Johannes Crato von Krafftheim
Encyclopedia
Johannes Crato von Krafftheim (originally: Johannes Krafft; also: Crato von Crafftheim; Johannis Cratonis; 22 November 1519 - 19 October 1585) was a German humanist and court physician to three Holy Roman emperors.
Gymnasium of St. Elisabeth and Mary Magdalene. On account of his prodigious academic talent, the city council of Breslau bestowed a 20 Gulden fellowship upon Crato, with further benefactions of the Breslau patrician families, to continue his studies at the university level.
in the University of Wittenberg. He also became acquainted with Philipp Melanchthon
there and under his influence engaged in an in depth study of classical languages. Crato took his M.A. in 1542. He kept a diary during his time in Wittenberg which was used as a source for Johannes Aurifaber's influential edition of Luther's Table Talk
(Colloquia oder Tischreden Doctor Martini Lutheri).
On Luther's suggestion, who did not think Crato well suited for a theological career, Crato decided to study medicine. He served briefly in this time as the tutor to the Counts of Wertheim in Leipzig
. Also in this era, he developed a close relationship with Joachim Camerarius the Younger
.
the elder, Crato studied medicine at the University of Padua
from 1546. He was a student of the famous medical professor Johannes Baptista Montanus
, who exercised a decisive influence on Crato's first works. Crato completed his medical studies by taking his doctorate and undertook a tour of Italy with his friends Johann Baptist Hainzel und Paul Hainzel
. He briefly practiced medicine in Verona
.
Crato proved his value to the city during his service in the Plague epidemic of 1554, as he had previously composed a "Pestordnung" in 1553. The city compensated him with a yearly salary of 100 Thalers as a reward for his sacrificial service. He was charged with the treatment of public servants and poor students.
Although his fame as a physician was spreading almost across Germany, the reigning city council leader Hans Morenberger removed him from his post as physician to the poor because Crato was suspected of being a Calvinist. His prior conversion from Catholicism to the Protestant faith had increased suspicions in Crato's beliefs.
In 1560 Crato was called to the imperial court in Vienna to become personal physician to Emperor Ferdinand I
. As the emperor's health declined, Crato resettled to Vienna; however, he and his family returned to Breslau after Emperor Ferdinand died in 1564. In the next year, however, he was named principal personal physician of Emperor Maximilian II
, whom he served for 11 years.
In 1567 Maximilian II, who paid Crato exorbitantly and lavished honors upon him, ennobled Crato and a year later raised him to the rank of "Count Palatine." In his position as an imperial count palatine
, Crato bestowed patents of nobility on:
The emperor placed great trust in him, which Crato in turn used on behalf of the Calvinists and the Bohemian Brethren/Unitas Fratrum
. On this account the court Jesuits were not able to secure Maximilian's support for the active suppression of Protestantism. As a representative of an irenic Melanchthonian-Calvinist orientation, Crato struggled against the Gnesio-Lutheran followers of Matthias Flacius Illyricus
As a prominent representative of Humanist "school" medicine, Crato suffered a severe professional embarrassment when an unlearned female practitioner was called in to serve at the death bed of the emperor. After Maximilian's death, Crato was released - like all the Protestants - from imperial service, and he returned to Breslau.
However, already in 1577 Crato was called to the court again to serve as physician to the sickly Emperor Rudolph II. Although he was himself ill, he moved to Prague again in 1578 to be near the emperor. He soon suffered under the growing influence of the Jesuits, and he endeavored to secure his release from court. He secured his release in the fall of 1581, and he retired to his estate Rückers
in the County of Glatz
, then an integral dominion of the Bohemian crown, which he had acquired in 1567. He founded a Reformed Protestant community there with a church and a pastor. He intended to spend the remainder of his life there and had his library shipped in from Prague.
Crato befriended some of the leading intellectuals of his time including Camerarius, Volcher Coiter
, Henri Estienne, Thomas Erastus
, Konrad Gessner, Paulo
Aldo Manutio II.
, Johannes Sambucus, Piero Vettori, and Theodor Zwinger
, Georg Joachim Rheticus
among others. His Silesian proteges included Zacharias Ursinus
, Jakob Monau
, Peter Monau
, and Lorenz Scholz von Rosenau
.
