VMs: "M." Georg Barchius

[Jorge Stolfi <stolfi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't recall whether this has been discussed before:

The letter from Georg Baresch to Kircher (1639), which Rene located in
the Carteggio, is signed "M. Georgius Baresch". Later, in a letter
from Marci to to Kircher (1640), his name is given as "M. Georg
Barschius".

What does the "M." stand for in these names? Is it a Church title? As
I recall from many other letters from the Carteggio, "P." stood for
Priest, "F." for Friar., "D." for Doctor. And I see the word "abati"
in Marci's letter, a few lines down. Unfortunately I can't understand
enough Latin to tell whether Marci is still referring to Baresch.
Note that Marci's name is written without any title, both by
Baresch and by Marci himself.

On the other hand, if Baresch was a religious man, I would have
expected him to use a more "insider" greeting, like "Brother in
Christ" than the standard "Reverende et Eximie Domine in Christo
Pater".

All the best,

--stolfi