Exhibition on the 2nd floor
9. 3. to 30. 3. 2015
In cooperation with the Ivan Potrč Library Ptuj, we prepared and opened an exhibition about Žig (Sigismund) to Baron Herberstein. On this occasion, we also presented a facsimile edition of his work. Gratae posteritati (To beloved posterity).
Žiga Herberstein was born in Vipava in Carniola, which was then part of the Habsburg Monarchy, to his father Leonhard von Herberstein and his mother Barbara von Lueg, sister of Erasm Predjama. Little is known about his youth, except that he learned the Slovene language at an early age. This knowledge had a significant impact on his later life and work. Herberstein chose his compatriot Luka from Dobrepolje as his secretary, who was of great help to him in his writing.
In 1499 he enrolled at the University of Vienna, where he studied philosophy and law. In 1506 he entered the army with the rank of officer and participated in several battles against the Hungarians and the Venetians. In 1508 he was knighted by Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg. In 1515 he became a member of the imperial council and began a long and brilliant diplomatic career, in which his knowledge of German, Italian, Slovenian and French was helpful. Between 1515 and 1553 he made 69 trips abroad. He traveled extensively to Switzerland, Denmark, Spain, Bohemia and Hungary. In 1516–1526 he visited Poland and Russia, and became ambassador to Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The most notable was in 1541, when he successfully concluded the truce negotiations with the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman and two trips to Russia. Thus, with his first trip to Russia in 1516/17, Herberstein became the “expert for Eastern Europe” in the Habsburg service, and he made a second trip to the Russian court of Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1525/26.
In 1499 he enrolled at the University of Vienna, where he studied philosophy and law. In 1506 he entered the army with the rank of officer and participated in several battles against the Hungarians and the Venetians. In 1508 he was knighted by Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg. In 1515 he became a member of the imperial council and began a long and brilliant diplomatic career, in which his knowledge of German, Italian, Slovenian and French was helpful. Between 1515 and 1553 he made 69 trips abroad. He traveled extensively to Switzerland, Denmark, Spain, Bohemia and Hungary. In 1516–1526 he visited Poland and Russia, and became ambassador to Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The most notable was in 1541, when he successfully concluded the truce negotiations with the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman and two trips to Russia. Thus, with his first trip to Russia in 1516/17, Herberstein became the “expert for Eastern Europe” in the Habsburg service, and he made a second trip to the Russian court of Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1525/26.
Herberstein died in Vienna in 1566 and is buried in the church of St. Michael.
In 1549, he published the book Rerum moscoviticarum commentarii (Slovene: Commentarii Moscoviticarum Commentarii) in Latin in Vienna. Moscow notes), one of the first European works on Russian conditions and history. The first reprint was published as early as 1551, slightly revised in 1556, and again in an expanded edition by the author the following year in Basel. It was translated into many languages. An Italian version under the title “Comentari della Moscovia et par instrumentov della Russia et delle altre cose belle et Notabile” was published in 1550 in Venice. A German version was published in 1557 in Vienna under the title “Moscovia der Hauptstat in Reissen”. John Pantaleon (1522-1595), a doctor of arts and medicine from Basel (Switzerland), prepared a second German translation entitled “Moskoviter wunderbare Historien” in 1563. In the following years it was published several more times, also under the title “Moskovitische Chronica”, among others one was published by Catherine the Great in Petersburg in 1795.
His other important work is entitled The Wonders of Nature, and he also wrote a genealogy of his family.
Opening is at 17.30 in Levstikova Halland the lecture followed Dr. Matej Hriberšek about Baron Žig Herberstein and facsimiles of Gratae posteritati for members of the University for the Third Age.
Opening is at 17.30 in Levstikova Halland the lecture followed Dr. Matej Hriberšek about Baron Žig Herberstein and facsimiles of Gratae posteritati for members of the University for the Third Age.