Nikolaus von Schönberg

Nikolaus von Schönberg (11 August 1472 – 7 September 1537) was a German Archbishop of Capua.

Born in Rothschönberg near Meissen to a noble family which already had several Bishops of Meissen, Nikolaus became Canon at the Cathedral of Naumburg (as would later his brothers Hans and Dietrich) and became a doctor of law (Dr. jur.) when studying in Italy.

Impressed by the speeches held by Savonarola in Pisa in 1495, Schönberg became a priest in 1497 and a member of the Ordo Praedicatorum (Dominican Order) on 31 October 1498. In Florence he promoted to Dr. theol., but also studied mathematics, astronomy, medicine and geography. Speaking several languages, and serving his order, he travelled around Europe, to Jerusalem and the Ottoman Empire before settling in Rome in 1508 to serve Pope Julius II. As professor at the Sapienza in Rome, he held speeches that were published in 1512.

George, Duke of Saxony, made Schönberg his procurator for the Fifth Council of the Lateran (1512–1517). Pope Leo X sent him as papal legate around Europe to find support for a crusade against the Ottoman Turks.

Other missions sent him to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, at Innsbruck, to the courts of Hungary, Poland, Muscovy, and to the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, Albert of Brandenburg. In 1891 this mission was the subject of a doctoral thesis in Greifswald.

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