Mikuláš Konáč z Hodiškova

Mikuláš Konáč z Hodiškova (also Hodištkova and Nikolaus Konacz von Hodiskowa ) (* around 1480 in Hodíškov ; † April 3, 1546 in Prague ) was a Czech printer, publisher, translator and writer.

Life

As in the 15th century by Mainz , starting the global spread of the printing press also Bohemia reached, created in Prague numerous printer workshops. One of the most important from 1507 to 1528 was the printing works of Nikolaus Konazc, a scribe in the Prague vineyards ( Vinohrady ), bookseller, translator of Renaissance poems from Latin , German and Spanish into the Czech language and, after being knighted, deputy judge on Prague Court Court.

He initially worked with a Jan Wolf , from 1511 he printed and published over forty different books under his own name. In 1516, through the mediation of his noble patron Jan Hodějovský z Hodějova, he received a coat of arms and the title of nobility: von Hodiskowa; then he was knighted . From 1520 to 1542 Konacz von Hodiskowa was active as an author and held the office of deputy judge in Prague.

Publications

As a representative of humanism , Nikolaus Konacz published translations from ancient literature as well as works by authors from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance , mostly humanistic philosophers and moralists. In 1510 he published a chronicle of Pope Pius II with 39 woodcut portraits of Czech rulers in Bohemia . He mainly published ecclesiastical writings for the Roman Catholic Church , mostly illustrated with woodcuts; and he was one of the printers in Prague who were among the first to publish newspapers. Konáč wrote faith texts, mostly dialogues between Catholics and Utraquists , as well as cultural and political treatises.

Translations

• O najbiednějším stavu velikých pánuov (1507) by Lukian of Samosata
• Kteří jsú v světě najznamenitější bojovníci byli (1509) from Lukian of Samosata
• Libri acephali ( Najkratšie kniehy ) (1511) by Lactantius Firmian
• Životové a mrávná naučenie mudrcuo přirozených (1514) by Walter Burleigh
• Zrcadlo múdrosti svatého Crhy biskupa (1516)
• Paňčatantra ( Pravidlo lidského života ) by Johannes de Capua (1528)
• Speculum vitae humanae ( Kniha o hořekování a naříkání Spravedlivosti, královny a paní všech ctností ) (1547), by Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo (1404–1470)
• Creda, Desatera a Otčenáše (1520) by Jan Hus

Own works

• Českého bratra a mudrce o víře z r. (1511)
• List Pravdy pro řád, pokoj, lásku a svornost (1522) dedicated to King Ludwig II .
• Bitva u Moháče (1526)

literature

• Milan Kopecký : Literární dílo M. Konáče z Hodiškova, 1962 (contains a list of his publications)
• Milan Kopecký: Lactantius Firmianus v českém humanismu, sb. Nad meditacemi věků, 1992.
• Heribert Sturm : Biographical lexicon on the history of the Bohemian countries. Published on behalf of the Collegium Carolinum (Institute) , Volume II, p. 238, R. Oldenbourg Verlag Munich 1984, ISBN 3-486-52551-4 , with further references

Web links

• Literature and other media by and about Mikuláš Konáč z Hodiškova in the catalog of the National Library of the Czech Republic