, one of the most learned men of the fifteenth century, was born in 1442, in the village of Bafflon, or Bafteln, near Groningen,
, one of the most learned
men of the fifteenth century, was born in 1442, in the village of Bafflon, or Bafteln, near Groningen, in Friseland.
Melchior Adam says, his parents were of one of the most
considerable families in Friseland; but Ubo Emmius, in his
history of that country, represents him as of mean extraction; and Bayle, who appears to have examined the matter
with his usual precision, inclines to the latter opinion. He
was, however, sent to school, where he made an uncommon
progress, and had scarcely taken his degree of M. A. at
Louvain, when he was offered a professorship, which he
did not accept, as it would have prevented his travelling
for farther improvement, a course usually taken by the
learned men of those times. He went from Louvain to
Paris, and from thence to Italy, residing two years at Ferrara, where he learned Greek and taught Latin, and disputed in prose and verse with Guarinus and the Strozzas,
and where the duke honoured him with particular attention. He read lectures likewise on philosophy in this city,
and his auditors were so well pleased as to wish he had
been an Italian. At his return to his own country, he had
the offer of many considerable employments; and at last
accepted of a post at Groningen, and attended the court
of Maximilian I. for six months, upon the affairs of that city.
After this, which the gratitude of his masters did not render
a very profitable employment, he resumed his travels for
many years, in the course of which he refused the presidentship of a college at Antwerp, and fixed at length in the
Palatinate, influenced by the persuasions of the bishop of
Worms, whom he had instructed in the Greek language.
He came to reside here in 1482, and passed the rest of his
life, sometimes at Heidelberg, and sometimes at Worms.
The Elector Palatine was pleased to hear him discourse
concerning antiquity, and desired him to compose an
“Abridgement of Ancient History,
” which he performed
with great accuracy. He also read public lectures at
Worms; but his auditors being more accustomed to the
subleties of logic than to polite literature, he was not so
popular as he deserved. About the fortieth year of his age,
he began to study divinity; and having no hope to succeed
in it without a knowledge of Hebrew, he applied himself
to that language, in which he had made considerable pro-gress, when he was seized with an illness, which put an
end. to his life and labours, on the 28th of October, 1485.
He died in a very devout manner, and was buried in the
church of the minor friars at Heidelberg. He is thought
to have inclined a little to the principles of the reformers.
He was accomplished in music and poetry, although he
used these talents only for his amusement. There are but
two works of his extant: “De Inventione Dialectica,
”
printed at Louvain, Abridgement of Ancient History,
” under the
title “R. Agricolffi lucubrationes,
” 2 vols. 4to. Erasmus
gives a very exalted character of his learning and abilities;
and by some of his admirers he was compared to Virgil in
verse, and to Politian in prose.
, or Antony of Lebrija or Lebrixa, was born in 1442, at Lebrixa, a town in Andalousia. At the age of
, or Antony of
Lebrija or Lebrixa, was born in 1442, at Lebrixa, a town
in Andalousia. At the age of fourteen he went to the
university of Salamanca, and five years after studied at
some of the most celebrated schools in Italy, and such was
his application, that within ten years he had run through
the whole circle of sciences. He was an able Hebrew,
Greek, and Latin scholar, and on that account, on his return to Salamanca, was promoted to the classical chair.
During the twenty years that he filled this station, he
published various works on the learned languages, the
belles lettres, mathematics, medicine, grammar, jurisprudence, and sacred criticism. He had the farther honour
of suggesting to cardinal Ximenes, who had invited him to
the newly-founded university of Alcala, the plan of his celebrated Polyglot, and assisted in the publication. He
finished his labours by inquiries into the history of his
country, and intended to have written the lives of the kings
of Spain, being appointed historiographer to his majesty,
but was too far advanced in life for the undertaking. He
died at Alcala de Henarez, July 11, 1522. His eloge,
proposed by the academy of Madrid, was published so
lately as 1796, by D. I. B. Munoz. The list of his works
in the “Bibl. Hispana nova,
” is said to be erroneous and
defective, yet we know not of a better. Among his works
may be mentioned, 1. “Two decades of the history of Ferdinand and Isabella,
” Granada,
, a Genoese, and frequently mentioned in history as the discoverer of America, was born in 1442. Ferdinand his son, who wrote his life, would suggest
, a Genoese, and frequently mentioned in history as the discoverer of America, was born in 1442. Ferdinand his son, who wrote his life, would suggest to us, that he was descended from an ancient and considerable family; but it is generally believed that his father was a woolcomber, and that he himself was of the same trade, till, by having been at sea, he had acquired a taste for navigation. In his early years he applied himself much to the study of geometry and astronomy at Pavia, in order to understand cosmography: and learnt to draw, in order to describe lands, and set down cosmographical bodies, plains, or rounds. He went to sea at the age of fourteen: his first voyages were to those ports in the Mediterranean frequented by the Genoese; after which he took a voyage to Iceland; and proceeding still further north, advanced several degrees within the polar circle. After this, Columbus entered into the service of a famous sea-captain of his own name and family, who commanded a small squadron fitted out at his own expence; and by cruising against the Mahometans and Venetians, the rivals of his country in trade, had acquired both wealth and reputation. With him Columbus continued for several years, no less distinguished for his courage than his experience as a sailor. At length, in an obstinate engagement, off the coast of Portugal, with some Venetian caravals returning richly laden from the Low Countries, his ship took fire, together with one of the enemy’s ships to which it was first grappled. Columbus threw himself into the sea, laid hold of a floating oar, and by the support of it, and his dexterity in swimming, reached the shore, though above two leagues distant.