Nicolaes Cleynaerts
Nicolaes Cleynaerts (also Clenardus or Nicolai Clenardi ) (* December 5 or December 6, 1493 in Diest ; † November 5, 1542 in Alhambra , Granada ) was a Belgian humanist , theologian , grammarian , orientalist and Semitist .
In addition to studying theology at the University of Leuven , he studied Greek, Hebrew and Arabic at the local trilingual college ( Collegium Trilingue ), which was founded by Erasmus von Rotterdam . Cleynaerts published a Hebrew and a Greek grammar. The latter of the two publications was a huge success across Europe. It reached a circulation of 500,000 copies. This gave an important impetus to the study of classical languages. Cleynaerts also developed a teaching method for learning the Latin language, which was the basis of a conversation and can therefore be seen as a forerunner of the Assimil method.
After completing his studies, he worked as a lecturer in Paris. In 1531 he traveled to Spain. There he was temporarily librarian to Fernando Colón , the son of Christopher Columbus , and in 1542 lecturer in Salamaca. He later traveled on to Portugal, where he became the teacher of Prince Henrique, the brother of King João III. was. On the way home he came into contact with Islamic theology in Granada when he met a Moor. From him he learned Arabic. From then on, his aim in life was to bring Christianity and Islam closer together.
From 1540 to 1541 he traveled to Fez (Morocco), where he improved his Arabic language skills. He was received by the sultan. Cleynaerts was against slavery and against the Inquisition. Spun by the Portuguese consul in Fez, who was involved in the slave trade, through an intrigue at the Portuguese royal court, he had to flee to Spain.
Many of Cleynaert's letters have survived. They bear testimony to the Spanish, Portuguese and Moroccan history of his time as well as his thoughts on the similarities between Christianity and Islam.
Today there is a bronze figure of Cleynaerds on the big market in Diest. In 2003/4 a monologue on Nicolaes Cleynaerds was performed, staged, written and played by Joris Tulckens (philosopher).
On November 28, 2010 the asteroid (43843) Cleynaerts was named after him.
Works
- Tabula in grammaticen hebraeam (1529)
- Institutiones in linguam graecam (1530)
- Meditationes Graecanicae (1531)
- Peregrinationum ac de rebus machometicis epistolae elegantissimae (Louvain, 1550)
- Epistolarum libri duo (Antwerp, 1561)
literature
- Victor Chauvin et Alphonse Roersch: Étude sur la vie et les travaux de Nicolas Cleynard in Memoires couronnes (vol. Lx., 1900 1901) of the Royal Academy of Belgium.
- N. Cleynaerts CD-ROM, Ed. Maerlantcentrum (KU Leuven), booklet 4 p .; 2002, ISBN 90-5867-202-6 .
- Friedrich August Eckstein : Clenardus, Nikolaus . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 322.
- Joris Tulkens: Nicolaes Cleynaerts. Christenhond tussen moslims. Davidsfonds Uitgeverij, Antwerp 2019, ISBN 978-90-5908-942-6 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. General Editor David Thomas. Brill Online, 2014, p. 125, limited preview in Google Book search
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cleynaerts, Nicolaes |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Clenardus; Nicolai Clenardi |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Belgian humanist, theologian, grammarian, orientalist and Semitist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 5, 1493 or December 6, 1493 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | This |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 5, 1542 |
| Place of death | Alhambra Granada |