Isaac Casaubon (; ; 18 February 1559 – 1 July 1614) was a
classical scholar
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
and
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...
, first in France and then later in England.
His son
Méric Casaubon was also a classical scholar.
Life
Early life
He was born in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...
to two French
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
refugees. The family returned to France after the
Edict of Saint-Germain in 1562, and settled at
Crest in
Dauphiné
The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois.
In the 12th centu ...
, where Arnaud Casaubon, Isaac's father, became minister of a Huguenot congregation. Until he was nineteen, Isaac had no education other than that given him by his father. Arnaud was away from home for long periods in the
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...
camp, and the family regularly fled to the hills to hide from bands of armed
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
s who patrolled the country. It was in a cave in the mountains of Dauphiné, after the
St Bartholomew's Day's Massacre, that Isaac received his first lesson in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, based on
Isocrates
Isocrates (; grc, Ἰσοκράτης ; 436–338 BC) was an ancient Greek rhetorician, one of the ten Attic orators. Among the most influential Greek rhetoricians of his time, Isocrates made many contributions to rhetoric and education throu ...
' ''Ad Demonicum''.
At the age of nineteen Isaac was sent to the
Academy of Geneva, where he read Greek under
Franciscus Portus
Franciscus Portus (Latin; Greek: Φραγκίσκος Πόρτος, Italian: Francesco Porto) (1511 – 1581) was a Greek-Italian Renaissance humanist and classical scholar.
Biography
Born on Crete on 22 August 1511, Portus was orphaned early. He ...
, a
Cretan
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...
. Portus died in 1581, recommending Casaubon, then only twenty-two, as his successor. He remained at Geneva as professor of Greek until 1596. There he married twice, his second wife being Florence Estienne, daughter of the scholar-printer
Henri Estienne
Henri Estienne (; ; 1528 or 15311598), also known as Henricus Stephanus (), was a French printer and classical scholar. He was the eldest son of Robert Estienne. He was instructed in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew by his father and would eventually ta ...
. At Geneva, Casaubon lacked example, encouragement and assistance and struggled against the troops of the Catholic dukes of
Savoy
Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps.
Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south.
Sa ...
, but became a consummate Greek and classical scholar. He spent all the money he could spare on books, including copying classics that were not then in print. Even though Henri Estienne,
Theodore de Beza
Theodore Beza ( la, Theodorus Beza; french: Théodore de Bèze or ''de Besze''; June 24, 1519 – October 13, 1605) was a French Calvinist Protestant theologian, reformer and scholar who played an important role in the Protestant Reformation ...
(rector of the university and professor of theology), and Jacques Lect (Lectius), were men of superior learning, they often had no time for Casaubon.
Casaubon sought help by cultivating the acquaintance of foreign scholars, as Geneva, the metropolis of
Calvinism
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
, received a constant stream of visitors. He eventually met
Henry Wotton
Sir Henry Wotton (; 30 March 1568 – December 1639) was an English author, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1614 and 1625. When on a mission to Augsburg, in 1604, he famously said, "An ambassador is an honest gentlema ...
, a poet and diplomat, who lodged with him and borrowed his money. More importantly, he met
Richard Thomson ("Dutch" Thomson), fellow of
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...
, and through Thomson came to the attention of
Joseph Scaliger
Joseph Justus Scaliger (; 5 August 1540 – 21 January 1609) was a French Calvinist religious leader and scholar, known for expanding the notion of classical history from Greek and Ancient Roman history to include Persian, Babylonian, Jewis ...
. Scaliger and Casaubon first exchanged letters in 1594. They never met, but kept up a lengthy correspondence that shows their growing admiration, esteem and friendship. Influential French men of letters, the
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
Jacques Bongars
Jacques Bongars (155429 July 1612) was a French scholar and diplomat.
Life
Bongars was born at Orléans, and was brought up in the Reformed faith. He obtained his early education at Marburg and Jena, and returning to France continued his studies ...
, the Catholic
Jacques de Thou, and the Catholic convert
Philippe Canaye Philippe de La Canaye, sieur de Fresnes (1551–27 February 1610) was a French jurist and diplomat.
