Joannes Susenbrotus (also spelled ''Susembrotus'', also known as ''Johannes'' or ''Hans Susenbrot'', 1484/1485–1542/1543) was a German

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 ...

, teacher of

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 ...

, and author of textbooks. Susenbrotus was born in the

Imperial Free City In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

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

and

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 (BS ...

. 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 Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a town with historic roots, a municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimate ...

, and – from 1522 – in Ravensburg. 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 The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

, 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 William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

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 Thomas Nashe (baptised November 1567 – c. 1601; also Nash) was an Elizabethan playwright, poet, satirist and a significant pamphleteer. He is known for his novel ''The Unfortunate Traveller'', his pamphlets including ''Pierce Penniless,'' ...

and Thomas Watson. On 12 March 1615, students of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, played the Latin comedy, ''Susenbrotus, or Fortunia'', probably written by John Chappell, in the presence of King

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

at Royston. As late as 1660 the English educationalist

Charles Hoole Charles Hoole (1610–1667) was an English cleric and educational writer. He produced a visually-improved English translation of the ''Orbis Pictus'' of Comenius, a year after its original publication in 1658. Life The son of Charles Hoole of Wak ...

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