Sebastian Brant (also Brandt) (1458 – 10 May 1521) was a German humanist and satirist. He is best known for his satire ''

Das Narrenschiff ''Ship of Fools'' (Modern German: , la, Stultifera Navis, original medieval German title: ) is a satirical allegory in German verse published in 1494 in Basel, Switzerland, by the humanist and theologian Sebastian Brant. It is the most fam ...

'' (''The Ship of Fools'').

Biography

Brant was born in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

to an innkeeper but eventually entered the University of Basel in 1475, initially studying philosophy and then transferring to the school of law. From 1484 he began teaching at the university and completed his doctorate in law in 1489. In 1485 he had married Elisabeth Bürg, the daughter of a cutler in the town. Elisabeth bore him seven children. Keen for his eldest son Onophrius to become a humanist, he taught him Latin in the cradle and enrolled him in the university at the age of seven. Brant first attracted attention in humanistic circles by his Neo-Latin poetry but, realising that this gave him only a limited audience, he began translating his own work and the Latin poems of others into German, publishing them through the press of his friend

Johann Bergmann Sidney Bergmann (born 1905, date of death unknown) was an Austrian wrestler. He competed in the Greco-Roman lightweight event at the 1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Game ...

, from which appeared his best known German work, the satirical ''

'' (Ship of Fools, 1494), the popularity and influence of which were not limited to Germany. In this

allegory As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

, the author lashes the weaknesses and vices of his time. It is an episodic work in which a ship laden with and steered by fools goes to the fools' paradise of Narragonia. Here he conceives Saint Grobian, whom he imagines to be the patron saint of vulgar and coarse people. Most of Brant's important writing, including many works on civil and canon law, were written while he was living in Basel. He returned to Strasbourg in 1500, where he was made

syndic Syndic (Late Latin: '; Greek: ' – one who helps in a court of justice, an advocate, representative) is a term applied in certain countries to an officer of government with varying powers, and secondly to a representative or delegate of a universi ...

and remained for the rest of his life. In 1503 he secured the influential position of chancellor (''stadtschreiber'') and his engagement in public affairs prevented him from pursuing literature further. Brant made several petitions to the Emperor Maximilian to drive back the Turks in order to save the West. In the same spirit, he had sung the praises of

Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II ( an, Ferrando; ca, Ferran; eu, Errando; it, Ferdinando; la, Ferdinandus; es, Fernando; 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), also called Ferdinand the Catholic (Spanish: ''el Católico''), was King of Aragon and Sardinia from ...

in 1492 for having conquered the Moors and unified Spain. A staunch proponent of German cultural nationalism, he believed that moral reform was necessary for the security of the Empire against the Ottoman threat. Although essentially conservative in his religious views, Brant's eyes were open to abuses in the church, as the ''Narrenschiff'' demonstrates. Alexander Barclay's ''Ship of Fools'' (1509) is a free imitation into early Tudor period English of the German poem, and a Latin version by Jakob Locher (1497) was hardly less popular than the original. ''Cock Lorell's Bote'' (printed by Wynkyn de Worde, c. 1510) was a shorter imitation of the ''Narrenschiff''. In this work Cock Lorell, a notorious fraudulent tinker of the period, gathers round him a rascally collection of tradesmen and sets off to sail through England.1843 reprint
/ref> Among Brant's many other works was his compilation of fables and other popular stories, published in 1501 under the title ''Aesopi Appologi sive Mythologi cum quibusdam Carminum et Fabularum additionibus'', the beauty of whose production is still appreciated. Though based on

Heinrich Steinhöwel Heinrich Steinhöwel (also ''Steinhäuel'' or ''Steinheil''; 1412 – 1482) was a Swabian author, humanist, and translator who was much inspired by the Italian Renaissance. His translations of medical treatises and fiction were an important con ...

's 1476 edition of Aesop, the Latin prose was emended by Brant, who also added verse commentaries with his characteristic combination of wit and style. The second part of the work is entirely new, consisting of riddles, additional fables culled from varied sources, and accounts of miracles and wonders of nature both from his own times and reaching back to antiquity. The letters by Brant that have survived show that he was in correspondence with Peter Schott, Johann Bergmann von Olpe, Emperor Maximilian, Thomas Murner,

Konrad Peutinger Conrad Peutinger (14 October 1465 – 28 December 1547) was a German humanist, jurist, diplomat, politician, economist and archaeologist (serving as Emperor Maximilian I's chief archaeological adviser). A senior official in the municipal governme ...

, Willibald Pirckheimer, Johannes Reuchlin, Beatus Rhenanus,

Jakob Wimpfeling Jakob Wimpfeling (25 July 1450 – 17 November 1528) was a Renaissance humanist and theologian. Biography Wimpfeling was born in Sélestat (Schlettstadt), Alsace, Lorraine. He went to the school at Sélestat, which was run by Ludwig Dringenberg, ...

and

Ulrich Zasius Ulrich Zasius (1461 – 24 November 1535 or 1536) was a German jurist. Biography Zasius was born at Konstanz (current Baden-Württemberg) in 1461. After studying at Tübingen he first became episcopal notary at Constance, then town clerk at B ...

References

Editions

* ''Das Narrenschiff'', Studienausgabe, ed. by Joachim Knape (Stuttgart: Reclam, 2005) * Online facsimile o
the original
* Edwin H. Zeydel's 1944 translation of ''The Ship of Fools'', of which there is a limited selection o
Google Books
* ''Aesopi Appologi'', an unpaged facsimile o
Google Books
a page by page online facsimile with short German descriptions fro

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brant, Sebastian 1457 births 1521 deaths Writers from Strasbourg German Roman Catholics German satirists Roman Catholic writers Christian humanists German male non-fiction writers 15th-century German jurists 16th-century German jurists

Biography

See also

References

Editions

Further reading

External links