Sebastian Münster (20 January 1488 – 26 May 1552)
was a German
cartographer
Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an ...
and
cosmographer
The term cosmography has two distinct meanings: traditionally it has been the protoscience of mapping the general features of the cosmos, heaven and Earth; more recently, it has been used to describe the ongoing effort to determine the large-scal ...
. He also was a
Christian Hebraist scholar who taught as a professor at the
University of Basel
The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universiti ...
. His well-known work, the highly accurate world map, ''
Cosmographia'', sold well and went through 24 editions. Its influence was widely spread by a production of woodcuts created of it by a variety of artists.
Life
He was born in
Ingelheim, near
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
, the son of Andreas Münster. His parents and other ancestors were farmers.
In 1505, he entered the Franciscan order
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
. Four years later, he entered a monastery where he became a student of Konrad Pelikan for five years.[ Münster completed his studies at the ]University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...
in 1518. His graduate adviser was Johannes Stöffler
Johannes Stöffler (also ''Stöfler, Stoffler, Stoeffler''; 10 December 1452 – 16 February 1531) was a German mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, priest, maker of astronomical instruments and professor at the University of Tübingen.
Life
Jo ...
.He left the Franciscans for the Lutheran Church
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 ...
in order to accept an appointment at the Reformed Church
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
-dominated University of Basel
The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universiti ...
in 1529. He had long harboured an interest in Lutheranism
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
, and during the German Peasants' War
The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt (german: Deutscher Bauernkrieg) was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It failed because of intense oppositi ...
, as a monk, he had been repeatedly attacked. A professor of Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, and a disciple of Elias Levita, he edited the Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
'' 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 ...
translation and a large number of annotations. He was the first German to produce an edition of the Hebrew Bible.
He published more than one Hebrew grammar, and was the first to prepare a ''Grammatica Chaldaica'' (Basel, 1527). His lexicographical labours included a ''Dictionarium Chaldaicum'' (1527), and a ''Dictionarium trilingue'' for Latin, Greek, and Hebrew in 1530.
He released a ''Mappa Europae'' (map of Europe) in 1536. In 1537, he published a Rabbinical translation of the Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew which he had obtained from Spanish ''Converso
A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert", () was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of his or her descendants.
To safeguard the Old Christian p ...
s''. In 1540 he published a Latin edition of Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
's '' Geographia'' with illustrations. The 1550 edition contains cities, portraits, and costumes. These editions, printed in Germany, are the most valued of this work. Other writings that followed are ''Horologiographia'' (a treatise on dialling – constructing sundial
A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a f ...
s, Basel, 1531), and ''Organum Uranicum'' (a treatise on the planetary motions, 1536).His '' Cosmographia'' of 1544 was the earliest description of the world in the German-language
German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...
. It had numerous editions in different languages including 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 ...
, French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, Italian, English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
, and even Czech. The ''Cosmographia'' was one of the most successful and popular works of the 16th century. It passed through 24 editions in 100 years. This success was due to the fascinating woodcut
Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...
s (some by Hans Holbein the Younger
Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; german: Hans Holbein der Jüngere; – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a German-Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered one of the greatest por ...
, Urs Graf
Urs Graf (c. 1485 in Solothurn, Switzerland – possibly before 13 October 1528) was a Swiss Renaissance goldsmith, painter and printmaker (of woodcuts, etchings and engravings), as well as a Swiss mercenary. He only produced two etchings, one ...
, Hans Rudolph Manuel Deutsch, and David Kandel), in addition to including the first to introduce "separate maps for each of the four continents known then – America, Africa, Asia and Europe."[National Library Board of Singapore. ''Visualising Space: Maps of Singapore and the Region. Collections from the National Library and National Archives of Singapore'', 2014, p. 42] It was most important in reviving geography in 16th-century Europe. The last German edition was published in 1628, long after his death.
Münster was also known as translator of the Hebrew Bible (''Hebraica Biblia''). His edition was published in two volumes (1546) in Basel. Th
first volume
contains the books from Genesis to 2 Kings, following the order of the Masoretic codices. Th
second volume
contains The Prophets (Major and Minor), The Psalms, Job, Proverb, Daniel, Chronicles, and the Five Scrolls (The Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther).
