Johannes Sleidanus

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Johannes Sleidanus
Johannes Sleidanus

Johannes Sleidanus , Latinized from Johann Sleidan or Johann (es) Philippson von Schleiden (* 1506 in Schleiden ; † October 31, 1556 in Strasbourg ) was a lawyer and diplomat from the then Duchy of Luxembourg , which included the Schleiden dominion.

Life

Sleidanus was named after Schleiden, the town of his birth, in the Duchy of Luxembourg ( Spanish Netherlands ). He studied in Liège , at the University of Cologne and at the University of Leuven before moving to Paris and Orléans to study law around 1533 . After completing his studies, he was employed as a diplomat by Franz I in 1540 . In 1541 he took part in the Reichstag in Regensburg ( Regensburg Religious Discussion ) and in 1544 in the Reichstag in Speyer . Because of increasing intrigues at the French court, he moved to Strasbourg in 1544.

At that time he was already influenced by Protestants, and in 1544 he set out to write the history of the Reformation . Sleidanus was supported by Landgrave Philip I of Hesse and other Protestant princes. In the first years after moving to Strasbourg, Sleidan continued to work for Joachim du Bellay , while Martin Bucer and Jakob Sturm von Sturmeck campaigned for his appointment as Reformation historians at the Schmalkaldischer Bund .

In the spring of 1545 Sleidan was officially employed as a diplomat, translator and historian of the Schmalkaldic League and immediately began his work on the history of the Reformation. At the same time, he also had to fulfill his diplomatic obligations and was sent to England from around August to December 1545 to mediate in the peace negotiations between France and England. The Schmalkaldic War of 1546/47 initially meant the end of his career for Sleidan, but he used the free time to translate another French historical work by Philippe de Commynes and a political work by Claude de Seyssel . In 1551/52 Sleidan represented the city of Strasbourg as envoy at the Council of Trento , and also as a mediator in the impending conquest of Strasbourg by the French King Henry II in 1552.

His main work on the political and religious conditions of the rule of Emperor Charles V was originally written in Latin , appeared in Strasbourg in 1555 and was translated into English five years later . It is based on a wide range of documents and is the best contemporary account of the Reformation . As a student of Philippe de Commynes , whom he translated, Sleidanus was liberal-minded, surprisingly impartial and showed an interest in the political background of the Reformation as well as the legal aspects of the positions of the German princes. Presumably because of its objectivity, the work was not very popular at the time of its publication. De quatuor summis imperiis and especially the Commentarii , which was also translated into French (1556), became the basis of modern historiography and shaped Reformation research into the 20th century.

Works (selection)

  • De statu religionis et rei publicae Carolo V. Caesare commentarii ( On the state of religion and the state under Emperor Charles V ). 1555 (constantly increased and continued), 1785-86 ed. At the end, German 1771-73 by JS Semler in 4 vols. (important source work on the history of the Reformation; doi : 10.3931 / e-rara-3958 : digitized version of the 1562 edition).
  • De quattuor monarchiis. 1556 (textbook of world history from the point of view of the biblical doctrine of the four world empires).
  • Johannis Sleidani Opuscula Quaedam, Quorum Ipse Partim Auctor, partim Interpres. I, De quatuor Summis Imperiis Lib. III. II, Cl. Sesellii de Repub. Gallorum® regum officiis, libri II. Latine redditi. III, Summa doctrinae Platonis De Rep. & Legibus. IV. Orationes duae: una ad Carolum V. Caesarem; altera ad Germaniae Principes & Ordines Imperii. Omnia nunc primum simul ita iuncta opera & studio Heliae Putschii . Accesserunt seorsum Commentarii & Notae Guil. Xylandri in libros de IV. Monarchiis, nunc primum in lucem editi. Hanau 1608, digitized .
  • Johannes Sleidani Truthful and authentic description of spiritual and worldly matters. 1557.

literature

  • Alexandra Kess: Johann Sleidan and the Protestant vision of history. Aldershot, Ashgate 2008.
  • Emile van der Vekene: Johann Sleidan, bibliography of his printed works and the writings of Philippe de Comines, Jean Froissart and Claude de Seyssel which he has translated; with a bibliographical appendix on Sleidan's research. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1996.
  • Wilhelm Siebel: The historian of the Reformation. To commemorate the day of his death on October 30th, 1556. Düsseldorf 1957 (= monthly books for Protestant church history of the Rhineland , 6th year, volume 1/2).
  • Walter Friedensburg : Johannes Sleidanus, the historian and the fateful powers of the Reformation. M. Heinsius successor, Leipzig 1935.
  • Adolf Hasenclever: Sleidanus studies. Röhrscheid & Ebbecke, Bonn 1905.
  • Hermann Baumgarten: About Sleidan's life and correspondence. Trübner, Strasbourg, London 1898.
  • Hermann Baumgarten:  Sleidan, Johann . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 34, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1892, pp. 454-461.
  • Johannes Süssmann :  Sleidan, Johann. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 24, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-428-11205-0 , p. 499 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Alexandra Kess:  Sleidanus, Johannes. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 25, Bautz, Nordhausen 2005, ISBN 3-88309-332-7 , Sp. 1326-1333.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Irmgard Bezzel: The library of the Gurk bishop Johann Jakob von Lamberg (1561-1630). A library of Romanesque prints from the 16th century. In: Börsenblatt for the German book trade - Frankfurt edition. Volume 89, (November 5) 1968 (= Archive for the History of Books. Volume 62), pp. 2919–2928, here: p. 2926.
  2. ^ Johannes Sleidanus: Commentarii de statu religionis et rei publicae Carolo V. Caesare.
personal data
SURNAME Johannes Sleidanus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Johannes Philippson von Schleiden, Baptista Lasdenus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Luxembourgish historian, translator and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH 1506
PLACE OF BIRTH Schleiden
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 1556
Place of death Strasbourg