Julius Caesar Scaliger.

Julius Caesar Scaliger or Giulio Cesare della Scala (April 23, 1484 – October 21, 1558), was an Italian scholar and physician spending a large part of his career in France. He employed the techniques and discoveries of Renaissance humanism to defend Aristotelianism against the new learning. In spite of his arrogant and contentious disposition, his contemporary reputation was high, judging him so distinguished by his learning and talents that, according to Jacques August de Thou, none of the ancients could be placed above him, and the age in which he lived could not show his equal. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 113th day of the year (114th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1484 was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar). ... is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 7 - French troops led by Francis, Duke of Guise take Calais, the last continental possession of the Kingdom of England July 13 - Battle of Gravelines: In France, Spanish forces led by Count Lamoral of Egmont defeat the French forces of Marshal Paul des Thermes at Gravelines. ... Renaissance humanism (often designated simply as humanism) was a European intellectual movement beginning in Florence in the last decades of the 14th century. ... Aristotelianism is a tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. ... Jacques Auguste de Thou (Thuanus) (1553 - May 7, 1617) was a French historian. ...

Biography

He was. and according to his own account, a scion of the house of La Scala, for a hundred and fifty years lords of Verona, and was born in 1484 at the Rocca di Riva, on Lake Garda. The persons most commonly meant by the single name are Julius Caesar Scaliger and Joseph Justus Scaliger, qq. ... This article is about the city in Italy. ... Template:Comuni del Trentino-Alto Adige stub Template:Wikificare Template:Wikificare {{Comune}} View of the Garda Lake from Riva Riva del Garda is a town of 14. ... Lake Garda (Italian Lago di Garda or Benaco) is the largest lake in Italy. ...

When he was twelve, his kinsman the emperor Maximilian placed him among his pages. He remained for seventeen years in the service of the emperor, distinguishing himself as a soldier and as a captain. But he was unmindful neither of letters, in which he had the most eminent scholars of the day as his instructors, nor of art, which he studied with considerable success under Albrecht Dürer. Maximilian I of Habsburg (March 22, 1459 – January 12, 1519) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death. ... Albrecht Dürer (pronounced /al. ...

In 1512 at the Battle of Ravenna, where his father and elder brother were killed, he displayed prodigies of valour, and received the highest honours of chivalry from his imperial cousin, who conferred upon him with his own hands the Order of the Golden Spur, augmented with the collar and the eagle of gold. But this was the only reward he obtained. Year 1512 (MDXII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... The Battle of Ravenna, fought on April 11, 1512, by forces of the Holy League and France, was a major battle of the Italian Wars. ... Bors Dilemma - he chooses to save a maiden rather than his brother Lionel Chivalry[1] is a term related to the medieval institution of knighthood. ... The Order of the Golden Militia / Order of the Golder Spur is a Papal order of knighthood conferred upon those who have rendered distinguished service in propagating the Catholic Faith, or who have contributed to the glory of the Church, either by feat of arms, writings, or other illustrious acts. ...

He left the service of Maximilian, and after a brief employment by another kinsman, the duke of Ferrara, he decided to quit the military life, and in 1514 entered as a student at the University of Bologna. He determined to take holy orders, in the expectation that he would become cardinal, and then pope, when he would wrest from the Venetians his duchy of Verona, of which the republic had despoiled his ancestors. But, though he soon gave up this design, he remained at the university until 1519. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with List of Dukes of Modena. ... The University of Bologna (Italian: , UNIBO) is the oldest continually operating degree-granting university in the world, and the second biggest university in Italy. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Catholic deacon... For other uses, see Cardinal (disambiguation). ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Pope (from Latin... Borders of the Republic of Venice in 1796 Capital Venice Language(s) Venetian, Latin, Italian Religion Roman Catholic Government Republic Doge  - 1789–97 Ludovico Manin History  - Established 697  - Treaty of Zara June 27, 1358  - Treaty of Leoben April 17, 1797 * Traditionally, the establishment of the Republic is dated to 697. ...

The next six years he passed at the castle of Vico Nuovo, in Piedmont, as a guest of the Della Rovere, at first dividing his time between military expeditions in the summer, and study, chiefly of medicine and natural history, in the winter, until a severe attack of rheumatic gout brought his military career to a close. Piedmont is a region of northwestern Italy. ... Della Rovere is a noble historical family of Italy. ... For the chemical substances known as medicines, see medication. ... Table of natural history, 1728 Cyclopaedia Natural history is an umbrella term for what are now often viewed as several distinct scientific disciplines of integrative organismal biology. ... Rheumatology, a subspecialty of internal medicine, is devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatic diseases. ...

Henceforth his life was wholly devoted to study. In 1525 he accompanied Antonio della Rovera, bishop of Agen, to that city as his physician. Such is the outline of his own account of his early life. The Diocese of Agen is a French Roman Catholic diocese. ...

