Wer brauchen wil die löblich kunst, von einem meister sol ers leren,
Nicht von einem winckel fechter; sunst hatt er die kunst nicht mit eren.
Translated as:
He who want so learn the praiseworthy art, should he learn it from a master;
Not from a Winkelfechter, for otherwise he has the art, without honor.
I've seen this "without honour" translation many times. What if it really means that he does not have a recognised degree?
In the verse above, "eren" in very likely plural, and even in early German, "ere" in the sense of "honour" was typically (but not rigorously) used in the singular - much like it is in English. "HonourS" has a different connotation from "honour".
Maybe the plural is applied simply to make the rhyme work. Still, the phrasing is not "you are without honour", but "you have the art without honour(s)".
I can't immediately put my finger on other text examples, so I wanted to throw this out and ask anyone who has other text examples to please post them here, or if you have an example from e.g. a guild statute where "eren" (or "ehren") is used in terms of "recognised status" or "recognised degree". Many thanks!