Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/141

UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 129 The deep interest which Wimpheling and Brant took in the past history of their country induced them to establish a society having this study for its object. Assisted by the co-operation of younger workers, they got together a collection of original documents for the history of the Upper .Rhine district, which they intended to supplement with biographical and ethnographical commentaries. In 1507 Wimpheling, explaining the proposed objects of the society, which unfortunately were never fulfilled, wrote as follows : ' We propose to dedicate to our native land a mark of our grateful affection and homage. What on earth can be more dear to us than the land on which we were born and have grown up, the land with which all the memories of youth are inseparably bound up, and underneath whose soil the bones of our forefathers lie buried ? The records of this soil instruct us concerning' the life of our ancestors, and the study of them makes us acquainted with our own past.' At Geiler's suggestion Thomas Wolf the younger formed the plan of writing a history of Strasburg from its earliest beginnings down to the present day. Brant collected the materials for a history of the time, made daily notes of the annals of the town, and received much praise for the order which he introduced into the city archives. Wimpheling, also at Geiler's insti- gation, wrote a history of the bishops of Strasburg. In a book entitled ' Germany, to the honour of the city of Strasburg and the river Ehine,' which Wim- pheling wrote in 1501, and dedicated to the city council, he represents it as the special duty of a good government to see that accurate chronicle books are kept, in which all the principal events — everything, vol. i. K