Dedication, 1571-05-01, Thomas Erastus to August, Kurfürst von Sachsen
| Author: | Thomas Erastus |
| Recipient: | Augustus, Elector of Saxony |
| Type: | Dedication |
| Date: | 1 May 1571 |
| Place: | Heidelberg |
| Pages: | 6 |
| Language: | Latin |
| Quote as: | https://www.theatrum-paracelsicum.com/index.php?curid=2326 |
| Editor: | Edited by Julian Paulus |
| Source: | Thomas Erastus, Disputationum de medicina nova Philippi Paracelsi pars prima, Basel: Pietro Perna [1571], sig. α2r-α4v [BP.Erastus.1571-01]
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| Translation: | Raw translation see below |
| Abstract: | Erastus recounts his first encounter with the works of Paracelsus. Initially dismissive of Paracelsus' complex language and unconventional ideas, Erastus revisits his work due to growing praise from respected individuals. However, upon deeper analysis, he finds more contentious material. Driven by a debate about the element antimony and encouragement from others (including the Duke's physician), he decides to refute Paracelsus' doctrines. He then completes the first part of his work focused on disproving Paracelsus' superstitious and magical remedies. Erastus dedicates his refutation to the Duke for three main reasons: the Duke's physician's encouragement, the prestige the Duke's name would bring to his work, and to dispel any notion of the Duke's approval of Paracelsus' contentious ideas. (generated by Chat-GPT) |
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[sig. α2r] Illvstrissimo et magnificentissimo principi ac domino, D[omino] Avgvsto, Dvci Saxoniæ, Sacri Romani Imperij Archimarschalco & Electori, Landtgrauio Thuringiæ, Marchioni Misniæ, Burggrauio Magdeburgensi, &c. Domino suo clementissimo, Thomas Erastvs, S[alutem] P[lurimam] D[icit].
Cvm ante aliquot annos, Illustrißime, & clarißime Princeps Elector, casu in quosdam Paracelsi (cuius tunc nomen nondum increbuerat, aut mihi saltem non innotuerat) libellos incidissem, atque inscriptionis nouitate motus eosdem legere incepissem, ac præter barbara nomina, inconditam mirificeq́ue perturbatam orationem, sententias incredibiliter absurdas, indoctas, monstrosas, nihil in eis inuenissem, mox abieci, indignos iudicans quibus cognoscendis bonas horas malè perderem. Accidit postmodum, vt & fama Paracelsi cresceret, effuseq́ue à compluribus (inter quos aliqui erant, quorum iudcium magni faciebam) laudaretur, & remedia insuper, quorum author ille diceretur, in vsum reciperentur, magnisq́ue vulgò encomijs celebrarentur. Quibus rebus effectum fuit, ut de mea sententia apud me ipsum dubitarem. [sig. α2v] Sic enim ratiocinabar. Tibi plus, quam alijs, in ea re æstimanda, quam Calculo sui quidam non ineruditi approbare feruntur, credere non facilè debes. Quippe verisimile prorsus est, tales ab vsitata medendi ratione sine grauißimis causis non disceßisse: nec temerè noua & ignota remedia pro exploratis & certis vsurpare voluisse. Rursus nec oculis derogare fidem, nec vt vera & recta probare potes quæ falsa & absurda esse firmè perspexisti. Quia igitur? Fortasse Paracelsus in illis solis libellis, quos tibi videre contigit, ineptiuit, in alijs autem sanius scripsit, ac præclara illa, quæ tantopere nunc commendantur, tradidit. Quocirca libros Paracelsicos studiosè peruestigare & conquirere, conquisitos attentè perlegere, accurateq́ue examinare cœpi. Tantum verò abest, vt meliora in his repererim, vt deteriora semper occurrerint. Quamobrem denuo consilium de perlegendis portentosis delirijs mutauissem, nisi disputatio inter quosdam de Stibij viribus orta vehemens in me desiderium accendisset huius rei veritatem peruidendi. Dum porrò, quæ de Stibij natura & facultatibus scripserit Paracelsus, scrutari, & ex omnibus libris sententias à veritate remotiores, & à recepta omnium seculorum doctrina alieniores, mihi annotare pergo, nescio quo pacto euenit, vt hoc meum consilium viro doctrina virtuteq́ue ornatißimo D. Iohanni Hermanno, Celsitud[inis] tuæ Medicus, aperirem. Is continuò argumentis à pietate in Deum, & Rempub[licæ] à miseratione ægrorum, ab officio Professorum (quorum proprium esset munus falsis & noxijs resistere [sig. α3r] opinionibus) ductis, persuadere mihi nitebatur, vt non particulam solum, sed totam Paracelsi doctrinam falsam excuterem, & refutarem. Mouerunt me, quæ proferebat, fateor, at non permouerunt tamen. Maluissem enim alios me ab eruditione instructiores & paratiores hanc in se recipere contentionem. Postquàm neminem produre vidi, atque alij præterea clarißimi viri, partim voce, partim literis, idem à me peterent, ac eandem etiam vir pietate & virtute nobilißimus, omnibusq́ue liberalibus doctrinis instructißimus, D[ominus] Iohannes Crato Cæs[areæ] Maiest[atis] Medicus vrgeret, experiri constitui, quantum in hoc genere