Dietrich Gresemund
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Dietrich Gresemund (1477 – 14 October 1512) was a German humanist writer.


Biography

Gresemund was born at
Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...
. His father, also named Dietrich, was a native of Meschede in
Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...
. Gresemund was educated first at
Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...
, where he became ''
magister Magister is Latin for "master" or "teacher". It may refer to: Positions and titles * Magister degree, an academic degree * Magister equitum, or Master of the Horse * Magister militum, a master of the soldiers * Magister officiorum (''master of o ...
'', and subsequently in Italy. Having graduated in medicine at Speyer, he became court-physician and councillor to the
Elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of ...
of Mainz
Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild (1442–1504) was Archbishop of Mainz and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 1484, imperial chancellor from 1486, and leader of the reform faction within the Empire. Biography The son of George, Count ...
, in which city young Dietrich grew up and attracted attention at an early age because of his learning and ability. As early as 1493 he became associated with
Jakob Wimpfeling Jakob Wimpfeling (25 July 1450 – 17 November 1528) was a Renaissance humanist and theologian. Biography Wimpfeling was born in Sélestat (Schlettstadt), Alsace, Lorraine. He went to the school at Sélestat, which was run by Ludwig Dringenberg, ...
, Adam Werner von Themar, and Abbot Trithemius, and in 1494 he published his first work. Even at that date Trithemius admitted him to his ''Catalogus illustrium virorum'' with warm eulogies, on the ground that the youth had surpassed many men of mature age, including even doctors. Having received a thorough classical education from his father and attended lectures in
dialectics Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to ...
at the University of Mainz, Dietrich studied law at
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 ...
in 1495, and at
Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
in 1497. In 1498 he received the degree of ''doctor legum'' at
Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...
, and in 1499 he matriculated at
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 ...
. About 1501 he was in Rome to study antiquities, but soon had enough of the city, and wrote two very caustic
epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...
s regarding
Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...
. On his return to Mainz a succession of honours awaited him during the brief remnant of life that was allotted to him. In 1505 he became canon at
St. Stephen's Church, Mainz St. Stephan at Mainz. View of the great belfry, the highest spot in the city for centuries, and the nave. The Collegiate Church of St. Stephan, known in German as St. Stephan zu Mainz, is a Gothic hall collegiate church located in the German city o ...
, in 1506
vicar-general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...
, in 1508 prothonotary and ''judex generalis'', in 1509 ''diffinitor cleri minoris'' at St. Stephen's, and in 1510 ''scholasticus'' in the same chapter. His first work was called ''Lucubratiunculæ'' (1494) and dedicated to Trithemius. The book is divided into three parts. The first of these, a dialogue in which is discussed the value of the seven
liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...
, met with applause and was reprinted several times. It is worth remarking that this book contains the first plea from the Rhenish country for a reform in the teaching of grammar. His dialogue on the
Mainz carnival The Mainz Carnival (''Mainzer Fastnacht'', ''"Määnzer Fassenacht" or "Meenzer Fassenacht"'') is a months-long citywide carnival celebration in Mainz, Germany that traditionally begins on 11 November but culminates in the days before Ash Wednesda ...
deals with a humorous subject (1495) at Mainz, he delivered a discourse at a
synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...
presided in the light of a stern censor of the moral life of the clergy. His longest poem tells in moralizing fashion the story of the mutilation of a
crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...
by an actor (''Historia violate crucis'', written about 1505, but not printed until 1512). Gresemund's hobby was the collection of ancient coins and inscriptions. In 1510 he issued an edition of short texts in Roman archaeology. Death prevented the publication of his works on antiquities, and the manuscripts had been lost. Individual poems were written for the publications of his friends. He died young of
hernia A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the gr ...
, at Mainz.
Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...
paid him a splendid tribute in his edition of St. Jerome in 1516, and
Hieronymus Gebwiler Hieronymus, in English pronounced or , is the Latin form of the Ancient Greek name (Hierṓnymos), meaning "with a sacred name". It corresponds to the English given name Jerome. Variants * Albanian: Jeronimi * Arabic: جيروم (Jerome) * Basq ...
describes him in the following words: "Dietrich was slender of body and of medium height, with well-moulded features, dark hair, grey eyes, even-tempered, without rancour, without presumption, without pride, without affectation, gentle in his manner, and truthful".


References

* cites: **GEIGER in ''Allgemeine deutsche Biog.'', IX (Leipzig, 1879) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gresemund 1477 births 1512 deaths People from Speyer German Renaissance humanists Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni University of Padua alumni University of Bologna alumni 16th-century German jurists