Konrad Mutian (

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 ...

: Conradus Mutianus; 15 October 1470 – 30 March 1526) was a German Renaissance humanist.

Biography

He was born in Homburg of well-to-do parents named Muth, and was subsequently known as Konrad Mutianus Rufus from his red hair. At

Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...

under Alexander Hegius he had

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

as school-fellow; proceeding (1486) to the

university of Erfurt The University of Erfurt () is a public university located in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia. It was founded in 1379, and closed in 1816. It was re-established in 1994, three years after German reunification. Therefore ...

, he took the master's degree in 1492. From 1495 he travelled in Italy, taking the doctor's degree in

Canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

. Returning in 1502, the landgraf of Hesse promoted him to high office. The post was not congenial; he resigned it (1503) for a small salary as ''

canonicus Canonicus (c. 1565 – June 4, 1647) was a chief of the Narragansett people. He was wary of the colonial settlers, but he ultimately befriended Roger Williams and other settlers. Biography Canonicus was born around 1565,Benjamin J. Lossing ...

'' in

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

. Mutian was a man of great influence in a select circle especially connected with the university of Erfurt, and known as the Mutianischer Bund, which included

Helius Eobanus Hessus Helius Eobanus Hessus (6 January 1488 – 5 October 1540) was a German Latin poet and later a Lutheran humanist. He was born at Halgehausen in Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel). His family name is said to have been Koch; Eoban was the name of ...

, Crotus Rubeanus,

Justus Jonas Justus Jonas, the Elder (5 June 1493 – 9 October 1555), or simply Justus Jonas, was a German Lutheran theologian and reformer. He was a Jurist, Professor and Hymn writer. He is best known for his translations of the writings of Martin Luther ...

and other leaders of independent thought. He had no public ambition; except in correspondence, and as an

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word derives from the Greek (, "inscription", from [], "to write on, to inscribe"). This literary device has been practiced for over two millennia ...

matist, he was no writer, but he furnished ideas to those who wrote. He took from Petrarch his emphasis on leading a good life and believed religion should stress ethics over theology. He may deserve the title which has been given him as "precursor of the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

," insofar as he desired the reform of the Church based on the writings of St. Paul, but not the establishment of a rival. Like Erasmus, he was with Luther in his early stage, but deserted him in his later development. Though he had personally no hand in it, the ''Epistolae obscurorum virorum'' (due especially to Crotus Rubeanus) was the outcome of the Reuchlinists in his Bund. He died at Gotha on 30 March (Good Friday) 1526.

Neoplatonism

Mutian was deeply influenced by

Neoplatonic Neoplatonism is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common id ...

mysticism, and wrote in a letter to a friend: :There is but one god and one goddess, but many are their powers and names: Jupiter, Sol, Apollo, Moses, Christus, Luna, Ceres, Proserpina, Tellus, Maria. But have a care in speaking these things. They should be hidden in silence as are the Eleusinian mysteries; sacred things must needs be wrapped in fable and enigma. ...You, since Jupiter, the Best and Greatest God, is propitious to you, may despise lesser gods in silence. When I say Jupiter, understand me to mean Christ and the true God."Est unus deus et una dea. Sed sunt multa uti numina ita et nomina: Jupiter, Sol, Apollo, Moses, Christ, Luna, Ceres, Proserpina, Tellus, Mary. Sed haec cave enunties. Sunt enim occulta silentio tamquam Eleusinarum dearum mysteria. Utendum est fabulis atque enigmatum integumentis in re sacra. ..Tu, Jove, hoc est Optimo Maximo Deo propitio, contemne tacitus deos minutos. Quum Jovem nomino, Christum intellige et verum Deum ... Seznec, Jean & Sessions, Barbara F. (transl.) (1995) ''The Survival of the Pagan Gods''. Princeton University Press. p. 99.

References

Literature

* F W Kampschulte, ''Die Universität Erfurt'' (1858-1860) * K Krause, ''Eobanus Hessus'' (1879) * L Geiger, in ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biog.'' (1886) *K Krause, ''Der Briefwechsel des Mutianus Rufus'' (1885) *K Gillert, ''Der Briefwechsel des Conradus Mutianus'' (189
Der briefwechsel des Conradus Mutianus
* *Christoph Fasbender, Eckhard Bernstein: "Conradus Mutianus Rufus und der Humanismus in Erfurt". Gotha 2009, *Eckhard Bernstein: "Mutianus Rufus und sein humanistischer Freundeskreis in Gotha", Böhlau Verlag Köln/Weimar/Wien 2014, {{DEFAULTSORT:Mutian, Konrad 1470 births 1526 deaths People from Homberg (Efze) German Renaissance humanists 15th-century German jurists 16th-century German jurists