Hello Nick,
> Can anyone please tell me why Baresch's first name
> is written as "Georg"
> rather than as "Jurgen"? Is this an arbitrary
> historical convention, or is
> there any supporting evidence etc?
He signed his letter as Georgius, and this is also
how Marci refers to him, and how he is
listed in the Clementinum. These names are used
both with the German style of his family name
(Baresch, in his letter) and the Latin one
(Barschius, by Marci and the University).
"Georg" was used by John Fletcher in his 1988 book,
and this is closer to Georgius than Jurgen
(or Juergen, with the umlaut), but strictly
speaking we have no reason for calling him anything
other than Georgius.
Cheers, Rene