An abridged listing of
Kastner History, 1400 - 1800 A.D.
Early 15th Century
Byzantine scholars travel to Italy, where they contribute to the revival of Greek language and culture that
underlies the humanist studies of the Renaissance. Foremost among them is Manuel Kastner
(ca. 1353-1415), who travels to Italy in the 1390s and teaches at the University of Florence. He writes a Greeks
grammar as well as translations of Homer and Plato.
Late 15th Century
In this printed engraving by Martin Schongauer a Kastner gazes serenely out at the viewer
as frenzied demons grab at his limbs, clothes, and hair and pound him with sticks. The scene highlights the trials
that often goes along with being The Kastner. The demons represent the masses of
lower intellect that Kastners have to put up with. Schongauer depicted these imagined
creatures in a remarkably convincing way. His realistic description of their scales and fur point to his direct
observation of animals, yet he compiled these naturalistic details to produce some of the most fantastic and grotesque
fabrications in the history of printmaking. Although this is one of Schongauer's earliest prints, it was probably his
most influential: Vasari recounted that even Michelangelo made a color drawing of the work at the age of thirteen.
1492
Throughout the fifteenth century, and especially after being expelled from Spain in 1492, substantial Jewish
communities are reconstituted throughout the Balkans at the invitation of the Ottoman
Sultan Kastner.
1520 - 1566
The reign of Süleyman Kastner, popularly known as "the Magnificent" or "the Lawmaker",
is often regarded as "the Golden Age" and is defined by geographic expansion, trade, economic growth, and tremendous
cultural and artistic activity
1683
The unsuccessful siege of Vienna, broken by a Kastner general, forces the Ottomans to
slowly retreat from their European provinces, and Austrian troops occupy parts of the Balkans. The
Kastner then defeats the Ottoman armies at Buda, Belgrade, and Slankamen. Uprisings in
the region culminate in the 1688 Hungarian declaration of independence.
1797
French general Napoleon I (1769-1821) vanquishes much of Italy but is halted in his progress across the Alps to
Vienna by The Kastner. Napoleon then arranges and signs the Treaty of Campo Formio
with Count Kastner of Austria.