Johann Georg Turmair (or Thurmayr) (4 July 1477 – 9 January 1534), known by the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Johannes Aventinus (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the 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 the power of the ...

for "John of

Abensberg Abensberg () is a town in the Lower Bavarian district of Kelheim, in Bavaria, Germany, lying around southwest of Regensburg, east of Ingolstadt, northwest of Landshut and north of Munich. It is situated on the river Abens, a tributary of the ...

") or Aventin, was a

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

n Renaissance humanist

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

. He authored the 1523 ''Annals of Bavaria'', a valuable record of the early history of Germany.James Wood, ed.
''The Nuttall Encyclopædia''
1907; a modern biography in English is G. Strauss, ''Historian in an age of crisis: the life and work of Johannes Aventinus, 1477-1534'', 1963.

Tutor

Having studied at Ingolstadt, Vienna, Cracow and Paris, he returned to

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Bav ...

in 1507 and in 1509 was appointed tutor to Louis and Ernest, the two younger brothers of

William IV, Duke of Bavaria William IV (german: Wilhelm IV; 13 November 1493 – 7 March 1550) was Duke of Bavaria from 1508 to 1550, until 1545 together with his younger brother Louis X, Duke of Bavaria. He was born in Munich to Albert IV and Kunigunde of Austria, a daugh ...

, all three the sons of Albert the Wise, the late duke of Bavaria. Aventinus retained this position until 1517, wrote a Latin grammar (''Rudimenta grammaticae latinae''; 1512) and other manuals for the use of his pupils, and in 1515 travelled in Italy with Ernest. In his zeal for learning, he helped found the Sodalitas litteraria Angilostadensis, the "literary brotherhood of Ingolstadt", under the auspices of which several old manuscripts were brought to light; however, it soon ceased to exist (1520).

Historian of Bavaria

In 1517, William appointed him as Bavaria's official historian and commissioned him to write a history of the country. Many of the important authorities which Aventinus collected for this purpose have been preserved only in his copies. He embodied a critical treatment of them in a complete history of Bavaria, ''Annales Bojorum'' ("Annals of Bavaria"). His condensed German version of it, the ''Bayerische Chronik'', is the first important history in the German language.

The Reformation

Aventinus remained a Catholic throughout his life, even though he sympathized with aspects of the Protestant reform. He was in communication with

Philipp 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, intellectual leader of the Lu ...

and

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

. He rejected auricular confession, objected to pilgrimages and indulgences, and opposed the claims of the hierarchy as excessive. He showed a strong dislike for monks. On this account, he was imprisoned in 1528, but his friends soon effected his release. The remainder of his life was somewhat unsettled, and he died at Regensburg.

''Annals of Bavaria''

The ''Annals'', which are in seven volumes, deal with the history of Bavaria in conjunction with general history from the earliest times to 1460, and the author shows sympathy for the Empire in its struggle with the Papacy. He took pains with his work, and to some degree anticipated the modern historiography. Another result of his nonconformity was that the ''Annals'' were not published until 1554. Many passages were omitted in this Ingolstadt edition, as they reflected on the Roman Catholics. A more complete edition was published at Basel in 1580 by Nicholas Cisner. Aventinus, who has been called the "Bavarian Herodotus," wrote other books of lesser importance, and a complete edition of his works was published at Munich (1881–1886). In his ''Annals'', Aventinus preserved some of the text of the now lost 8th-century chronicle of

Creontius Creontius, sometimes Germanized Crantz ( 8th century), was a Bavarian official and historian. He served as the '' referendarius'' of Duke Tassilo III (), a position variously translated as chief counsellor, secretary or chancellor. He wrote a now ...

Teutonic genealogy

In his ''Chronik'', Aventinus fabricated a succession of Teutonic kings stretching back to the Great Flood, ruling over vast swathes of Germany and surrounding regions until the 1st century BC, and involving themselves in numerous events from Biblical and Classical history. These rulers and their exploits are mostly fictitious, though some are derived from mythological, legendary or historical figures. Examples of the latter are Boiger, Kels II and Teutenbuecher, whose joint reign is given as 127–100 BC, and who are based on King Boiorix of the Cimbri, the unnamed king of the Ambrones, and King Teutobod of the Teutons.

Legacy

Ludwig I of Bavaria had Aventinus' bust erected in the Walhalla temple. There is a German wheat beer named after him, made by G. Schneider & Son.

Notes

External links

*
Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries
High resolution images of works by and/or portraits of Johannes Aventinus in .jpg and .tiff format.