Victorinus Bythner ( pl, Wiktoryn Bythner) (c. 1605–c. 1670) was a Polish Hebraist, grammarian and university teacher in England.

Life

He was born in Głębowice, the son of a Calvinist theologian, Bartholomäus Bythner; his father held

Calvinistic Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

views. His brother Jan Bythner was a notable theologian. He studied at the

University of Frankfurt an der Oder European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) (german: Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)) is a university located at Frankfurt (Oder) in Brandenburg, Germany. It is also known as the University of Frankfurt (Oder). The city is on the ...

, and then at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is th ...

under

Franciscus Gomarus Franciscus Gomarus (François Gomaer; 30 January 1563 – 11 January 1641) was a Dutch theologian, a strict Calvinist and an opponent of the teaching of Jacobus Arminius (and his followers), whose theological disputes were addressed at the Synod ...

. Bythner became a member of the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

about 1635, and lectured on the Hebrew language in the refectory at Christ Church until the outbreak of the

First English Civil War The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They include the Bishops' Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, the Second English Civil War, the Anglo ...

. When Charles I fixed the headquarters of his army at Oxford in 1643, Bythner moved to Cambridge. Later Bythner lived in London, but in 1651 was again lecturer on Hebrew at Oxford. About 1664 he went to

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, where he practised medicine. The date of his death is unknown.

Works

Bythner's grammatical works were written in Latin: his Hebrew grammar, published in 1638 as ''Lingua Eruditorum'', was several times reprinted. An edition of this work was published by

James Hessey James Augustus Hessey (17 July 1814 – 24 December 1892) was a British cleric and Headmaster of Merchant Taylors' School. Life He was born in London, the eldest son of publisher James Augustus Hessey, of St. Bride's, City of London and was e ...

in 1853, with the author's ''Institutio Chaldaica'' (first printed in 1650). Bythner's other major work was ''Lyra Prophetica Davidis Regis'' (London, 1650), a grammatical analysis of the vocabulary of the Hebrew psalms. An English translation of this book, by Thomas Dee, was published in 1836, with a second edition in 1847 that was revised by Nathan Lazarus Benmohel.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Bythner, Victorinus 1600s births 1670s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Christian Hebraists 17th-century linguists Linguists from Poland 17th-century Polish people