Liber Vagatorum

Liber Vagatorum comprises three parts.{{harvnb|Rosenfeld|1988|p=100}}.

The first part is organised in twenty-eight chapters. The text provides a categorisation and description of various types of beggars and vagrants found in medieval German society, detailing their methods of deception and strategies for soliciting alms. {{lang|de|Bregers}}, for example, are honest paupers who beg out of necessity, often ashamed of their circumstances, and are typically known to the local community. In contrast, {{lang|de|Stabülers}} are itinerant beggars who travel from one religious site to another with their families, adorned with saintly symbols on their hats and cloaks, and continually beg without seeking work. {{lang|de|Lossners}} claim to have been imprisoned for religious reasons, often using forged letters from foreign princes to support their stories and carrying chains or other symbols of captivity, usually stolen or fabricated. {{lang|de|Klenkners}} feign physical disabilities, such as missing limbs, to evoke sympathy, often begging at fairs or church doors.

{{lang|de|Dobissers}} pose as friars, soliciting donations for the supposed repair of churches or religious sites. Kammesierers are former scholars or students who, having fallen into disrepute, often due to gambling or other vices, resort to begging. Grantners pretend to suffer from epilepsy or similar ailments, often staging dramatic seizures to elicit sympathy and donations. Dutzers claim to be on religious pilgrimages, requesting specific alms each day and fabricating elaborate stories to justify their need for precise sums. Dallingers, former executioners, publicly whip themselves as penance. Dützbetterins are women who pretend to be in childbirth or claim to have given birth to monstrous creatures, using such stories to beg for charity.{{Ref label|B|b|none}} Schwanfelders are beggars who strip naked and feign suffering from extreme cold to receive clothing donations, which they later sell. Voppers are primarily women who pretend to be possessed by demons, often working with accomplices who claim to be helping them exorcise the demons in exchange for alms.

The text portrays these beggars as largely deceitful, manipulating religious and charitable sentiments to obtain financial support through fraudulent means. It advises caution in giving alms to such individuals, as many are not genuinely in need.

The second instructs the reader on how to avoid their traps and trickery.

=== Part III ===

The third provides a glossary of Rotwelsch words.

Liber Vagatorum is, despite its Latin title, entirely written in German except for the Rotwelsch words, thereby appealed to a broader audience rather than the learned class of the era. Most of the earliest editions were adorned on the title page with a woodcut of a beggar leading his wife and child on their journey on foot. A woodcut of a fool on horseback holding a hand mirror—created by Hans Dorn, a printer who was active in Brunswick—was used as the title illustration of a later edition.{{harvnb|Hill-Zenk|2010|p=331}}

John Camden Hotten, who translated Liber Vagatorum into English in 1860, argued that the book was compiled from the reports of {{ill|Johannes Knebel|de|Johannes Knebel}}, detailing trials held in Basel, Switzerland, in 1475. During these trials, a large number of vagabonds, beggars, and mendicants of various kinds were arrested and interrogated.{{harvnb|Hotten|1860|p=xiii}}. These events were later chronicled by Hieronymus Wilhelm Ebner von Eschenbach, a Nuremberg diplomat and scholar, whose manuscript was included in {{ill|Johann Heumann von Teutschenbrunn|de}}'s {{lang|la|Heumanni Exercitationes iuris universi}} (1749), specifically in Volume One, Chapter XIII, "{{Lang|la|Observatio de lingua occulta}} ('An observation of a secret language')". Knebel's account closely aligns with Ebner's manuscript. Friedrich Kluge, a prominent German philologist, posited that Liber Vagatorum drew partially from the {{lang|de|Basler Rathsmandat wider die Gilen und Lamen}} ('Basel Council's Mandate against the Gilen and Lamen'), published around 1450, which included a brief list of Rotwelsch words. Kluge observed that the three sections of Liber Vagatorum lacked cohesive integration; for instance, the glossary in the third section omits several Rotwelsch terms mentioned earlier in the text. This observation led Kluge to hypothesise that the book was likely compiled from multiple sources.{{harvnb|Kluge|1901|p=35}}.

