Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/150

 138 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE Emperor Maximilian himself appealed to him for his opinion on some religious question. On the occasion of his visiting Nuremberg he was received with marked honours by the town council and the literati of the place. Although of a conservative nature and a repre- sentative of the olden time, Eck was a follower and supporter of the new school of learning, and a true friend of the spirit of reform which aimed at purging the old school of all that had ceased to be of any use. In 1511 he said in one of his lectures, ' I glory in this our century, in which barbarism has become a thing of the past, in which the young are educated in the wisest manner, and which can boast of the finest speakers Germany has ever known, able to discourse both in Greek and Latin. We have among us men who, while rejecting what was superfluous, have given us what was most beautiful in the ancients, and brought to light much that heretofore lay unknown. Truly we have reason to be proud of belonging to such an age.' Among the centres of scholarship in South Germany which did not possess universities Nuremberg was the most important at the close of the Middle Ages. This town was esteemed as the brightest jewel of the empire, the centre of national intercourse, and the rendezvous of art and industry. Commercial prosperity had en- gendered riches and power, and developed among the wealthy merchants a love of art and science. The masters of the trade guilds vied in industry and ability with the most prominent artists. The new art of typography was practised here as zealously as any- where. ' All the muses may be said to have entered