VMs: History, Tepenecz

["Manfred Staudinger" <manfrstaudinger@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm specialist for natural history drawings and pictures in early 
modern times and also about the court of Rudolph II. I'll first
comment on René Zandbergen's writing about Jacob Horczicky.
   "His fame finally reached Rudolf who called him to his court and named
    him imperial chemist in 1607."
Do You know the source for this? I have looked at the books preserved
here in Vienna/Austria and found him appointed as a "Hofdiener" with
20 fl (florins) per month, beginning with June 1, 1608. It might still
be possible that he was used as a "chemist". As I know from other examples
the title "Hofdiener" was a very unspecific one.
   "He became a favorite of the emperor and received numerous presents."
This seems very doubtfully to me. What he received actually was a
one month's salary on April 15, 1609. This is consistent with the fact
that he received the post in Melnik from Rudolph's successor Matthias,
first provisional (Administrator) and afterwards definitive. If he had
been a favorite of Rudolph he would have be imprisoned instead. Only
after the dead of emperor Rudolph II. (January 20, 1612) he received
the next payment on his salary: 80 fl in March 1612 for four month.

The hostility between Rudolph and his brother Matthias is well known,
for example Grillparzer's "Ein Bruderzwist im Hause Habsburg". In an 
attempt to settle this Rudolph came to an agreement with his brother. 
But what Rudolph considered a serious concession was a meager compromise
in the eyes of Matthias. One minor point was to allow trustees of Matthias
to join the court of Rudolph.  
  
Further:
   "When, in 1608, he managed through his botanical knowledge to
    cure the emperor from a grave disease, he was raised to the
    nobility and received the title 'de Tepenec'."
Again, I don't think this can hold. For one, the monthly salary of a
"Leibmedicus" would have been at least 30 times the sum Horczicky
got. For the nobility he received, it is the lowest one and gives the 
name only for the kingdom of Bohemia and not for the empire. I'm not
sure for the moment, but I think the nobility was a prerequisite to
become a "Hofdiener", which is much better than to become a servant
in a labratory or a gardener.
 
Regards, Manfred Staudinger, Vienna, Austria

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