Philipp Clüver (also Klüwer, Cluwer, or Cluvier,

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 ...

ized as Philippus Cluverius and Philippi Cluverii) (1580 – 31 December 1622) was an Early Modern

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

Life

Clüver was born in Danzig (Gdańsk), in

Royal Prussia Royal Prussia ( pl, Prusy Królewskie; german: Königlich-Preußen or , csb, Królewsczé Prësë) or Polish PrussiaAnton Friedrich Büsching, Patrick Murdoch. ''A New System of Geography'', London 1762p. 588/ref> (Polish: ; German: ) was a ...

, a province of 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 exist ...

. After spending some time at the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

court of

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...

, he began the study of

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

(

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

), but soon he turned his attention to history and geography, which were then taught there by

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 ...

. Clüver received science education from his father, who was ''Münzmeister'' at Danzig (coin master), but when Clüver went into different studies, his father stopped supporting his studies. He therefore travelled from Leiden across

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

, where he did military service for a few years. While in Bohemia, he translated into Latin a defense by Baron Popel

Lobkowitz The House of Lobkowicz (''Lobkovicové'' in modern Czech, sg. ''z Lobkovic''; ''Lobkowitz'' in German) is a Czech noble family that dates back to the 14th century and is one of the oldest Bohemian noble families. The family also belong to the Ge ...

, who was imprisoned. Upon his return to Leiden, he faced sanctions by the

imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texa ...

(

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

) authorities for this, which however he could avoid with the help of his Leiden friends. Clüver also travelled in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He did all travel on foot, finally returning to Leiden, where (after 1616) he received a regular pension from the university. He died in

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 ...

Work

Clüver was an antiquary, who was given a special appointment at Leiden as geographer and put in charge of the university's library, but his life's project, it developed, was a general study of the geography of Antiquity, based not only on classical literary sources, but – and this was his contribution – supplemented by wide travels and local inspections. He became virtually the founder of

historical geography Historical geography is the branch of geography that studies the ways in which geographic phenomena have changed over time. It is a synthesizing discipline which shares both topical and methodological similarities with history, anthropology, eco ...

. Clüver's first work, in 1611, concerning the lower reaches of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and its tribal inhabitants in

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

(''Commentarius de tribus Rheni alveis, et ostiis; item. De Quinque populis quondam accolis; scilicet de Toxandris, Batavis, Caninefatibus, Frisiis, ac Marsacis'') touched a source of national pride among the

Seventeen Provinces The Seventeen Provinces were the Imperial states of the Habsburg Netherlands in the 16th century. They roughly covered the Low Countries, i.e., what is now the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and most of the French departments of Nord (Fre ...

, for the Dutch were enjoying a twelve years' truce in their

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

of liberation. Clüver's ''Germaniae antiquae libri tres'' (Leiden, 1616) depends on

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

and other Latin authors. A volume on the antiquities of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, with notes on

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

and

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

(''Sicilia Antiqua cum minoribus insulis ei adjacentibus item Sardinia et Corsica''), published at

by Louis Elsevier in 1619, is a useful source, with many reference from writers of Antiquity and maps that are often detached and sold to map collectors. His ''Introductio in universam geographiam'', totally 6 parts, (published posthumously from 1624) was the first comprehensive modern geography, and became a standard geographical textbook. Clüver was also a prolific a writer on mathematical and theological subjects. He is remembered by collectors and historians of

cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

for his edition of

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

's ''Geographia'' (based on

Mercator __NOTOC__ Mercator (Latin for "merchant") may refer to: People * Marius Mercator (c. 390–451), a Catholic ecclesiastical writer * Arnold Mercator, a 16th-century cartographer * Gerardus Mercator, a 16th-century cartographer ** Mercator 1569 ...

's edition of 1578) and for miniature atlases that were reprinted for most of the 17th century. Many of his maps were etched for him by

Petrus Bertius Petrus Bertius (also Peter Bertius; Pieter de Bert) (14 November 1565 – 13 October 1629) was a Flemish philosopher, theologian, historian, geographer and cartographer. Bertius published much in mathematics, and historical and theological works, b ...

Bibliography

*''Germania Antiqua'' (1616) *''Siciliae Antiquae libri duo'' (1619) *''Sardinia et Corsica Antiqua'' (1619) *''Italia Antiqua'' (1624, posthumous) *''Introductio in Universam Geographiam'' (1624–1629)

Gallery

Image:Germaniae antiquae, Plate 11, Clüver.jpg, ''Germania antiqua'', Pl. 11 Image:Germaniae antiquae libri tres, Plate 17, Clüver.jpg, ''Germania antiqua'', Pl. 17 Image:+Germaniae antiquae libri tres, Plate 18, Clüver.jpg, ''Germania antiqua'', Pl. 18 Image:Germaniae antiquae libri tres, Plate 24, Clüver.jpg, ''Germania antiqua'', Pl. 24

Notes

References

*
Philipp Clüver in ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie''

External links

Maps by Philipp Cluver
note on Philipp Cluver {{DEFAULTSORT:Cluver, Philipp 1580 births 1623 deaths 17th-century Latin-language writers German geographers 17th-century German historians Leiden University alumni Leiden University faculty Writers from Gdańsk German male non-fiction writers 17th-century German male writers Writers from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth