Johann, Hans or Johannes Virdung of Hassfurt (15 March 1463 – 1538/39) was a celebrated

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 ...

of the early sixteenth century from the

Electoral Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy Roman Empero ...

. He had an official position at

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

, at the court of the

Elector Palatine This article lists counts palatine of Lotharingia, counts palatine of the Rhine, and electors of the Palatinate (), the titles of three counts palatine who ruled some part of the Rhine region in the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire b ...

. He wrote various works under generic names (''Prognosticon'', ''Practica''), including a millennarian work, ''Practica von dem Entchrist'' around 1510. He was a correspondent of

Johannes Trithemius Johannes Trithemius (; 1 February 1462 – 13 December 1516), born Johann Heidenberg, was a German Benedictine abbot and a polymath who was active in the German Renaissance as a Lexicography, lexicographer, chronicler, Cryptography, cryptograph ...

. One of the early sources for the

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

legend occurs in a letter of Trithemius to Virdung. Virdung studied at 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 ...

beginning in 1481, then in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

from 1484 to 1486 or 1487. He returned to Leipzig in 1487, where he graduated as a "Magister" in 1491. It has been suggested that Virdung was of the school of the astronomer Albertus de Brudzewo, and had studied with him and Johannes de GlogoviaJan Glogowczyk, Jan Glogau, Jan of Glogow (1455-1507). See :pl:Jan z Głogowa. in Kraków.

References

Works

References

*Max Steinmetz (1986), "Johann Virdung von Hassfurt, sein Leben und seine astrologischen Flugschriften", in ''Astrologi hallucinati, stars at the end of the world in Luther's time'' *

Lynn Thorndike Lynn Thorndike (24 July 1882, in Lynn, Massachusetts, US – 28 December 1965, New York City) was an American historian of History of science in the Middle Ages, medieval science and alchemy. He was the son of a clergyman, Edward R. Thorndike, an ...

''Johann Virdung of Hassfurt again'' Isis 25, 1936, p. 363; ''Faust and Johann Virdung of Hassfurt'', Isis 26, 1936/37, p. 321; ''Another Virdung Manuscript'', Isis 34, 1942/43, p. 291; ''Johann Virdung of Hassfurt: dates of birth and death'', Isis 37, 1947, p. 74 {{DEFAULTSORT:Virdung, Johannes 1463 births 1530s deaths People from the Electoral Palatinate German astrologers Christian astrologers