Christopher Schutz

Christopher Schutz (1521–1592) also commonly known in England as Jonas Schutz, was a German-born metallurgist who worked in England for several decades. He built England's first blast furnace at Tintern, and was one of the principal assayers of the worthless ore brought from Baffin Island by Sir Martin Frobisher.

Christopher Schutz, born in Annaberg, Saxony, was the son of Christoph Schutz (born 1505) of Chemnitz. His mother's name is unknown. He learned his craft in mines in the Erzgebirge. About 1563 he received an invitation to work in England.William Humfrey (d.1579), who had been appointed Assay Master at the Royal Mint in 1561, needed someone knowledgeable about calamine ore, used in the production of latten and brass, and paid Schutz' way to England. In 1564 Schutz, aided by twenty German-speaking workers, built England's first blast furnace at Tintern. In a letter of 16 August 1565 to Sir William Cecil, Humfrey stated that Schutz was 'bound in £10,000 to communicate his art in working metals', and requested that he and Schutz be granted a joint patent. In September 1565 Humfrey and Schutz were granted licences to prospect for calamine in England and in the Pale in Ireland, and to mine and process the ore, being joined in some of their licences with Thomas Smythe, William Williams and Humfrey Cole. Only a few months later, in early 1566, William Humfrey and Schutz found calamine in the Mendip Hills, and Daniel Hoechstetter designed a refining process by which it could be used in Schutz' furnace at Tintern.

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