Tabulae chronologicae
| Author | Candidus, Pantaleon |
|---|---|
| Full title | Tabulae chronologicae continentes seriem annorum mundi et brevem annotationem tamquam indicem praecipuarum personarum et rerum memorabilium, ab initio mundi usque ad praesentem annum MDXCVI Christi concinnatae. Praemissae sunt sententiae quorundam doctorum virorum, qui annos mundi usque ad Christum diversimode numerant. Addita sunt quaedam epigrammata historica eiusdem auctoris |
| Year | 1597 |
| Place | Strasbourg |
| Publisher/Printer | Rihel, Josias |
| Era | 16th century |
| Form/Genre | Tables and charts |
| Discipline/Content | Mathematics, Astronomy/Astrology/Cosmography, Other (see description) |
| Digital copies | |
| Original | Tabulae chronologicae (Strasbourg 1597) (MDZ, incomplete copy), Strasbourg 1602 (Google Books) |
| Digital sourcebook | 928888 |
| Description | Chronology was a branch of mathematica mixta (applied mathematics) whose main applications lay outside the natural sciences. Since antiquity, it had been an auxiliary science to history. In early modern times, when the past became of greater concern to the learned than ever before, increasing attention was paid to chronology as well, and numerous conflicting reconstructions of the chronological sequence of major historical events were developed. Keeping track with them as well as synchronising the many different strands of history became a challenge in its own right. Chronological tables – a form dating back to the second book of Eusebius' Chronicon (4th century AD) – promised a solution to such problems. For this reason, they enjoyed considerable popularity.
Protestant Germany was a hotspot of chronological research in the 16th century. The present Chronological Tables, compiled by a Lutheran pastor, were dedicated to the three young sons of his territorial lord John I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken. The letter of dedication extols the benefits of history and explains that chronology, together with geography, provides orientation in the past. The work itself is presented as a pure compilation, based in particular on the work of Melanchthon, Johann Funck, and David Chytraeus, three major chronographers of the preceding generation. The latter's Chronologia historiae Herodoti et Thucydidis, cui adiecta est series temporum mundi (1585) in fact serves as a point of reference throughout. Candidus' account is divided into three parts, the first and last of which consist almost entirely of tables, while the second features a number of tables followed by some running text. (This does not become clear from the somewhat confused announcement on the title page.) Part one presents a concise chronological overview of world history in general (fol. b r–c iii v). Part two provides a comparison between the systems of different Protestant chronographers for the timespan from the Creation to the birth of Christ, among them Chytraeus, Luther, Reinhold, Funck, Mercator and others. This is followed by notes on the peculiarities of the different reconstructions and (strangely) rounded off by a number of epigrams in praise of Candidus' work (fol. c iv r–e iv v). The last section (which is separately paginated, pp. 1–137) contains a detailed overview of world history. As an appendix to the chronographical account, Candidus publishes a series of epigrams on historical events (pp. 143–72). By virtue of this structure, the Chronological Tables manage to cater to satisfy a number of needs on comparatively small space: They provide a rough guide to world chronology, a world chronicle and an overview of the chronological research of the last decades. The latter is parochially restricted to Protestant Germany, though. Scaliger's De emendatione temporum, for instance, is not even mentioned. It is therefore understandable that the work enjoyed a certain success. A second edition, whose last section was updated with copious material for the years 1597–1602 (pp. 138–92), appeared in 1602.
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| Cited in | |
| How to cite this entry | Candidus, Pantaleon: Tabulae chronologicae, in: Noscemus Wiki, URL: http://wiki.uibk.ac.at/noscemus/Tabulae_chronologicae (last revision: 22.02.2022). |
