Charles de l'Écluse, L'Escluse, or Carolus Clusius (19 February 1526 – 4 April 1609), seigneur de Watènes, was an
Artois
Artois ( , ; ; Picard: ''Artoé;'' English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities include Arras (Dutch: ...
doctor and pioneering
botanist
Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
, perhaps the most influential of all 16th-century scientific
horticulturists
Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...
.
Life
Clusius was born Charles de l' Écluse in 1526, in
Arras
Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...
(Dutch ''Atrecht''), then in the
County of Artois,
Spanish Netherlands
The Spanish Netherlands (; ; ; ) (historically in Spanish: , the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of t ...
, now northern France (
Hauts-de-France
Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as Upper France, is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. ...
). At the urging of his father, who wanted him to enter the law, he commenced his studies in Latin and Greek at
Louvain
Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the sub-municipalities of ...
, followed by
civil law. His father then gave him some money to move to
Marburg
Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...
to further his legal studies, but after eight months when his mentor moved away from Marburg he switched to
theology
Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...
, initially at Marburg and then on the suggestion of one of his professors at
Wittenberg
Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...
, where he also began a study of philosophy. Even at Marburg he had also developed an interest in plants that he continued in Wittenberg. Aware of the emerging study of botany, he decided to move to France to study medicine at the
University of Montpellier
The University of Montpellier () is a public university, public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous opera ...
(1551–1554), under professor
Guillaume Rondelet, though he never practiced medicine, or styled himself as a physician. He died in
Leiden
Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
in the Netherlands in 1609, at the age of 83.
While little is known of his relationships, he formed many friendships, both male and female, and his extensive preserved correspondence throws considerable light on those friendships. His male friends were largely academic, with whom he corresponded in Latin, his female friends (at least 35 are known) predominantly collectors and horticulturalists with whom he corresponded in their
vernacular
Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...
, but treated all with the same respect. Unlike his male friends, who were from all over the world, his women friends were all in the
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
countries, especially the southern Netherlands and Austria.
Work
In the 1560s Clusius was employed by the Fugger banking family as tutor to one of
Anton Fugger
Anton Fugger (10 June 1493 – 14 September 1560) was a German merchant, banker, and member of the Fugger family. He was a nephew of Jakob Fugger.
Biography
Anton was the third and youngest son of George Fugger and Regina Imhof. He was born in ...
's sons and as agent, including a plant collecting expedition to Spain, where he became familiar with plants introduced from the
New World
The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
. In 1573, with the help of
Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, he was appointed
prefect
Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area.
A prefect' ...
(director) of the imperial medical garden in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
by Emperor
Maximilian II (1564–1576) and made Gentleman of the Imperial Chamber. Busbecq, who had been ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
(1554–1562) under the previous emperor,
Ferdinand I (1558–1564), was a keen gardener and soon arranged for exotic bulbs to be sent from the court at
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
to the gardens in Vienna. Clausius was discharged from the imperial court shortly after the death of Maximilian and accession of his son
Rudolf II
Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the H ...
(1576–1612) in 1576.
After leaving Vienna in the late 1580s he established himself in
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
, before his appointment as professor at the
University of Leiden
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...
in October 1593, where he also became the first ''praefectus'' (prefect) of the city's new botanical garden, the ''
Hortus Academicus'', associated with the university. There he helped to create one of the earliest formal
botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...
s of Europe and his detailed planting lists have made it possible to recreate his garden near where it originally lay. He was invited to join the
Accademia dei Lincei
The (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed"), anglicised as the Lincean Academy, is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rome, Italy. Founded in ...
as a corresponding member in 1604, but declined.
[
He traveled extensively throughout Europe, furthering his knowledge of plants. Clusius was among the first to study the flora of ]Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, under the auspices of Maximilian II. He was the first botanist to climb the Ötscher
The Ötscher, at , is a prominent peak in south-western Lower Austria. Its name has Slavic roots and translates approximately as a diminutive of "father". The Ötscher area belongs to the Ybbstal Alps, which are part of the Northern Limestone Al ...
and the Schneeberg in Lower Austria
Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...
, which was also the first documented ascent of the latter. His illustrated works form an important chapter in sixteenth century natural history, producing a large body of drawing and watercolours. The latter, forming part of an important collection of late sixteenth century botanical illustration, the ''Libri picturati''. He was responsible for the cultivation of a number of plants, new to Europe, including the tulip
Tulips are spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes in the ''Tulipa'' genus. Their flowers are usually large, showy, and brightly coloured, generally red, orange, pink, yellow, or white. They often have a different colour ...
, potato
The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...
, and horse chestnut. Clusius was widely influential in European science and culture and his circle of correspondents included princes and aristocrats such as Wilhelm IV of Hessen-Kassel (1567–1592) and Princesse Marie de Brimeu, who was one of his most frequent correspondents.
