Petrus Francius

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Ludolf Bakhuizen (1631–1708), portrait of Petrus Francius

Petrus Francius , Dutch Pieter de Frans (born August 19, 1645 in Amsterdam , † August 19, 1704 ibid) was a Dutch professor of eloquence , history and Greek at the Athenaeum Illustre in Amsterdam .

Life

Francius was the son of the Amsterdam wine merchant Jacob de Frans and his wife Margarita Wachters. He attended the Latin school in Amsterdam, whose principal Adrianus Junius drew his attention to Ovid at an early age . In August 1662 he enrolled at the University of Leiden . His most important teacher was the professor of Greek literature and history Johann Friedrich Gronovius (1611–1671). When the Grand Duke of Florence, Cosimo III. de 'Medici attended university on January 10, 1668, Francius was one of those who wrote poems in Latin in his honor.

In 1669 he went on a two-year educational trip through France and Italy, as was customary at the time. It took him first to Paris, where he met the Jesuit René Rapin , then to Angers , where he received his doctorate in both rights , to Geneva in June 1670 and to Rome from November 1670 to March 1671 . During his visit to Naples he is said to have visited the tomb of Virgil and picked bay leaves from the tree that stood on the tomb. On the way back he visited the Grand Duke Cosimo in Florence and was introduced to the famous librarian Antonio Magliabecchi . In July 1671 returned to Amsterdam.

In March 1672, Francius gave a speech De studio Eloquentiae ("On the Study of Eloquence") in the Athenaeum Illustre , presumably in connection with his appointment to the chair of eloquence, which was to take place two years later. Francius gave a total of over fifty such speeches in prose, hexameters or elegiac distiches , some even in ancient Greek.

On March 26, 1674, Francius celebrated the peace treaty with England of February 19 with the Irenicon ("peace song "), a poem of about 400 hexameters. Two days later the city appointed him teacher at the Athenaeum . Instead of an inaugural speech, Francius gave on April 20, 1674 the speech De historiae utilitate ("On the benefits of historiography") as the opening lecture of his college on Livy. The title had already been used by Vossius for his speech at the opening of the Athenaeum in 1632.

Another important speech was the epicedium (the "funeral speech") on Michiel de Ruyter , the famous admiral of the Dutch fleet, who died in April 1676 in a sea battle off Sicily . Francius wore the epicedium on the second day of the funeral on March 19, 1677 in the Nieuwe Kerk in the presence of the representatives of the city of Amsterdam, the province of Holland , the States General and Constantijn Huygens as the personal representative of Wilhelm III. van Oranje .

In 1677 he had given a speech De conjungendo litterarum et eloquentiae studio ("On the connection between the study of literature and eloquence"), in which he placed great emphasis on the practical side of rhetoric. His students had to memorize and recite ancient Latin speeches in order to develop their rhetorical talent.

In his rhetoric lessons, Francius distinguished between the Eloquentia interna (the "inner eloquence") and the Eloquentia externa (the "outer eloquence"). The Eloquentia externa referred to actio (“lecture”) and pronuntiatio (“pronunciation”) , the eloquentia interna to the other officia oratoris (“tasks of the speaker”), especially the dictio (“formulation”). The intention was to improve the dictio of the students by memorizing the ancient speeches . In this context, Francius used Cicero's speeches Pro Archia poeta and Pro Marcello as well as various other speeches as model speeches. At the suggestion of students, even speeches by Demosthenes were recited by heart in Greek. Francius later also selected poetical texts for the recitations, Petron's poem on the civil war and the Elegia ad Liviam , which was at times attributed to Ovid. Ovid had been Francius' favorite poet since school days (modern text editions still use various of his conjectures) and so he had four students rewrite the theory of the ages of metamorphoses in elegiac distiches. Further recitations in 1701 and 1703 were contested with speeches translated from Greek, French and Dutch into Latin, including those from the histories of Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft , whom Francius held in high regard. In 1703 Francius finally achieved the goal of his didactic endeavors. Two of his students recited speeches they had written themselves in Latin.

