Pieter Gillis

Pieter Gillis (28 July 1486 6 or 11 November 1533), known by his anglicised name Peter Giles 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
BornJuly 28, 1486
Died6 or 11 November 1533 (aged 47)
Antwerp
NationalityFlemish
Other namesPetrus Ægidius, Peter Giles, Peter Gilles
Occupationmagistrate of Antwerp[1]
Known forfriendship with Sir Thomas More
Spouse(s)Cornelia Sandrien, Maria Denis Adriaensdochter, Kathelijne Draeckx[2]

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 to Antwerp.[1]

References

  1. William Holden Hutton, Sir Thomas More, London: Methuen & Co., 1895 (available through Google Books)
  2. Centrum Pieter Gillis, University of Antwerp (in Dutch)
  3. Holbein, Zeichnungen vom Hofe Heinrichs VIII. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers. 1988. p. 9. ISBN 0 384 23843 2.


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