Johann Daniel Ritter (October 16, 1709 in Schlanz – May 15, 1775 in

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

) 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 ...

. In 1732 he received his

magister degree A magister degree (also magistar, female form: magistra; from , "teacher") is an academic degree used in various systems of higher education. The magister degree arose in medieval universities in Europe and was originally equal to the doctorate; ...

from the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, where in 1735 he became an associate professor of philosophy. In 1742 he was appointed professor of history at the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

. From 1736 to 1745 he edited the

Codex Theodosianus The ''Codex Theodosianus'' ("Theodosian Code") is a compilation of the laws of the Roman Empire under the Christian emperors since 312. A commission was established by Emperor Theodosius II and his co-emperor Valentinian III on 26 March 429 an ...

Selected works

* De Fetialibus Populi Romani,

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

1732 (dissertation). * De Marcio primo Pontifice M. & Familia Marcia, Leipzig 1733 * Observationes Criticas complectens, Leipzig 1735 * Observationes historicae praemissae orationi aditiali, 1742. * Historia praefecturae praetorianae ab origine dignitatis ad Constantinum M., 1745. In 1780 Johann Matthias Schröckh published Ritter's "''Aelteste Meisnische Geschichte bis auf Heinrich den Erlauchten''" (The history of

Meissen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

up to the time of Henry III).Most widely held works by Johann Daniel Ritter
WorldCat Identities

References

1709 births 1775 deaths People from Wrocław County Leipzig University alumni Academic staff of Leipzig University Academic staff of the University of Wittenberg 18th-century German historians German male non-fiction writers {{Germany-historian-stub