Nicolaus Reusner (also ''von Reusner'', ''Reusnerus''; 1545–1602) was a German jurist and publisher. He was born into a family of wealthy German landowners in Löwenberg,

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

, who had recently moved there from

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

. Several members of his family became famous in the fields of law and medicine in the 16th century, including his brothers Bartholomäus von Reusner (1532–1572, medicine), Elias Reusner (1555–1612, history and medicine) and Jeremias von Reusner (law). Reusner studied in

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north o ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, under Modestinus Pistoris, and Leonhard Badehorn. In Leipzig, imperial personal physician Georg Wirth (1524–1613) persuaded him to abandon medicine and study law. He participated in the Reichstag of 1565 in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

. While he was there, he published the poem ''Germania ad Caesarem et Electores Imperii'', for which he was rewarded by the emperor. From 1566, Reusner worked as a teacher at

Lauingen Lauingen (Swabian: ''Lauinga'') is a town in the district of Dillingen in Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the left bank of the Danube, 5 km west of Dillingen, and 37 km northeast of Ulm. In June 1800, the armies of the French Fir ...

gymnasium, where he was promoted to rector in 1572. In 1571 he married Magdalena Weihemajer (1543–1605) In 1583 he moved to

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, where he received the title of doctor in jurisprudence. He received a call to the

Reichskammergericht The ''Reichskammergericht'' (; ; la, Iudicium imperii) was one of the two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, the other one being the Aulic Council in Vienna. It was founded in 1495 by the Imperial Diet in Worms. All legal ...

on behalf of the

Swabian Circle The Circle of Swabia or Swabian Circle (german: Schwäbischer Reichskreis or ''Schwäbischer Kreis'') was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former German stem-duchy of Swabia. However, it di ...

but he preferred an offer from the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

. In 1589, he moved to

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

. In 1594 he was sent on an (unsuccessful) diplomatic mission to Krakau, to petition military support against the Turks on behalf of

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...

. In recognition of his service, emperor Rudolph II awarded him the heritable title of ''

comes Palatinus A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an ord ...

'' (which was however extinct upon his death because he had no children). Reusner is described as a polyhistor of great learning and of gentle character. He authored a total of 83 works on a wide range of topics, including poetry, biography, history, rhetorics, philosophy and natural science besides his proper field of civil and feudal law.

Works

* ''Emblematum liber''. 1567, woodcuts by Tobias Stimmer, reprinted 1587 etc, * ''Elementorum artis rhetoricae'', Strasbourg 1571. * ''Elementorum artis dialecticae'', Lauingen 1571. * ''Carmina Sacra, Seu Christias'', Lauingen 1571
online facsimile
* ''Paradisus poeticus''. Basel 1578. * ''Picta poesis Ovidiana''. Frankfurt am Main 1580. * ''Oeconomia juris utriusque''. Straßburg 1584. * ''Ethica philosophica et Christiana''. Jena 1590. * ''Selectissimarum Orationum et consultationum de bello Turcico'', volumina IV. Leipzig 1595. 1596. * ''Orationum panegyricarum volumina duo''. Jena 1595 * ''Icones sive Imagines Virorum Literis Illustrium''. 1578. Augsbur

(Frankfur

. * ''Icones sive imagines vivae, literis Cl. Virorum, Italiae, Greaciae, Germaniae, Galliae, Angliae, Ungariae''. Basel 1589
online facsimile
* ''Icones sive imagines impp. regum, principum, electorum et ducum Saxoniae''. Jena 1597. * ** ** **

References

* Hermann Wiegand: ''Reusner, Nikolaus von.'' In

Walther Killy Walther Killy (26 August 191728 December 1995) was a German literary scholar who specialised in poetry, especially that of Friedrich Hölderlin and Georg Trakl. He taught at the Free University of Berlin, the Georg-August-Universität Göttinge ...

(ed.): ''Literaturlexikon. Autoren und Werke deutscher Sprache'' (1988–1991) vol. 9, 400–401 *
Reusner, Nicolas
'' Zedlers Universallexikon'' 31. p. 496.

External links

Bibliography (digitale-sammlungen.de)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reusner, Nicolaus 1545 births 1602 deaths Counts Palatine of the Holy Roman Empire German legal scholars People from Lwówek Śląski 16th-century German jurists 17th-century German jurists