Maximilianus Hell (1720-1792) - Munin

international arena. A new important node in the international web of astronomy had been
established.
Before we move on to the third chapter in his career, it might be worthwhile to reflect on the
specific locations of Hell’s life so far. When reading some of the literature, one gets the
impression that this was almost ‘meant to be’. At least authors who are themselves Jesuits
tend to paint such a picture of the time. If one reads two frequently quoted articles on Jesuit
astronomy published by the astronomer Johann Schreiber SJ in 1903, it is as though Hell was
‘ushered in’ on top of a wave of Jesuit mathematicians specialising in astronomy. 111 Anton
Pinsker SJ in a paper from 1971 explains that around the mid-eighteenth century, the Austrian
Province of the Society of Jesus had almost two thousand members and ran 34 gymnasiums as
well as fifteen “höhere Schulen” (collegia). 112 The natural sciences had traditionally not been
emphasised in these institutions, Pinsker admits, but in the decades around 1750 the Jesuits of
the Austrian Province were rapidly catching up with developments elsewhere. 113 Johann
Steinmayr SJ (1890-1944) in a series of papers from the 1930s draws a similar story of
mathematical talent blooming in Jesuit circles in Vienna and elsewhere in the Austrian
province during Hell’s lifetime. 114 In a more recent contribution, Agustín Udías SJ portrays
Jesuit astronomy throughout the early modern period as innovative and points especially to
the establishment of observatories as a key element in the emergence of modern science. The
story of the Viennese observatory director Maximilianus Hell receives considerable attention
in his account. 115 The question remains, however: how unique was the career of Hell – were
there alternative career paths available to other talented astronomers of his generation? And
how important was the Jesuit order as a vehicle for the growth in institutionalised astronomy
in the Habsburg lands in the eighteenth century?
111
The two pieces were originally published in German in Natur und Offenbarung Vol. 49, 1903. I have only
had access to the English translations by William F. Rigge SJ (Schreiber 1904a and 1904b).
112
Pinsker 1971, p. 101. As for priests, there were 751 in the Austrian Province of the Society in 1750
(according to Shore 2007, p. 15 footnote 62).
113
Pinsker 1971, esp. pp. 100-102.
114
See the papers edited by Isolde Müller and Thomas Posch: Steinmayr 2010a-f and 2011.
115
Udías 2003, pp. 15-35, espec. pp. 27-29 (his account is, however, regrettably replete with errors as far as
central Europe is concerned).
- 81 -