It was not until some time after his death that the enemies of his son first alleged that he was not of the family of La Scala, but was the son of Benedetto Bordone, an illuminator or schoolmaster of Verona; that he was educated at Padua, where he took the degree of M.D.; and that the story of his life and adventures before arriving at Agen was a tissue of fables. It certainly is supported by no other evidence than his own statements, some of which are inconsistent with well-ascertained facts (see below). Benedetto Bordone (1460-1531) was the last of the great manuscript illuminators and a much admired miniaturist and cartographer. ... Padua, Italy, (Italian: IPA: , Latin: Patavium, Venetian: ) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, the economic and communications hub of the region. ... The Medicinæ Doctor or Doctor of Medicine (M.D. or D.M.) is a doctorate level degree held by medical doctors. ...

The remaining thirty-two years of his life were passed almost wholly at Agen, in the full light of contemporary history. They were without adventure, almost without incident, but it was in them that he achieved so much distinction that at his death in 1558 he had the highest scientific and literary reputation of any man in Europe. A few days after his arrival at Agen he fell in love with a charming orphan of thirteen, Andiette de Roques Lobejac. Her friends objected to her marriage with an unknown adventurer, but in 1528 he had obtained so much success as a physician that the objections of her family were overcome, and at forty-five he married Andiette, who was then sixteen. The marriage proved a complete success; it was followed by twenty-nine years of almost uninterrupted happiness, and by the birth of fifteen children who included Joseph Justus Scaliger. Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540-1609) was the tenth child and third son of Julius Caesar Scaliger and Andiette de Roques Lobejac. ...

A charge of heresy in 1538, of which he was acquitted by his friendly judges, one of whom was his friend Arnoul Le Ferron, was almost the only event of interest during these years, except the publication of his books, and the quarrels and criticisms to which they gave rise. In 1531 he printed his first oration against Erasmus, in defence of Cicero and the Ciceronians^[1]. It is a piece of vigorous invective, displaying, like all his subsequent writings, an astonishing command of Latin, and much brilliant rhetoric, but full of vulgar abuse, and completely missing the point of the Ciceronianus of Erasmus. For other uses, see Heresy (disambiguation). ... Desiderius Erasmus in 1523 Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (also Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam) (October 27, probably 1466 – July 12, 1536) was a Dutch humanist and theologian. ... For other uses, see Cicero (disambiguation). ... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Rhetoric (from Greek , rhêtôr, orator, teacher) is generally understood to be the art or technique of persuasion through the use of oral, visual, or written language; however, this definition of rhetoric has expanded greatly since rhetoric emerged as a field of study in universities. ...

The writer's indignation at finding it treated with silent contempt by the great scholar, who thought it was the work of a personal enemy - Meander - caused him to write a second oration (published in 1536), more violent and abusive, with more self-glorification, but with less real merit than the first. The orations were followed by a prodigious quantity of Latin verse, which appeared in successive volumes in 1533, 1534, 1539, 1546 and 1547; of these, a friendly critic, Mark Pattison, is obliged to approve the judgment of Pierre Daniel Huet, who says, "par ses poésies brutes et informes Scaliger a déshonoré le Parnasse"; yet their numerous editions show that they commended themselves not only to his contemporaries, but to succeeding scholars. A brief tract on comic metres (De comicis dimensionibus) and a work De causis linguae Latinae (Lyon, 1540; Geneva, 1580)^[2], which was the earliest Latin grammar founded on scientific principles and following a scientific method, were his only other purely literary works published in his lifetime. Mark Pattison (October 10, 1813 - July 30, 1884) was an English author and rector of Lincoln College, Oxford. ... Pierre Daniel Huet (1630-1721) was a French churchman and scholar, Bishop of Soissons from 1685 to 1689 and afterwards of Avranches. ... For the rules of English grammar, see English grammar and Disputes in English grammar. ...

His Poetices (Lyons, 1561; Leyden, 1581) appeared after his death. With many paradoxes, with many criticisms which are below contempt, and many indecent displays of personal animosity--especially in his reference to Etienne Dolet, over whose death he gloated with brutal malignity--it yet contains acute criticism based on the Poetics of Aristotle, imperator noster; omnium bonarum artium dictator perpetuus^[3], an influential treatise in the history of literary criticism. Like many of his generation Scaliger prized Virgil above Homer. His praise of the tragedies of Seneca over those of the Greeks influenced both Shakespeare and Pierre Corneille. Étienne Dolet (August 3, 1509 - August 3, 1546) was a French scholar and printer. ... Aristotles Poetics aims to give an account of poetry. ... Literary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. ... For other uses, see Virgil (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... Bust, traditionally thought to be Seneca, now identified by some as Hesiod. ... Shakespeare redirects here. ... Pierre Corneille (June 6, 1606–October 1, 1684) was a French tragedian tragedian who was one of the three great 17th Century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. ...