In 1686, Francius was also commissioned to teach Greek language and literature. On this occasion he gave the speech De usu et praestantia linguae Graecae . He dealt with the Leiden professor Jacobus Perizonius on various occasions . Previously unpublished conjectures to the Epyllion Hero and Leander by the late Greek poet Musaios appeared posthumously .

In this and the following year, on the occasion of the Turkish wars , he composed four victorious songs inspired by Horace and Pindar , which he published in Laurus Europaea ("European Laurel Wreath") with a brief commentary. With the accompanying poem Buda expugnata , he alluded to the much acclaimed poem Breda expugnata by Nicolaus Heinsius the Elder from 1637.

In 1689 there was a dispute with Charles Perrault in the Querelle des Anciens et des Modernes . Francius, Gronovius, Perizonius and a few others refused to accept the fact that French was increasingly being used as the lingua franca in the Res publica litterarum . In a published speech, Francius had warned against Perrault as a proponent of the modern , who is said to have said that contemporary lawyers in Paris outdid Cicero even if he was alive. In return, Perrault took Francius as a negative example for the Anciens in the third volume of his work Parallèle des Anciens et des Modernes (1688-1697), but Francius no longer responded.

Finally, Francius published the Pro Archia and Pro Marcello speeches as specimen eloquentiae exterioris (“Model for the rhetorical presentation”) in a critical text containing 39 practical Regulae circa Pronuntiationem (“Rules for pronunciation”) and 56 practical Regulae circa Actionem ( "Rules for the presentation") are attached.

Fonts (selection)

  • Carmen de Pace inter Carolum II Augustissimum Britanniae regem, et Potentissimos Unitae Belgicae Ordines icta. Ex officina Danielis Abrahami, Lugduni Batavorum 1667, (online) .
  • Super Inita Cum Britannis Pace Irenicon. Habitum In Illustri Amstelaedamensium Lyceo die XX Martii. Ao. MDCLXXIV. Pluymer, Amstelodami 1674.
  • Epicedium in funere herois invicti Michaelis Adriani Ruteri, Hollandiae ac Westfrisiae Archithalassi, Ducis, Equitis, etc. Faithful van Petri Franci uitgesproken op April 14, 1677 in the Nieuwe Kerk te Amsterdam door Petrus Francius, hoogleraar in de Latijnse letterkunde en geschiedenis aan Illustre te Amsterdam. Printed by Jodoci Plumeri te Amsterdam 1677, (proof in the Nationaal Archief The Hague) .
  • Janus Clausus, seu Carmen de Pace inter Gallos Hispanos ac Belgas Foederatos terra marique conventa. Recitation. Amstelod. in adyto Templi Novi Sext. id. Octob. 1678. Apud viduam Jodoci Pluymer, Amstelodami 1678, (online) .
  • Poëmata ad Celsissimum Principem Ferdinandum, Paderbornensem ac Monasteriensem episcopum. Amstelaedami, Apud Henricum & Viduam Theodori Boom 1682, (online) ; (another copy online) .
  • Oratio de usu et praestantia linguae Graecae. Habita In Illustri Athenaeo Amstelaedamensi IV. Non. Mart. cum Graecae linguae professionem auspicaretur. Rieuwertsz, Amsterdam 1686.
  • Buda expugnata. Pronuntiata Amstelaedami M DC LXXXVI xvii. Cal. Novembres. Amstelaedami, 1686, (online) .
  • Laurus Europaea seu celebres Christianorum de Turcis Victoriae. Amstelodami, 1687, (online) .
  • Saeculum aureum, Ex Ovidiano illo, Principio mirandi operis. Per Bartolomaeum Bolk, Adrianum Reeland, Abrahamum Lakens, Christianum Coq. Johannes Rieuwerts, utriusque eloquentiae studiosos, adumbratum. Amstelaedami 1689, (online) . - (The preface is from Francius: Petrus Francius Philomusis s. )
  • Saeculum argenteum, aeneum, ferreum, Ex Ovidio adumbratum. Apud Joannem Rieuwerts, urbis & Illustris Athenaei Typographum, Amstelaedami 1689, (online) . - (Changes from Adrianum Reeland, Abrahamum Lakens, Christianum Coq)
  • Orationes in unum collectae. Apud Henr. Wetstenium, Amstelaedami 1692.
    • Orationes . Editio Secunda. Longe emendatior et magna parte auctior. Amsterdam 1705 (posthumous).
  • Vindiciae censurae graecanicae in nuperum carmen graecum, ad C. Valerium Accinctum. Typis Theodori Boutemanni, Amstelodami 1696, (online) .
  • Epistola Secunda ad C. Valerium Accinctum, vero nomine Jacobum Perizonium, Professorem Leidensem, qua ad cavillationes ejus grammaticas respondetur. Typis Theodori Boutemanni, Amstelodami 1996, (online) .
  • Poëmata. Editio altera. Auctior & emendatior. Accedunt graeca ejusdem carmina. Apud Henr. Wetstenium, Amstelaedami 1697, (online) ; (another copy online) .
  • Eloquentiae exterioris specimen primum, ad orationem MT Ciceronis per A. Licino Archia accommodatum. Apud Henr. Wetstenium, Amstelaedami 1697, (online) .
    • Eloquentiae exterioris specimen primum, ad orationem MT Ciceronis per A. Licino Archia accommodatum. Editio altera. Apud Henr. Wetstenium, Amstelaedami 1700, (online) .
  • Eloquentiae exterioris specimen alterum, ad orationem Ciceronis per M. Marcello accommodatum. Accedunt ad ejusdem De ratione declamandi orationes duae. Apud Henr. Wetstenium, Amstelaedami 1699, (online) ; (another copy online) .
  • Musaei Grammatici de Herone et Leandro Carmen. Cum conjecturis ineditis Petri Francii, ex recensione Johannis Schraderi, qui variantes lectiones, notas, et animadversionum librum adiecit. Tobias van Dessel, Leovardiae 1742, (online) .

