Societas eruditorum incognitorum in terris Austriacis
Encyclopedia
Societas eruditorum incognitorum in terris Austriacis (The Society of Anonymous Scholars in the Austrian Lands) was the first learned society
in the lands under control of Austrian Habsburgs
. It was established, formally, in 1746 at the university and episcopal town of Olomouc
in order to spread Enlightenment
ideas. Its monthly journal, "Monatliche Auszüge" was the first scientific journal
in the Habsburg Monarchy.
became a centre for the counter-reformation
, with the Jesuits taking over the local college in 1566. In 1573 the college was promoted to University status, and the special papal seminary, the Collegium Nordicum was established in 1578. Initially competing with the schools run by the Hussite "Bohemian Brethren"
, the Jesuits obtained an effective monopoly after the Thirty year's war: this brought savage re-Catholization and Germanization to the Czech population. The Jesuit monopoly was however challenged because the Moravian nobility wanted to expand the range of areas taught beyond just theology and philosophy. In 1679 secular legal studies were introduced at the University, and in 1725 the Academy of Nobility
was established in Olomouc. Both these developments met with fierce opposition from the Jesuits.
It was the strong Jesuit reaction which led an alumnus of Faculty of Philosophy of Olomouc University, Joseph von Petrasch
, to join with another locally based aristocrat, Francesco G. Giannini in obtaining the consent of empress Maria Theresa for the establishment the learned society in 1746. Von Petrasch was a noble of Slavonian
origin who at one stage had studied Law at Leiden
and who had also pursued a career as an adjutant to Prince Eugene of Savoy which had left him with the financial means to support the Societas eruditorum from his private wealth.
, and the history of scientific research, along with philology
and literature. In the religious conflicts of the time between protestants and catholics, the Societas eruditorum took an objective and pragmatic approach, and it had members in both camps.
, eager to spread Enlightenment ideas with a journal of their own. The members included local members of the nobility, state officials (such as Theodor Anton Taulow von Rosenthal and Johann Chr. von Jordan), and Benedictine ecclesiastical historians (Benedictines such as Oliver Legipont
, Magnoald Ziegelbauer
and Hieronymus Pez
. Its so-called "corresponding members" included the north German dramatist, critic, and German language reformer Johann Christoph Gottsched
, the Slovak founder of Hungarian history-writing Matthias Bel, leading Italian scholars Ludovico Antonio Muratori
and Angelo Maria Quirini
and the Czech Bonaventura Piter as well as the Archbishop of Kraków Andrzej Stanisław Załuski and the Cardinal Domenico Silvio Passionei
.
The members were designated as "anonymous" in order to avoid repressions from the state censors.
, the Olmützer Monathlichen Auszüge Alt- und neuer Gelehrter Sachen (Olomouc's Monthly Excerpts from Old and New Erudition), with each issue having some 80 pages. The journal was on sale in Olomouc
, Brno
, Prague
, Vienna
, as well as by book sellers in Nuremberg
, Wrocław, Leipzig
or Bautzen
.
, a practical approach to philosophy which in Moravia was combined with the Catholic reformism of Ludovico Antonio Muratori
; and the school of critical historiography stemming from Jean Mabillon
.
The German focus of the Society was not so much aimed against Czech language
, rather against the prevailing use of Latin as lingua franca
as well as against the Gaul-mania
of the high German society.
The Society received state protection, but opposition from within the Jesuit-dominated town, ongoing problems with Vienna-based censors, as well as disagreements from within the Society itself, led to its premature demise. Nevertheless, its periodical represented a landmark: the first attempt within the Habsburg monarchy to unite the learned, the dilettanti and the curieux and to bring them into contact with the pan-European Respublica literaria
.
Learned society
A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline/profession, as well a group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies,...
in the lands under control of Austrian Habsburgs
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
. It was established, formally, in 1746 at the university and episcopal town of Olomouc
Olomouc
Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic...
in order to spread Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
ideas. Its monthly journal, "Monatliche Auszüge" was the first scientific journal
Scientific journal
In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...
in the Habsburg Monarchy.
Background
When the Habsburgs took over the Czech throne in 1526, as many as nine out of ten inhabitants of the crown lands were protestants. Olomouc, as the episcopal seatEpiscopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
became a centre for the counter-reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
, with the Jesuits taking over the local college in 1566. In 1573 the college was promoted to University status, and the special papal seminary, the Collegium Nordicum was established in 1578. Initially competing with the schools run by the Hussite "Bohemian Brethren"
Unity of the Brethren
The Unity of the Brethren is a Christian denomination whose roots are in the pre-reformation work of priest and philosopher Jan Hus, who was martyred in 1415.-History in Bohemia:...
, the Jesuits obtained an effective monopoly after the Thirty year's war: this brought savage re-Catholization and Germanization to the Czech population. The Jesuit monopoly was however challenged because the Moravian nobility wanted to expand the range of areas taught beyond just theology and philosophy. In 1679 secular legal studies were introduced at the University, and in 1725 the Academy of Nobility
Collegium Nobilium
-Olomouc:Following the Thirty Years' War, the education in Moravia was firmly in the hands of Jesuits. Moravian nobility were keen to expand the range of areas taught at the University of Olomouc beyond just theology and philosophy. Despite opposition from the Jesuits, the Emperor Leopold I...
was established in Olomouc. Both these developments met with fierce opposition from the Jesuits.
