Jump to content
Main menu
Main menu
move to sidebar
hide
Navigation
Main page
Recent changes
Random page
Help about MediaWiki
Special pages
Niidae Wiki
Search
Search
Appearance
Create account
Log in
Personal tools
Create account
Log in
Pages for logged out editors
learn more
Contributions
Talk
Editing
Robert Fludd
Page
Discussion
English
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Tools
move to sidebar
hide
Actions
Read
Edit
View history
General
What links here
Related changes
Page information
Appearance
move to sidebar
hide
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
{{Short description|British mathematician and astrologer (1574–1637)}} {{For|the academic|Robert L. Flood}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Use British English|date=May 2012}} {{Infobox person | name = Robert Fludd | image = Robert Fludd.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = 17 January 1574 | birth_place = [[Milgate House, Thurnham|Milgate House]], [[Bearsted, Kent]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1637|09|08|1574|01|17}} | death_place = [[London]] | nationality = [[English people|English]] | other_names = | known_for = | occupation = [[Physician]], [[Astrology|astrologer]] }} {{Hermeticism|expand=Historical figures}} '''Robert Fludd''', also known as '''Robertus de Fluctibus''' (17 January 1574 – 8 September 1637), was a prominent English [[Paracelsian]] [[physician]] with both scientific and occult interests. He is remembered as an [[astrologer]], [[mathematician]], [[Cosmology|cosmologist]], [[Hermetic Qabalah|Qabalist]], and [[Rosicrucianism|Rosicrucian]]. Fludd is best known for his compilations in occult [[philosophy]]. He had a celebrated exchange of views with [[Johannes Kepler]] concerning the [[scientific method|scientific]] and [[hermeticism|hermetic]] approaches to knowledge.<ref>[[Wolfgang Pauli]], ''Wolfgang Pauli – Writings on physics and philosophy'', translated by [[Robert Schlapp]] and edited by P. Enz and Karl von Meyenn (Springer Verlag, Berlin, 1994), Section 21, ''The influence of archetypical ideas on the scientific theories of Kepler''. {{ISBN|3-540-56859-X}}, {{ISBN|978-3-540-56859-9}}.</ref> ==Early life== He was born at [[Milgate House, Thurnham|Milgate House]], [[Bearsted, Kent]], on 17 January 1573/4.<ref name="William H. Huffman 45">{{cite book|author=William H. Huffman|title=Robert Fludd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pTAiTfP5jq4C&pg=PA45|year=2001|publisher=North Atlantic Books|isbn=978-1-55643-373-3|page=45}}</ref> He was the son of Sir [[Thomas Fludd]], a high-ranking governmental official ([[Queen Elizabeth I]]'s treasurer for war in Europe), and Member of Parliament.<ref>{{cite web|author=Members Constituencies Parliaments Surveys |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/fludd-sir-thomas-1607 |title=historyofparliamentonline.org/ ''Fludd, Sir Thomas (d.1607), of Milgate, Kent'' |publisher=Historyofparliamentonline.org |access-date=2013-08-17}}</ref> His mother was Elizabeth Andrews Fludd.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://histfam.familysearch.org/getperson.php?personID=I9931&tree=Nixon |title=Sir Thomas Fludd, Knight of, Milgate, Bearsted, Kent, England d. Yes, date unknown: Community Trees Project |publisher=Histfam.familysearch.org |access-date=2013-08-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220160740/http://histfam.familysearch.org/getperson.php?personID=I9931&tree=Nixon |archive-date=20 December 2016}}</ref> A collage of 12 Coats of Arms of Fludd ancestors are shown in the painting above his right shoulder. His paternal arms goes back to [[Rhirid Flaidd]] whose name originates from Welsh meaning bloody or red [[wiktionary:flaidd|wolf]].<ref>https://www.ourfamtree.org/browse.php?pid=669162 OurFamTree.org</ref> ==Education== He entered [[St John's College, Oxford]] as a commoner in 1591, graduating with a B.A. in 1597 and an M.A. in 1598.