Desiring the stimulation of the scholarly life, he returned to Breslau in 1583 and handed his manor over to his son. Despite his age and illness, he worked again in Breslau as a plague physician for the common townsfolk. His wife died of the pestilence. He followed her on 19 October 1585.
His son Johann Baptist von Krafftheim inherited his Rückers manor. He was married to Anna von Heugel, who received the estate upon Johann Baptist's death.
documented in writing on October 13, 1576 in Regensburg
on the deceased Emperor Maximilian II. The autopsy report was signed by the Regensburg physician Fabricius and authenticated by the notary Linda. The internal organs of the emperor were placed in a gold-plated copper pot that was buried on the left side of the high altar in the Regensburg Cathedral
. Today there is a memorial stone inscribed with the imperial crown of Maximilian and the monogram of the year 1576 at this spot. The heart of the emperor was placed in a precious box put back in his body inside the coffin. Whether this was an autopsy in a scientific and anatomical sense is questionable. The practice was used mainly for preparing the body for the religious purposes in order to leave a part of the body remaining in the place in which one possessed a special relationship.
Origins and education
Crato von Krafftheim was born Johann Krafft. He was the son of the artisan and council leader Christoph Krafft and a student at the Breslau/WroclawWroclaw
Wrocław , situated on the River Oder , is the main city of southwestern Poland.Wrocław was the historical capital of Silesia and is today the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Over the centuries, the city has been part of either Poland, Bohemia, Austria, Prussia, or Germany, but since 1945...
Gymnasium of St. Elisabeth and Mary Magdalene. On account of his prodigious academic talent, the city council of Breslau bestowed a 20 Gulden fellowship upon Crato, with further benefactions of the Breslau patrician families, to continue his studies at the university level.
Studies and residency in Wittenberg
From 1535 onwards, Crato studied theology and lived six years in the household of Martin LutherMartin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
in the University of Wittenberg. He also became acquainted with Philipp Melanchthon
Philipp Melanchthon
Philipp Melanchthon , born Philipp Schwartzerdt, was a German reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and an influential designer of educational systems...
there and under his influence engaged in an in depth study of classical languages. Crato took his M.A. in 1542. He kept a diary during his time in Wittenberg which was used as a source for Johannes Aurifaber's influential edition of Luther's Table Talk
Table Talk (Luther)
Martin Luther's Table Talk is a collection of his sayings. It was compiled by Johannes Mathesius and published at Eisleben in 1566.Mathesius spoke enthusiastically of the privilege of eating with Luther and hearing him converse...
(Colloquia oder Tischreden Doctor Martini Lutheri).
On Luther's suggestion, who did not think Crato well suited for a theological career, Crato decided to study medicine. He served briefly in this time as the tutor to the Counts of Wertheim in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. Also in this era, he developed a close relationship with Joachim Camerarius the Younger
Joachim Camerarius the Younger
Joachim Camerarius the Younger was a German physician, botanist, and humanist scholar.-Life:...
.
Medical studies and residency in Italy
With the support of the Breslau city council and the recommendation of Philipp Melanchthon and Joachim CamerariusJoachim Camerarius
Joachim Camerarius , the Elder was a German classical scholar.-Life:He was born at Bamberg, Bavaria...
the elder, Crato studied medicine at the University of Padua
University of Padua
The University of Padua is a premier Italian university located in the city of Padua, Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 as a school of law and was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe. It is among the earliest universities of the world and the second...
from 1546. He was a student of the famous medical professor Johannes Baptista Montanus
Johannes Baptista Montanus
Johannes Baptista Montanus is the Latinized name of Giovanni Battista Monte, or Gian Battista da Monte, one of the leading humanist physicians of Italy. Montanus promoted the revival of Greek medical texts and practice, producing revisions of Galen as well as of Islamic-influenced medical texts by...
, who exercised a decisive influence on Crato's first works. Crato completed his medical studies by taking his doctorate and undertook a tour of Italy with his friends Johann Baptist Hainzel und Paul Hainzel
Paul Hainzel
Paul Hainzel was a German astronomer and the mayor of Augsburg, Germany.In 1569, Paul Hainzel and his brother Johannes Baptista Hainzel helped their friend Tycho Brahe design and construct a large quadrant. The quadrant, which was 19 feet in radius and built on Hainzel's estate, was used for...
. He briefly practiced medicine in Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
.
