Johannes Trithemius
| Johannes Trithemius | |
|---|---|
Detail of Tomb Relief of Johannes Trithemius by Tilman Riemenschneider
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| Born |
1 February 1462 Trittenheim |
| Died | 13 December 1516 (aged 54) Würzburg |
| Nationality | German |
| Fields | theology, cryptography, lexicography, history, occultism |
| Institutions | Benedictine abbey of Sponheim, St. Jakob zu den Schotten |
| Alma mater | University of Heidelberg |
| Notable students |
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa Paracelsus |
| Known for |
Steganographia, Polygraphiae, Trithemius cipher |
| Influences | Nicholas of Cusa |
Johannes Trithemius (1 February 1462 – 13 December 1516), born Johann Heidenberg, was a German Benedictine abbot and a polymath active in the German Renaissance as a lexicographer, chronicler, cryptographer and occultist. He had considerable influence on the development of early modern and modern occultism. His students included Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and Paracelsus.
The byname Trithemius refers to his native town of Trittenheim on the Moselle River, at the time part of the Electorate of Trier. When Johannes was still an infant his father Johann von Heidenburg died. His stepfather, whom his mother Elisabeth married seven years later, was hostile to education and thus Johannes could only learn in secrecy and with many difficulties. He learned Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. When he was 17 years old he escaped from his home and wandered around looking for good teachers, travelling to Trier, Cologne, the Netherlands and Heidelberg.
He studied at the University of Heidelberg. Travelling from university to his home town in 1482, he was surprised by a snowstorm and took refuge in the Benedictine abbey of Sponheim near Bad Kreuznach. He decided to stay and was elected abbot in 1483, at the age of twenty-one. He set out to transform the abbey from a neglected and undisciplined place into a centre of learning. In his time, the abbey library increased from around fifty items to more than two thousand. He often served as featured speaker and chapter secretary at the Bursfelde Congregation's annual chapter from 1492 to 1503, the annual meeting of reform-minded abbots. Trithemius also supervised the visitations of the congregation's abbeys.
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