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 on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

and

astrologer Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

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 i ...

, near

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

, which at that time was a Free Imperial City within the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. He practiced medicine 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. ...

, and published numerous almanachs, planetary tables 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 Landau i ...

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 ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

in 1494.

Life

Engels was born at

, near

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 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 the Rich, the Duke of Bavaria at the time, and its first Chancellor was the Bishop of Eichstätt. It consisted of four faculties: theology, law, artes liberales and medicine, all of w ...

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

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) 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. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in 1474; in 1476 he gave lectures on

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

at the university. From 1489 to 1491 Engel worked as a

proof-reader Proofreading is a phase in the process of publishing where galley proofs are compared against the original manuscripts or graphic artworks, to identify transcription errors in the typesetting process. In the past, proofreaders would place corre ...

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

, 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 (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'', ''Albumazar''; full name ''Abū Maʿshar Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Balkhī'' ; , AH 171–272), was an early Persian Muslim astrologer, thought to be ...

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

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

, 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 A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with n ...

Forlì Forlì ( ; ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is, together with Cesena, the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena.The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the east of the Montone river, ...

. 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, ''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 __NOTOC__ Year 489 (Roman numerals, CDLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Petronius Probinus (consul 489), Probinus and Eusebius (consul 489), Eusebius ...

* 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

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 {{bots, deny=Citation bot