Balthasar Menz the Younger

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Balthasar Menz the Younger

Balthasar Menz the Younger (* around 1537 in Niemegk ; † February 1, 1617 in Wittenberg ) was a German historian, chronicler and imperial poeta laureatus .

Live and act

The son of Balthasar Menz the Elder and his first wife Barbara Jäger, attended the school in Magdeburg, which as the old town high school was to achieve a high reputation in the scientific world of its time. On January 16, 1565 he enrolled at the University of Wittenberg , where he should acquire the academic degree of a master's degree in philosophy on March 9, 1574 . In Wittenberg he gave lectures and went on an educational trip that took him to various university locations. After he had acquired the imperial crown of poets , he returned to Wittenberg, he became an adjunct at the philosophical faculty on October 18, 1575 and was dean of the institution in 1580 .

After he had distinguished himself through literary writings in the field of history, he is said to have received a full professorship at the philosophical faculty in 1606 . His writings deal primarily with historical findings from his time. In the style of Nikolaus Leutinger , he has established himself alongside the history of the potentates of Saxony , as a contemporary witness of the church history of Wittenberg. He also appeared in his works as a form cutter . Above all, his work “Syntagma Epitaphorum ...” remained sustainable. The work is divided into four parts. In it he describes the grave sites of Wittenberg as monuments to the history of Saxony. Even today his works are referenced with a certain context-sensitive distance from the historical works of the present.

His cuts, among other things, contributed to his lasting memory. So he had depicted all the Saxon princes in their habit. The ancestral gallery built by Friedrich the Wise in 1505 in Wittenberg Castle served as a template . Since this was completely destroyed in 1760, its traditions have become all the more valuable in the analytical historical sciences based on hermeneutical knowledge. As a contemporary witness of the theological disputes in the Electorate of Saxony, he left behind enough sources that have not yet found adequate evaluations, but are without a doubt important. In this context, it is not only the descriptions of Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon that are interesting. But as a connoisseur of the personal circumstances of Paul Eber , Johannes Bugenhagen the Younger , Friedrich Widebrand opens up a new perspective even today.

Selection of works

Title page of a poetic genealogy of the Electors of Saxony
  • Elogia præcipuorum doctorum ac professorum theologiæ in academia Witebergensi… Wittenberg, 1606
  • Itinera sex Ducum & Electorum Saxoniae in Italiam, Palestinam & terram sanctem. Wittenberg 1612
  • Historicam narrationem de septem Electoribus Saxoniae & uno Prolectore, qui Academiiam bergensem condideruna. Wittenberg 1611
  • Decanatum Wittenbergensem. Wittenberg 1606
  • About the origin and origin of the Chur and Princely Heusers of Saxony, Brandenburg, Anhalt and Lawenburg, including several of the same picture nuts as they can be found in the Castle of Wittenberg. Publishing house Georg Müller, Wittenberg, 1598
  • Baltharis Mentzii PC Stammbuch Dorinnen reports how the kingdom of Saxony became a duchy, religion and rule changed and then the King of Keys, Grand Dukes Chur and Fürstenankufft life, end and portrait. Publishing house Paul Helwig, Wittenberg 1601
  • Historica Narratio de Septem Electoribus. Frankfurt 1577
  • Syntagma Epitaphio RVM Quae in Inclyta. Magdeburg 1604
  • Testimonia ex sor. Melanchthonis collecta. 1584

literature

Web links

Commons : Balthasar Menz the younger  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ However, this is not verifiable in the university records or in the faculty books of the philosophical faculty
personal data
SURNAME Menz, Balthasar the Younger
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mentz, Balthasar; Mencius, Balthasar; Mencci, Balthasar; Mentzen, Balthasar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian, chronicler and imperial poeta laurus
DATE OF BIRTH around 1537
PLACE OF BIRTH Niemegk
DATE OF DEATH February 1, 1617
Place of death Wittenberg