Leonhard Thurneysser
Encyclopedia
Leonard Thurneysser was a scholar and miracle doctor at the court of Elector
John George
of Brandenburg.
. He learned the goldsmith's craft and developed an interest in the mineralogy
and alchemy
. He also served the Medical Professor John Huber as Famulus and helped to gather and prepare herbs and medicines. He later used this knowledge in his book Historia. While he worked with Huber, Thurneysser also had access to the writings of Paracelsus
, which impressed him deeply.
From 1547 led Leonhard Thurneysser a wandering life until he married in 1555 in his native Basel. He was a member of the "guild of the household" (money changers and goldsmiths). However Thurneysser 1558 went back on tour.
In 1559 he operated successfully as a metallurgist in Tarrenz
in Tyrol
and became the owner of a mine. Soon Thurneysser was considered by Emperor Ferdinand I
and his sons, as well as personalities such as scholars Pietro Paolo Vergerio and Gerolamo Cardano
and others as an expert in the areas of the Pharmaceutical, chemistry
, metallurgy
, botany
, mathematics
, astronomy
and medicine
. Philippine Welser
, the wife of Ferdinand II of Habsburg, Archduke of Tyrol
commissioned Thurneysser to make more journeys, including through the East and North Africa. He collected minerals, plants and medicinal recipes. After these journeys, he no longer saw himself as a metallurgist, but he practiced as a pharmaceutical doctor.
From 1569 to 1570 Leonard Thurneysser lived in Münster. The local bishop John IV of Hoya ordered his physician
Thurneysser to set up a pharmacy, but Thurneysser's imagination exceeded the financial capabilities of the bishop.
Thurneysser first met Elector John George
of Brandenburg in Frankfurt an der Oder, where Thurneysser had healed the Elector's ailing wife. John George appointed him his personal doctor and took him for Berlin
at a salary of 1352 Taler. For his work, John George made part of the former Franciscan
monstery (today known as the Grey Abbey) available to Thurneysser. Thurneysser also led the construction of a glass studio at Grimnitz Castle.
In the Grey Abbey, Leonhard Thurneysser organized his home, his library, a printing company and his laboratory. He became wealthy by selling medicine of his own creation, as well as astrolocial
calendars, horoscopes and talismans for protection against evil. He claimed to know places in the margraviate of Brandenburg
where sapphire
s, rubies and emerald
s were to be found, and that gold
could be found in the mud
of the Spree
river. In his print shop, he produced writings in various scripts, including German, Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Arabic script. He created the first scientific curiosity cabinet in Brandenburg and a botanical garden
and he kept exotic animals at court.
A turning point in his life was his journey to his home town of Basel in 1579. He married his third wife and took much of his wealth to Basel. After violent disputes with his wife, Leonhard Thurneysser returned to Berlin, but most of his property was confiscated and awarded to his wife. In 1584, he left Berlin for good and was baptized into the Catholic Church. He briefly lived in Rome
.
In 1595 he died impoverished in a monastery near Cologne
, in unexplained circumstances. On 8 July 1596, he was buried in the Dominican
Preacher Monastery ad latus Alberti Magni in Cologne.
with tables of the planets. If used correctly, it was alleged to enable the user to predict his fate or natural disasters.
The graphic desing was accomplished by etcher, woodcutter and illustrator Jost Amman
. The full title of the second edition in the spelling of the day, was:
Translation:
He also wrote an encyclopedia similar to the 1583 brochure Magna Alchymia, which included a dictionary of terms used by Paracelsus
. This document also contained a collection of his mineralogical knowledge.
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
John George
John George, Elector of Brandenburg
John George of Brandenburg was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and a Duke of Prussia...
of Brandenburg.
Life
Thurneysser was the son of a goldsmithGoldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
. He learned the goldsmith's craft and developed an interest in the mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
and alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
. He also served the Medical Professor John Huber as Famulus and helped to gather and prepare herbs and medicines. He later used this knowledge in his book Historia. While he worked with Huber, Thurneysser also had access to the writings of Paracelsus
Paracelsus
Paracelsus was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist....
, which impressed him deeply.
From 1547 led Leonhard Thurneysser a wandering life until he married in 1555 in his native Basel. He was a member of the "guild of the household" (money changers and goldsmiths). However Thurneysser 1558 went back on tour.
In 1559 he operated successfully as a metallurgist in Tarrenz
Tarrenz
Tarrenz is a municipality in the Imst district and is located 3.60 km north of Imst at the lower course of the Gurgl brook. The village is an agriculture community with emphasis in sheep breeding and a settlement for commuters. In the last years Tarrenz was able to increase its economy and also to...
in Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
and became the owner of a mine. Soon Thurneysser was considered by Emperor Ferdinand I
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...
and his sons, as well as personalities such as scholars Pietro Paolo Vergerio and Gerolamo Cardano
Gerolamo Cardano
Gerolamo Cardano was an Italian Renaissance mathematician, physician, astrologer and gambler...
and others as an expert in the areas of the Pharmaceutical, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
, botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
and medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
. Philippine Welser
Philippine Welser
Philippine Welser was the morganatic wife of Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria. Her family, the Welsers of Augsburg, were merchants and financiers of European significance and great wealth.-Works:* De re coquinaria , handwriting ca. 1545, Castle Ambras near Innsbruck. Inv.No...
