12 Facts About Stephanus Parmenius

Stephanus Parmenius was a Hungarian scholar and humanist poet who traveled to Oxford and became involved in the English exploration of the New World.

Stephanus Parmenius joined Humphrey Gilbert's expedition to North America with the intention of writing a chronicle of the voyage and its discoveries.

Stephanus Parmenius was probably born sometime between 1555 and 1560 in Buda which had been under Ottoman rule since 1541.

Stephanus Parmenius's parents are not known, but he was raised as a Protestant, possibly a Calvinist, and received a privileged classical education in Hungary.

Stephanus Parmenius went first to Heidelberg University and studied there for two years.

Stephanus Parmenius settled in Oxford where he befriended the president of Magdalen College, Laurence Humfrey and lodged with Richard Hakluyt at Christ Church.

Stephanus Parmenius was excited by the proposed expedition and wrote another long Latin poem, De Navigatione which honored English explorers and hailed Gilbert's plans to found a colony in the New World.

Stephanus Parmenius was aboard the Swallow, a small frigate that had been engaged in piracy and was seized by Gilbert and pressed into his service.

Stephanus Parmenius was not overly impressed with his first experience in the New World.

Stephanus Parmenius expressed the hope that the country would improve as they traveled further south along the coast.

Stephanus Parmenius switched ships and joined the crew on the Delight.

The one surviving letter from Stephanus Parmenius was included by Hakluyt in the second edition of The Principal Navigations.