Re: Jakob Bartsch / Bartschius / Barschius

[Jorge Stolfi <stolfi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Sagan and Lauban/Luban are small towns in Silesia (presently part of Germany),
almost due north of Prague. Lauban is just north of the border, 
close to Görlitz, due west of Breslau; and Sagan is a bit further
to the north.

http://fuxx.future.easyspace.com/vertreibung/schlesien.htm
http://feefhs.org/maps/gere/ge-siles.html
http://www.schlesien.de/TEST/karte/mitte/mw.htm

The Bartsch is a river in Silesia that joins the Oder not far from
Sagan and Luban. So it is not surprising that many "Bartsch" hits,
including Jakob, are connected to that area.

Why should we care about JB?  Two reasons:

  (1) So far we have been looking for Georgius Barschius under the
      assumption that his non-latinized name was Baresch/Baresh/Bares.
      But now we know that Barschius may have meant Bartsch too, and
      there were plenty of Bartsches very close to Prague. So we
      should go back and look again for a Georg (Jiri?) Bartsh
      instead.
  
  (2) Admitted, JB was hired only after Kepler moved to Sagan, 
      and I still have no evidence that he ever set foot in Prague.
      However, it is quite possible he did. Where else would JB have
      studied astronomy? Note that when Kepler needed an assistant
      astronomer, he must have thought of calling someone he already
      knew from Prague.

      If JB did live in Prague before joining JK at Sagan, then we
      have two people called Barschius living in Prague at the same
      time, both learned men, both interested in medicine. The
      possibility that they were related cannot be easily dismissed.

      Thus we should be looking for Georg Barschius/Bartsch in Luban too...
  
To close off, here are some, er, curious references to Luban:

    http://www-lib.usc.edu/~melindah/eurovamp/folklore.htm
    Vampiri Europeana: Folklore

    48.Böhm, Martin. Chronik von Lauban a. a., 1567. 
    nonfiction / folklore

    49.Böhm, Martin. "Vom Schmätzen im Grabe," in Die drei grossen
    Landtplagen: 23 Predigten erkleret durch Martinum Bohemum
    Laubanensum, predigern daselbst, by: Böhm, Martin. Wittenberg,
    Germany: 1601. nonfiction / religion / folklore

(I recall seeing in the Carteggio Kircheriano several mentions to a
Konrad Böhm at Prague.  By the way, is there any relation between 
the names "Böhm" and "Bohemia"?)

    http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0779.html
    The Hand from the Grave
    folk legends from Germany, Poland, and Switzerland 

    The Cursed Hand
    Karl Haupt

    In the year 1572, on January 22, a mother murderer from Gersdorf
    was punished with red-hot pincers, first at the marketplace in
    Lauban, and then at every cross street. Afterward his right hand
    was cut off, then his heart was pulled from his body, and finally
    he was quartered and the four parts of his body were hung on four
    posts near the gallows. The cut-off hand was nailed up as well.
    Although the birds pulled the other pieces apart and ate them,
    they did not touch the hand. Still entirely uninjured, it was
    taken down and buried in the year 1577 before the arrival of
    Emperor Rudolph II.

      Source: Karl Haupt, Sagenbuch der Lausitz (Leipzig: Verlag von
      Wilhelm Engelmann, 1862), no. 332, p. 261.

      Haupt's source: Roch's Chronika, p. 399. 

("Gallows" and "Emperor Rudolf II"!  Somebody turn that darn 
improbability amplifier off, please? 8-)

All the best,

--stolfi