vires meæ possent. Itaque aggressus rem sum: & opinione mea (Deo opt[imo] Max[imo] auxiliante) citius primam propositi operis partem, in qua remedia superstitiosa & magica præcipuè perpenduntur & confutantur, absolui. Cum Typographo iam tradidissem, nouus mihi ex nundinis liber Paracelsi adfertur: in cuius inscriptione probatus appellatur Philosophus, & à Deo excellenter illuminatus. Hunc cum percurrerem: atque supra dictos errores ac blasphemias non tantum repeti, verbosiusq́ue exponi, sed nouas etiam hæreses confirmari cernerem, facere non potui, quin paucis eum refellerem. Negat in hoc libro carnis nostræ, quam in hac mortali vita circumferimus, quamque ab Adamo pro pagatione quadam accepimus, resurrectionem. Nec obiter hoc facit, vt excidisse ei tale quippiam credere poßimus, sed constanter asseuerat, multisq́ue argumentis vel eisdem saltem crebrò repetitis monstrare conatur.
[sig. α3v] Quod verò hunc librum sub Magnificentißimo nomine tuo, Princeps gloriosißime, in hanc lucem venire volui, complures sunt causæ: inter quas me præcipuè tres impulerunt. Vna est, quod Celsit[udinis] tuæ, Medicus inter primos me cohortatus fuit, vt in hanc arenam, publicæ vtilitatis salutisq́ue gratia descenderem. Aequum igitur videbatur esse, vt, si quis ex eo fructus ad alios perueniret, gloria ad tuam Celsit[udinem] rediret. Neque enim dubito, quin compertum habuerit, quis tuus esset animus erga veritatem contra Paracelsi exitiosa mendacia. Altera est, quod ex illustrißimi nominis tui splendore & magnificentia dignitatem commendationemq́ue operi nostro accessuram speraui: & quod vicißim meam erga tuam Celsit[udinem] obseruantiam declarare obiter volui. Equidem prudentes cordatiq́ue viri, quoscunque de tua Celsit[udo] disserentes audiui, eas in te virtutes ornamentaq́ue prædicant, quæ in admirationem cultumq́ue tui omnes facilè pertrahant. Summis te corporis atque animi dotibus præditum & perpolitum, adeoq́ue ad res prædicabiles, magnas, & excelsas à Deo factum iudicant. In cognoscendis rebus præclaris desiderium, in peruestigandis studium, in percipiendis promptitudinem & facilitatem, in excogitando solertiam, in consultando prudentiam, in iudicando acumen, in audendo magnanimitatem, in agendo industriam, in exequendo constantiam & fortitudinem adscribunt tantam, quanta in alijs paucis reperiatur. Grauitatem præterea magnificentiam & pietatem ad actiones omnes summam te adferre asseuerant. Hæc de Celsit[udine] tua [sig. α4r] clarißimorum virorum opinio, non hoc tantum apud me perfecit, vt, qua possum obseruantia, te mihi colendum iudicarem, verum etiam, ex splendore virtutum laudumq́ue tuarum lumen & gratiam libello nostro comparatum iri confiderem. Sanè sicut ego proximè euulgatum Paracelsi librum nunquam fortaßis, aut serius saltem perlegissem, si Celsit[udinis] tuæ, Princeps amplißime, dedicatus non fuisset, ita auidius alios nostrum cognoscituros spero, cum tibi nuncupatum videbunt. Tertia causa ex secunda, tanquam ex radice, orta est. Quippe hac disputationis nostræ consecratione futurum arbitror, vt æqui rerum æstimatores intellecturi sint, tuam Celsit[udinem] teterrimos & nefarios Paracelsi errores nunquam probauisse. Nimis aliàs constat, viros aliquot insigni pietate præstanteq́ue doctrina clarißimos haud leuiter offendi, cum viris Principibus pietate virtuteq́ue præstantißimis libros impiarum superstitionum plenos dedicari vident. Non minus certum est, veritatis inimicos in sinu suo gaudere, cum summos Heroas, & acerrimos pietatis propugnatores profanißimarum opinionum patronos constitui sentiunt. Hos ne principes, inquiunt, qui sub clarißimis nominibus suis libros impios apparentes publicè vendi ac distrahi patiuntur? Non silerent Pontificij, si quis ipsorum nominibus ita abuti tentaret. Etsi, qui hæc dicunt, non optimo fortasse animo dicant, verè tamen dicunt. Etenim quò maior est piorum Magistratuum authoritas, amplior potestat, illustrior dignitas, tanto cauere [sig. α4v] solicitius debent, ne quid gloriæ splendorem offuscet, aut existimationem, quæ in plerisque rebus omnibus plurimum valet, imminuat. Negari non potest, quin imprudenter faciant, qui piorum & clarorum Principum nominibus ad conciliandam execrabilibus libellis gratiam, abutuntur. Vt enim æquos & prudentes hoc non moueat, saltem apud iniquos, quiq́ue res nostras non satis exploratè cognitas habent, sinistram parere opinionem potest. Quanquam verò præclarißima pietate, & planè Heroicis tuis virtutibus, gloriosißime Princeps, hoc es consecutus, vt neque impij Paracelsi libelli, neque res aliæ huiusmodi, famam tuam denigrare poßint, ac proinde nullius egeas defensione, spero tamen voluntatem atque operam nostram tibi non displicituram: imò hilari fronte, quæ sceleratis Paracelsi delirijs, quorum te aliqui libenter facerent patronum & defensorem, opposuimus, suscepturum & defensurum esse.