It was the strong Jesuit reaction which led an alumnus of Faculty of Philosophy of Olomouc University, Joseph von Petrasch
Joseph von Petrasch
Joseph Leopold Freiherr von Petrasch was a soldier, a writer and a philologist...
, to join with another locally based aristocrat, Francesco G. Giannini in obtaining the consent of empress Maria Theresa for the establishment the learned society in 1746. Von Petrasch was a noble of Slavonian
Slavonia
Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...
origin who at one stage had studied Law at Leiden
Leiden University
Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
and who had also pursued a career as an adjutant to Prince Eugene of Savoy which had left him with the financial means to support the Societas eruditorum from his private wealth.
Objectives
The society set itself the goals of advancing the sciences, in particular the natural sciences, mathematics, numismaticsNumismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the...
, and the history of scientific research, along with philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
and literature. In the religious conflicts of the time between protestants and catholics, the Societas eruditorum took an objective and pragmatic approach, and it had members in both camps.
Members
Petrasch was able to recruit many members from across Central EuropeCentral Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
, eager to spread Enlightenment ideas with a journal of their own. The members included local members of the nobility, state officials (such as Theodor Anton Taulow von Rosenthal and Johann Chr. von Jordan), and Benedictine ecclesiastical historians (Benedictines such as Oliver Legipont
Oliver Legipont
Oliver Legipont was a German Benedictine bibliographer.-Life:Having received his early education from the Franciscans at Verviers, he proceeded for higher studies to Cologne. There he entered the abbey of Great St...
, Magnoald Ziegelbauer
Magnoald Ziegelbauer
Magnoald Ziegelbauer was a Benedictine monk and an ecclesiastical historian.-Life:He took vows at the Benedictine monastery of Zwiefalten on 21 November 1707, where he was ordained priest on 21 March 1713 and where he became professor of theology...
and Hieronymus Pez
Hieronymus Pez
Hieronymus Pez was an Austrian Benedictine librarian and historian.Pez was born at Ybbs. In 1703 he entered the novitiate at Melk Abbey, and was ordained in 1711. He became assistant to his brother Bernhard Pez, after whose death he became librarian...
. Its so-called "corresponding members" included the north German dramatist, critic, and German language reformer Johann Christoph Gottsched
Johann Christoph Gottsched
Johann Christoph Gottsched was a German author and critic.-Biography:He was born at Juditten near Königsberg, Brandenburg-Prussia, the son of a Lutheran clergyman...
, the Slovak founder of Hungarian history-writing Matthias Bel, leading Italian scholars Ludovico Antonio Muratori
Ludovico Antonio Muratori
Ludovico Antonio Muratori was an Italian historian, notable as a leading scholar of his age, and for his discovery of the Muratorian fragment, the earliest known list of New Testament books....
and Angelo Maria Quirini
Angelo Maria Quirini
Angelo Maria Quirini or Querini was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.-Biography:Born in Venice, he entered the Benedictine Order in Florence in 1695 and was ordained in 1702...
and the Czech Bonaventura Piter as well as the Archbishop of Kraków Andrzej Stanisław Załuski and the Cardinal Domenico Silvio Passionei
Domenico Silvio Passionei
Domenico Silvio Passionei was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.Born in Fossombrone near Urbino, Marche, he went to Rome in 1695, where he studied philosophy at the Collegio Clementino and law at the university La Sapienza...
.
The members were designated as "anonymous" in order to avoid repressions from the state censors.
Journal
The society was publishing the first scientific journal in Habsburg MonarchyHabsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
, the Olmützer Monathlichen Auszüge Alt- und neuer Gelehrter Sachen (Olomouc's Monthly Excerpts from Old and New Erudition), with each issue having some 80 pages. The journal was on sale in Olomouc
Olomouc
Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic...
, Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
, Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, as well as by book sellers in Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
, Wrocław, Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
or Bautzen
Bautzen
Bautzen is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and administrative centre of the eponymous district. It is located on the Spree River. As of 2008, its population is 41,161...
.
Focus
It was especially concerned with the reform and promotion of the German language as well as with spreading the Enlightenment ideas. The society was propagating various streams of contemporary thought. Two of them were of particular importance: the philosophical rationalism of Christian WolffChristian Wolff (philosopher)
Christian Wolff was a German philosopher.He was the most eminent German philosopher between Leibniz and Kant...
, a practical approach to philosophy which in Moravia was combined with the Catholic reformism of Ludovico Antonio Muratori
Ludovico Antonio Muratori
Ludovico Antonio Muratori was an Italian historian, notable as a leading scholar of his age, and for his discovery of the Muratorian fragment, the earliest known list of New Testament books....
; and the school of critical historiography stemming from Jean Mabillon
Jean Mabillon
Jean Mabillon was a French Benedictine monk and scholar, considered the founder of palaeography and diplomatics.-Early career:...
.
The German focus of the Society was not so much aimed against Czech language
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
, rather against the prevailing use of Latin as lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
as well as against the Gaul-mania
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
of the high German society.
The Society received state protection, but opposition from within the Jesuit-dominated town, ongoing problems with Vienna-based censors, as well as disagreements from within the Society itself, led to its premature demise. Nevertheless, its periodical represented a landmark: the first attempt within the Habsburg monarchy to unite the learned, the dilettanti and the curieux and to bring them into contact with the pan-European Respublica literaria
Republic of Letters
Republic of Letters is most commonly used to define intellectual communities in the late 17th and 18th century in Europe and America. It especially brought together the intellectuals of Age of Enlightenment, or "philosophes" as they were called in France...
.