Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter

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Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter (* 1506 in Nellingen/Blaubeuren near Ulm, † March 28, 1557 in Regensburg), also called Widmestadius or Albert Widmannstadt, was a German humanist, orientalist, philologist, and theologian.

Widmannstetter studied law, theology and oriental languages in Tübingen. After 1527, he continued his studies in Italy, in Turin, Naples and Rome, focussing on Syrian and Arabian. In 1533, Widmannstetter became secretary of the pope, first Pope Clement VII., then Pope Paul III. In the same year, he delivered a series of lectures in Rome, outlining Nicolaus Copernicus' theory to the pope and the cardinals.

After 1535, Widmannstetter was secretary of Nikolaus Cardinal von Schönberg. Impressed by the lessons of both Widmannstetter, the Cardinal wrote a letter to Copernicus in 1536, urging him to publish (what he would do only in 1543, shortly before his death).

The rest of his career was focussed on orientalism, to which he contributed a lot, collecting hundreds of scripts in Hebrew and Arabic. Widmannstetter is considered to be a founder of European orientalism.

[edit] Selected work

1541/42: Sacrarum ceremoniarum sive rituum ecclesiasticorum sanctae romanae ecclesiae libri tres
1543: Notae contra Mohammedis dogmata
1552: Von den geistlichen und weltlichen Wappen eines Ritters (Dillingen)
1555: Liber sacrosancti Evangelii de Jesu Christo Domino et Deo nostro (Vienna)
1555: Syriacae linguae ... prima elementa (Vienna); also published in Antwerpen in 1572

[edit] Literature

Max Müller (1907): Johann Albrecht von Widmanstetter 1506-1557. Sein Leben und Wirken. Bamberg.
Hans Striedl (1952): Die Bücherei des Orientalisten Johann Albrecht Widmanstetter.

In: Hans Joachim Kissling (ed.): Serta Monacensia. Leiden. Pages 200-244.