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32. Brunswick, Saxony
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160 Brunswick, Saxony to support twelve dignitaries, twenty-four canons, and over twenty archdeacons. Every year, in this church, they select a member of the population whom they deem to be stained with the worst sins. They dress him in clothes of mourning, cover his head, and lead him to church on the first day of Lent; then, after celebrating divine offices, they throw him out. On each of the forty days of Lent, he walks around the city on bare feet and visits the churches, without entering or speaking to anyone. The canons take turns in offering him hospitality, and he eats what they serve him. After midnight, he is allowed to sleep on a bed of straw. On Holy Thursday, after the consecration of the oil, he is brought back into the church. When a prayer has been said, he is absolved of his sins, and the people offer him gifts of money; these, however, are released to the church. They call him Adam and consider him free of all guilt.364 Around Halberstadt lies excellent farmland, fertile in wheat; when the crops ripen, they say that the stalks rise higher than a man on horseback. 32 BRUNSWICK, SAXONY 108. BRUNSWICK is a large and populous town renowned throughout Germany. It is fortified with walls and ditches, together with high towers and ramparts. Its houses are grand, its streets elegant , and its churches large and richly decorated. It possesses five markets,365 five halls of justice, and an equal number of municipal councils which dispense justice to the citizens. The dukes of Brunswick take their name from it. They are the noblest men in all of see Phyllis Jestice, Holy People of the World: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia (Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC Clio, 2004), 172–73. 364. Andreas Kotte discusses this penitential rite, which evolved into a play, in “The Transformation of a Ceremony of Penance into a Play,” in Theatrical Events: Borders, Dynamics , Frames, ed. Vicki Ann Cremona et al. (New York: IFTR/FIRT, 2004), 53–68. 365. Lat. fora, which may also mean judicial authorities or tribunals. Brunswick, Saxony 161 Germany, descendants as they are of the Ottonian line, though the passage of time has diminished their fame and power. The city of Lübeck is very powerful, and without its help the kings of Denmark have hardly ever managed to control their subjects. Twelve men called consuls preside over its administration; they hold office in perpetuity and possess the rank of a knight. The inhabitants have no means of participation in the city’s government unless they are convened, but the people do not appear downtrodden: each man’s property is protected, and they are free to live as they wish within the laws. The councillors impart equal justice, and, if they cause offense, an appeal is made to the emperor.366 109. In our time, the brothers Frederick and Wilhelm are recognized as dukes of Saxony.367 One of them bears the title of imperial elector, the other claims the right to the kingdom of Bohemia, as I mentioned earlier.368 There was a quarrel over the electorship with the people of Brunswick. Emperor Sigismund settled the dispute, and, as often happens, his verdict favored the more powerful party .369 The elder brother was an energetic hunter, while the younger one was ambitious for war and well trained in arms. For a long time, bitter wars flared up between them over their father’s inheritance .370 There was often talk of peace, but, owing to the opposition of Apel Viztum371 and of many other powerful men who stood to benefit from their dissension, every discussion ended in vain. But after the fields had been devastated and the whole country was go366 . Lübeck, one of the leading towns of the German Hanseatic League which dominated Baltic and North Sea trade in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, became an imperial city in 1226. This may be a reference to upheavals in the council from 1408–16 and Emperor Sigismund’s intervention; see Du Boulay, Germany in the Later Middle Ages, 148, 152; also Philippe Dollinger, The German Hansa (London: Routledge, 1999), 113. 367. Frederick II (1411–64) “the Gentle,” elector of Saxony (r. 1428–64); Wilhelm III (1425–82), landgrave of Thuringia (from 1445) and duke of Luxembourg (from 1457). 368. See para. 85. Wilhelm claimed Bohemia as Ladislas Postumus’s brother-in-law. 369. The brothers reached an initial agreement to divide their lands...