Page - 48 - in Maximilian Hell (1720–92) - And the Ends of Jesuit Science in Enlightenment Europe

Chapter 148 human or animal power: in 1687, out of the 2,173 workers of the mines in Ban- ská Štiavnica, 720, one-third, were employed in lifting the water, while only 474, less than one-quarter, were employed in the actual production.31 This could only result in huge deficits, so that many of the smaller mining companies had gone bankrupt by the 1690s, and at times even the overall closing down of the mines was contemplated by the wielder of sovereign control—whoever that might be at the given moment. Whether Matthäus Höll’s move to Banská Štiavnica was directly linked with this critical situation or not,32 thanks to his qualifications—he is said to have been well versed in mathematics, mechanics, and chemistry—he began to play important roles in meeting the challenges soon after his arrival. As Oberkunstmeister (roughly, chief engineer), he prepared plans for replacing horse and human power with water-wheel driven machinery to operate the pumps, and to exploit the topography of the region for developing artificial lakes with a view to ensuring and regulating adequate water supply. He also constructed mechanical devices for the easier delivery of ore from the shafts. These plans were approved in 1699 by the Imperial Court Chamber, the ulti- mate supervisory authority of the mines, and their implementation began in the following year. Soon enough, however, this was interrupted by the occupation of the town by the troops of Rákóczi, whose urgent need for resources led to a predatory exploitation of the mines during the years after 1703. Realizing that this was unsustainable, Rákóczi decided to close down the mines altogether and com- missioned his close associate, General Miklós Bercsényi (1665–1725), to demol- ish them. It was Höll who prevented this: in an apparently dramatic scene, he convinced Bercsényi that investing in the further improvement of the machin- ery would salvage the national assets that the mines represented.33 While this prediction proved too optimistic in the short run, Höll managed to perform essentially the same feat a few years later. The consequences of the 1708 Battle 31 The data derive from the Epistolae itinerariae (1700) of the Dutch scholar Jakob Toll (Jaco- bus Tollius [1633–96]), who visited the region in 1687. See Johann Kachelmann, Das Alter und die Schicksal des ungarischen zunächst Schemnitzer Bergbaues (Bratislava: n.p., 1870), 182. 32 It is not unlikely that before his final relocation, Höll had already visited the town as a young man. Sources like the Bericht von Wasser-Werken by the renowned Viennese cam- eralist Johann Joachim von Becher (1635–82), who also made significant contributions to mineralogy, mention that during the pillage of the town by Thököly’s captain, “Pater” Ist- ván Józsa, in 1679, the first specimen of a type of water pump whose invention is attrib- uted to Höll was destroyed. Cf. Faller, A magyar bányagépesítés úttörői, 33. 33 Antal Péch, A tudományok haladásának befolyása a selmeczvidéki bányaművelésre (Buda- pest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, 1881), 15.