Joachim Vadian (29 November 1484 – 6 April 1551), born as Joachim von Watt, was a

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

and reformer in

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website = ...

, Switzerland.

Biography

Vadian was born in

into a family of wealthy and influential

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...

merchants. After having gone to school in St. Gallen, he moved to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

at the end of 1501, where he took up studies at faculty of arts the

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

, in particular under

Conrad Celtis Conrad Celtes (german: Konrad Celtes; la, Conradus Celtis (Protucius); 1 February 1459 – 4 February 1508) was a German Renaissance humanist scholar and poet of the German Renaissance born in Franconia (nowadays part of Bavaria). He led the ...

and

Matthias Qualle Matthias Qualle (1470–1518; Slovenized as ''Matija Hvale''), was a Slovene philosopher. Between 1502 and 1514 he taught philosophy at the University of Vienna's Faculty of Arts, and in 1510 he served as the faculty's dean.Simoniti, Primož. ...

. In Vienna, he changed his name to Joachimus Vadianus; like so many other humanists, he preferred a Latin name to express his admiration for the classic masters. He evaded the outbreak of the

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium ('' Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as wel ...

of 1506/07 by moving to

Villach Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the p ...

where he worked as a teacher and studied music. A study trip through northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

brought him to Trent,

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, and

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, where he met the Irish scholar Mauritius Hibernicus. In 1509 completed his studies with the degree of

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

and returned for a short while to St. Gallen, where he studied the scriptures in the library of the

abbey of St. Gall The Abbey of Saint Gall (german: Abtei St. Gallen) is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Saint Othmar on the spot ...

. He returned to Vienna, where he had some success as a writer. From 1512 on, he held the chair of

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...

at the university of Vienna—he had gained some reputation as the author of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

poems. In 1513, he visited

Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...

, and the following year, he was named '' poeta laureatus'' by

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

Maximilian I. In 1516, he was even named a Dean of the University of Vienna. In the following years, Vadian studied

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

and sciences, in particular

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

under Georg Tannstetter, called Collimitius. In 1517, he was graduated as a

doctor of medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...

, and subsequently moved back to his hometown, St. Gallen. On that voyage, he visited many of his humanist acquaintances in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, Breslau, and

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

. In 1518, he climbed the

Pilatus Pilatus may refer to: People * Pontius Pilate (Latin: Pontius Pilatus, died 39 AD), Roman governor of Judea * Leontius Pilatus (died 1366), Greek Calabrian scholar * Rob Pilatus (1965–1998), artist and member of group Milli Vanilli Other uses * ...

mountain near

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label= Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital o ...

, the first documented ascent to its top. In St. Gallen, he was appointed

city physician City physician (German: ; , , from Latin ) was a historical title in the Late Middle Ages for a physician appointed by the city council. The city physician was responsible for the health of the population, particularly the poor, and the sanitary ...

(), and on 18 August 1519 he married Martha Grebel, the sister of

Conrad Grebel Conrad Grebel (c. 1498 – 1526), son of a prominent Swiss merchant and councilman, was a co-founder of the Swiss Brethren movement. Early life Conrad Grebel was born, probably in Grüningen in the Canton of Zurich, about 1498 to Junker Jak ...

who would later become a leading figure of the

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

movement. In 1521, he succeeded his father Leonhard, who had died on 20 December 1520, as a member of the city council. The beginning of the

Reformation in Switzerland The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was promoted initially by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrate, Mark Reust, and the population of Zürich in the 1520s. It led to significant changes in civil life and state matte ...

(he was a friend of

Huldrych Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the Univ ...

) made him, who had never had a theological schooling, study ecclesiastic texts. From 1522 on, he sided with the new, reformed interpretation and henceforth was its most important proponent in St. Gallen. When he was elected

of the city in 1526, he led the conversion of St. Gallen to

Protestantism Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, and managed to maintain that new state even after the victory of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

s in the Second war of Kappel. Vadian wrote several theological texts after 1522, helping disseminate the reformatory views. He died in St. Gallen. In his testament, he donated his large private library to the city. His collection became the nucleus of the cantonal library of

, which is named ''Vadiana''.

Selected works

*Vadian: ''De poetica et carminis ratione liber'', Vienna 1518. A comprehensive work on the history of literature. Modern critical edition with German translation in 3 vols: ''Joachim Vadianus, De Poetica'' by Peter Schäffer (Humanistische Bibliothek, Reihe II: Texte, 21, I-III). Wilhelm Fink, Munich 1973-1977, vol. 1 ; vol. 2 ; vol. 3 *Vadian: ''Grosse Chronik der Äbte des Klosters St. Gallen'', St. Gallen 1529. A history of the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

s of the abbey of St. Gallen. *Vadian: ''Epitome trium terrae partium, Asiae, Africae et Europae...'', Zurich 1534. A world atlas (one of the first to include

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

). *Vadian: ''Aphorismorum de consideratione eucharistiae libri VI'', St. Gallen 1535. A theological treatise arguing for the reformed interpretation of the

eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was institu ...

as a symbolism.

References

*Gordon, Bruce, ''The Swiss Reformation'', 1994, , pp. 326–7 *Jehle, M. & Jehle, F.:
Vadian der Reformator
', ch. 4 in ''Kleine St. Galler Reformationsgeschichte'', St. Gallen, 1977. . In German. *

External links

Vadiana
*

* ttp://www.eye.ch/swissgen/SGFF/list/031102.pdf A genealogy Joachim Vadianus appears in generation 14. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vadian, Joachim 1484 births 1551 deaths Protestant Reformers Renaissance humanists medical writers 16th-century Swiss physicians Calvinist and Reformed theologians 16th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians People from St. Gallen (city)