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Re: Schmidl on Jacobus
Some additional comments on the Schmidl entry I just posted:
> [Entry from the index of Parte II(?):]
Oops, my mistake!... this cannot be Parte II; please read "Parte III".
> Sinapius (Jacobus)
> in Colleguim Prag. munificus II.102
> quô pactô ipsum ex imo at summa fortuna levârit III.73
> obit, facultatibus suis Collegio Prag. donatis III.74
> [what happened to his legacy] III.75
> [one more passim reference] III.???
Note that each index is limited to the volume (Parte) in question. Thus
II.102 means item 102 in Liber II of Parte III. I did not have time to
look up Sinapius in the other volumes, nor to look up other names
in this same volume. (The closing of the reading room at 2pm took us
both by surprise.)
However, since Schmidl's Historia is a printed book of general
interest, there must be copies of it in several other libraries ---
quite likely at Brno, Olomouc, and Cesky Krumlov, whose chronicles are
included in the book, and at the Vatican.
> N. 102 /[...]/
> (1620)
>
> [...] Restitutâ Ecclesiâ, ad instruendam quoque domum nostra
> manúsque conversæ : idibus Decembris immigratum. [...] : tum
> Melnicensis Ditionis Administrator Regius /Jacobus Sinapius/,
> in centum thaleris munificus.
I gather that this item describes the return of the Jesuits to the
Clementinum, from which they had been recently expelled, and some
donations they got at the time --- including 100 thalers from Jacobus,
then adminitrator of the Melnik estate.
> ante menses triginta e regrom fuerant ejecti [...]
My fingo: instead of "regrom" please read "regno".
> N. 73 /Jacobus Sinapius mirâ fortunâ provectus/
> (16??)
>
> Collegii Pragensis locupletissimum hoc quoque anno Caelum sibi
> vendicavit, /Jacobum/ inquam /Horcziczky/, Latinis postea
> dictum /Sinapium/.
I forgot to copy the entry's year, sorry.
Schmidl's items 73 and 74 seem to be the main (if not the only)
sources for the Sinapius entry in Otto's encyclopaedia. The flattering
tone of the latter is now explained: Schmidl was himself a Jesuit,
probably from the Clementinum, and Jacobus was their most remarkable
success story --- a kitchen servant who become a knight and court
physisican, all thanks to Jesuit education. It did not hurt that
Jacobus was one of their most loyal supporters, financially and
politically.
> Itaque /Jacobus/ obscuro loquo natus, in coquina Collegii
> Crumloviensis Coco primùm lixarum operam diutinam puer
> addixit.
"Collegii Crumloviensis" must be the Jesuit college at Cesky Krumlov.
Do we know the "obscuro loquo" where he was born?
> Literis mansuetioribus utcunque perceptis, Pharmacopaeo
> ejusdem Collegii, Fratri nostro /Martino Schaffner/, ab Arte
> Medica, sed eâ praesertim, quam /Botanicam/, /Chymiquamque/
> vocant, longè latéque celebratissimo (1), additus est
The "signature" on page f1r makes it seem likely that Jacobus owned
the VMS. It does not follow, however, that he got it from Rudolph.
(Raphael's recollection is hardly convincing, as he was only a child
when Rudolph died.)
If Jacobus did /not/ get the VMS from Rudolph, where did he get it?
This Martin Schaffner, Jacobus's teacher at the Clementinum,
is a possible candidate. It is a long shot, of course,
but it seems worth knowing a bit more about this character...
> quas aquas diebus, quibus feriantur Musae, prope horti nostri
> Transmuldani ostia, quà tajectus est, bônâ Rectoris veniâ
> divendebat.
Can anyone tell me what "Transmuldani" means?
> Verùm inter hæc ( solet enim se animum ad id referre, quod
> semel didicisse placuit ) /Jacobus/ noster Chymicam suam
> nunquam non exercebat ; eo profectu, ut ipse quoque multa &
> rara in ea arte suópte ingenio reperiret, & /Alchimiam/ etiam
> felici tractare sucessu.
Help, I am stumped by this sentence too...
> Defunctum cælebratâ suâ facundiâ /P. Georgius Ferus/ ad
> frequentissimam concionem dilaudavit
Hmm... no chance that /Ferus/ is Latin for /Bares/, is there? 8-)
(Anyway the /P./ must mean "father", and we think that Bares was
a layman.)
> sepulchrum ad memoriam ilustratum marmore ; effigies in
> Collegio inter cæteros Evergetas locum habet, cum hac
> epigraphe : Jacobus Horcziczky de Tepencze, in Aula Rudolphi
> II Cæsaris Chymicus : Virtute, Fortunis, Favore ejusdem
> Cæsaris & insigni in Collegium Societatis JESU Vetero-Pragæ ad
> S. Clementem liberalitate illustris.
>From this I understand that there is a marble statue of Jacobus
somewhere in the Clementinum. That's another thing we forgot to see.
Another excuse to get back to Prague some day...
Note the variant spelling "Tepencze" (rather than "Tepenecz").
That is how Schmidl has it. Could it be a typo?
> N. 75 /Sinapiane hæreditais summarium/
>
> Dixi : [...There follows a description of the Melnik estate and
> what happened to it. I did not have the time to copy this entry.
> On a quick scan, it doesn't mention books or papers explicitly;
> but they may be included in the household goods...]
It is unfortunate that I could not transcribe this item, since this
information is missing in Otto's entry, and (with lots of luck) it
might lead us to Jacobus papers. (It would be awfully nice to have
another sample of his handwriting or signature...)
> [Footnote references (renumbered):]
>
> (1) vide parte II, L. 4, N. 140
This is an entry about Schaffner in another volume.
I gather that Rene saw it.
> (2) Haec, & alia de Rudolpho vide in Balbino, Miscell. Dec. I L. 7 pag. 255.
>
> (3) Balbinus Miscell. Dec. I. L. 9 nondum edito, tract. 2.
Balbín was a famous historian (I saw his bust on the wall of the
Clementinum, and also at the National Museum). Here he is being cited
as a general reference for things about Rudolph II.
> (4) Ita. liber, cui titulus: Domus Pietatis & Literar. seu :
> Seminarium S. Wencesl. colum. IV.
I am not sure about the period after "Ita". This book is cited
as the source for the story about Jacobus curing the Emperor's
ilness.
> (5) Crugerius ad diem 18. Septembris.
>
> (6) Crugerius cit[?] Diarum Rectoris Prag. ad diem 25 Sept. hujus anni.
I guess "Crugerius" is Latin for "Krüger", and it seems to
be a diary kept by a Rector of the Clementinum or some other
college in Prague. It is offered as source for the close
ties between Jacobus and the colleges, and for his death
at the Clementinum.
Elsewhere on this volume there are frequent references to the
"Archivio Collegio Clementino". I suppose that, if these archives
still exist, they must have been incorporated into the National
Library, and thus are likely to be still at the Clementinum.
Yet another excuse for going back to Prague...
All the best,
--stolfi