Ladislaus Sunthaym (''Sunthaym, Sunthaim, Sunthain, Sunthaymer'', born c. 1440 in

Ravensburg Ravensburg ( or ; Swabian: ''Raveschburg'') is a city in Upper Swabia in Southern Germany, capital of the district of Ravensburg, Baden-Württemberg. Ravensburg was first mentioned in 1088. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City and ...

, died 1512 or 1513 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. ...

) was a German historian, genealogist and geographer. He studied theology in Vienna and was elected "procurator of the Rhenish nation" (a kind of association of students from the Rhineland in Vienna) in 1460. He received his degree of ''Baccalaureus artium'' in 1465 and acted as a priest in Vienna from 1473. The abbot of Klosterneuburg in 1485 asked Sunthaym to compile a family history of

Leopold III, Margrave of Austria Leopold III (, , 1073 – 15 November 1136), known as Leopold the Good, was the Margrave of Austria from 1095 to his death in 1136. He was a member of the House of Babenberg. He was canonized on 6 January 1485 and became the patron saint of Aus ...

in connection with the margrave's canonization. Sunthaym worked on the history and genealogy of the Babenberg family until 1489, perusing the histories of Otto von Freising and Thomas Ebendorfer. The finished work was exhibited in Klosterneuburg abbey as a richly illuminated parchment manuscript, the so-called ''Tabulae Claustroneoburgenses''. The manuscript was supplemented by a great

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

based on the Babenberg family tree, made by the workshop of Hans Part during the period c. 1489 to 1492, for the benefit of the pilgrims visiting Klosterneuburg (now in the monastery museum). In 1491, the work was published in print by Michael Furter of Basel. As a result, Sunthaym became widely known as a historiographer. He was a member of the ''Sodalitas litteraria Danubiana'' ("Danubian literary society") in 1498. Emperor Maximilian charged Sunthaym with a major project, reviewing the genealogy of the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...

. In 1504, Sunthaym was a member of the chapter of St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna. In 1505, he presented his Habsburg genealogy to the emperor. Sunthaym's geographical works, covering

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

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 ...

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

, the

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

and parts of

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

, are an important source for the economy and demographics of these regions at the end of the medieval period.

References

*Winfried Stelzer: "Sunthaym, Ladislaus". In: Deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters. Verfasserlexikon. 2nd ed, vol. 9, De Gruyter, Berlin 1995, ; 537–542. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sunthaym, Ladislaus German genealogists German male non-fiction writers 1440s births 1510s deaths Year of birth uncertain People from Ravensburg Year of death uncertain