Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/888

 REUCHLIN

798

REUMONT

Paris. His memoirs, which he began to write in 1671, were published for the first time in 1717; several English translations were made in 1723, 1764, and 1774. His language is admirable for its charm and suppleness; for the profoundness of his political views, and the conciseness of his moral ideas he has been compared to Tacitus. The craving for intrigue and adventure formed the basis of his character. A man of remarkable parts, he was above all a church politi- cian rather than a churchman.

QLUvres de Cardinal de Hetz, ed. Feillet, Gourdault and Ch.^ntelauze (10 vols., Paris, 1870-96): Chantelauze, Le Cardinal de Retz et I' Affaire du Chapeau (2 vols.. Paris, 1877); Idem, Le Cardinal de Reiz et ses Missions diplomaiiques A Rome (Paris, 1S79); Idem, Saint-Vincent de Paul et les Gondi (Paris, 1882); Gazier, Les derniires annies du Cardinal de Retz (Paris, 1876).

Georges Gotau.

Reuchlin (Grecized, Capnion), Johannes, cele- brated German humanist, b. at Pforzheim, Baden, 22 February, 14.55; d. at Liebenzell, 30 June, 1522. He studied at Freiburg, Paris, and Basle, where he won his baccalaureate in 1475, his degree of master in 1477, and later taught Greek and Latin; in 1479 he became bachelor of jurisprudence at Or- leans, and licentiate of law at Poitiers in 1481. During two trips to Italy (1482 and 1490) he became acquainted with the Platonic Academy at Florence and the chief Italian philologians, he him- self exciting wonder through his great phil- ological knowledge. In the interval be- tween these journeys he became counsel of Count Eberhard of Wiirtemberg, assessor in the high court and doctor of jurisprudence, mean- while applying himself zealously to the study of He- brew. On the death of his patron Eberhard, he fled to Heidelberg through fear of his successor, the mal- evolent Count Eberhard VI, where he became coun- sel to the elector. In 1498 he paid his third visit to Rome, and perfected his Hebrew by intercourse with some learned Jews. In Heidelberg he wrote his two witty and successful Latin comedies, ''Sergius" and " Henno ". On Eberhard's deposition he returned to Stuttgart, and became imperial judge of the Swabian Confederation (1.502-12), private iiilcrateur, professor of Greek and Hebrew at Ingoldstadt (1.520-1), and professor at Tubingen (1.521-2). The chief service of Reuchlin was his introduction into Germany of the study of Hebrew. His "De rudi- mentis hebraicis" (1506), containing both lexicon and grammar, was epoch-making. In 1512 he published as a manual for beginners an edition of the Hebrew text of the Penitential Psalms with a literal Latin translation. In his "De accentibus et orthographia lingua? hebraica?" (1518), he treats in detail the word- accent, and more briefly the rhetorical accent and musical emphasis. Less important are his cabalistic writings ("De verbo mirifico", 1494; "De arte cabbalistica", 1517), in which he becomes lost in the abstruse problems of mysterious names and figures. Meanwhile his unfortunate quarrel with Johann Pfefferkorn and the Cologne Dominicans concerning the destruction of the Talmudic books had begun. (For a discussion of this, see Humanism.) Throughout the Reformation, Reuchlin remained faithful to the Churcli and sought to alienate his grandnephew Me- lanchthon from Luther.

Jouan.nes Ke From a contemporary woodcut

Geioer, Johann Reuchlin (Leipzig, 1S71); Idem, Renaissance u. Humanismus (Berlin, 1882), 504-25; Reuchlins Briefwechsel, ed. Geioeb (Tflbingen, 1875); The Cambridge Modern History, I (Cambridge, 1902), 572-3.

KlEMENS LoFFXiER.

Reumont, Alfred von, statesman and historian, b. at Aachen, 15 August, 1808; d. there, 27 April, 1887. After finishing his course at the gymnasium, he took up in obedience to the wishes of his father rather than to his own inclination, the study of medicine at Bonn and Heidelberg. The death of his father in 1828 interrupted his studies, whereupon he became first private tutor at Florence, and within the course of a year, private secretary of the Prussian ambassador in that city. Meanwhile he attended lectures, and in 1833 graduated Doctor of Philosophy at Erlangen. He was subsequently engaged in the Foreign Office at Berlin (183.5-6), as secretary of the legation at Florence and Rome (183(3-43), again in the Foreign Office (1843-7), where he simultaneously acted as private secretary to King Frederick ^^'illiam IV. This monarch always reposed great confidence in Reumont, and in 1846 ennobled him. In 1847 he became counsel of the Prussian legation at Rome, where he remained alone after the flight of the pope. In 1851 he was appointed ambassador to Tuscany, but, on the annexation of this country, was placed on half pay, in consequence of an unwillingness to appoint a Catholic to the post previously intended for him: that of ambassador to the pope. Henceforth he de- voted himself to his literarj' studies — at first in Rome, then in his native Aachen, from 1868 in Bonn, whence he returned to Aachen in 1878. In spite of severe bodily sufferings he always maintainecl his relations and a lively personal and epistolarj* intercourse with prominent personages of Germany and Italy, e. g. Hermann von Thile, his intimate friend and former colleague, Marchese Gino Capponi, the illustrious hterar\' historian of Italy, Leopold von Ranke, the great historical investigator whom he had attacked in 1830, and several members of the Prussian royal house, especiallj' Queen Elizabeth and Emperor WiUiam I. He was a prolific author, and in almost all his works takes as his special theme the portrayal of the literarj* life of Italy, the communication to German readers of a deeper understanding of Itahan art and historj', seeking thus to prepare the way for an intellectual union between Germany and Italy.

.\mong his many works deahng with Italy we must mention: "Andrea del Sarto" (Leipzig, 1835); " Reiseschilderungen u. Umrisse aus siidlichen Gegenden" (Stuttgart, 1835); "Italia" (2 vols., Berlin, 1838^0); "Romische Briefe von einem Florentiner" (4 vols., Leipzig, 1840-44); "Tavole cronologiche e sincrone della storia fiorentina" (Florence, 1841), supplementarj' volume (1875); "Ganganelli, Papst Clemens XIV. Seine Briefe u. seine Zeit" (2 vols., Berlin, 1851; tr. London, 1854). In his "Beitrage zur italienischen Geschichte" (6 vols., Berlin, 1853-7) he treats of "Galilei u. Rom", "Francesco Burlemacchi", "Gaeta", "Recollections of the year 1849", "The last days of the Order of Malta", and finally "The Queen of Etruria's at tempted flight from Nizza in 1811". His "Jugend Katerinas de Medici" is brilUantly written (Berlin, 1854; Italian tr. Florence, 1858; French, Paris, 1864). Among his greatest works must be reckoned: "Ge- schichte der Stadt Rom" (3 vols., Berlin, 1867-70); "Lorenzo de Medici il Magnifico" (2 vols., Leipzig, 1874; 2nd ed., 1883); "Geschichte Toscanas seit dem Ende des florentinischen Freistaatcs (2 vols., Gotha, 1867-77); "Gino Capponi. Ein Zeit u. Lebensbild" (Gotha, 1880); "Vittoria Colonna. Leben, Dichten, Glauben im 16. Jahrhundert " (Freiburg, 1881; Italian tr., Turin, 1883). As the fruit of his connexions with the royal house appeared: "Zeitgenossen. Biographien und Characteristiken "