Markus Hansiz

Who was Markus Hansiz?

Markus Hansiz, known in Slovene as Marko Hanžič was a Jesuit historian.

Hansiz was born in the town of Volkermarkt in the Duchy of Carinthia in a Carinthian Slovene family. He was only fifteen when he entered the Society of Jesus in the near town of Eberndorf. He was ordained a priest in 1708 and on the completion of his studies became professor of humanities at Vienna. From 1713 to 1717 he taught philosophy at Graz, and from 1717 devoted himself entirely to the study of history.

His interest in the Anglia Sacra of Henry Wharton, the Gallia Christiana of Sainte-Marthe, Ughelli's Italia Sacra, and other similar treatises, together with the advice of the scholarly librarian, Bernardo Gentilotti, made him determined to execute a comprehensive "Germania Sacra". For this purpose he examined numerous libraries and archives, and published histories of the Church of Lorch and of the Sees of Passau and Salzburg: Germaniae Sacrae tomus primus: Metropolis Laureacensis cum episcopatu Pataviensi chronologice proposita, and an Archiepiscopatus Salisburgensis chronologice propositus. This work took him to Rome, where he became acquainted with Muratori and Maffei.