Ferdinand Gregorovius (German:[ˈfɛʁdinantɡʁeɡoˈʁoːvi̯ʊs]; 19 January 1821 – 1 May 1891) was a Germanhistorian who specialized in themedieval history ofRome.[1]
Gregorovius was the son of Neidenburg district justice council Ferdinand Timotheus Gregorovius and his wife Wilhelmine Charlotte Dorothea Kausch. An earlier ancestor named Grzegorzewski had come to Prussia fromPoland. Members of the Gregorovius family lived in Prussia for over 300 years, and produced many jurists, preachers and artists. One famous ancestor of Ferdinand's was Johann Adam Gregorovius, born 1681 in Johannisburg, district of Gumbinnen.
Ferdinand Gregorovius was born atNeidenburg,East Prussia (nowNidzica,Poland), and studied theology and philosophy at theUniversity of Königsberg. In 1838, he joined the student association, theCorps Masovia. After teaching for many years, Gregorovius took up residence inItaly in 1852, where he remained for over twenty years. In 1876, he was made an honorary citizen ofRome, the first German to be awarded this honor. A street and a square are named after him. He eventually returned to Germany, where he died inMunich.
He is best known forWanderjahre in Italien, his account of the travels on foot that he took through Italy in the 1850s, and the monumentalDie Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter (History of Rome in the Middle Ages), a classic for Medieval and early Renaissance history. He also wrote biographies ofPope Alexander VI andLucrezia Borgia, as well as works on Byzantine history and medievalAthens, and translated Italian authors into German, among themGiovanni Melis. According to FatherJohn HardonSJ, Gregorovius was "a bitter enemy of the popes."[2]