Life
He was born in Paris, son of an advocate of the Parlement; he was brought up liberally and allowed to choose his beliefs, which became Calvi ...
(sieur de
Fresnes) endeavoured to get Casaubon invited to France.
In 1596, they succeeded, and Casaubon accepted a post at the
University of Montpellier
The University of Montpellier (french: Université de Montpellier) is a public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest universities in the wor ...
, with the titles of ''conseiller du roi'' (king's advisor) and ''professeur stipendié aux langues et bonnes lettres'' (salaried professor of languages and literatures). He stayed there for only three years, with several prolonged absences. He was badly treated and poorly paid by the university authorities. Casaubon began to see the editing of Greek books as a more suitable job for him. At Geneva he had produced some notes on
Diogenes Laërtius,
Theocritus
Theocritus (; grc-gre, Θεόκριτος, ''Theokritos''; born c. 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry.
Life
Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from h ...
and the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
. He debuted as an editor with a complete edition of
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
(1587), of which he was so ashamed afterwards that he apologized to Scaliger for it. This was followed by the text of
Polyaenus
Polyaenus or Polyenus ( ; see ae (æ) vs. e; grc-gre, Πoλύαινoς, Polyainos, "much-praised") was a 2nd-century CE Greek author, known best for his ''Stratagems in War'' ( grc-gre, Στρατηγήματα, Strategemata), which has been pr ...
, an ''
editio princeps'', 1589; a text of
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
, 1590; and a few notes contributed to Estienne's editions of
Dionysius of Halicarnassus and
Pliny
Pliny may refer to:
People
* Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'')
* Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...
's ''Epistolae''. His edition of
Theophrastus
Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routledge ...
's ''Characteres'' (1592), is the first example of his peculiar style of illustrative commentary, at once apposite and profuse. When he left for Montpellier he was already engaged upon his ''
magnum opus
A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...
'', his editing of and commentary on
Athenaeus
Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of th ...
.
Travels and tribulations
In 1598 Casaubon was at
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
, overseeing the printing of his ''Athenaeus''. Here he lived in the house of
Méric de Vicq, ''surintendant de la justice'' (Superintendent of Justice), a liberal-minded
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. Accompanied by de Vicq, Casaubon briefly visited Paris, where he was presented to King
Henry IV of France
Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...
. The king said something about employing Casaubon's services in the "restoration" of the fallen
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
. In January 1599, he received a summons to return to Paris, but the terms of the letter were so vague that Casaubon hesitated to act on it. However, he resigned his chair at Montpellier. He stayed another year at
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
with de Vicq, where he hoped to meet the king, who was expected to visit the south. Nothing more was heard about the professorship, but instead De Vicq summoned him to Paris for important business: the
Fontainebleau Conference. Casaubon was persuaded to sit as a referee on the challenge sent to
Du Plessis Mornay by
Cardinal Duperron
Jacques Davy Duperron (15 November 1556 – 6 December 1618) was a French politician and Roman Catholic cardinal.
Family and Education
Jacques Davy du Perron was born in Saint-Lô in Normandy, into the Davy family, of the Norman minor nobility, ...
. By so doing he placed himself in a false position, as
Joseph Scaliger
Joseph Justus Scaliger (; 5 August 1540 – 21 January 1609) was a French Calvinist religious leader and scholar, known for expanding the notion of classical history from Greek and Ancient Roman history to include Persian, Babylonian, Jewis ...
said:
''"Non debebat Casaubon interesse colloquio Plessiaeano; erat asinus inter simias, doctus inter imperitos."''
"Casaubon ought not to have been involved in the conference about Du Plessis; he was a donkey among monkeys, a learned man among the ignorant."
The issue was contrived that the Protestant party (Du Plessis Mornay) could not fail to lose. By concurring with this decision, Casaubon confirmed the Protestants' suspicions that, like his friend and patron, Philippe Canaye, he was contemplating
abjuration
Abjuration is the solemn repudiation, abandonment, or renunciation by or upon oath, often the renunciation of citizenship or some other right or privilege. The term comes from the Latin ''abjurare'', "to forswear".
