Constantijn l'Empereur (July 1591 – June 1648) was a prominent Dutch

Hebraist A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...

, a distinguished Orientalist and doctor of

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Biography

He was born in July 1591 in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, to where his parents had fled from the

Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the ...

, modern

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, after his grandfather was executed by the

Council of Troubles The Council of Troubles (usual English translation of , or , or ) was the special tribunal instituted on 9 September 1567 by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, governor-general of the Habsburg Netherlands on the orders of Philip II o ...

. He acquired great reputation for his knowledge of the oriental languages. He was also an able lawyer and divine. He studied the oriental languages under Drusius and

Erpenius Thomas van Erpe, also known as Thomas Erpenius (September 11, 1584November 13, 1624), Netherlands, Dutch Orientalist, was born at Gorinchem, in Holland. He was the first European to publish an accurate book of Arabic grammar. After completing hi ...

at the

University of Franeker The University of Franeker (1585–1811) was a university in Franeker, Friesland, the Netherlands. It was the second-oldest university of the Netherlands, founded shortly after Leiden University. History Also known as ''Academia Franekerensis'' ...

and took his degree of doctor in the latter faculty in 1617. In 1619 he was made professor of theology and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Harderwijk Harderwijk (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city of the Netherlands. It is served by the Harderwijk railway station. Its population centres are Harderwijk and Hierden. Harderwijk is on the western boundary of the Veluwe. The south ...

. After eight years, in 1627 he was made professor of

and

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

at the

University of Leyden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

on which occasion he delivered an harangue on the dignity and utility of the Hebrew language and it was his constant endeavour to diffuse a knowledge of that language and of the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and Syriac among his countrymen that they might be the better enabled to combat the objections of the

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to the

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religion. He translated and published several editions of the popular 'Travels of Rabbi Benjamin ben Jonah', one Latin-Hebrew Edition with and another one without notes, one Hebrew Edition at Bale, which his friends – the Buxtorfs – sent to

Joseph Scaliger Joseph Justus Scaliger (; 5 August 1540 – 21 January 1609) was a Franco-Italian Calvinist religious leader and scholar, known for expanding the notion of classical history from Greek and Ancient Roman history to include Persian, Babylonian, Je ...

who mentioned it favourably in a letter, which was included in a version of Benjamins Travels, printed in 1666 in Amsterdam, collated with a Dutch translation of the Bara, together with a text from the celebrated rabbi Manassah ben Israel. l'Empereur's edition of Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela Itinerary was the basis for a popular German and French translation in the 17th and 18th Century. In 1639 l'Empereur was appointed advisor to the very successful Johan Maurits van Nassau, who was governor of

Dutch Brazil Dutch Brazil (; ), also known as New Holland (), was a colony of the Dutch Republic in the northeastern portion of modern-day Brazil, controlled from 1630 to 1654 during Dutch colonization of the Americas. The main cities of the colony were the c ...

from 1637 to 1644. l'Empereur died in June 1648 very soon after he had begun a course of theology at Leyden. Amongst his closest friends were Daniel Heinsius, the Buxtorfs and Lewis de Dieu, minister of the Eglise Wallon.For a biography of Lewis de Dieu, see Alexander Chalmers, ''The General Biographical Dictionary:'',
Lewis de Dieu
, Vol. 12, p. 65. Printed for J. Nichols, 1813. Daniel Heinsius and the

Buxtorf Buxtorf is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * August Buxtorf (1877–1969), Swiss geologist * Johannes Buxtorf (1564–1629), German theologian * Johannes Buxtorf II (1599–1664), Swiss theologian, son of Johannes * Johannes Jak ...

s spoke very highly of him. He offered at one time to superintend the printing of a

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ical dictionary in Holland and endeavoured to bring the younger Buxtorf to Leyden who had undertaken to defend the vowel points against

Louis Cappel Louis Cappel (15 October 1585 – 18 June 1658) was a French Protestant churchman and scholar. A Huguenot, he was born at St Elier, near Sedan. He studied theology at the Academy of Sedan and the Academy of Saumur, and Arabic at the Universit ...

. He was also corresponding with the notable archbishop Usher.

Works

l'Empereur's works are: *''Commentarius ad codicem Babylonicum, seu Tractatus Thalmudicus de mensuris Templi'' (Leyden, 1630), * ''Versio et Notae ad Paraphrasin Josephi Jachiadae in Danielem'' (Amsterdam, 1633), * ''Itinerarium D. Benjaminis'' in Hebrew and Latin (Leyden, 8 volumes), * ''Moysis Kimchi Grammatica Chaldaica'' (Leyden, 8 volumes), * ''Confutatio Abarbanelis et Alscheichi in caput liii Isaiae'' (Layden, 8 volumes, 1631, in French 1685), * ''Commentarius in Tractatum Thalmudicum, qui dicitur Porta, de legibus Hebraeorum forensibus'' in Hebrew and Latin (Leyden, 1637) and * ''Commentarius ad Betramum de Republica Hebraeorum'' (1641, 8 volumes).

References

Sources

* Peter T. van Rooden, ''Theology, biblical scholarship, and rabbinical studies in the seventeenth century: Constantijn L'Empereur (1591–1648), professor of Hebrew and theology at Leiden'' (Vol. 6 of the ''Studies over de geschiedenis van de Leidse universiteit''), . * Alexander Chalmers, ''The General Biographical Dictionary'',
Empereur (Constantine)
, Vol. 13, pp. 203, 204. Printed for J. Nichols, 1814.

External links

*
Talmudis Babylonici codex Middoth sive de mensuris templi
', Elzevir, 1630. Also, her

and her

*
D. Isaaci Abrabanielis et R. Mosis Alschechi Commentarius in Esaiae Prophetiam 30
', Elsevier, 1631. *
Itinerarium D. Beniaminis
' (Travels of Rabbi Benjamin, son of Jonah), ex officinal Elseviriana, 1633. {{DEFAULTSORT:Empereur, Constantine Dutch Protestant theologians, Empereur Constantine Empereur Constantine 1591 births 1648 deaths 17th-century writers in Latin Academic staff of Leiden University Empereur Constantine