Royal mint Hosius was born in
Pforzheim. His brother served at the court of the
Margraviate of Baden. Hosius married a widow from
Kraków in 1500 and became city's resident in 1503. Together with two relatives, he supplied silver to the royal
mint. In 1504, they moved to Lithuania where they were offered rent of
Vilnius Mint and a customs post in
Kaunas. Hosius directed Vilnius Mint, but it was closed by the Grand Duke
Sigismund I the Old in 1506. Due to protests by Lithuanian nobles, the mint was reopened in 1508. He continued to direct the mint until its closure in 1529. This work allowed Hosius to accumulate a large personal fortune and he build his residence on the present-day
Vokiečių Street.
Construction projects In 1513, Hosius was appointed as a supervisor (aedilis) of the reconstruction of the
Lower Castle by
Sigismund I the Old. From 1515, Hosius supervised the construction of royal mills in the Grand Duchy; a third of the mills' revenue belonged to Hosius. Hosius supervised the construction of the first water-supply system of Vilnius. He also constructed the
Green Bridge (1532–1534), one of the first permanent bridges across the
Neris River. It was a wooden bridge on brick footing and had checkpoints to collect tolls. In 1535, Hosius started the construction of a hospital attached to the
Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit, which was finished by his son Jan in 1570.
Other positions It is likely that Hosius was treasurer of
Michael Glinski (mentioned in written sources in 1509). Hosius was the
castellan of Vilnius (chief administrator of the
Vilnius Castle) from 1518 to his death in 1535. In 1528, he became
Standard-bearer of Vilnius. ==Wealth==