View source for Joachim Vadian

{{Infobox person
| name          = Vadianus
| image         = Joachim Vadian.jpg
| alt           = 
| caption       = Engraving by David Herrliberger from [[Zürich]], 1748, after an older original
| birth_name    = Joachim von Watt
| birth_date    = 29 November 1484
| birth_place   = [[St. Gallen]], Abbey Principality of St. Gallen<ref>[https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/fr/articles/008394/2017-03-16/ Abbey Principality of Sankt Gallen (in French, German and Italien)], in the [[Historical Dictionary of Switzerland]].</ref>
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1551|04|06|1484|11|29|df=yes}}
| death_place   = [[St. Gallen]], Abbey Principality of St. Gallen
| nationality   = 
| other_names   = Joachim Vadian
| occupation    = [[Scholar]], [[historian]], [[editor]]
| years_active  = 
| known_for     = Leading humanist scholar of the sixteenth century
| notable_works =
}}

'''Joachim Vadian''' (29 November 1484 – 6 April 1551), born as '''Joachim von Watt''', was a [[Humanism|humanist]], [[scholar]], [[mayor of St. Gallen|mayor]] and [[Swiss Reformation|reformer]] in the free city of [[St. Gallen]].

==Biography==
Vadian was born in [[St. Gallen]] into a family of wealthy and influential [[linen]] merchants. After having gone to school in St. Gallen, he moved to [[Vienna]] at the end of 1501, where he took up studies at faculty of arts the [[University of Vienna|university]], in particular under [[Conrad Celtis]] and [[Matthias Qualle]].

In Vienna, he changed his name to Joachimus Vadianus; like so many other humanists, he preferred a Latin name to express his admiration for the classic masters. He evaded the outbreak of the [[bubonic plague]] of 1506/07 by moving to [[Villach]] where he worked as a teacher and studied music. A study trip through northern [[Italy]] brought him to [[Trento|Trent]], [[Venice]], and [[Padua]], where he met the [[Ireland|Irish]] scholar [[Mauritius Hibernicus]].

In 1509 completed his studies with the degree of [[Master of Arts]] and returned for a short while to St. Gallen, where he studied the scriptures in the library of the [[abbey of St. Gall]]. He returned to Vienna, where he had some success as a writer. From 1512 on, he held the chair of [[poetry]] at the university of Vienna&mdash;he had gained some reputation as the author of [[Latin]] poems. In 1513, he visited [[Buda]], and the following year, he was named ''[[poeta laureatus]]'' by [[Holy Roman Emperor|emperor]] [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]]. In 1516, he was even named a [[Dean (education)|Dean]] of the University of Vienna.

In the following years, Vadian studied [[medicine]] and sciences, in particular [[geography]] and [[history]] under [[Georg Tannstetter]], called Collimitius. In 1517, he was graduated as a [[doctor of medicine]], and subsequently moved back to his hometown, St. Gallen. On that voyage, he visited many of his humanist acquaintances in [[Leipzig]], [[Breslau]], and [[Kraków]]. In 1518, he climbed the [[Mount Pilatus|Pilatus]] mountain near [[Lucerne]], the first documented ascent to its top.

In St. Gallen, he was appointed [[city physician]] ({{Lang|de|Stadtarzt}}), and on 18 August 1519 he married Martha Grebel, the sister of [[Conrad Grebel]] who would later become a leading figure of the [[Anabaptism|Anabaptist]] movement. In 1521, he succeeded his father Leonhard, who had died on 20 December 1520, as a member of the city council. The beginning of the [[Reformation in Switzerland]] (he was a friend of [[Huldrych Zwingli]]) made him, who had never had a theological schooling, study ecclesiastic texts. From 1522 on, he sided with the new, reformed interpretation and henceforth was its most important proponent in St. Gallen. When he was elected [[mayor]] of the city in 1526, he led the conversion of St. Gallen to [[Protestantism]], and managed to maintain that new state even after the victory of the [[Catholic]] [[Cantons of Switzerland|canton]]s in the [[Second war of Kappel]]. Vadian wrote several theological texts after 1522, helping disseminate the reformatory views.

He died in St. Gallen. In his testament, he donated his large private library to the city. His collection became the nucleus of the cantonal library of [[Canton of St. Gallen|St. Gallen]], which is named ''Vadiana''.

==Selected works==
*Vadian: ''De poetica et carminis ratione liber'', Vienna 1518. A comprehensive work on the history of literature.
Modern critical edition with German translation in 3 vols: ''Joachim Vadianus, De Poetica'' by Peter Schäffer (Humanistische Bibliothek,  Reihe II: Texte, 21, I-III). Wilhelm Fink, Munich 1973-1977, vol. 1 {{No ISBN}}; vol. 2 {{ISBN|3-7705-1119-0}}; vol. 3 {{ISBN|3-7705-1120-4}}
*Vadian: ''Grosse Chronik der Äbte des Klosters St. Gallen'', St. Gallen 1529. A history of the [[abbot]]s of the abbey of St. Gallen.
*Vadian: ''Epitome trium terrae partium, Asiae, Africae et Europae...'', Zürich 1534. A world atlas (one of the first to include [[Americas|America]]).
*Vadian: ''Aphorismorum de consideratione eucharistiae libri VI'', St. Gallen 1535. A theological treatise arguing for the reformed interpretation of the [[eucharist]] as a symbolism.

==References==
{{reflist}}
*Gordon, Bruce, ''The Swiss Reformation'', 1994, {{ISBN|9780719051180}}, pp.&nbsp;326–327
*Jehle, M. & Jehle, F.: ''[http://www.st.gallen.ch/geschichte/vadian.asp Vadian der Reformator]'', ch.&nbsp;4 in ''Kleine St. Galler Reformationsgeschichte'', St. Gallen, 1977. {{ISBN|3-85993-012-5}}. In German.
*{{BBKL|v/vadian_j|band=12|autor=Wenneker, Erich|artikel=Vadian (von Watt), Joachim|spalten=1003-1013}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060218090641/http://www.ortsbuerger.ch/site/institutionen.asp?id=466&typ=Institutionen&category=Vadianische+Sammlung Vadiana].
*{{prdl|56}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060215070633/http://www.forum-hes.nl/forum/main_stocklist.phtml/zoek/0/1/.html?search=Epitome%2Btrium%2Bterrae%2Bpartium Description of Vadian's world atlas].
*[http://www.eye.ch/swissgen/SGFF/list/031102.pdf A genealogy]; Joachim Vadianus appears in generation 14.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vadian, Joachim}}
[[Category:1484 births]]
[[Category:1551 deaths]]
[[Category:Protestant Reformers]]
[[Category:Renaissance humanists]]
[[Category:Medical writers]]
[[Category:16th-century physicians]]
[[Category:16th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians]]
[[Category:People from St. Gallen (city)]]