Jakob Wimpfeling

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Jakob Wimpfeling (also Wimpheling , Wympfeling ; * July 27, 1450 in Schlettstadt ; † November 17, 1528 there ) was a Catholic priest, poet, educator and historian of German humanism .

Life

Jakob Wimpfeling and his students in conversation with Thomas Murner

Jakob Wimpfeling was born in 1450 as the son of a saddler in Schlettstadt. He received his first training at the local Latin school from Ludwig Dringenberg . After the death of his father in 1463 he went to Sulz , where his uncle worked as a pastor. This prompted Wimpfeling to take up a degree. From 1464 he studied at the University of Freiburg im Breisgau (among others with Johann Geiler von Kaysersberg and Konrad Stürzel ), from 1466 in Erfurt and from 1469 to 1470 in Heidelberg philosophy and theology. In 1471 he acquired the title of Magister artium and then turned to the study of canon law . At the same time he began teaching at Heidelberg University. In 1478/79 he was Vice Chancellor, 1479/80 as Dean and 1481/82 as Rector of the Artists' Faculty of Heidelberg. In 1483 he gave up his chair and in 1484 went to Speyer , where he worked as an (unofficial) cathedral preacher and later as cathedral vicar. After 14 years in Speyer, he returned to Heidelberg in 1498, where he taught poetics and rhetoric at the faculty of artists until 1501. From 1501 he lived with short breaks as a writer in Strasbourg before returning to his hometown in 1515.

With his writing Germania from 1501, Wimpfeling is considered to be the founder of a national German historiography. In it he tried to prove the equality of the German past with the French and Italian humanists. This resulted in exaggerations in his source interpretation, which led to a dispute with the Strasbourg theologian Thomas Murner . Other historical writings are German history from 1505, the history of the bishops of Strasbourg in 1508, the life of his teacher Johannes Geiler von Kaysersberg in 1510 and the history of the Archbishops of Mainz, which was completed in 1515 but was not printed until 2007.

Along with Johannes Reuchlin, he is the first important representative of German humanist drama. With his writings De Integritate , Isidoneus germanicus , Diatriba de proba puerorum institutione and Adolescentia , he pioneered contemporary education.

Wimpfeling initially welcomed the appearance of Martin Luther , but despite sharp criticism of the secularization of the clergy, later advocated a Catholic humanism.

reception

The Alsatian teacher Josef Knepper (1864–1906) played a major role in the rediscovery of Wimpfeling. The most important Wimpfeling researchers of the 20th century were the historians Otto Herding (1911–2001) and his student Dieter Mertens .

Works

Catalogus Episcoporum Argentinensium , new edition from 1651
  • Stylpho , 1480 (printed 1494)
  • Laudes ecclesiae Spirensis (Praise of the Speyer Cathedral), 1486
  • De conceptu et triplici Mariae Virginis gloriosissimae candore , 1494
  • Vita sancti adelphi , ca.1500
  • Germania , 1501
  • Epitome rerum Germanicarum , 1505
  • Vita Sancti Adelphi , 1506
  • Gravamina , 1520

Text editions and translations

  • Jacobi Wimpfelingi opera selecta
    • Volume 1: Jakob Wimpfeling's Adolescentia. Edited by Otto Herding . Fink, Munich 1965 (critical edition).
    • Volume 2.1: Jakob Wimpfeling, Beatus Rhenanus : The life of Johannes Geiler von Kaysersberg. Edited by Otto Herding. Fink, Munich 1970 (critical edition of Geiler's Vita Wimpfelings with an introduction).
    • Volume 2.2: Catalogus Archiepiscoporum Moguntinorum. History of the Archbishops of Mainz. Edited by Dieter Mertens and Markus Müller, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-7705-4384-7 .
    • Volume 3.1: Correspondence. Edited by Otto Herding and Dieter Mertens, Paderborn 1990, ISBN 3-7705-2603-1 ( digitized version ).
    • Volume 3.1: Correspondence. Edited by Otto Herding and Dieter Mertens, Paderborn 1990, ISBN 3-7705-2604-X ( digitized version ).
  • Harry C. Schnur (Ed.): Stylpho / Jakob Wimpheling. Reclam 1971 (Latin text and German translation)

literature

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Wimpfeling, Jakob
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wimpheling, Jacob; Wympfeling, Jakob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German humanistic poet, educator and historian
DATE OF BIRTH July 27, 1450
PLACE OF BIRTH Schlettstadt
DATE OF DEATH November 17, 1528
Place of death Schlettstadt