[54] Here, a Reichstag (Imperial Diet) opened on April 10 and concluded five months later. Apparently, Maximilian brought not only his chapel and the trumpet corps but also his “Pfeifer” (pipers) to this event, which, like all Imperial Diets, served also as a stage for the ruler’s self-representation.[55] These pipers likely formed an old-fashioned alta cappella or perhaps even a “modern” cornett and trombone ensemble (» Kap. „Posaun vnd Zinckhen han wir gestelt zu dem Gesang“). The participation of the wind players, specifically a cornettist (perhaps Schubinger), is documented at the solemn High Mass on Pentecost Sunday (June 7) in Augsburg Cathedral. Clemens Sender’s Chronicle of the City of Augsburg reports that “des kinigs canterei” (the king’s chapel) had sung “mit mancherlei trumethen, pfeiffen und orgeln” (with various trumpets, pipes, and organs).[56] Two days later, the  “k. Maj. Sinngerknaben” (His Royal Majesty’s choirboys) were specially honoured “so am Pfingstag in den Zinghken gesunngen haben” (for singing with the cornetti on the feast of Pentecost).[57]

[48] Unless otherwise mentioned, the information about Maximilian’s whereabouts here and in the following is based on Regesta Imperii XIV (online: http://www.regesta-imperii.de/regesten/baende.html), Stälin 1860 sowie Kraus 1899.

[49] D-Asa Baumeisterbücher, vol. 93 (1499), fol. 22v. The payment note concerning Schubinger is not dated, but the preceding and following notes are, respectively, “Samstag vor katharina,” i.e., November 24, and “Samstag post lucie,” i.e., December 15.

[51] RI XIV,3,1 n. 9792, in: Regesta Imperii Online, http://www.regesta-imperii.de/id/1500-01-30_4_0_14_3_1_814_9792. See the text of the letter in: Bertolotti 1890, 25. Based on this letter, the literature sometimes claims that Schubinger was in Mantua in January 1500; see Polk 1989a, 502; Filocamo 2009, 238. According to Filocamo, Schubinger is also mentioned in the spring of 1505 in the correspondence between Isabella and Alfonso d’Este. This possibly forms the basis of Polk 1989a, 501, unsubstantiated statement that Schubinger was active in Mantua in 1505. Definitive clarification will only be possible after an autopsy of the letters, which has yet to be undertaken.

[52] Wessely 1956, 116; Luger 2020, 118 and 136.

[53] Wessely 1956, 101–102.

[54] Schubinger, Jobst, and Jörg Nagel, as well as Jörg Holland, also received a payment from the city; D-Asa Baumeisterbücher, vol. 99 (1505), fol. 27v–28; see Polk 1992b, 86.

[55] As suspected by Kelber 2018, 48, note 90.

[56] In: Hegel (Ed.) 1894, 83. See also Kelber 2018, 115.