Background
Salmasius was born on April 15, 1588, at Semur-en-Auxois in Burgundy. His father, a counsellor of the parlement of Dijon, sent him, at the age of sixteen, to Paris, where he became intimate with Isaac Casaubon (1559–1614).
Salmasius was born on April 15, 1588, at Semur-en-Auxois in Burgundy. His father, a counsellor of the parlement of Dijon, sent him, at the age of sixteen, to Paris, where he became intimate with Isaac Casaubon (1559–1614).
In 1606 he went to the University of Heidelberg, where he studied under the jurist Denis Godefroy, and devoted himself to the classics, influenced by the librarian Jan Gruter.
In 1610 he became avocat of the Dijon parlement, but in 1629, as a Protestant, he was not allowed to succeed his father as conseiller. In the same year his monumental commentary on Solinus’ Polyhistor was published. His erudition, especially in philology—he knew Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, Persian, and Coptic, as well as Greek and Latin—led to invitations from several universities, and in 1631 he became professor at Leiden. There he remained, except for a year (1650–51) at the Swedish court.
During the English Civil Wars (1642–51) Salmasius was regarded as an ally by Presbyterians and Parliamentarians. At whose instigation he wrote Defensio Regia pro Carolo I (“Defense of the Reign of Charles I”), which was published anonymously in November 1649, is not clear, but it seems certain that Charles II paid for the printing. The work contains, in contradiction to Salmasius’ earlier views, a defense of absolute monarchy and a condemnation of the Parliamentary government in England. This publication provoked a scathing reply entitled Pro Populo Anglicano Defensio (1651; A Defense of the People of England, 1692) from John Milton, then secretary for foreign languages to the Commonwealth.
Philibert de La Mare, counsellor of the parlement of Dijon, inherited Salmasius' manuscripts from his son and wrote a very lengthy life of Salmasius. Papillon says that this biography left nothing to desire, but no printed edition has ever appeared. However, Papillon himself used de la Mare's work for his account of Salmasius in his Bibliothèque des auteurs de Bourgogne — by far the best extant. Papillon included an exhaustive list of Salmasius' works, both printed and in manuscript.
Antoine Clément prefixed a eulogy to his edition of Salmasius's Letters (Leiden, 1656), and C. B. Morisot inserted another into his own Letters (Dijon, 1656). See also Eugène Haag, La France protestante, (ix. 149-x73); and, for the Defensio regia, David Masson's Life of Milton.
(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)
(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)
In 1623 he married Anne Mercier, a Protestant lady of a distinguished family.