His ''Rudimenta Mathematica'' was published in Basel in 1551.[
He died at ]Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...
of the plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
in 1552. Münster's tombstone describes him as the Ezra
Ezra (; he, עֶזְרָא, '; fl. 480–440 BCE), also called Ezra the Scribe (, ') and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra, was a Jewish scribe ('' sofer'') and priest ('' kohen''). In Greco-Latin Ezra is called Esdras ( grc-gre, Ἔσδρ ...
and the Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...
of the German people
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
.[
]
Gallery
Several paintings with oil on canvas, woodcuts and copper etchings depict Sebastian Münster, by Hans Holbein d. J. (Basel, c. 1530), Willem de Haen (1615), as rector of the University of Basel
The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universiti ...
(by Christoph Amberger, um 1547), and on the 100- DM-bill as used 1962 to 1991.
Image:Remigius-Muenster.jpg, Statue of Sebastian Münster in front of St. Remigius Church, Ingelheim
Image:Cosmographia titelblatt der erstausgabe.JPG, Cover of first edition of '' Cosmographia''
Image:Saal-Ingelheim-Cosmographia-1628.jpg, His home town Ingelheim in ''Cosmographia''
Image:Porträt Sebastian Münsters in der Cosmographia von 1628 .JPG, Portrait of Sebastian Münster, edition of 1628
Image:Europe_As_A_Queen_Sebastian_Munster_1570.jpg, '' Europa regina'' in Münster's "'' Cosmographia''", 1570.
Image:100 DM Serie3 Vorderseite.jpg, Old 100 DM banknote, 1962–1991, depicting Münster.
References
Further reading
*Karl Heinz Burmeister: ''Sebastian Münster – Versuch eines biographischen Gesamtbildes.'' Basler Beiträge zur Geschichtswissenschaft, Band 91, Basel und Stuttgart 1963 und 1969.
*Karl Heinz Burmeister: ''Sebastian Münster – Eine Bibliographie''. Wiesbaden 1964.
*Ralf Kern: ''Wissenschaftliche Instrumente in ihrer Zeit''. Vol. 1. Cologne, 2010. pp. 307–311.
*Hans Georg Wehrens: ''Freiburg in der „Cosmographia“ von Sebastian Münster'' (1549); in ''Freiburg im Breisgau 1504 m–1803, Holzschnitte und Kupferstiche''. Verlag Herder, Freiburg 2004, S. 34 ff. .
*Günther Wessel: ''Von einem, der daheim blieb, die Welt zu entdecken - Die Cosmographia des Sebastian Münster oder Wie man sich vor 500 Jahren die Welt vorstellte''. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt 2004, .
*
*
* Werner Raupp: MÜNSTER, Sebastian. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Band 6, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, , Sp. 316–326 (with detailed bibliography).
External links
*
*
*
Lateinische Werke im Internet
- Umfangreiche Dokumentensammlung des Sebastian-Münster-Gymnasiums in Ingelheim.
* ttp://historic-cities.huji.ac.il/mapmakers/munster.html ''Historic Cities: Sebastian Münster''br>Schreckenfuchs 1553 Oratio Funebris de Obitu Ssebastiani Munsteri
Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries
High resolution images of works by and/or portraits of Sebastian Munster in .jpg and .tiff format.
"The Strange Career of the ''Biblia Rabbinica'' among Christian Hebraists, 1517–1620"
The Munster Map - Simcoe County Archives
Maps by Munster
Eran Laor Cartographic Collection, the National Library of Israel
The National Library of Israel (NLI; he, הספרייה הלאומית, translit=HaSifria HaLeumit; ar, المكتبة الوطنية في إسرائيل), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; he, בית הספרים הלא� ...
Digitized high-resolution images of the 1540 first edition of the ''Geographia Universalis''
- from RareMaps.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munster, Sebastian
1488 births
1552 deaths
German cartographers
Christian Hebraists
16th-century cartographers
16th-century German translators