Re: Jakob Bartsch / Bartschius / Barschius

[Jorge Stolfi <stolfi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

    > [stolfi:] Sagan and Lauban/Luban are small towns in Silesia
    > (presently part of Germany),
     
    > [Rafal:] Presently they are part of Poland
    
Oops! (Blush) Sorry for the blunder...

    > I have checked (no pun intended!) the surname Bartsch in
    > the LDS (Mormon) genealogical database at:
    >   http://www.familysearch.org
    > Quite a number of "Georg Bartsch", too - eg. in Wurtemberg.

Good hint, thanks! 

    > and it was/is so popular, both in the area and elsewhere
    > (one in 17th c. Finland!) that drawing any conclusions
    > on this basis is impossible. Quite a number of
    > "Georg Bartsch", too - eg. in Wurtemberg. But also
    > two hits for "Baresch" - 19th c. Pommern and Ostpreussen.

Indeed, the name is quite popular. However, for the years of interest
(1560-1660) the *exact* surname matches I found with that tool seem to
be mostly in Silesia and vicinity.

First, the exact matches to "Bartsch", with "Georg" or equivalent as
the first name:

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Georgius BARTSCH 
  Marriage: 22 Nov 1605 
  Braunsberg, Ostpreussen, Preussen 
  Spouse: Elizabeth NEIBAUER 
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  George BARTSCH 
  Birth: Abt. 1631 
  Of, Baerwalde Muensterberg, Schlesien, Preussen 
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  George BARTSCH 
  Birth: 1635 
  Or Albendorf, Schlesien, Preussen 
  Father: Michel BARTSCH   
  Mother: Mrs Michel BARTSCH 
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
           
Two near misses:

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  George PARTSCH
  Misc: Abt. 1633 
  Of, Baerwalde Muensterberg, Sln, Preussen 
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Georgius BARTZSCH 
  Christening: 10 Oct 1650 
  Father: Melchior BARTZSCH   
  Nimptsch, Schlesien, Preussen 
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  
Of course, none of these is "our" Georgius Barschius; but the 
records at least show that, at the time, 
          
For "Jakob Bartsch", the only matches with the exact surname are for
the right man, and specifically for his marriage to Kepler's daughter:

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Jacob BARTSCH 
  Spouse: Susanna KEPPLER 
  Marriage: 5 Mar 1630 
  Sagan, Schlesien, Preussen 
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
           
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Jakob BARTSCH 
  Spouse: Susanne KEPLER 
  Marriage: 5 Mar 1630 
  Lauban, Schlesien, Preussen 
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
           
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Jacob BARTSCH 
  Spouse: Susanna KEPPLER 
  Marriage: 5 Mar 1630 
  Sagau, Schleswig-Holstein, Preussen 
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Jakob BARTSCH 
  Marriage: 5 Mar 1630 
  Relatives: Ernestine KEPPLER BREITLING 
  Laubeu, Schwaben, Bayern 
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Jakob BARTSCH 
  Spouse: Susanna KEPLER 
  Marriage: Mar 1630 
  Strassburg, Kaernten, Austria 
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Boy, those two *did* get married, allright! 8-)

I suppose that the place names refer to the record's location, not to
the event. Presumably Sagan was subordinate to Lauban in the church
administration; or a record of his marriage was entered in the Lauban
register because he was born there. It seems that he had been
appointed to some job in Strassburg just before he died, so that may
explain the last record.

Note however that there are no records of his birth and death, which
both occurred in Lauban. So even if "our" Georgius Barschius was
Jakob's brother (a very wild guess, of course), he would probably be
absent from that database, too. In fact, most of our famous characters
(Marci, Tepenecz,

Still, the question remains: where did the "Barschius = Baresch"
equation came from?  Is it part of that missing letter from Klicman(?)
to Voynich?

The other question is whether there was any Georg* BARTSCH living
in Prague at the right time.  Rafal, a while ago you reported on
your search through some Prague real estate register; would that 
be a good place to search?

The third question, in two parts, is (a) was Jakob Bartsch 
in Prague before becoming Kepler's assistant, and (b)
was there any Georg* Bartsch born in Lauban at the right time.

All the best,

--stolfi