Johannes Plavius (born c. 1600) was a German poet that most likely was born in Central German

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

, in Neuhausen (as he calls himself "M. Johannes Plavius Nehusâ Thüringus" in some works) or

Plauen Plauen (; Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest city in the Sa ...

(

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

ized to ''Plavia''), from which his surname was derived. At the end of 1624, he was part of a ''Dichterkreis'' (circle of poet

in History of Gdańsk, Danzig (Gdańsk) in Poland and called himself ''Magister'' (

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. ...

) for the first time in 1626. Danzig at the time had no university, so Plavius must have obtained his degree somewhere else, most likely

Frankfurt/Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (), is a city in the German state of Brandenburg. It has around 57,000 inhabitants, is one of the easternmost cities in Germany, the fourth-largest city in Brandenburg, and the largest Germa ...

since a ''Johannes Plavius Tyrigotanus'' ("Johannes Plavius Thuringian") is listed in the registers of the winter semester of 1621. The pastor and poet Michael Albinus in Danzig (

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

), who was born in nearby Pröbbenauin in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ...

.Daniel Stone,''A History of East Central Europe'', University of Washington Press, 2001, p. 30,
Google Books
/ref> , later wrote that Plavius was active as a private teacher, providing basic instruction in the Latin language. He may have operated one of the small, semi-official Latin schools in Danzig; one assumes that he had received the necessary educational license, because he had written his ''Praecepta logicalia'' in 1628. He was certainly close to scholars and students in the city, and he served as an influence to

Andreas Gryphius Andreas Gryphius (german: Andreas Greif; 2 October 161616 July 1664) was a German poet and playwright. With his eloquent sonnets, which contains "The Suffering, Frailty of Life and the World", he is considered one of the most important Baroqu ...

. Plavius maintained relationships with other poets, such as

Martin Opitz Martin Opitz von Boberfeld (23 December 1597 – 20 August 1639) was a German poet, regarded as the greatest of that nation during his lifetime. Biography Opitz was born in Bunzlau (Bolesławiec) in Lower Silesia, in the Principality of S ...

Johann George Moeresius Johann Georg Moeresius ( pl, Jan Jerzy Moeresius) (1598–1657) was a poet and rector in Danzig (Gdańsk), Poland. Moeresius, a friend of the poet Johannes Plavius, dedicated a series of poems to the singer Constantia Zierenberg Constantia Zier ...

, and

Peter Crüger Peter Crüger or Peter Krüger (20 October 1580 – 6 June 1639) was a mathematician, astronomer, polymath, and teacher of Johannes Hevelius. Life Crüger was born in Königsberg, Duchy of Prussia, a fief of the Kingdom of Poland. In scientifi ...

. Plavius mentions Crüger in the opening letter to his ''Institutio Poetica''. Crüger dedicated an extremely laudatory poem to Plavius, which appears in the preface to the ''Praecepta logicalia''. Plavius dedicated several poems to Susanne Nuber, the daughter of a Danzig minister. Moeresius was her brother-in-law, and Plavius dedicates some of his poems to him. These contacts were successful as Plavius may have wed Nuber by 1630. Plavius dedicated his ''Lehrsonnete'

to the councilmen of Danzig: ''Denen ehrenvesten und vorachtbarn herren schöpffen-herren in der rechten Stat Dantzig, Hn Arnold Dilbert, Hn. Johann Roggauen, Hn. Valentin Rögelern, Hn. Michael Bachmann''

Plavius also maintained a relationship with a wealthy brewing, brewer from Danzig named Abraham Hoewelcke (1576–1649). Plavius would later mention Hoewelcke's son in the dedication to his ''Praecepta logicalia'' as ''Johannes Hoeffelius'' – better known as

Johannes Hevelius Johannes Hevelius Some sources refer to Hevelius as Polish: * * * * * * * Some sources refer to Hevelius as German: * * * * *of the Royal Society * (in German also known as ''Hevel''; pl, Jan Heweliusz; – 28 January 1687) was a councillo ...

, the astronomer. The place and year of Plavius' death are unknown. The year of his death must have occurred after 1630.

Works

*''Epithalamien'' (1624), Danzig *''Praecepta Logicalia'' (1628) publisher

Andreas Hünefeld Andreas ( el, Ἀνδρέας) is a name usually given to males in Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, Armenia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Finland, Flanders, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, the Netherlands, and Indonesia. The name ...

, Danzig *''Institutio Poetica'' (1629) *''Trauer und Treuegedichte'' ("Mourning and Loyalty Poems,"

sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's inventio ...

s) (1630). Printed by George Rhete, Danzig 1630
Danzig Dichterkreis, poets circle

Sources

''(Original sonnets)''

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plavius, Johannes 1600s births Year of death missing German poets Writers from Thuringia Writers from Gdańsk European University Viadrina alumni German male poets