A widely accepted theory regarding the authorship of Liber Vagatorum posits that {{ill|Matthias Hütlin|de|Matthias Hütlin}}, the {{lang|de|Spitalmeister}} ({{literal|hospital master}}) of Pforzheim, may have been the anonymous compiler of the work. Hütlin, who served as the administrator of the city hospital in Pforzheim, belonged to the Order of the Holy Ghost, a Roman Catholic order dedicated to the care of the poor, sick, and orphaned, which managed numerous hospitals throughout Europe. Initially serving as {{lang|la|provisor hospitalis}} ({{literal|hospital provider}}), he was elected Spitalmeister of Pforzheim in 1500 by the order's general chapter in Strasbourg, upon the recommendation of Christopher I, Margrave of Baden.{{harvnb|Achnitz|2015|p=1687}}. The Order's involvement in social welfare provision and its exposure to marginalised populations frequenting hospitals make Hütlin a plausible candidate for authoring a text concerned with the behaviours and deceptions of itinerants and beggars. However, despite the compelling nature of this theory, it remains contested.{{harvnb|Modestin|2020|p=64}}.

The four earliest editions of Liber Vagatorum were likely printed in 1509 or 1510, with the first printed in Pforzheim in High German.{{harvnb|Considine|2017|p=36}}. The book gained immediate popularity, leading to at least 14 more editions by 1511. Some of these were in Low German or Low Rhenish, and one edition expanded the Rotwelsch glossary to include 280 words.{{harvnb|Considine|2017|p=37}}.

File:Von der falschen Betler Buberey.jpg's preface in {{lang|de|Von der falschen Betler Büberey}} ('On the Deceitful Deeds of Beggars'), with his name Latinised as "Martini Lutheri"]]

Around 20 additional editions of Liber Vagatorum were published throughout the remainder of the 16th century, many of which appeared under entirely different titles. From 1528 onwards, several editions, titled {{lang|de|Von der falschen Betler Büberey}} ('On the Deceitful Deeds of Beggars'), were edited by Martin Luther, the leading figure of the Protestant Reformation. Luther revised certain passages and added a preface, leading some readers of these editions to mistakenly attribute the book's authorship to him. In his preface, Luther expressed regret for having been deceived by some of the types of wandering beggars described in the book and interpreted their deceit as evidence of the devil's influence over the world. He advised readers against giving alms to these beggars, arguing that it diverted help from those genuinely in need. Regarding the origins of Rotwelsch, Luther asserted that Hebrew, introduced by Jews, formed a fundamental component of the cant.{{harvnb|Rosenfeld|1988|p=99}}. Hotten later partially concurred with Luther's linguistic assessment, suggesting that Hebrew appeared to be "a principal element" of Rotwelsch.{{harvnb|Hotten|1860|p=xxxvii}}. English historian Clifford Edmund Bosworth posited that Hebrew words had entered Rotwelsch through Yiddish.{{harvnb|Bosworth|1976|p=9}}.

From around 1540, some editions were inaccurately titled Die Rotwelsch Grammatic ({{literal|The Rotwelsch Grammar}}). A 1580 reprint of {{lang|de|Von der falschen Betler Büberey}} was titled {{lang|de|Ein Büchlein von den Bettlern genant Expertus in truphis}} ({{literal|A Little Book about Beggars, or, Expert in Frauds}}). Approximately six more editions were printed in the 17th century, with at least two additional editions in the 18th century.

• {{Slink|Martin Luther|Anti-Jewish polemics and antisemitism}}

{{refbegin}}

a. {{Note label|A|a|none}} For the variations of its title, see Publication history.

b. {{Note label|B|b|none}} Women who claim to have given birth to a toad is a story first documented in Germany in 1509, and the earliest known edition of the book features the typeface of {{ill|Thomas Anshelm|de}}, whose printing activity ceased in 1511, providing a basis for narrowing down the date of the first edition.

