Johann Heinrich Alsted 1588-1638

Johann Heinrich Alsted, professor of philosophy and theology at the Calvinist academy of Heborn, was a man of many parts. A deputy to the famous Synod of Dort and greatest encyclopaedist of his age, he was also a pioneer of Calvinist millenarianism and a devoted student of astrology, alchemy, Lullism, and the works of Giordano Bruno.

From the mainstream Reformed tradition, Alsted and his circle inherited the zeal for further reformation of church, state, and society; but with this they blended hermetic dreams of a general reformation and the restoration of primordial perfection to the fallen human nature through Lullist and alchemical panaceas. However paradoxical from a strictly Calvinist standpoint, this loose synthesis helped prepare the programme of Alsted's greatest student, Jan Amos Cominius, and the following generation of central European universal reformers.

Alsted's intellectual biography opens up unexpected perspectives on the reforming movements of the seventeenth century, and provides an invaluable introduction to many of the central ideas, individuals and institutions of this neglected era of central European intellectual history.

Readership: Scholars and students of history, especially those interested in the Reformation, intellectual history, 16th- and 17th-century philosophy and theology, and early modern central Europe

Howard Hotson, Lecturer in the Department of History, University of Aberdeen

"...a deep and convincing study of the late Renaissance and late Reformation world of learning, imposing in its detailed textual analyses and conceptual overview." - Vladimir Urbanek, International Review of Comenius Studies and Early Modern Intellectual History

"Hotson presents the reader with a clear picture of Alsted's complicated intellectual and religious background ... one cannot but admire Hotson's convincing analysis of Alsted's thought ... this valuable intellectual biography of one encyclopaedist enlightens and explains a whole world full of pansophic plans, eschatological enthusiasm and educational optimism within the framework of Calvinist endeavours towards a general reformation." - Dutch Review of Church History

"Excellent, erudite and lucid intellectual biography ... Hotson has provided a richly contextualised and nuanced study of the possibilities of belief which were available to Alsted." - Journal of Ecclesiastical History

"Hotson has written a concise intellectual biography, in many respects exemplary, of a scholarly figure who is difficult to pin down. He has given Alsted a detailed profile. Based on Hotson's scholarship, other researchers will be able to make better use of Alsted's treasure trove than has been possible so far." - Bulletin of the German Historical Institute

"The author combines the approaches and methods of political history, church history, the history of ideas, and the history of science, and he succeeds admirably." - Bulletin of the German Historical Institute

"There is much more to this monograph than traditional intellectual biography ... [This] monograph represents a staggering amount of research, meticulously documented and expertly presented ... Hotson has offered us nothing less than an imaginative and innovative attempt at reforming the history of ideas. Clearly, he is setting high standards for himself and others in the next generation of intellectual historians." - American Historical Review

"... this work is a major achievement that should and will permanently mark the landscape of late Renaissance-Reformation studies ... every serious scholar of early modern cultural history should read this book." - Sixteenth Century Journal

"With enormous erudition and the perserverance of a detective, Hotson dissects the various intellectual strands that make up the fabric of Alsted's oeuvre, identifying authors and tracing the often curious ways in which ideas found entrance into Alsted's work ... This brief review cannot possibly do justice to the subtlety and comprehensiveness of Hotson's study. Alsted was a writer of prodigious productivity and learning. So is his modern biographer." - Renaissance Quarterly