Johann Basilius Herold

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Johann Basilius Herold writes to the printer Basilius Amerbach ; Mention of Count Wilhelm Werner von Zimmer and Froben Christoph von Zimmer, who were visited by Herold in 1563, as comites antiquarii; (Original as part of the Amerbach correspondence in the University Library of Basel )

Johann Basilius Herold (also Johannes Heroldt, nickname Acropolita [von Höchstädt]; * December 17, 1514 in Höchstädt an der Donau , † June 17, 1567 in Basel ) was a printer , humanist , historian and publicist .

Life

His father of the same name was a native of Calw and from 1527 a Fugger bailiff in Schmiechen . Johann was born out of wedlock. He was married twice, first to a daughter of the Basel bourgeois family, Gernler , then to Veronika Blowner (Blauner), and had two sons, only one of whom reached adulthood: Immanuel Basilius, born in 1541, from 1571 Oberschreiber at the Spital in Basel .

Training and work

Herold toured Germany and Italy as a scholar for ten years (until 1535) . His studies took him to Sicily . His efforts to get a scholarship and admission to study in Basel in 1539 failed because of his illegitimate birth. Disadvantaged for material reasons and due to insufficient training, he worked as a translator and proofreader for several Basel printers. His attempts in the decade after 1542 to officiate as pastor or parish assistant were also unsuccessful. During these years he worked, although not a theologian, 1542–43 as a pastor in Reinach BL , 1543–44 as a candidate and parish assistant in Augsburg and 1545–52 as a pastor in Pfeffingen BL . Herold then became completely dependent on high patrons and the orders of his printer owners. During this time he contributed to the reputation of Basel as a printing location as the editor of numerous first prints of literary, historiographical and theological texts. He can be considered the discoverer of individual writings. His own writings, mostly historical compilations, which are based on the patriotic-humanistic historiography of the Alsatian Beatus Rhenanus and the Viennese School, are now considered to be of low value.

Herold won the favor of Frederick II, the wise man , who encouraged him to write a large-scale compilation to honor Germany and its history. However, he did not get beyond preliminary work. This includes the issue of Germanic tribal rights with the unique Lex Frisionum (1557), which is based on our own manuscript finds. Today it is considered his most important editorial achievement. Herold also adhered to Maximilian I's ethos afterwards, for example in 1559 when, during the dispute between Ferdinand I and the curia , he contributed to strengthening the idea of ​​the empire with editions of late medieval edification literature, including the first German translation of Dante's monarchia . In the 1550s Herold dealt in De Romanorum in Rhetia littorali stationibus with descriptions of the country that openly expound his patriotism for Germany as the existence of Roman heritage. His representation is based "on the ancient Roman provincial borders, which did not include the former Rhaetian area in the description of Germania". In his remarks, the late ancient Roman army organization in the upper Danube region is illuminated in detail.

Herold was already considered loyal to the Reich and the Emperor during his lifetime and maintained good relationships with the Catholic clergy, but was only able to find little recognition for his work in his adopted home.

In his last years he occasionally served the city of Basel as an observer at the Reichstag and at the imperial court and worked as an amanuensis in the environment of the chronicler Wilhelm Werner von Zimmer . One of his inglorious achievements was the invention of Tassilo von Zollern in 1560 , the supposed first ancestor of the Hohenzollern , for whom he had been commissioned by Charles I of Hohenzollern to conduct historical research. This chimera lasted until the 18th century, when Frederick the Great mentioned it in his works.

Works (all published in Basel)

  • Petrarca, Opera quae extant omnia, 1554 (1st complete edition)
  • Mon. s. patrum orthodoxographa u. Haereseologia, 1554 and 1556
  • Originum ac Germanicarum antiquitatum libri, 1557 (Germanic tribal rights)
  • Marianus Scotus , chronicler and Gottfried von Viterbo , Pantheon sive Universitatis libri, both 1559
  • Beda Venerabilis, Opera 1563 (1st complete edition). - Translations: Erasmus, Von d. Tongue, 1544
  • Lilio Gregorio Giraldi et al., Heydenweldt u. irer gods origin, 1554
  • Dante, by d. Monarchey, 1559, Faks.dr. ed. v. J. Oeschger, 1965
  • Jordanus von Osnabrück (and Alexander von Roes ), Chur od. Vd Churfürsten whale (Memoriale de prerogativa Romani Imperii), 1559. - Own writings: Philopseudes (speech for the defense of Erasmus), 1542
  • De bello sacro continuata historia (Prehistory and continuation of the history of the crusade of William of Tire ), 1549, 21560
  • Panegyric on Emperor Ferdinand I and Archduke Ferdinand
  • Funeral oration for Ferdinand I.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Ott : The discovery of antiquity. Dealing with the Roman past of southern Germany in the 16th century, Verlag Michael Lassleben, Kallmünz 2002, ISBN 3-7847-3017-5 , pp. 229-231
  2. ↑ Andrea Weibel: Herold, Johannes Basilius. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  3. ↑ Johannes Schultze, Rudolf Seigel, Günther Schuhmann:  Hohenzollern. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 9, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1972, ISBN 3-428-00190-7 , pp. 496-501 ( digitized version ).
  4. ↑ Dino Heicker: The Hohenzollern: History of a Dynasty. Berlin 2012, p. 8
personal data
SURNAME Herold, Johann Basilius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heroldt, Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Printer, humanist, historian and publicist
DATE OF BIRTH December 17, 1514
PLACE OF BIRTH Höchstädt on the Danube
DATE OF DEATH June 17, 1567
Place of death Basel