Free Apothecary Melchior and the Mystery of St Olaf's Church by Indrek Hargla

The men traipsed ahead through the muck towards the main gate of the keep. On their right was a moat in front of the wall that split Toompea in half, along with the Bell Tower, also known as Dome Gate. Were they to walk through that passageway and head straight along Piiskopi Street they would reach the Dome Church, the octagonal tower of which could be seen rising above the wall.
    Toompea Small Castle – the Commander’s residence – was immediately in front of them, as was Pikk Hermann Tower, which stood as a symbol to the townsfolk of the Teutonic Order’s power and might. The stronghold had been built by soldiers of the Danish Crown, and the Order had further fortified it further, piling the castle walls higher and erecting four tall towers at each corner that were visible far out to sea along with the spire of St Olaf’s Church.
    Although Toompea did not have its own pharmacy, the Commander had a personal physician who sometimes mixed remedies for his lord. Over recent years, however, the doctor’s vision had grown dim along with – Melchior suspected – his mind. It was for this reason that the town apothecary did not mix the Commander’s medicines according to the physician’s recipes but rather used his own intuition or followed instructions given by the town doctor. He had not, of course, gone before the Tallinn Council and mentioned anything about how the town’s apothecary would sometimes also mix remedies for their overlord on Toompea because one or other of the councilmen might well get a malicious idea when considering this fact. Melchior Wakenstede was an apothecary by permission of the town and practised on town land and was required to mix those medications passed down to him by the town doctor. Tallinn did not need to get involved in treating the lords of Toompea. But Ruprecht von Spanheim had a somewhat different disposition from previous commanders. He was rumoured to come from a very poor noble family in Germany, a family so low in fortune that it had long been unable to find the means to maintain its status. Ruprecht von Spanheim was the fourth son of a destitute knight who did not even have sufficient means to place his son in a monastery, and thus young Ruprecht was said to have entered the Teutonic Order as young boy tomake ends meet on his own as penniless warrior-monk. By this time, however, the man had become commander of the most important town in Livonia, purely as a result of his valour in battle. Ruprecht von Spanheim had fought bravely against the Poles, the Lithuanians, the Russians, the bishops and the Swedes, and this had gained him many supporters within the Order. Yet Commander Spanheim remained a man of even temperament who regarded Tallinn’s town affairs with benevolence and understanding. Playing a large part in this was certainly the beer that Toompea received from Lower Town and towards which the Commander had never shown much restraint. Quite the opposite, in fact, Melchior had deduced, given the frequency with which the Commander dispatched his attendant to the pharmacy to fetch a certain elixir. Melchior mixed this potion from herbs, apple juice and mead topped off with a raw egg, and it was because of this drink that the Commander had labelled Melchior his friend on more than one occasion.
    The townsmen now reached the main gate of the
castrum minus
, the Small Castle
.
They stepped meekly through the portal, where, naturally, no one stood guard at this time and entered the castle’s inner courtyard. They were now at the heart of Order power, a heart that gave off the pungent stench of slurry because the Order’s barns, stables, sheds and coops were situated in the space. Hens strutted across the grounds, and a pair of swine wallowed in the shade.
    Dorn looked around for an attendant who would inform the Commander of their arrival. This proved unnecessary, however, as the Commander himself stood near a well in a corner of