Study of tulips
In the history of gardening
The early history of gardening is largely entangled with the history of agriculture, with gardens that were mainly ornamental generally the preserve of the elite until quite recent times. Smaller gardens generally had being a kitchen garden as ...
he is remembered not only for his scholarship but also for his work on tulips. At Leiden, his cultivation of tulips in the botanic gardens there, laid the foundations of the Dutch tulip bulb industry. In particular his observations on tulip's " breaking" — a phenomenon discovered in the late 19th century to be due to a virus
A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are ...
— causing the many different flamed and feathered varieties, which led to the speculative tulip mania
Tulip mania () was a period during the Dutch Golden Age when contract prices for some bulbs of the recently introduced and fashionable tulip reached extraordinarily high levels. The major acceleration started in 1634 and then dramatically co ...
of the 1630s. Clusius laid the foundations of Dutch tulip breeding and the bulb industry today.
Clusius' life and times
During Clusius' lifetime, botanical knowledge was undergoing enormous expansion, partly fueled by the expansion of the known plant world by New World exploration, and is thought of as a botanical Renaissance. Europe became engrossed with natural history from the 1530s, and gardening and cultivation of plants became a passion and prestigious pursuit from monarchs to universities. The first botanical gardens appeared as well as the first illustrated botanical encyclopaedias, together with thousands of watercolours and woodcuts. The experience of farmers, gardeners, foresters, apothecaries and physicians was being supplemented by the rise of the plant expert. Collecting became a discipline, specifically the '' Kunst- und Wunderkammern'' (cabinets of curiosities) outside of Italy and the study of ''naturalia'' became widespread through many social strata. The great botanists of the sixteenth century were all, like Clusius, originally trained as physicians, who pursued a knowledge of plants not just for medicinal properties, but in their own right. Chairs in botany, within medical faculties were being established in European universities throughout the sixteenth century in reaction to this trend, and the scientific approach of observation, documentation and experimentation was being applied to the study of plants.
Clusius' influence was a key factor in all these developments with his pioneering and influential publications, and introduction of hitherto unknown exotic plants to the Low Countries
The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...
. As adviser to princes and aristocrats and central figure of a vast European network of exchange, he successfully transmitted his knowledge widely. He is considered one of the most eminent botanists of the European Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
, and his influence on tulip breeding continues to the present day.
Publications
His first publication was a French translation of Rembert Dodoens
Rembert Dodoens (born Rembert van Joenckema, 29 June 1517 – 10 March 1585) was a Flemish people, Flemish physician and botanist, also known under his Latinization (literature), Latinized name Rembertus Dodonaeus. He has been called the father o ...
's herbal
A herbal is a book containing the names and descriptions of plants, usually with information on their medicinal, Herbal tonic, tonic, culinary, toxic, hallucinatory, aromatic, or Magic (paranormal), magical powers, and the legends associated wi ...
, ''"Histoire des Plantes"'', published in Antwerp
Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
in 1557 by van der Loë. His ''Antidotarium sive de exacta componendorum miscendorumque medicamentorum ratione ll. III ... nunc ex Ital. sermone Latini facti'' (1561) initiated his fruitful collaboration with the renowned Plantin printing press at Antwerp, which permitted him to issue late-breaking discoveries in natural history and to ornament his texts with elaborate engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...
s. Clusius, as he was known to his contemporaries, published two major original works: his ''Rariorum aliquot stirpium per Hispanias observatarum historia'' (1576)— is one of the earliest books on Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
flora
Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...
— and his ''Rariorum stirpium per Pannonias observatorum Historiae'' (1583) is the first book on Austrian and Hungarian alpine flora Alpine flora may refer to:
* Alpine tundra, a community of plants that live at high altitude
* Alpine plant
Alpine plants are plants that grow in an alpine climate, which occurs at high elevation and above the tree line. There are many different pl ...
.
Clusius' collected works were published in two parts: '' Rariorum plantarum historia'' (1601) contains his Spanish and Austrian flora and adds more information about new plants as well as a pioneering mycological study on mushrooms from Central Europe (as appendix: ''Fungorum in Pannoniis observatorum'', covering toxic fungi in the section: "Fungi noxii et perniciosi"); and '' Exoticorum libri decem'' (1605) is an important survey of exotic flora and fauna, both still often consulted. His ''Rariorum plantarum'', published in four books, is illustrated with many woodcuts
Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with Chisel#Gouge, gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts ...
of botanical specimens, and is indicative of the new interest in botany and botanical gardens which arose during the Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
. He contributed as well to Abraham Ortelius
Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer from Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands. He is recognized as the creator of the list of atlases, first modern ...
's map
A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...
of Spain. Clusius translated several contemporary works in natural science.
Clusius' vast correspondence with his European contemporaries has been preserved at Leiden University Libraries
Leiden University Libraries is the set of libraries of Leiden University, founded in 1575 in Leiden, Netherlands.
