Johannes Honterus - Denkmal in Kronstadt

Johannes Honter (also known as Johann Hynter;

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

ized as Johann Honterus or Ioannes Honterus; Romanian sources may credit him as Ioan, Hungarian ones as János; 1498 – 23 January 1549) was a

Transylvanian Saxon The Transylvanian Saxons (; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjer Såksen'' or simply ''Soxen'', singularly ''Sox'' or ''Soax''; Transylvanian Landler: ''Soxn'' or ''Soxisch''; ; seldom ''sași ardeleni/transilvăneni/transilvani''; ) are a people ...

, renaissance humanist, Protestant reformer, and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

. Honter is best known for his geographic and cartographic publishing activity, as well as for implementing the

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

reform in Transylvania and founding the church, which would become the

Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania (, ) is a German-speaking Lutheran church in Romania, mainly based in Transylvania. As a Lutheran church, it adheres to the Augsburg Confession. Its history goes back to the 12th cent ...

, after the

union of Transylvania with Romania The union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia. The Great Union Day (also called ''Unification Day''), celebrated on 1 December, is a Public holidays in Romani ...

Education and activity

Early life

Born in Brassó ''(German: Kronstadt, today Brașov, Romania)'',

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, he 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 ...

between 1520 and 1525, graduating with a ''

magister artium 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 ...

'' title. As the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

approached Vienna in 1529 (''see Siege of Vienna''), Honter moved first to

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

, and, in 1530, he registered at the Kraków's

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

(in

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 ...

) as "Johannes Georgii de Corona, artium magister Viennensis" (Corona is medieval Latin for Brașov). It was in Kraków that he published his first books, a

grammar and

cosmography The term cosmography has two distinct meanings: traditionally it has been the protoscience of mapping the general features of the cosmos, heaven and Earth; more recently, it has been used to describe the ongoing effort to determine the large-sca ...

manual. Between 1530 and 1532 he lived in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

and practiced

wood engraving Wood engraving is a printmaking technique, in which an artist works an image into a block of wood. Functionally a variety of woodcut, it uses relief printing, where the artist applies ink to the face of the block and prints using relatively l ...

, notably designing two star maps that already show his advanced skills in the craft. In the same time period he often traveled to his native Transylvania, gathering information that was to serve in his design of a map of Transylvania, commonly known as Siebenbuergen, Johann Honter map, published by

Abraham Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer from Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands. He is recognized as the creator of the list of atlases, first modern ...

in 1566 one that he engraved and printed in Basel, and the very first one of the region to be printed. The only known copy of the map survives in the National Library of Hungary. It is known that Honter was not pleased with the map – he tried to get back all copies that he had sent to friends and other scientists. His plan was to improve the map before reprint and distribution. Dedicated to the leadership of Brassó, it was the basic design for all later maps of Transylvania, up to the early 18th century.

made the map famous by beautifully engraving it in copper.

In Brașov

Honter Universalis Cosmographia 1546 UTA

He returned to Brassó in 1533 and became involved in local events. During his stay in 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 ...

, Honter had encountered Protestant ideas, and he worked hard to introduce Lutheranism to Transylvania (). He attempted to achieve this by informing as many persons as possible. As such, he founded the humanist gymnasium local school (functioning to this day as the "Johannes Honterus" School), set up a printing press (1539), printed a large number of books (some of which he himself authored), such as the ''Reformationsbuechlein'', published the ''Kirchenordnung aller Deutschen in Siebenbuergen'' and assisted in the introduction of a

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

. In 1542, in Brașov, he printed a new version of his cosmography manual, this time in verse, under the name '' Rudimenta Cosmographica''. He believed that verse would help students remember information contained in the book. Additionally, the book contains 13 maps, engraved by Honter himself. The maps show all known parts of the world. The ''Rudimenta'' was so successful that no less than 39 editions of it were printed in Brașov, Zurich, Antwerp,

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

, Prague, and Cologne. The book was last reprinted in 1602, but sections of it have been included in other books up to 1692. It can be considered the first European-wide manual.

References

Bibliography

* NUSSBÄCHER, Gernot; PHILIPPI, Astrid, eds., 1983. ''Odae cum harmoniis 1548''. Facsimilia and music transcriptions. București: Editura Muzicală

External links

In German

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honter, Johannes 1498 births 1549 deaths People from Brașov Transylvanian Saxon people 16th-century Hungarian people Hungarian Renaissance humanists Protestant Reformers Hungarian Lutherans German Lutherans University of Vienna alumni Jagiellonian University alumni Hungarian cartographers German cartographers Hungarian expatriates in Austria Hungarian expatriates in Germany Hungarian expatriates in Poland 16th-century cartographers 16th-century German Protestant theologians 16th-century German male writers