The Swabian author Heinrich Steinhöwel was one of the few German writers of his time who was strongly influenced by the Italian Renaissance. His translations from Latin into German opened an important window onto European literature for Germans and paved the way for the intellectual transformation from the late Middle Ages to the early modern age. His medical treatises and translations of fiction became the most influential reading material of his time.

Steinhöwel was born in 1411 or 1412 in Weil. He probably attended the Latin school there, but his parents may have sent him to nearby Esslingen. By the summer semester of 1429 he was enrolled at the University of Vienna, where he earned his bachelor of arts on 13 July 1432 and his master of arts on 12 February 1436. The latter degree obliged him to teach until the winter semester of 1437-1438. Around 1439 he moved to Padua, Italy...