Valentin Eck


Valentin Eck was a Swiss traveling humanists, neo-Latin poet, and scholar. He had ties to the Cracow Academy and the early humanist circle in Cracow.

Biography

Eck came from Lindau. He studied first at Leipzig, and in 1511-1517 at Cracow. He received a bachelor's degree from the Cracow Academy in 1513.
In 1517, Eck moved to Hungary, taking the position of the rector of the school in Bardejov. He maintained his contacts in Poland, however. In 1520-1521, he lectured in Cracow, and perhaps also in 1537-1539. He printed most of his works in the Polish royal city. He counted Rudolf Agricola Junior, Johannes Dantiscus, Joannis Vislicensis, Justus Ludwik Decjusz, and Leonard Cox among his friends.
Eck's most important work was a manual for writing poetry titled, De versificandi arte opusculum, and first published in 1515 and later reissued in 1521 and 1539. Eck was also the author of numerous poems and prose works, many of a laudatory nature, such as the panegyric celebrating Sigismund the Old's victory at the Battle of Orsha in 1514.
With Rudolf Agricola Junior, he edited and published texts by classical authors.

Works