Johann Carion (22 March 1499,

Bietigheim Bietigheim is a village in the district of Rastatt in Baden-Württemberg in Southwestern Germany. It is located east of the Rhine river and thus the border to France, west of the Black Forest (more precisely the Northern Black Forest), south of ...

– 2 February 1537) was a German astrologer, known also for historical writings. Johann-Carion

Life

He was court astrologer to Elector Joachim I Nestor of Brandenburg. A prognostication he published in 1521 gained him a later reputation of having predicted the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

, as well as a major flood in 1525 and some apocalyptic dates. For 15 July 1524 he predicted another flood so that Joachim I Nestor and his entourage fled to the Runder Berg, then the highest of the Tempelhofer Berge range south of the residential city of

Cölln Cölln () was the Twin cities, twin city of Old Berlin (Alt-Berlin) from the 13th century to the 18th century. Cölln was located on the Fischerinsel, Fisher Island section of Spree Island, opposite Altberlin on the western bank of the River ...

.Klaus-Dieter Wille, ''Spaziergänge in Kreuzberg'', Berlin: Haude & Spener, 1986, (=Berliner Kaleidoskop: Schriften zur Berliner Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte; vol. 32), p. 21. .Ilse Nicolas, ''Kreuzberger Impressionen'' (¹1969), Berlin: Haude & Spener, ²1979, (=Berlinische Reminiszenzen; vol. 26), p. 10. . At about 16:00 h, after spending much of the day on the hill in vain, Electress Elizabeth of Denmark urged her husband to return.''Die Tempelhofer Berge nebst ihrer höchsten Erhebung dem Kreuzberge anno 1286 bis 1986'', Geschichtskreis im Wasserturm auf dem Tempelhofer Berg (ed.), Berlin: Bloch & Partner, 1986, p. 3. No ISBN.Ilse Nicolas, ''Kreuzberger Impressionen'' (¹1969), Berlin: Haude & Spener, ²1979, (=Berlinische Reminiszenzen; vol. 26), p. 11. . They returned to town, where a thunderstorm started and a lightning killed four horses and the coachmen. According to another source the news of their frightful flight had spread among the Cöllners and Berliners, many of whom had tried to get as well onto the hill, but were kept out by electoral guards. On their return the crowd awaited the elector and his entourage and welcoming him laughing. Subsequently from 1531

Philip Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the L ...

took an interest in his work.

Andreas Perlach Andreas Perlach, also known as Andreas Perlacher and Andreas Perlachius ex Wittschein Stiriensis, (1490–1551) was born in Svečina, in the House of Habsburg, Habsburg empire (now in Slovenia).

in a work on the comet of 1531 questioned whether his methods were purely astrological or involved magic. His death is fixed as 1537, when Melanchthon communicated the news in a letter to

Jacob Milich Jacob (or Jakob) Milich (also Mühlich; January 24, 1501 – November 10, 1559) was a German mathematician, physician and astronomer. He was born in Freiburg im Breisgau, where he received his education starting in 1513. He studied at Albert-Lud ...

''Chronicles''

''Carion's Chronicles'' became an important work in

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

and more generally Protestant

millenarian Millenarianism or millenarism () is the belief by a religious organization, religious, social, or political party, political group or Social movement, movement in a coming fundamental Social transformation, transformation of society, after which ...

thought. From an original that was indeed penned by Carion, it was completely rewritten in its Latin version at the hands of Melanchthon, and others. With

Joachim Camerarius Joachim Camerarius (12 April 1500 – 17 April 1574), the Elder, was a German classical scholar.Deufert 2012. His critical abilities, his deep understanding of Greek and Latin, and his wide-ranging knowledge of the ancient world made him one of ...

, Melanchthon and other Lutheran humanist scholars the work changed from a traditional chronicle into a Reformation narrative of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. After Melanchthon's death,

Caspar Peucer Caspar Peucer ( , ; January 6, 1525 – September 25, 1602) was a German reformer, physician, and scholar of Sorbian origin. Personal life Early life Caspar Peucer was born on January 6, 1525, in Bautzen, (Sachsen, Germany) and died on Se ...

continued to edit it. Major features were the scheme of four monarchies taken from the ''

Book of Daniel The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th-century BC setting. It is ostensibly a narrative detailing the experiences and Prophecy, prophetic visions of Daniel, a Jewish Babylonian captivity, exile in Babylon ...

'', extended by the medieval idea of ''

translatio imperii is a historiographical concept that was prominent among medieval thinkers and intellectuals in Europe, but which originated from earlier concepts in antiquity. According to this concept, the notion of ''decline and fall'' of an empire is theor ...

;'' further there is a second Three Eras schematic, the third period of which will be co-extensive with the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

extended by the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

(the fourth monarchy) which will last to 2000 AD. A part of the work today attributed to Melanchthon contained the first evidence for the

Lotharian legend The Lotharian legend () was a German 16th-century theory which purported to explain why Roman law as outlined in the Byzantine was the law of the Holy Roman Empire (as the ). According to this theory – which was conclusively disproven by Herm ...

. A disproven theory which purported to explain why Roman law (as expounded in the ) was the law of the Holy Roman Empire. Initially, Carion published a short

universal history Universal history may refer to: * Universal history (genre), a literary genre **''Jami' al-tawarikh'', 14th-century work of literature and history, produced by the Mongol Ilkhanate in Persia ** Universal History (Sale et al), ''Universal History'' ...

in German, at

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

(1532). It was then translated into Latin by Herman Bonnus (Halle, 1537); there were numerous subsequent editions and translations. In England there were translations by Walter Lynne, and also by Thomas Lanquet (unfinished) which was completed by Thomas Cooper (with

Robert Crowley Robert Crowley may refer to: * Robert Crowley (printer) (c. 1517–1588), English Protestant printer, editor, chronicler, social critic, poet, polemicist, and clergyman * Robert Crowley (CIA) (1924–2000), assistant deputy director of clandestine ...

) and became known as ''Cooper's Chronicle''. In 1567,

Peter Canisius Peter Canisius (; 8 May 1521 – 21 December 1597) was a Dutch Jesuit priest known for his strong support for the Catholic faith during the Protestant Reformation in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Switzerland and the British Isles. The ...

, the most important

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

in Germany, wrote to the Catholic historian

Onofrio Panvinio Onofrio Panvinio (; 23 February 1529 – 27 April 1568) was an Italian Augustinian friar, historian and antiquary who was the librarian to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. Life and work Panvinio was born in Verona. At the age of eleven, he ...

to inquire about the chronicle he was preparing. The work was intended to counter Carion's ''Chronicles''.''Beati Petri Canisii, Societatis Iesu, epistulae et acta collegit et adnotationibus illustravit Otto Braunsberger'', Vol. 6, ''1567–1571'' (Freiburg i.B.: Herder, 1913), 70 r. 1504 The Jesuits hoped to use the book in Germany, but despite Canisius's high expectations, Panvinio's work remained only a

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

. As a result, it was not until the end of the sixteenth century that Orazio Torsellino's ''Epitome Historiarum'' (1598) gave the Jesuits a Catholic counterpart to Carion's ''Chronicles''.

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Life

''Chronicles''

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Further reading