Ferdinand Gregorovius (January 19, 1821 – May 1, 1891) was a German historian who specialized in the medieval history of Rome. He is best known for Wanderjahre in Italien, his account of the walks he took through Italy in the 1850s, and the monumental Die Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter (History of Rome in the Middle Ages), a classic for Medieval and early Renaissance history. He also wrote biographies of Pope Alexander VI and Lucrezia Borgia, as well as works on Byzantine history and medieval Athens, and translated Italian authors into German, among them Giovanni Melis. According to Jesuit Father John Hardon, S.J. Gregorovius was "a bitter enemy of the popes."1
Gregorovius was born at Neidenburg (Nidzica), East Prussia, and studied theology and philosophy at the University of Königsberg. After teaching for many years, Gregorovius took up residence in Italy in 1852, remaining in that country for over twenty years. In 1876 he was made honorary citizen of Rome, the first German to be awarded this honor. A street and a square is named after him. He eventually returned to Germany, where he died in Munich.
Notes
Works
- Der Tod des Tiberius ("Tiberius' Death", 1851)
- Geschichte des römischen Kaisers Hadrian und seiner Zeit ("History of the Roman Emperor Hadrian and His Times", 1851)
- Corsica (1854)
- Göthe’s Wilhelm Meister in seinen socialistischen Elementen entwickelt. Schwäbisch Hall: E. Fischhaber, 1855.
- Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter (1859–1872) Translated into English 'The History of Rome in the Middle Ages' (1894–1902). (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. ISBN 9781108015134)
- Wanderjahre in Italien (1856–1877)
- Geschichte der Stadt Athen im Mittelalter. Von der Zeit Justinians bis zur türkischen Eroberung ("History of Athens in the Middle Ages. From Justinian to the Turkish Conquest", 1889)
- Lucrezia Borgia (1874)
External links
|