Abjuration of the realm
Abju ...
. From then on, he became the object of the hopes and fears of the two religions; the Catholics lavishing promises and plying him with arguments; the Protestant ministers insinuating that he was preparing to forsake a losing cause, and only haggling about his price. Neither side could understand that Casaubon's reading of the
church fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...
led him to adopt an intermediate position between Genevan
Calvinism
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
and
Ultramontanism
Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by th ...
.
Meanwhile, the king repeated his invitation to Casaubon to settle in Paris, and gave him a pension. No more was said about the university. The recent reform of the University of Paris closed its doors to all but Catholics; and though the chairs of the
Collège de France
The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...
were not governed by the statutes of the university, public opinion ran so violently against Protestants, that Henry IV dared not appoint a Calvinist to that position. When the king's sub-
librarian
A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users.
The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...
Jean Gosselin died of extreme old age in 1604, Casaubon succeeded him, with a salary of 400 ''livres'' in addition to his pension.
Paris
Casaubon remained in Paris until the assassination of Henry IV in 1610. These ten years were the brightest period of his life. He had attained the reputation of being a learned man, in an age in which learning formed the sole standard of literary merit. He had money, the ability to worship as a Huguenot (though he had to travel to Hablon, ten miles from the center of Paris, or
Charenton to worship), and the society of men of letters, both domestic and foreign. Above all, he had ample facilities for using Greek books, both printed and in manuscript, the want of which he had felt painfully at Geneva and Montpellier, and which only Paris could supply at that time.
Despite all these advantages, Casaubon considered many schemes for leaving Paris and settling elsewhere. Offers came to him from various quarters, including
Nîmes,
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 ...
and
Sedan, France
Sedan () is a commune in the Ardennes department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. It is also the chef-lieu (administrative centre) of the arrondissement of the same name.
Location
The town is situated about 200 km from Paris, ...
. His friends Lect and
Giovanni Diodati
Giovanni Diodati or Deodati (3 June 15763 October 1649) was a Genevan-born Italian Calvinist theologian and translator. His translation of the Bible into Italian from Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Syriac sources became the reference version used by ...
wished, rather than hoped, to get him back to Geneva. In Paris, Casaubon was still uneasy about his religion: the life of a Parisian Huguenot was always insecure, for the police were likely not strong enough to protect them against a sudden mob uprising. Since the Fontainebleau Conference, an impression prevailed that Casaubon was wavering. The Catholics told him he could gain a professorship only if he renounced Protestantism. When it became clear that Casaubon could not be bought, Henry IV, who liked Casaubon personally, took it upon himself to try to convert him. (Henry himself had converted to Catholicism in order to rule France.) The king's cardinal Duperron, in his capacity of ''
aumonier'', argued with Casaubon in the king's library. On the other hand, the Huguenot theologians, especially
Pierre du Moulin
Pierre Du Moulin ( Latinized as Petrus Molinaeus; 16 October 1568 – 10 March 1658) was a Huguenot minister in France who also resided in England for some years.
Life
Born in Buhy in 1568, he was the son of Joachim Du Moulin, a Protestant minis ...
, chief pastor of the church of Paris, accused Casaubon of conceding too much, and of having departed already from the lines of strict Calvinistic orthodoxy.
England
When the assassination of Henry IV gave full rein to the
Ultramontane
Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by th ...
party at court, Duperron became more importunate, even menacing. Casaubon began to pay attention to overtures from the bishops and the court of England. In October 1610 he came to England in the suite of the ambassador,
Lord Wotton of Marley (brother of Casaubon's early friend Henry Wotton), an official invitation having been sent him by
Richard Bancroft,
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
. He had the most flattering reception from King
James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
*James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
*James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
*James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
, who often sent for him to discuss theological matters. The English
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
s were delighted to find that the great French scholar was a ready-made
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
, who had arrived, by independent study of the Fathers, at the very ''via media'' (middle way) between
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
ism and
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
which was becoming the fashion in the English Church. Casaubon, though a layman, was collated to a
prebendal stall
A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...