Medical practice and later life
In 1550 Crato returned to his hometown Breslau where he was named the second town physician. That year he married the daughter of the city secretary Johannes Scharf von Werd and began his family. The marriage produced one son and two daughters.Crato proved his value to the city during his service in the Plague epidemic of 1554, as he had previously composed a "Pestordnung" in 1553. The city compensated him with a yearly salary of 100 Thalers as a reward for his sacrificial service. He was charged with the treatment of public servants and poor students.
Although his fame as a physician was spreading almost across Germany, the reigning city council leader Hans Morenberger removed him from his post as physician to the poor because Crato was suspected of being a Calvinist. His prior conversion from Catholicism to the Protestant faith had increased suspicions in Crato's beliefs.
In 1560 Crato was called to the imperial court in Vienna to become personal physician to Emperor Ferdinand I
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...
. As the emperor's health declined, Crato resettled to Vienna; however, he and his family returned to Breslau after Emperor Ferdinand died in 1564. In the next year, however, he was named principal personal physician of Emperor Maximilian II
Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian II was king of Bohemia and king of the Romans from 1562, king of Hungary and Croatia from 1563, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation from 1564 until his death...
, whom he served for 11 years.
In 1567 Maximilian II, who paid Crato exorbitantly and lavished honors upon him, ennobled Crato and a year later raised him to the rank of "Count Palatine." In his position as an imperial count palatine
Count Palatine (Imperial)
The Imperial Count Palatine was a title revived by Emperor Charles IV which was based upon the former position of a Count Palatine in the royal court....
, Crato bestowed patents of nobility on:
- Johann Woyssel, Vienna, 1 May 1569
- Martin Weinrich, 1583; Professor at the Elisabeth-Gymnasium in Breslau
- Lorenz Scholz von RosenauLorenz Scholz von RosenauLorenz Scholz von Rosenau, also Laurentius Scholzius was a German botanist and physician.- Life :...
, 1585
The emperor placed great trust in him, which Crato in turn used on behalf of the Calvinists and the Bohemian Brethren/Unitas Fratrum
Unitas Fratrum
This article is about the coordinating body of the Moravian Church worldwide. For the Christian denomination based in Texas see Unity of the Brethren....
. On this account the court Jesuits were not able to secure Maximilian's support for the active suppression of Protestantism. As a representative of an irenic Melanchthonian-Calvinist orientation, Crato struggled against the Gnesio-Lutheran followers of Matthias Flacius Illyricus
As a prominent representative of Humanist "school" medicine, Crato suffered a severe professional embarrassment when an unlearned female practitioner was called in to serve at the death bed of the emperor. After Maximilian's death, Crato was released - like all the Protestants - from imperial service, and he returned to Breslau.
However, already in 1577 Crato was called to the court again to serve as physician to the sickly Emperor Rudolph II. Although he was himself ill, he moved to Prague again in 1578 to be near the emperor. He soon suffered under the growing influence of the Jesuits, and he endeavored to secure his release from court. He secured his release in the fall of 1581, and he retired to his estate Rückers
Szczytna
Szczytna is a town in Kłodzko County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Szczytna, close to the Czech border. Prior to 1945 it was in Germany....
in the County of Glatz
County of Kladsko
The County of Kladsko was a historical administrative unit in the Kingdom of Bohemia and later in the Kingdom of Prussia with its capital at Kłodzko on the Nysa river...
, then an integral dominion of the Bohemian crown, which he had acquired in 1567. He founded a Reformed Protestant community there with a church and a pastor. He intended to spend the remainder of his life there and had his library shipped in from Prague.
Crato befriended some of the leading intellectuals of his time including Camerarius, Volcher Coiter
Volcher Coiter
Volcher Coiter was a Dutch anatomist who established the study of comparative osteology and first described cerebrospinal meningitis.Coiter was born in Groningen...
, Henri Estienne, Thomas Erastus
Thomas Erastus
Thomas Erastus was a Swiss physician and theologian best known for a posthumously published work in which he argued that the sins of Christians should be punished by the state, and not by the church withholding the sacraments...
, Konrad Gessner, Paulo
Paulus Manutius
Paulus Manutius was a Venetian printer with a humanist education, the third son of the famous printer Aldus Manutius and his wife Maria Torresano. Aldus died when the boy was two, and his grandfather and two uncles, the Asolani, carried on the Aldine Press...
Aldo Manutio II.
