Karl Widemann or Carl Widemann or Carolus Widemann, was a German author, physician and collector of manuscripts, from

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

, and secretary of the English alchemist

Edward Kelley Sir Edward Kelley or Kelly, also known as Edward Talbot (; 1 August 1555 – 1597/8), was an English Renaissance occultist and scryer. He is best known for working with John Dee in his magical investigations. Besides the professed ability to ...

, at the court of Emperor

Rudolph II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Ho ...

Life

Between 1587 and 1588, Widemann worked in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

for Edward Kelly at the court of Emperor Rudolph II. Widemann also worked in

Třeboň Třeboň (; german: Wittingau) is a spa town in Jindřichův Hradec District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,100 inhabitants. The town centre with the castle complex is well preserved and is protected by law as an ...

for the Rožmberks, also known as the

Rosenberg family The House of Rosenberg ( cs, Rožmberkové, sg. ''z Rožmberka'') was a prominent Bohemian noble family that played an important role in Czech medieval history from the 13th century until 1611. Members of this family held posts at the Pragu ...

. Karl Widemann is known for copying and collecting over 30 years the works from Paracelsus. Because of this many unpublished works from Paracelsus survived to the present day. He did the same for the works of Caspar Schwenckfeld, and Widemann's close colleagues Valentin Krautwald and Adam Reissner. After Helisaeus Roeslin's (Helisäus Röslin) death in 1616, his unpublished astrology, theology and kabbalistic work merged into the manuscript collection of Karl Widemann.

Adam Haslmayr Adam Haslmayr (31 October 1562 – 16 January 1630) was a German writer, who was the first commentator of the Rosicrucian Manifestos. He called the revelation of Paracelsus the "Theophrastia Sancta". Life Adam Haslmayr was born in Bozen, South Tyr ...

a close friend of Widemann, wrote him a letter about

Rosicrucian Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking it ...

people who revealed the Theophrastiam, on December 24, 1611.

Voynich manuscript

In March 1599 Emperor Rudolph II bought books from Karl Widemann for 500 Taler. However, these books were not catalogued in Rudolph's ''Kunstkammer'' inventory.

Works

*''Interpraetatio Mystica et Vera in Quartum librum Esdrae Prophetae'' - 1619 *''Paracelsi Testamentum''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Widemann, Karl 16th-century births 16th-century German physicians 17th-century German physicians 16th-century German writers 16th-century German male writers 17th-century German writers 17th-century German male writers Year of death unknown