Thesaurus Hottingerianus
A collection of papers on the history of the reformation and on Swiss and foreign ecclesiastical history in general
Johann Heinrich Hottinger was the greatest Swiss scholar of the 17th century. Born in Zurich in 1620, he studied briefly in France and in the Netherlands (Groningen and Leiden) and then became Professor of Ecclesiastical History, the Old Testament and Oriental Studies at the Zurich School of Theology, the so-called Carolinum. Held the same post at the Theological Faculty of the University of Heidelberg from 1655 to 1661. He drowned in a boating accident on the Limmat in 1667.
During his short life, Hottinger published many academic works on ecclesiastical history (a nine-volume work entitled Historia ecclesiastica Novi Testamenti), as well as on the Old Testament and Oriental Studies. During the course of his studies at Leiden he became well versed in Hebrew, Persian, Coptic, Arabic, Turkish, Syrian and Aramaic and later in Ethiopian, as well as in the classical languages Latin and Greek. His theological, historical, linguistic and comparatistic works in this field included among others a Hebrew grammar and a Gram- matica quattuor linguarum Hebraicae, Chaldaicae, Syriacae et Arabicae Harmonia. During his Heidelberg years, Hottinger became rector of the University (1656) and later dean of its Theological Faculty, and was also head of the Collegium Sapientiae. All three positions enabled him to play a major role in the reconstruction of the University and, in the special service of Elector Karl Ludwig von der Pfalz, in the efforts of John Durie to bring about a union between the Lutheran and the Reformed Churches.
Hottinger is still well known today as the polyhistor and polyglossa. The reason for this, besides the many academic works he published himself, is the Thesaurus Hottingerianus, which was named after him and which today is in the Zurich Central Library (ZBZ Ms F 36-87). This is a collection of papers, mainly letters, on the history of the reformation and on Swiss and foreign ecclesiastical history in general. This description requires further definition, inasmuch as this 52-volume collection which came into being with ineffable diligence, containing all kinds of documents, memorials and letters of any significance, in particular from the 16th century and partly in original, partly in copy form, including broadsheets and pamphlets of an ecclesiastical and political nature, ... represents a historical wellspring which is drawn upon daily and yet never runs dry (O.F. Fritzsche, 1868).
The Thesaurus Hottingerianus was and still is a wellspring, that never runs dry, primarily for the history of the church and particularly of the Zurich reformation. Hottinger consistently collected the often extremely extensive correspondences of the Zurich reformers (Zwingli, Bullinger, Pellican, Bibliander, Gwalther, L. Lavater, J. Simler, P.M. Vermigli, C. Gesner et al) most of which had up to then been kept privately. In doing so he handed down for posterity an extensive wealth of original sources, which are of first-class significance with respect to quality and quantity, and which today still provide researchers with a regular mine of information. Many older and some more recent collections of letters on the history of the Reformation are proof of this.
From his student days onwards, Hottinger also saved his own correspondence with more than a hundred colleagues, in particular his closest ones, from all over Europe. Whilst most of the letters written by him appear to have been lost, letters to him during his six years in Heidelberg alone fill six thick volumes, and the relevant documents (e.g. University papers and those documenting the efforts towards union) fill a further ten. As sources of contemporary history, i.e. on the political and ecclesiastical, theological and literary issues affecting the years immediately after the Thirty Years War, they represent a barely tapped mine of information.
The 52 volumes of the Thesaurus Hottingerianus comprise a total of about 18,000 documents (originals, copies, prints, illustrations) covering about 70,000 pages.
F. Büsser
A collection of papers on the history of the reformation and on Swiss and foreign ecclesiastical history in general
Johann Heinrich Hottinger was the greatest Swiss scholar of the 17th century. Born in Zurich in 1620, he studied briefly in France and in the Netherlands (Groningen and Leiden) and then became Professor of Ecclesiastical History, the Old Testament and Oriental Studies at the Zurich School of Theology, the so-called Carolinum. Held the same post at the Theological Faculty of the University of Heidelberg from 1655 to 1661. He drowned in a boating accident on the Limmat in 1667.
During his short life, Hottinger published many academic works on ecclesiastical history (a nine-volume work entitled Historia ecclesiastica Novi Testamenti), as well as on the Old Testament and Oriental Studies. During the course of his studies at Leiden he became well versed in Hebrew, Persian, Coptic, Arabic, Turkish, Syrian and Aramaic and later in Ethiopian, as well as in the classical languages Latin and Greek. His theological, historical, linguistic and comparatistic works in this field included among others a Hebrew grammar and a Gram- matica quattuor linguarum Hebraicae, Chaldaicae, Syriacae et Arabicae Harmonia. During his Heidelberg years, Hottinger became rector of the University (1656) and later dean of its Theological Faculty, and was also head of the Collegium Sapientiae. All three positions enabled him to play a major role in the reconstruction of the University and, in the special service of Elector Karl Ludwig von der Pfalz, in the efforts of John Durie to bring about a union between the Lutheran and the Reformed Churches.
Hottinger is still well known today as the polyhistor and polyglossa. The reason for this, besides the many academic works he published himself, is the Thesaurus Hottingerianus, which was named after him and which today is in the Zurich Central Library (ZBZ Ms F 36-87). This is a collection of papers, mainly letters, on the history of the reformation and on Swiss and foreign ecclesiastical history in general. This description requires further definition, inasmuch as this 52-volume collection which came into being with ineffable diligence, containing all kinds of documents, memorials and letters of any significance, in particular from the 16th century and partly in original, partly in copy form, including broadsheets and pamphlets of an ecclesiastical and political nature, ... represents a historical wellspring which is drawn upon daily and yet never runs dry (O.F. Fritzsche, 1868).
The Thesaurus Hottingerianus was and still is a wellspring, that never runs dry, primarily for the history of the church and particularly of the Zurich reformation. Hottinger consistently collected the often extremely extensive correspondences of the Zurich reformers (Zwingli, Bullinger, Pellican, Bibliander, Gwalther, L. Lavater, J. Simler, P.M. Vermigli, C. Gesner et al) most of which had up to then been kept privately. In doing so he handed down for posterity an extensive wealth of original sources, which are of first-class significance with respect to quality and quantity, and which today still provide researchers with a regular mine of information. Many older and some more recent collections of letters on the history of the Reformation are proof of this.
From his student days onwards, Hottinger also saved his own correspondence with more than a hundred colleagues, in particular his closest ones, from all over Europe. Whilst most of the letters written by him appear to have been lost, letters to him during his six years in Heidelberg alone fill six thick volumes, and the relevant documents (e.g. University papers and those documenting the efforts towards union) fill a further ten. As sources of contemporary history, i.e. on the political and ecclesiastical, theological and literary issues affecting the years immediately after the Thirty Years War, they represent a barely tapped mine of information.
The 52 volumes of the Thesaurus Hottingerianus comprise a total of about 18,000 documents (originals, copies, prints, illustrations) covering about 70,000 pages.
F. Büsser