Maximilianus Hell (1720-1792) - Munin

SUMMARY
In the years 1761 and 1769, the planet Venus passed in front of the Sun as seen from Earth. In
that century of Enlightenment, these events – known as transits of Venus – attracted massive
interest from the entire world of learning. The thesis Maximilianus Hell (1720-1792) and the
Eighteenth-Century Transits of Venus. A Study of Jesuit Science in Nordic and Central-
European Contexts is a source-based, historical case study that aims to explore and
contextualise Venus transit activities in the Nordic countries and Central Europe. It traces the
scientific career of an individual, Maximilianus Hell, and analyses en route the conditions for
astronomical research in areas presently known as Slovakia, Austria, Romania, Hungary,
Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. It presents numerous primary sources and
also has a separate part with editions of Latin texts.
Part I consists of an Introduction and a Biographical Essay. The Introduction (Chapter I.1)
outlines the aims and scope, analytical approach and present state of knowledge in the fields
covered by the thesis. First, it is argued that although a fair amount of scholarly work has been
devoted to scientific endeavours occasioned by transits of Venus in the past, the predominant
historiography has so far been too narrowly focused on the roles of British and French agents.
An overarching aim of the thesis is therefore to adjust the prevailing impression of the Venus
transit projects of the eighteenth century, by highlighting activity in Nordic and Central parts
of Europe. Second, the introduction underscores that sources in the Latin language, not just
French and English, ought to be taken into account when studies of international relations in
early-modern science are undertaken. Latin sources can be important to our understanding of
cutting-edge science in eighteenth-century Europe. Third, the thesis aims to contribute to the
growing field of historical studies of Jesuit science by focusing on a hitherto underexplored
theme: the degree of integration of Jesuits in the international Venus transit enterprise.
The Biographical Essay (Chapter I.2) recounts the career of Maximilianus Hell through the
following stages: childhood in the Kingdom of Hungary and education and teaching at various
Jesuit institutions in Central Europe (1720-1755); Imperial and Royal Astronomer of Maria
Theresa (appointed 1755); the expedition to observe the 1769 transit of Venus from Vardø in
Norway and its immediate aftermath (1768-1773); and his situation as an ex-Jesuit in the
decades following the suppression of the Jesuit order (1773-1792). Hell’s scientific career was
neatly bound up with both Habsburg politics and Jesuit strategies of science. Natural sciences
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