Jakob Monau (4 February 1546; Breslau – 6 October 1603; Breslau), also known as ''Jacobus Monavius'' or ''Iacobus Monaw'', was a polymath (

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

) and leader of the

Reformed Protestant Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the Christian theology, theological tradition and forms of Christianity, Christ ...

faction after

Johannes Crato von Krafftheim Johannes Crato von Krafftheim (born Johannes Krafft; 22 November 1519 – 19 October 1585) was a German humanist and court physician to three Holy Roman emperors. Origins and education Crato von Krafftheim was born Johannes Krafft''.'' He was ...

's death. He was a student at St. Elizabeth and Mary Magdalene Gymnasium in Breslau. Thanks to patrons who supported him financially, he matriculated at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

in the summer of 1562. Like his early mentors

Joachim Camerarius Joachim Camerarius (12 April 150017 April 1574), the Elder, was a Germans, German classical scholar. Life He was born in Bamberg, in the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg. His family name was Liebhard, but he was generally called Kammermeister, previo ...

and

Victorinus Strigel Viktorin (Victorinus) Strigel (16 or 26 December 1524, Kaufbeuren — 26 June 1569, Heidelberg) was a Philippist Lutheran theologian and Protestant reformer. Life Victorinus Strigel was born 1524 in Kaufbeuren, the son of the physician Ivo St ...

, Monau initially identified with the

Philippist The Philippists formed a party in early Lutheranism. Their opponents were called Gnesio-Lutherans. Before Luther's death ''Philippists'' was the designation usually applied in the latter half of the sixteenth century to the followers of Philip ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

faction although, like many Philippists, in time he moved toward a

theological position. After 1569 he moved to

Frankfurt (Oder) Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (), is a city in the German state of Brandenburg. It has around 57,000 inhabitants, is one of the easternmost cities in Germany, the fourth-largest city in Brandenburg, and the largest German ...

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...

and then again to Wittenberg. In winter 1573, he was to have enrolled at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

and appears to have enrolled at the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from B ...

later that year. In 1574 he was in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

and in 1575 again in Heidelberg. Despite his great learning, he was not favored in Breslau because of his inclination toward the

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

faith. In 1590 he was Councilor of Duke Frederick of

Legnica Legnica (Polish: ; german: Liegnitz, szl, Lignica, cz, Lehnice, la, Lignitium) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River (left tributary of the Oder) and the Czarna Woda (Kaczawa), Czarna Woda ...

and

Brzeg Brzeg (; Latin: ''Alta Ripa'', German: ''Brieg'', Silesian German: ''Brigg'', , ) is a town in southwestern Poland with 34,778 inhabitants (December 2021) and the capital of Brzeg County. It is situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on the ...

, while he continued to reside in Breslau. He was a friend of

and a member of Breslau intellectual circles. By his second marriage, he was related to the families Vogt, Pucher, Holzbecher und Heugel. He had three sons, including Frederick Monau with whom the family line died out. His brother was the noted imperial physician

Peter Monau Peter Monau (Lat. “Petrus Monavius”) (9 April 1551 – 12 May 1588) was a court physician of Emperor Rudolph II. He was the son of Stenzel Monau and younger brother of Jakob Monau. After several years of humanistic studies in Wittenberg a ...

. Together with his friend

Wacker von Wackenfels Johannes Matthaeus Wacker von Wackenfels (1550–1619) was an active diplomat, scholar and author, with an avid interest in history and philosophy. A follower of Neostoicism, he sought to resolve the doubts he still had about his conversion to Catho ...

he convinced

Abraham Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a Brabantian cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer, conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the ''Theatrum Orbis Terraru ...

to create a map of

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

. Ortelius dedicated his map of historic Germany to him.

Literature

External links

Early modern biographical portrait by Melchior Adam (Latin)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monau, Jakob 1546 births 1603 deaths Lawyers from Wrocław 16th-century Latin-language writers 16th-century German writers 16th-century German male writers Leipzig University alumni Philippists 16th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians Writers from Wrocław