Jacob Ziegler (c. 1470/71 – August 1549) was a

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

and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

from Landau an der Isar in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. He was an itinerant scholar of geography and cartographer, who lived a wandering life in Europe. He studied at the University of Ingolstadt in the 1490s where he befriended Conrad Celtes and Willibald Pirckheimer. Then spent some time at the court of Pope Leo X before he converted to Protestantism; subsequently his geographical works were placed on the

Index Librorum Prohibitorum The (English: ''Index of Forbidden Books'') was a changing list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former dicastery of the Roman Curia); Catholics were forbidden to print or re ...

. For a time he taught at Vienna; in his old age, 1545–49, he lived in the house of Wolfgang Salm, Bishop of Passau. His portrait by Wolf Huber (c. 1485–1553), executed about 1540, when he was about seventy years old, is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. His main geographical treatise, ''Schondia'', was published under the title ''Quae intus continentur Syria, Palestina, Arabia, Aegyptus, Schondia, Holmiae...'' at

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

in 1532. He was also a publisher of maps where he influenced

Gerardus Mercator Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a Flemish people, Flemish geographer, cosmographer and Cartography, cartographer. He is most renowned for creating the Mercator 1569 world map, 1569 world map based on a new Mercator pr ...

, who mentioned Ziegler's maps contained numerous inconsistencies and errors. The Swedish historian

Johannes Messenius Johannes Messenius (1579–1636) was a Sweden, Swedish historian, dramatist and university professor. He was born in the village of Freberga, in Stenby parish in Östergötland, and died in Oulu, in modern-day Finland. Childhood He was the son o ...

claimed that Ziegler served as a professor of mathematics at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

in 1540. However, this assertion has later been challenged by subsequent scholars, including Johannes Schefferus and Johann Georg Schelhorn.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziegler, Jacob 1470 births 1549 deaths German scholars History of geography Medieval German geographers 15th-century German scientists 15th-century geographers 16th-century geographers 15th-century German writers 16th-century German writers 16th-century German male writers German Renaissance humanists