The Unfaithful Confectioner Jakub Manze. A Study of Immigration and Everyday Life in Prague’s Old Town at the Turn of the 17th Century
Abstract
The study deals with the life of French confectioner Jakub Manze, who settled in Prague's Old Town in the 1580s. In 1594-1595, Manze accompanied imperial counsellor Ernfried Minkvic of Minckvicburk on his diplomatic missions to north Germany, Poland and Russia.
While the experienced politician Minkvic took part on behalf of the emperor in negotiating the terms of a peace treaty between Sweden and Russia at Narva, the stay abroad mainly brought troubles for Manze in his private life. These were the result of suspicions that despite being married in Prague to confectioner Kateřina, née Mejšnarová, he had found another woman in Krakow, Anna de la Fontana.
Subsequently, the trial before the Old Town court became a heated dispute between the couple, with over forty witnesses providing testimony on their private life and confectionery business. Based on their testimony and other sources, the study not only reconstructs the twists and turns of their mutual relationships and the everyday life of the confectionery trade, but also attempts to provide a broader view of the neighbour relationships of burghers (male and female) and other inhabitants of Rudolfinian Prague.