Matthias Bernegger (Latin : Bernegerus, also Matthew; [1] born 8 February 1582 in Hallstatt, Salzkammergut, died 5 February 1640 in Strasbourg) was a German philologist, astronomer, university professor and writer of Latin works.
Bernegger's Protestant family was, like other so called exulanten, expelled from Habsburg monarchy during the Counter-Reformation. They settled in Regensburg, where Bernegger attended the Gymnasium. In 1599, the 17-year-old began studies in Strasbourg, mainly in the fields of philology and natural sciences. He was fascinated by astronomy and was in contact with Johannes Kepler and Wilhelm Schickard.
Already in 1612, [2] Bernegger had translated a 1606 Italian-language work of Galileo Galilei's into Latin, as Tractatus de proportionum instrumento. [3]
In 1632, via their mutual friend Élie Diodati, Galilei asked Bernegger to translate his Italian-language Dialogo (Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems) into Latin. In order to protect Galilei's involvement, it was stated [2] in the preface that one of Peter Crüger's pupils, Benjamin Engelcke, had traveled in 1632 to Italy, had met Galilei, and had brought Galilei's book to Bernegger to persuade [1] him to translate, without Galilei's permission.
Bernegger was known for his editions of classic writers like Tacitus and for his correspondence with scholars. Among his students were the Silesian Daniel Czepko von Reigersfeld (1605–1660), Johannes Freinsheim, Johann Michael Moscherosch, Martin Opitz and the Prussian Robert Roberthin (1600–1648).
Since 1607, Bernegger taught, like his colleague Caspar Brülow (1585–1627), at the Protestant Gymnasium, before he was called in 1616 to the Straßburg Academy which was raised in 1621 to a university.
Bernegger was also interested in politics, and during the Thirty Years' War tried to negotiate with the French. As a pacifist, he opposed Caspar Schoppe who called for a holy war against Protestants.
Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws of planetary motion, and his books Astronomia nova, Harmonice Mundi, and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae, influencing among others Isaac Newton, providing one of the foundations for his theory of universal gravitation. The variety and impact of his work made Kepler one of the founders and fathers of modern astronomy, the scientific method, natural and modern science. He has been described as the "father of science fiction" for his novel Somnium.
Georg Joachim de Porris, also known as Rheticus, was a mathematician, astronomer, cartographer, navigational-instrument maker, medical practitioner, and teacher. He is perhaps best known for his trigonometric tables and as Nicolaus Copernicus's sole pupil. He facilitated the publication of his master's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium.
Girolamo Fabrici d'Acquapendente, also known as Girolamo Fabrizio or Hieronymus Fabricius, was a pioneering anatomist and surgeon known in medical science as "The Father of Embryology."
The Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is a 1632 Italian-language book by Galileo Galilei comparing the Copernican system with the traditional Ptolemaic system. It was translated into Latin as Systema cosmicum in 1635 by Matthias Bernegger. The book was dedicated to Galileo's patron, Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who received the first printed copy on February 22, 1632.
Christopher Clavius, was a Jesuit German mathematician, head of mathematicians at the Collegio Romano, and astronomer who was a member of the Vatican commission that accepted the proposed calendar invented by Aloysius Lilius, that is known as the Gregorian calendar. Clavius would later write defences and an explanation of the reformed calendar, including an emphatic acknowledgement of Lilius' work. In his last years he was probably the most respected astronomer in Europe and his textbooks were used for astronomical education for over fifty years in and even out of Europe.
Christoph Scheiner SJ was a Jesuit priest, physicist and astronomer in Ingolstadt.
Heinrich Khunrath, or Dr. Henricus Khunrath as he was also called, was a German physician, hermetic philosopher, and alchemist. Frances Yates considered him to be a link between the philosophy of John Dee and Rosicrucianism. His name, in the spelling "Henricus Künraht" was used as a pseudonym for the 1670 publisher of the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus of Baruch Spinoza.
Giovanni Antonio Magini was an Italian astronomer, astrologer, cartographer, and mathematician.
The Galileo affair began around 1610 and culminated with the trial and condemnation of Galileo Galilei by the Roman Catholic Inquisition in 1633. Galileo was prosecuted for holding as true the doctrine of heliocentrism, the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the centre of the universe.
Martin (Maarten) van den Hove (Latinized as Martinus Hortensius (Ortensius)) (1605 – 7 August 1639) was a Dutch astronomer and mathematician. His adopted Latin name is a translation of the Dutch hof ("garden"), in Latin horta.
Nicolaus Reimers Baer, also Reimarus Ursus, Nicolaus Reimers Bär or Nicolaus Reymers Baer, was an astronomer and imperial mathematician to Emperor Rudolf II. Due to his family's background, he was also known as Bär, Latinized to Ursus ("bear").
Conrad Dasypodius was a Swiss astronomer, mathematician, and writer. He was a professor of mathematics in Strasbourg, Alsace. He was born in Frauenfeld, Thurgau, Switzerland. His first name was also rendered as Konrad or Conradus or Cunradus, and his last name has been alternatively stated as Rauchfuss, Rauchfuß, and Hasenfratz. He was the son of Petrus Dasypodius, a humanist and lexicographer.
Maria Maddalena of Austria was Grand Duchess of Tuscany by her marriage to Cosimo II in 1609 until his death in 1621. With him, she had eight children, including a duchess of Parma, a grand duke of Tuscany, and an archduchess of Further Austria. Born in Graz, Maria Magdalena was the youngest daughter of Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria, and his wife Maria Anna of Bavaria. During the minority of her son, Grand Duke Ferdinando, she and her mother-in-law acted as regents from 1621 to 1628. She died on 1 November 1631 in Passau.
Christian Wurstisen was a mathematician, theologian, historian from Basel. His name is also given as Wursteisen, Wurzticius, Ursticius, Urstisius, or Urstis.
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei, commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei, was a Florentine astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. He was born in the city of Pisa, then part of the Duchy of Florence. Galileo has been called the father of observational astronomy, modern-era classical physics, the scientific method, and modern science.
Landgrave Philip III of Hesse-Butzbach was Landgrave of Hesse-Butzbach from 1609 to 1643.
Robert Roberthin was a German Baroque poet. He wrote under his own name, as well as the anagram Berrintho.
Caspar Brülow (1585-1627) was a Pomeranian scholar and dramatist who wrote in Latin and German. He is remembered for his Latin language dramas on Biblical and Classical subjects which were performed by his students.
Pietro Paolo Bombino was an Italian Jesuit, orator, theologian and historian. Bombino was the first biographer of Edmund Campion.
Antonio Querenghi or Quarenghi was an Italian lawyer, theologian and poet. A native of Padua, he belonged to the same intellectual circle as Galileo. Most of his career was spent in Rome, where he served several cardinals and popes. He composed poetry in both Neo-Latin and the Italian vernacular.