in Canterbury, and a pension of £300 a year was assigned him from the exchequer. King James insisted that "I will have Mr Casaubon paid before me, my wife, and my barnes." Casaubon still retained his appointments in France, and his office as librarian: he had obtained leave of absence for the visit to England, where he was not supposed to settle permanently. In order to retain their hold on him, the queen regent,
Marie de Medici
Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...
refused to allow his library to be sent over. It required a specific request from James himself to allow Madame Casaubon to bring him a part of his most necessary books. Casaubon continued to speak of himself as the servant of the regent, and to declare his readiness to return when summoned to do so.
Casaubon found great success in England. English Bishop
John Overall received him and his whole family into the deanery of St Paul's, and entertained him there for a year.
Lancelot Andrewes
Lancelot Andrewes (155525 September 1626) was an English bishop and scholar, who held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chi ...
, then
Bishop of Ely, also became Casaubon's friend, taking him to Cambridge, where he met with a most gratifying reception from the notabilities of the university. They went on together to the Bishop's Palace at
Little Downham near
Ely, where Casaubon spent six weeks of the summer of 1611, in which year he became naturalized. He accompanied the bishop on visits to nearby towns including
Doddington and
Wisbech
Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland Port of Wisbech, port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bord ...
.
In 1613 he was taken to
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
by
Sir Henry Savile
Sir Henry Savile (30 November 154919 February 1622) was an English scholar and mathematician, Warden of Merton College, Oxford, and Provost of Eton. He endowed the Savilian chairs of Astronomy and of Geometry at Oxford University, and was one ...
, where, amid the homage and feasting of which he was the object, his principal interest was for the manuscript treasures of the
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
. He declined the honorary degree which was offered him.
Still, Casaubon gradually discovered the serious inconveniences of his position. Having been taken up by the king and the bishops, he had to share in their rising unpopularity. The courtiers were jealous of a foreign pensioner who was so close to the king. Casaubon was especially mortified by Sir Henry Wotton's behaviour towards him, so inconsistent with their former intimacy. His windows were broken by vandals, and his children were pelted in the streets. On one occasion he appeared at
Theobalds
Theobalds House (also known as Theobalds Palace) in the parish of Cheshunt in the English county of Hertfordshire, was a significant stately home and (later) royal palace of the 16th and early 17th centuries. Set in extensive parkland, it was a r ...
with a black eye, having been assaulted in the street. These outrages seem to have arisen solely from the English antipathy to the Frenchman: Casaubon, though he could read an English book, could not speak English. This deficiency exposed him to insult and fraud, and restricted his social activity. It excluded him from the circle of the "wits"; and he was not accepted in the circle of the "antiquaries" like
William Camden
William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and the ''Ann ...
,
Sir Robert Cotton and
Henry Spelman
Sir Henry Spelman (c. 1562 – October 1641) was an English antiquary, noted for his detailed collections of medieval records, in particular of church councils.
Life
Spelman was born in Congham, Norfolk, the eldest son of Henry Spelman (d. 1581 ...
.
Although Sir Henry Savile ostensibly patronized him, Casaubon could not help suspecting that it was Savile who had persuaded
Richard Montagu
Richard Montagu (or Mountague) (1577 – 13 April 1641) was an English cleric and prelate.
Early life
Montagu was born during Christmastide 1577 at Dorney, Buckinghamshire, where his father Laurence Mountague was vicar, and was educated at ...
to forestall Casaubon's book on
Baronius
Cesare Baronio (as an author also known as Caesar Baronius; 30 August 1538 – 30 June 1607) was an Italian cardinal and historian of the Catholic Church. His best-known works are his ''Annales Ecclesiastici'' ("Ecclesiastical Annals"), whi ...
