Ferdinand Gregorovius (; 19 January 1821 – 1 May 1891) was a German

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

who specialized in the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

history of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Biography

Gregorovius was the son of Neidenburg district justice council Ferdinand Timotheus Gregorovius and his wife Wilhelmine Charlotte Dorothea Kausch. An earlier ancestor named Grzegorzewski had come to Prussia from

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 ...

. Members of the Gregorovius family lived in Prussia for over 300 years, and produced many jurists, preachers and artists. One famous ancestor of Ferdinand's was Johann Adam Gregorovius, born 1681 in Johannisburg, district of Gumbinnen. Ferdinand Gregorovius was born at Neidenburg,

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

(now

Nidzica Nidzica (; formerly ; ; ) is a town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship of Poland, lying between Olsztyn and Mława, in Masuria. The capital of Nidzica County, its population in 2017 was 13,872. History The settlement was originally founded by O ...

), and studied theology and philosophy at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg () was the university of Königsberg in Duchy of Prussia, which was a fief of Poland. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant Reformation, Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke A ...

. In 1838, he joined the student association, the Corps Masovia. After teaching for many years, Gregorovius took up residence in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1852, where he remained for over twenty years. In 1876, he was made an honorary citizen of

, the first German to be awarded this honor. A street and a square are named after him. He eventually returned to Germany, where he died in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. He is best known for ''Wanderjahre in Italien'', his account of the travels on foot that he took through Italy in the 1850s, and the monumental ''Die Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter'' (''History of Rome in the Middle Ages''), a classic for Medieval and early Renaissance history. He also wrote biographies of

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into t ...

and

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto. Her family arranged ...

, as well as works on Byzantine history and medieval

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, and translated Italian authors into German, among them Giovanni Melis. According to Father John Hardon , Gregorovius was "a bitter enemy of the popes."

Works

* ''Der Ghetto und die Juden in Rom'', Mit Einem Geleitwort von Leo Baeck, Im Schocken Verlag/Berlin, 1935 (originally published, 1853) * ''Der Tod des Tiberius'' ("

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

' Death", 1851) * ''Geschichte des römischen Kaisers Hadrian und seiner Zeit'' ("History of the Roman Emperor

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

and His Times", 1851) *
''The Emperor Hadrian''
(1898 translation by Mary E. Robinson) * ''Siciliana'' (1853) * ''Corsica'' (1854);''Corsica''
(1855 trans. by Edward Joy Morris) * ''Göthe’s Wilhelm Meister in seinen socialistischen Elementen entwickelt''. Schwäbisch Hall: E. Fischhaber, 1855. * ''Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter'' (1859–1872) Translated into English 'The History of Rome in the Middle Ages' (1894–1902). (reissued b
Italica Press
2000–2004.); (reissued by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 2010. ) *
Anne Hamilton's trans. of the 4th German edition

(1856–1877) * ''Die Insel Capri'' (1868)
''The island of Capri''
(1879 trans. by Lilian Clarke)
''Geschichte der Stadt Athen im Mittelalter. Von der Zeit Justinians bis zur türkischen Eroberung''
("History of Athens in the Middle Ages. From Justinian to the Turkish Conquest", 1889) * ''Lucretia Borgia und ihre Zeit'' (''Lucrezia Borgia: a chapter from the morals of the Italian Renaissance'', 1874) *
John Leslie Garner's trans. of the 3rd German edition
* ''Die Grabmäler der Römischen Päpste'' (''The Tombs of The Roman Popes''), first edition 1857 in German
Google books link
, later in 1881 as ''Die Grabdenkmäler der Päpste'' (''The Tombs of The Popes'')
Open Library link
and in English as ''The Tombs of the Popes'' (tr: Louisa W. Terry) Victoria Press, Rome 1904
Google books link
* ''Die Insel Capri. Idylle vom Mittelmeer'' (1897) *
M. Douglass Fairbairn's trans.

Notes

External links

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(1903 English translation of part of ''Wanderjahre in Italien'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregorovius, Ferdinand 1821 births 1891 deaths People from Nidzica People from East Prussia German Protestants 20th-century German historians Historians of the Catholic Church German male non-fiction writers 19th-century German male writers