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Matthias Ringmann (1482–1511), also known as Philesius Vogesigena was an Alsatian German humanist scholar and
cosmographer The term cosmography has two distinct meanings: traditionally it has been the protoscience of mapping the general features of the cosmos, heaven and Earth; more recently, it has been used to describe the ongoing effort to determine the large-sca ...
. Along with cartographer
Martin Waldseemüller Martin Waldseemüller (c. 1470 – 16 March 1520) was a German cartographer and humanist scholar. Sometimes known by the Latinized form of his name, Hylacomylus, his work was influential among contemporary cartographers. He and his collaborator ...
, he is credited with the first documented usage of the word America, on the 1507 map ''Universalis Cosmographia'' in honour of the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci.


Biography

Ringmann was born in 1482 in the small farming village of Eichhoffen,
Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it ha ...
. In 1498 he enrolled at the
University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
and then went on to study at the
University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...
. He pursued a course of studies typical for a humanist of the day, including Greek, Latin, classical literature, history, mathematics and cosmography. In 1505 he settled in
Strassburg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...
, worked at a printing press, and began to study Ptolemy's
Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
. In 1505, Ringmann came across a copy of ''Mundus Novus'', a booklet attributed to Amerigo Vespucci that described the explorer's voyage along the cost of present-day Brazil. Ringmann was familiar with the speculation of classical authors that a giant, unknown continent lay on the other side of the world and he became convinced that this is what Vespucci had encountered. Ringmann republished the work under the title ''Concerning the Southern Shore Recently Discovered by the King of Portugal''. In July 1507, he wrote to a friend calling Vespucci "a great man of brave courage" and included this letter in the introduction to his reprint. Later that same year, he traveled to Italy where he likely searched for more information about Vespucci and the lands that he had explored. In 1506, he began another project, the first German translation of Julius Caesar's ''
Commentaries on the Gallic War ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' (; en, Commentaries on the Gallic War, italic=yes), also ''Bellum Gallicum'' ( en, Gallic War, italic=yes), is Julius Caesar's firsthand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it C ...
''. He used Ptolemy's ''Geography'' to identify the historic Roman place-names and associate them to their corresponding contemporary locations. His translation was published in 1507. Meanwhile, an association of humanist scholars was forming in Saint-Dié under the patronage of
René II, Duke of Lorraine René II (2 May 1451 – 10 December 1508) was Count of Vaudémont from 1470, Duke of Lorraine from 1473, and Duke of Bar from 1483 to 1508. He claimed the crown of the Kingdom of Naples and the County of Provence as the Duke of Calabria 1480 ...
. They called themselves the ''Gymnasium Vosagense'' and their leader was Walter Lud. Their intention was to publish a new edition of Ptolemy's ''Geography''. Ringmann was brought into the group because of his previous work with the ''Geography'' and his knowledge of Greek and Latin.
Martin Waldseemüller Martin Waldseemüller (c. 1470 – 16 March 1520) was a German cartographer and humanist scholar. Sometimes known by the Latinized form of his name, Hylacomylus, his work was influential among contemporary cartographers. He and his collaborator ...
, a cartographer, was also hired to draw and illustrate the maps for the new publication. In 1506, the ''Gymnasium'' obtained a French translation of the Soderini Letter as well as a Portuguese maritime map that detailed the coast of lands recently discovered in the western Atlantic. Ringmann again surmised that this was the "new world" or the "antipodes" hypothesized by classical writers. The Soderini Letter gave Vespucci credit for discovery of this new continent and implied that the Portuguese map was based on his explorations. They decided to put aside the ''Geography'' for the moment and publish a brief '' Introduction to Cosmography'' with an accompanying world map. The ''Introduction'' was written by Ringmann and included a Latin translation of the ''Soderini Letter''. In a preface to the ''Letter'', Ringmann wrote
I see no reason why anyone could properly disapprove of a name derived from that of Amerigo, the discoverer, a man of sagacious genius. A suitable form would be Amerige, meaning Land of Amerigo, or America, since Europe and Asia have received women's names.
A thousand copies of the ''Introduction'' and the accompanying world map were printed on April 25, 1507. It was the first time that the word '
Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with t ...
' had appeared in print. In a later edition after Ringmann's death, Waldseemüller dropped the term America and named South America "Terra Nova", but the name America was already established. After 1507, Ringmann and Waldseemüller continued working together on creating new edition of Ptolemy's ''Geography''. In 1508 Ringmann returned to Italy and obtained a Greek Ptolemy manuscript (''Codex Vaticanum Graecorum 191.''). With this important reference they were apparently able to complete their project but the new Ptolemy was not published until after Ringmann's death. By 1509, Ringmann was seriously ill with tuberculosis but continued working. In 1509, he published a card game, ''Grammatica Figurata,'' to make the grammatical rules of Donatus' '' Ars Minor,'' more appealing to children. He died in 1511 in Sélestat.


''Grammatica Figurata''

The ''Grammatica Figurata'' was first published by Mathias Ringmann in 1509. This work was an attempt to enliven Donatus' Ars Minor by printing up illustrated card sets for each grammatical rule. Apparently the children would have a card set. The rules are not explained at length, but a few hints are scattered here and there in the work. The final section on "Exclamations" has a sentence on how to figure out which student has won. Each card represented a part of speech, a gender, a case, or a tense, etc. Depending upon the teacher's questions a student would play the appropriate card or cards. Long believed to be lost, one copy of ''Grammatica figurata'' was found and reprinted in 1905.Trionfi.com


Works

*Waldseemüller, Martin, & Matthias Ringmann. ''Cosmographiae Introductio'', (St. Die: 1507) *Caesar, Julius. Ringmann Matthias (tr.) ''Julius der erst römisch Keiser von seinem Leben und Krieg, erstmals uss dem Latein in Tütsch gebracht vnd mit andrer Ordnung der Capittel und uil zusetz nüw getruckt''. (Strassburg: Durch Joannem Grüninger, 1508). *Ringmann, Matthias. ''Grammatica Figurata'', (St. Die: 1509) *Waldseemüller, Martin, & Matthias Ringmann (ed.). ''Clavdii Ptolemei Viri Alexandrini ... Geographie Opus Novissima Traductione E Grecorum Archetypis Castigatissime Pressum''. (Strassburg: Johann Schott, 1520


Notes


References

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External links



*Wieser, Franz, Ritter von (ed.). ''Grammatica figurata des Mathias Ringmann (Philesius Vogesigena) in Faksimiledruck'', (Strassburg: Heitz, 1905)

Retrieved April 4, 2005 * ttp://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15531a.htm Fischer, J. 'Martin Waldseemüller', ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', (1912)br>Press release about a new edition of the Waldseemüller world map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ringmann, Matthias 1482 births 1511 deaths People from Bas-Rhin Alsatian-German people German cartographers 16th-century cartographers German Renaissance humanists 16th-century German translators