Christoph Arnold (poet)

Christoph Arnold

Christoph Arnold (born April 12, 1627 in Hersbruck ; † June 30, 1685 in Nuremberg ) was a Protestant theologian , hymn poet and poet in the Pegnese Flower Order .

life and work

The son of Pastor Caspar Arnold (1599–1666), who came from Hersbruck, was accepted into the newly founded poet society by Georg Philipp Harsdörffer in 1645 at the age of 17 . His name was Shepherd Lerian , his company Flower, the dog rose . After attending the Egidiengymnasium in Nuremberg and studying at the University of Altdorf , which he completed in 1649 with his master's degree, he stayed for several years in England and Holland.

Shortly before his departure, in 1649 he published the Kunstspiegel / Darinnen die Hochteutsche Sprach after its remarkable clock age / fruitful growth / and rich and complete ownership / thought time educated on five different forms , one of the grammatical works of the Baroque period in the context of the language studies of Justus Georg Schottelius .

Back in Nuremberg, he worked from 1653 as a deacon at the Frauenkirche there and as a professor of poetry, eloquence and Greek language at the Auditorium Publicum of the Egidiengymnasium. In 1657 his Latin style theory Linguae latinae ornatus was printed in large numbers, to which an edition of Nicolaus Vernulaeus' rhetoric textbook was added in 1658 .

Arnold was particularly interested in Byzantine culture and oriental studies . He wrote several Latin treatises on the comparative history of religion, the history of Southeast Asia and numismatics , a commentary on Flavius ​​Josephus and edited texts from Greek and Roman classical antiquity by Homer , Publius Valerius Cato and Pomponius .

His compilations on Japan, Korea and Siam (Fr. Carons, and Jod. Schouten Truthful Descriptions of Two Mighty Kingdoms, 1663. Truthful Descriptions of Three Powerful Kingdoms, 1672), in which he combined the fruits of his own reading with original manuscripts from returned East Indiamans, were also significant and expanded with numerous comments. Along with the Memorable Embassies (1669) by Arnoldus Montanus, these were the most informative accounts of Japan in the second half of the 17th century.

Truthful Descriptions, 1672 (title page)

As a scholar, he maintained, as was customary at the time, an extensive correspondence with European intellectuals, including Heinrich Meibom , Johann Friedrich Gronovius , Conrad Samuel Schurzfleisch and Duke Anton Ulrich von Braunschweig-Lüneburg .

Arnold was only actively involved in the writings of the Order of Flowers in the first few years. Nevertheless, he was on friendly terms with his second head Sigmund von Birken until his death and worked with him several times. In April 1671 he was crowned a poet by Birken .

He is the author of numerous occasional pamphlets , particularly on social events in Nuremberg patrician families . But above all he is known as a writer of sacred songs . These can be found again and again in the occasional prints, often set to music by the then well-known Nuremberg organist Paul Hainlein . 90 Arnold songs are printed in Johann Michael Dilherrs Augen- und Herzens-Lust (1661).

In the course of his life Arnold put together an extensive collection of books and, together with his brother Andreas, owned one of the largest private libraries in the imperial city of Nuremberg . The high quality of this collection and its cultural and historical significance has been made accessible through a catalog.

literature

• Paul Pressel :  Arnold, Christoph . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 584.
• Renate Juergensen: Bibliotheca Norica. Patrician and scholarly libraries in Nuremberg between the Middle Ages and the Enlightenment. Part 1. Wiesbaden 2002 (Chapter Ex Bibliotheca Arnoldiana )

Web links

• Literature by and about Christoph Arnold in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Christoph Arnold  in the German Digital Library
• Publications by and about Christoph Arnold in VD 17 .
• Tripota - Trier portrait database