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Joannes Susenbrotus (also spelled ''Susembrotus'', also known as ''Johannes'' or ''Hans Susenbrot'', 1484/1485–1542/1543) was a German humanist, teacher of Latin, and author of textbooks. Susenbrotus was born in the Imperial Free City of
Wangen im Allgäu Wangen im Allgäu ( Low Alemannic: ''Wãnge'') is a historic city in southeast Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies north-east of Lake Constance in the Westallgäu. It is the second-largest city (Population: 26,927 in 2020) in the Ravensburg dist ...
and studied at the universities of Vienna and Basel. From 1506, he was a teacher in Leutkirch, and subsequently in
Pfullendorf Pfullendorf is a small town of about 13,000 inhabitants located north of Lake Constance in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was a Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire for nearly 600 years. The town is in the district of Sigmaringen south of ...
, Schaffhausen, and – from 1522 – in
Ravensburg Ravensburg ( Swabian: ''Raveschburg'') is a city in Upper Swabia in Southern Germany, capital of the district of Ravensburg, Baden-Württemberg. Ravensburg was first mentioned in 1088. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City and an impo ...
. He wrote several books in Latin, amongst them a Latin textbook ''Grammaticae artis institutio'' and a collection of Christian poems. His
rhetorics Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate part ...
textbook ''Epitome troporum'' defines 132 tropes and figures and gives examples of their use in ancient literature as well as references in contemporary books on rhetorics. Living in the days of the Protestant Reformation, Susenbrotus distinctly remained a Roman Catholic. Around 1542, Susenbrotus died from injuries sustained when a drunk caskmaker beat him up in Ravensburg. Susenbrotus' textbooks spread his name to pupils all over Europe. William Shakespeare seems to have known ''Epitome troporum'', since – as T. W. Baldwin pointed out – he uses numerous examples from Susenbrotus' book in his works. He is also a well-known rhetorician to other Elizabethan writers and poets such as
Gabriel Harvey Gabriel Harvey (c. 1552/3 – 1631) was an English writer. Harvey was a notable scholar, whose reputation suffered from his quarrel with Thomas Nashe. Henry Morley, writing in the ''Fortnightly Review'' (March 1869), has argued that Harvey's Lati ...
, Thomas Nashe and Thomas Watson. On 12 March 1615, students of Trinity College, Cambridge, played the Latin comedy, ''Susenbrotus, or Fortunia'', probably written by John Chappell, in the presence of King James I at
Royston Royston may refer to: Places Australia *Royston, Queensland, a rural locality Canada *Royston, British Columbia, a small hamlet England *Royston, Hertfordshire, a town and civil parish, formerly partly in Cambridgeshire *Royston, South Yorkshi ...
. As late as 1660 the English educationalist Charles Hoole recommends Susenbrotus' ''Epitome'' as a textbook for grammar schools.


Works

*''Grammaticae artis institutio'', Schumann, Leipzig 1539, and various later editions *''Scholae christianae epigrammatum libri duo, ex variis Christianorum poetis excerpti, ac iam à multis mendis repurgati in usum Christianorum adulescentulorum'', Brylinger, Basel 1541 (collected Christian poems) *''Epitome Troporvm Ac Schematvm Et Grammaticorum & Rhetorum: ad Authores tum prophanos tum sacros intelligendos non-minus utilis quàm necessaria'', Froschauer, Tiguri ( Zurich) 1541? and various later editions, first edition in England 1562 *''Methodus octo partium orationis una cum formulis declinandi nomina ac coniugandi verba, pueris nuper musarum adyta ingressis cognitu cum primis necessaria'', Froschauer, Tiguri (Zurich) 1565


References

*Thomas Whitfield Baldwin: ''William Shakspere's Small Latine and Lesse Greeke''. University of Illinois Press, Urbana IL 1944 *Joseph Xavier Brennan, ''The Epitome troporum ac schematum of Joannes Susenbrotus'' (Latin facsimile, English translation, and commentary), diss. University of Illinois, 1953, *Joseph Xavier Brennan: ''Joannes Susenbrotus. A forgotten Humanist'', in: ''PMLA Publications of the modern language association of America'', December 1960, Vol. LXXV, No. 5 *Joseph Xavier Brennan: ''The Grammaticae Artis Institutio of Joannes Susenbrotus, the Epitome Troporum ac Schematum etc.'', in: ''Papers of the Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia'', 14/1961 *Wilhelm Fox: ''Hans Susenbrot, ein verschollener schwäbischer Humanist und lateinischer Schulmeister'', in: ''Diözesan-Archiv von Schwaben'', Vol. 25, 1907, pp. 8–12 *Connie McQuillen (ed.): ''A comedy called Susenbrotus''. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 1997, *Ulrich-Dieter Oppitz: ''Ein Sachsenspiegel-Fragment in Ravensburg und Johann Susenbrot'', in: ''Ulm und Oberschwaben'', Vol. 51, 2000, pp. 216–219 *Thomas Zinsmaier: ''Johannes Susenbrotus Epitome troporum ac schematum – ''eine frühneuzeitliche literarische Rhetorik'', in: Wolfgang Kofler / Karlheinz Töchterle (edd.): ''Die antike Rhetorik in der europäischen Geistesgeschichte''. Studien-Verlag, Innsbruck / Vienna / Bolzano 2005, pp. 250–269.


External links

*Susenbrotus: ''Epitome''
Lyons 1551 edition onlineLondon 1576 edition online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Susenbrotus, Joannes Year of birth uncertain 1540s deaths People from Wangen im Allgäu German Renaissance humanists German male writers