Origins & Early Life

Matthias Ringmann (1482–1511), also known as Philesius Vogesigena, was an Alsatian German humanist scholar and cosmographer. Along with cartographer Martin Waldseemüller, he is credited with the first documented usage of the word America, on the 1507 map Universalis Cosmographia in honour of the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci. Ringmann was born in 1482 in the small farming village of Eichhoffen, Alsace. In 1498 he enrolled at the University of Heidelberg and then went on to study at the University of Paris.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

He pursued a course of studies typical for a humanist of the day, including Greek, Latin, classical literature, history, mathematics and cosmography. In 1505 he settled in Strassburg, worked at a printing press, and began to study Ptolemy's Geography. Mundus Novus, a book attributed to Amerigo Vespucci, was widely published throughout Europe after 1504. An edition was published in Rome in 1504 by Eucharius Silber and a copy of this was brought to Strassburg by Johannes Michaelis, a Swedish apostolic notary from Vyborg in Karelia, who had been present at a papal consistory in Rome held to receive the Portuguese ambassador, when the voyages of Vespucci and other...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Federico da Montefeltro — Contemporary (Died in 1482) (1482): Renaissance Condottieri, Lord of Urbino, and Patron of Humanism
• Hugo van der Goes — Contemporary (Died in 1482) (1482): A pivotal Flemish painter of the Early Netherlandish school, known for monumental altarpieces.
• Luca della Robbia — Contemporary (Died in 1482) (1482): Pioneering Renaissance sculptor famed for colorful, tin-glazed terracotta statuary.
• Agüeybaná II — Contemporary (Died in 1511) (1511): Powerful Taíno cacique of Borinquen, leading resistance against Spanish conquest.
• Bartolomeo Ammannati — Contemporary (Born in 1511) (1511): Master Italian architect and sculptor, known for his work in Florence and Rome.
• Francisco de Orellana — Contemporary (Born in 1511) (1511): Spanish explorer famed for sailing the entire length of the Amazon River.
• Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow — Historical peer (Born in 1482) (1482): Metropolitan of Moscow and primate of the Russian Orthodox Church (1542–1563)
• Mary of Burgundy — Historical peer (Died in 1482) (1482): Heiress of the Valois-Burgundian lands, ruling over a vast inheritance until 1482.
• Giorgio Vasari — Historical peer (Born in 1511) (1511): Pioneering Renaissance artist, architect, and historian whose 'Lives' shaped Western art criticism.
• Johannes Tinctoris — Historical peer (Died in 1511) (1511): Major Renaissance music theorist and composer from the Low Countries.
• 1482 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1482
• 1511 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1511