The Regnum Humanitatis Trilogy: A Humanist Mainfesto

Authors

Eugene J. Devlin, Saint Peter's College

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, the first paragraph of the essay follows:

When Jacob Gretser wrote his first drama, Timon (1584), he had begun perhaps unconsciously a dialogue with classical antiquity which was to expand and mature through many years. What his earlier work so obviously lacked in polish and literary elegance was to be achieved in his last major humanist drama, the Regnum Humanitatis trilogy. With the completion of this work, he could safely put aside any doubts he might have had about the quality of the inspiration he received from his classical muse. Like his better known humanist contemporary Nicodemus Frischlin, the Jesuit writer appeals to the glory of the Renaissance tradition and warns his audience against the inroads which the "vernacular," with its perceived threat of lower standards of elegance, was making in humanist schools.¹

Recommended Citation

Devlin, Eugene J. (1992) "The Regnum Humanitatis Trilogy: A Humanist Mainfesto," Comparative Drama: Vol. 26: Iss. 1, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/compdr/vol26/iss1/4