Thomas Murner
Thomas Murner,OFM(24 December 1475 – c. 1537) was an Alsatiansatirist,poet and translator.[1]
Early life and education
[edit]He was born at Oberehnheim (Obernai) nearStrasbourg.In 1490 he entered theFranciscanorder, and in 1495 began travelling, studying and then teaching and preaching inFreiburg-im-Breisgau,Paris,Cracowand Strasbourg itself. The emperorMaximilian Icrowned him in 1505poeta laureatus;in 1506, he was createddoctor theologiae.In 1508, while a preacher of the St.Martin church inFreiburg,he defied a recently died and relative ofUlrich Zasiusas well as the scribe of Freiburg.[2]Since, both shall have let Murner know of their enmity.[2]In 1513 was appointed custodian of the FranciscanmonasteryinStrasbourg,an office which he was forced to vacate the following year for having published a scurrilous book.
Professional career
[edit]In 1518, he began the study ofjurisprudenceat theUniversity of Basel,and in 1519 took the degree ofdoctor juris.[3][2]Zasius tried to prevent his graduation appealing to the professor of the University Claudius Catiuncula, but without success.[2]In jurisprudence, Murner focused on theInstitutes of Justinianand their translation in the german language from latin.[4]He hoped that in their native language, the students would have a better understanding of the jurisprudence before often learned from books in a foreign language.[4]In October 1518 his bookUtriusque iuris Tituli et Regulewas published byAdam Petriin Basel which still included most of the text still in both languages, Latin and German.[5]In April 1519, he published theInstituten in warer ursprung,where the foreword and text were held in the german language and the chapters printed in latin.[6]But also the chapters counted with a translation into the german language.[6]
In the summer of 1523, at the invitation ofHenry VIII,he went to theKingdom of England,where his writings had caught the attention ofThomas More.[7]
John Headley credits Murner for making More aware of the radical nature ofMartin Luther'secclesiology.[8]Henry VIII felt that Murner was an important orthodox influence in Strasbourg and gave him £100 and a letter to the city magistrates.[9]
After this stay, and a journey to Italy, he again settled in Strasbourg, but, disturbed by theProtestant Reformation,went into exile atLucernein Switzerland in 1526. In 1533 he was appointed priest of Oberehnheim, where he died in 1537, or, according to some accounts, in 1536.[3]
Murner was an energetic and passionate character, but made enemies wherever he went. There is little human kindness in hissatires,which were directed against the corruption of the times, the Reformation, and especially againstMartin Luther.His most powerfulsatire—the most virulent German satire of the period—isVon dem grossen Lutherischen Narren wie ihn Doctor Murner beschworen hat( "On the Great Lutheran Fool", 1522).[10]Others includedDie Narrenbeschwörung(1512);Die Schelmenzunft(1512);Die Gäuchmatt,which treats of enamoured fools (1519), and a translation ofVirgil'sAeneid(1515) dedicated to the emperor Maximilian I. Murner also wrote the humorousChartiludium logicaefor the teaching of logic[11](1507) and theLudus studentum Friburgensium(1511), besides a translation ofJustinian'sInstitutiones(1519).[3]
Murner's satires were edited in the 1840s byJohann Scheible.
Notes
[edit]- ^Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913)..Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^abcdHieronymus, Frank (1997).1488 Petri-Schwabe 1988: eine traditionsreiche Basler Offizin im Spiegel ihrer frühen Drucke(in German). Schwabe. pp. 204–205.ISBN978-3-7965-1000-7.
- ^abcChisholm 1911.
- ^abHieronymus, Frank (1997). p.205
- ^Hieronymus, Frank (1997). pp.203–207
- ^abHieronymus, Frank (1997). p.209
- ^Gogan, Brian (1982)."The Common Corps of Christendom: Ecclesiological Themes in the Writings of Sir Thomas More".Brill.Retrieved2009-08-30.
- ^Headley, John M. (1967)."Thomas Murner, Thomas More, and the First Expression of More's Ecclesiology".Studies in the Renaissance, 14.Retrieved2009-08-31.
- ^Dowling, Maria(1986).Humanism in the age of Henry VIII.Croom Helm.ISBN9780709908647.Retrieved2009-08-31.
- ^Thomas, Calvin (1909).A History of German Literature.New York: D. Appleton & Co.Retrieved2009-12-14.
- ^Medina, Jorge (2017).Thomas Murner. El juego de cartas de la lógica.Mexico: Sapientia.ISBN978-607-97065-2-4.Archived fromthe originalon 2018-05-06.Retrieved2018-05-05.
References
[edit]- This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Murner, Thomas".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 37–38.
