Place de l'Université 1, 1348 Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Clusius was trained as a lawyer and in 1548 received his licence in law from the University of Louvain (now Université Catholique de Louvain).
Gallery of Charles de l'Écluse
Biegenstraße 10, 35037 Marburg, Germany
Clusius' father gave him some money to move to the University of Marburg to further his legal studies, but after eight months when his mentor moved away from Marburg he switched to theology, initially at Marburg and then on the suggestion of one of his professors at Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, where he also began a study of philosophy. Even at Marburg he had also developed an interest in plants that he continued in Wittenberg.
Clusius' father gave him some money to move to the University of Marburg to further his legal studies, but after eight months when his mentor moved away from Marburg he switched to theology, initially at Marburg and then on the suggestion of one of his professors at Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, where he also began a study of philosophy. Even at Marburg he had also developed an interest in plants that he continued in Wittenberg.
Gallery of Charles de l'Écluse
34090 Montpellier, France
Aware of the emerging study of botany, Clusius decided to move to France to study medicine at the University of Montpellier (1551-1554), under professor Guillaume Rondelet, though he never practiced medicine, or styled himself as a physician.
Clusius' father gave him some money to move to the University of Marburg to further his legal studies, but after eight months when his mentor moved away from Marburg he switched to theology, initially at Marburg and then on the suggestion of one of his professors at Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, where he also began a study of philosophy. Even at Marburg he had also developed an interest in plants that he continued in Wittenberg.
Clusius' father gave him some money to move to the University of Marburg to further his legal studies, but after eight months when his mentor moved away from Marburg he switched to theology, initially at Marburg and then on the suggestion of one of his professors at Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, where he also began a study of philosophy. Even at Marburg he had also developed an interest in plants that he continued in Wittenberg.
Aware of the emerging study of botany, Clusius decided to move to France to study medicine at the University of Montpellier (1551-1554), under professor Guillaume Rondelet, though he never practiced medicine, or styled himself as a physician.
Charles de l'Écluse was a French doctor and pioneering botanist. He was best known by the Latin version of his name, Carolus Clusius.
Background
Clusius was born on February 19, 1526, in Arras, France, the son of Michel de l’Escluse, lord of Watènes and councillor at the provincial court of Artois, and of Guillièmine Quineault. The elder son in a rich and respectable family, he had a happy childhood and received a substantial education.
Education
Clusius was trained as a lawyer and in 1548 received his license in law from the University of Louvain (now Université Catholique de Louvain). His father then gave him some money to move to the University of Marburg to further his legal studies, but after eight months when his mentor moved away from Marburg he switched to theology, initially at Marburg and then on the suggestion of one of his professors at Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, where he also began a study of philosophy. Even at Marburg, he had also developed an interest in plants that he continued in Wittenberg. Aware of the emerging study of botany, he decided to move to France to study medicine at the University of Montpellier (1551-1554), under professor Guillaume Rondelet, though he never practiced medicine, or styled himself as a physician.
Clusius' interest in botany was not awakened until 1551, when he went to Provence and began gathering plants for the garden of his teacher, Guillaume Rondelet a professor at the University of Montpellier. Clusius' excellent knowledge of Latin allowed him to write and to translate several works in natural science; he did not merely translate the works of his contemporaries but often expanded and even corrected them.
The first book on which Clusius collaborated, Rondelet’s De piscibus marinis libri XVIII, which he wrote up entirely from the great ichthyologist’s notes, appeared in 1554. Since his translations contain considerable original work, it is worth citing the most important of them: A Latin translation of the accounts of Pierre Belon’s voyage to the Orient and the Middle East appeared in 1589; a complete edition of the three translations concerning the medicinal plants of the Indies appeared in 1593.
In addition, Clusius composed Aliquot notae in garciae aromatum historiam (1582) from the notes on the western coasts of America furnished by Francis Drake upon the return of his famous expedition to the Pacific.
Long periods spent in Province, Spain, and Austria-Hungary enabled him to make numerous botanical observations, on the basis of which he wrote accounts of the floras of these regions that are still valuable. Clusius' first entirely original work, Rariorum aliquot stirpium per Hispanias observatarum historia (1576), was prepared from notes collected during his travels in Spain in 1564-1565. It contains admirable engravings executed under the author’s supervision, either from sketches or from specimens he had collected. These plates, paid for by the publisher Plantin, were also used to illustrate the works of Dodoens and Lobel.
Clusius' flora of Hungary and Austria was published in 1583 and is still consulted for its descriptions of Alpine plants. Rariorum plantarum historia (1601) records approximately 100 new species; Exoticorum libri decem (1605) is an important work on exotic flora and includes everything that Clusius published on the subject. These two works contain all of his original contributions in botany and natural history and are still often consulted. They are sometimes found bound as a single work.
Honoring the promise that had been made to Clusius, Plantin’s sons-in-law and successors published his works posthumously, in 1611, under the title Curaeposteriores. There is also the 1644 folio volume of the works of Dodoens and Clusius, several copies of which contain colored plates.
The last sixteen years of Clusius' life brought him great satisfaction. Appointed in 1593 by the trustees of the University of Leiden to succeed Dodoens, he held the chair of botany until his death in 1609. It may justly be said that Leiden had become the botanical center for the whole of Europe. Clusius' communications to his many correspondents regarding exchanges of plants and documents allow us to reconstruct the state of botany in that period, especially in the Low Countries.
Firm in his philosophical and religious convictions, Clusius suffered along with his family the effects of anti-Protestant persecutions.
Personality
Amiable and charming, Clusius possessed a lively and penetrating intelligence and was a man of few words. He may have owned his serious nature and sad disposition to his delicate health. Although he lived in the company of the wealthy and powerful, L’Écluse remained unaffected and without prejudice.
Interests
Clusius' interests were many: objects d’art, antiquities, the history of customs and of peoples.