Alexander Hegius von Heek (?1433/1439/1440?7 December 1498) 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 "humani ...

, so called from his birthplace Heek (located near

Ahaus Ahaus (; Westphalian: ''Ausen'') is a town in the district of Borken in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the border with the Netherlands, lying some 20 km south-east of Enschede and 15 km south from ...

, then in the

Duchy of Westphalia The Duchy of Westphalia (german: Herzogtum Westfalen) was a historic territory in the Holy Roman Empire, which existed from 1102 to 1803. It was located in the greater region of Westphalia, originally one of the three main regions in the Germa ...

). Hegius learned, likely in Emmerich, Greek from

Rodolphus Agricola Rodolphus Agricola ( la, Rudolphus Agricola Phrisius; August 28, 1443, or February 17, 1444 – October 27, 1485) was a pre- Erasmian humanist of the Northern Low Countries, famous for his knowledge of Latin and Greek. He was an educator, musi ...

.Akkerman, F., & Vanderjagt, A. J. (Eds.). (1988).
Rodolphus Agricola Phrisius, 1444-1485: proceedings of the international conference at the University of Groningen, 28-30 October 1985 (Vol. 6)
'. Leiden: Brill. P. 182. In 1474 he settled down at

Deventer Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, ...

in the Netherlands, where he either founded or succeeded to the headship of a school, which became famous for the number of its distinguished alumni. First and foremost of these was

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...

; others were

Hermann von dem Busche Hermann von dem Busche (also Hermannus Buschius or Pasiphilus; 1468–1534) was a German humanist writer, known for his ''Vallum humanitatis'' (1518). He was a pupil of Rudolph von Langen. ''Vallum humanitatis, sive Humaniorum litterarum contra obr ...

and

Murmellius Johannes Murmellius (c. 1480 – 2 October 1517) was a Dutch teacher and humanist, known for numerous textbooks, and his spreading of humanism, particularly in the Prince-Bishopric of Münster. Life He was born in Roermond, and was a pupil of ...

, the missionaries of humanism, Conrad Goclenius (Gockelen), Conrad Mutianus (Muth von Mudt) and

Frans van Cranevelt Frans van Cranevelt (Nijmegen, 3 February 1485 – Mechelen, 8 September 1564), also known as Franciscus Craneveldius, was a Flemish humanist and lawyer. Life Cranevelt was the son of Herman van Cranevelt (1442–1518), secretary of three ...

. This work in turn cites: * Dietrich Reichling, “Beiträge zur Charakteristik des Alex. Hegius, Joseph Hortenius, &c.” in the ''Monatsschrift fur Westdeutschland'' (1877) *Hermann Hamelmann, ''Opera genealogico-historica'' (1711) *

Heinrich August Erhard Heinrich August Erhard (13 February 1793, in Erfurt – 22 June 1851, in Münster) was a German physician, archivist and historian. From 1809 he studied medicine, history and philology at the University of Göttingen, receiving his doctorates ...

, ''Geschichte des Wiederaufblühens wissenschaftlicher Bildung'' (1826) *

Karl Krafft Karl Ernst Krafft (10 May 1900 – 8 January 1945) was a Swiss astrologer, born in Basel. He worked on the fields of astrology and graphology., Retrieved 2013-5-30. Astrology career After studying in the University of Basel and Geneva, he gradua ...

and

Wilhelm Crecelius Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Mount ...

, editors, “Alexander Hegius und seine Schüler,” from the works of

Johannes Butzbach Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Ye ...

, one of Hegius's pupils, in ''Zeitschrift des bergischen Geschichtsvereins'', vii (Bonn, 1871) *Nauert, C. G. (1985)
The Correspondence of Erasmus: Letters 446 to 593 (1516 to 1517). (Collected Works of Erasmus, volume 4.) Translated by RAB Mynors and DFS Thomson; annotated by James K. McConica
Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1977. ''Renaissance Quarterly, 32''(2), 207-209. His writings, consisting of short poems, philosophical essays, grammatical notes and letters, were published after his death by his pupil Jacobus Faber. They display considerable knowledge of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

, but less of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, on the value of which he strongly insisted. Hegius's chief claim to be remembered rests not upon his published works, but upon his services in the cause of

humanism 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 ...

. He succeeded in abolishing the old-fashioned medieval textbooks and methods of instruction, and led his pupils to the study of the classical authors themselves. His generosity in assisting poor students exhausted a considerable fortune, and at his death he left nothing but his books and clothes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hegius 1430s births 1498 deaths German Renaissance humanists German Roman Catholics People from Deventer