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Johannes Trithemius, humanist of the Renaissance
The universal scholar, philosopher and prince bishop
Nikolaus von Kues
(1401 - 1464) was born in
Bernkastel-Kues.
His writings on philosophy and science mean he is considered a modern day
genius. As a science theoretist he focused mainly on the knowledge theory
from the Latin and Greek worlds. Following this theory, he saw the natural
sciences based on experience and systematic experiments -as well as the certainty
of maths formulae- as the fundamental foundation of all knowledge. His works
include maths problems like the squaring of the circle, or the universal concept
of world religions, where all religions are united by a common core. In the
year 1462, two years before the death of the important humanist and prelate
of the church Nikolaus von Kues (Nicholas Cusanus), another important humanist
scholar of the late middle ages named Johannes Trithemius (originally
Johannes Heidenberg or Johannes Zeller of Trittenheim) was born in
Trittenheim
on the Mosel, just a few kilometres upriver from Kues. In 1482, after attending
schools in Trier, Cologne, the Netherlands and Heidelberg, he entered the
Benedictine monastery
Sponheim
in the Nahe valley. Shortly afterwards he was made Abbott. Under his influence,
the monastery evolved into a centre of humanistic scholarship and spiritual
discussion. The library that he set up contained about 2000 volumes and was
an exceptional scientific collection with Greek, Latin and Hebraic writings.
This library and the inspiring and nurturing atmosphere of the monastery resulted
in infinite numbers of visitors, and collaborations between Trithemius and
all important scholars at the time. He gained literary fame through his "De
Scriptoribus ecclesiaticis", the first printed literature history and bibliography
of world literature, still used today. Some of his writings, however, are
now considered controversial. Among these are his history of the Sponheim
monastery, in which he willingly used false information in favour of his monastery,
and "The origins of the Franconian people" (De origine gentis Francorum compendium),
where he freely fabricated entire paragraphs in the style of a historical
novel. They were probably written to satisfy the historical needs of his benefactors,
particularly Emperor Maximilian who was especially interested in a "glorified"
version of the history of the Habsburg family.
After a period of internal strife, Johann Trithemius left the monastery at
Sponheim in 1506 and continued his work at the Abbey of St. Jacob in Würzburg.
The conditions there were hard and he died in 1516. Among his wide body of
work are some rather dubious writings that dealt with secret writings ("Polygraphia"),
theories of cryptography ("Steganographia"), and alchemy including magical
formulae and religious-psychological interpretations of nature (based upon
Aristotle's idea of "prima materia"). It is exactly these works which have
lately become popular among a wider public. The above portrait was probably
made around 1510, and was painted by the famous painter and graphic artist
Hans Burgkmair (1473-1531) from Augsburg, who influenced the German
Renaissance with his own style. The original of Hans Burgkmairs's drawing is
in the Musée Dondé de Chantilly in Paris.
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Literature
Klaus Arnold: Johannes Trithemius (1462-1516). Ferdinand Schöningh, Würzburg 1991
Michael Kuper: Johannes Trithemius —der schwarze Abt. Berlin, Clemens Zerling, 1998
This portrait of Johannes Trithemius was painted around 1510 and was created by the
Augsburg painter and graphic artist Hans Burgkmair (1473-1531).
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