Born in Brassó (German: Kronstadt, today Brașov, Romania), Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary, he studied at the University of Vienna between 1520 and 1525, graduating with a magister artium title.

Between 1530 and 1532 he lived in Basel and practiced wood engraving, notably designing two star maps that already show his advanced skills in the craft.

During his stay in the Holy Roman Empire, Honter had encountered Protestant ideas, and he worked hard to introduce Lutheranism to Transylvania (German: Siebenbürgen).

As such, he founded the humanist gymnasium local school (functioning to this day as the "Johannes Honterus" School), set up a printing press (1539), printed a large number of books (some of which he himself authored), such as the Reformationsbuechlein, published the Kirchenordnung aller Deutschen in Siebenbuergen and assisted in the introduction of a paper mill.

The Rudimenta was so successful that no less than 39 editions of it were printed in Brașov, Zürich, Antwerp, Basel, Rostock, Prague, and Cologne.