But it is as a philosopher and a man of science that Scaliger meant to be judged. Classical studies he regarded as an agreeable relaxation from severer pursuits. Whatever the truth of the first forty years of his life, he had certainly been a close and accurate observer, and had made himself acquainted with many curious and little-known phenomena, which he had stored up in a most tenacious memory.

His scientific writings are all in the form of commentaries, and it was not until his seventieth year that (with the exception of a brief tract on the De insomniis of Hippocrates) he felt that any of them were sufficiently complete to beprinted. In 1556 he printed his Dialogue on the De plantis attributed to Aristotle, and in 1557 his Exercitationes on Jerome Cardan's, De subtilitate. His other scientific works, commentaries on Theophrastus' De causis plantarum and Aristotle's History of Animals, he left in a more or less unfinished state, and they were not printed until after his death. They are all marked by arrogant dogmatism, violence of language, a constant tendency to self-glorification, strangely combined with extensive real knowledge, with acute reasoning, with an observation of facts and details almost unparalleled. But he is only the naturalist of his own time. For other uses, see Hippocrates (disambiguation). ... This article is about the philosopher. ... Gerolamo Cardano. ... Theophrastus (Greek Θεόφραστος, 370 — about 285 BC), a native of Eressos in Lesbos, was the successor of Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. ...

That he anticipated in any manner the inductive reasoning of the true scientific method cannot be contended; his botanical studies did not lead him, like his contemporary Konrad von Gesner, to any idea of a natural system of classification, and he rejected with the utmost arrogance and violence of language the discoveries of Copernicus. In metaphysics and in natural history Aristotle remained as much a law to him as in poetics, and in medicine Galen, but he was not a slave to the text or the details of either. He thoroughly mastered their principles, and is able to see when his masters are not true to themselves. He corrects Aristotle by himself. Aristotle appears first to establish the mental behaviour of induction as a category of reasoning. ... Scientific method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. ... Conrad von Gesner (Konrad von Gesner, Conrad Gessner, Conradus Gesnerus) (26 March 1516-13 December 1565) was a Swiss naturalist. ... Nicolaus Copernicus (in Latin; Polish Mikołaj Kopernik, German Nikolaus Kopernikus - February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543) was a Polish astronomer, mathematician and economist who developed a heliocentric (Sun-centered) theory of the solar system in a form detailed enough to make it scientifically useful. ... Plato (Left) and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome) Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the ultimate nature of reality, being, and the world. ... Table of natural history, 1728 Cyclopaedia Natural history is an umbrella term for what are now often viewed as several distinct scientific disciplines of integrative organismal biology. ... For other uses, see Galen (disambiguation). ...

He is in that stage of learning when the attempt is made to harmonize the written word with the actual facts of nature, and the result is that his scientific works have only historical value. His Exercitationes upon the De subtilitate of Cardan (1551) is the book by which Scaliger is best known as a philosopher. Its numerous editions bear witness to its popularity, and until the final fall of Aristotle's physics it continued a popular textbook. The Exercitationes are renowned for their display of encyclopaedic wealth of knowledge, the vigour of the author's style, and the accuracy of his observations; at the same time, as Gabriel Naudé noted, they contain more faults than those Scaliger has discovered in Cardan. Charles Nisard wrote also that his object seems to be to deny all that Cardan affirms and to affirm all that Cardan denies. Yet Leibniz and Sir William Hamilton recognize him as the best modern exponent of the physics and metaphysics of Aristotle. Gabriel Naudé (February 2, 1600 - July 10, 1653) was a French librarian and scholar. ... Charles Nisard (1808-1890) was a French writer and critic, and member of the Institut. ... Leibniz redirects here. ... Sir William Hamilton, Bart (March 8, 1788 - May 6, 1856) was a Scottish metaphysician. ...

Scaliger died at Agen in 1558. For the Agen meteorite of 1814, see Meteorite falls. ... January 7 - French troops led by Francis, Duke of Guise take Calais, the last continental possession of the Kingdom of England July 13 - Battle of Gravelines: In France, Spanish forces led by Count Lamoral of Egmont defeat the French forces of Marshal Paul des Thermes at Gravelines. ...

Footnotes

Lorenzo Valla Lorenzo (or Laurentius) Valla (c. ...

See also

• Distichs of Cato

The Distichs of Cato (Latin: Catonis Disticha, most famously known simply as Cato), is a Latin collection of proverbial wisdom and morality by an unknown author named Dionysius Cato from the 3rd or 4th century AD. The Cato was the most popular medieval schoolbook for teaching Latin, prized not only...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Julius Caesar Scaliger
• Correspondents of Scaliger Julius Caesar Scaliger was the father of Josephus Justus Scaliger (1540-1609), who maintained a vast correspondence with European humanists and scholars, whose names are listed here.