Vale Princeps amplißime & generosißime.
Cal[endas] Maij Heydelbergæ.
English Raw Translation
Generated by ChatGPT-4 on 11 May 2023. Attention: This translation is a machine translation by artificial intelligence. The translation has not been checked and should not be cited without additional human verification.
To the most illustrious and most magnificent prince and lord, Lord Augustus, Duke of Saxony, Arch-Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire and Elector, Landgrave of Thuringia, Margrave of Meissen, Burgrave of Magdeburg, etc., his most merciful lord, Thomas Erastus sends many greetings.
Some years ago, most illustrious and very clear Prince Elector, I happened upon some pamphlets of Paracelsus (whose name had not yet become widespread, or at least not known to me) by chance, and moved by the novelty of the title, I began to read them. Beyond the barbaric names, the incredibly disturbed and unstructured speech, the incredibly absurd, unlearned, and monstrous sentences, I found nothing in them, and soon discarded them, judging them unworthy of wasting good hours on understanding. Later it happened that both the fame of Paracelsus grew and he was lavishly praised by many (among whom there were some whose judgment I respected), and his remedies, for which he was said to be the author, were used, and were widely celebrated with great praise. These matters caused me to doubt my own opinion. I reasoned thus: you should not easily believe more than others in this matter, which some learned men seem to approve according to their own calculation. It is quite plausible that they did not leave the usual method of healing without very serious reasons, nor did they wish to use new and unknown remedies for tried and certain ones. Again, you can neither deny faith in your eyes, nor can you prove as true and correct what you have firmly seen to be false and absurd. Therefore? Perhaps Paracelsus only wrote foolishly in those few books that you happened to see, and in others he wrote more sanely, and handed down those excellent things that are now highly praised. Therefore, I began to diligently investigate and search out Paracelsian books, to carefully read the ones I found, and to examine them closely. However, far from finding better things in these, I always came across worse ones. Therefore, I would have changed my plan to read these monstrous delusions again, if a vehement dispute about the powers of antimony had not kindled in me a desire to see the truth of this matter. While I was investigating what Paracelsus wrote about the nature and faculties of antimony, and from all books I continued to note down the opinions most remote from truth, and most alien from the doctrine received in all ages, I do not know how it happened that I revealed my plan to the man most distinguished in learning and virtue, Mr. Johann Hermann, your Highness's physician. He immediately tried to persuade me, with arguments drawn from piety towards God, from compassion towards the public and the sick, and from the duty of professors (whose proper task it would be to resist false and harmful opinions), to shake off and refute not only a part, but the whole false doctrine of Paracelsus. I admit, what he said moved me, but they did not move me enough. For I would have preferred others, more knowledgeable and prepared than me, to take up this contention. After I saw no one come forward, and other distinguished men, partly by voice, partly by letters, asked the same of me, and the same was also urged by the most pious and virtuous man, well-versed in all liberal doctrines, Lord Johann Crato, physician to the Imperial Majesty, I decided to test what my strength could achieve in this genre. So, I began the matter: and with the help of God Almighty, I completed the first part of the proposed work more quickly than I had thought, in which superstitious and magical remedies are primarily considered and refuted. After I had already handed it over to the printer, a new book by Paracelsus was brought to me from the market: in its inscription, he is called an approved philosopher, and excellently illuminated by God. As I read through it: and not only did I see the above-mentioned errors and blasphemies repeated and more wordily explained, but I also saw new heresies confirmed, I could not help but refute him in a few words. In this book, he denies the resurrection of our flesh, which we carry around in this mortal life, and which we received from Adam for some kind of propagation. He does not do this incidentally, as if we could believe that such a thing slipped out, but he consistently asserts it, and tries to show it with many arguments, or at least frequently repeated ones.
