to see where Johann fits into the family tree click here
Johann Wilhelm Scheffer was the 9th great grandfather to Leslie Meurer and Pam Jones (Meurer). Johann was born in 1559 (around 460 years ago) in the central European state of Prussia in a small town called Diez an der Lahn. We don’t know his forebears’ details but it is possible that they were significant persons of the community considering the prestigious craft that their son became proficient in. Namely the Art of Fencing.
It is likely that in the period between 1580 and 1600 Johann studied the important art of Fencing at Marburg University.
Salvator Fabris’ school of Fencing in Padua
Apparently Johann excelled at this craft and in the late 1500s, early 1600s he became the lead fencer at the fencing academy of Salvator Fabris in Padua, Northern Italy. The master, Salvator Fabris was no ordinary Fencer, he was known as a “great master” and “a man of the greatest name in our profession” by his peers. Johann was obviously of high ability to teach at Salvators masters school.
Fabris had commissions to teach Royalty, Nobility, and the aristocrats across Europe. Interestingly he was also Supreme Knight of a chivalrous Order the “Order of the Seven Hearts” 1. Fabris and Johann were similar ages and considering Johann’s role at the school it would be quite possible that Johann was also a member of the Order.
Sword fighting teachers were paid by rich patrons to produce books about their fighting systems, called treatises. In this period these arts were largely reserved for the knighthood and the nobility. This places our Johann in an elite profession serving the aristocrats and nobles of the period.
Johann’s central European home region of Hessen was a hotspot of Sword gaming and fighting. A particular style the Göttinger Hieber, was developed in Göttingen in the 1760s. Swordsmanship was particularly linked to Universities.
After Johann’s lead teacher role in Padua he returned home to become the fencing master at the university in Marburg, in the period 1624 – 1636.
He moved again to teach the craft to become master at the academy of Sorø, in Zealand (now Denmark)
In 1620 he wrote a huge manuscript of greater than 900 illustrated pages on the Art of Fencing. The volume is now held by the Marburg University and is available in its entirety online here.
In the later part of his life, Johann would have witnessed political and religious turmoil in the Hesse region where his family lived. The 30 year war raged from 1618 to 1648 with more than 8 million Germans killed representing 20% of the population. It is no wonder the teaching of Sword skills were in such demand.
Johann died around 1640 at the approximately age of 72 years.
Johann’s link to the current generation travels back 10 generations. The line looks like this….
the father in law the Alchemist
Johann’s wife was Sarah Eglin, she was the daughter of Raphael Eglin who was an important person in that region in that era. Raphael was Archdeacon at the great cathedral in Zurich, then became a Professor of theology at the University of Marburg and Castle Preacher and Alchemist in Marburg.
the daughter and the Danish Royal Court
The 11th generation back from this present era was Johann’s daughter, Elisabeth Scheffer born in Marburg, Hessen, Germany on 26th March 1607. Elisabeth moved to Copenhagen to be in the service of Princess Charlotte Amalie of Hesse, wife of the future King Christian V of Denmark.
Perhaps it was his daughter Elisabeth’s closeness to the Danish Royals that led Johann to move to the Academy at Sorø in Denmark.
Elisabeth married Jost Christoph Poppenhausen of Wanfried, Hessen Germany. Jost was Rentmeister 2 in the period around 1634.
Elisabeth died 1651 at age 43 in Copenhagen, she was likely still in the service of the Queen of Denmark.
our interesting ancestors
Our German ancestors lived in a relatively small geographic area in the German state of Hessen. Towns include Marburg, Gottingen, Gensungen, Kassel, and Diez.
The more we learn of our ancestors the more fascinating the story becomes. The German line now includes Preachers and Clergymen, Soldiers, Army Surgeons, Swordsmen, town Mayors, and staff of Royal Courts. What will we find next?
notes
1 “The Order of the Seven Hearts” The order’s insignia consists of seven hearts arranged in a cross pattern surmounted by a phoenix bird
2 the government office dealing with the finances of the Landesherr (the nobleman ruling over the territory)
3 the core information for this story is credited to a genealogy researcher named Kai Drewes of Braunschweig, Germany, and thanks to Barbara Lynch for alerting me to that research. This is a link to his webpage that includes some source material for the above story
