Gregor Reisch
Back to people overviewA German Carthusian monk and humanist scholar responsible for one of the earliest printed encyclopaedias of general knowledge. Reisch studied at the University of Freiburg before taking orders as a monk. Reisch was also confessor of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. In his travels, he became friends with the most celebrated humanists of the time, including Erasmus. From 1503, Reisch was the author of a highly popular textbook on moral and natural philosophy; early editions contain his elegant world map on a Ptolemaic projection.
