Table of Contents

Contemporaries of Erasmus (CEBR): Sigismundus Gelenius and Johann Lange

Source: Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas B. Deutscher (eds.), Contemporaries of Erasmus: A Biographical Register of the Renaissance and Reformation, 3 vols. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985–87). Gelenius entry: vol. 2, p. 84–85. Lange entry: vol. 2, p. 290.

1. Sigismundus GELENIUS of Prague, c. 1498 – early 1554

Author of the entry: PGB (Peter G. Bietenholz, general editor).

Full text (pp. 84–85)

Zikmund Hrubý z Jelení, better known as Gelenius, was born into a family of Bohemian nobles. His father, Řehoř Hrubý (1460–1514), was a friend of Jan Šlechta and translated into Czech Erasmus’ Moria and likewise works by Petrarch (published 1501) and Cicero (British Library General Catalogue of Printed Books to 1975* 154:164).

A canon of Prague, Václav Písecký (Wenceslas of Pisek), became Sigismund’s tutor in 1505 and accompanied him to Bologna in 1509. According to his first biographer, Gelenius at one time studied Greek under Marcus Musurus and visited Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and France before returning to Prague, where he lectured privately on Greek authors and entered into correspondence with Melanchthon (Melanchthons Briefwechsel Ep 281, before 31 July 1523). Probably in 1524 he moved to Basel, where he lived at first in Erasmus’ household (Allen Ep 1544 introduction). He spent the remainder of his life working for the Froben press as a scholar, editor, corrector, and translator from the Greek, even declining a position as professor of Greek at Nürnberg for which he was recommended by Melanchthon in 1525 and 1526 (cf Ep 1717). His sedentary life-style led to corpulence, and Erasmus described him on occasion as lazy (Epp 2033, 3043, 3076). But in his day there cannot have been many major productions of the Froben press which did not benefit from his selfless scholarly devotion. He translated into Latin the Periplus of Arrian et al (1533) and Philo Judaeus (1554) and at his death left a nearly complete translation of Appian for Celio Secondo Curione to edit (1554, with a meagre biographical sketch of Gelenius). He took part in the Greek editions of Josephus (1544) and the Epigrams (1549). His edition of Aristophanes, likewise in Greek, is dedicated to Melanchthon (1549). He edited the thorny Velleius Paterculus (1546) and also prepared the first complete edition of the Notitia dignitatum (1552). He also produced a Lexicum symphonum (1537, 1544) in which he attempted to describe linguistic affinities between Greek, Latin, German, and Slavonic. There is also evidence that he collaborated on a number of editions by Erasmus such as Pliny’s Historia naturalis (1525; Ep 1544), Ambrose (1527; Ep 2033), the second edition of Seneca (1529; Ep 2091), the fourth edition of the New Testament (1527; Ep 1571; LB IX 986F), the Ecclesiastes (1535; Ep 3044), and the Opera omnia* (1538–40; AK V Ep 2123).

Erasmus held Gelenius in high regard as is attested to by himself and others (Epp 1702, 1767, 2901; AK VII 37–8); among his friends were Gilbert Cousin, Damião de Gois, and especially Anselmus *Ephorinus. Although he registered at the University of Basel in 1534 he did not teach there. In 1535 he visited Cracow (Ep 3000), presumably travelling by way of Prague. The name of his wife is not known; of his five children three survived him.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Allen Ep 1702 / NDB VI 173 / O. Clemen ‘Briefe aus Basel an Melanchthon’ Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde 43 (1944) 17–33 / Bierlaire Familia 67–8 / Matrikel Basel II 6, 20, 79 / AK IV Epp 1532, 1804, and passim / Melanchthons Briefwechsel I Ep 281 and passim / I.N. Goleniščev-Kutuzov Il Rinascimento italiano e le letterature slave dei secoli XV e XVI (Milan 1973) / J.K. Zeman The Hussite Movement and the Reformation in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia, A Bibliographical Study Guide (Ann Arbor 1977) 168. PGB

