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Chapter 10: Johann Pezzl (1756–1823)
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10 R Johann Pezzl (17 5 6 –18 2 3 ) Enlightenment in the Satirical Mode RItCHIE RoBERtSoN Johann Pezzl was born in Mallersdorf, near Straubing in southern Bavaria, on 30 November 1756. the son of a baker, he was educated at the Lyzeum in Freising and in September 1775 began a novitiate in the Benedictine monastery of oberalteich (Höschel 2006, 2007). He left it in August 1776 and then studied law at the Benedictine university of Salzburg, which was then run in a relatively enlightened spirit: an obsolete scholasticism had been replaced by the philosophy of Christian Wolff, and the study of experimental science was encouraged (Lehner 2011). At Salzburg, Pezzl became acquainted with Johann kaspar Riesbeck (1754–1786), a congenial spirit who was writing his own Letters on Monasticism (Briefe über das Mönchswesen), published in 1779. Riesbeck encouraged him to read Enlightenment texts and introduced him to many Freemasons and Illuminati. By publishing the first volume of his Letters from the Novitiate (Briefe aus dem Novizziat) in 1780, Pezzl obtained a dangerous notoriety. the book 227 228 Ritchie Robertson was banned in Bavaria, and even in relatively enlightened Salzburg it became the subject of a judicial investigation, which ended when Pezzl was forced to recant his errors. In August 1780, Pezzl moved to zurich, where in 1781 and 1782 he issued the second and third parts of the Briefe, and in spring 1783, his humorous novel Faustin, or The Philosophical Century (Faustin, oder Das philosophische Jahrhundert). After 1784, however, Pezzl found a secure home in the enlightened Vienna of Joseph II. Joseph had ruled jointly with his mother, Maria theresa, since 1765. Freed by her death in 1780 from her maternal authority, he became sole ruler of the Habsburg Empire. He was determined to introduce reforms, and did so rapidly. Among Joseph ’s most famous reforming measures were his Patents of toleration , which, beginning in october 1781, granted freedom of worship to communities of Lutherans, Calvinists, and Greek orthodox, thus removing the restrictions on their ability to buy property, join guilds, and attend university. Similar measures removed the much more extensive restrictions on Jews. In dealing with the Catholic Church, Joseph tried to bring it under state control by ordaining that the appointments of bishops would require his approval; and he dissolved the contemplative monastic orders, transferring their property to charitable use. these measures caused such alarm in Rome that in the spring of 1782 Pope Pius VI took the unprecedented step of visiting Vienna in person in order to remonstrate with the emperor, who remained steadfast (see Blanning 1994; Beales 2009). In Vienna, Pezzl lived by his pen and also worked as a librarian to Prince Wenzel Anton of kaunitz-Rietberg, who was Austria’s state chancellor from 1753 to 1792. Pezzl socialized with Freemasons, becoming a member of the lodge “zur Wohltätigkeit,” to which Mozart also belonged (Abafi 1890–1899, 3:333). More noteworthy publications followed, including his Journey through Bavaria (Reise durch den Baierschen Kreis; 1784), his Moroccan Letters (Marokkanische Briefe; 1784), and the topographical Sketch of Vienna (Skizze von Wien), published in six parts between 1786 and 1790. on Joseph II’s death in 1790, Pezzl published a biographical sketch, The Character of Joseph II (Charakteristik Josephs II), which has considerable interest as a historical source. Even combined with journalism and translation, these works seem [18.191.211.66] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 17:46 GMT) Johann Pezzl (1756–1823) 229 not to have provided him with an adequate living, and—perhaps also to make up for his earlier espousal of Josephinism—at the time of the political reaction after Joseph’s death he took up a post in the “Chiffre-kanzlei,” a government office concerned with intercepting and deciphering mail. He married the well-to-do Anna Maria kurz (1764–1844) in 1793; they had no children. Pezzl published some further satirical novels and historical works, but otherwise concentrated on his career, which culminated in his becoming deputy director of the Chiffre-kanzlei in 1820, three years before his death from what contemporary sources described as dropsy on 9 June 1823. Concerning Pezzl’s personal appearance and character we have the testimony of Caroline Pichler (1769–1843), the Viennese salon hostess, novelist, and memoirist, who as a girl met most of the leading figures of the Austrian Enlightenment in the house of her father, the distinguished civil servant Franz Sales von Greiner: “In the early days of his residence in...