The Melanchthon Circle was a 16th-century

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 ...

intellectual network centred on the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

in Germany and its leading theologian

Philip Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the L ...

. It was identified as significant for its interests in

natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe, while ignoring any supernatural influence. It was dominant before the develop ...

Lynn Thorndike Lynn Thorndike (24 July 1882, in Lynn, Massachusetts, US – 28 December 1965, New York City) was an American historian of History of science in the Middle Ages, medieval science and alchemy. He was the son of a clergyman, Edward R. Thorndike, an ...

, in a chapter "The Circle of Melanchthon" in his multi-volume ''History of Magic and Experimental Science''. Among this circle were found many of the most important early proponents of the

heliocentric model Heliocentrism (also known as the heliocentric model) is a superseded astronomical model in which the Earth and planets orbit around the Sun at the center of the universe. Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed th ...

Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a mathematical model, model of Celestial spheres#Renaissance, the universe that placed heliocentrism, the Sun rather than Earth at its cen ...

. They included Caspar Peucer who became Melanchthon's son-in-law, Erasmus Reinhold, and

Georg Joachim Rheticus Georg Joachim de Porris, also known as Rheticus (; 16 February 1514 – 4 December 1574), was a mathematician, astronomer, cartographer, navigational-instrument maker, medical practitioner, and teacher. He is perhaps best known for his Trigonometr ...

. Patronage came from

Albert, Duke of Prussia Albert of Prussia (; 17 May 149020 March 1568) was a German prince who was the 37th grand master of the Teutonic Knights and, after converting to Lutheranism, became the first ruler of the Duchy of Prussia, the secularized state that emerged fr ...

Melanchthon's views in natural philosophy

In lecturing on the ''Librorum de judiciis astrologicis'' of

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

in 1535–36, Melanchthon expressed to students his interest in

Greek mathematics Ancient Greek mathematics refers to the history of mathematical ideas and texts in Ancient Greece during Classical antiquity, classical and late antiquity, mostly from the 5th century BC to the 6th century AD. Greek mathematicians lived in cities ...

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

and

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

. He considered that a purposeful God had reasons to exhibit

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

s and

eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

s. He was the first to print a paraphrased edition of Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos in Basel, 1554. Natural philosophy, in his view, was directly linked to Providence, a point of view that was influential in curriculum change after the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

in Germany. In the period 1536–9 he was involved in three academic innovations: the refoundation of Wittenberg along Protestant lines, the reorganisation at Tübingen, and the foundation of the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

Network around Melanchthon

The "Circle" was constituted in various ways: collegial and master–student relationships, compliments and favours, and career help. Typically

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

demonstrative methods, based around publications, were frequently seen. Rheticus became a great giver of books. Before receiving a call to Wittenberg, Melanchthon had taught at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

. There he had been tutored in

Johannes Stöffler Johannes Stöffler (also ''Stöfler, Stoffler, Stoeffler''; 10 December 1452 – 16 February 1531) was a German mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, priest, maker of astronomical instruments and professor at the University of Tübingen. Life Jo ...

. The network included Simon Grynaeus who remained at Tübingen; Melanchthon dedicated to him his 1531 edition of the '' De sphaera mundi''. Melanchthon advocated astrology often: in 1531 in defending to Joachim Camerarius the work of the court astrologer Johann Carion, which he would later develop into a Lutheran historical chronicle; in a dedication to

Luca Gaurico Luca Gaurico (in Latin, Lucas Gauricus) (Giffoni March 12, 1475 – March 6, 1558, in Rome) was an Italian astrologer, astronomer, astrological data collector, and mathematician. He was born to a poor family in the Kingdom of Naples, and studi ...

for a 1532 work by Camerarius on portents; in 1535 in an introduction to Jacob Milich's edition of Georg von Peuerbach's ''Planets'', used again in 1542 with Reinhold's edition with a poem by Stigelius ( Johannes Stigel); in 1537 in a lecture printed with his edition of the ''Rudimenta'' of Alfraganus, stating the necessity of astrology for physicians. Gaurico reciprocated, in 1540 printing eclipse observations from Melanchthon and his circle in a partial edition of Lorenzo Bonincontri. Hieronymus Wolf, a philologist, passed through Wittenberg in the 1540s and was helped by Melanchthon. Stifelius ( Michael Stiefel) had a preface for his 1543 arithmetic book; he had predicted the end of the world in 1533, had lost his living as minister in consequence, and had been found another by Melanchthon.Thorndike, pp. 392-3. Others mentioned by Thorndike are Vitus Amerbach, David Chytraeus, Joachim Cureus, Achilles Gassar, Joachim Heller, Johannes Hommel or Hummel, Johannes Mathesius, Johannes Mercurius Morshemius, and Johannes Schöner.

References

, in a chapter "The Circle of Melanchthon" in his multi-volume ''History of Magic and Experimental Science''. It appears as Chapter XVII in wha
Google Books
has as Part 9, but that is from a paperback edition not respecting the original structure of 8 volumes.

Notes

{{reflist Reformation in Germany 16th century in science