Johannes Meursius (van Meurs) (9 February 1579 – 20 September 1639) was a Dutch

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

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

Biography

Meursius was born Johannes van Meurs at

Loosduinen Loosduinen () is a former village in the Netherlands that was a municipality unto itself until 1923, when it was annexed by The Hague and subsequently became a district of the city. Within the district there is also a neighbourhood (Dutch:wijk) c ...

, near

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. He was extremely precocious, and at the age of sixteen produced a commentary on the ''Cassandra'' of

Lycophron Lycophron (; grc-gre, Λυκόφρων ὁ Χαλκιδεύς; born about 330–325 BC) was a Hellenistic Greek tragic poet, grammarian, sophist, and commentator on comedy, to whom the poem ''Alexandra'' is attributed (perhaps falsely). Life and ...

. For ten years he was the tutor to the children of

Johan van Oldenbarnevelt Johan van Oldenbarnevelt (), Heer van Berkel en Rodenrijs (1600), Gunterstein (1611) and Bakkum (1613) (14 September 1547 – 13 May 1619) was a Dutch statesman and revolutionary who played an important role in the Dutch struggle for indepen ...

, accompanying the family on Oldenbarnevelt's diplomatic missions to many of the courts of Europe.Johannes van Meurs in Abraham van der Aa While on such a trip, in 1608 he obtained a doctorate of Law in

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and 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 ...

and history at

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

, and in the following year

historiographer Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians hav ...

to the

States-General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States ...

. After Oldenbarnevelt's execution in 1619, though he had attempted to remain neutral in religious affairs, Meursius was seen as leaning toward

Arminianism Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...

, or

Remonstrant The Remonstrants (or the Remonstrant Brotherhood) is a Protestant movement that had split from the Dutch Reformed Church in the early 17th century. The early Remonstrants supported Jacobus Arminius, and after his death, continued to maintain his ...

beliefs by reason of his service to the Oldenbarnevelt children, and his position at Leiden was challenged. In consequence of this he welcomed the offer (1625) of

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

to become professor of history and politics at Soro, in

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

, combined with the office of

historiographer royal Historiographer Royal is the title of an appointment as official chronicler or historian of a court or monarch. It was initially particularly associated with the French monarchy, where the post existed from at least 1550, but in the later 16th and 1 ...

, in which role he produced a Latin history of Denmark (1630–38), ''Historia Danica''. He died in

Sorø Sorø () is a town in Sorø municipality in Region Sjælland on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in east Denmark. The population is 7,999 (2022).

. Meursius was the author of classical editions and treatises, many of which are printed in J.F. Gronovius's ''Thesaurus antiquitatum graecarum''. Their lack of arrangement detracts from their value, but they are a storehouse of information, and Meursius does not deserve the epithets of "pedant" and "ignoramus" which

Joseph Justus 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, Jewish an ...

applied to him. Meursius also wrote about the troubles in the Netherlands. Meursius also authored the ''Glossarium graeco-barbarum'',''Glossarium graeco-barbarum''
/ref> one of the first dictionaries of

Modern Greek Modern Greek (, , or , ''Kiní Neoellinikí Glóssa''), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the ...

. Complete edition of his works by J. Lami (1741–1763). See Van der Aa's ''Biographisch Woordenboek der Nederlanden'' (1869), and J.E. Sandys, ''History of Classical Scholarship'' (1908), ii. 311.

Satyra sotadica

''The School of Women'' first appeared as a work 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 ...

entitled ''Aloisiae Sigaeae, Toletanae, Satyra sotadica de arcanis Amoris et Veneris''. This manuscript claimed that it was originally written in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

Luisa Sigea de Velasco Luisa Sigea de Velasco (1522 in Tarancón – October 13, 1560 in Burgos), also known as Luisa Sigeia, Luisa Sigea Toledana and in the Latinized form Aloysia Sygaea Toletana, was a poet and intellectual, one of the major figures of Spanish hum ...

, an erudite poet and maid of honor at the court of

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

and was then translated into Latin by Jean or Johannes Meursius. The attribution to Sigea was a lie and Meursius was a complete fabrication; the true author was

Nicolas Chorier Nicolas Chorier (September 1, 1612 – August 14, 1692) was a French lawyer, writer, and historian. He is known especially for his historical works on Dauphiné, as well as his erotic dialogue called ''The School of Women, or The Seven Flirtat ...

Selected works

* 1612: ''Res Belgicae'', Lugduni Batavorum * 1614: ''Glossarium graecobarbarum'', Lugduni Batavorum * 1617: ''Lectiones Atticae'', Lugduni Batavorum * 1619: ''Eleusinia, siue, De Cereris Eleusinae sacro, ac festo: Liber Singularis'', Lugduni Batavorum * 1625: ''Athenae Batavae'', Lugduni Batavorum * 1630: ''Historia Danica'', Hafniae * 1684: ''Theseus; sive de ejus vita rebusque gestis liber postumus. Accedunt ejusdem Paralipomena de pagis Atticis, et excerpta ex ... Jacobi Sponii Itinerario de iisdem pagis. Ultrajecti: apud Franciscum Halma (On J. F. Gronovius's '' Thesaurus antiquitatum graecarum'')

References and sources

;References ;Sources *

Biography

Satyra sotadica

Selected works

References and sources

Further reading