Franciscus van den Enden (Antwerp ca. 5 February 1602 - Paris, 27 November 1674), mainly known as the teacher of Baruch de Spinoza (1632-1677). His name is also written as 'Van den Ende', 'Van den Eijnde', 'Van den Eijnden', etc. The Cathedral of our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp) in the Handschoenmarkt, in the old quarter of Antwerp is the largest cathedral in the Low Countries and home to a number of triptychs by Renaissance Belgian painter Rubens. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Baruch Spinoza Benedictus de Spinoza (November 24, 1632 _ February 21, 1677), named Baruch Spinoza by his synagogue elders and known as Bento de Spinoza or Bento dEspiñoza in the community in which he grew up. ...

Life

Van den Enden, the son of weavers, was baptized at Antwerp on 6 Fenruary 1602. He was a pupil at the Augustinian and the Jesuit colleges of that city. In 1619 he entered the noviciate of the Society of Jesus, but in 1633 he was dismissed from the order. In the second half of the 1630s he contributed some Neo-Latin poems to devotional works by the Spanish Augustinian Bartholomeus de los Rios y Alarcon. In about the same period, he also seems to have been active in the Antwerp art trade, in which his brother Martinus van den Enden played an important role, as a publisher of prints by Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck. In 1640 Van den Enden married Clara Maria Vermeeren at Antwerp and in 1641 a first child was born, named after her mother, Clara Maria. It is not clear where and when their second daughter, Margereta Aldegonis, was born. The Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo (died AD 430), are several Roman Catholic monastic orders and congregations of both men and women living according to a guide to religious life known as the Rule of Saint Augustine. ... The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu), commonly known as the Jesuits, is a Roman Catholic religious order. ... The Society of Jesus (Societas Iesu/Jesu (S.J.) in Latin) is a Christian religious order of the Roman Catholic Church in direct service to the Pope. ... The Adoration of the Magii, painted 1624. ... Self Portrait With a Sunflower Sir Anthony (Antoon) van Dyck (*March 22, 1599 - December 9, 1641) was a Flemish painter — mainly of portraits — who became the leading court painter in England. ...

Probably around 1645 the family moved to Amsterdam, where Van den Enden started an art shop in the Nes. Only a few engravings and one pamphlet published by him are known. After the bankruptcy of his art shop, he opened a Latin school in the Singel. His pupils performed several classical plays in the Amsterdamse theatre and also a Neo-Latin play by his own hand, Philedonius (1657). By then the family had expanded: in 1648 the twins Anna and Adriana Clementina were born, in 1650 a son, Jacobus, and in 1651 again a daughter, Marianna (Anna and Jacobus probably died very young). In the late 1650s the famous philosopher [Baruch Spinoza] and the anatomist Theodoor Kerckrinck were pupils at his school. Amsterdam Location Country The Netherlands Province North Holland Population 739,295 (1 January 2005) Coordinates 4°54´E 52°22´N Website www. ...

In the early 1660s Van den Enden got the reputation of being a freethinker and atheist, although to the external world he behaved as a Roman Catholic. In this period, together with Pieter Cornelisz Plockhoy, he wroked on a project for a utopian settlement in New Netherland, more precisely in the area of the present Delaware. Van den Enden's views on this ideal society are found in the Kort Verhael van Nieuw-Nederland (Brief Account of New Netherland, 1662). Some years later, in 1665, another political publication appeared, the Vrye Politijke Stellingen (Free Political Proposals), in which democracy is defended and attention is paid to the social and educational tasks of a state. In that same year, when the Second Anglo-Dutch War had just started, he wrote to Johan de Witt offering to sell him a secret weapon for the navy. State nickname: The First State Other U.S. States Capital Dover Largest city Wilmington Governor Ruth Ann Minner (D) Senators Joe Biden (D) Thomas Carper (D) Official language(s) None Area 6,452 km² (49th)  - Land 5,068 km²  - Water 1,387 km² (21. ... The Royal Prince and other vessels at the Four Days Fight, 11–14 June 1666 by Abraham Storck depicts a battle of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. ... Johan de Witt (September 24, 1625 - August 20, 1672) was a significant Dutch political figure. ...

Shortly after the marriage of his oldest daughter Clara Maria with Theodoor Kerckrinck in 1671, Van den Enden moved to Paris, where he opened another Latin school. There he was visited by Antoine Arnauld and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. He also got involved in a plot against Louis XIV, but the conspirators were caught before they could execute their plans, the establishment of a republic in Normandy. Franciscus van den Enden was condemned to death and on 27 November 1674, after the decapitation of the noble conspirators, he was hanged before the Bastille. Antoine Arnauld, (1612 - August 8, 1694) — le grand as contemporaries called him, to distinguihs him from his father — was a French Roman Catholic theologian and writer. ... Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (July 1, 1646 in Leipzig - November 14, 1716 in Hannover) was a German philosopher, scientist, mathematician, diplomat, librarian, and lawyer of Sorb descent. ... Louis XIV King of France and Navarre By Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701) Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638–September 1, 1715) reigned as King of France and King of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death. ... In a broad definition, a republic is a state whose political organization rests on the principle that the citizens or electorate constitute the ultimate root of legitimacy and sovereignty. ... Mont Saint Michel is a historic pilgrimage site and a symbol of Normandy Normandy is a geographical region in northern France. ... The Bastille The Bastille was a prison in Paris, known formally as Bastille Saint-Antoine—Number 232, Rue Saint-Antoine. ...

Importance

One of the central question concerning Franciscus van den Enden is whether and in how far he was an influence on the philosophy of Spinoza, a question already raised by Meinsma. In 1990 Marc Bedjai and Wim Klever, independently from each other, established that Van den Enden was the author of two anonymous pamphlets, the Kort Verhael van Nieuw Nederland (Brief Account of New Netherland) and the Vrye Politijke Stellingen (Free Political Proposals). Mainly on the basis of the last work the claim was made, most strongly by Klever, that the whole of Spinozist philosophy had been developed by Van den Enden. The idea of a strong influence on Spinoza was later adopted in the most recent biographies of Spinoza (by Stephen Nadler, and more outspokenly by Margaret Gullan-Whur). However, a thorough analysis of both pamphlets shows that a possible influence was rather limited and the chronology of the sources does not allow it to be determined whether it was the teacher who influenced the pupil or whether it was the other way around.

Apart from this question, which due to the fragmentary source material will probably never be answered with certainty, Van den Enden's later writings are of great interest. It is clear, for instance, that together with Johan de la Court, he should be counted among the earliest Dutch-writing promotors of democracy. Moreover, his radical rejection of slavery is unique, even within his circle of Amsterdam freethinkers. Finally, Van den Enden's concern for social problems and his proposals for organized forms of solidarity, presumably influenced by Plockhoy, must be considered original for his time. This poster depicting the horrific conditions on slave ships was influential in mobilizing public opinion against slavery in the United Kingdom and the United States. ... Freethought is a characteristic of individuals whose opinions are formed on the basis of an understanding and rejection of tradition, authority or established belief. ...

Works

• Philedonius (1657)
• Kort Verhael van Nieuw Nederland (1662)
• Vrye Politijke Stellingen (1665)
• Vrije Politijke Stellingen (ed. W. Klever, 1992)

Bibliography

• K.O. Meinsma, Spinoza en zijn kring, Den Haag, 1896, pp. 125-157.
• J. v. Meininger & G. van Suchtelen, Liever met wercken, als met woorden, Weesp: Heureka, 1980.
• M. Bedjai, 'Metaphysique, éthique et politique dans l`œuvre du docteur Franciscus van den Enden (1602- 1674)', Studia Spinozana, nr. 6 (1990), pp. 291- 301.
• W. Klever, 'Proto-Spinoza Franciscus van den Enden', Studia Spinozana, nr. 6 (1990), pp. 281- 289.
• J. Israel, The Radical Enlightenment, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1621.

External links

• Franciscus van den Enden
• Kort Verhael van Nieuw Nederland