The University of Altdorf () was a

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

in Altdorf bei Nürnberg, a small town outside the

Free Imperial City of Nuremberg The Imperial City of Nuremberg (german: Reichsstadt Nürnberg) was a free imperial city — independent city-state — within the Holy Roman Empire. After Nuremberg gained piecemeal independence from the Burgraviate of Nuremberg in the High Midd ...

. It was founded in 1578 and received university privileges in 1622 and was closed in 1809 by Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria.

History

In the period 1614–1617 Altdorf was briefly the centre of

Socinianism Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), un ...

in Germany. Encouraged by the connections of German

Antitrinitarians Nontrinitarianism is a form of Christianity that rejects the mainstream Christian doctrine of the Trinity—the belief that God is three distinct hypostases or persons who are coeternal, coequal, and indivisibly united in one being, or essen ...

to the Racovian Academy in Poland, German and Polish Socinians attempted to establish in Altdorf a similar Academy. Among the notable Socinian students was the 26-year-old

Samuel Przypkowski Samuel Przypkowski (Przipcovius, Pripcovius) (1592–19 April 1670, Königsberg) was a Polish Socinian theologian, a leading figure in the Polish Brethren and an advocate of religious toleration. In ''Dissertatio de pace et concordia ecclesiae'', ...

. He was admitted as student on March 22, 1614, three weeks after

Thomas Seget Thomas Seget ( Seton?, 1569 – Amsterdam, 1627) was a Scottish poet who wrote in Latin. Seget is first recorded as a convert from Calvinism to Catholicism, attending the Scots College at Louvain in 1596, but did not stay long. Carrying a letter o ...

, but was expelled from Altdorf in 1616''The Polish Review'', Volume 11, 1966, p. 33. "Crypto-Socinianism" was widely suspected among the student body. In January 1617 the syndicus Jacob Weigel brought two students Joachim Peuschel and Johann Vogel back to Altdorf and the college made them give a public recantation. This recantation was answered by Valentin Schmalz, one the German professors of the Academy in Poland. Notable instructors include

Hugues Doneau Hugues Doneau, commonly referred also by the Latin form Hugo Donellus (23 December 1527, in Chalon-sur-Saône – 4 May 1591, in Altdorf bei Nürnberg), was a French law professor and one of the leading representatives of French legal humanism ( ...

, Scipione Gentili, and

Daniel Schwenter Daniel Schwenter (Schwender) (31 January 1585 – 19 January 1636) was a German Orientalist, mathematician, inventor, poet, and librarian. Biography Schwenter was born in Nuremberg. He was professor of oriental languages and mathematics ...

. Notable students include later imperial field marshals

Albrecht von Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...

(1583–1634) and

Gottfried Heinrich zu Pappenheim Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim (29 May 1594 – 17 November 1632) was a field marshal of the Holy Roman Empire in the Thirty Years' War. A supporter of the Catholic League, he was mortally wounded during the Battle of Lützen fi ...

(1594–1632); Generalfeldwachtmeister Hans Ulrich von Schaffgotsch (1595–1635); the polymath

Johann Schreck Johann(es) Schreck, also Terrenz or Terrentius Constantiensis, Deng Yuhan Hanpo 鄧玉函, Deng Zhen Lohan, (1576, Bingen, Baden-Württemberg or Constance – 11 May 1630, Beijing) was a German Jesuit, missionary to China and polymath. He is ...

(1576–1630); the composers Wolfgang Carl Briegel (1626–1712) and

Johann Pachelbel Johann Pachelbel (baptised – buried 9 March 1706; also Bachelbel) was a German composer, organist, and teacher who brought the south German organ schools to their peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secularity, secular music, and h ...

(1653–1706); and the theologian David Caspari (1648–1702). The

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of ...

(1646–1716), perhaps most famous for co-discovering

calculus Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", is the mathematics, mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizati ...

, received his Ph.D. from the University of Altdorf for his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...

thesis in philosophy, '' On the Art of Combinations''. However, he only submitted this thesis to Altdorf after the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

did not guarantee him a position teaching law upon graduation.

Notes

References

* * Moran, Bruce T., The Universe of Philip Melanchthon: Criticism and Use of the Copernican Theory, Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 4(1), 1973., pp. 1–23. Altdorf A Altdorf Altdorf 1809 disestablishments in Bavaria 1578 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 16th-century establishments in Bavaria {{Bavaria-struct-stub

History

See also

Notes

References