Johannes Pauli
Pauli, Johannes (Pfeddersheim, Alsace, c.1450-c.1533, Thann, Alsace), an Alsatian monk, who compiled a collection of Schwänke (see Schwank) under the title Schimpf und Ernst (1522). The 232 anecdotes, varying in length from a few lines to a couple of pages, are all classified either as ‘schimpff’ (i.e. ‘Scherz’) or ‘ernst’. Pauli's aim was strictly moral and practical: ‘Schimpff und ernst findestu in diesem Bůch, kurzweilig, und auch das ein iechlich mensch im selben davon exempel und leren nemen mag, und ist im nützlich und gůt.’
Nevertheless the book, with its racy colloquial style and terse narration, achieved considerable popularity in the 16th c. and 17th c. as a work of entertainment. Pauli also translated into German in 1520 the Latin sermons of Geiler von Kaisersberg on Das Narrenschiff.