Notable points for the dossier

Birth: c. 1498 (CEBR), narrower than the “1497 (some give 1498)” of the ADB-based project note. Death: “early 1554” — consistent with the project’s 1554 dating.
Birthplace: Prague (CEBR does not mention the Sušice alternative found in some authority records).
Father: Řehoř Hrubý (1460–1514), himself a translator (Petrarch 1501, Cicero) — friend of Jan Šlechta.
Teacher: Václav Písecký (canon of Prague), not otherwise named in the project’s biographical note; accompanied Gelenius to Bologna in 1509.
Declined Nürnberg professorship of Greek (recommended by Melanchthon, 1525/26) — confirms the project note.
Personal trait: sedentary, corpulent; Erasmus called him lazy on occasion (Epp 2033, 3043, 3076).
Works, full list per CEBR: Arrian’s Periplus (1533); Philo Judaeus (1554); Appian, left nearly complete at his death and finished by Celio Secondo Curione for the 1554 edition (“with a meagre biographical sketch of Gelenius”); Josephus, Greek edition (1544); Epigrams (1549); Aristophanes, Greek, dedicated to Melanchthon (1549); Velleius Paterculus (1546); Notitia dignitatum, first complete edition (1552); Lexicum symphonum (1537, 1544); collaboration on several Erasmus editions (Pliny, Ambrose, Seneca, New Testament, Ecclesiastes, Opera omnia).

Acribie flag — significant. CEBR’s list of works does not mention Justin Martyr at all. The unfinished work explicitly named as left incomplete at Gelenius’s death and finished by another hand is Appian, completed by Celio Secondo Curione (not by an anonymous friend, and not Justin).
Probably the Justin translation is simply omitted from CEBR’s list (entries are not always exhaustive). Gelenius may have left more than one project unfinished at his death. The Justin/Episcopius evidence remains primary and unaffected; CEBR simply provides independent, and only partly overlapping, information.

2. Johann LANGE of Karvinà, 16 April 1503 – 25 September 1567

Author of the entry: MICHAEL ERBE.

Full text (p. 290)

Johann Lange (Langus) of Karvinà in Czechoslovakia (formerly Freistadt in Silesia) was the son of a clothmaker. After attending school at Nysa (Neisse), he obtained a BA at the University of Cracow and subsequently matriculated at Vienna in the summer term of 1523, studying Greek and jurisprudence. For a short time he taught the boys of the royal chapel at the court of Buda, but after the death of King Louis II at the battle of Mohács (29 August 1526) he returned to Silesia and directed schools at Złotoryja (Goldberg; 1527–8) and subsequently Nysa. In 1532 he was appointed clerk to the town of Świdnica (Schweidnitz) and in 1535 secretary to Jakob von Salza, bishop of Wrocław. Salza’s successor, Bishop Balthasar von Promnitz, chose Lange as his chancellor in 1539. In 1543 he was attached to the household of Queen Elizabeth, the wife of Sigismund II Augustus of Poland and the daughter of King Ferdinand. Subsequently he served frequently as Ferdinand’s ambassador to the Polish court. He was named one of Ferdinand’s councillors and received other rewards on account of his scholarly work. In 1557 he retired to Świdnica, where he resided to his death. There is an Epicedion in funere Ioannis Langi (Görlitz 1568) by Daniel Scepsius.

Lange left a collection of Latin poetry and, especially in collaboration with the Wrocław printer Andreas Winkler, edited and translated a variety of texts, among them Greek Fathers and Byzantine authors. Of particular importance was his translation of the fourteenth-century Historia ecclesiastica by Nicephorus Callistus (Basel: J. Oporinus and J. Herwagen 1555 with protective privileges by kings Ferdinand and Henry II of France). A list of his publications is found in C.G. Jöcher Allgemeines Gelehrtenlexicon* Fortsetzung und Ergänzungen III (Delmenhorst 1810, repr 1961) 1214–15.

In December 1527 Erasmus sent his regards to Lange in response to greetings forwarded by either Jan Antonin or Jan (II) Łaski (Ep 1916).

