Christian Knorr von Rosenroth
Christian Knorr von Rosenroth was a notable 17th-century scholar and theologian, born in 1636 in Altraudten, Silesia, now part of Poland. He was raised in a Protestant household, influenced by his father's role as a minister, which instilled in him a deep commitment to biblical studies. After enduring the challenges of the Thirty Years' War, he pursued an extensive education, studying at various institutions including the University of Leipzig and the University of Leiden, where he engaged with law, history, theology, and languages.
Rosenroth gained recognition for his clear and direct writing style and was a member of the Teutschgesinnte Genossenschaft, a German literary society. He is most renowned for his work, "Kabbala denudata," published in 1677, which is significant for its translations of Jewish mystical texts and remains a substantial compilation of Kabbalistic writings in Latin. Throughout his life, he held several academic and administrative positions, including being appointed by Duke Christian August as a privy councilor and church commissioner. Rosenroth's contributions to the study of Kabbalah and his translations under the pseudonym Peganius have made him a key figure in the intersection of Jewish mysticism and Christian theology.
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Christian Knorr von Rosenroth
- Born: July 1, 1636
- Birthplace: Altraudten, Silesia (now in Poland)
- Died: May 4, 1689
- Place of death: Sulzbach, Bavaria (now in Germany)
Biography
Christian Knorr von Rosenroth was born in 1636 in Altraudten, Silesia (now in Poland), the son of Abraham Benedict Knorr von Rosenroth, a Protestant Silesian minister who influenced his son’s devotion to biblical studies. Though the Thirty Years’ War may have darkened his childhood, Rosenroth received a strong education, enrolling at Frauenstadt’s Latin school in 1648 at age twelve, and beginning his studies at the University of Frankfurt an der Oder just three years later. The teenager next studied at Stettin before entering the University of Leipzig in 1655, where the impressively disciplined student studied law, history, theology, and philosophy as well as several classical and modern languages. Rosenroth was still a university student in 1659 when he was inducted into the Teutschgesinnte Genossenschaft (German-Minded Fellowship), a Hamburg language society that called him der Schamhaftige (the Modest One). During this time, Rosenroth became known for his accessible and direct writing style.
The young academic completed his master of arts degree from the University of Leipzig in 1660, writing his dissertation on ancient numismatics, and three years later he enrolled in theology studies at the University of Leiden, although it is unclear if he received a degree from that institution. In July, 1668, Rosenroth married Anna Sophia Paumgartner, and they had their first child, daughter Anna Dorothea, the following year. Duke Christian August, with whom Rosenroth shared an interest in Jewish mystical texts, made the new father a privy councilor and church commissioner as well as a tenured provost that same year.
In 1677, Rosenroth published the first volume of the book for which he is most widely known: Kabbala denudata, translated in 1887 as Kabbala denudata: The Kabbalah Unveiled. The book features the first translations of many mystical Jewish texts and is the largest compilation of cabalistic writings in Latin. The accomplished scholar also sometimes translated texts under the pseudonym Peganius.