<ref name="William H. Huffman 45"/> [[St John's College, Oxford]] was one of the few in England with any provision for [[Fellowship (medicine)]]; William Huffman suggests that the presence of a Medical Fellow at [[St John's College, Oxford]] influenced Fludd's interest in studying medicine.<ref name="William H. Huffman 45"/> During Fludd's time at St John's College, the Medical Fellow in residence was [[Matthew Gwinne]]; Gwinne had previously produced a tract indicating that, while he practiced [[Galen|Galenic medicine]], he was also familiar with the main [[Paracelsus|Paracelsian]] medical work. Fludd may have encountered Gwinne, or his writing, during his time at Oxford, providing an additional influence for his later medical philosophy and practice. ==Career== Between 1598 and 1604,following his graduation, Fludd studied medicine, chemistry and [[hermeticism]] on the European mainland. His itinerary is not known in detail.<ref name=Debus1>Debus pp. 207–8.</ref> On his own account he spent a winter in the [[Pyrenees]] studying [[theurgy]] (the practice of rituals) with the [[Jesuits]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Urszula Szulakowska|title=The Alchemy of Light: Geometry and Optics in Late Renaissance Alchemical Illustration|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZJox8Eh-gs8C&pg=PA170|year=2000|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-11690-0|page=168}}</ref> Furthermore, he indicated that he travelled throughout Spain, Italy and Germany following his time in France. Upon returning to England in 1604, Fludd matriculated to [[Christ Church, Oxford]]. He intended to take a degree in medicine. The main requirements to obtain this, at the time, included demonstrating that he (the supplicant) had read and understood the required medical texts—primarily those by [[Galen]] and [[Hippocrates]]. Fludd defended three theses based on these texts, and on 14 May 1605,He made his supplication. He graduated with his M.B. and [[Doctor of Medicine|M.D.]] on 16 May 1605. After graduating from Christ Church, Fludd moved to London, settled in [[Fenchurch Street]], and made repeated attempts to enter the [[London College of Physicians|College of Physicians]]. Fludd encountered problems with the College examiners, both because of his unconcealed contempt for traditional medical authorities (he had adopted the views of Paracelsus), and because of his attitude to authority—especially those of the ancients like Galen. After at least six failures, he was admitted in September 1609. He became a prosperous London doctor, serving as Censor of the College four times (1618, 1627, 1633, and 1634).<ref name="William H. Huffman 45"/> He also participated in an inspection of the London apothecaries put on by the College in 1614, and helped to author the ''Pharmacopoeia Londinensis'' in 1618—a directory of standardized pharmaceutical preparations given by the London College of Physicians. He became such an established figure within the College that he was included in seventeenth-century critiques of the college, including those by [[Nicholas Culpepper]] and [[Peter Coles (17th century)|Peter Coles]]. Subsequently, both his career and his standing in the College took a turn very much for the better. He was on good terms with [[Sir William Paddy]].<ref name=Debus1/> Fludd was one of the first to support in print the theory of the [[circulation of the blood]] of the college's [[William Harvey]].<ref>{{cite book|author=William H. Huffman|title=Robert Fludd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pTAiTfP5jq4C&pg=PA20|year=2001|publisher=North Atlantic Books|isbn=978-1-55643-373-3|page=20}}</ref> To what extent Fludd may have actually influenced Harvey is still debated, in the context that Harvey's discovery is hard to date precisely.<ref>{{cite book|author=Walter Pagel|title=William Harvey's Biological Ideas: Selected Aspects and Historical Background|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m0cQQlZK43cC&pg=PA340|year=1967|publisher=Karger Publishers|isbn=978-3-8055-0962-6|page=340}}</ref> The term "circulation" was certainly ambiguous at that time.