Beatus Rhenanus

Beatus Rhenanus (22 August 148520 July 1547), born as Beatus Bild, was a German humanist, religious reformer, classical scholar, and book collector.

Early life and education

Rhenanus was born on the 22 August 1485 in Schlettstadt (Sélestat) in Alsace. He was the third of three brothers. His father, Anton Bild, was a butcher from Rhinau (the source of his name "Rhenanus", which Beatus Latinised from his father, who was known as the "Rhinauer", the "man from Rheinau"). His grandfather Eberhard emigrated to Schlettstadt from Rheinau, and his son Anton was a member of the local council and acted as Schlettstadts Mayor between 1495-1512. Beatus lost his mother Barbara Kegler at the age of three and was raised by his father and his uncle Reinhart Kegler, a priest. His father would not remarry and focused in the education of his only surviving son. He was able to provide his son with an excellent education and from 1491, Rhenanus attended the famous Latin school of Schlettstadt.

Paris

In 1503, Rhenanus went to the University of Paris, where he came under the influence of Jacobus Lefèvre Stapulensis, an eminent Aristotelian. He assisted Lefèvre in publishing a commented Politika and a treatise on the Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle in the print of Henri Estienne.Holzberg, Niklaus (1985).pp.23–24 After having graduated he returned to Schlettstadt in 1507.

Strasbourg

In the same year he moved to Strassburg (Strasbourg), where he worked for the printer Mathias Schurer and made the acquaintance of the great Alsatian humanists, including Jakob Wimpfeling,Holzberg, Niklaus (1985).pp.24–25 Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg and Sebastian Brant. The works he was involved at Schurer were poems and treatises by contemporary Italian humanists and are seen as a preparation for his later work on texts by Aristotle and the Fathers of the Church. One was a book by Fausto Anderlini, who was a teacher of his in Paris.

Basel

After having also evaluated Orleans for his further studies, he eventually chose to come to Basel in July 1511.Holzberg, Niklaus (1985).p.26 He sought to become a student of the teacher in the Greek language Johannes Cuno. Rhenanus would become the favorite student of Cuno, who would bequest him with his library. In Basel he also befriended Desiderius Erasmus and played an active role in the publishing enterprises of Johann Froben. While he was staying in Basel, he usually lived several months a year in Schlettstadt. In 1519/1520, when the plague raged in Basel, he stayed for over twelve months.

Schlettstadt

He returned to Schlettstadt in 1528 to devote himself to a life of learned leisure. He continued a lively correspondence with many contemporary scholars, including his friend Erasmus, and supervised the printing of many of Erasmus's most important works.

Legacy

Rhenanus's own publications include a biography of Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg (1510), the ''Rerum Germanicarum Libri III'' (1531), and editions of Velleius Paterculus (Froben, Basel, 1520), based on the sole surviving manuscript, which he discovered in the Benedictine monastery at Murbach, Alsace. He also wrote works on Tacitus (1519), Livy (1522), and a nine-volume work on his friend Erasmus (1540-1541).

Beatus Rhenanus invaluable collection of books went into the ownership of his hometown by his death and is still to be seen in its entirety in the Humanist Library of Sélestat.

Personal life

He had two elder brothers, both of which died during childhood. His mother died when he was three years of age. He died on the way from Strasbourg on the 20 July 1547 while still in hope for a treatment for a sickness.Holzberg, Niklaus (1985).p.32

Notes

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20120211132805/http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/at/beatus-rhenanus_1531_rerum-germanicarum-libri-tres.pdf

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhenanus, Beatus
1485 births
1547 deaths
People from Sélestat
German Renaissance humanists
Book and manuscript collectors
German male writers