Hieronymus Bock ( Latinised Hieronymus Tragus; c. 1498 – 21 February 1554) was a German

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

, and

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

minister who began the transition from medieval botany to the modern scientific worldview by arranging plants by their relation or resemblance.

Life

The details of his life are unclear. In 1519 he inscribed at the university of

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. He married Eva Victor in 1523, and was schoolteacher in

Zweibrücken Zweibrücken (; ; , ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach (Blies), Schwarzbach River. Name The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; older forms of the name include Middl ...

for nine years. He became the prince's physician and caretaker of the kitchen garden of the

count palatine A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an or ...

and in 1533 received a life-time position as a Lutheran minister in nearby Hornbach where he stayed up to his death in 1554. His surname was translated into

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

as ''Tragus''; ''Bock'' is German for "male

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

," while τράγος (''tragos'') is Ancient Greek for the same. The first edition of his ''Kreutterbuch'' (literally "plant book") appeared in 1539 unillustrated; his stated objectives were to describe German plants, including their names, characteristics, and medical uses. Instead of following

Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides (, ; 40–90 AD), "the father of pharmacognosy", was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of (in the original , , both meaning "On Materia medica, Medical Material") , a 5-volume Greek encyclopedic phar ...

as was traditional, he developed his own system to classify 700 plants. Bock apparently traveled widely through the German region observing the plants for himself, since he includes ecological and distributional observations. His 1546 ''Kreutterbuch'' ("

herbal A herbal is a book containing the names and descriptions of plants, usually with information on their medicinal, Herbal tonic, tonic, culinary, toxic, hallucinatory, aromatic, or Magic (paranormal), magical powers, and the legends associated wi ...

") was illustrated by the artist David Kandel. In the wine world, Bock is noted for having the first documented use of the modern word ''

Riesling Riesling ( , ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...

'' in 1552 when it was mentioned in his Latin herbal. Bock's description of

oak apple An oak apple or oak gall is a large, round, vaguely apple-like gall commonly found on many species of oak. Oak apples range in size from in diameter and are caused by chemicals injected by the larva of certain kinds of gall wasp in the famil ...

s is noted in the

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

s data base. The grass genus '' Tragus'' (by Haller in 1768) and the spurge genera of '' Tragia'' (Plum. ex L. in 1753) and ''

Tragiella ''Tragiella'' is a genus of plant of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1919. It is native to Africa. ;Species # ''Tragiella anomala'' (Prain) Pax & K.Hoffm. - Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia # ''Tragiella frieseana'' (Prain) Pax & ...

'' (by Pax & K.Hoffm. in 1919) are all named after him.

Works

* ''New Kreuterbuch von Underscheidt, Würckung und Namen der Kreuter, so in teutschen Landen wachsen''. Straßburg, 154
Digital edition
by the

University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of the three State Libraries of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

Footnotes

References

* Christoph, Hans Gerhard " Hieronymus Bock Leben und Werk " Nihil parvum – nihil contemnendum Hrsg. Hornbach Historie * Christoph, Hans Gerhard " Von alten Kräutern und neuen Gärten " published Die Pfalz page 12-13 * Christoph, Hans Gerhard " Zum Nutzen der Kranken " exhibition Augsburg, May 2012 * * * * Hoffmann, D., Laitko, H.and Müller-Wille, S. (Hrsg.); Jahn, Ilse 2003: ''Lexikon der bedeutenden Naturwissenschaftler''. In drei Bänden. - Heidelberg, Berlin – Spektrum Akademischer Verlag 1 (A-E) : 1–497, zahlr. Fig.

External links

Hieronymus Bock info from the Hauck Botanical online exhibit

Digital copy of Bock's ''Kreutterbuch'' on dLib.si
*
Digital images from Bock's ''Kreutterbuch'' at the Smithsonian

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bock, Hieronymus Botanists with author abbreviations 1498 births 1554 deaths 16th-century German physicians 16th-century German botanists German entomologists 16th-century German Lutheran clergy Physicians from Rhineland-Palatinate