<ref>[[Allen G. Debus]], ''Robert Fludd and the Circulation of the Blood'', J Hist Med Allied Sci (1961) XVI (4): 374-393. doi: 10.1093/jhmas/XVI.4.374</ref> ==Occult interest== While he followed [[Paracelsus]] in his medical views rather than the ancient authorities, he was also a believer that real wisdom was to be found in the writings of [[natural magic]]ians. His view of these mystical authorities was inclined towards the great mathematicians, and he believed, like [[Pythagoras]] and his followers, that numbers contained access to great hidden secrets. Certainty in religion could be discovered only through serious study of numbers and ratios. This view later brought Fludd into conflict with [[Johannes Kepler]]. ==Mystical theory of nature== ===Tripartite division of matter=== Much of Fludd's writing, and his pathology of disease, centered around the sympathies found in nature between man, the terrestrial Earth, and the divine. While Paracelsian in nature, Fludd's own theory on the origin of all things posited that, instead of the [[Outline of alchemy|Tria Prima]], all species and things stemmed from first, dark Chaos, then divine Light which acted upon the Chaos, which finally brought forth the waters. This last element was also called the Spirit of the Lord, and it made up the passive matter of all other substances, including all secondary elements and the four qualities of the ancients. Moreover, the Fluddean tripartite theory concluded that Paracelsus' own conception of the three primary principles—Sulphur, Salt and Mercury—eventually derived from Chaos and Light interacting to create variations of the waters, or Spirit. The Trinitarian division is important in that it reflects a mystical framework for biology. Fludd was heavily reliant on scripture; in the Bible, the number three represented the ''principium formarum'', or the original form. Furthermore, it was the number of the Holy [[Trinity]]. Thus, the number three formed the perfect body, paralleling the Trinity. This allowed man and Earth to approach the infinity of God, and created a universality in sympathy and composition between all things. ===Macrocosm–microcosm relationship=== Fludd's application of his mystically inclined tripartite theory to his philosophies of medicine and science was best illustrated through his conception of the [[Macrocosm and microcosm]] relationship. The divine light (the second of Fludd's primary principles) was the "active agent" responsible for creation. This informed the development of the world and the Sun, respectively. Fludd concluded, from a reading of Psalm 19:4—"In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun"—that the Spirit of the Lord was contained literally within the Sun, placing it central to Fludd's model of the macrocosm.<ref name="William H. Huffman 146">{{cite book|author=William H. Huffman|title=Robert Fludd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pTAiTfP5jq4C&pg=PA146|year=2001|publisher=North Atlantic Books|isbn=978-1-55643-373-3|page=146}}</ref> remained in manuscript.<ref name="Debus, p. 255">Debus, p. 255.</ref> As the Sun was to the Earth, so was the heart to mankind. The Sun conveyed Spirit to the Earth through its rays, which circulated in and about the Earth giving it life. Likewise, the blood of man carried the Spirit of the Lord (the same Spirit provided by the Sun), and circulated through the body of man. This was an application of the sympathies and parallels provided to all of God's Creation by Fludd's tripartite theory of matter. The blood was central to Fludd's conception of the relationship between the microcosm and macrocosm; the blood and the Spirit it circulated interacted directly with the Spirit conveyed to the macrocosm. The macrocosmal Spirit, carried by the Sun, was influenced by astral bodies and changed in composition through such influence. Comparatively, the astral influences on the macrocosmal Spirit could be transported