Gregor Reisch
Encyclopedia
Gregor Reisch was a German Carthusian
humanist writer. He is best known for his compilation Margarita philosophica.
, Baden, and received the degree of magister in 1489. He then entered the Carthusian Order. During the years 1500-1502 he was prior at Klein-Basel; from 1503 to shortly before his death he was prior at Freiburg Charterhouse
.
He was also visitor for the Rhenish province of his order. As visitor he made strenuous exertions to combat Lutheranism
.
He was a friend of the most celebrated Humanists of the era. John Eck was his pupil. Reisch had a reputation for adaptability, and was regarded as an "oracle". He was one of the most conspicuous of the intellectuals at the commencement of the new era who sought to prepare encyclopedic works of knowledge.
s and a full index.
The form is catechetical: the scholar questions and the teacher answers. The book was very popular for its comparative brevity and form. It was long a customary textbook of the higher schools. Alexander von Humboldt
said of it that it had "for a half-century, aided in a remarkable manner the spread of knowledge".
In 1510 Reisch also published the statutes and privileges of the Carthusian Order, and assisted Erasmus of Rotterdam in his edition of Jerome.
Carthusian
The Carthusian Order, also called the Order of St. Bruno, is a Roman Catholic religious order of enclosed monastics. The order was founded by Saint Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns...
humanist writer. He is best known for his compilation Margarita philosophica.
Life
In 1487 he became a student at the University of FreiburgUniversity of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...
, Baden, and received the degree of magister in 1489. He then entered the Carthusian Order. During the years 1500-1502 he was prior at Klein-Basel; from 1503 to shortly before his death he was prior at Freiburg Charterhouse
Freiburg Charterhouse
Freiburg Charterhouse is a former Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.- History :...
.
He was also visitor for the Rhenish province of his order. As visitor he made strenuous exertions to combat Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
.
He was a friend of the most celebrated Humanists of the era. John Eck was his pupil. Reisch had a reputation for adaptability, and was regarded as an "oracle". He was one of the most conspicuous of the intellectuals at the commencement of the new era who sought to prepare encyclopedic works of knowledge.
Works
His chief work is the Margarita philosophica, which first appeared at Freiburg in 1503. It is an encyclopedia of knowledge intended as a text-book for youthful students, and contains in twelve books Latin grammar, dialectics, rhetoric, arithmetic, music, geometry, astronomy, physics, natural history, physiology, psychology, and ethics. The usefulness of the work was increased by numerous woodcutWoodcut
Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
s and a full index.
The form is catechetical: the scholar questions and the teacher answers. The book was very popular for its comparative brevity and form. It was long a customary textbook of the higher schools. Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
said of it that it had "for a half-century, aided in a remarkable manner the spread of knowledge".
In 1510 Reisch also published the statutes and privileges of the Carthusian Order, and assisted Erasmus of Rotterdam in his edition of Jerome.