Sebastian Brant (also Brandt) (1458 – 10 May 1521) was a German

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

and

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Under Contemporary, 1930-196 ...

. He is best known for his

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

'' Das Narrenschiff'' (''The Ship of Fools'').

Biography

Brant was born in Strasbourg to an innkeeper but eventually entered the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

in 1475, initially studying philosophy and then transferring to the school of law. From 1484 he began teaching at the university and completed his doctorate in law in 1489. In 1485 he had married Elisabeth Bürg, the daughter of a cutler in the town. Elisabeth bore him seven children. Keen for his eldest son Onophrius to become a humanist, he taught him Latin in the cradle and enrolled him in the university at the age of seven. Brant first attracted attention in humanistic circles by his

Neo-Latin New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...

poetry but, realising that this gave him only a limited audience, he began translating his own work and the Latin poems of others into German, publishing them through the press of his friend Johann Bergmann, from which appeared his best known German work, the satirical '' Das Narrenschiff'' (Ship of Fools, 1494), the popularity and influence of which were not limited to Germany. In this allegory, the author lashes the weaknesses and vices of his time. It is an episodic work in which a ship laden with and steered by fools goes to the fools' paradise of Narragonia. Here he conceives Saint Grobian, whom he imagines to be the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of vulgar and coarse people. Most of Brant's important writing, including many works on civil and canon law, were written while he was living in Basel. He returned to Strasbourg in 1500, where he was made syndic and remained for the rest of his life. In 1503 he secured the influential position of chancellor (''stadtschreiber'') and his engagement in public affairs prevented him from pursuing literature further. Brant made several petitions to the Emperor Maximilian to drive back the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

in order to save the West. In the same spirit, he had sung the praises of Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1492 for having conquered the Moors and unified Spain. A staunch proponent of German cultural nationalism, he believed that moral reform was necessary for the security of the Empire against the Ottoman threat. Although essentially conservative in his religious views, Brant's eyes were open to abuses in the church, as the ''Narrenschiff'' demonstrates.

Alexander Barclay Dr Alexander Barclay (c. 1476 – 10 June 1552) was a poet and clergyman of the Church of England, probably born in Scotland. Biography Barclay was born in about 1476. His place of birth is matter of dispute, but William Bulleyn, who w ...

's ''Ship of Fools'' (1509) is a free imitation into early

Tudor period The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began wit ...

English of the German poem, and a Latin version by Jakob Locher (1497) was hardly less popular than the original. ''Cock Lorell's Bote'' (printed by

Wynkyn de Worde Wynkyn de Worde (died 1534) was a printer and publisher in London known for his work with William Caxton, and is recognised as the first to popularise the products of the printing press in England. Name Wynkyn de Worde was a German immigr ...

, c. 1510) was a shorter imitation of the ''Narrenschiff''. In this work Cock Lorell, a notorious fraudulent

tinker Tinker or tinkerer is an archaic term for an itinerant tinsmith who mends household utensils. Description ''Tinker'' for metal-worker is attested from the thirteenth century as ''tyckner'' or ''tinkler''. Some travelling groups and Romani p ...

of the period, gathers round him a rascally collection of tradesmen and sets off to sail through

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

.1843 reprint
/ref> Among Brant's many other works was his compilation of fables and other popular stories, published in 1501 under the title ''Aesopi Appologi sive Mythologi cum quibusdam Carminum et Fabularum additionibus'', the beauty of whose production is still appreciated. Though based on Heinrich Steinhöwel's 1476 edition of Aesop, the Latin prose was emended by Brant, who also added verse commentaries with his characteristic combination of wit and style. The second part of the work is entirely new, consisting of riddles, additional fables culled from varied sources, and accounts of miracles and wonders of nature both from his own times and reaching back to antiquity. The letters by Brant that have survived show that he was in correspondence with Peter Schott, Johann Bergmann von Olpe, Emperor Maximilian,

Thomas Murner Thomas Murner, OFM (24 December 1475c. 1537) was an Alsatian satirist, poet and translator. He was born at Oberehnheim ( Obernai) near Strasbourg. In 1490 he entered the Franciscan order, and in 1495 began travelling, studying and then teaching ...

, Konrad Peutinger,

Willibald Pirckheimer Willibald Pirckheimer (5 December 1470 – 22 December 1530) was a German Renaissance lawyer, author and Renaissance humanist, a wealthy and prominent figure in Nuremberg in the 16th century, imperial counsellor and a member of the governing City ...

Johannes Reuchlin Johann Reuchlin (; sometimes called Johannes; 29 January 1455 – 30 June 1522) was a German Catholic humanist and a scholar of Greek and Hebrew, whose work also took him to modern-day Austria, Switzerland, and Italy and France. Most of Reuchlin ...

Beatus Rhenanus Beatus Rhenanus (22 August 148520 July 1547), born as Beatus Bild, was a German humanist, religious reformer, classical scholar, and book collector. Early life and education Rhenanus was born on the 22 August 1485 in Schlettstadt (Sélestat) ...

, Jakob Wimpfeling and Ulrich Zasius.

References

Editions

* ''Das Narrenschiff'', Studienausgabe, ed. by Joachim Knape (Stuttgart: Reclam, 2005) * Online facsimile o
the original
* Edwin H. Zeydel's 1944 translation of ''The Ship of Fools'', of which there is a limited selection o
Google Books
* ''Aesopi Appologi'', an unpaged facsimile o
Google Books
a page by page online facsimile with short German descriptions fro

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brant, Sebastian 1457 births 1521 deaths Writers from Strasbourg German Roman Catholics German satirists Roman Catholic writers Christian humanists German male non-fiction writers 15th-century German jurists 16th-century German jurists

Biography

See also

References

Editions

Further reading

External links