Rudolph Snel van Royen (5 October 1546 – 2 March 1613), Latinized as Rudolph Snellius, was a Dutch

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

who held appointments at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

and 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 ...

. Snellius was an influence on some of the leading political and intellectual forces of the

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...

Life

Rudolph Snel van Royen was born on 5 October 1546 in

Oudewater Oudewater () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands. History The origin of the town of Oudewater is obscure and no information has been found concerning the first settlement of citizens. It is also difficult to recover the name of Oud ...

. Born to a wealthy family in Episcopal principality of Utrecht while this province was under the dominion of the

emperor Charles V Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) ...

, Rudolf Snel grew up in the city of

. At maturity he left to study at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

under

Valentin Naboth Valentin Naboth (also spelled ''Valentine Naibod'' or ''Nabod'') (13 February 1523 – 3 March 1593), known by the latinized name Valentinus Nabodus, was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. Life and academic career Valentin Na ...

and at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

under

Immanuel Tremellius Immanuel Tremellius ( it, Giovanni Emmanuele Tremellio; 1510 – 9 October 1580) was an Italian Jewish convert to Christianity. He was known as a leading Hebraist and Bible translator. Life He was born at Ferrara and educated at the University o ...

and soon received a teaching position at the

. Though trained in Aristotelian logic, he had become impressed with the new logic of

Petrus Ramus Petrus Ramus (french: Pierre de La Ramée; Anglicized as Peter Ramus ; 1515 – 26 August 1572) was a French humanist, logician, and educational reformer. A Protestant convert, he was a victim of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. Early life ...

, which he taught along with mathematics and languages at his university posts. In 1578, he returned to Oudewater soon after its devastation in a Spanish siege during the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) (Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#Name and periodisation, c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and t ...

. It was not long before he was offered, and accepted, a position as professor of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and mathematics at the

. That summer he married Machteld Cornelisdochter, who had survived the Oudewater massacre. She accompanied him to Leiden, where he taught until his death in 1613. He was the father of

Willebrord Snellius Willebrord Snellius (born Willebrord Snel van Royen) (13 June 158030 October 1626) was a Dutch astronomer and mathematician, Snell. His name is usually associated with the law of refraction of light known as Snell's law. The lunar crater Sn ...

(1580–1626). Snellius died on 2 March 1613 and was buried in the ''Grote kerk'' in his hometown Oudewater.

Influence

While visiting

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

in 1575, he befriended the young

Jacobus Arminius Jacobus Arminius (10 October 1560 – 19 October 1609), the Latinized name of Jakob Hermanszoon, was a Dutch theologian during the Protestant Reformation period whose views became the basis of Arminianism and the Dutch Remonstrant movement. He ...

, then an impoverished student in Oudewater who would accompany him back to Marburg to take up his studies. Arminius, too, would return to Leiden to teach, and his theological doctrines would have an effect on the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in Holland and beyond.Bangs, chapter 2. Another student of Snellius, this time at Leiden, was the child prodigy

Hugo Grotius Hugo Grotius (; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Huig de Groot () and Hugo de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, poet and playwright. A teenage intellectual prodigy, he was born in Delft ...

, who would not only become involved in the political battles surrounding Arminius, but would later establish himself as a founding political theorist of the early modern age. His son Willebrord was the astronomer and mathematician who gave his name to

Snell's law Snell's law (also known as Snell–Descartes law and ibn-Sahl law and the law of refraction) is a formula used to describe the relationship between the angles of incidence and refraction, when referring to light or other waves passing through ...

Notes

References

External links

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Portrait of Rudolph Snellius from the Lick Observatory Records Digital Archive, UC Santa Cruz Library's Digital Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snellius, Rudolph 1546 births 1613 deaths Linguists from the Netherlands 16th-century Dutch mathematicians Leiden University faculty People from Oudewater University of Cologne alumni Heidelberg University alumni University of Marburg faculty 17th-century Dutch mathematicians The first sentence says, "Latinized by Rudolph Snellius." But the picture and publications note his first name in Latin as "Rudolphus".