, the wife of Ferdinand II of Habsburg, Archduke of Tyrol
Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria
Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria was ruler of Further Austria including Tirol.-Life account:...
commissioned Thurneysser to make more journeys, including through the East and North Africa. He collected minerals, plants and medicinal recipes. After these journeys, he no longer saw himself as a metallurgist, but he practiced as a pharmaceutical doctor.
From 1569 to 1570 Leonard Thurneysser lived in Münster. The local bishop John IV of Hoya ordered his physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
Thurneysser to set up a pharmacy, but Thurneysser's imagination exceeded the financial capabilities of the bishop.
Thurneysser first met Elector John George
John George, Elector of Brandenburg
John George of Brandenburg was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and a Duke of Prussia...
of Brandenburg in Frankfurt an der Oder, where Thurneysser had healed the Elector's ailing wife. John George appointed him his personal doctor and took him for Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
at a salary of 1352 Taler. For his work, John George made part of the former Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
monstery (today known as the Grey Abbey) available to Thurneysser. Thurneysser also led the construction of a glass studio at Grimnitz Castle.
In the Grey Abbey, Leonhard Thurneysser organized his home, his library, a printing company and his laboratory. He became wealthy by selling medicine of his own creation, as well as astrolocial
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
calendars, horoscopes and talismans for protection against evil. He claimed to know places in the margraviate of Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
where sapphire
Sapphire
Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide , when it is a color other than red or dark pink; in which case the gem would instead be called a ruby, considered to be a different gemstone. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give...
s, rubies and emerald
Emerald
Emerald is a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5–8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness...
s were to be found, and that gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
could be found in the mud
Mud
Mud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...
of the Spree
Spree
The Spree is a river that flows through the Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin states of Germany, and in the Ústí nad Labem region of the Czech Republic...
river. In his print shop, he produced writings in various scripts, including German, Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Arabic script. He created the first scientific curiosity cabinet in Brandenburg and a botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The 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 a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
and he kept exotic animals at court.
A turning point in his life was his journey to his home town of Basel in 1579. He married his third wife and took much of his wealth to Basel. After violent disputes with his wife, Leonhard Thurneysser returned to Berlin, but most of his property was confiscated and awarded to his wife. In 1584, he left Berlin for good and was baptized into the Catholic Church. He briefly lived in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
.
In 1595 he died impoverished in a monastery near Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, in unexplained circumstances. On 8 July 1596, he was buried in the Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
Preacher Monastery ad latus Alberti Magni in Cologne.
Works
Among the most impressive books from his shop and at the same time one of his major works, was his Archidoxa: a large book in the form of a astrolabeAstrolabe
An astrolabe is an elaborate inclinometer, historically used by astronomers, navigators, and astrologers. Its many uses include locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars, determining local time given local latitude and longitude, surveying, triangulation, and to...
with tables of the planets. If used correctly, it was alleged to enable the user to predict his fate or natural disasters.
The graphic desing was accomplished by etcher, woodcutter and illustrator Jost Amman
Jost Amman
Jost Amman was a Swiss artist, celebrated chiefly for his woodcuts, done mainly for book illustrations....
. The full title of the second edition in the spelling of the day, was:
- Archidoxa. Dorin der recht war Motus, Lauff vnd Gang auch heimligkeit, Wirckung vnd Krafft der Planeten Gstirns vnd gantzen Firmaments Mutierung vnd ausziechung aller Subtiliteten vnd das Fünffte wesen auss den Metallen sampt dem auszug vnd Verstandt des Astrolabij vnd aller Zircklen Caracter vnd Zeichen.
- Zum andern mal vnd jetz von newen gemert vnd sampt dem verstand der Caracter an tag geben. Durch Leonhart Thurneisser zum Thurn. Churfürstlichen Brandenburgischen Bestalten Leibs Medicum. Berlin: Im Grawen Closter. 1575
Translation:
-
- Archidoxa. Containing the truth about the modus, course and trajectory and the secrets of the influence and power of the planets and stars and mutations of the whole firmament and explanations of all subtilities of the fifth metal being and an abstract and understanding of the astrolabe and all circles, characters and signs.
- Improved and extended again, now including an comprehension fo characters. Published by Leonhart Thurneisser zum Thurn, Appointed Personal Doctor of the Elector of Brandenburg. In the Gray Monastery, Berlin, 1575.
He also wrote an encyclopedia similar to the 1583 brochure Magna Alchymia, which included a dictionary of terms used by Paracelsus
Paracelsus
Paracelsus was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist....
. This document also contained a collection of his mineralogical knowledge.
External links
- Biographical outline and image of the Magna Alchymia
- Digitized Works by Thurneysser - SICD of the University of Strasbourg
- Led the devil into crystal glass, by Gerhild H. M. Komander