But there are several reasons why I wanted this book to come into this light under your most magnificent name, most glorious Prince: among them, three primarily moved me. One is that your Highness's physician was one of the first to encourage me to descend into this arena for the sake of public utility and health. Therefore, it seemed fair that, if any fruit came from it to others, the glory should return to your Highness. For I do not doubt that he would have found out what your mind was towards the truth against the deadly lies of Paracelsus. Another is that I hoped for dignity and commendation for our work from the splendor and magnificence of your illustrious name: and that I wished to show my respect towards your Highness in passing. Indeed, whenever I heard wise and sensible men discussing your Highness, they proclaim those virtues and ornaments in you that would easily attract everyone to admire and respect you. They judge you to be endowed and polished with the highest bodily and mental gifts, and thus made by God for noteworthy, great, and lofty matters. They ascribe to you a desire for understanding remarkable matters, a zeal for investigating, a readiness and ease for grasping, a diligence for devising, a prudence for consulting, a sharpness for judging, a magnanimity for daring, an industry for acting, and a perseverance and courage for executing, as great as is found in few others. Furthermore, they assert that you bring the greatest gravity, magnificence, and piety to all your actions. This opinion of your Highness from the most distinguished men has not only made me judge, with whatever reverence I can, that you should be revered by me, but also that I am confident that light and grace will be compared to our booklet from the splendor of your virtues and praises. Indeed, just as I would never perhaps have read, or at least not read until later, the recently published book by Paracelsus, if it had not been dedicated to your Highness, most noble Prince, so I hope that others will be more eager to know ours when they see it dedicated to you. The third reason arose from the second, like a root. Indeed, by this dedication of our dispute, I think it will happen that fair estimators of things will understand that your Highness has never approved of the most horrible and wicked errors of Paracelsus. It is all too clear that some men, most distinguished for their notable piety and outstanding doctrine, are not slightly offended when they see books full of impious superstitions dedicated to very distinguished Princes for their piety and virtue. It is no less certain that the enemies of the truth rejoice in their bosom when they feel that the greatest Heroes and the most ardent defenders of piety are constituted as patrons of the most profane opinions. They say, are not these the princes, who allow impious appearing books to be publicly sold and distributed under their most illustrious names? The Pontiffs would not be silent, if someone tried to misuse their names in this way. Even though those who say these things may not say them with the best spirit, they nevertheless say them truthfully. Indeed, the greater the authority, the broader the power, the more illustrious the dignity of pious Magistrates, the more carefully they should avoid anything that might tarnish the splendor of glory or diminish the reputation, which in most things is of the greatest value. It cannot be denied that those who misuse the names of pious and famous Princes to gain favor for execrable booklets, act imprudently. For even if this does not move the just and prudent, it can at least give a sinister opinion among the unjust, who do not have a sufficiently clear knowledge of our affairs. Although, most glorious Prince, you have achieved this with your most excellent piety and truly heroic virtues, that neither the impious booklets of Paracelsus, nor other things of this kind, can blacken your fame, and therefore you need no defense, I hope, however, that our will and effort will not displease you: indeed, with a cheerful countenance, that you will take up and defend what we have opposed to the wicked delirium of Paracelsus, of whom some would willingly make you a patron and defender.
Farewell, most noble and generous Prince.
May 1st, Heidelberg.
