Johannes Goropius Becanus (1519-1572) was a Dutch physician, linguist, and humanist. He was born Jan Gerartsen in the town of Gorp, situated in the municipality of Hilvarenbeek. As was the fashion of the time, Gerartsen adopted a latinized surname based on the name of his birthplace, Goropius being rendered from "Van Gorp"' and Becanus referring to "Hilvarenbeek." Events March 4 - Hernán Cortés lands in Mexico. ... January 16 - Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly referring to a city, town, or village, or a small grouping of them. ... Hilvarenbeek is a municipality and a town in the south of the Netherlands, along the border with Belgium. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... A family name, or surname, is that part of a persons name that indicates to what family he or she belongs. ...

He studied medicine in Leuven, and became physician to two sisters of Charles V: Marie and Eleonore, who were based in Brussels at the time. Philip II, the son of Charles V, wanted him also as his doctor and offered him a rich income. Goropius refused and established himself as medicus (town doctor) of Antwerp in 1554. Here, free of courtly intrigues, Goropius dedicated himself completely to the study of languages. Leuven   (French Louvain, German Löwen) is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in Flanders, Belgium, European Union. ... Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain. ... Nickname: The Capital Of Europe, Comic City City of a 100 Museums[] Map showing the location of Brussels in Belgium Coordinates: Country Belgium Region Brussels-Capital Region Founded 979 Founded (Region) June 18, 1989  - Mayor (Municipality) Freddy Thielemans Area    - City 162 (Region) km²  (62. ... Philip II of Spain Philip II (Spanish: Felipe II de Habsburgo; Portuguese: Filipe I) (May 21, 1527 – September 13, 1598) was the first official King of Spain from 1556 until 1598, King of Naples and Sicily from 1554 until 1598, King of England (as King-consort of Mary I) from... For other uses, see Antwerp (disambiguation). ... Events January 5 - Great fire in Eindhoven, Netherlands. ...

Johannes Goropius Becanus

Goropius dedicated himself to studying antiquity during this time, and became fluent in many languages. Goropius theorized that Antwerpian Flemish, or Brabantic, spoken in the region between the Scheldt and Meuse Rivers, was the original language spoken in Paradise. Goropius believed that the most ancient language on Earth would be the simplest language, and that the simplest language would contain mostly short words. Since the number of short words is higher in Brabantic than it is in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, Goropius reasoned that it was the older language. Brabantian is a dialect of the Dutch language spoken in Noord-Brabant and in the Belgian provinces of Antwerpen and Vlaams-Brabant. ... The Scheldt (Dutch: Schelde, French Escaut) is a 350 km[1] long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands. ... Meuse is a département in northeast France, named after the Meuse River. ... The origin of language is a topic that has been written about for centuries, but the ephemeral nature of speech means that there is almost no data on which to base conclusions on the subject. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Hebrew redirects here. ...

A corollary of this theory was that all languages derived ultimately from Brabantic. The Latin word for “oak,” quercus, Goropius derived from werd-cou (“keeps out cold”); the Hebrew name “Noah” he derived from nood (“need”). Goropius also believed that Adam and Eve were Brabantic names (from Hath-Dam, or “dam against hate"; and Eu-Vat, “barrel from which people originated,” or from Eet-Vat, “oath-barrel,” respectively). Another corollary was the placement of the Garden of Eden itself in the Brabant region. In the book known as Hieroglyphica, Goropius also proved to his satisfaction that Egyptian hieroglyphics represented Brabantic. Michelangelos Creation of Adam, from the Sistine Chapel. ... The Fall of Man by Lucas Cranach, a 16th century German depiction of Eden The Garden of Eden (from Hebrew Gan Ä’den, גַּן עֵדֶן) is described in the Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man—Adam—and woman—Eve—lived after they were created by God. ... It has been suggested that Hieroglyph (French Wiki article) be merged into this article or section. ... Brabantian is a dialect of the Dutch language spoken in Noord-Brabant and in the Belgian provinces of Antwerpen and Vlaams-Brabant. ...

