Joachim Gans (other spellings: Jeochim, Jochim, Gaunz, Ganse, Gaunse;

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1581 – 1589) was a

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n mining expert, renowned for being the first

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

.Grassl, Gary C. ''Joachim Ganz of Prague: The First Jew in English America.''

Biography

Early life

Gans was born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

, and likely related to David Gans, who settled there in 1564.Abrahams, Israel. "Joachim Gaunse: A Mining Incident in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth." ''Transactions of Jewish Historical Society of England'', Vol. IV.

England

He is first mentioned in his professional capacity at Keswick,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

, in 1581.M. B. Donald, ''Elizabethan Copper: The history of the Company of Mines Royal 1568-1605'' (Pergamon Press 1955; reprinted Red Earth, Ulverston, Cumbria 1994), esp. pp. 208-15. He worked at the

Newlands Newlands may refer to: Places Australia * Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region * Newlands, Western Australia, a town in the Shire of Donnybrook–Balingup Ireland * Newlands Cross, Dublin, named after the former Newlands ...

mine managed by Richard Dudley and implemented some technologies outlined by Lazarus Ercker. Gans introduced a new process for the "making of Copper, vitriall, and Coppris, and

smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron-making, iron, copper extraction, copper ...

e of Copper and leade

ures Ures is a small city and a Municipalities of Sonora, municipality in the List of states of Mexico, Mexican state of Sonora. Population In the year 2000, the total population was 9,553 residents. New figures from 2005 reported 8,420, meaning a co ...

."''Calendar of State Papers Domestic'', Elizabeth, 1581–90 (1865), for vol. 152, No. 88 (March 1582). Gans figured in the English state papers of the reign of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

which include a full description of his operations written by a colleague

George Nedham George Nedham (Needham) was a supporter of the Royalist cause during the English Civil War who, following their defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, emigrated to the West Indies. First he went to Antigua, and later migrated to Jamaica. Here h ...

. Gans's most dramatic scientific discovery was to reduce the time to purify a batch of copper ore from sixteen weeks to just four days. Additionally, Gans was able to use the impurities removed from the copper ore in textile mordants.

Colonization of America

Gans became the first Bohemian and the first recorded Jew in

colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the period of European colonization of North America from the late 15th century until the unifying of the Thirteen British Colonies and creation of the United States in 1776, during the Re ...

when, in 1585, Sir

Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebell ...

recruited him for an expedition to found a permanent settlement in the Virginia territory of 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: ...

. Sir Ralph Lane, Governor of Raleigh's expedition, led the

Roanoke Colony The Roanoke Colony ( ) refers to two attempts by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in North America. The first colony was established at Roanoke Island in 1585 as a military outpost, and was evacuated in 1586. ...

on Roanoke Island off the coast of modern

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in 1585. Among the ruins at the Roanoke site, archaeologists have discovered lumps of smelted copper and a

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

's crucible attributed to Gans's work at the colony. Because the royal mining company failed to resupply colonists who were also becoming increasingly fearful of conflicts with the Native Americans, they accepted an offer from Sir

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

in June 1586 to sail them to England. Each of the colonists, including Gans, left North America.

Later life and trial for blasphemy

Gans moved to the town of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

where he gave

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

lessons to English gentlemen who wanted to read the Bible in its original tongue. In 1589, Bishop of

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

Richard Curteys visited Gans who in speaking "in the Hebrue tonge," proclaimed himself a Jew. Bishop Curteys asked Gans, "Do you deny

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Christ to be the Son of God?" Gans replied, "What needeth the almighty God to have a son? Is he not almighty?" Gans was brought before the mayor and

aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking membe ...

of Bristol for

blasphemy Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

. Rather than embarrass an associate of the Royal Mining Company, Bristol's town fathers referred his case to the Queen's Privy Council, which included major investors of the Royal Mining Company. Gans was transported back to London to face their judgment.

Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her " spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wa ...

, who was then joint principal secretary and other members of the council also knew him. The council appears to have taken no hostile action, however, although the trial's outcome and all subsequent history of Gans is unknown, as no information is available.

Posterity

His discoveries along with the general body of his scientific work led to a degree of fame. Some historians have suggested that Gans was the model for the Jewish scientist Joabin in Sir

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

n novel, ''

New Atlantis ''New Atlantis'' is a utopian novel by Sir Francis Bacon, published posthumously in 1626. It appeared unheralded and tucked into the back of a longer work of natural history, ''Sylva Sylvarum'' (forest of materials). In ''New Atlantis'', Bac ...

'', although others have suggested Joabin is named after Joab, the commander of

King David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

's army and David's co-conspirator in

Uriah the Hittite Uriah the Hittite ( ''ʾŪrīyyā haḤīttī'') is a minor figure in the Hebrew Bible, mentioned in the Books of Samuel, an elite soldier in the army of David, king of Israel and Judah, and the husband of Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam. While ...

's death.