FISCHART

fischart, johann (c. 1545-1591), german satirist and publicist, was born, probably at strassburg (but according to some accounts at mainz), in or about the year 1545, and was educated at worms in the house of kaspar scheid, whom in the preface to his _eulenspiegel_ he mentions as his "cousin and preceptor." he appears to have travelled in italy, the netherlands, france and england, and on his return to have taken the degree of _doctor juris_ at basel. from 1575 to 1581, within which period most of his works were written, he lived with, and was probably associated in the business of, his sister's husband, bernhard jobin, a printer at strassburg, who published many of his books. in 1581 fischart was attached, as advocate to the reichskammergericht (imperial court of appeal) at spires, and in 1583, when he married, was appointed _amtmann_ (magistrate) at forbach near saarbrucken. here he died in the winter of 1590-1591. fischart wrote under various feigned names, such as mentzer, menzer, reznem, huldrich elloposkleros, jesuwalt pickhart, winhold alkofribas wustblutus, ulrich mansehr von treubach, and im fischen gilt's mischen; and it is partly owing to this fact that there is doubt whether some of the works attributed to him are really his. more than 50 satirical works, however, both in prose and verse, remain authentic, among which are--_nachtrab oder nebelkrah_ (1570), a satire against one jakob rabe, who had become a convert to the roman catholic church; _von st dominici des predigermonchs und st francisci barfussers artlichem leben_ (1571), a poem with the expressive motto "sie haben nasen und riechen's nit" (ye have noses and smell it not), written to defend the protestants against certain wicked accusations, one of which was that luther held communion with the devil; _eulenspiegel reimensweis_ (written 1571, published 1572); _aller praktik grossmutter_ (1572), after rabelais's _prognostication pantagrueline_; _floh haz, weiber traz_ (1573), in which he describes a battle between fleas and women; _affentheuerliche und ungeheuerliche geschichtschrift vom leben, rhaten und thaten der ... helden und herren grandgusier gargantoa und pantagruel_, also after rabelais (1575, and again under the modified title, _naupengeheurliche geschichtklitterung_, 1577); _neue kunstliche figuren biblischer historien_ (1576); _anmahnung zur christlichen kinderzucht_ (1576); _das gluckhafft schiff von zurich_ (1576, republished 1828, with an introduction by the poet ludwig uhland), a poem commemorating the adventure of a company of zurich arquebusiers, who sailed from their native town to strassburg in one day, and brought, as a proof of this feat, a kettleful of _hirsebrei_ (millet), which had been cooked in zurich, still warm into strassburg, and intended to illustrate the proverb "perseverance overcomes all difficulties"; _podagrammisch trostbuchlein_ (1577); _philosophisch ehzuchtbuchlein_ (1578); the celebrated _bienenkorb des heiligen romischen immenschwarms_, &c., a modification of the dutch _de roomsche byen-korf_, by philipp marnix of st aldegonde, published in 1579 and reprinted in 1847; _der heilig brotkorb_ (1580), after calvin's _traite des reliques_; _das vierhornige jesuiterhutlein_, a rhymed satire against the jesuits (1580); and a number of smaller poems. to fischart also have been attributed some "psalmen und geistliche lieder" which appeared in a strassburg hymn-book of 1576. fischart had studied not only the ancient literatures, but also those of italy, france, the netherlands and england. he was a lawyer, a theologian, a satirist and the most powerful protestant publicist of the counter-reformation period; in politics he was a republican. above all, he is a master of language, and was indefatigable with his pen. his satire was levelled mercilessly at all perversities in the public and private life of his time--at astrological superstition, scholastic pedantry, ancestral pride, but especially at the papal dignity and the lives of the priesthood and the jesuits. he indulged in the wildest witticisms, the most abandoned caricature; but all this he did with a serious purpose. as a poet, he is characterized by the eloquence and picturesqueness of his style and the symbolical language he employed. thirty years after fischart's death his writings, once so popular, were almost entirely forgotten. recalled to the public attention by johann jakob bodmer and gotthold ephraim lessing, it is only recently that his works have come to be a subject of investigation, and his position in german literature to be fully understood. freiherr von meusebach, whose valuable collection of fischart's works has passed into the possession of the royal library in berlin, deals in his _fischartstudien_ (halle, 1879) with the great satirist. fischart's poetical works were published by hermann kurz in three volumes (leipzig, 1866-1868); and selections by k. goedeke (leipzig, 1800) and by a. hauffen in kurschner's _deutsche nationalliteratur_ (stuttgart, 1893); _die geschichtklitterung_ and some minor writings appeared in scheible's _kloster_, vols. 7 and 10 (stuttgart, 1847-1848). _das gluckhafft schiff_ has been frequently reprinted, critical edition by j. baechtold (1880). see for further biographical details, erich schmidt in the _allgemeine deutsche biographie_, vol. 7; a.f.c. vilmar in ersch and gruber's _encyclopaedie_; w. wackernagel, _johann fischart von strassburg und basels anteil an ihm_ (2nd ed., basel, 1875); p. besson, _etude sur jean fischart_ (paris, 1889); and a. hauffen, "fischart-studien" (in _euphorion_, 1896-1909).