Thomas Murner
Murner, Thomas
Born Dec. 24(7), 1475, in Oberehnheim; died there circa Aug. 23, 1537. German satirist.
Murner studied law and theology, later becoming the abbot of a Franciscan monastery. In his satirical poems The Rogues’ Guild (1512) and The Fools’ Oath (1512), he ridiculed, in the style of S. Brant, bribe-taking lawyers, marauding knights, and the enemies of Germany’s unification: princes and the self-interested and dissolute clergy. Murner sympathetically depicted the plight of the German peasants.
Murner’s style is distinguished by his fine command of the German vernacular, his vivid descriptions, and the great versatility and ease of his verse. During the Reformation, Murner remained faithful to Catholicism, satirizing M. Luther in his About the Great Lutheran Fool (1522).
WORKS
Narrenbeschworung. Halle an der Saale, 1967.Schelmenzunft. Halle an der Saale, 1968.