to the microcosmal Spirit in the blood by the active commerce assumed between the macrocosm and the microcosm. Fludd extended this interaction to his conception of disease: the movement of Spirit between the macrocosm and microcosm could be corrupted and invade the microcosm as disease. Like Paracelsus, Fludd conceived of disease as an external invader, rather than a complexional imbalance. ==Death== Fludd died on 8 September 1637 in London. He was buried in [[Holy Cross Church, Bearsted]]. ==Controversial works== [[File:Vitruvian macrocosm.jpg|thumb|Fludd's illustration of man the microcosm within the universal macrocosm]] Fludd's works are mainly controversial. In succession he defended the [[Rosicrucians]] against [[Andreas Libavius]], debated with Kepler, argued against French natural philosophers including [[Pierre Gassendi|Gassendi]], and engaged in the discussion of the [[weapon-salve]].<ref name=DNB>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Fludd, Robert}}</ref> ===Defence of Rosicrucianism=== Fludd was not a member of the [[Rosicrucians]], as often alleged, but he defended their thoughts as expressed in numerous manifestos and pamphlets.<ref>William H. Huffman, ''Robert Fludd and the End of the Renaissance'' (Routledge London & New York, 1988)</ref> He produced a quick work, the ''Apologia Compendiaria'', against the claims of [[Libavius]] that the Rosicrucians indulged in [[heresy]], [[Greater and lesser magic|diabolical magic]] and [[sedition]], made in his ''Analysis confessionis Fraternitatis de Rosea Cruce'' (Analysis of the Confession of the Rosy Cross) of 1615. Fludd returned to the subject at greater length, the following year.<ref name="William H. Huffman 45"/> * ''Apologia Compendiaria, Fraternitatem de Rosea Cruce suspicionis … maculis aspersam, veritatis quasi Fluctibus abluens'', &c., Leyden, 1616. Against Libavius. * ''Tractatus Apologeticus integritatem Societatis de Rosea Cruce defendens'', &c., Leyden, 1617. * ''Tractatus Theologo-philosophicus'', &c., Oppenheim, 1617. The date is given in a [[chronogram]]. This treatise "a Rudolfo Otreb Britanno" (where Rudolf Otreb is an anagram of Robert Floud) is dedicated to the Rosicrucian Fraternity. It consists of three books, ''De Vita'', ''De Morte'', and ''De Resurrectione''. In the third book Fludd contends that those filled with the spirit of Christ may rise before his [[second coming]].<ref name=DNB/> It is now seriously doubted that any formal organisation identifiable as the "Brothers of the Rose Cross" (Rosicrucians) ever actually existed in any extant form. The theological and philosophical claims circulating under this name appear, to these outsiders, to have been more an intellectual fashion that swept Europe at the time of the [[Counter Reformation]]. These thinkers suppose that in claiming to be part of a secret cult, scholars of [[alchemy]], the occult, and [[Hermeticism|Hermetic mysticism]], merely sought that additional prestige by being able to promote their views while claiming exclusive adherence to some revolutionary pan-European secret society. By this logic, some suppose the society itself to never have existed.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}} Between 1607 and 1616, two anonymous Rosicrucian manifestos were published by some anonymous person or group, first in Germany and later throughout Europe. These were the ''[[Fama Fraternitatis]]'', (The Fame of the Brotherhood of RC), and the ''[[Confessio Fraternitatis]]'', (The Confession of the Brotherhood of RC). The first manifesto was influenced by the work of the respected hermetic philosopher [[Heinrich Khunrath]], of Hamburg, author of the ''Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae'' (1609) who himself had borrowed generously from the work of [[John Dee]]. It referred favourably to the role played by the [[Illuminati]] and it featured a convoluted manufactured history dating back to archaic mysteries of the Middle East, with references to the [[Kabbalah|Kabala]] and