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Augsburg with Citizenship

Markus Grassl

Since the end of his service for Philip the Fair and his return to Maximilian I’s court, Schubinger was frequently documented in Augsburg. He stayed there partly with his employer but also several times independently of the main court camp.[77] This corresponds to a known pattern, since Augsburg, alongside Innsbruck, was the preferred place where Maximilian’s musicians, sometimes individually, sometimes in smaller groups, set up their quarters between their stays at court.[78]

Although there are no indications that Schubinger, during his service with Maximilian, settled permanently in Augsburg, as Paul Hofhaimer did from 1507, a lasting closer connection to his hometown can be assumed. He retained his citizenship,[79] and at least periodically, his family probably remained in Augsburg during his absence. This is suggested by the fact that only his wife appears in the tax records for many years.[80] Being recorded in the tax books usually required personal presence in the city, at least during the tax survey conducted in October/November.[81] It is thus plausible that Schubinger’s wife remained in Augsburg while he was away. Furthermore, the tax books, organized by tax districts, reveal that the Schubingers lived at the Rossmarkt in the Jakobervorstadt until 1505. By 1507 they had moved to the area known as “Kappenzipfel”, where the famous Fuggerei was built around 1520.[82]

Abb. Jörg Selds Stadtplan von Augsburg 1521 / Abb. Jörg Seld, Augsburg city map of 1521

Abb. Jörg Selds Stadtplan von Augsburg 1521

1) Barfüßerkirche, 2) Fuggerei, 3) Perlachturm, 4) Rossmarkt.

Jörg Seld, Plan von Augsburg, Holzschnitt, 1521. Augsburg, Städtische Kunstsammlungen, Inv.Nr. G 26455 (Ausschnitt). Reproduktion: Worm 2018, 381.

/ 1) Carmelite church, 2) Fuggerei, 3) Perlach tower, 4) Rossmarkt

Jörg Seld, Augsburg city map, woodcut, 1521. Augsburg, Städtische Kunstsammlungen, Inv.Nr. G 26455 (Ausschnitt). Reproduktion: Worm 2018, 381.

It is noticeable that the tax records for Schubinger and his wife record that no amount was to be paid, or the note “dat nihil” (pays nothing) is found.[83] The reason for this cannot be definitively determined, but it is possible that Schubinger – like Paul Hofhaimer – enjoyed an imperial tax exemption.[84]

We know of Schubinger’s stays in Augsburg primarily through the city’s expenditure books, the so-called Baumeisterbücher. These books record numerous payments to servants, especially musicians of princes of the Holy Roman Empire, particularly Maximilian I, each year under the category “varende leute” (travelling persons).[85] It is not entirely clear what prompted the city to make these payments, which typically amounted to two gulden per person. Since, with few exceptions, these were instrumental musicians, the payments are most plausibly explained as compensation for performances at typical events such as entries, celebrations, or dance events, either alongside the city’s own pipers, or instead of them.[86]

[77] D-Asa Baumeisterbücher, vol. 101 (1507), fol. 24r: “Samstag nach Letare [20 March]. […] / Item ij guldin Augustin Kö mayt Busaner”; vol. 103 (1509), fol. 24r: “Samstag post Cantate [12 May]. / Item ij guldin dem Augustein Kay mayt Busaner”; vol. 106 (1512), fol. 30v: “Samstag post Katherine [27 November] / Item ij gulden dem Augustein pfeiffer Kay mt diener”; vol. 108 (1514), fol. 26r: “Samstag nach Egidy [2 September] / Item ij guldin Augustein Busaner Kay mayt diener”; vol. 111 (1517), fol. 30r: “Samstag nach Egidij [5 September] / Item iiij guldin vlrichen vnd Augustein von augsburg busanern”; vol. 112 (1518), fol. 31r: “Samstag Leonhardj [6 November] / Item ij guldin augustein von Augsburg Kay mt. busaner.”

[78] Schwindt 2018c, 202–207.

[79] This is evident from the form of Schubinger’s entry in the Augsburg tax books, which lacks the designation typical for foreigners or non-citizens. For a detailed discussion of these sources and the Augsburg tax system of the late Middle Ages and Early Modern period: Clasen 1976 LIT; Krug 2006.

[80] D-Asa Steuerbücher 1495, fol. 14v (category c); 1501: fol. 18v (category d); 1505, fol. 17v; 1507, fol. 15r; 1508, fol. 15v (category c); 1509, fol. 16r (category a).

[81] Clasen 1976, 17–18.

[82] The claim that Schubinger was the owner of a house at Rossmarkt (so Busch-Salmen 1992, 65), cannot be verified based on the tax books.

[83] The Augsburg tax books from 1521 and 1522 mention a “Magdalena Schubingerin” with a tax payment; D-Asa tax books 1521, fol. 18v (category d), 1522, fol. 18r (category b). This person was likely not Schubinger’s wife (but perhaps his unmarried daughter?), because wives were usually recorded with their husband’s surname preceded by their first name and followed by the suffix “in” or with a reference to their marital status (e.g., in 1509, Schubinger’s wife: “magdalena schubingerin Augstein pfeiffers weib”). See Clasen 1976, 19.

[84] For Hofhaimer’s tax exemption, which was not fully accepted by the city authorities, see Nedden 1932/1933, 28–29; Schuler 1995.

[85] Böhm 1998, 166–168.

[86] Schwindt 2018c, 202–203;  Schwindt 2020, 63–64; Birkendorf 1994, vol. 3, 243. For municipal expenses for performances by instrumentalists, see also » E. Städtisches Musikleben.