Disquisition on the Celebrated Poetic Book Theuerdanck

He Referring to Melchior Pfintzing has handed down to the memory of Posterity the deeds, Heroic Virtues, and various Dangers of Life in which he was frequently involved, as well as the Labors of the Body and the Storms and Waves of Fortune, which he always and everywhere sustained with a rare greatness of unbroken Spirit and Heroic Constancy. These were compiled for us and dedicated with great Sweat, faithful diligence, and vigilance into a massive Volume in most elegant German Verse, with wondrous industry and eloquence, a certain pleasant Sweetness of Words, and the clever invention of fictional names.

Thirdly, we cannot fail to bring forward here, as an argument of no small weight, what Emperor Maximilian wrote back to the Nuremberg Senate from Dorffen A location in Bavaria on January 22, 1518:

He desires with diligence and earnestness that they should escort his dear, devout Melchior Pfintzing—Provost of St. Sebald in Nuremberg and his counselor, whom he has ordered to come to him with all the books and other things he has prepared and made for him—along with several of the city's mercenaries and servants as far as Weißenburg, so that he may proceed safely with the aforementioned books and writings, etc. original German: Er begehre mit Fleiß und Ernst / daß sie seinen lieben Andächtigen Melchior Pfintzing... mit allen Büchern / und andern / daß er ihme verfertiget und gemacht hat...

If, therefore, we consider that the book Theuerdanck was printed under Pfintzing’s care in Nuremberg in the year 1517—and thus in the year immediately preceding this reply—it is most probable that the Emperor requested Pfintzing’s arrival for this specific reason: so that Pfintzing might present the printed copies to him. Thus, the Emperor wished to provide for the security of the journey through these letters with his August Providence. Fourthly, we also appeal to other serious men who attributed the Elaboration The process of refining and finalizing the literary text of the book Theuerdanck to our Pfintzing, such as: CYRIACUS SPANGENBERG A prominent 16th-century theologian and historian, Part II of the Mirror of Nobility, Book XI, chapter 48, page 208:

We have a beautiful example of this in the excellently composed, artistic book Theuerdanck, in which the adventures and perils of Emperor Maximilian I, which he endured, are [described] very skillfully and masterfully... original German: Wir haben dergleichen ein schönes Exempel an dem trefflich wolgestellten kunstreichen Buch dem Theuerdanck...