Renæssanceforum 15 • 2019

Kristi Viiding
Gefährliche Bücher, gefährliche Gattungen, gefährliche Vorlagen: die Geburt der Satire in Livland

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In this contribution, the first humanist Latin satire from Livonia, printed anonymously in Riga in 1598–1599 and so far never mentioned in bibliographies and literary histories, is attributed to Livonian lawyer and humanist David Hilchen on the basis of prosopographical, historical, legal and book historical data. The addressee of this poetical attack is identified as physician Georg Herbers. The considerable impact of the satire on contemporary life in Riga demonstrates that not only heretic, political or immoral content, but also offensive use of Classical mythology could cause prints to be taken out of circulation and attacks initiated against their authors in Early modern times.