Grandson of a Rudolphine Alchemist in the Hungarian Chamber (Genealogical Contribution to the Issue of Migration of Humanist Scholars) Cover Image

Vnuk rudolfínskeho alchymistu v uhorskej komore (genealogický príspevok k problematike migrácie humanistických vzdelancov)
Grandson of a Rudolphine Alchemist in the Hungarian Chamber (Genealogical Contribution to the Issue of Migration of Humanist Scholars)

Author(s): Frederik Federmayer
Subject(s): History, Cultural history, Economic history, History of ideas, Social history
Published by: SAV - Slovenská akadémia vied - Historický ústav SAV
Keywords: Genealogy; Careers in the Early Modern Age; Ruland and Motsch Families;

Summary/Abstract: The study presents the related families with imperial court connections: Ruland and Motsch. Members of these families are documented during the 16th and 17th centuries mainly as physicians, scholars, alchemists, merchants and officials in several metropolises (e.g. Prague, Linz, Vienna and Pressburg) and other important cities of the Central European region. It brings new information about their migratory movements, the life of religious exiles, social rise and fall. It mainly introduces the family of the Prague physician Martin Ruland the Younger, who was also active in the circle of alchemists working at the court of Emperor Rudolf II. The study publishes, in the form of detailed tables, genealogical and biographical information about the direct descendants of this physician, their arrival and activity in the Kingdom of Hungary, as well as their local kinship, family relations, property background, careers and social status. Among them, Ruland’s grandson Georg Lorenz Motsch v. Bärenfels stood out. He became a Catholic and, in the service of Emperor Leopold I., made a career in the Hungarian capital as an official of the Hungarian Chamber.

  • Issue Year: 73/2025
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 209-240
  • Page Count: 32
  • Language: Slovak
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