Tiedemann Giese
Tiedemann Giese (1 June 1480 – 23 October 1550), was a member of the patrician Giese family of Danzig (Gdańsk) in Poland. His father was Albrecht Giese and his brother, the Hanseatic League merchant Georg Giese. Another relative was Albrecht Giese. Tiedemann became Bishop of Chełmno (Culm) first canon, later Prince-Bishop of Warmia (Ermeland).
Giese was born in Danzig. At age 24, he (and Mauritius Ferber) became a priest at the Catholic Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. Giese was supported by Chancellor Lucas David.
Bishop Giese was a close friend of the later famous astronomer and proponent of heliocentrism Nicolaus Copernicus. In 1516, he was the co-author, together with Copernicus, of a letter to the Polish King Sigismund I the Old asking for the King's protection of Prussia against the Teutonic Knights, and generally supported the interests of the Polish Crown against that of the Teutonic Order.[1] He also worked on updating the Kulm law while a canon at Warmia. On 1 July 1536 he was designated by King of Poland, Sigismund I, who considered him a very valuable diplomat, as Bishop of Chełmno, which was later confirmed by the Pope. After Mauritius Ferber's death Giese became prince-bishop.
The Giese and the Copernicus family were related. Copernicus willed his writings to Giese and left his library to the church administration of the prince-bishopric of Warmia.
He carried out active correspondence with Erasmus of Rotterdam and Philipp Melanchthon. Among his known publications is Centum et decem assertiones, quas auctor earum Flosculos appellavit de homine interiore et exteriore, a polemic with the proponent of Luther, Johann Briesmann. Most of his other works have been lost (including a work on Aristotle and one called De Regno Christi).
Bischop Giese died in Lidzbark (Heilsberg) and was laid to rest next to Copernicus at the Frombork (Frauenburg) cathedral.[2]
Work
- Antilogikon flosculorum Lutheranorum (1523)
- Anacrisis nominis Jesus (1542)
References
- ↑ University of Colorado, "East European quarterly, Volume 7", University of Colorado, 1973, pg. 239
- ↑ Bishop Giese's buried next to Copernicus
Sources
- Teresa Borawska, Tiedemann Giese (1480–1550) w życiu wewnętrznym Warmii i Prus Królewskich [Tiedemann Giese (1480–1550) in the Internal Life of Warmia and Royal Prussia, Olsztyn, 1984.
- Franz Hipler (1879), "Giese, Tiedemann", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) (in German) 9, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 151–156
- Anneliese Triller (1964), "Giese, Tiedemann", Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB) (in German) 6, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, p. 379
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Regnal titles | ||
| Preceded by Johannes Dantiscus |
Prince-Bishop of Warmia (Ermland) 1549–1550 |
Succeeded by Stanislaus Hosius |
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