Customer Reviews

The Burgermeister's Daughter: Scandal in a Sixteenth-Century German Town

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There are few stretches of the imagination by which Anna Büschler can be called typical of her time and place. First, she was a member of the embryonic bürger urban middle class in a society that was overwhelmingly rural and peasant. Secondly, she had the audacity consistently, and vocally, to defy authority. And finally, but most importantly by the standards that early modern historians, there is actually a fairly large record of what she did and what historian Steven Ozment argues was the consuming passion of her life: undoing the wrong done to her by her father disinheriting her in 1527. Through Ozment's interweaving of the social, political, and legal minefield which Anna was forced to navigate in her attempt to redress the wrong done to her by her father--an extremely interesting man in his own write--after he found a cache of love letters she both wrote and received. The reader is also given a bird's eye view into the workings of a fairly typical German town during the renaissance, Swabian Hall, and how its residents felt about the operation of the legal system in her regards. This is micro-history at its best.

Anna Büschler should have been able to enjoy as comfortable a life as a middle class woman was able to have by sixteenth century standards by the time she was thirty years old. Instead, she found herself locked in her father's home, perpetually chained to a table leg. The chain of events that led her to this unhappy situation begins with interpretations of her past behavior. By her father's account, the legendary bürgermeister of Hall who had twenty years before brazenly petitioned the Holy Roman Emperor on behalf of the common people of Hall, the sexual relationships she had with a member of the local nobility and a mercenary were enough for him to label her as poisonous snake--imbued with the moral character of a whore. By her interpretation, she behaved as she did because her father had shirked his paternal duties and had not found a suitable suitor for her. After escaping from his clutches, Anna began a quarter century long fight to be compensated for the wrong he had done to her which would ultimately climax with the large cross section of Hall society which knew her interpreting her actions.

Ozment's brilliance lies in how he explains Anna's behaviors in the light of sixteenth century moral and legal norms. While Anna was cavorting with her lovers, she was also playing with fire hot enough to consume her completely, and thoroughly burn her father's reputation. By modern standards, and the standards of several centuries preceding the sixteenth, the punishments for premarital sex were draconian in their treatment of the people who engaged in it. Furthermore, the reputations, and often livelihoods, of parents who were exposed as having promiscuous children could be completely destroyed by their behavior. These facts go a long way in describing the extremity of Hermann Büschler's initial banishment of his daughter from his home and then a bold, brazen, and extralegal kidnapping of her after she began legal proceedings against her father. What it does not explain is why a man with such large reputation takes such an action when he certainly had a political future to think about. Ozment thankfully does not dwell on the possibility of incestuous behavior between the two of them because he can not marshal the evidence for any such argument, but it is a question that he nonetheless raises.

Throughout the narrative, Anna rightly comes of as rebellious, strong willed, and nonconformist in her behaviors. But, it is after she escapes from her father's imprisonment that the metal of her character becomes the most visible. She constantly and consistently fought against the marginalization which her disinheritance and her status as a woman imposed upon in every venue that she could gain a hearing in--even initially receiving a 5,000 gulden judgment against the city of Hall for its allowing her to be kept captive in her father's home under extremely suspect circumstances. Though this judgment would be overturned upon appeal and would have to spend the rest of her life fighting in the courts gain any of the money which she felt entitled to--and then only after she had found husbands who were willing to represent her and follow her through the murky recesses of 16th German law. Though only to a limited degree, Anna's story shows that women were not completely at the mercy of men during what is being increasingly regarded as one of the nadirs of women's status in the European history. As the court records which Ozment musters show though, Anna was not the only one, male or female, who questioned this status at least with regard to her.

A retelling of Anna's story to the degree which Ozment was capable would not have been possible were it not for the fact that dozens of her letters between her lovers and herself as well as the depositions from the legal proceedings she used had not survived to the present. In this respect, Ozment has a leg up on other early modern historians because of a relative cornucopia of evidence. Where the extremely good micro-historical biographies written by Natalie Z. Davis and Carlo Ginzburg ultimately have to invoke some very imaginative connections to close their works, Ozment simply does not. For that reason alone he deserves to be read.

