Johannes Dantiscus, (; ; 1 November 1485 – 27 October 1548) was

prince-bishop A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the ...

of Warmia and Bishop of Chełmno (Culm). In recognition of his diplomatic services for Polish kings, the bishop and poet is also known as the "Father of Polish Diplomacy." Johannes Dantiscus' personal seal, a depiction located at Stanford University Libraries, identifies him as ''Ioannes De Curiis, Pruss. Varmien'' with St. Katherine, St. Jacob and St. Peter crests.

Biography

Dantiscus was born in Danzig (

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

), in the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

. His family's name was ''von Höfen'', while ''Flachsbinder'' was an occupational name derived from his grandfather's

rope A rope is a group of yarns, Plying, plies, fibres, or strands that are plying, twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have high tensile strength and can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger ...

making trade (literally ''flax binder''). Johannes took on the nickname Dantiscus in order to show that he was a burgher of Danzig () where his father was a

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

and

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

. He finished his elementary studies at a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

Grudziądz Grudziądz (, ) is a city in northern Poland, with 92,552 inhabitants (2021). Located on the Vistula River, it lies within the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and is the fourth-largest city in its province. Grudziądz is one of the oldest citie ...

(Graudenz), and studied first in

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg. In 2021 it surpa ...

, then in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

where he was awarded a bachelor's degree. During his studies, the teenage Dantiscus became associated with the royal court of King John I Albert of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, and took part in military expeditions against the Turks and the

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

ns. For over 30 years he was a royal diplomat and the royal secretary. Dantiscus, at King Sigismund I's side, took part in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

's convention of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1515. In Vienna he was knighted by the emperor for his services and was made a nobleman. Johannes became a church

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

, then Bishop of Chełmno and later of Bishop of Warmia. He also wrote many poems, mainly in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, for which he is regarded as one of the most outstanding poets. Among his many works is his

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

''Vita Joannis de Curiis Dantisci'' ("The Life of Johannes of the Danzig Church"). In addition, he maintained an active correspondence with prominent persons and institutions throughout

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

as well as with relatives. Thousands of his letters dating from 1500–1548 are still in existence. Dantiscus wrote mainly in Latin and German, and sporadically received letters in Polish, or in other languages. He died, aged 63, in Lidzbark (Heilsberg).

References

External links

Archive of Dantiscus' works and correspondence, in English and Polish

Works by Johannes Dantiscus
in digital library

Polona Polona is a Polish digital library, which provides digitized books, magazines, graphics, maps, music, fliers and manuscripts from collections of the National Library of Poland and co-operating institutions. It began its operation in 2006. Colle ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dantiscus, Johannes 1485 births 1548 deaths Clergy from Gdańsk 16th-century writers in Latin 16th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Poland Bishops of Warmia People from Royal Prussia Diplomats of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Polish male poets Neo-Latin poets German male poets