Editing Conrad Gessner (section)

==Life ==
Conrad Gessner was born on 26 March 1516, in Zürich, Switzerland, the son of Ursus Gessner, a poor Zürich [[furrier]]. His early life was one of poverty and hardship,{{sfn|Fischer|1966}} but Gessner's father realized his talents, and sent him to live with and be schooled by a great uncle, who grew and collected medicinal herbs for a living. Here the boy became familiar with many plants and their medicinal purposes which led to a lifelong interest in natural history.

Gessner first attended the [[Carolinum, Zürich|''Carolinum'' in Zürich]], then later entered the [[Fraumünster]] seminary. There he studied [[classical languages]], appearing as [[Penia]] (Poverty) in [[Aristophanes]]' ''[[Plutus (play)|Plutus]]'', at the age of 15.{{sfn|Fischer|1966}} In school, he impressed his teachers so much that a few of them helped sponsor him so that he could further his education, including arranging a scholarship for him to attend university in France to study theology (1532–1533) at the age of 17. There he attended the [[University of Bourges]] and [[University of Paris]]. Religious persecution forced him to leave Paris for [[Strasbourg]], but being unable to secure employment, he returned to Zürich.{{sfn|Fischer|1966}} One of his teachers in Zürich acted as a foster father to him after the death of his father at the [[Battle of Kappel]] (1531), another provided him with three years of board and lodging, while yet another arranged his further education at the upper school in Strasbourg, the Strasbourg Academy. There he broadened his knowledge of ancient languages by studying Hebrew. In 1535, religious unrest drove him back to Zürich, where he made what some considered an imprudent marriage at the age of 19, of a woman from another poor family who had no [[dowry]].{{sfn|Fischer|1966}} Although some of his friends again came to his aid, he was appointed to obtaining a teaching position for him, this was in the lowest class and attracted a stipend barely more than a pittance. However, he then obtained a paid leave of absence to study medicine at the [[University of Basel]] (1536).{{sfn|Fischer|1966}}{{sfn|Pettitt|2014}}

Throughout his life Gessner was interested in natural history, and collected specimens and descriptions of wildlife through travel and extensive correspondence with other friends and scholars. 
In 1543 [[Arnoldus Arlenius]] invited Gessner to Venice. Gessner travelled to Italy that same summer. He encountered  Venetian printing and a hidden world of Greek manuscripts. <ref>Nelles, Paul "Conrad Gessner and the Mobility of the Book," pp.39-66. In Bellingradt, Daniel., Paul. Nelles, and Jeroen. Salman, eds. ''Books in Motion in Early Modern Europe Beyond Production, Circulation and Consumption.'' 1st ed. 2017. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2017.</ref><ref>Sabba,F. La ‘Bibliotheca Universalis’ di Conrad Gesner: monumento della cultura europea. Conrad Gessner, 127–136. (Rome, 2012), Conrad Gessner, 127–136.</ref>

Gessner's approach to research consisted of four main components: observation, dissection, travel to distant lands, and accurate description.  This rising observational approach was new to Renaissance scholars because people usually relied completely upon Classical writers for their research. He died of the [[Bubonic plague|plague]], the year after his [[ennoblement]] on 13 December 1565.{{sfn|Murray|2009|p=89}}