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Allen Ep 1916 / Henryk Barycz in PSB XVI 478–81 / ADB XVII 638–9 / Matrikel Wien III-1 34 / Schottenloher I 429, v 148. MICHAEL ERBE

Notable points for the dossier — confirmations and discrepancies

Confirmed against the project’s ADB-based note:

Birth date 16 April 1503 — exact match.
Death date 25 September 1567 — exact match.
Schooling at Nysa (Neisse); BA at Kraków (Cracow); matriculation at Vienna, 1523, Greek and law — matches (“Kraków and Vienna… under Philipp Gundel”).
Post at the royal chapel at Buda, brief — matches (“informator… short-lived”).
Directed schools at Goldberg (1527–28) and Nysa — matches.
Clerk/secretary career at Schweidnitz, then secretary (1535) and chancellor (1539) to the bishops of Wrocław (Salza, then Promnitz) — matches in substance.
Retirement to Świdnica in later years, death there — matches.

New/refined information from CEBR:

Birthplace given as “Karvinà” (Karviná), “formerly Freistadt in Silesia”. (Czech-German)
Father’s occupation: a clothmaker — matches the ADB note (“son of a clothmaker”) — independently confirmed.
Collaborator: the Wrocław printer Andreas Winkler, named specifically by CEBR as a close collaborator on his editions/translations of “Greek Fathers and Byzantine authors” — not named in the ADB-based project note.
Career detail not in the ADB note: attached to the household of Queen Elizabeth (wife of Sigismund II Augustus of Poland, daughter of Ferdinand) from 1543; served repeatedly as Ferdinand’s ambassador to the Polish court (the ADB note says “Ferdinand I and… King of Poland” more generally — CEBR is more specific about the Elizabeth connection).
A memorial poem exists: Epicedion in funere Ioannis Langi (Görlitz, 1568) by Daniel Scepsius.
Erasmus connection: in December 1527 Erasmus sent regards to Lange via Jan Antonin or Jan (II) Łaski (Ep 1916) — a small but concrete data point on Lange’s humanist network, absent from the ADB note.

Acribie flag — significant date discrepancy. CEBR dates Lange’s translation of Nicephorus Callistus’s Historia ecclesiastica to Basel: J. Oporinus and J. Herwagen, 1555, published “with protective privileges by kings Ferdinand and Henry II of France.” The project’s ADB-based biographical note instead states this translation “appeared posthumously (Frankfurt am Main, 1588).” These are two different claims (printer, place, and year all differ) about the same work, from two respectable authorities (CEBR, drawing on Barycz in Polski Słownik Biograficzny and ADB itself among its own sources, vs the project’s direct ADB citation). This is not resolved here and must be checked against a primary bibliographic record (e.g. VD16, USTC) before either date is used in the article. It is possible both are partly right (a first edition 1555, a further/different edition or reissue 1588) or that one source is simply in error.

CEBR does not mention Justin Martyr in Lange’s list of works either — the entry names only the Latin poetry collection and the Nicephorus Callistus translation as his principal achievements, plus unspecified “a variety of texts, among them Greek Fathers and Byzantine authors” edited/translated with Andreas Winkler. The Justin translation (1565, Froben) is well documented from primary sources elsewhere in this dossier and is not called into question — but its absence from CEBR’s summary is worth noting as a reminder that CEBR entries, like any tertiary source, are not exhaustive.

Summary of open items for the dossier

Gelenius/Appian vs Gelenius/Justin: two different “left unfinished at death, completed by another hand” narratives now stand side by side — Appian (finished by Curione, per CEBR) and Justin (finished by an unnamed friend, per Episcopius 1555; possibly Episcopius himself, per Backus). Keep both distinct; do not conflate.
Lange’s Nicephorus Callistus translation: 1555 (CEBR) vs 1588 (ADB, per project note). Needs primary verification (VD16/USTC) before citing a date in the article.
New collaborator name for Lange: Andreas Winkler, Wrocław printer — worth incorporating into the biographical footnote if the article discusses Lange’s broader translation career.
Author attributions now on record: Gelenius entry — PGB (Peter G. Bietenholz); Johann Lange of Karvinà entry — Michael Erbe (corrected; not Henry Heller, who authored the separate, unrelated “Jean Lange” entry immediately preceding it on the same page). Cite CEBR entries with these contributors’ names if quoted or closely paraphrased, per standard CEBR citation practice.