Societas eruditorum incognitorum in terris Austriacis ( en, The Society of Anonymous Scholars in the Austrian Lands) was the first

learned society A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an discipline (academia), academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and s ...

in the lands under control of Austrian Habsburgs. It was established, formally, in 1746 at the

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 States, t ...

and episcopal town of

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on th ...

in order to spread Enlightenment ideas. Its monthly journal, "Monatliche Auszüge" was the first

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Content Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such as s ...

in the Habsburg Monarchy.

Background

When the Habsburgs took over the Czech throne in 1526, as many as nine out of ten inhabitants of the

crown lands Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

were

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

.Náboženství a moderní česká společnost, David Václavík, Grada Publishing a.s., 2010, page 53 Olomouc, as the

episcopal seat A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral ...

became a centre for the

counter-reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

, with the Jesuits taking over the local college in 1566. In 1573 the college was promoted to University status, and the special papal seminary, the Collegium Nordicum was established in 1578. Initially competing with the schools run by the Hussite "Bohemian Brethren", the Jesuits obtained an effective monopoly after the

Thirty year's war The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

: this brought savage re-Catholicization and Germanization to the Czech population. The Jesuit monopoly was however challenged because the Moravian nobility wanted to expand the range of areas taught beyond just theology and philosophy. In 1679 secular legal studies were introduced at the University, and in 1725 the Academy of Nobility was established in Olomouc. Both these developments met with fierce opposition from the Jesuits. It was the strong Jesuit reaction which led an alumnus of Faculty of Philosophy of Olomouc University,

Joseph von Petrasch Joseph Leopold ''Freiherr'' von Petrasch (19 October 1714 in Slavonski Brod, Slavonia15 May 1772 in Nesovice, Moravia) was a soldier, writer and philologist. In 1746 he founded the Olomouc-based Societas incognitorum, the first Enlightenment- ...

, to join with another locally based aristocrat, Francesco G. Giannini in obtaining the consent of empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...

for the establishment of a learned society in 1746. Von Petrasch was a noble of

Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja ...

n origin who at one stage had studied law 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 who had also pursued a career as an adjutant to Prince

Eugene of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy–Carignano, (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736) better known as Prince Eugene, was a field marshal in the army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th and 18th centuries. He ...

, which had left him with the financial means to support the Societas eruditorum from his private wealth.

Objectives

The society set itself the goals of advancing the sciences, in particular the natural sciences, mathematics,

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...

, and the history of scientific research, along with

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

and literature. In the religious conflicts of the time between Protestants and Catholics, the Societas eruditorum took an objective and pragmatic approach, and it had members in both camps.

Members

Petrasch was able to recruit many members from across

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...

, eager to spread Enlightenment ideas with a journal of their own. The members included local members of the nobility, state officials (such as

Theodor Anton Taulow von Rosenthal Theodor is a masculine given name. It is a German form of Theodore. It is also a variant of Teodor. List of people with the given name Theodor * Theodor Adorno, (1903–1969), German philosopher * Theodor Aman, Romanian painter * Theodor Blueger ...

and Johann Chr. von Jordan), and

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

ecclesiastical historians (

Benedictines , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

such as Oliver Legipont,

Magnoald Ziegelbauer Magnoald Ziegelbauer (1689 in Ellwangen, Swabia – 14 January 1750 at Olmütz) was a Benedictine monk and ecclesiastical historian. Life He took vows at the Benedictine monastery of Zwiefalten on 21 November 1707, where he was ordained priest o ...

and

Hieronymus Pez Hieronymus Pez (24 February 1685 – 14 October 1762) was an Austrian Benedictine librarian and historian. Pez was born at Ybbs. In 1703 he entered the novitiate at Melk Abbey, and was ordained in 1711. He became assistant to his brother Bern ...

). Its so-called "corresponding members" included the north German dramatist, critic, and German language reformer

Johann Christoph Gottsched Johann Christoph Gottsched (2 February 1700 – 12 December 1766) was a German philosopher, author and critic of the Enlightenment. Biography Early life He was born at Juditten (Mendeleyevo) near Königsberg (Kaliningrad), Brandenburg-Pr ...

, the Slovak founder of Hungarian history-writing

Matthias Bel Matthias Bel or Matthias Bél (german: link=no, Matthias Bel; hu, Bél Mátyás; sk, Matej Bel; la, Matthias Belius; 22–24 March(?), 1684 – 29 August 1749) was a Lutheran pastor and polymath from the Kingdom of Hungary. Bel was active in ...

, leading Italian scholars

Ludovico Antonio Muratori Lodovico Antonio Muratori (21 October 1672 – 23 January 1750) was an Italian historian, notable as a leading scholar of his age, and for his discovery of the Muratorian fragment, the earliest known list of New Testament books. Biography Born ...

and

Angelo Maria Quirini Angelo Maria Querini or Quirini (30 March 1680 – 6 January 1755) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Biography Born in Venice, he entered the Benedictine Order in Florence in 1695 and was ordained in 1702. From 1710 to 1714 ...

and the Czech Bonaventura Piter as well as the

Archbishop of Kraków The Archbishop of Kraków is the head of the archdiocese of Kraków. A bishop of Kraków first came into existence when the diocese was created in 1000; it was promoted to an archdiocese on 28 October 1925. Due to Kraków's role as Poland's politic ...

Andrzej Stanisław Załuski and the Cardinal

Domenico Silvio Passionei Domenico Silvio Passionei (2 December 1682 – 5 July 1761) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Biography Born in Fossombrone near Urbino, Marche, he went to Rome in 1695, where he studied philosophy at the Collegio Clementino ...

. The members were designated as "anonymous" in order to avoid repressions from the state censors.

Journal

The society published the first scientific journal in the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

, the ''Olmützer Monathlichen Auszüge Alt- und neuer Gelehrter Sachen'' (''Olomouc's Monthly Excerpts from Old and New Erudition''), with each issue having some 80 pages. The journal was on sale in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, as well as by book sellers in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budis ...

Focus

It was especially concerned with the reform and promotion of the German language as well as with spreading the Enlightenment ideas. The society was propagating various streams of contemporary thought. Two of them were of particular importance: the philosophical rationalism of Christian Wolff, a practical approach to philosophy which in Moravia was combined with the Catholic reformism of

; and the school of critical historiography stemming from

Jean Mabillon Dom Jean Mabillon, O.S.B., (; 23 November 1632 – 27 December 1707) was a French Benedictine monk and scholar of the Congregation of Saint Maur. He is considered the founder of the disciplines of palaeography and diplomatics. Early life Mabil ...

. The German focus of the Society was not so much aimed against

Czech language Czech (; Czech ), historically also Bohemian (; ''lingua Bohemica'' in Latin), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. Spoken by over 10 million people, it serves as the official language of the Czech Re ...

, rather against the prevailing use of Latin as

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

as well as against the gallomania of the high German society. The Society received state protection, but opposition from within the Jesuit-dominated town, ongoing problems with Vienna-based censors, as well as disagreements from within the Society itself, led to its premature demise. Nevertheless, its periodical represented a landmark: the first attempt within the Habsburg monarchy to unite the learned, the dilettanti and the ''curieux'' and to bring them into contact with the pan-European '' Respublica literaria''.

References