There is an allusion to this theory in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist, where one character speaks of planks written on by Adam "in High Dutch: which proves it was the original tongue". Benjamin Jonson (circa June 11, 1572 – August 6, 1637) was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. ... The Alchemist is the title of more than one major work. ... [[Image:God2-Sistine Chapel. ...

In spite of his extensive travels in Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Britain, Goropius remained attached to his homeland, and reported on various curiosities and customs from his native region. In his Origines Antwerpianae (1569), a treatise describing the antiquities of Antwerp, Goropius reports various curiosities, among them that a youth almost nine feet tall and a woman about ten feet tall lived near his home. He also reports that Ters, a deity who seems to have been an equivalent of Priapus, was invoked by Antwerpian women when they were taken by surprise or sudden fear, and that there was a house in Antwerp adjoining the prison that bore a statue which had been furnished with a large worn away phallus. Events January 11 - First recorded lottery in England. ... Bronze sculpture of Priapus making an offering to his phallus, House of the Vettii, Pompeii Fresco of Priapus, House of the Vettii, Pompeii. ... This article is about the symbol of the erect penis. ...

Goropius died in Maastricht. Flag of Maastricht. ...

Legacy

Christoffel Plantijn had been a friend of Goropius' and the Antwerp-based printing house known as the Plantin Press, which first published Goropius' works in 1569, printed the linguist-physician’s posthumous collected work in 1580 as a massive volume of more than a thousand pages. Goropius' work was met with a mixture of ridicule and admiration. Goropius is considered to have given Dutch linguistics, and Gothic philology in general, a bad name. Though Goropius had admirers (among them Abraham Ortelius and Richard Hakluyt), his etymologies have been considered "linguistic chauvinism," and Leibniz coined the term "goropism" to mean "absurd etymology." Justus Lipsius and Hugo Grotius discounted Goropius’ linguistic theories. "Never have I read greater nonsense," the scholar Joseph Scaliger wrote of Goropius' etymologies. Christophe Plantin by Peter Paul Rubens Christoffel Plantijn (in French Christophe Plantin) (ca. ... The Plantin Press at Antwerp was one of the focal centers of the fine printed book in the 16th century. ... Events January 11 - First recorded lottery in England. ... Events March 1 - Michel de Montaigne signs the preface to his most significant work, Essays. ... Abraham Ortelius. ... Richard Hakluyt (~1552 - November 23, 1616) was an English writer, famous for his Voyages which provided William Shakespeare and others with material. ... 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. ... Justus Lipsius, Joost Lips or Josse Lips (October 18, 1547 — March 23, 1606), was a Flemish philologian and humanist. ... Hugo Grotius Hugo Grotius (Huig de Groot, or Hugo de Groot; Delft, 10th April 1583 - Rostock, 28th August 1645) worked as a jurist in the United Provinces (now the Netherlands) and laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law. ... Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540-1609) was the tenth child and third son of Julius Caesar Scaliger and Andiette de Roques Lobejac. ...

However, Goropius’ work precedes that of William Jones, the “discoverer” of the Indo-European language family, and though replete with eccentric and ridiculous etymologies, nevertheless can be considered a foundation for the field of historical linguistics. Sir William Jones Sir William Jones (September 28, 1746 – April 27, 1794) was an English philologist and student of ancient India, particularly known for his proposition of the existence of a relationship among Indo-European languages. ... Historical linguistics (also diachronic linguistics or comparative linguistics) is primarily the study of the ways in which languages change over time. ...

Sources

• (Dutch) Eerherstel voor Goropius Becanus door Nicoline van der Sijs
• (English) How come we can't decipher the Indus script? (Snopes article containing reference to Goropius)
• (Dutch) Cultureel Brabant
• (Latin) Ioannes Goropius