Glareanus Heinrich Loriti

Glareanus Heinrich Loriti, was born at Mollis, in the canton of Glarus (hence his name), in Switzerland, June, 1488; studied philosophy, belles-lettres, and theology at Rottweil and Cologne, and in 1512 became poet laureate of the emperor Maximilian I. He took part in the controversies between Reuchlin and the old-school systems; went to Basel in 1514, to Italy in 1515, and in 1517 visited Paris, where he gave private instruction in the classics; returning afterwards to Basel, he opened a school there. He showed himself at first favorable to the principles of the Reformation, but abandoned them afterwards; and when Protestantism gained Basel, he retired with Erasmus to Freiburg, where he became professor of literature and history. He gave up this situation in 1560, and died March 27, 1563. Glareanus was a very learned man, and especially in the theory and history of music. His Dodecachordon (Basel, 1547) is valuable as a picture of the state of music in his age. — H. Schreiber, Lebensbeschreibung (Freib. 1837); Pierer, Universal-Lexikon, s.v.; Herzog, Real-Encyklopadie, 5:165. (J.N.P.)