Beatus Rhenanus

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Beatus Rhenanus

Beatus Rhenanus (also known as Beatus Bild; 22 August 1485 – 20 July 1547), was an Alsatian humanist, religious reformer, and classical scholar.

Rhenanus was born in Schlettstadt (Sélestat) in Alsace. His father, Bild, was a prosperous butcher from Rheinau (the source of his name "Rhenanus"), who was able to provide his son with an excellent education. Rhenanus attended the famous Latin school of Schlettstadt, and in 1503, went to the University of Paris, where he came under the influence of Jacobus Faber Stapulensis, an eminent Aristotelian. In 1511, he relocated to Basel, where he befriended Desiderius Erasmus and played an active role in the publishing enterprises of Johann Froben. He returned to Schlettstadt in 1526 to devote himself to a life of learned leisure. He continued a lively correspondence with many contemporary scholars, including his friend Erasmus, and supervised the printing of many of Erasmus's most important works. Rhenanus died in Strassburg (Strasbourg).

Rhenanus's own publications include a biography of Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg (1510), the Rerum Germanicarum Libri III (1531), and editions of Velleius Paterculus (1522), based on a manuscript he discovered. He also wrote works on Tacitus (1519), Livy (1522), and a nine-volume work on his friend Erasmus (1540-1541).

Beatus Rhenanus invaluable collection of books went into the ownership of his hometown by his death and is still to be seen in its entirety in the Humanist Library of Sélestat.