47COMMENTARY NOTES

spacerAD AUTHOREM Probably Johannes Christoph Harpprecht [1560-1639] a distinguished Doctor of Law (iurisconsultus) and Professor (antecessor) at Tübingen (from 1592).

spacerGENEROSIS ET NOBILISSIMIS DOMINIS By the lights of Flayder’s time, Argenis qualifies as a comedy on the strength of its happy ending.

spacerex mea munificentia In a humorous way, Flader is reminding Johann Wilhelm that he had acted in the two previous plays written by himself.spacer

spacera poetarum filiis I. e. the guild of poets, professional poets.

spacergentilitium vestrum The Rathsamhausen family dated to the 12th century in Alsace, not far from Schlettstadt/Sélestat. The branch to which the brothers Wolfgang Theodoric and Johann Wilhelm belong is Rathsamhausen zum Stein in the valley of the Bruche River. This branch disappeared in the 18th century. For the Rathsamhausen family in general and the zum Stein/de la Roche branch in particular see here.

spacerNec silentio praeterirem Philippum Philip von Rathsamhausen was Bishop of Eichstätt 1306 - 1322.

spacerRufacensem ephorum Ephorus is a loose term designating a manager or supervisor. The present context establishes that here the correct translation of ephorus is Oberhofmeister (Chamberlain). The Alsatian commune of Rouffach was an appanage of the Bishops of Strasbourg, and its ephorus was the Bishop’s representative on the spot.

spacerDRAMATIS PERSONAE Wolffgangus Erasmus à Grüenthal Perhaps a relative, along with Friedrich Jakob below, of the Oberhofmeister.
spacerSigismundus in Herberstein The Herberstein family was (and is) prominent in Styria, Austria.
spacerFridericus ab Holstein The von Holstein was a noble family of North Germany and Denmark.
spacerWolffgangus Georgius à Gülleis The Gilleis was a noble family of lower Austria, rulers of the places mentioned.
spacerCarolus Helmhart Iörger The Jörger was a noble family of upper Austria, rulers of the places mentioned.

spacerIohanne Philippo a Seebach auf Osthofen und Werit The von Seebachs wers a noble family of Alsace.

spacerIoannes Ioachims à Gruenthal The author of this diploma, Johann Joachim (also Hans Joachim) von Grünthal [1577 - 1639], was Oberhofmeister (Chamberlain) of Duke Johann Friederich of Württemberg and the Duke’s envoy to the Emperors Rudolf II, Mathias, and Ferdinand II. Since 1606 he had been serving as ephorus (this time meaning Rector) of the Collegium Illustre of Tübingen, where Flayder was currently teaching, and significantly enlarged and reformed the institution. For a biographical sketch of this individual see here.

spacerARGUMENT Ipse Boncompagnus The comic miles gloriosus in Ludovicus Bigamus, evidently a popular figure.

spacerI.i Epircte Meleander’s capital.

spacerI.3 Sicilia namque haec non est Sicilia The editions of Barclay's Argenis (after the 1621 first edition) contain keys to the characters, who correspond exactly to Mars' account. Argenis herself is a composite, somewhat abstract character: Argenis: deficiens in Henrico III Valesiorum stirps, vel etiam alter ab rege locus, eodem tempore a tribus aemulis, Navarreo, Alessonio, et Guisio, callide petitus Argenis: Valois” offspring failing with Henri III, or other royal candidates, she is sought by three rivals, Navarre (Henri IV), Alençon ( Gaston Duc d’ Anjou), and Guise (Charles, Duc de Guise)” (quoted from Argenis, Leiden, 1659).

spacerPROLOGUE The text does not make sense. The entire sentence is masculine in gender (ille, iste), but in fact both young men were stricken with the golden arrow that creates love. Only Argenis was stricken with the leaden arrow: she loves one and hates the other. The next sentence refers to a stock situation in Roman comedy.

spacerI.i In this scene Argenis reviews the novel's plot up to Book V.

spacer3.i.2 After winning this victory The rest of this scene is almost verbatim from Barclay V.ix.3 - V.x.15.

spacerII.3 From BarclayV.xv.5.

spacerIII.2 From BarclayV.vi.1 - 2

spacerIV.1 ne te toties solam The sense is obscure; perhaps some idiom for “do not make a decision until your mind is clear.”

spacerIV.ii.1 Poliarchus et Archombrotus The first part of this scene is from Barclay V.xvi.7.

spacerIV.ii.2 The rest of this scene is based almost verbatim on Barclay V.11.2 -6.

spacerIV.iii From Barclay V.xvii.1.

spacerIV.iv From Barclay V.xvii.2 - 3.

spacerV.i Peto abs te, mi Poliarche From here through most of V.ii the contents are based on Barclay V.xviii.3 - 6 .

spacerV.ii Nempe si fas From Barclay V.xx.5.

spacerV.iii Hyanisbe's letter is taken verbatim from Barclay V.xvi.6.

spacerV.iii.3 O rex Meleander Argenis I.i.5.

spacerQuid tibi, gener I.e., what does he think of Meleander’s jokes?

spacerV.iii.4 Royal counsellors have speaking roles in the last Act of Imma Portatrix. The speeches of the first and third counsellor are drawn directly from Barclay (V.xx.1 and V.xx.6 - 7 respectively); the speech of the second is loosely based on I.i.5.

spacerV.iii.7 Note that this speech (from Barclay V.xix.2) is entirely in the third person, even though Archombrotus is directly addressing Poliarchus.

spacerImo et mihi historiae meae From Barclay V.xix.2.

 

 

 

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