Gilbert cousin
Gilbert Cousin (born January 21, 1506 in Nozeroy as Gilbertus Cognatus Nozerenus , † May 22, 1572 in the prison of Besançon ) was a French humanist and theologian . In his younger years he was the private secretary of Erasmus of Rotterdam .
Life
Cousin was born in Nozeroy in the French Jura in the Franche-Comté region , his father was an official of the Lords of Nozeroy. After studying at the University of Dole , he got a job in Freiburg im Breisgau in 1530 as the secretary of Erasmus of Rotterdam . The two soon became friends.
In 1535 Cousin returned to Nozeroy, where he was ordained a priest and became a canon . His plans to return to Erasmus came to nothing when he died in 1536.
In Nozeroy, Cousin soon gathered a circle of students and developed a lively literary activity. In 1558 he accompanied his pupil, the young archbishop of Besançon Claude de La Baume , on a trip to Italy .
Like Erasmus, Cousin kept his distance from the Reformation , but remained in close correspondence with scholars of all denominations. This soon earned him a reputation as a heretic . In 1567 he was imprisoned and in 1572, shortly before the trial against him was opened, he died of a sudden illness in prison.
His most important works include a description of the free county and a collection of fables. In Germany his first work, a little Latin script about the right choice of servants , had some success: Oiketes sive de officio famulorum , Paris 1535 and Basel 1535, Antwerp 1536 and Lyon 1539. As a former clerk , Cousin gave advice on what criteria Choosing a good servant is how to test him and how to behave generally toward servants . The book is part of the subject area of marriage and the family, which has been much discussed by humanists since the 15th century, i.e. the area of the house or the economy . What is new is the special interest in the servants and servants.
The Lutheran pastors dealt with the subject of "duties of servants" since the middle of the 16th century in connection with their sermons on Luther's " house table ", a collection of sayings on the duties of various classes, and the like. a. also the landlord and the servant. The prayer books also often had special sections for servants and maidservants. In connection with the “devil books” that came into fashion at the same time, there was also a frequently published “servant devil” (Peter Glaser, 1564). Cousin's writing was quoted a lot here, and the symbol of an ideal servant with a “pig's mouth” (because he eats whatever is put in front of him without complaint), “deer legs” (because of his agility) and a hanger with two buckets of water on his shoulders was particularly popular (because of his hard work). At the end of the century the text was re-edited by Pastor Johannes Dinckel and at the same time also translated into German, using the symbol quoted as the title illustration.
Works
- Oiketēs sive de officio famulorum , 1535
- Sylva narrationum Gilberti Cognati Nozereni, Diligenter purgata, et uberior reddita: adiecta sunt eiusdem argumenti & quaedam alia, lectu perquam iucunda , 1552
- Brevis ac dilucida Burgundiae superioris, quae Comitatus nomine censetur, descriptio , 1552 ( Gallica )
- De legali studio, Gilberti Cognati Nozereni epistolae: una ad Ioan. Metellum: altera ad Anatolium Frontinum , 1560
literature
- Peter Bietenholz: Contemporaries of Erasmus , Vol. 1, pp. 350–352. Toronto, 1985.
Web links
- Gilbert cousin: Der Haushalter or from the office of servants , Augsburg 1538, in Cinquecentine.de
- Gilbert cousin: House servant or from the office of servants , Erfurt 1583, in Cinquecentine.de
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cousin, Gilbert |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cognatus, Gilbertus |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Humanist and theologian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 21, 1506 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Nozeroy |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 22, 1572 |
| Place of death | Besançon |