Aldus Manutius
Aldus Pius Manutius , the Latinised name of Aldo Manuzio —sometimes called Aldus Manutius, the Elder to distinguish him from his grandson, Aldus Manutius, the Younger—was an Italian humanist who became a printer and publisher when he founded the Aldine Press at Venice.His publishing legacy includes...
, Johannes Sambucus, Piero Vettori, and Theodor Zwinger
Theodor Zwinger
Theodor Zwinger the Elder was a Swiss physician and humanist scholar. He made significant contributions to the emerging genres of reference and travel literature...
, Georg Joachim Rheticus
Georg Joachim Rheticus
Georg Joachim von Lauchen, also known as Rheticus , was a mathematician, cartographer, navigational-instrument maker, medical practitioner, and teacher. He is perhaps best known for his trigonometric tables and as Nicolaus Copernicus's sole pupil...
among others. His Silesian proteges included Zacharias Ursinus
Zacharias Ursinus
Zacharias Ursinus was a sixteenth century German Reformed theologian, born Zacharias Baer in Breslau . He became the leading theologian of the Reformed Protestant movement of the Palatinate, serving both at the University of Heidelberg and the College of Wisdom...
, Jakob Monau
Jakob Monau
Jakob Monau , also known as Jacobus Monavius or Iacobus Monaw, was a polymath and leader of the Reformed Protestant faction after Johannes Crato von Krafftheim's death....
, Peter Monau
Peter Monau
Peter Monau was an imperial court physician of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II....
, and Lorenz Scholz von Rosenau
Lorenz Scholz von Rosenau
Lorenz Scholz von Rosenau, also Laurentius Scholzius was a German botanist and physician.- Life :...
.
Desiring the stimulation of the scholarly life, he returned to Breslau in 1583 and handed his manor over to his son. Despite his age and illness, he worked again in Breslau as a plague physician for the common townsfolk. His wife died of the pestilence. He followed her on 19 October 1585.
His son Johann Baptist von Krafftheim inherited his Rückers manor. He was married to Anna von Heugel, who received the estate upon Johann Baptist's death.
The first known written autopsy
Crato and court surgeon Peter Suma, performed the first autopsyAutopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
documented in writing on October 13, 1576 in Regensburg
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
on the deceased Emperor Maximilian II. The autopsy report was signed by the Regensburg physician Fabricius and authenticated by the notary Linda. The internal organs of the emperor were placed in a gold-plated copper pot that was buried on the left side of the high altar in the Regensburg Cathedral
Regensburg Cathedral
The Regensburg Cathedral , dedicated to St Peter, is the most important church and landmark of the city Regensburg, Germany. It is the seat of the Catholic diocese of Regensburg...
. Today there is a memorial stone inscribed with the imperial crown of Maximilian and the monogram of the year 1576 at this spot. The heart of the emperor was placed in a precious box put back in his body inside the coffin. Whether this was an autopsy in a scientific and anatomical sense is questionable. The practice was used mainly for preparing the body for the religious purposes in order to leave a part of the body remaining in the place in which one possessed a special relationship.
Works
- Idea doctrinae Hippocraticae. 1554
- Methodus therapeutica ex Galeni et J. B. Montani sententia. Basel, 1555
- Ordnung der preservation ... wider die Pestilenz, Breslau, 1555. [VD16 C 5719]
- Isagoge medicinae. Venice, 1560
- Johannis Cratonis Wratislaviensis in Cl. Galeni divinos libros Methodi therapeutices Perioche Methodica. Basel, 1563
- De morbo gallico commentarius. Frankfurt, 1564
- Mikrotechne, seu parva ars medicinalis.
- Commentarii de vera praecavandi et curandi febrem pestilentem contagiosam ratione (translated by Martin Weinreich)
- Consilia et Epistolae medicinales. 1591, 1592, 1593, etc.
External links
- Biography in Melchior Adam, Vitae Germanorum medicorum (Heidelberg,1620)
- http://www.digital-collections.de/index.html?c=autoren_index&l=en&ab=Crato%2C+JohannesWorks of Crato at the Munich Digitization CenterMunich Digitization CenterMunich Digitization Center is an institution dedicated to digitalization, Online publication and the long-term archival preservation of the holdings of the Bavarian State Library and other cultural heritage institutions. It was founded in 1997 under the leadership of Mark Brantl...
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