Kaspar Ursinus Velius (c. 1493 – 5 March 1539) was a German humanist scholar, poet and historian.

Life

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

(now

Świdnica Świdnica (; ; ) is a city on the Bystrzyca (Oder), Bystrzyca River in south-western Poland in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. As of 2021, it has a population of 55,413 inhabitants. It is the seat of Świdnica County, and also of the smaller dis ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

) he began life as secretary to Johann Thurzo, Bishop of Breslau. Later in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

he was court historian and poet laureate. His ''De Bello Pannonico'' chronicled the wars of

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I (10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, Hungary, and List of rulers of Croatia, Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1564.Milan Kruhek ...

against

John Zápolya John Zápolya or Szapolyai (; ; ; ; 1487 – 22 July 1540), was King of Hungary (as John I) from 1526 to 1540. His rule was disputed by Archduke Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand I, who also claimed the title King of Hungary. He wa ...

and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. It was published in 1762, in an edition by

Adam František Kollár Adam František Kollár de Keresztén (, ; 1718–1783) was a Slovak jurist, Imperial-Royal Court Councillor and Chief Imperial-Royal Librarian, a member of Natio Hungarica in the Kingdom of Hungary, a historian, ethnologist, an influential ad ...

. Velius also composed a narrative recounting ("''De interitu Ludovici regis et clade Hungarie''") on the death of

Louis II of Hungary Louis II (; ; ; ; 1 July 1506 – 29 August 1526) was King of Hungary, King of Croatia, Croatia and King of Bohemia, Bohemia from 1516 to 1526. He died during the Battle of Mohács fighting the Ottoman Empire, Ottomans, whose victory led to the Ot ...

and the

Battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; , ) took place on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, in the Kingdom of Hungary. It was fought between the forces of Hungary, led by King Louis II of Hungary, Louis II, and the invading Ottoman Empire, commanded by Suleima ...

(1526), as he informed his friend

Nicolaus Olahus Nicolaus Olahus (Latin for ''Nicholas, the Vlach''; ; ); 10 January 1493 – 15 January 1568) was the Archbishop of Esztergom, Primate of Hungary, and a distinguished Catholic prelate, humanist and historiographer. Early life Nicolaus Olahus ...

in his letters at the turn of 1531 and 1532. The manuscript had been hidden for centuries, until a mutilated, patched version was discovered in the

National Széchényi Library The National Széchényi Library (, ) (OSZK) is a library in Budapest, Hungary, located in Buda Castle. It is one of two Hungarian national libraries, the other being University of Debrecen Library. History The library was founded in 1802 by th ...

(OSZK) in 2018. It was translated into Hungarian within the framework of

textual criticism Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts (mss) or of printed books. Such texts may rang ...

in 2020. A friend of Johannes Göritz (Corycius), he visited Rome as an upcoming

Neo-Latin Neo-LatinSidwell, Keith ''Classical Latin-Medieval Latin-Neo Latin'' in ; others, throughout. (also known as New Latin and Modern Latin) is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy d ...

poet. Velius' body was found in 1539 in a branch of the

River Danube The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important riv ...

at Vienna.

References

* :s:de: ADB:Ursinus, Kaspar Velius

Notes

External links

Biography by Gustav Bauch (1886)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ursinus Velius, Kaspar 1490s births 1539 deaths German Renaissance humanists 16th-century German historians 16th-century German poets 16th-century German male writers 16th-century German writers German male poets German male non-fiction writers Historians of Hungary