Hermann Wilken (1522 in

Neuenrade Neuenrade is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the hills of the Sauerland in the ''Märkischer Kreis''. Geography The highest elevation in the town area is the ''Kohlberg'' with an altitude of 514 m above sea level. The lowes ...

– 7 February 1603 in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

), also known as Hermann Witekind and with the pseudonym of Augustin Lercheimer, was a German

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

and

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

.Infos about Wilken at historicum.net

Biography

Originary of Neuenrade, 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 ...

, he studied in

Frankfurt (Oder) Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (), is a city in the German state of Brandenburg. It has around 57,000 inhabitants, is one of the easternmost cities in Germany, the fourth-largest city in Brandenburg, and the largest German ...

(1545/46) and in

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...

(1547), where he was an alumn of

Philipp Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lu ...

. In 1552 Wilken was recommended by him to teach at the Latin Cathedral School in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, becoming rector in 1554. In 1561 he studied at the

University of Rostock The University of Rostock (german: link=no, Universität Rostock) is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continen ...

and in 1563 he became professor of

Greek language Greek ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southern Al ...

in the Faculty of Arts at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

. In 1585 he published, under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

of Augustine Lercheimer, "''Christlich bedenken und erinnerung von Zauberey''" (i.e.: ''Christian memory about witchcraft''), his book against the persecution of witches. Some

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

theorists, as

Johann Georg Gödelmann Johann Georg Gödelmann, (also Godelmann) (May 12, 1559 – March 20, 1611) was a German jurist, diplomat and demonological writer. He was born in Tuttlingen, and died, aged 51, in Dresden. Selected works * ''Disputatio de magis, veneficis ...

and Anton Praetorius, were influenced by Wilken.

References

External links

Hermann Wilken at historicum.net

on the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

1522 births 1603 deaths German humanists 16th-century German mathematicians People from Märkischer Kreis Scientists from Heidelberg 17th-century German mathematicians {{Germany-mathematician-stub