Martinus Smiglecius (another

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 ...

variant: ''Martinus Leopolitanus'', also pl, Marcin Śmiglecki, lt, Martynas Smigleckis; 11 November 1564 – 26 or 28 July 1618) was a Polish Jesuit philosopher and logician, known for his erudite scholastic ''Logica''.

Life

He was born on 11 November 1564 in Lwów (Leopolis) in the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

(now Lviv,

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). He used the surname Lwowczyk, or Leopolitanus, and later adopted the name Smiglecius (after the town of Smigle, from which his family originated). He attended the Jesuit school in

Pułtusk Pułtusk (pronounced ) is a town in northeast Poland, by the river Narew. Located north of Warsaw in the Masovian Voivodeship, it had a population of about 19,000 . Known for its historic architecture and Europe's longest paved marketplace ( in ...

and until 1586 studied in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he joined the Jesuit order in 1581. His education was financed by the prominent Polish statesman

Jan Zamojski Jan Sariusz Zamoyski ( la, Ioannes Zamoyski de Zamoscie; 19 March 1542 – 3 June 1605) was a Polish nobleman, magnate, and the 1st '' ordynat'' of Zamość. He served as the Royal Secretary from 1565, Deputy Chancellor from 1576, Grand Chan ...

. He obtained a master's degree in philosophy and a doctor's degree in theology at the Academy of Vilnius, and taught philosophy and theology there. In 1599 he took part in a public disputation with the Protestants Marcin Janicki and Daniel Mikołajewski. It was recorded by Martin Gratian Gertich. He spent the last 20 years of his life teaching in the colleges of Pułtusk,

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

and

Kalisz (The oldest city of Poland) , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town , image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...

. He died in Kalisz on 26 or 28 July 1618.

Publications

His early works include: *''Examen fidei sectariorum seu Notae verae et apostolicae fidei an scilicet fides, quam sectarij praedicant, sit vera et apostolica Joannis Twardowski'' (Wilno, 1594) *''Opisanie dispvtaciey nowogrodzkiey, ktorą miał X. Marcin Smiglecki, Societatis Iesv z Janem Licyniuszem, ministrem nowokrzczeńskim o przedwiecznym bostwie Syna Bożego 24 i 25 Ianuarii w roku 1594'' (Wilno, 1594) *''O Bostwie Przedwiecznym Syna Bozego Swiadectwa Pisma świętego do trzech przednieyszych Artykułow zebrane Przeciwko wszystkim Pana Jezusa Chrystusa nieprzyiacielom'' (Wilno, 1595) *''Absurda Synodu Torunskiego'' (Wilno, 1596) *''O lichwie y trzech przednieyszych kontraktach, wyderkowym, czynszowym y towarzystwa kupieckiego'' (Krakow, 1596) *''Zachariae prophetae pro Christi divinitate illustre testimonium adversus Fausti Socini'' (Wilno, 1596) *''Dysputacya Wileńska ktorą miał ..Marcin Smiglecki ..Z Ministrami Ewangelickimi 2. Junii w Roku 1599 O iedney Widomey Głowie Kościoła Bożego Wydana'' (Wilno, 1599/1600?) *''O ledney Widomey Glowie Kosciola Bozego'' (Wilno, 1600) Later works include: *''Vana sine viribus ira ministrorum evangelicorum: seu Refutatio vani cujusdam Epichirematis, missionem ministrorum evangelicorum propugnantis'' (Koln, 1611) *''Nova monstra novi arianismi, seu Absurdae haereses a novis Arianis in Poloniam importatae'' (Nissae, 1612) *''Verbum caro factum seu De divina verbo incarnato natura: Ex primo Evangelii S. Joannis capite, adversus novorum Arianorum errores'' (Krakow, 1613) *''Nodus Gordius seu De vocatione ministrorum sisputatio: In qua decem demonstrationibus ostenditur ministros Evangelicos non esse veros verbi Dei & sacramentorum ministros'' (Ingolstadt, 1613) *''Refutatio vanae dissolutionis nodi, gordii de vocatione ministrorum, Joanne Volkelio ministro Arriano tentatae'' (Krakow, 1614) *''De baptismo adversus Hieronymum Moscorovium Arianum, liber unus'' (Krakow, 1615) *''De Christo, vero et naturali Dei Filio, ejusdemque pro peccatis nostris satisfactione libri duo adversus impia dogmata V. Smalcii. ... Accessit Responio ad examinationem centum errorum Smalcio objectorum ab eodem Smalcio editam'' (Krakow, 1615) *''De erroribus novorum Arianorum libri duo. Adversus responsum Valentini Smalcii, quod dedit pro novis Arianorum suorum monstris'' (Krakow, 1615) *''De ordinatione sacerdotum in ecclesia Romana. Adversus Jacobi Zaborovii calviniani ministri dissertationem'' (Krakow, 1617) *''De notis ministrorum libri duo, oppositi Jacobi Zaborowii, in coetu Calvinistico ministri, responsioni futili ad nodum Gordium'' (Krakow, 1617) *''Logica'' (Ingolstadt, 1618)

The ''Logica''

Marcin Śmiglecki's "Logica", first published in 1618 in

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Ba ...

, was reprinted several times, in particular at

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 ...

in 1634, 1638, and 1658, being used there as a textbook. It harked back to

Gregory of Rimini Gregory of Rimini (c. 1300 – November 1358), also called Gregorius de Arimino or Ariminensis, was one of the great scholastic philosophers and theologians of the Middle Ages. He was the first scholastic writer to unite the Oxonian and Parisia ...

, discussing mental propositions. As a textbook author his reputation survived in the satirical poem ''The Logicians Refuted'', attributed to both

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dubl ...

and Oliver Goldsmith. Samuel Johnson, writing in 1751 as a fictitious correspondent in ''

The Rambler ''The Rambler'' was a periodical (strictly, a series of short papers) by Samuel Johnson. Description ''The Rambler'' was published on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 1750 to 1752 and totals 208 articles. It was Johnson's most consistent and sustain ...

'', claimed that as a student he "slept every night with Smiglecius on my pillow."

Views

In a live controversy of the time, Smiglecius sided with Benedictus Pereyra against

Giuseppe Biancani Giuseppe Biancani, SJ (Latin: Josephus Blancanus) (1566–1624) was an Italian Jesuit astronomer, mathematician, and selenographer, after whom the crater Blancanus on the Moon is named. He was a native of Bologna. Works His ''Aristoteli ...

. The issue was the status of

mathematical proof A mathematical proof is an inferential argument for a mathematical statement, showing that the stated assumptions logically guarantee the conclusion. The argument may use other previously established statements, such as theorems; but every proo ...

in physics, where Pereyra denied mathematics an essential status.Paolo Mancosu, ''Philosophy of Mathematics and Mathematical Practice in the Seventeenth Century'' (1996), p. 13 and p. 19.

References

External links

Works by Martinus Smiglecius
in digital library

Polona Polona is a Polish digital library, which provides digitized books, magazines, graphics, maps, music, fliers and manuscripts from collections of the National Library of Poland and co-operating institutions. It began its operation in 2006. Colle ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smiglecius 1564 births 1618 deaths 16th-century Polish Jesuits 17th-century Polish philosophers Vilnius University alumni Polish logicians Scholastic philosophers 17th-century Polish Jesuits