Philipp Nicodemus Frischlin (also spelled ''Nikodemus'') (22 September 1547 – 29 November 1590) was a German

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

, and

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

, born at Erzingen, today part of Balingen in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

, where his father was parish minister.

Life

He was educated as a scholar of ''" Tübinger Stift"'' at the

university of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

, where in 1568 he was promoted to the chair of poetry and history. In 1575 for his comedy of ''Rebecca'', which he read at

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 ...

before the emperor Maximilian II, he was rewarded with the laureateship, and in 1577 he was made an imperial count palatine (''Comes palatinus Caesareus'') or ''Pfalzgraf''. In 1582 his unguarded language and reckless life made it necessary that he should leave Tübingen, and he accepted a mastership at Laibach in Carniola (nowadays

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

), which he held for about two years. Shortly after his return to the university in 1584, he was threatened with a criminal prosecution on a charge of immoral conduct, and the threat led to his withdrawal to

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

in 1587. For eighteen months he taught in the Brunswick gymnasium, and he appears also to have resided occasionally at

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

and

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. From the last-named city he wrote certain

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

ous letters, which led to his being arrested in March 1590. He was imprisoned in the fortress of Hohenurach, near

Reutlingen Reutlingen (; ) is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous Reutlingen (district), district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it had an estimated population of 116,456. Reutlingen has a Reutlingen University, univ ...

, where, on the night of 29 November 1590, he was killed by a fall in attempting to let himself down from the window of his cell.

Work

Frischlin's prolific and versatile genius produced a great variety of works, which entitle him to some rank both among poets and among scholars. In his

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 ...

verse he often successfully imitated the classical models; his comedies are not without freshness and vivacity; and some of his versions and commentaries, particularly those on the ''

Georgics The ''Georgics'' ( ; ) is a poem by Latin poet Virgil, likely published in 29 BCE. As the name suggests (from the Greek language, Greek word , ''geōrgiká'', i.e. "agricultural hings) the subject of the poem is agriculture; but far from bei ...

'' and '' Bucolics'' of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

, though now well-nigh forgotten, were important contributions to the scholarship of his time. There is no collected edition of his works, but his ''Opera poetica'' were published twelve times between 1535 and 1636. Among those most widely known may be mentioned: *the ''Hebraeis'' (1590), a Latin epic based on the ''Scripture history of the Jews'' *the ''Elegiaca'' (1601), his collected

lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, t ...

, in twenty-two books *the ''Opera scenica'' (1604) consisting of six comedies and two tragedies (among the former, ''Julius Caesar redivivus'', completed 1584) *the ''Grammatica Latina'' (1585) *the versions of

Callimachus Callimachus (; ; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar, and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works, most of which ...

and

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

*the commentaries on

Persius Aulus Persius Flaccus (; 4 December 3424 November 62 AD) was a Roman poet and satirist of Etruscan origin. In his works, poems and satire, he shows a Stoic wisdom and a strong criticism for what he considered to be the stylistic abuses of his ...

and Virgil See the monograph of David Friedrich Strauss (''Leben und Schriften des Dichters und Philologen Frischlin'', 1856).

Literature

* D. F. Strauß, ''"Leben und Schriften des Dichters und Philologen Nicodemus Frischlin"'', 1856. * S. Holtz, D. Mertens (Hsg.), ''"Nicodemus Frischlin (1547 - 1590), poetische und prosaische Praxis unter den Bedingungen des konfessionellen Zeitalters"'', Stuttgart, Bad Cannstatt 1999. * Gustav Bebermeyer: Nicodemus Frischlin. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Bd. 5, S. 620

References

External links

Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries
High resolution images of works by and/or portraits of Philipp Nicodemus Frischlin in .jpg and .tiff format. {{DEFAULTSORT:Frischlin, Philipp Nicodemus 1547 births 1590 deaths People from Balingen 16th-century German poets German philologists 16th-century German mathematicians 16th-century German astronomers People from the Duchy of Württemberg Imperial counts palatine German male poets German male dramatists and playwrights 16th-century German dramatists and playwrights 16th-century German male writers