literature

  • Chris L. Heesakkers: De hoogleraar in de Welsprekendheid Petrus Francius (1645-1704). In: EOG Haitsma Mulier et al. (Ed.), Athenaeum Illustre. Eleven studies over de Amsterdamse Doorluchtige School, 1632–1877 . Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 1997, 90-134.
  • Chris L. Heesakkers: To Lipsio licuit et Cunaeo quod mihi non licet. Petrus Francius and Oratorial Delivery in the Amsterdam Athenaeum Illustre . In: Gilbert Tournoy, Dirk Sacré (eds.), Ut Granum Sinapis: Essays on Neo-Latin Literature in Honor of Jozef IJsewijn . Leuven University Press 1997 (Humanistica Lovaniensia: Supplementa, Vol. 12), 324-349, there 332-345: Petrus Francius and Rhetorical Practice in the Amsterdam Athenaeum Illustre , (online) ; 350–351 there: Chronological list of registered public deliveries by Francius , (online) .
  • Dale Hoak: The World of William and Mary: Anglo-Dutch Perspectives on the Revolution of 1688-89. Stanford University Press, 1996, 224-225, (online) .
  • David Jacob van Lennep , in: Illustris Amstelodamensium Athenaei memorabilia, Prodita deinceps oratione Iacobi Philippi d'Orville in centesimum Athenaei natalem, et Davidis Iacobi van Lennep in altera Athenaei saecularia, accedente item Lennepii in utramque orationem annotatione. Apud J. Müllerum et socium, Amstelodami 1832, 161-165, (online) .
  • Dirk van Miert: Humanism in an Age of Science. The Amsterdam Athenaeum in the Golden Age, 1632-1704. Brill, Leiden 2009, 202-210, (online) ; 401 bibliographical evidence of Francius' writings there, (online)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Francius, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch classical philologist
DATE OF BIRTH August 19, 1645
PLACE OF BIRTH Amsterdam
DATE OF DEATH August 19, 1704
Place of death Amsterdam