Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/89

* RETZ. 73 REUCHLIN. later attended the Jesuit College at Clermont. It is said that he was comjjelled by his family to enter the Church in the expectation that he would become Arclibisliop of Paris, a position which had been held by two members of his house. He was brilliant in his studies, but dis- solute in private life. He engaged in political intrigues with the Count of Poissons, but after the death of that nobleman resimied his theo- logical studies and was made coadjutor of the Archbishop of Paris in l(!4.'i by Louis XIII. He devoted himself to his duties with zeal and won jiopularity by his profuse distribution of alms. At the time of the Fronde (q.v. ) he was at first of great assistance to the royal cause, but soon aroused the distrust of the Court, and be- came the leader of the popular party, displaying consummate talents for intrigue. In 1651 he became reconciled with the (Jueen mother, Anne of Austria, and with her aid he succeeded in obtaining a cardinal's hat. After the return of the Court to Paris, in 1G52, a mission to Rome was ofl"ered to Gondi which he seemed disin- clined to accept. Slazarin was determined that his rival should be silenced, however, and man- aged to have Cardinal de Ketz arrested and imprisoned at Vincennes. The Cardinal there- upon resigned the Archbishopric of Paris, which had come to him by the death of his uncle, and was allowed to retire to Xantes, whence he made his escape to Spain ( 1654) and repaired to Kome. There, in spite of his previous renunciation, he again claimed the Arclibishopric of Paris, and in 1662 he succeeded in bartering the Archbishopric for profitable benefices. At the same time he be- came reconciled to Louis XIV. and returned to France, but abstained from further political in- trigue. He sold his estates, paid his heavy debts, and devoted his life to charity and religion. His CEiivres, which cover the years 1643-55, are described by Voltaire as displaying the grandeur, impetuosity, and inequality of genius. They are not, however, trustworthy, on account of political bias. The best edition of his works is that by Feillet in the Collection des grands rcrirnins de la France (Paris, 1870-96). Consult: Chantelauze, Le cardinal de Rets, etude historique (Paris, 1878) : id., Le cardinal de Rets et ses mis- sions diplomatiques a Rome (ib., 1879). RET'ZIUS, Magnus Gust.w (1842—). A Swedish histologist, born in Stockholm. He was for some time professor of histology and anatomy in the Caroline Institute. His printed works on anthropologv include: Finslca Kranier ("Finnish Skulls." 1872) ; Biologische Vnter- suchunqen (1880-81); and Gelwrorgane der Wirbelthiere (1881-84). With Prof. A.xel Key he published !?tiidien in der Anatomic des Xenensijstems und dcs Binderjeicehes (1875). In 1890 he became editor of the Biologische Unter- Slichnnrien. RETZSCH, reeh, Moritz (1779-18.57). A German ]iainter and engraver. He was born in Dresden, December 9, 1779, and studied at the academy of his native city, where he became a professor in 1824, and died July 11, 1857. Al- though treating romantic subjects, he belongs to the followers of IMengs. His chief celebrity rests upon his illustrations in outline of the great German poets, Schiller. Goethe, etc., whom he interpreted with creat vigor and sympathy. His etchings of Goethe's Faust (26 'plates, 1884) are particularly well kiuiwn, not only in his own country, but also in France and Knf;lanil. . iong other important works are the outline illustra- tions of Seliiller's Lied von dir (llocke (4;5 plut«s, 18S4) ; his .S'/iii/.c.v/Jti/rc UaUrry (80 plates, 1860) ; and his outline drawings of IMirger's liallads (15 plates, 1872). His oil paintings, treating classical subjects, are of little interest, but he succeeded bettei' with portraits. REUCHLIN, roiK'K'n, J11. n, known also by the (Ireek form of his name. Cap.MO ( 1455- 1522). The first humanist of Germany and one of the earliest promoters of Hebrew studies in that country. He was born at Pforzheim, in Baden, February 22, 1455. He began his studies at his native place, continued them at Freiliurg, and in 1473 accom]>anied Prince Frederick of Baden to Paris, where he made the acqmiintance of Johann Wessel (q.v.) and began to study Greek. The next year he went to Basel, where he took his bachelor's degree in 1475 and his master's in 1477. He then revisited France, studied law at Orleans and Poitiers, and gave lectures in Greek and Latin. In 14S1 he estab- lished himself at Tiibingen as teacher of juris- prudence and literature. He entered the service of Elicrluird. first Duke of Wiirttemberg, accom- panied him to Italy in 1482, and was employed in a number of public services. He visited Italy again in 1490. In 1492 the Emperor maile him a count of the German Empire, and about the same time he began the study of Hebrew under a learned Jew who was Imperial physician. In 1490, after Eberhard's death, lie went to Heidel- berg, and made a third visit to Italy in the ser- vice of the Elector Palatine in 1498. At Rome he applied himself with renewed vigor to the study of Hebrew and Greek. He returned to Wiirttemberg in 1499, and in 1502 was made a member of the Swabian confederate tribunal, re- taining the office till 1513. In consequence of a quarrel between Ulrich, Duke of Wiirttemberg, and the Swabian League, he went to Ingolstadt in 1519 and taught Greek and llelirew at the university. When the plague broke out at Ingol- stadt two years later he" returned to Tiibingen, intending to devote himself exclusively to study, but soon fell sick, and died at Liebenzell, June 30, 1522. Reuehlin is justly regarded as the father of Greek and Hebrew studies in Ger- many. He had great ability as a teacher, and, although for most of his I'ife he held no pro- fessorial chair and was not always free to lec- ture openly, nevertheless he directed and en- couraged the study of both languages in his gen- eration. His devotion to Hebrew was the cause of the most interesting and important incident of his life. In 1510 one Johann PfefTerkorn, a baptized Jew. called upon princes and subjects to prosecute the religion of !iis fathers, and espe- cially urged the Emperor to burn or confiscate all Jewish books exeei)t the Bible. Reuehlin remonstrated, maintaining that only books di- rectly written against Christianity should be destroyed. This attitude drew upon him the enmity of the Dominicans, an<l particularly of the Inquisitor Jakob van Hoogstraten (q.v.). Reuchlin's opponents controlled the universities of Paris, Louvain, Erfurt, and Mainz: but many of the distinguished and independent think- ers of Germany were on the side of the scholar. Ulrich von Hutten and Franz von Sickingen in particular gave him support and pro-