{{refend}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{Cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Deutsches Literatur-Lexikon: Das Mittelalter – Autoren und Werke nach Themenkreisen und Gattungen [German Literature Encyclopaedia: The Middle Ages – Authors and Works by Subject and Genre] |publisher=De Gruyter |year=2015 |isbn=9783110367454 |editor-first=Wolfgang |editor-last=Achnitz |lang=de |volume=7. Das wissensvermittelnde Schrifttum im 15. Jahrhundert [The literature conveying knowledge in the 15th century] |title=Hütlin |doi=10.1515/9783110367454 }}

• {{Cite book |title=Lose Leute: Figuren, Schauplätze und Künste des Vaganten in der Frühen Neuzeit |publisher=Wilhelm Fink Verlag |url=https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/52910 |url-access=subscription |via=Brill.com |access-date=2023-09-09 |year=2019 |isbn=9783770561728 |editor-first1=Julia |editor-last1=Amslinger |editor-first2=Franz |editor-last2=Fromholzer |editor-first3=Jörg |editor-last3=Wesche |lang=de |trans-title=Loose People: Characters, Settings, and Arts of the Vagrant in the Early Modern Period }}

• {{Cite book |title=Mediaeval Islamic Underworld Volume 1: The Banū Sāsān in Arabic Society and Literature |publisher=Brill Publishers |year=1976 |isbn=9789004043923 |last=Bosworth |first=Clifford Edmund |author-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |oclc= |chapter=Chapter 1. Vagabonds and Beggars in Early Islam |url=https://archive.org/details/mediaevalislamic0000bosw |url-access=registration |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/mediaevalislamic0000bosw/page/n20/mode/1up |access-date=November 13, 2022 |via=Internet Archive }}

• {{Cite book |title=Il libro dei vagabondi. Lo «Speculum cerretanorum» di Teseo Pini, «Il vagabondo» di Rafaele Frianoro e altri testi di «furfanteria» |trans-title=The Book of Vagabonds. Teseo Pini's Speculum cerretanorum, Rafaele Frianoro's The Vagabond, and other texts of "furfanteria" |editor-last=Camporesi |editor-first=Piero |editor-link=Piero Camporesi |location=Torino |publisher=Giulio Einaudi |year=1973 |isbn=9788806362690 |series=Nuova universale Einaudi |volume=145 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=quPtAAAAIAAJ |url-access=limited |access-date=September 9, 2023 |lang=it |via=Google Books }}

• {{Cite book |title=Small Dictionaries and Curiosity: Lexicography and Fieldwork in Post-medieval Europe |chapter=Chapter 5. first curiosity-driven wordlists: Rotwelsch |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |isbn=9780198785019 |last=Considine |first=John P. |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198785019.001.0001 }}

• {{Cite book |title=Les fils de Caïn. L'image des pauvres et des vagabonds dans la littérature européenne du XVe au XVIIe siècle |publisher=Groupe Flammarion |series=Collection Champs |volume=387 |year=1999 |isbn=9782080655066 |last=Geremek |first=Bronisław |author-link=Bronisław Geremek |translator-last1=Arnold-Moricet |translator-first1=Joanna |translator-last2=Dubroeucq |translator-first2=Wieslawa |translator-last3=Maliszewska |translator-first3=Malgorzata |display-translators=etal |orig-date=1980 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GNlkAAAAMAAJ |url-access=limited |trans-title=The Sons of Cain. The image of the poor and vagrants in European literature from the 15th to 17th century |access-date=September 9, 2023 |lang=fr |via=Google Books }}

• {{Cite book |title=Der englische Eulenspiegel: Die Eulenspiegel-Rezeption als Beispiel des englisch-kontinentalen Buchhandels im 16. Jahrhundert |trans-title=The English Eulenspiegel: The Eulenspiegel Reception as an Example of the English-Continental Book Trade in the 16th Century |chapter=Der Drucker Johannes Dorn in Braunschweig |trans-chapter=The Printer Johannes Dorn in Braunschweig |last=Hill-Zenk |first=Anja |lang=de |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=2010 |isbn=9783110253856 |doi=10.1515/9783110253856 }}