the Persian Magi. The second manifesto had decidedly anti-Catholic views which were popular at the time of the Counter Reformation. These manifestos were re-issued several times, and were both supported and countered by numerous pamphlets from anonymous authors: about 400 manuscripts and books were published on the subject between 1614 and 1620. The peak of the [[Rosicrucianism|"Rosicrucianism furore"]] came in 1622 with mysterious posters appearing on the walls of Paris, and occult philosophers such as [[Michael Maier]], Robert Fludd and [[Thomas Vaughan (philosopher)|Thomas Vaughan]] interested themselves in the Rosicrucian world view. Others intellectuals and authors later claimed to have published Rosicrucian documents in order to ridicule their views. The furore faded out and the Rosicrucians disappeared from public life until 1710 when the secret cult appears to have been revived as a formal organisation. It is claimed that the work of [[John Amos Comenius]] and [[Samuel Hartlib]] on early education in England were strongly influenced by Rosicrucian ideas, but this has not been proven, and it appears unlikely except in the similarity in their anti-Catholic views and emphasis on science education. Rosicrucianism is also said to have been influential at the time when operative Masonry (a guild of artisans) was being transformed to speculative masonry—[[Freemasonry]]—which was a social fraternity, that also originally promoted the scientific and educative view of Comenius, Hartlib, [[Isaac Newton]] and [[Francis Bacon]]. Rosicrucian literature became the sandbox of theosophists, and charlatans, who claimed to be connected with the mysterious Brotherhood. Robert Fludd led the battle. It is said by some that he was "the great English mystical philosopher of the seventeenth century, a man of immense erudition, of exalted mind, and, to judge by his writings, of extreme personal sanctity".<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/sro/rhr/rhr21.htm The Real History of the Rosicrucians, by Arthur Edward Waite, [1887]],</ref> It has also been said that what Fludd did was to liberate [[occultism]], both from traditional [[Aristotelianism|Aristotelian]] philosophy, and from the coming ([[Cartesianism|Cartesian]]) philosophy of his time.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Daniel Garber|author2=Michael Ayers|title=The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BPlkkgIhUXIC&pg=PA457|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-53720-9|page=457}}</ref> ===Against Kepler=== [[Johannes Kepler]] criticised Fludd's theory of [[cosmic harmony]] in an appendix to his ''[[Harmonice Mundi]]'' (1619).<ref>{{cite book|author1=Johannes Kepler|author2=E. J. Aiton|author3=Alistair Matheson Duncan|author4=Judith Veronica Field|title=The Harmony of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rEkLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PR38|year=1997|publisher=American Philosophical Society|isbn=978-0-87169-209-2|page=xxxviii}}</ref> * ''Veritatis Proscenium'' Frankfort, 1621. Reply to Kepler. In it Fludd argued from a [[Platonist]] point of view; and he claims that the [[hermeticism|hermetic]] or "chemical" approach is deeper than the mathematical.<ref>{{cite book|author=William H. Huffman|title=Robert Fludd and the End of the Renaissance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VDwOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA57|year=1988|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-00129-8|page=57}}</ref> * ''Monochordon Mundi Symphoniacum'' Frankfort, 1622. Reply to Kepler's ''Mathematice'', 1622. * ''Anatomiæ Amphitheatrum'', Frankfort, 1623. Includes reprint of the ''Monochordon''.