Caspar Barlaeus (February 12, 1584 – January 14, 1648) was a Dutch

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

and Renaissance humanist, a

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, poet, and historian.

Life

Born Caspar (Kaspar) van Baerle in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Barlaeus' parents fled the city when it was occupied by Spanish troops shortly after his birth. They settled in Zaltbommel, where his father eventually would become head of the Latin school. Caspar studied theology and philosophy at the University of Leiden. After his study, he preached for 1.5 years in the village of

Nieuwe-Tonge Nieuwe-Tonge is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Goeree-Overflakkee, and lies about 13 km south of Hellevoetsluis. History The village was first mentioned in 1480 or 1481 as "Nova eccles ...

, before returning to Leiden in 1612 as an under-regent of a college. From 1617 he also was professor in philosophy at the university. Because of his

remonstrant The Remonstrants (or the Remonstrant Brotherhood) is a Protestant movement that had split from the Dutch Reformed Church in the early 17th century. The early Remonstrants supported Jacobus Arminius, and after his death, continued to maintain his ...

sympathies, he was forced out of this job in 1619. He then studied and graduated in medicines (in

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Athenaeum Illustre''), which is commonly regarded as the predecessor of the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

; the ''Athenaeum'' had its seat in the fourteenth-century Agnietenkapel. In January 1632, Barlaeus, along with

Gerard Vossius Gerrit Janszoon Vos (March or April 1577, Heidelberg – 19 March 1649, Amsterdam), often known by his Latin name Gerardus Vossius, was a Dutch classical scholar and theologian. Life He was the son of Johannes (Jan) Vos, a Protestant from the Ne ...

, held his inaugural speech at the Amsterdam Atheneum. Barlaeus later encouraged

Martinus Hortensius Martin (Maarten) van den Hove (Latinized as Martinus Hortensius (Ortensius)) (1605 – 7 August 1639) was a Dutch astronomer and mathematician. His adopted Latin name is a translation of the Dutch ''hof'' ("garden"), in Latin ''horta''. Early li ...

to lecture –and give an inaugural speech- at the same institution. Barlaeus suffered from mental illness including the delusion that he was made of glass (the Glass delusion) though Gill Speak refers to his glass delusion as ‘unsubstantiated’.

Writings

Barlaeus published many volumes of poetry, particularly

Latin poetry The history of Latin poetry can be understood as the adaptation of Greek models. The verse comedies of Plautus, the earliest surviving examples of Latin literature, are estimated to have been composed around 205-184 BC. History Scholars conven ...

. He also wrote the eulogy that accompanies the 1622 portrait of cartographer Willem Blaeu. Barlaeus was involved in various aspects of cartography and history. He translated Antonio de Herrera's ''Description of the West Indies'' in 1622. In 1627, Barlaeus provided the text for the

atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

created by

Jodocus Hondius Jodocus Hondius (Latinized version of his Dutch language, Dutch name: ''Joost de Hondt'') (17 October 1563 – 12 February 1612) was a Flemish people, Flemish and Dutch engraving, engraver and cartographer. He is sometimes called Jodocus Hon ...

. In 1647, he wrote an account of the Dutch colonial empire in Brazil, inspired by the leadership of

John Maurice of Nassau John Maurice of Nassau (Dutch: ''Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen''; German: ''Johann Moritz von Nassau-Siegen''; Portuguese: ''João Maurício de Nassau-Siegen''; 17 June 1604 – 20 December 1679), called "the Brazilian" for his fruitful period as ...

(Johan Maurits) at

Recife That it may shine on all ( Matthew 5:15) , image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco , pushpin_map = Brazil#South A ...

. The ''Rerum per octennium in Brasilia et alibi nuper gestarum sub praefectura'', as it is called, contains numerous maps and plates of the region. The engravings of Brazilian northeastern locales, fleets, battles, and maps were for 160 years the main references to Brazilian landscapes available in Europe, and are well known by Brazilians today as the most important examples of pre-national art.

Franciscus Plante Franciscus Plante (21 April 1613 (bapt.) – 1690) was a Dutch poet and chaplain. Biography Plante was born in Bruges and studied theology at Oxford. In October 1636 he travelled as personal chaplain with John Maurice of Nassau to the Dutc ...

wrote a similar work in the same year called ''Mauritias'', and included the maps already published in Barlaeus' work. These were maps of ''

Ceará Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the ...

'', ''

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...

'', ''

Paraíba Paraíba ( Tupi: ''pa'ra a'íba''; ) is a state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba ...

'', and ''Pernambuco Borealá''. Plante also incorporated a portrait of John Maurice that had already been included in Barlaeus' work. In 1638, Barlaeus wrote ''Medicea Hospes, sive descriptio publicae gratulationis, qua ... Mariam de Medicis, excepit senatus populusque Amstelodamensis''. Published by Willem Blaeu, it includes two large folding engraved views of the ceremonies on the occasion of the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

queen mother Marie de Medici's triumphal entry into

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

in 1638. Considered an important moment in Dutch history, Marie's visit lent ''de facto'' international recognition of the newly formed

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

. Marie de Medici actually traveled to the Netherlands as exile, but spectacular displays and water pageants took place in the city's harbor in celebration of her visit. There was a procession led by two mounted trumpeters; a large temporary structure erected on an artificial island in the

Amstel River The Amstel () is a river in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It flows from the Aarkanaal and Drecht in Nieuwveen northwards, passing Uithoorn, Amstelveen, and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, to the IJ in Amsterdam. Annually, the rive ...

was built especially for the festival. This building was designed to display a series of dramatic

tableaux The International Conference on Automated Reasoning with Analytic Tableaux and Related Methods (TABLEAUX) is an annual international academic conference that deals with all aspects of automated reasoning with analytic tableaux. Periodically, it joi ...

in tribute to her once she set foot on the floating island and entered its pavilion.

Death and legacy

*Barlaeus died at Amsterdam. Franciscus Plante wrote Barlaeus'

obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

and

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

in 1648. * Barlaeus Gymnasium, in Amsterdam, is named after him. There is a in both Amsterdam and .

Works

* ''Manes Auriaci'' (1625) * ''Hymnus ad Christum'' (1628) * ''Poemata'' (1628) * ''Medicea hospes'' (1638) * ''Faces augustae'' (1643) * ''Rerum in Brasilia et alibi gestarum'' (1647) * ''Verscheyde Nederduytsche gedichten'' (1651) * ''Mercator sapiens, sive Oratio de coniungendis mercaturae et philosophiae studiis''

References

Sources

*
Barron Maps
barron.co.uk *

(full bibliography), let.leidenuniv.nl *
Biography and Works: Caspar Barlaeus
dbnl.org *

(full index and texts of Barlaeus' poetry), let.leidenuniv.nl *

let.leidenuniv.nl *
Festival Books
libraries.rutgers.edu *

pernambuco.com

External links

The Correspondence of Caspar van Baarle
i
EMLO
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barlaeus, Caspar 1584 births 1648 deaths 17th-century Dutch poets 17th-century Latin-language writers Colonial Brazil 17th-century Dutch historians 17th-century Dutch physicians Dutch male poets 17th-century Dutch Calvinist and Reformed ministers Dutch Renaissance humanists Leiden University alumni Leiden University faculty Muiderkring University of Amsterdam faculty Dutch Golden Age writers People from Zaltbommel Arminian theologians Arminian writers Remonstrants