. An exception was
John Selden
John Selden (16 December 1584 – 30 November 1654) was an English jurist, a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath; John Milton hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned ...
who was close enough to Casaubon to lend him money. Besides the jealousy of the natives, Casaubon had now to suffer the open attacks of the
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
pamphleteers, who, after he committed to Anglicism, detested him. Not only
Joannes Eudaemon,
Heribert Rosweyd and
Scioppius (Gaspar Schoppe), but a respectable writer, friendly to Casaubon,
Andreas Schott
Andreas Schott (latinised as ''Andreas Schottus'' and ''Andreas Scottus''; 12 September 1552 – 23 January 1629) was an academic, linguist, translator, editor and a Jesuit priest from Antwerp in the Habsburg Netherlands. He was mainly known f ...
of
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, , gave currency to the insinuation that Casaubon had sold his conscience for English gold.
The most serious cause of discomfort in England was that his time was no longer his own. He was continually being summoned to one or other of James's hunting residences in order to converse. The king and the bishops compelled him to write pamphlets on the subject of the day, the royal supremacy. At last, ashamed of misappropriating Casaubon's stores of learning, they asked him to refute the popular ''
Annals of Baronius''.
In 1614 he published ''De rebus sacris et ecclesiasticis exercitationes XVI'' which consisted of a philological analysis of the ''
Corpus Hermeticum'', a series of neo-platonic texts. He placed their origin in the third or fourth century AD, rather than in a much earlier "hermetic" period to which they had generally been ascribed.
He died in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
of a congenital malformation of the bladder; but his end was hastened by an unhealthy life of over-study, and by his anxiety to acquit himself creditably in his criticism on Baronius. He was buried in
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
. The monument by which his name is there commemorated was erected in 1632 by his friend
Thomas Morton when Bishop of
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
.
Scholarship and correspondence
Besides the editions already mentioned, Casaubon published and commented upon
Persius
Aulus Persius Flaccus (; 4 December 3424 November 62 AD) was a Roman poet and satirist of Etruscan origin. In his works, poems and satires, he shows a Stoic wisdom and a strong criticism for what he considered to be the stylistic abuses of his ...
,
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire.
His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...
,
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
, and the ''
Scriptores Historiae Augustae
The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...
''. The edition of
Polybius
Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail.
Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
, on which he had spent vast labour, he left unfinished. His most ambitious work was his revision of the text of the ''Deipnosophistae'' of Athenaeus, with commentary. The
Theophrastus
Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routledge ...
perhaps exhibits his most characteristic excellences as a commentator. The ''Exercitationes in Baronium'' are but a fragment of the massive criticism which he contemplated; it failed in presenting the uncritical character of Baronius's history, and had only a moderate success, even among Protestants. His analysis of the ''
Corpus Hermeticum'' overturned the previous general opinion in Europe that these texts dated from almost the time of
Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
by locating them between 200 and 300
AD.
His correspondence (in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
) was finally collected by
Theodorus Janssonius van Almeloveen Theodorus Janssonius van Almeloveen (24 July 1657 – 28 July 1712) (Theodoor Jansson) was a Dutch physician, and the learned editor of various classical and medical works. He was born at Mijdrecht, near Utrecht, where his father was minister of t ...
(Rotterdam, 1709), who prefixed to the letters a careful biography of Casaubon. But Almeloveen was acquainted with Casaubon's diary only in extract. More recently, a complete edition of all the letters written by and to Casaubon during his stay in England was published with extensive cultural-historical notes and introduction (Geneva, 2018). Casaubon's diary, ''Ephemerides'', whose manuscript is preserved in the chapter library of Canterbury, was printed in 1850 by the
Clarendon Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
. It forms the most valuable record we possess of the daily life of a scholar, or man of letters, of the 16th century.
Casaubon corresponded with scholars all over Europe, including
Johannes van den Driesche
Johannes van den Driesche r Drusius(28 June 1550February 1616) was a Flemish Protestant divine, distinguished specially as an Orientalist, Christian Hebraist and exegete.
Life
He was born at Oudenarde, in Flanders. Intended for the church, h ...
and, more surprisingly, one of the doctors of the
Ambrosiana Library
The Biblioteca Ambrosiana is a historic library in Milan, Italy, also housing the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the Ambrosian art gallery. Named after Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, it was founded in 1609 by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, whose agen ...
and eminent historian of Milan,
Giuseppe Ripamonti.
