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Robert Fludd

 
Robert Fludd

 
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Robert Fludd, also known as Robertus de Fluctibus (1574, Bearsted, Kent – September 8 1637, London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
) was a prominent English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 Paracelsian
Paracelsus

Paracelsus was a Medieval physician, botanist, alchemy, astrologer, and general occultist. Born Phillip von Hohenheim, he later took up the name Philippus Theophrastus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim, and still later took the title Paracelsus, meaning "equal to or greater than Celsus", a Roman encyclopedist, Aulus Cornelius Celsus fro...
 physician
Physician

A physician, medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, or medical doctor practices medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and injury....
, astrologer
Astrologer

An astrologer practices one or more forms of astrology. Typically an astrologer draws a horoscope for the time of an event, such as a person's birth, and interprets celestial points and their placements at the time of the event to better understand someone, determine the auspiciousness of an undertaking's beginning, etc....
, and mystic
Mysticism

Mysticism is the pursuit of communion with, Unio Mystica with, or conscious awareness of an ultimate reality, divinity, Spirituality, or God through direct experience, intuition, or insight....
. He was not a member of the Rosicrucians, as often alleged, but he defended their thoughts in the Apologia Compendiaria of 1616.

Life
He was the son of Sir Thomas Fludd, a high-ranking governmental official (Queen Elizabeth I's treasurer for war in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
).

He obtained an MD
Doctor of Medicine

Doctor of Medicine is a Doctorate for physicians . The degree is granted from medical schools.It is a first professional degree in some countries, including the United States and Canada, although training is entered after obtaining at least 90 hours of university level work ....
 from University of Oxford
University of Oxford

The University of Oxford , located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation in the English-speaking world....
.

Between 1598 and 1604, Fludd studied medicine, chemistry and the occult
Occult

The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g....
 on the European mainland, but he is best known for his research in occult philosophy
Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language....
.






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Robert Fludd
Robert Fludd, also known as Robertus de Fluctibus (1574, Bearsted, Kent – September 8 1637, London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
) was a prominent English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 Paracelsian
Paracelsus

Paracelsus was a Medieval physician, botanist, alchemy, astrologer, and general occultist. Born Phillip von Hohenheim, he later took up the name Philippus Theophrastus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim, and still later took the title Paracelsus, meaning "equal to or greater than Celsus", a Roman encyclopedist, Aulus Cornelius Celsus fro...
 physician
Physician

A physician, medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, or medical doctor practices medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and injury....
, astrologer
Astrologer

An astrologer practices one or more forms of astrology. Typically an astrologer draws a horoscope for the time of an event, such as a person's birth, and interprets celestial points and their placements at the time of the event to better understand someone, determine the auspiciousness of an undertaking's beginning, etc....
, and mystic
Mysticism

Mysticism is the pursuit of communion with, Unio Mystica with, or conscious awareness of an ultimate reality, divinity, Spirituality, or God through direct experience, intuition, or insight....
. He was not a member of the Rosicrucians, as often alleged, but he defended their thoughts in the Apologia Compendiaria of 1616.

Life


He was the son of Sir Thomas Fludd, a high-ranking governmental official (Queen Elizabeth I's treasurer for war in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
).

He obtained an MD
Doctor of Medicine

Doctor of Medicine is a Doctorate for physicians . The degree is granted from medical schools.It is a first professional degree in some countries, including the United States and Canada, although training is entered after obtaining at least 90 hours of university level work ....
 from University of Oxford
University of Oxford

The University of Oxford , located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation in the English-speaking world....
.

Between 1598 and 1604, Fludd studied medicine, chemistry and the occult
Occult

The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g....
 on the European mainland, but he is best known for his research in occult philosophy
Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language....
. He had a celebrated exchange of views with Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler was a Germans mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, and key figure in the 17th century Scientific revolution. He is best known for his eponymous Kepler's laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican Astrononomy....
 concerning the scientific
Scientific method

Scientific method refers to techniques for investigating phenomenon, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and Measure evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning....
 and hermetic
Hermeticism

Hermeticism is a set of philosophy and Religion beliefs based primarily upon the Hellenistic Egyptian Pseudepigrapha attributed to Hermes Trismegistus who is the representation of the congruence of the Egyptian god Thoth and the Greek Hermes....
 approaches to knowledge.

Works


His philosophy is presented in Utriusque Cosmi, Maioris scilicet et Minoris, metaphysica, physica, atque technica Historia (The metaphysical
Metaphysical

Metaphysical may refer to:*Metaphysics, a branch of philosophy dealing with aspects of the ultimate nature of reality*Metaphysical poets, a poetic school from seventeenth century England who correspond with baroque period in European literature...
, physical, and technical history of the two worlds, namely the greater and the lesser, published in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 between 1617 and 1621); according to Frances Yates
Frances Yates

Dame Frances Amelia Yates Order of the British Empire was a noted British historian. She taught at the Warburg Institute of the University of London for many years....
, his memory
Memory

In psychology, memory is an organism's mental ability to store, retain and recall information. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of mnemonic....
 system (which she describes in detail in The Art of Memory, pp. 321-341) may reflect the layout of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
Globe Theatre

The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613....
 (The Art of Memory, Chapter XVI).

