Allison P. Coudert's Books

The Impact of the Kabbalah in the Seventeenth Century

The Life and Thought of Francis Mercury Van Helmont (1614-1698)

By: Coudert

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The Impact of the Kabbalah in the Seventeenth Century

The Life and Thought of Francis Mercury Van Helmont (1614-1698)

By: Coudert

If he had lived among the Greeks, he would now be numbered among the stars." So wrote Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in his epitaph for Francis Mercury van Helmont. Leibniz was not the only contemporary to admire and respect van Helmont, but although famous in his own day, he has been virtually ignored by modern historians. Yet his views influenced Leibniz, contributed to the development of modern science, and fostered the kind of ecumenicalism that made the concept of toleration conceivable. The progressive nature of van Helmont's thought was based on his deep commitment to the esoteric doctrines of the Lurianic Kabbalah. With his friend Christian Knorr von Rosenroth, van Helmont edited the Kabbala Denudata (1677-1684), the largest collection of Lurianic Kabbalistic texts available to Christians up to that time. Because the subject matter of this work appears so difficult and arcane, it has never been appreciated as a significant text for understanding the emergence of modern thought. However, one can find in it the basis for the faith in science, the belief in progress, and the pluralism characteristic of later western thought. The Lurianic Kabbalah thus deserves a place it has never received in histories of western scientific and cultural developments. Although van Helmont's efforts contributed to the development of religious toleration, his experience as a prisoner of the Inquisition accused of "Judaising" reveals the problematic relations between Christians and Jews during the early-modern period. New Inquisitional documents relating to van Helmont's imprisonment will be discussed to illustrate the difficulties faced by anyone advocating philo-semitism and toleration at the time.

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Page Count

449

Publisher

BRILL

Published Date

ISBN 10

9004679146

ISBN 13

9789004679146

The Alphabet of Nature

by F.M. van Helmont

By: Allison P. Coudert,Taylor Corse

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The Alphabet of Nature

by F.M. van Helmont

By: Allison P. Coudert,Taylor Corse

F. M van Helmont’s Alphabet of Nature was one of many books published about language in the early modern period. The “language debate,” as it has come to be called, was a topic of compelling interest to major figures such as Reuchlin, Rabelais, Paracelsus, Agrippa, Postel, Boehme, Kircher, Hobbes, Descartes, Comenius, Spinoza, Locke, Boyle, Newton, and Leibniz. At issue were profound questions about whether language is natural or artificial, ordained by God or created by man. The answers given entailed a web of consequences that could lead to arrest, imprisonment, even execution. It is therefore not surprising that van Helmont wrote his book while imprisoned in the dungeons of the Roman Inquisition.

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Page Count

263

Publisher

BRILL

Published Date

ISBN 10

9047419987

ISBN 13

9789047419983

Religion, Magic, and Science in Early Modern Europe and America

By: Allison P. Coudert

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Religion, Magic, and Science in Early Modern Europe and America

By: Allison P. Coudert

This fascinating study looks at how the seemingly incompatible forces of science, magic, and religion came together in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries to form the foundations of modern culture. As Religion, Magic, and Science in Early Modern Europe and America makes clear, the early modern period was one of stark contrasts: witch burnings and the brilliant mathematical physics of Isaac Newton; John Locke's plea for tolerance and the palpable lack of it; the richness of intellectual and artistic life, and the poverty of material existence for all but a tiny percentage of the population. Yet, for all the poverty, insecurity, and superstition, the period produced a stunning galaxy of writers, artists, philosophers, and scientists. This book looks at the conditions that fomented the emergence of such outstanding talent, innovation, and invention in the period 1450 to 1800. It examines the interaction between religion, magic, and science during that time, the impossibility of clearly differentiating between the three, and the impact of these forces on the geniuses who laid the foundation for modern science and culture.

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Page Count

422

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published Date

ISBN 13

9798216138112

Religion, Magic, and Science in Early Modern Europe and America

By: Allison P. Coudert

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Religion, Magic, and Science in Early Modern Europe and America

By: Allison P. Coudert

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Page Count

322

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0275996743

ISBN 13

9780275996741

Book's by Allison P. Coudert

The Impact of the Kabbalah in the Seventeenth Century

The Impact of the Kabbalah in the Seventeenth Century

The Alphabet of Nature

The Alphabet of Nature

Religion, Magic, and Science in Early Modern Europe and America

Religion, Magic, and Science in Early Modern Europe and America

Religion, Magic, and Science in Early Modern Europe and America

Religion, Magic, and Science in Early Modern Europe and America

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