Joannes Sapidus
Joannes Sapidus, originally named Hans Witz, was a notable figure in the northern European Renaissance, born in 1490. He was part of a distinguished literary circle that included renowned Humanists such as Desiderius Erasmus, Martin Bucer, and Huldrych Zwingli. Educated at the Latin School in Schlettstadt and the University of Paris, Sapidus became headmaster of the Latin School in Schlettstadt, where he significantly enhanced its reputation for classical studies. His first major work, "Epigrammata," published in 1520, showcased his wit and Humanist themes, including satire of the Catholic Church.
In 1525, after a growing discontent with the Church, Sapidus resigned from his position and took on a new role as headmaster of a Latin school in Strasbourg. His dramatic work "Anabion sive Lazarus redivivus" achieved acclaim for its humanization of biblical narratives. Later writings reflected a deep contemplation of death, culminating in his last published work, an eulogy that examined the meaning of mortality. Joannes Sapidus passed away on June 5, 1561, leaving behind a legacy intertwined with the Humanist movement and the evolving discourse around religion during his time.
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Joannes Sapidus
Writer
- Born: 1490
- Died: June 5, 1561
Biography
Joannes Sapidus belonged to a circle of distinguished literary men of the northern European Renaissance. Among his close associates were Desiderius Erasmus, Martin Bucer, and Huldrych Zwingli. Like many of the Humanists of the time, Sapidus, who was born in 1490 and baptized Hans Witz, changed his name to reflect his commitment to ancient learning, especially to Latin. All of his writings bear this new name, which can be roughly translated as “appealing to the mind.”
Sapidus attended the Latin School in Schlettstadt in Alsace and then studied at the University of Paris. In 1510, he returned to Schlettstadt to become headmaster of the Latin School, where he remained until 1525. During those years he brought the school recognition for its curriculum in classical learning, which consisted of philosophy, poetics, rhetoric, Greek and Latin languages, and the arts. Erasmus, the Dutch philosopher, visited the school in 1515 and wrote of it with admiration, later dedicating one of his works to Sapidus. In 1520, Sapidus published his first book, Epigrammata, a collection of about 150 pieces, including epitaphs, poems, riddles, anecdotes, and animal fables. These pieces contain the wit, references to classical mythology, and the celebration of friendship that was associated with Humanism. In some of the pieces, Sapidus satirized the excesses of the Catholic Church.
In subsequent years, Sapidus wrote a number of other works that increasingly reflected a break with the Church. One is a long essay published anonymously in 1524 but generally attributed to Sapidus; the essay’s lengthy German title, Ursach, warumb der vermeint geystlich huff mit yren patronen, das Evangelion Jesu Christ nit annimpt, sunder schendet, lestert, und verfolget, mit kurtzer Contrafactur der Pfafferey, Müncherey, Nonnerey, Allen liebhabern der warheyt nützlich zu lessen, can be translated into English as “reasons why the supposedly spiritual hoards along with their patrons do not accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but dishonor, scorn and persecute it, together with a brief depiction of a monkery and nunnery useful to read for all lovers of truth.”
When Erasmus died in 1536, Sapidus wrote a piece in the form of a dream in which Erasmus is welcomed into heaven by Saints Paul and Jerome, who honor him for having restored the true reading of the Gospel and the work of the Church fathers; Erasmus is described as someone offering all of the “food and drink” of knowledge. “Romulus,” part of the poem Bucolicae querelae (1540), depicts the pope as a shepherd who has lost his sheep and is in almost suicidal despair because a German shepherd (a reference to Martin Luther) has gone off with them. Sapidus eventually broke with the Church in 1525, when he refused to take part in an ecclesiastical ritual, and resigned his post at the Latin School.
Sapidus accepted a position as headmaster of one the three municipal Latin schools in Strasbourg, institutions that soon after became the University of Strasbourg. He was commissioned to write a drama to be presented at a celebration for his new school. His play, Anabion sive Lazarus redivivus, elaborated the story of Lazarus’s death and resurrection. It dramatized the events leading up to Lazarus’s death, with Jesus Christ arriving in the fifth act to raise Lazarus from the dead. Sapidus gave a human dimension to his biblical characters. The play had considerable success in its initial production in 1539 and was published in both the original Latin and in German.
Sapidus’s last works deal with death, including Epitaphia sive Gymnasii Argentoratensis luctus, a series of epitaphs for the many people killed by the pestilence in Strasbourg in 1541. Paraclesis sive consolatio de morte illustrissimi Principis Alberti Marchionis Badensis, ostensibly an eulogy on the occasion of the death of Prince Albert of Baden, was ultimately an exploration of death and its meaning to humanity. In one sequence of the eulogy, Death appears in person and refutes the bad image humankind has given him by listing all of his benefits to humankind. The eulogy appeared in 1543 and was Sapidus’s last publication. Very little is known about his life after that year. He died on June 5, 1561.