11 September 1584 A.D. Obscure Hero of Reformation—Erpenius, Reformed Churchman & Orientalist Scholar
11 September 1584 A.D. Obscure Hero of Reformation—Erpenius, Reformed Churchman &
Orientalist Scholar
Wiki-offering.
Thomas van Erpe [known as Thomas
Erpenius] (September 11, 1584 – November 13, 1624), Dutch Orientalist, was born at Gorinchem, in Holland.
After completing his early education at Leiden, he entered the university
of that city, and in 1608 took the degree
of master of arts. On the advice of Scaliger he studied Oriental
languages whilst taking his course of theology. He afterwards travelled in England, France, Italy and Germany, forming connections with learned men, and availing himself of the
information which they communicated. During his stay at Paris he contracted a
friendship with Casaubon, which lasted during his life, and also took lessons in Arabic from an Egyptian, Joseph Barbatus, otherwise called Abu-dakni. However, giving the limited
knowledge Barbatus had in Arabic he later took lessons under the Moroccan
Diplomat of Andalusian origin Aḥmad ibn Qāsim Al-Ḥajarī who was in
France on a mission.[1][2]
At Venice he perfected himself in the Turkish, Persic and Ethiopic languages. After a long absence, Erpenius returned to
his own country in 1612, and in February 1613 he was appointed professor of
Arabic and other Oriental languages, Hebrew excepted, in the University of
Leiden. Soon after his settlement at Leiden, animated by the example of Savary de Brèves, who had established an Arabic press at Paris at his own charge, he caused
new Arabic characters to be cut at a great expense, and erected a press in his
own house.
In 1619 the curators of the university of Leiden
instituted a second chair of Hebrew in his favour. In 1620 he was sent by the
States of Holland to induce Pierre Dumoulin or André Rivet to settle in that country; and after a second journey he
was successful in inducing Rivet to comply with their request. Some time after
the return of Erpenius, the states appointed him their interpreter; and in this
capacity he had the duty imposed upon him of translating and replying to the
different letters of the Moslem princes of Asia and Africa.
His reputation had now spread throughout all Europe, and
several princes, the kings of England and Spain, and the archbishop of Seville made him the most flattering offers; but he constantly refused to leave
his native country. He was preparing an edition of the Koran with a Latin translation and notes, and was projecting an Oriental
library, when he died prematurely on the 13 November 1624 in Leiden.
Among his works may be mentioned his Grammatica
Arabica, published originally in 1613 and often reprinted; Rudimenta
linguae Arabicae (1620); Grammatica Ebraea generalis (1621) Grammatica
Chaldaica et Syria (1628); and an edition of Elmacin's History of the Saracens.
References
1.
Jump up ^ Alastair Hamilton, An Egyptian Traveller in the Republic of
Letters: Josephus Barbatus or Abudacnus the Copt Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol.
57. (1994), pp. 123-150.
·
This article incorporates text from a
publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. The article is available here: [1]
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