A later edition entitled ''The bastion of liberty : a history of Leiden University'', was published in 2018. Full-text at archive ...
and made available digitally by the Scaliger Institute there (The Clusius Project). The collection contains about 1,500 letters from 320 correspondents in six languages during the period 1560–1609.
List of selected publications
: ''see
*
* 1567: Garcia de Orta
Garcia de Orta (or Garcia d'Orta; 1501–1568) was a Portuguese physician, herbalist, and naturalist, who worked primarily in Goa and Bombay in Portuguese India.
A pioneer of tropical medicine, pharmacognosy, and ethnobotany, Garcia used an e ...
, '' Aromatum et simplicium aliquot medicamentorum apud Indios nascentium historia'': Latin translation from Portuguese
* 1574: Nicolás Monardes, '' De simplicibus medicamentis ex occidentali India delatis quorum in medicina usus est'': Latin translation from Spanish
** 1579: Revised edition under the title ''Simplicium medicamentorum ex novo orbe delatorum, quorum in medicina usus est, historia''
*
* 1582: Compendium of the translations from Garcia de Orta
Garcia de Orta (or Garcia d'Orta; 1501–1568) was a Portuguese physician, herbalist, and naturalist, who worked primarily in Goa and Bombay in Portuguese India.
A pioneer of tropical medicine, pharmacognosy, and ethnobotany, Garcia used an e ...
and Nicolás Monardes, now combined with selections from Cristóbal Acosta, ''Tractado de las drogas y medicinas de las Indias orientales''
** 1593: Further revised edition of this compendium
*
* (''also at'' Botanicus:
Rariorum plantarum
)
* 1605: '' Exoticorum libri decem'', including final revised editions of the translations from Garcia de Orta, Nicolás Monardes and Cristóvão da Costa
*
Translations of his work
* 1589: ''Dell'historia dei semplici aromati et altre cose che vengono portare dall'Indie Orientali pertinente all'uso della medicina ... di Don Garzia dall'Horto''. Italian re-translation by Annibale Briganti of Clusius's edited translations of Garcia de Orta and Nicolás Monardes
* "Some notes of Charles L`ecluse a native of Gaul Upon the history of spices by Garcia de Orta's Aromatum et Simplicium Historia", Translated by Reverend Martin Pollard, O.S.B., Edited and Introduction by Garry D. Gitzen, Fort Nehalem Publishing, Wheeler, Oregon (2009)
* (Translation of a section from the ''Rariorum plantarum historia'', 1601: see )
Legacy
Justus Lipsius
Justus Lipsius (Joest Lips or Joost Lips; October 18, 1547 – March 23, 1606) was a Flemish Catholic philologist, philosopher, and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatibl ...
called Clusius "the father of all the beautiful gardens in this country".
Eponomy
His contribution to the study of alpine plants has led to many of them being named in his honour, such as '' Gentiana clusii'', '' Potentilla clusiana'' and '' Primula clusiana''. The genus '' Clusia'' (whence the family Clusiaceae
The Clusiaceae or Guttiferae Juss. (1789) (''nom. alt. et cons.'' = alternative and valid name) are a family (biology), family of plants including 13 genera and ca 750 species. Several former members of Clusiacae are now placed in Calophyllaceae ...
) also honours Clusius. His work formed an important step in the development of modern botany.
See also
* Botanical gardens
* History of botany
The history of botany examines the human effort to understand life on Earth by tracing the historical development of the discipline of botany—that part of natural science dealing with organisms traditionally treated as plants.
Rudimentary ...
* History of gardening
The early history of gardening is largely entangled with the history of agriculture, with gardens that were mainly ornamental generally the preserve of the elite until quite recent times. Smaller gardens generally had being a kitchen garden as ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
Books
*
*
*
*
PDF version
*
Review
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Chapters
* , in
* , in
Articles and theses
*
*
*
English abstract
*
*
Websites
*
*
*
Leiden University
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Correspondence
External links
Clusius Correspondence. Letters from and to Carolus Clusius (1526-1609)
Digital Collections Leiden University Libraries
Leiden University Libraries is the set of libraries of Leiden University, founded in 1575 in Leiden, Netherlands.
A later edition entitled ''The bastion of liberty : a history of Leiden University'', was published in 2018. Full-text at archive ...
Clusius at Biodiversity Heritage Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clusius, Carolus
1526 births
1609 deaths
People from Arras
Flemish botanists
Pre-Linnaean botanists
Translators to Latin
Translators to French
Translators from French
Spanish–French translators
Translators from Portuguese
Translators from Dutch
People from the Spanish Netherlands
16th-century French translators
17th-century French translators
Academic staff of Leiden University
Burials at Pieterskerk, Leiden
16th-century Dutch botanists
17th-century Dutch botanists
Dutch medical writers
16th-century Dutch physicians
16th-century writers in Latin
17th-century writers in Latin
Scientists from the Habsburg Netherlands