JOHANNES PAULI:
German humorist and convert to Christianity; born about 1455; died at Thann 1530. He became a distinguished preacher of the Franciscan Order at Oppenheim and Strasburg, at which latter place he took notes of Geiler's sermons, which he edited at Schlettstadt 1517. He is known chiefly, however, for his collection of jests under the title "Schimpf und Ernst" (Thann, 1519), which went through innumerable editions, imitations, and explanations, making it the "Joe Miller" of Germany. Some of his stories were taken over into the "Hundred Merry Tales" used by Shakespeare.
Bibliography:
- Veith, Ueber den Barfüsser Johannes Pauli, Vienna, 1839;
- H. Oesterley, introduction to Schimpf und Ernst, 1863;
- idem, in Allg. Deutsche Biographie.
