historical and political thought in the seventeenth - RePub - Erasmus ...

Chapter 7. The mistress of life
tance. 53 The Theatrum’s methodological principle is neatly summarised in the
first chapter: ‘the words themselves are accustomed to leading us to the real
knowledge of things.’ 54 True to his humanist education, then, Boxhorn’s intention
is to find out the real meaning of the words in order to get to ‘the real
knowledge of things’. He does so by applying the critical philological techniques
available to him, although, it must be said, not so accurate and meticulously
as his tutors did, the esteemed scholars and antiquarians Petrus Scriverius
and Johannes Isacius Pontanus. 55
In short, Boxhorn’s approach in the Theatrum comes down to this: first, he
discusses the different opinions of ancient and modern scholars on the meaning
of certain words, the origins of peoples or customs, or the dates of certain
documents. Then he sets forth his own opinion, scrutinising the evidence by
cross examing the available documents with other sources and authors that
are closest in time, connecting disputed dates with chronological undisputed
facts (e.g. the reign of some emperor or pope), and tracing words to their most
likely etymological origin by comparing words of different European languages,
old and new, and tracing the development of their meaning in time.
This is accompanied by a hostile attitude towards those scholars that trace
the names of towns or areas to such legendary figures as Bato, the supposed
founder of Batavia. 56
53 Thus, first comes a description of Dordrecht, then Haarlem, Delft, Leiden, Amsterdam, Gouda,
Rotterdam, etc. There are some small differences between the Latin version of 1632 and the Dutch version
of 1634. First, many poems that are attached to the descriptions of the towns in the Latin version
of 1632 do not reappair in the Dutch version of 1634. Second, the Dutch version of 1634 contains more
copies of documents, especially of town-privileges. Third, in the Dutch version of 1634 the descriptions
of the towns Willemstad, Geertvliet, and Heenvliet have been left out.
54 Boxhorn, Theatrum, p. 3 ‘Solent enim, uti docent Sapientes, ipsa nomina nos deducere in solidam
cognitionem rerum.’ In his oration on the value of history, Vossius made the same connection. Vossius,
De historiae vtilitate oratio, p. 2. ‘Principiò penitùs evellendus error, qui multorum animos insedit; perire,
& potiori doctrinae rerum decedere, quicquid temporis, verbis impenditur. Atqui, ut sapientissimè à
magno illo Stagirita olim dictum, vocabula sunt notae eorum, quae animo concepimus; conceptus, signa
rerum: ut verba qui aspernantur ad rerum scientiam sibi iter praecludant. Praeterea non cogitant homines,
cum literaturae partes sint duae, quarum in verbis una consistit, altera in rebus; non seorsim illam
verborum parari, sed conjungi utramque.’ The Stagirite is, of course, Aristotle, who discussed this relation
between words and the meaning of things in his Organon.
55 In the preface to the Reygersberch’s chronicle Boxhorn admitted that much and apologised for
the mistakes he had made in the Theatrum. Boxhorn, “Preface to the reader”, i. Arnoldus Buchelius,
the antiquarian from Utrecht, had several comments on the Theatrum. See Langereis, Geschiedenis als
ambacht, pp. 186-87.
56 Boxhorn, Theatrum, p. 95. ‘De Dorotheo igitur illo viro, ut ipse [i.e. Joannes Gerbrandus –JN]
vocat, nominatissimo, nihil certi habent nostri annales. Metuo ne fit a fabula & illorum haeresi, qui
ubi Batonem Bataviae, Zialandum Zelandiae, Metellum Middelburgi, Vlissem, Vlissingae, Syringum
Siriczeae, Rotterum Rotterodami conditores, ipsi sibi, pessimo exemplo pepere, cornicum oculos confixisse
se putant. Quae pestis superioris saeculi litteratos, si Dis placet, ita invasit, ut ex eorum cerebro,
tamquam equo Trojano, innumeri prodierint ejuscemodi nunquam nati Heroes. Hoc pestilens sydus
& politissimum illum Hadrianum Iunium quoque adflavit: qui Dordrechtum non Dorothe, sed Dureti
cujusdam, gentilitia nota insignis olim viri, forum fuisse conjicit, cujus Historiis nostris, sed obscuram
& exilem fieri mentionem tradit.’
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