He also corresponded with the translators of the
King James Version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...
of the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
and helped resolve issues in the translation.
Literary appearances
The scholars in ''
Foucault's Pendulum
''Foucault's Pendulum'' (original title: ''Il pendolo di Foucault'' ) is a novel by Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco. It was first published in 1988, and an English translation by William Weaver appeared a year later.
''Foucault's P ...
'' by
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of th ...
and ''
Middlemarch
''Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life'' is a novel by the English author Mary Anne Evans, who wrote as George Eliot. It first appeared in eight installments (volumes) in 1871 and 1872. Set in Middlemarch, a fictional English Midland town, ...
'' by
George Eliot
Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...
are named Casaubon.
Mary Gentle
Mary Rosalyn Gentle (born 29 March 1956) is a UK science fiction and fantasy author.
Literary career
Mary Gentle's first published novel was ''Hawk in Silver'' (1977), a young-adult fantasy. She came to prominence with the '' Orthe'' duology, w ...
named a character in her novels ''Rats and Gargoyles and the Architecture of Desire'' Casaubon, as an homage to Isaac Casaubon.
Ross King makes mention of Casaubon in his novel ''Ex-Libris'', where he is said to have debunked the ''Corpus Hermeticum'' as a forgery (which he probably took from
Frances Yates
Dame Frances Amelia Yates (28 November 1899 – 29 September 1981) was an English historian of the Renaissance, who wrote books on esoteric history.
After attaining an MA in French at University College London, she began to publish her resear ...
' ''
Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition'', published in 1964).
In their book ''Isaac Casaubon, the Jews, and a Forgotten Chapter in Renaissance Scholarship'',
Anthony Grafton
Anthony Thomas Grafton (born May 21, 1950) is an American historian of early modern Europe and the Henry Putnam University Professor of History at Princeton University, where he is also the Director the Program in European Cultural Studies. He i ...
and Joanna Weinberg show that Casaubon was a Hebrew scholar too, taking serious interest in Jewish studies.
The Jewish bibliographer Isaac ben Jacob, in his Bibliography ''Otsar Hasefarim'' (1880), mentions notations on ''Michlol'', the Hebrew book by
David Kimhi ''Cervera Bible'', David Qimhi's Grammar Treatise
David Kimhi ( he, ר׳ דָּוִד קִמְחִי, also Kimchi or Qimḥi) (1160–1235), also known by the Hebrew acronym as the RaDaK () (Rabbi David Kimhi), was a medieval rabbi, biblical comm ...
on Hebrew grammar, which he attributes to one "Rabbi Isaac Casaubon".
Works
*Casaubon, Isaac, ''De Satyrica Graecorum & Romanorum Satira'', Paris, 1605. Facsimile ed., ed. Peter E. Medine, 1973, Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, .
See also
*
Ralph Cudworth
Ralph Cudworth ( ; 1617 – 26 June 1688) was an English Anglican clergyman, Christian Hebraist, classicist, theologian and philosopher, and a leading figure among the Cambridge Platonists who became 11th Regius Professor of Hebrew ...
Notes
References
*Caterina Marrone, I geroglifici fantastici di Athanasius Kircher, Nuovi Equilibri, Viterbo, 2002, pag. 166, .
*
*A. Grafton and J. Weinberg, ''"I have always loved the Holy Tongue": Isaac Casaubon, the Jews, and a Forgotten Chapter in Renaissance Scholarship'', Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2011.
*Paul Botley and Máté Vince (eds),
The Correspondence of Isaac Casaubon in England, 1610-14 4 volumes'', Geneva, Droz, 2018.
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casaubon, Isaac
1559 births
1614 deaths
Scholars from the Republic of Geneva
Writers from the Republic of Geneva
English people of French descent
French classical scholars
French librarians
Huguenots
French Calvinist and Reformed Christians
Collège de France faculty
16th-century French people
16th-century Calvinist and Reformed Christians