![Gregor Reisch book](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Gregor_Reisch_book.jpg)
Gregor Reisch (c. 1467 - 9 May 1525) was a German
Carthusian
The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its ...
monk and humanist scholar. He is best known for his compilation ''Margarita Philosophica'', one of the earliest printed encyclopedias of general knowledge.
Life
Reisch was born at
Balingen
Balingen (; Swabian: ''Balenga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, capital of the district of Zollernalbkreis. It is located near the Swabian Jura, approx. 35 km to the south of Tübingen, 35 km northeast of Villingen-Schwenn ...
in
Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...
, about 1467. He became a student at the
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...
in 1487 and received the degree of magister in 1489. He remained at the university as a teacher and became a Carthusian monk around 1500 but continued his teaching and scholarly work. From 1500 to 1502 he was prior at Kleinbasel and from 1503 to shortly before his death he was prior at
Freiburg Charterhouse. In 1510, Reisch was appointed counselor and father confessor to
Maximilian I Maximilian I may refer to:
*Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, reigned 1486/93–1519
*Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, reigned 1597–1651
*Maximilian I, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1636-1689)
*Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, reigned 1795 ...
. He was also a visitor (inspector) for the Rhenish province of his order and as such he made strenuous exertions to combat
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
.
Reisch was a friend of the most celebrated humanists of the era. His notable students included
Johann Eck
Johann Maier von Eck (13 November 1486 – 13 February 1543), often anglicized as John Eck, was a German Catholic theologian, scholastic, prelate, and a pioneer of the counter-reformation who was among Martin Luther's most important inter ...
and
Martin Waldseemüller
Martin Waldseemüller (c. 1470 – 16 March 1520) was a German cartographer and humanist scholar. Sometimes known by the Latinisation of names, Latinized form of his name, Hylacomylus, his work was influential among contemporary cartographers. He ...
. Reisch had a reputation for adaptability, and was regarded as an "oracle". He was one of the most conspicuous of the intellectuals at the commencement of the new era who sought to prepare encyclopedic works of knowledge.
Works
![Margarita Philosopica by Reisch 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Margarita_Philosopica_by_Reisch_2.jpg)
His chief work is the ''Margarita Philosophica'' (Philosophical Pearl), first published in 1503 and widely used as a general textbook in universities throughout western Europe. It is an encyclopedia of knowledge and contains in twelve books: Latin grammar, dialectics, rhetoric, arithmetic, music, geometry, astronomy, physics, natural history, physiology, psychology, and ethics. The usefulness of the work was increased by numerous
woodcut
Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...
s and a full index.
[Talley 2014]
Like many textbooks of the time, the book was written as a dialogue between student and teacher. The book was very popular for its comparative brevity and form. It was long a standard textbook of the universities.
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...
said of it that it had "for a half-century, aided in a remarkable manner the spread of knowledge".
In 1510 Reisch also published the statutes and privileges of the Carthusian Order, and assisted
Erasmus of Rotterdam
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...
in his edition of
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...
.
Reisch died at
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
,
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...
, on 9 May 1525.
Notes
References
*
*
Further reading
* Gregorius Reisch, ''Margarita philosophica nova'' Anastatic reprint with an introduction (in Italian) by Lucia Andreini, Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, Universität Salzburg, 2002 (3 voll.).
* ''Natural Philosophy Epitomised: Books 8-11 of Gregor Reisch's Philosophical pearl (1503)'' Translated and edited by Andrew Cunningham, Sachiko Kusukawa, Aldersht: Ashgate, 2010.
*
Petreius
The gens Petreia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned toward the end of the second century BC, and several were distinguished as soldiers, but none of them ever attained the consulship.
Origin
...
, ''Bibliotheca Carthusiana'' (Cologne, 1609), 109-112
*
Hugo von Hurter
The von Hurter family belonged to the Swiss nobility; in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries three of them were known for their conversions to Roman Catholicism, their ecclesiastical careers in Austria and their theological writings.
Friedric ...
, ''Nomenclator'', II (3rd ed. Innsbruck, 1906), 1278–79
*
Hartfelder, ''Gregor Reisch'', in ''Zeitschrift fur die Geschichte des Oberrheins'', New Series, V (Freiburg, 1890), 170–200.
External links
An illustration from GeometrySelected images from ''Margarita philosophica''From The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Digital Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reisch, Gregor
1460s births
1525 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Carthusians
German encyclopedists
People from the Duchy of Württemberg
University of Freiburg alumni
German male non-fiction writers