People/writer

Johann Mathesius

Johann Mathesius (1504–1565), writer, from Germany. Linked to silver.

The lucky break

Called in 1532 to be rector of the Latin school at the silver mining town of Joachimsthal, where he built up the school library.1,2

Legacy

Lutheran pastor in Joachimsthal who married the daughter of a mining official. Agricola knew and valued him there.1,2

Story cards

Where next

Sources

  1. Mathesius, Johann Neue Deutsche Biographie / Deutsche Biographie
  2. Agricola, Georgius Neue Deutsche Biographie / Deutsche Biographie (Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Bavarian State Library)

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

Keep exploring

Stories with these minerals

All mining storiesThe world runs on rockAll mineralsMining by country

Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Cerro Rico over Potosí by Jbmurray, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Potosi, Bolivia, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)); Dolcoath tin mine, Camborne, Cornwall: miners in a mine shaft, standing on wooden platforms connected by ladders. Photograph by J. C. Burrow, 1890/1910., Burrow, J. C., 1852-1914 (Public Domain Mark 1.0); The laboratories of Marie and Pierre Curie, Paris: room where experiments on uranium ore took place. Photograph, ca. 1900., Unknown (Wellcome Collection) (Public Domain Mark 1.0).