Paul Melissus Schede
Paul Melissus Schede was a notable poet of the sixteenth century, born in 1539 in Mellrichstadt, Germany. The son of a bureaucrat and a mother whose name he adopted as a pen name, Schede pursued his education at various schools before enrolling at the University of Jena. He briefly served as a cantor in Königsberg and later studied Greek in Vienna. In 1564, he was appointed poeta laureate by Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, marking a significant recognition of his literary talent. Throughout the 1560s, Schede produced a collection of motets and engaged with the burgeoning humanist movement in Europe, introducing the Petrarchan style to German literature.
His literary contributions included translations and original works in German, Latin, Greek, and French, with significant publications such as a 1572 German translation of the Huguenot Psalter and his first book of Latin poetry, Schediasmata poetica, in 1574. After spending time in Italy and establishing connections within humanist societies, he returned to Germany, where he published lyric poems and addressed themes of Queen Elizabeth I in his later works. He married Emilie Jordan in 1593 and documented his family life in his poetry. Schede’s legacy includes his five German poems included in a posthumous collection edited by Julius Wilhelm Zincgref in 1624, solidifying his influence in the literary world.
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Paul Melissus Schede
- Born: December 20, 1539
- Birthplace: Mellrichstadt, Germany
- Died: February 3, 1602
- Place of death: Heidelberg, Germany
Biography
Notable sixteenth century poet Paul Melissus Schede was born in 1539 in Mellrichstadt, Germany, the son of Balthasar Schede, a government bureaucrat, and Ottilie (Melisse) Schede; Schede took on his mother’s name in various forms as a pen name. As a boy he attended schools in Mellrichstadt, Erfurt, and Zwickau, after which he enrolled at the University of Jena in 1557 to study under Johannes Stigel, a neo-Latin poet. Schede took a break from his studies in 1559 to become a cantor in Königsberg. Two years later, he was again in school, this time as a student of Greek at the University of Vienna. In 1564, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I named him poeta laureate, and following Ferdinand’s death shortly thereafter, Schede moved to Wittenberg University to study with hymn writer Paul Eber, who supported Schede in publishing his first musical piece, a no- longer-extant motet that told the biblical story of Jesus’s calming the storm.
In the 1560’s, Schede served in the archbishop of Wrzburg’s court and, at Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian II’s request, spent two years in Vienna as a tutor to the sons of aristocrats. During this time, he met Munich composer Orlando di Lasso, whom Schede greatly admired, and published a collection of motets in 1566, Cantionum musicarum, quatuor et quinque vocum liber unus. He ventured to Paris in 1567 to study with classical scholar Jean Dorat and philosopher Pierre Ramua and to gather with the French humanist poets who were breaking ground with the use of vernacular language. With this experience, Schede introduced the humanist Petrarchistic style to Germany, and he composed his own poems in German, Latin, Greek, and French while also translating the works of other writers.
Schede achieved his first considerable publication with a 1572 German translation of the first fifty psalms of the Huguenot Psalter of 1562. He published his first memorable book of Latin poetry, Schediasmata poetica, in 1574. Schede took an extended absence from his home country later in the decade, when Elector Ludwig VI ascended to the throne and brought with him an atmosphere hostile toward Calvinism. Schede spent 1577 to 1580 exploring Italy, an experience recounted in “Epigrammata in urbes Italiae.” By 1577, he had also established his presence in European humanist societies. He moved back to Germany in 1580, and not long after his return he published a small collection of lyric poems and odes to Nuremberg, Mele sive odae ad Noribergam. However, his most notable work was written during his next stay in Paris, from 1584 to 1585, when he expanded Schediasmata poetica considerably. The enlarged version focused on the Augustan Latin ode rather than the epigram and was preoccupied with Queen Elizabeth I of England, who was addressed and invoked in several letters and poems in the collection.
In 1593, Schede married Emilie Jordan, a joy he documented in his poetry. The couple’s first child, a son, died in infancy, but their second child, daughter Rosina, survived. Two years after his marriage, the new father published his last collection of poetry: Meletematum piorum libri VIII. Paraeneticorum II. Parodiarum II. Psalmi aliquot. Schede’s best-known works, however, are five poems in German included in editor Julius Wilhelm Zincgref’s appendix to a collection of poems by Martin Opitz, Teutsche Poemata und Aristarchus, published in 1624.