The Uses of Humanism: Johannes Sambucus (1531-1584), Andreas Dudith (1533-1589), and the Republic of Letters in East Central Europe

409 Pages·2009·2.41 MB·English

by  Gábor Almási

The Uses of Humanism
Brill’s Studies in
Intellectual History
General Editor
A.J. Vanderjagt, University of Groningen
Editorial Board
C.S. Celenza, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
M. Colish, Oberlin College
J.I. Israel, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
M. Mugnai, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
W. Otten, University of Chicago
VOLUME 185
The Uses of Humanism
Johannes Sambucus (1531-1584),
Andreas Dudith (1533-1589), and
the Republic of Letters in East Central Europe
By
Gábor Almási
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2009
On the cover: Marcus Tullius Cicero, Der teütsch Cicero, trans. Johann Neuber, ed. Johann von
Schwarzenberg, illustrations by Hans Schäuffelin (Augsburg: Heinrich Steiner, 1534), f. 2r.
Courtesy of National Széchényi Library (Budapest).
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Almási, Gábor.
The uses of humanism : Johannes Sambucus (1531-1584), Andreas Dudith (1533-1589),
and the republic of letters in East Central Europe / by Gábor Almási.
p. cm. — (Brill’s studies in intellectual history, ISSN 0920-8607 ; v. 185)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-18185-4 (hbk. : alk. paper)
1. Europe, Central—Intellectual life—16th century. 2. Zsámboki, János, 1531-1584.
3. Dudith, András, 1533-1589. 4. Humanism—Europe, Central—History—16th century.
5. Humanism—Social aspects—Europe, Central—History—16th century. 6. Renaissance—
Europe, Central. 7. Habsburg, House of. 8. Austria—Court and courtiers—Biography.
9. Humanists—Hungary—Biography. 10. Scholars—Hungary—Biography. I. Title.

DAW1047.A46 2010
144.0943’09031—dc22
2009039182
ISSN 0920-8607
ISBN 978 90 04 18185 4
Copyright 2009 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV
provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center,
222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
Fees are subject to change.
printed in the netherlands
contents
list of illustrations ................................................................... vii
abbreviations ........................................................................... ix
acknowledgements .................................................................. xi
Preface ...................................................................................... xiii
introduction: on the uses of humanism ................................ 1
Part one
humanist learning and networks in east central europe
chapter one: aspects of east central european
humanist learning ............................................................... 19
chapter two: humanist networks and the ethos
of the republic of letters .................................................. 69
chapter three: the uses of humanism
at the imperial court ........................................................... 99
Part two
the case of Johannes sambucus
chapter four: an ornament to the imperial court? ............... 145
chapter five: the multiple identities of the humanist:
“vates, medicus bonus, historicusque” ................................ 199
Part three
the case of andreas dudith
chapter six: the curious career of a heterodox humanist ... 239
chapter seven: the making of the humanist:
self-fashioning through letters and treatises ....................... 285
epilogue: sambucus and dudith encounter confessionalisation .. 329
conclusion ............................................................................... 357
Bibliography ............................................................................. 365
index ........................................................................................ 379

list of illustrations
Photographic reproductions of pages from the books Der teütsch Cicero
(1534), and sambucus’s Emblemata (1564, 1566) are courtesy of national
széchényi library (Budapest). my thanks go to director istván monok.
figure no. 3 is courtesy of leipzig university library, and figure no.
7 is courtesy of Wrocław university library.
1. marcus tullius cicero, Der teütsch Cicero, trans. Johann
neuber, ed. Johann von schwarzenberg, illustrations by
hans schäuffelin (augsburg: heinrich steiner, 1534),
f. 137v ................................................................................ 7
2. emblem dedicated to Johann aicholtz in the Emblemata
(antwerp: Plantin, 1564), 150 ........................................... 17
3. anton Wilhelm schowart, Der Adeliche Hofemeister Oder
Wahrhafftige und deutliche Vorstellung was ein Adelicher Hofemeister
vor Eigenschafften an sich haben (frankfurt: hartmann, 1693)
universitätsbibliothek leipzig, Pr 638, titelkupfer ........ 56
4. Der teütsch Cicero, f. 110r ..................................................... 103
5. Portrait of Johannes sambucus in the Emblemata
(antwerp: Plantin, 1566), f a1v ....................................... 143
6. emblem dedicated to sambucus’s dogs in the Emblemata
(antwerp: Plantin, 1564), 164 ........................................... 209
7. Portrait of andreas dudith by Bartholomäus strahowsky.
eighteenth-century copy of a lost oil painting
held by Wrocław university library ................................ 237
8. emblem dedicated to fulvio orsini
in the Emblemata (1564), 62 ............................................... 277
9. Der teütsch Cicero, f. 120r ..................................................... 317

aBBreViations*
adB allgemeine deutsche Biographie
asG archivio di stato di Gorizia (Gorizia)
asV archivio di stato di Venezia (Venice)
Ba Biblioteca ambrosiana (milan)
Bm Biblioteca marciana (Venice)
Br Bibliothèque royale (Bruxelles)
BuWr Biblioteka uniwersytecka Wrocław (Breslau)
fhKa finanz- und hauskammerarchiv (in Vienna,
Österreichisches staatsarchiv)
fszK főszékesegyházi Könyvtár (esztergom)
GÖ Gedenkbücher Österreich (in fhKa)
hhsta haus-, hof- und staatsarchiv (in Vienna,
Österreichisches staatsarchiv)
hfu hoffinanz ungarn (in fhKa)
hs handschriften-, autographen- und nachlass-sammlung
(in ÖnB)
hZB hofzahlamtsbücher (in fhKa)
Jahrbuch J ahrbuch der kunsthistorischen sammlungen des
allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses Wien
mol magyar országos levéltár (Budapest)
osZK országos széchényi Könyvtár (Budapest)
ÖnB Österreichische nationalbibliothek (Vienna)
sB staatsbibliothek (Berlin)
uB universitätsbibliothek (Bremen)
* i was generously allowed to consult the cited material in Br, BuWr, fB, sB, uB
by tibor szepessy and lech szczucki. they concern letters to and by andreas dudith
between 1581-1589 forthcoming in the last volume of his Epistulae.