Nikolaus Gerbel (or Gerbellius) (c. 1485 – 1560) was a German

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

, jurist and

doctor of both laws A doctor of both laws, from the Latin , , or ("doctor of both laws") (abbreviations include: JUD, IUD, DUJ, JUDr., DUI, DJU, Dr.iur.utr., Dr.jur.utr., DIU, UJD and UID), is a scholar who has acquired a doctorate in both civil and church law ...

. Nikolaus Gerbel was part of a circle of literary men living in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. He is notable for his friendship with

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

, his correspondence with

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

and

Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the L ...

and his support to

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

in the Pfefferkorn-Reuchlin Controversy. He was born in

Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the ...

in the

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...

and studied at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

(1502–1505), at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

(1505–1506), at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

(1508–1512) and later at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

. He published several works in ancient Greek geography (''Descriptio Graeciae'') and Roman history. He also published the complete edition of Johannes Cuspinian's, to which he added a not always reliable Life of Cuspinian (Commentationes Cusp., Strasburg, 1540). Gerbel's ''Nouum Testamentum graece'' was the first printed Greek text without parallel Latin translation. Gerbel used Erasmus's first bilingual edition (1516) as his source text.

References

*Bietenholz, Peter G., and Thomas B. Deutscher. ''Contemporaries of Erasmus: A Biographical Register of the Renaissance and Reformation''. University of Toronto Press, 2003. Entry on Nikolaus Gerbel, vol. 1, pp. 90–91. * Auguste Frédéric Liebrich. ''Nicolas Gerbel, jurisconsulte-théologien du temps de la Réformation''. Faculté de théologie protestante de Strasbourg. Strasbourg, 1857.

External links

World Digital Library The World Digital Library (WDL) is an international digital library operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress. The WDL has stated that its mission is to promote international and intercultural understanding, expand the volume ...

presentation o
''Nicolai Gerbelij in descriptionem Graeciae Sophiani, praefatio'', i.e. ''Preface by Nicolas Gerbelius to Nikolaos Sophianos’s Description of Greece''.

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. * Nikolaos Sophianos, Gerbel's contemporary, was a noted Greek cartographer and scholar active in Italy. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerbel, Nikolaus 1480s births 1560 deaths People from Pforzheim 16th-century writers in Latin German Renaissance humanists People from the Margraviate of Baden German male writers 16th-century German jurists