In 1618, Fludd wrote De Musica Mundana (Mundane Music) which described his theories of music, including his mundane (also known as "divine" or "celestial") monochord
Monochord

A monochord is an ancient Musical instrument and scientific laboratory instrument. The word "monochord" comes from the Greek language and means literally "one string." In the monochord, a single Strings is stretched over a sound box....
.

In 1630, Fludd proposed many perpetual motion machines. People were trying to patent variations of Fludd's machine in the 1870s. Fludd's machine worked by recirculation by means of a water wheel
Water wheel

A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into more useful forms of power, a process otherwise known as hydropower....
 and Archimedean screw. The device pump
Pump

A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as gases, liquids or Slurry. A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. One common misconception about pumps is the thought that they create pressure....
s the water back into its own supply tank
Tank

A tank is a Continuous track, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility and Military tactics Offensive and defence capabilities....
.

Fludd was the first person to discuss the circulation of the blood, and did in fact arrive at the correct conclusion. His conclusion was based on the macrocosm-microcosm
Microcosm

Microcosm can refer to:* Macrocosm and microcosm, a philosophical idea* Microcosm , a museum near Geneva, Switzerland* Microcosm , a shoot 'em up by Psygnosis...
 analogy, a theory in which all occurrences in the microcosm (man) are influenced by the macrocosm (the heavens). His theory was that the blood must circulate because the heart
Heart

The heart is a muscle organ in all vertebrates responsible for pumping blood through the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions, or a similar structure in annelids, mollusks, and arthropods....
 is like the sun
Sun

The Sun , a G V star, is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and other matter orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 98.6% of the Solar System's mass....
 and the blood like the planet
Planet

A planet , as 2006 definition of planet by the International Astronomical Union , is a celestial body orbiting a star or Stellar evolution#Stellar remnants that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared the neighbourhood of planetesimals....
s and, by this time, it was known that the planets orbit
ORBit

ORBit is a Common Object Request Broker Architecture 2.4 compliant Object Request Broker . It features mature C , C++ and Python bindings, and less developed bindings for Perl, Lisp , Pascal , Ruby , and Tcl....
 around the sun. William Harvey
William Harvey

William Harvey was an English physician who was the first in the Western world to describe correctly and in exact detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped around the body by the heart....
 later explained the circulation of blood in more modern and experimental terms, though still referring to the macrocosm-microcosm analogy of Fludd.

Gwynedd connection

He was a descendant of Cunedda Wledig ap Edern
Cunedda

Cunedda ap Edern , also known as Cunedda Wledig , was an important early Wales leader, and the progenitor of the royal dynasty of Kingdom of Gwynedd....
, King of Gwynedd
Kingdom of Gwynedd

Gwynedd is one of several Wales successor states that emerged in 5th-century sub-Roman Britain. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the Deceangli which were collectively known as Venedotia in late Romano-British documents....
, which is now part of Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
.

In popular culture

In conspiracy theories, such as the one promoted in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail

The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail is a List of controversial non-fiction books by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh , and Henry Lincoln.The book was first published in 1982 by Jonathan Cape in London, as an unofficial follow-up to three BBC TV documentaries being part of the Chronicle series....
, Fludd has been alleged to be the sixteenth Grand Master of the Priory of Sion
Priory of Sion

The Prieur? de Sion, translated from French language as Priory of Sion, is a name given to multiple groups, both real and fictitious....
.

Further reading

  • Allen G. Debus
    Allen G. Debus

    Allen George Debus is an American historian of science, known primarily for his work in the history of chemistry and alchemy.Early life...
    , The English Paracelsians, New York: Watts, 1965.
  • Tita French Baumlin, "Robert Fludd," The Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 281: British Rhetoricians and Logicians, 1500-1660, Second Series, Detroit: Gale, 2003, pp. 85-99.
  • J. B. Craven, Doctor Fludd (Robertus de Fluctibus), the English Rosicrucian: Life and Writings, Kirkwall: William Peace & Son, 1902.
  • Joscelyn Godwin
    Joscelyn Godwin

    Joscelyn Godwin is a musicologist and translator, known for his work on ancient music, paganism and music in the occult.He was educated as a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral School, Oxford, then at Radley College , and Magdalene College, Cambridge ....
    , Robert Fludd: Hermetic Philosopher and Surveyor of Two Worlds, London: Thames and Hudson, 1979.
  • Frances A. Yates, The Art of Memory, London: Routledge, 1966.
  • William H. Huffman, ed., Robert Fludd: Essential Readings, London: Aquarian/Thorsons, 1992.


External links

  • Robert Fludd at Levity
  • Fludd's magnum opus, is available as ZIP
    ZIP (file format)

    The ZIP file format is a data compression and file archiver file format. A ZIP file contains one or more files that have been compressed to reduce file size, or stored as-is....
     or PDF download.
  • A large section of is available as page images at the University of Utah.
  • JR Ritman Library:
  • Robert Fludd