Jacobus Theodorus (Jacob Diether), called Tabernaemontanus (1525 – August 1590) was a physician and an early

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and herbalist, one of the "fathers of German botany" whose illustrated ''Neuw Kreuterbuch'' (Frankfurt, 1588) was the result of a lifetime's botanizing and medical practice. It provided unacknowledged material for John Gerard's better-known ''Herball'' (London, 1597) and was reprinted in Germany throughout the 17th century. His Latinised name is a compressed form of the Latinized name ''Tabernae Montanae'' of his home town of Bergzabern in the

Palatinate Palatinate or county palatine may refer to: *the territory or jurisdiction of a count palatine United Kingdom and Ireland *County palatine in England and Ireland * Palatinate (award), student sporting award of Durham University *Palatinate (col ...

. Tabernaemontanus began as a student of two of the pioneers of Renaissance botany, first of Otto Brunfels and later of

Hieronymus Bock Hieronymus Bock ( Latinised Hieronymus Tragus; c. 1498 – 21 February 1554) was a German botanist, physician, and Lutheran minister who began the transition from medieval botany to the modern scientific worldview by arranging plants by their re ...

. The career of Tabernaemontanus was supported in the usual manner of his time: by a series of places as court physician to German nobles. In 1549 he was the private physician to Philip II, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken and later (from 1561 on) to Marquard von Hattstein,

bishop of Speyer The Bishop of Speyer is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Speyer, which is a suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Bamberg.city physician () to the free imperial city of Worms, Germany. Johannes Posthius and William Turner (Bad Bergzabern) were friends of Tabernaemontanus. In 1562, Tabernaemontanus enrolled as a student at Heidelberg University. In the same city he spent the last decades of his life as physician to his liege lord, the Prince-Elector. He died in Heidelberg, having been three times married and the father of eighteen children. He is commemorated in the pan-tropical genus of flowering shrubs and small trees '' Tabernaemontana''; the French botanist

Charles Plumier Charles Plumier (; 20 April 1646 – 20 November 1704) was a French botanist after whom the frangipani genus ''Plumeria'' is named. Plumier is considered one of the most important of the botanical explorers of his time. He made three botanizing ...

erected the genus, as a compliment to Tabernaemontanus, and it was adopted by Linnaeus.

Works

TabernaemontanusNeuwVollkommentlichKreuterbuch

* ''Neuw Wasserschatz'' (1581) * ''Neuw Kreuterbuch'' part 1 (Frankfurt, 1588), part 2 & 3 (Frankfurt, 1591) the first edition of the masterwork on which his posthumous reputation is based
Digital editionvol. 21687 ed.
of the European Library of Information and Culture. * ''Eicones plantarum seu stirpium''"Images of plants or species". (Frankfurt, 1590) the illustrations of ''Neuw Kreuterbuch'', 2255 woodcuts of plants, without the text. * ''Iacobi Theodori Tabernaemontani New vollkommen Kräuter-Buch : darinnen uber 3000 Kräuter, mit schönen und kunstlichen Figuren, auch deren Unterscheid und Wirckung, sampt ihren Namen in mancherley Spraachen beschrieben, deßgleichen auch, wie dieselbige in allerhand Kranckheiten, beyde der Menschen und des Viehs, sollen angewendet und gebraucht werden, angezeigt wird''. Theodorus, Jacobus. Basel : König / Werenfels, 1664
Digital edition
of the

University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...

. * ''Jacobi Theodori Tabernæmontani Neü vollkommen Kräuter-Buch : Darinnen Uber 3000. Kräuter/ mit schönen und kunstlichen Figuren/ auch deren Underscheid und Würckung/ sam̄t ihren Namen in mancherley Sprachen beschrieben ; Deßgleichen auch/ wie dieselbige in allerhand Kranckheiten/ beyde der Menschen und des Viehs/ sollen angewendet und gebraucht werden/ angezeigt wird''. Basel ; Offenbach am Mäyn : König, 1731
Digital edition
of the

Sources

* Wolf-Dieter Müller-Jahncke / Ulrike Bofinger (2003): Apotheker, Arzt und Fachschriftsteller: Jakob Theodor, genannt Tabernaemontanus (1522-1590) aus Bergzabern. ''Rosarium literarum'', Beiträge zur Pharmazie- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte. * Hans Gerhard Christoph (1998): Sonderpublikation Saarland-Museum / Saarbrücken, 475. Geburtstag des Botanikers Prof. Jacob Theodor namens Tabernaemontanus. 1. August - 1. November 1998 exhibition. * Karl Mägdefrau (1998): Geschichte der Botanik 2. edition

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabernaemontanus, Jacobus Theodorus Herbalists German botanical writers 16th-century German physicians 1525 births 1590 deaths 16th-century German writers 16th-century German male writers