Johannes Matthaeus Wacker von Wackenfels (1550–1619) was an active diplomat, scholar and writer, with an avid interest in history and philosophy. A follower of

Neostoicism Neostoicism was a philosophical movement that arose in the late 16th century from the works of Justus Lipsius, and sought to combine the beliefs of Stoicism and Christianity. Lipsius was Flemish people, Flemish and a Renaissance humanist. The mov ...

, he sought to resolve the doubts he still had about his conversion to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, according to STUDIA RUDOLPHINA - Bulletin of the Research Center for Visual Arts and Culture in the Age of Rudolf II. He was born in

Konstanz Konstanz ( , , , ), traditionally known as Constance in English, is a college town, university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the Baden-Württemberg state of south Germany. The city ho ...

(Constance) in 1550 in a Lutheran Protestant family and studied in

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 ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

and

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

. He was supported and promoted by

Johannes Crato von Krafftheim Johannes Crato von Krafftheim (born Johannes Krafft; 22 November 1519 – 19 October 1585) was a humanist and court physician to three Holy Roman emperors. Origins and education Crato von Krafftheim was born Johannes Krafft. He was the son o ...

, who put his way into the circle of

Renaissance humanism in Northern Europe Renaissance humanism came much later to Germany and Northern Europe in general than to Italy, and when it did, it encountered some resistance from the scholastic theology which reigned at the universities. Humanism may be dated from the invention ...

in Breslau (

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

). On Crato's and

Hubert Languet Hubert Languet (1518 – 30 September 1581, in Antwerp) was a French diplomat and reformer. The leading idea of his diplomacy was that of religious and civil liberty for the protection and expansion of Protestantism. He did everything in his pow ...

's recommendation, he became tutor in noble houses. In 1574 he traveled from

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. ...

to Italy, where he met Jakob Monau and Fabier Ien de Dohna. In 1575 he received his doctorate in Padua. As a steward, he accompanied the son of Nicholas of Rhediger on the Grand Tour (peregrinatio Academica). In 1576 he returned to Breslau and became the confidant of bishop Andreas von Jerin. In 1591 Wackenfels was Chancellor of the Upper Silesian provincial team. In 1583 he married Sophie Poley in Dresden (1563-92), a sister of Wrocław businessman and gentleman on animal garden Christoph Poley. In 1592 Wackenfels converted to the Catholic faith and in 1594, he was in the

Ennoblement Ennoblement is the conferring of nobility—the induction of an individual into the noble class. Currently only a few kingdoms still grant nobility to people; among them Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Vatican. Depending on time and reg ...

. In 1595 he married his second wife Catherine of Troilo, being then Franz Troilo's brother-in-law, a sister of his first wife and second daughter of Johann Franz Troilo, and allied himself with one of the most influential families in

. In the spring of the same year, he made an invitation to his friend Valens Acidalius to go to

Neisse The Lusatian Neisse (; ; ; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.

. In 1597, he was appointed to the

Aulic Council The Aulic Council (; ; literally "Court Council of the Empire", sometimes abbreviated in academic writing as "RHR") was one of the two supreme courts of the Holy Roman Empire, the other being the ''Reichskammergericht'' (Imperial Chamber Court). ...

, where he served until 1612, from 1608 as a trainee. In 1611 he has devoted his friend

Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best know ...

, who dedicated to him his "Strena seu nive sexangula" (From hexagonal snow; see:

Kepler conjecture The Kepler conjecture, named after the 17th-century mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler, is a mathematical theorem about sphere packing in three-dimensional Euclidean space. It states that no arrangement of equally sized spheres filling s ...

) (1611).

Works

Wackenfels wrote courtly poems and his manuscripts contain many philological and historical studies (examples:- "Dissertatio de nummo Ptolomaei" - which he also illustrated, presently held at the Öesterreichische Nationalbiliothek in

, various philosophical treatises and "De cruce et fruce veterum" - known only from correspondence). Vota aulica super illustrissima ducum Saxoniae controversia de jure praecedentiae in dignitate et successione . Frankfurt / M. 1619 (together with Johann Müller Hegen).

Sources

Colmar Grünhagen: "Wacken Rock, Johann Matthaeus Wacker from". In: ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB). Volume 40, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig, 1896, pp. 448 f. Conrad, climb, p 282f., 1571st Mountain weapons.

References

External links

STUDIA RUDOLPHINA discusses
connection to

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg), Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–16 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wacker von Wackenfels 1550 births 1619 deaths People from Konstanz Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism German Roman Catholics Catholic philosophers