Nikolaus von Schönberg


Nikolaus von Schönberg was a German Archbishop of Capua.

Biography

Born in Rothschönberg near Meissen to a noble family which already had several Bishops of Meissen, Nikolaus became Canon at the Cathedral of Naumburg and became a doctor of law when studying in Italy.
Impressed by the speeches held by Savonarola in Pisa in 1495, Schönberg became a priest in 1497 and a member of the Ordo Praedicatorum on 31 October 1498. In Florence he promoted to Dr. theol., but also studied mathematics, astronomy, medicine and geography. Speaking several languages, and serving his order, he travelled around Europe, to Jerusalem and the Ottoman Empire before settling in Rome in 1508 to serve Pope Julius II. As professor at the Sapienza in Rome, he held speeches that were published in 1512.
George, Duke of Saxony, made Schönberg his procurator for the Fifth Council of the Lateran. Pope Leo X sent him as papal legate around Europe to find support for a crusade against the Ottoman Turks.
Other missions sent him to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, at Innsbruck, to the courts of Hungary, Poland, Muscovy, and to the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, Albert of Brandenburg. In 1891 this mission was the subject of a doctoral thesis in Greifswald.
On 12 September 1520, Schönberg was appointed Archbishop of Capua by Pope Leo X, and on 21 May 1535 elevated to Cardinal by Pope Paul III. On 28 April 1536 he resigned from his office at age 63.
On 1 November 1536, Schönberg wrote a from Rome, which Copernicus made famous by including it in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium :
Schönberg died in Rome on 9 September 1537.