Magdalena and Balthasar: An Intimate Portrait of Life in 16th Century Europe Revealed in the Letters of a Nuremberg Husband & Wife, and Illuminated by Steven Ozment, c. 1986

This entertaining little book is quite the peek into the private lives of a well-to-do merchant and his wife, who are routinely separated for periods of two months up to four, as Balthasar visits the Italian fairs from Germany.

It’s more fit for the armchair historian – the sort of person who wonders if the “nasty, brutish and short” rumors are really true, given all the lovely depictions left behind in artwork.  (The answer?  No, and Yes.)  Ozment quotes heavily from the letters (translated, but with appropriate usage of German terms), but only once gives an image of what a letter actually looks like.

Still, I’m quite happy with the experience – Ozment creates a rounded picture of a microcosm of 16thc German society that’s helpful to the re-enactor, not in precise terms of what to wear or carry, but more in terms of what to expect, what attitude to cultivate.  Most striking is the universality of human nature. 

Tidbits I learned:

• Nuremberg was known for merchants, good order, and cleanliness
• Habits of marriage, friendship, and connivance
• details of the 16thc business world, “stroking the tail of the fox”
• Renaissance health fanaticism
• Family squabbles; “keeping up with the Imhoffs”
• Men’s coats and mantles were required to be at least two finger-lengths longer than the crotch
• Presumption in dress (violating sumptuary laws) was thought to breed internal spirit of rebellion
• Ages of marriage: usually followed the minimums for “without parental consent”: 25 for men, and 22 for women.  (With parental consent: 14 for men, 12 for women.)  At their marriage, Balthasar was 32, and Magdalena was 27.  She lived to 84.
• Magdalena praised independence in women and sensitivity in men, and doesn’t seem to have been stepping out from the norm.

I’ll be offering this book in my ‘giveaway’ boxes to the Shire this weekend.