Johannes Engel (2 March 1453 – 29 September 1512), also known as Johannes Angelus, was a doctor,

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either o ...

and

astrologer Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

from

Aichach Aichach (; Central Bavarian: ''Oacha'') is a town in Germany, located in the Bundesland of Bavaria and situated just northeast of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Aichach-Friedberg. The municipality of Aichach counts some 20,000 in ...

, near

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the '' ...

, which at that time was a

Free Imperial City In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

within the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

. He practiced medicine in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and published numerous almanachs,

planetary table In astronomy and celestial navigation, an ephemeris (pl. ephemerides; ) is a book with tables that gives the trajectory of naturally occurring astronomical objects as well as artificial satellites in the sky, i.e., the position (and possibly ...

s and calendars. His ''Astrolabium planum'' was published by

Erhard Ratdolt Erhard Ratdolt (1442–1528) was an early German printer from Augsburg. He was active as a printer in Venice from 1476 to 1486, and afterwards in Augsburg. From 1475 to 1478 he was in partnership with two other German printers. The first book ...

of Augsburg in 1488; a second edition was printed by

Johann Emerich Johann Emerich was a printer and typographer from Udenheim, near Speyer, in the Rhineland in the Holy Roman Empire. He was active as a book printer and typographer in Venice from 1487, when he collaborated with Johannes Hamman of Landa ...

for

Lucantonio Giunti Lucantonio Giunti or Giunta (1457 – 3 April 1538) was a Republic of Florence, Florentine book publisher and printer, active in Venice from 1489, a member of the Giunti (printers), Giunti family of printers. His publishing business was success ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

in 1494.

Life

Engels was born at

, near

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

, probably on 2 March 1453. He registered at the

University of Ingolstadt The University of Ingolstadt was founded in 1472 by Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria, Louis the Rich, the Duke of Bavaria at the time, and its first Chancellor was the Bishop of Eichstätt. It consisted of five faculties: humanities, sciences, theology ...

in the summer of 1472, the year of its foundation, and graduated as a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

in 1474; in 1476 he gave lectures on

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatet ...

at the university. From 1489 to 1491 Engel worked as a proof-reader or editor for the noted printer

of Augsburg, who had previously worked in

and had published many works on astronomy. Between 1492 and 1497 Engels studied medicine at the University of Ingolstadt. He later practiced medicine in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where on 29 September 1512 he died.

Works

From 1484 Engel began to publish almanachs and astrological calendars, in both German and Latin. His ''Astrolabium planum'', with many tables of astrological calculation and 360 examples of horoscopes, was published by Erhard Ratdolt in Augsburg in 1488. A second edition was printed by

for

in 1494, and subsequently reprinted by Giunti in 1502. Engel's edition of the ''De magnis coniunctionibus'', Latin translations by

Jean de Séville John of Seville ( Latin: ''Johannes Hispalensis'' or ''Johannes Hispaniensis'') (fl. 1133-53) was one of the main translators from Arabic into Castilian in partnership with Dominicus Gundissalinus during the early days of the Toledo School of Tra ...

(Johannes Hispalensis) of works by the ninth-century astronomer and astrologer

Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi, Latinized as Albumasar (also ''Albusar'', ''Albuxar''; full name ''Abū Maʿshar Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Balkhī'' ; , AH 171–272), was an early Persian Muslim astrologer, thought to be the greatest as ...

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesipho ...

, was published by Ratdolt in 1489, and was influential in the development of the astrological theory of planetary

conjunction Conjunction may refer to: * Conjunction (grammar), a part of speech * Logical conjunction, a mathematical operator ** Conjunction introduction, a rule of inference of propositional logic * Conjunction (astronomy), in which two astronomical bodies ...

s. Ratdolt's edition of the ''Tabule directionum profectionumque'' of

Regiomontanus Johannes Müller von Königsberg (6 June 1436 – 6 July 1476), better known as Regiomontanus (), was a mathematician, astrologer and astronomer of the German Renaissance, active in Vienna, Buda and Nuremberg. His contributions were instrumental ...

, printed in 1490, has corrections by Engel. In 1491 Ratdolt printed Engel's edition of the ''Decem tractatus astronomiae'' of the thirteenth-century mathematician and astrologer

Guido Bonatti Guido Bonatti (died between 1296 and 1300) was an Italian mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, who was the most celebrated astrologer of the 13th century. Bonatti was advisor of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Ezzelino da Romano III, G ...

Forlì Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna. The city is situated along the Via Em ...

. The ''Ephemerides coelestium motuum usque ad annum 1500'' of 1494 was printed in Vienna by Johannes Winterburger, the first Viennese printer, who also printed the undated ''Almanach novum atque collectum … super anno domini 1510''. Engel's brief treatise on the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

, ''Tractat von der Pestilentz Joanni Engel …'' was printed posthumously in Augsburg by and , on 4 November 1518.

Publications

Among the publications of Johannes Engel as author or editor are:
''Astrolabium planum''
Augsburg: Erhard Ratdolt, 1488 *
Second edition
Venice: Johann Emerich for Lucantonio Giunti, 1494 *
Reprinted
Venice: Lucantonio Giunti, 1502 * Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi
''De magnis coniunctionibus''
Augsburg: Erhard Ratdolt, 1489 * ''Almanach auf das Jahr 1490''. Augsburg: Erhard Ratdolt, 489* Regiomontanus, ''Tabule directionum profectionumque''. ugsburg: Erhard Ratdolt 1490 * Guido Bonatti (Guido Bonatus de Forliuio)
''Decem continens tractatus astronomie''
Augsburg: Erhard Ratdolt, 1491

Vienna: Johannes Winterburger, 1509 * [http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/bsb00002533/images/index.html?id=00002533&groesser=&fip=xdsydeayaxseayaeayaxdsydeayaenyztsqrsen&no=3&seite=3 ''Almanach novum atque correctum per Joannem angelum artium et medicine doctorem peritissimum ex p[ro]prijs tabulis calculatum super Anno domini 1512'']. Vienna: [s.n.], 1511 * ''Astrolabij quo primi mobilis motus deprehenduntur canones''. Venice: Peter Liechtenstein, 1512
''Tractat von der Pestilentz Joanni Engel, der freyen künsten und artzney Doctor, auss der leer der Doctorn der artzney und der Astronomey gezogen''
Augsburg: Sigmund Grimm and Marx Wirsung, 4 November 1518

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Engel, Johannes People from Aichach 15th-century astrologers 1453 births 1512 deaths University of Ingolstadt alumni 15th-century German writers 16th-century German writers 16th-century German male writers 16th-century astrologers 16th-century German astronomers 15th-century German astronomers 16th-century German physicians 15th-century German physicians Physicians from Bavaria