In 1518, he began the study of
jurisprudence at the
University of Basel, and in 1519 took the degree of
doctor juris. He hoped that in their native language, the students would have a better understanding of the jurisprudence before often learned from books in a foreign language. In April 1519, he published the
Instituten in warer ursprung, where the foreword and text were held in the german language and the chapters printed in latin. But also the chapters counted with a translation into the german language. Henry VIII felt that Murner was an important orthodox influence in Strasbourg and gave him £100 and a letter to the city magistrates. After this stay, and a journey to Italy, he again settled in Strasbourg, but, disturbed by the
Protestant Reformation, went into exile at
Lucerne in Switzerland in 1526. In 1533 he was appointed priest of Oberehnheim, where he died in 1537, or, according to some accounts, in 1536. Murner was an energetic and passionate character, but made enemies wherever he went. There is little human kindness in his
satires, which were directed against the corruption of the times, the Reformation, and especially against
Martin Luther. His most powerful
satire—the most virulent German satire of the period—is
Von dem grossen Lutherischen Narren wie ihn Doctor Murner beschworen hat ("On the Great Lutheran Fool", 1522). Others included
Die Narrenbeschwörung (1512);
Die Schelmenzunft (1512);
Die Gäuchmatt, which treats of enamoured fools (1519), and a translation of
Virgil's
Aeneid (1515) dedicated to the emperor Maximilian I. Murner also wrote the humorous
Chartiludium logicae for the teaching of logic (1507) and the
Ludus studentum Friburgensium (1511), besides a translation of
Justinian's
Institutiones (1519). Murner's satires were edited in the 1840s by
Johann Scheible. ==Notes==