Steven Ozment creates a book that is rich in research but also in storytelling. Ozment tells the story of Anna Buschler, the burgermeister of Hall's daughter and the scandal that erupted in this small sixteenth-century town. Ozment painstakingly recreates the small German town that Anna grew up in, we are introduced to her story through personal letters and court documents. His goal isn't to show that Anna was innocent of the crimes that were brought against her, but to show that the actions of her family and the courts were quite severe. Throughout the book we begin to understand the role of women, in particular daughters in sixteenth-century Germany.
Ozment relies on the personal letters of Anna, Daniel and Erasmus and he also looks at the court documents. He expertly tells the story of times and of the sources he had which is sadly not too much. But his use of his sources and the history of the period, Ozment creates a book that engrosses the reader into Anna's life and that of a daughter in sixteenth-century Germany. However, Ozment's sources are his greatest weakness. Since he has so few resources, there lies his limitations. Ozment is only able to tell the story that he is presented with and speculates on what he does not have. For example, in Chapter 3, Ozment brings forth the accusation of incest between Anna and he father. Ozment shows a quote out of the court documents from Anna saying that her father "abused her maidenly modesty" (121). With this quote, he takes the information to a new level. He does not really state that the quote could have been said to gain sympathy, but rather takes it that Anna's father could have molested her. Ozment wants to show Anna in a heroic light that he will stop at nothing to show her in nothing but a good perspective. Which is further seen in last sentence, "Anna may have been more heroic than the burgermeister of Hall and the Schenk of Leimpurg [her father] (194)."
As the tale of Anna goes on, it becomes less like a historical analysis but rather a sympathetic tale of one girls struggle against the indignities of her father and the court systems. Ozment ability as a storyteller brings Anna's story to life and the struggles of women during the sixteenth-century.

The Burgermeister's Daughter is a fascinating and highly readable study of a ... scandal that errupted in the German city of Schwabish Hall during the early years of the Reformation. The central figure, Anne Buschler, the daughter of a former Burgermeister and long-time city councilman, was a girl who liked to test the limits and would often have tongues wagging over her--for that day and age, at least--wild behaviour. It came to the point where she was having intimate relations with two guys, Erasmus of Limpurg and Daniel Treutwein. When this was discovered by her father, he disinherited her; but instead of allowing herself to be cast adrift in this manner, she fought back and thus ensued a protracted legal battle against her father, and, after his death, her siblings. In the end, we are presented with an extra-ordinary glimpse into the lives of (upper class) Germans during this era, German culture and society, the status of women, and the intricacies of the German legal system. It's a rare treat to find a book that is so meticulously researched but so readable. Highly recommended.

Steven Ozment creates a book that is rich in research but also in storytelling. Ozment tells the story of Anna Buschler, the burgermeister of Hall's daughter and the scandal that erupted in this small sixteenth-century town. Ozment painstakingly recreates the small German town that Anna grew up in, we are introduced to her story through personal letters and court documents. His goal isn't to show that Anna was innocent of the crimes that were brought against her, but to show that the actions of her family and the courts were quite severe. Throughout the book we begin to understand the role of women, in particular daughters in sixteenth-century Germany.

This book was absolutely enchanting for every genre of reader, I am a graduate student and this proves invaluable for both research and entertainment!

Wow, I'm a little surprised at the negative reviews for this book. I picked it up at a conference over Easter weekend, and couldn't put it down. I found the historical and political contexts to add greatly to the personal drama. I thought the author left enough room for the reader to add his/her own interpretations -- I was left speculating on will in women being equated with madness and witchcraft.

I would -- and have -- recommend this book highly.

As a history student living in Germany I was greatly enthralled by this book. Ozment's understanding of the Medieval German society and its effects on its citizens is wonderful. I wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone curious about this period in history.

This is a book by Steven Ozment.

We had a power failure recently, and I had to find something to do where there was power. Don't ask me why, but I visited a university bookstore, and I noticed this book was being used in a graduate history class. It looked really good, and I made a note of it. Soon after I got hold of a copy.

This book tells the story of Anna Buschler of the town of Hall in Germany in the early to mid 1500's. She was the burgermeister's daughter (hence the title) and a bit wild. She and her father had a falling out, and he threw her out and they ending up suing each other. Things got worse when he died - there was litigation over his will. Sort of like in Bleak House as things went on and on, but this time a true story. Like a car wreck, you have to look!! Really, it is an interesting story, and the author tells it within the greater historical and cultural context existing then.

I liked the book, but was a bit surprised that it got out of the publishers without better editing. Ambiguous language and small contradictions were common. The author is a Harvard professor - hmm?

Anyway, it is worth a read if this sort of things interests you.

Stephen Ozment is my favorite historian, and this is my favorite of his books (closely followed by Three Behaim Boys). The story of Anna, both the love story and the tragedy of her later life, are fascinating. Ozment has a talent for making history real, present, and accessible, and this book is a shining example of what an in-depth historical study can be. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in 16th century history, women's history, or the history of law.

I purchased this book for my son for college and had to return it unused as the teacher changed the text at the last minute.

This book was as interesting as my professor said. It was hard to put it down at night. Steven Ozment does a phenomenal job of interweaving history, politics, religion, and actual firsthand accounts of life in the sixteenth century.