• {{Cite book |title=The Book of Vagabonds and Beggars with a Vocabulary of Their Language |contribution=Introduction |contribution-url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46287/46287-h/46287-h.htm#Page_ix |publisher=J.C. Hotten |location=London |year=1860 |oclc=3080033 |contributor-last=Hotten |contributor-first=John C. |contributor-link=John Camden Hotten |author=Anonymous |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026233100/https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46287/46287-h/46287-h.htm |archive-date=October 26, 2022 |url-status=live |access-date=November 2, 2022 |via=Project Gutenberg}} {{Source-attribution}}

• {{Cite journal |title=Die Frau, die Kröte und der Spitalmeister: Zur Bedeutung der ethnographischen Methode für eine Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte der Medizin |journal=Historische Anthropologie |doi=10.7788/ha.1996.4.2.193 |year=1996 |first=Robert |last=Jütte |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=193–215 |s2cid=176510969 |lang=de |trans-title=The Woman, the Toad and the Hospital Master: On the Significance of the Ethnographic Method for a Social and Cultural History of Medicine |issn=0942-8704 |doi-access=free }}

• {{Cite journal |title=Rotwelsch um 1500 |journal=Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur |doi=10.1515/bgsl.1975.1975.97.217 |year=1975 |first=Erich |last=Kleinschmidt |volume= 97 |pages= 217–229 |s2cid=161998374 |lang=de |trans-title=Rotwelsch around 1500 |publisher=De Gruyter |issn=0323-424X}}

• {{Cite book |first=Friedrich |last=Kluge |author-link=Friedrich Kluge |title=Rotwelsch. Quellen und Wortschatz der Gaunersprache und der verwandten Geheimsprachen |trans-title=Rotwelsch. Sources and Vocabulary of the Rogue Language and Related Secret Languages |location=Straßburg |publisher=Karl J. Trübner |date=1901 |via=Internet Archive |access-date=December 8, 2022 |lang=de |oclc=3113515 |url=https://archive.org/details/rotwelschquelle01kluggoog }} {{Source-attribution}}

• {{Cite book |chapter=Chapter 2. The Metamorphoses of the Anti-Witchcraft Treatise Errores Gazariorum (15th Century) |title=Demonology and Witch-Hunting in Early Modern Europe |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PujyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT61 |author-first=Georg |author-last=Modestin |editor-first1=Julian |editor-last1=Goodare |editor-link1=Julian Goodare |editor-first2=Rita |editor-last2=Voltmer |editor-first3=Liv Helene |editor-last3=Willumsen |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780367440527 |doi=10.4324/9781003007296 |year=2020 |s2cid=225420498 |via=Google Books |access-date=November 5, 2022 }}

• {{Cite book |title=Dialects of the Yiddish Language: Winter Studies in Yiddish, Volume 2. Papers from the Second Annual Oxford Winter Symposium in Yiddish Language and Literature, 14–16 December 1986 |chapter=Chapter 9. Early Yiddish in Non-Jewish Books |publisher=Pergamon Press |year=1988 |isbn=9780080365640 |last=Rosenfeld |first=Moshe N. |editor-first=Dovid |editor-last=Katz |editor-link=Dovid Katz |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NSyLBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA99 |access-date=November 5, 2022 |via=Google Books }}

• {{Cite book |title=Three Heirs to a Judeo-Latin Legacy: Judeo-Ibero-Romance, Yiddish and Rotwelsch |last=Wexler |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Wexler (linguist) |location=Wiesbaden |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag |year=1988 |isbn=9783447028134 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rBo9wLubbacC |via=Google Books |access-date=2023-09-09 |series=Mediterranean language and culture monograph series |volume=3 }}

{{refend}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:16th-century books

Category:German-language books

Category:Homeless people

Category:Reformation in Germany

Category:Works by Martin Luther

Category:Works published anonymously