Pieter Gillis (28 July 1486 – 6 or 11 November 1533), known by his anglicised name Peter Giles, the gallicized Pierre Gilles and sometimes the Latinised Petrus Ægidius, was a humanist, printer, and secretary to the city of Antwerp in the early sixteenth century.[2] He is most famous as a friend and supporter of Desiderius Erasmus and Thomas More.[3] He seemed to have recommended the painter Hans Holbein the Younger to the court of England, where Thomas More received him delighted.[3]
Peter Giles | |
|---|---|
_-_Portrait_of_Pieter_Gillis_-_WGA14290.jpg) | |
| Born | 28 July 1486 |
| Died | 6 or 11 November 1533 (aged 47) Antwerp |
| Nationality | Brabantian |
| Other names | Petrus Ægidius, Peter Giles, Peter Gilles, Pierre Gilles |
| Occupation | magistrate of Antwerp[1] |
| Known for | friendship with Sir Thomas More and Erasmus |
| Spouse(s) | Cornelia Sandrien, Maria Denis Adriaensdochter, Kathelijne Draeckx[2] |
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Thomas More's Utopia, although fictional, includes Pieter Gillis as a character in Book I. More dedicated Utopia to Gillis, who may have designed the Utopian alphabet. They first met when diplomatic business brought More and Cuthbert Tunstall to Antwerp.[1]
References
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- ^ a b William Holden Hutton, Sir Thomas More, London: Methuen & Co., 1895 (available through Google Books)
- ^ a b Centrum Pieter Gillis, University of Antwerp (in Dutch)
- ^ a b Holbein, Zeichnungen vom Hofe Heinrichs VIII. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers. 1988. p. 9. ISBN 0 384 23843 2.
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