Hieronymus Wolf

Hieronymus Wolf

Isocratis scripta , Basel 1594

Hieronymus Wolf (born August 13, 1516 in Oettingen , † October 8, 1580 in Augsburg ) was a German humanist , philologist and librarian. He is considered the founder of German Byzantine Studies .

life and work

Hieronymus Wolf was born in Oettingen in 1516. As a child, the gifted boy lost his mother, who suffered from a likely hereditary mental illness and was admitted to an institution where she lived for many years in a state of mental derangement. Wolf attended school in Nördlingen and was a clerk at Harburg Castle at the age of 14 .

His inclination towards philosophy, history and humanism was shown early on . Influential people became aware of the talent and promoted it. In Nuremberg in particular he found well-meaning mentors and supporters. In 1536 his father died as a result of an accident. Wolf dutifully returned to Oettingen to look after his four years younger brother Heinrich Wolff , who later became a well-known doctor in Nuremberg. From 1537 to 1539 he studied in Wittenberg , the center of the Reformation Enlightenment and humanism in the Renaissance . Melanchthon was one of his teachers there .

From 1543 to 1545 he was rector in Mühlhausen , returned for a short time as a teacher to Nuremberg, from where he fled in a panic from alleged murder attempts, soon traveled to Tübingen, then to Strasbourg. 1548 he was at the University of Basel enrolled , where he his works his friend and later publisher John Oporin met. From 1550 to 1551 he looked after talented German students as a Preceptor in Paris , which he left in a renewed attack of conspiracy mania and fear of death.

He turned down an offered position as a history professor in Basel and in 1551 became secretary and librarian with Johann Jakob Fugger in Augsburg . The descendants of the famous trading dynasty were even more fond of literature and history than the trade. In his endeavor to collect as many important works of classical literature as possible, he found an eager ally in Wolf. Wolf lived in his house and received a very generous salary. He used this almost exclusively to expand his own book collection, the first acquisitions of which he had literally saved from the mouth. A few years later, Fugger was so deeply indebted for lack of business acumen that he was imprisoned.

In 1557 Wolf, having lost his sponsor, accepted the position of rector of the St. Anna grammar school , and at the same time became Augsburg city librarian . He shared the office with Matthias Schenck , who had campaigned for Wolf's calling. In this function he did a great job. He added important works to the inventory. Under his leadership, the Augsburg city library was given its own building, the first independent library building in Germany.

Wolf had already started to translate Greek writings of important scholars of antiquity and late antiquity into Latin in his early years . In addition, he provided his transcriptions with numerous explanations, comments and references. In 1548 and 1549 Johannes Oporin Wolfs published annotated translations of important works by Isocrates and Demosthenes . Wolf had resolved to systematically translate Isocrates' entire works. He was equally fascinated by the culture and science of the Eastern Roman Empire , which had existed for over 1000 years and was the dominant empire of the Orient as the successor to the ancient Roman Empire until the late Middle Ages . It is thanks to his work that many writings from this period have been preserved and later historians could use them as a basis for the detailed reconstruction of that era. Wolf also coined the term Byzantium or Byzantine Empire , which is still used today , which is based on the name of the pre-Christian settlement Byzantion , in the place of which the metropolis of Constantinople was built. Neither Emperor Constantine the Great nor his successors ever called their empire that; in their imagination they represented the Roman Empire, and accordingly they called themselves Romans ( Greek Romaioi or Ρωμαῖοι). The research of many later scholars, from which the own interdisciplinary branch of Byzantine studies developed, is based on Wolf's preliminary work .

In 1478 he sold his private library (approx. 1200 prints in 650 volumes) to the 'Gymnasium Illustre' in Lauingen for financial reasons ; they have been in the State Library in Neuburg an der Donau since 1822 .

Hieronymus Wolf died in Augsburg in 1580.

Character and mental disorders

As described above, Wolf initially never stayed in one place for long. On the basis of his autobiography and received notes, historians infer a hereditary predisposition to psychological behavior disorders, probably inherited from the mother. He was plagued by depression , self-doubt and paranoia throughout his life . Although he had contact with important personalities of his time - in addition to the above-mentioned Melanchthon, Oporin and Fugger, this also included Tycho Brahe - he always complained about a lack of acceptance and ridicule from his fellow citizens. His conspiracy fanatics caused u. a. the panicked escape from Nuremberg, where he actually felt comfortable and would have liked to stay. He imagined they were trying to poison him, saw spiders in the food (which was supposedly bewitched) and even showed clinical symptoms. These disturbances are likely to have been exacerbated by the firm belief in magic and astrology , which the wolf clung to, like many of his - even educated - contemporaries.

He lived withdrawn, absorbed in his work and avoided socializing with fellow students and specialists who actually mocked his unworldliness. He also thought he was ugly. Indeed, contemporary portraits suggest not very attractive looks. Wolf squinted severely in one eye, which greatly affected his eyesight in later years. He always behaved cautiously and shyly towards women - there has been no evidence of sexual or even platonic relationships for a long time. It wasn't until late, after he had to leave Fugger's house and start his own household, that he approached his housekeeper and finally fell in love with her. He was refused a marriage by the responsible persons in the city of Augsburg - his employer - because of the difference in class. He lived with her until his death, but left no children behind.

literature

• Georg Mezger:  Wolf, Hieronymus . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 43, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1898, pp. 755-757.
• Hans-Georg Beck : Hieronymus Wolf. In: Lebensbilder from Bavarian Swabia Volume 9. Munich 1966, pp. 169–193.
• The father of German Byzantine studies. The life of Hieronymus Wolf told by himself . German by Hans-Georg Beck (= Miscellanea Byzantina Monacensia 29). Munich 1984

Web links

• Works by and about Hieronymus Wolf  in the German Digital Library
• Letters from Hieronymus Wolf in e-manuscripta
• Testimonials in German-speaking countries: Hieronymus Wolf

Remarks

1. ^ On the Basel Isokrates edition by Hieronymus Wolf .
2. ↑ Handbook of the historical book inventory: Staatliche Bibliothek Neuburg an der Donau .