Johannes Cuspinian

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Portrait of Johannes Cuspinians and Anna Cuspinian by Lucas Cranach the Elder from 1503

Johannes Cuspinian ( Latinized for Johannes Spießheimer ; * 1473 in Schweinfurt ; † April 19, 1529 in Vienna , St. Stephan ) was a humanist , poet and diplomat in the Habsburg service.

Life

In Vienna, which became his most important place of work, Cuspinian studied and taught classical languages, literature, philosophy and, most recently, medicine. In the humanistic circles of his time, such as the Sodalitas litteraria Danubiana, he himself worked as a poet, but above all as an editor of ancient texts.

An inscription in his house on the stone Rössel in Singerstrassen in Vienna reads: Johannes Cuspinianus, born in East Franconia, head of the Viennese grammar school, built this house for himself, his wife Anna and his beloved children and the grateful posterity in 1510 under the emperor Maximilian.

In 1510 he entered the diplomatic service of Emperor Maximilian I and represented the Habsburg Empire at the Hungarian court for around ten years. He was appointed to the imperial council and later became superintendent of the University of Vienna and lawyer for the city of Vienna. In both functions he represented the imperial interests to the respective institutions. He was instrumental in bringing about the Habsburg double wedding in 1515: Maximilian's granddaughter's marriage to King Ludwig of Hungary established the Habsburgs' claims to Hungary, an important prerequisite for Austria's position as a world power in the 18th century. Cuspinian had Strigel contrast the famous picture of Bernhard Strigel's family of Maximilian, which documents this connection, with a picture of his own family. The portrait of the imperial family is exhibited in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The portrait of the Cuspinian family has been on view in the Strigel Museum in Memmingen since May 2019 . At the same time Johannes Cuspinian remained active as a publicist, but no longer saw the publication of his main work, the Consules and the Caesares . These were the biographies of the consuls and emperors of Rome, the latter continued up to Maximilian I, completed in 1528.

Cuspinian epitaph in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna

Cuspinian's tomb in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna bears the inscription: First I perfected the muses and the arts of Apollo , after all I was a doctor and then at the same time a poet. I, who was born to be greater in Schweinfurt, was made happy by the Kaiser and given the office of President . Therefore the following words should be written on my grave: “I was a Cuspinian. I have left some written monuments of immeasurable history. In these Cuspinian will live forever. ”He lived for 56 years and died in 1529 in April, on the 19th day. Dr. Johannes Cuspinian, formerly Prefect of the City of Vienna. Anna Maria, mother of 8 children; Agnes, his 2nd wife.

Honors

In 1894, the Spießhammergasse in Vienna was named after him, after his real name, which was mistakenly assumed for Spießhammer instead of Spießheimer.

literature

Web links

Commons : Johannes Cuspinian  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Johannes Cuspinian  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Aloys Bergenstamm: Inscriptions in crypts, columns, foundation stones and houses in Vienna . In: Gerhard Fischer (Ed.): “Because the shape of this world is passing”. History of the churches ... of the city of Vienna, recorded by the antiquity friend Aloys Bergenstamm (1754–1821) . daedalus Verlag 1996, ISBN 3-900911-07-X , p. 220.
  2. ^ Aloys Bergenstamm: Inscriptions in crypts, columns, foundation stones and houses in Vienna , p. 214.
personal data
SURNAME Cuspinian, Johannes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Spießheimer, Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Humanist, poet and diplomat in the Habsburg service
DATE OF BIRTH 1473
PLACE OF BIRTH Schweinfurt
DATE OF DEATH April 19, 1529
Place of death Vienna