Andreas Stoberl known as Stiborius (like so many other humanist

Humanism

Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....

s, he preferred a Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 name to express his admiration for the classic masters), was an Austrian

Austrians

Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....

 astronomer

Astronomer

An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...

, mathematician

Mathematician

A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....

, and theologian. He was a member of a circle of humanists based in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

. This circle included the scholars Georg Tannstetter

Georg Tannstetter

Georg Tannstetter , also called Georgius Collimitius, was a humanist teaching at the University of Vienna. He was a medical doctor, mathematician, astronomer, cartographer, and the personal physician of the emperors Maximilian I and Ferdinand I. He also wrote under the pseudonym of "Lycoripensis"...

, Johannes Stabius

Johannes Stabius

Johannes Stabius was an Austrian cartographer of Vienna who developed, around 1500, the heart-shape projection map later developed further by Johannes Werner. It is called the Werner map projection, but also the Stabius-Werner or the Stab-Werner projection...

, Thomas Resch

Thomas Resch

Thomas Resch was an Austrian Renaissance humanist. He went by the Latin name of Thomas Velocianus. He was a member of a circle of humanists based in Vienna. This circle included the scholars Georg Tannstetter, Johannes Stabius, Stiborius, Stefan Rosinus, Johannes Cuspinianus, and the reformer...

, Stefan Rosinus, Johannes Cuspinianus, Johannes Engel, and the reformer Joachim Vadianus. These humanists were associated with the court of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...

.http://www.univie.ac.at/archiv/tour/7.htm

Maximilian was a keen supporter of astronomers and the astronomical sciences, employing numerous astrologers and astronomers at his court and at his university, the University of Vienna

University of Vienna

The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...

. Stiborius had come to Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 to assume a position in the Collegium Ducale at Maximilian's request. Stiborius lectured on various instruments and also carried out observational work, and dedicated his astrolabe

Astrolabe

An astrolabe is an elaborate inclinometer, historically used by astronomers, navigators, and astrologers. Its many uses include locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars, determining local time given local latitude and longitude, surveying, triangulation, and to...

, the Clipeus Austrie, to the emperor, arguing that this instrument would bestow worldly power on Maximilian since emperors of the past all had similar instruments.

One of Stiborius's works is entitled Indices praeterea monumentorum quae clarissimi viri Studii Viennensis alumni in Astronomia et aliis Mathematicis disciplinis scripta reliquerunt.http://www.dm.unipi.it/pages/maurolic/edizioni/optica/problema/intro.htm

The lunar crater Stiborius

Stiborius (crater)

Stiborius is a lunar impact crater that lies to the south-southwest of the crater Piccolomini, in the southeastern quadrant of the Moon's near side. To the south-southwest of Stiborius is the smaller Wöhler. Stiborius is 44 kilometers in diameter and 3.7 kilometers deep.The rim of this crater is...

is named after him.

Sources

• Abstract for Darin Hayton, "Astrolabes and Power in Renaissance Germany: Andreas Stiborius’ ‘Clipeus Austrie’", University of Notre Dame, 1.
• Renaissance-Humanism