<ref name=DNB/> ===Against the natural philosophers=== [[File:Fludd summum bonum.jpg|thumb|Titlepage of the ''Summum Bonum'' under the name of Joachim Frizius]] According to Brian Copenhaver, "Kepler accused Fludd of being a [[Theosophy (Boehmian)|theosophist]], and Kepler was right". Fludd was well-read in the tradition coming through [[Francesco Giorgi]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Daniel Garber|author2=Michael Ayers|title=The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BPlkkgIhUXIC&pg=PA465|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-53720-9|pages=464–5}}</ref> [[Marin Mersenne]] attacked him in ''Quæstiones Celebres in Genesim'' (1623). * ''Sophiæ cum Moria Certamen'', Frankfort, 1629. Reply to Mersenne. * ''Summum Bonum'', Frankfort, 1629. Under the name Joachim Frizius, this was a further reply to Mersenne, who had accused Fludd of magic.<ref name=DNB/> [[Pierre Gassendi]] took up the controversy in an ''Examen Philosophiæ Fluddanæ'' (1630). This was at Mersenne's request. Gassendi attacked Fludd's [[neo-Platonic]] position. He rejected the syncretic move that placed [[alchemy]], [[cabbala]] and Christian religion on the same footing; and Fludd's ''[[anima mundi]]''. Further he dismissed Fludd's [[biblical exegesis]].<ref name=DNB/><ref>{{cite book|author=Antonio Clericuzio|title=Elements, Principles and Corpuscles: A Study of Atomism and Chemistry in the Seventeenth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8f8VQ3Va5vkC&pg=PA71|year=2000|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-7923-6782-6|pages=71–2}}</ref> Fludd also wrote against ''The Tillage of Light'' (1623) of [[Patrick Scot]]; Scot like Mersenne found the large claims of [[hermetic alchemy]] to be objectionable.<ref>{{cite book|author=Bruce Janacek|title=Alchemical Belief: Occultism in the Religious Culture of Early Modern England|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFHapWeW8ToC&pg=PA45|publisher=Penn State Press|isbn=978-0-271-05014-0|pages=45–54|date=2012-06-19}}</ref> Fludd defended alchemy against the criticisms of Scot, who took it to be merely allegorical. This work, ''Truth's Golden Harrow'',<ref name="William H. Huffman 146"/> remained in manuscript.<ref name="Debus, p. 255"/> ===The weapon-salve controversy=== * "Doctor Fludds Answer vnto M. Foster, or, The Sqvesing of Parson Fosters Sponge", &c., London, 1631, (defence of weapon-salve, against the ''Hoplocrisma-Spongus'', 1631, of [[William Foster (divine)|William Foster]], of [[Hedgerley]], Buckinghamshire); an edition in Latin, "Responsum ad Hoplocrisma-Spongum", &c., Gouda, 1638.<ref name=DNB/> The idea that certain parallel actions could be initiated and linked by 'sympathetic' mysterious forces was widespread at this time, probably arising mainly from the actions of the magnet, shown by [[William Gilbert (physician)|William Gilbert]] to always point towards some point in the northern sky. The idea owed a lot of the older Aristotelian and neo-Platonic views about soul-like forces. ==Cosmology and other works== [[File:Robert Fludd's An Astrologer Casting a Horoscope 1617.jpg|thumb|"An Astrologer Casting a Horoscope", from Robert Fludd's ''Utriusque Cosmi Historia'', 1617]] Fludd's philosophy is presented in ''Utriusque Cosmi, Maioris scilicet et Minoris, metaphysica, physica, atque technica Historia'' (''The [[Metaphysics|metaphysical]], physical, and technical history of the two worlds, namely the greater and the lesser'', published in Germany between 1617 and 1621);<ref>Karsten Kenklies, ''Wissenschaft als Ethisches Programm. Robert Fludd und die Reform der Bildung im 17. Jahrhundert'' (Jena, 2005)</ref> according to [[Frances Yates]], his [[memory]] system (which she describes in detail in ''The Art of Memory'', pp. 321–341) may reflect the layout of [[Shakespeare]]'s [[Globe Theatre]] (''The Art of Memory'', Chapter XVI). In 1618, Fludd wrote ''De Musica Mundana'' (''Mundane Music'') which described his theories of music, including his mundane (also known as "divine" or "celestial") [[monochord]].