Faust Vrančić

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Faust Vrančić (tal. Fausto Veranzio, lat. Faustus Verantius, mađ.: Verancsics Faustus; Šibenik, 1551. - Mletci, 20. siječnja 1617.), hrvatski polihistor, jezikoslovac, izumitelj, diplomat, inženjer, svećenik, biskup.

Faust Vrančić (lat. Faustus Verantius) najvažniji je konstruktor i tehnički pisac u Hrvata na prijelazu iz 16. u 17. stoljeće.

Faust Vrančić je izumio padobran.....

http://www.matica.hr/Kolo/kolo0301.nsf/AllWebDocs/lex

Faust Vrančić (Šibenik, siječanj 1551 — Venecija, 27. I. 1617) razvio se u polihistora i humanista te latinskog i hrvatskog pisca. Kad je Faust imao 8 ili 10 godina, iz rodnog Šibenika uzeo ga je k sebi na školovanje u Požun (danas Bratislava) njegov stric Antun Vrančić koji je svojom velikom učenošću i ugledom crkvenog prelata i kraljevskog savjetnika veoma poticajno utjecao na Fausta. Stoga s pravom Kukuljević piše: »Nećaka Fausta Vrančića podučavao je, kako da ima napredovati u naucih.«5

»Faust... nije bio jedini stričev gojenac, ali nema sumnje da je Antun u njegov odgoj uložio najviše ljubavi, truda i novca.«6

Mladog Fausta poslao je zatim stric u Padovu da od 1568. do 1572. studira filozofiju i pravo. Kad je Antun doznao da se Faust uz studij s osobitom ljubavlju bavi i glazbom, upozorio ga »nek uz to ne zaboravi na druge nauke i znanosti.«7

Fausta zatim nalazimo u Rimu, gdje je 1. siječnja 1575. primljen za člana hrvatske bratovštine sv. Jeronima u kojoj se upoznao s brojnim hrvatskim uglednicima.8

Faust je kao Antunov nećak i učeni humanist i pravnik, dobivao razne velike i unosne službe. Godine 1579. postao je zapovjednik grada Veszprema i upravitelj svih biskupskih imanja.9

Ivan Tomko Mrnavić o tome razdoblju govori ovako: »Ne spominjem ovdje hrabrost povezanu s pravednošću kojom je kao prefekt upravljao vesprimskom biskupijom. Iako je bila izložena najljućim neprijateljima, vodio je poslove ničim ne uznemirujući narod. Poznata je njegova moralna čistoća prije braka, kao i njegova neporočnost kao muža, kada se svetom bračnom sponom vezao za prečasnu gosp[o%C4%91]u Mariju Zar. Potvrđena je njegova odanost nakon prerane smrti ljubljene žene. A kojom li je tek nesebičnom ljubavlju odgojio kćer i sina koji su ostali kao najdraži zalog bračne ljubavi.«10

Godine 1581. Faust je postao tajnik kralja Rudolfa II. u Pragu. Dok mnoge ljude časti iskvare — »Honores mutant mores« — kod Fausta se to nije dogodilo. Naprotiv, upravo nas iznenađuje kako Mrnavić prikazuje i to razdoblje: »...iako je tijelom bio prisutan na dvoru, duhom [je] ipak bio usmjeren k nebu, pod svilenim je haljinama njegovo tijelo ranjavala kostrijet... Teret tolike odgovornosti svladavao je tako da je pružao pomoć udovicama, nejakima, siročadi, poraženima i jadnima.«

U to doba piše i knjigu Život nikoliko izabranih divic, koju tiska dvadesetak godina poslije, u Veneciji 1606.11

Činjenica je da je Faust 1594. napustio službu kraljeva savjetnika. Od zarađenog novca »dio je dao kćeri kao miraz, a drugi dio namijenio odgoju sina jedinca« (Mrnavić). Dopunio je studij teologije i godine 1594. kao udovac zaređen je za svećenika.

http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/siesc2.html

The first technical discoveries are related to the name of Faust Vrancic (lat. Faustus Verantius, italianized name Fausto Veranzio, hungarized name Faustus Verancsics, 1551-1617).

It is known that he collaborated with Tycho Brache and Johannes Keppler. Vrancic was fluent in at least seven languages. At the court of King Rudolph II in Hradcani in Prague (Rudloph II was Roman-German Emperor and Croatian-Hungarian King) he worked as his secretary, and in that period completed his important dictionary of five most noble European languages (Dictionarium quinque nobilissimarum Europeae linguarum: Latinae, Italicae, Germanicae, Dalmaticae et Hungaricae) and published in Venice in 1595. He is best known for his book of inventions in Machinae Novae, published also in Venice in 1595. The book was financially supported by the French King Louis XIII, and the Toscan Duke Cosimo II de Medici. Among his numerous inventions the most famous is the parachute, which he tested in Venice. It is true that Leonardo da Vinci had a similar idea earlier, but he made only a rough sketch of it, of pyramidal shape, while Vranic's parachute had rectangular shape, as today.

HOMO VOLANS by Faust Vrancic Vrancic also constructed a mill driven by tides, ropeway, gave a new construction of metal bridges (suspended by iron chains, i.e. suspension bridges), described in his famous book on mechanics Machinae novae (61 constructions, Venice, 1595). It was not until the late 18th century, that is, two centuries later, that such bridges were built. The book was soon translated from Latin into Italian, Spanish, French and German. A sketch of his well known Homo volans (parachutist) appearing in Machinae novae is often attributed to Leonardo in the literature, which is wrong. Vrancic was the Chancellor of king Rudolph II for Hungary and Transylvania.

Suspension bridge by Faust Vrancic, 1595

See Faust Vrancic (by dr. Vladimir Muljevic, in Croatian) For example, the famous Verrazzano Narrows Bridge is the largest suspension bridge in the USA (New York, 1298 m), see also Historical Develpment of Iron and Steel in Bridges.

Ropeway by Faust Vrancic, 1595 Faust Vrancic performed a jump with his parachute somewhere in Venice in order to test it. This fact is explicitly stated in a book written by English bishop John Willkins (1614-1672), secretary of the Royal Society in London, only 30 years after the jump. The title of his book which contains this important testimony about Faust Vrancic is Mathematical Magic of the Wonders that may be Performed by Mechanical Geometry, part I: Concerning Mechanical Powers Motion, part II, Deadloss or Mechanical Motions, published in London in 1648. See Vladimir Muljevic: Hrvatski znanstvenici Antun i Faust Vrancic, Encyclopedia Moderna, god. 14, II, Zagreb, 1993. I express my sincere gratitude to Professor Emeritus V. Muljevic for this information.

Vrancic also described in his book Machinae Novae the first wind turbine:

Wind turbine by Faust Vrancic, 1595, the first in history Vrancic's Machinae Novae, 1595, was reprinted

   in 1965 by "Heinz Moos Verlag", Munich, Germany (F. Klein, A. Wisner), translated into five languages,

   in 1968 by "Ferro", Milano, Italy (Umberto Forti), in Italian

   in 1985 by "Magveto", Budapest, Hungary, in Hungarian,

   in 1993 by "Novi Liber", Zagreb, Croatia 

• Sources:
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fausto_Veranzio#Family_history
  • Mletački katastar Pirovca (Zlosela) iz 1752. godine (Venetian cadastre of Pirovac (Zlosela) from 1752) by Tea Perinčić, Pages 10 and 11