Konrad Celtis (1459–1508)

Konrad Celtis, real name Konrad Bickel, was a prominent German humanist and poet. He studied the Artes liberales in Heidelberg with Rudolf Agricola (1444–1485) and undertook numerous Bildungsreisen (Grand Tours) through Europe, for example to Buda, Florence and Rome, where he made the acquaintance of many of the leading scholars of his time. In 1487, emperor Friedrich III (1415–1493) crowned him poet laureate in a revival of Classical tradition. The substantial correspondence of Celtis, who founded many academic societies (including the Polish Academy of Sciences, the sodalitas litteraris Vistulana in Krakow), is an important source for the research of humanist networks in the early modern period.

Hans Burgkmair the Elder (1473–1531), portrait of Konrad Celtis (1459–1508), woodcut, 1507; source: SLUB Dresden, Deutsche Fotothek (http://www.deutschefotothek.de), Permalink: http://www.deutschefotothek.de/obj70252455.html.