<ref>[[Manly P. Hall]], ''The Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic, and Rosicrucian symbolical philosophy'' (H.S. Crocker Company, Inc., 1928)</ref> In 1630, Fludd proposed many [[perpetual motion machine]]s. People were trying to patent variations of Fludd's machine in the 1870s. Fludd's machine worked by [[wikt:circulation|recirculation]] by means of a [[water wheel]] and [[Archimedean screw]]. The device [[pump]]s the water back into its own supply [[tank]].<ref>http://www.uh.edu/engines/pmm1.jpg {{Bare URL image|date=March 2022}}</ref><ref>http://www.windmillworld.com/mills/images/fludd1618.gif {{Bare URL image|date=March 2022}}</ref> [[File:RobertFuddBewusstsein17Jh.png|thumb|upright|The spiritual brain, derived from cruder versions in predecessors, such as [[Albertus Magnus]] and [[Gregor Reisch]].<ref>[[Joscelyn Godwin]], ''Robert Fludd: Hermetic philosopher and surveyor of two worlds'' (1979), p. 70.</ref>]] His main works are:<ref name=DNB/> * ''Utriusque Cosmi ... metaphysica, physica atque technica Historia'', &c., Oppenheim and Frankfort, 1617–1624. (It has two dedications, first to the Deity, secondly to James I, and copperplates; it was to have been in two volumes, the first containing two treatises, the second three; it was completed as far as the first section of the second treatise of the second volume.) * ''Philosophia Sacra et vere Christiana'', &c., Frankfort, 1626; dedicated to [[John Williams (archbishop of York)|John Williams]]. * ''Medicina Catholica'', &c., Frankfort, 1629–1631, in five parts; the plan included a second volume, not published. Posthumous were:<ref name=DNB/> * ''Philosophia Moysaica'', &c., Gouda, 1638; an edition in English, ''Mosaicall Philosophy'', &c., London, 1659. * ''Religio Exculpata'', &c. [Ratisbon], 1684 (''Autore Alitophilo Religionis fluctibus dudum immerso, tandem … emerso''; preface signed J. N. J.; assigned to Fludd). * ''Tractatus de Geomantia'', &c. (four books), included in ''Fasciculus Geomanticus'', &c., Verona, 1687. An unpublished manuscript, copied by an amanuensis, and headed ''Declaratio breuis'', &c., is in the [[Royal manuscripts, British Library]], 12 C. ii. Fludd's ''Opera'' consist of his folios, not reprinted, but collected and arranged in six volumes in 1638; appended is a ''Clavis Philosophiæ et Alchimiæ Fluddanæ'', Frankfort, 1633.<ref name=DNB/> ==Reception== William T. Walker, reviewing two books on Fludd in ''The Sixteenth Century Journal'' (by Joscelyn Godwin, and William Huffman), writes that "Fludd relied on the Bible, the Cabbala, and the traditions of alchemy and astrology. Many of his contemporaries labelled Fludd a magician and condemned him for his sympathy for the occult."<ref name=Walker>{{cite journal | jstor=2542084| title=Robert Fludd and the End of the Renaissance. by William H. Huffman; Robert Fludd, Hermetic Philosopher and Surveyor of Two Worlds. by Joscelyn Godwin; Splendor Soils. bySalomon Trismosin; Joscelyn Godwin. Review | author=Walker, William T. | journal=The Sixteenth Century Journal | year=1992 | volume=23 | issue=1 | pages=157–158 | doi=10.2307/2542084}}</ref> He cites Godwin's book as arguing that Fludd was part of the tradition of Christian esotericism that includes [[Origen]] and [[Meister Eckhart]]. He finds convincing the argument in Huffman's book that Fludd was not a Rosicrucian but was "a leading advocate of Renaissance Christian Neo-Platonism. Fludd's advocacy of an intellectual philosophy in decline has done much to assure his general neglect."<ref name=Walker/> ==Notes== {{Reflist|26em}} ==References== *[[Allen G. Debus]] (2002), ''The Chemical Philosophy'' ==Further reading== *[[Allen G. Debus]], ''The English Paracelsians'', New York: Watts, 1965. *[[James Brown Craven]], ''Doctor Fludd (Robertus de Fluctibus), the English Rosicrucian: Life and Writings'', Kirkwall: William Peace & Son, 1902. *[[Frances A. Yates]], ''The Art of Memory'', London: Routledge, 1966. *Jocelyn Godwin, "[https://archive.org/details/robert-fludd-hermetic-philosopher-and-surveyor-of-two-worlds-art-imagination ''Robert Fludd: Hermetic Philosopher and Surveyor of Two Worlds'']", London: Thames and Hudson, 1979. *William H. Huffman, ed., ''Robert Fludd: Essential Readings'', London: Aquarian/Thorsons, 1992. *Tita French Baumlin, "Robert Fludd," ''The Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 281: British Rhetoricians and Logicians, 1500–1660, Second Series'', Detroit: Gale, 2003, pp. 85–99. *Karsten Kenklies, ''Wissenschaft als Ethisches Programm. Robert Fludd und die Reform der Bildung im 17. Jahrhundert'' (Jena, 2005). *Johannes Rösche, ''Robert Fludd. Der Versuch einer hermetischen Alternative zur neuzeitlichen Naturwissenschaft'' (Göttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008). ==External links== {{Wikiquote}} {{Commons category|Robert Fludd}} {{wikisource author}} * Guariento, Luca (2016) [https://www.academia.edu/38279617/Life_Friends_and_Associations_of_Robert_Fludd_A_Revised_Account Life, Friends, and Associations of Robert Fludd: A Revised Account] * Robert Fludd [http://www.alchemywebsite.com/fludd1.html biography] at Levity * Fludd's ''magnum opus'', [http://billheidrick.com/Orpd/RFludd/ 'Utriusque Cosmi maioris scilicet et minoris metaphysica..' (1617–1619)] is available as [[ZIP (file format)|ZIP]] or [[PDF]] download. * A large section of [http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=/naturae&CISOSORT=descri|f 'Utriusque Cosmi maioris scilicet et minoris metaphysica..'] is available as page images at the University of Utah. * JR Ritman Library: [https://web.archive.org/web/20061007001229/http://www.ritmanlibrary.nl/c/p/exh/tre/tre_40.html Treasures from the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica] * Robert Fludd [http://www.ralph-abraham.org/ficino/chronos/fludd.txt chronology] * [https://archive.org/details/utriusquecosmima02flud Utriusque Cosmi maioris scilicet et minoris metaphysica (1617)] at the Internet Archive * [http://publicdomainreview.org/2011/09/13/robert-fludd-and-his-images-of-the-divine/ Article] by Urszula Szulakowska on the religious imagery of Utriusque Cosmi, including gallery and links to online public domain copies. * {{cite book |last1=Hutchinson |first1=John |title=Men of Kent and Kentishmen |date=1892 |publisher=Cross & Jackman |location=Canterbury |page=50 |edition=Subscription |chapter=[[s:Men of Kent and Kentishmen/Robert Flood|Robert Flood]]}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Fludd, Robert}} [[Category:1574 births]] [[Category:1637 deaths]] [[Category:16th-century astrologers]] [[Category:16th-century English mathematicians]] [[Category:16th-century English writers]] [[Category:16th-century English male writers]] [[Category:16th-century occultists]] [[Category:17th-century astrologers]] [[Category:17th-century English mathematicians]] [[Category:17th-century English medical doctors]] [[Category:17th-century English writers]] [[Category:17th-century English male writers]] [[Category:17th-century occultists]] [[Category:Alumni of St John's College, Oxford]] [[Category:English Anglicans]] [[Category:English astrologers]] [[Category:English music theorists]] [[Category:English occult writers]] [[Category:English people of Welsh descent]] [[Category:Hermeticists]] [[Category:Paracelsians]] [[Category:People from Bearsted]] [[Category:Hermetic Qabalists]] [[Category:Rosicrucians]]
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to Niidae Wiki may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see
Encyclopedia:Copyrights
for details).
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Templates used on this page:
Template:Authority control
(
edit
)
Template:Bare URL image
(
edit
)
Template:Citation needed
(
edit
)
Template:Cite DNB
(
edit
)
Template:Cite book
(
edit
)
Template:Cite journal
(
edit
)
Template:Cite web
(
edit
)
Template:Commons category
(
edit
)
Template:For
(
edit
)
Template:Hermeticism
(
edit
)
Template:ISBN
(
edit
)
Template:Infobox person
(
edit
)
Template:Reflist
(
edit
)
Template:Short description
(
edit
)
Template:Use British English
(
edit
)
Template:Use dmy dates
(
edit
)
Template:Wikiquote
(
edit
)
Template:Wikisource author
(
edit
)
Search
Search
Editing
Robert Fludd
Add topic