Locations of events.

From a Jewish guerrilla fighter to a propaganda writer for the Romans: Flavius Josephus was a fascinating figure of the Roman imperial period. But his ‘Antiquities of the Jews’ became extremely popular in the modern era, as attested by this careful translation of the work into French.

Goethe’s ‘Italienische Reise’ (‘Italian Journey’) is regarded as the work that sparked Germany’s love of Italy, Tuscany, red wine and the Italians’ zest for life. However, this book was no travel guide, but rather a work of self-expression by the ‘Prince of Poets’, as he was known, and the testimony of a burnout-sufferer in search of himself.

Why would a Protestant scholar translate and publish, at his own expense, a work by a Jewish scholar containing all the most important teachings of the Jewish faith? It’s quite simple: to advance his own career. By doing so, Friedrich Wilhelm Bock hoped to secure a professorship.

The title of Johannes Stumpf’s account would translate to “A chronicle of all cities, cantons, and people of the commendable Confederacy and a description of its impressive deeds“ in today’s English. With this work, Christoph Froschauer gave Protestant Switzerland its own history.

Chivalrousness was fashionable at tournaments – those who wrote about these events, on the other hand, often lacked this virtue. Georg Rüxner for example, a herald of the 16th century, showed a very lax approach to the truth in his famous tournament book. But what is a tournament book in the first place?