Page - 74 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/01

74 | Christian Wessely www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/1, 67–93 considerable (#21).12 Teschler notes that he has already spent 17 days in prison and beseeches the Consistory to order Widman to leave him in peace. It is un- clear whether Teschler is telling the truth; a comment on the petition (#23 and 24, possibly a copy written by Widman) describes his supplication as “fraudu- lent”.13 In its session of 4 March the Consistory grants Teschler’s petition and orders Widman to answer the allegations. In #36, dated 20 March, the Consis- tory asks Widman for a more detailed list of his expenses. The last evidence of these proceedings is an entry in the Consistory protocol dated 18 May – Wid- man has again asked that an example by made in punishing Teschler and again asks that Teschler be ordered to cover the expenses. The Consistory decided to refer the cost issue to the higher authority and to order Widman to refrain from further punishment other than the required pilgrimage to Radstadt. No further documents concerning this legal process could be found. Their loss may be attributed to a devastating fire which almost completely de- stroyed Haus im Ennstal in 1750; only the parish register survived. Dramatis Personae The parish register, now accessible digitally,14 is an important source for re- constructing at least some important parts of the lives of the individuals in- volved. Ludwig Teschler Ludwig Teschler, his name spelled Taschler or Däschl in other sources,15 was baptized in Haus on 26 October 1616. He was the third child of his married 12 Widman tried to charge Teschler for a total of 11 gulden and 2 shillings (1 gulden = 8 shillings = 60 kreuzer = 240 pfennige). In 1640, a skilled worker in this region might have earned a maximum of 16 kreuzer a day, so Widman was demanding more than a month’s income. Cf. Mensi 1929; Mensi 1935, Rumpl 1962. 13 “Verlogne supplication des überwisen werb[e]n Ludbig[en] Teschlers zu Haus” It remains unclear whether Widman himself wrote this copy. As the parish priest in Haus, he would have had no need to note the location specifically (“zu Haus”). 14 Cf. https://data.matricula-online.eu/de/oesterreich/graz-seckau/haus-im-ennstale/. I am most grateful to Gudrun Rausch, who assisted us so greatly in combing through entries in the parish records, which were sometimes almost unreadable. 15 As was customary in the 17th century, the surnames were written phonetically and thus spelled inconsistently.