Hermann von der Hardt (November 15, 1660 – February 28, 1746) was a German

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and orientalist. He was born at

Melle Melle may refer to: People * Basil Melle (1891–1966), South African cricketer * Gil Mellé (1931–2004), American artist, jazz musician and film composer * John van Melle (1887–1953), Dutch-born South African author * Melle Mel (born 19 ...

, in

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

(now in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

). He studied oriental languages at the universities of Jena and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, and in 1690 he was called to the chair of oriental languages at

Helmstedt Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. The historic university and Hanseatic city conserves an important monumental heritage of ...

. He resigned his position in 1727, but lived at

until his death. Among his numerous writings the following deserve mention: *''Autographa Lutheri aliorumque celebrium virorum, ab anno 1517 ad annum 1546, Reformationis aetatem et historiam egregie iliustrantia'' (1690–1691) *''Magnum oecumenicum Constantiense concilium'' (1697–1700) *''Hebraeae linguae fundamenta'' (1694) *''Syriacae linguae fundamenta'' (1694) *''Elementa Chaldaica'' (1693) *''Historia litteraria reformationis'' (1717) *''Enigmata prisci orbis'' (1723) Hardt left in manuscript a history of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

which is preserved in the Helmstedt Juleum.

References

Ferdinand Lamey Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

, ''Hermann von der Hardt in seinen Briefen'' (Karlsruhe, 1891). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardt, Hermann von der 1660 births 1746 deaths People from Melle, Germany German orientalists University of Jena alumni Leipzig University alumni University of Helmstedt faculty German male non-fiction writers