Girolamo Zanchi, De religione Christiana fides – Confession of Christian Religion (2 vols.)

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The Astrolabe

An ancient instrument for solving problems of location and distance, as well as time

Astrolábon órganon is the word used in Ptolemaeus Syntaxis 5.1 to describe a form of armillary sphere consisting of both fixed and rotating rings for determining the ecliptic co-ordinates of stars. Also called astrolabe were two-dimensional representations of the celestial sphere: over fixed disks with a representation of the horizon of the earth (in each case for a specific geographic latitude) and its parallels up to the zenith lies a rotating representation of the heavens (called ‘spider’ or ‘net’) with zodiac and indicators for some of the brightest stars. On the back is an indicator (‘alidade’) with visor plates for calculating the height of the stars. The astrolabe allows its user to determine the hours of day and night, the positions of stars, and the height and depth of objects on earth (mountains, buildings, wells). The oldest extant descriptions of the flat, planispheric astrolabe come from Iohannes Philoponus, 6th century AD, and (in Syrian) from Severus Sebokht, c. 660 AD. Indirect references may date back as early as Theon (4th cent.). Between the 8th and the 9th centuries the Arabs appropriated the knowledge of the astrolabe. At the end of the 10th century and again in the 12th century, they passed it on to Western Europe, where astrolabes were constructed up until the 17th cent. Today, one Byzantine astrolabe (from 1062) is extant, as are some 750 Arabic-Islamic astrolabes and approximately the same number of European astrolabes.

This information is abstracted from Brill's New Pauly, the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. For more information see www.brillsnewpauly.com or visit our website catalog: www.brill.nl/bnp
Brill’s New Pauly and the complete original Der Neue Pauly, the recognized standard reference works for students and scholars of the ancient world are also available online. This dual-language edition offers basic and advanced search facilities and is fully browsable. New English translations are added as they become available. See www.paulyonline.brill.nl for more information and a demo version.

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Publications & Services> News> Forthcoming Titles> Girolamo Zanchi, De religione Christiana fides – Confession of Christian Religion (2 vols.)

Girolamo Zanchi, De religione Christiana fides – Confession of Christian Religion (2 vols.)

Edited by Luca Baschera and Christian Moser

Books

Available
Publication year: 2007


Series:	Studies in the History of Christian Traditions, 135
ISBN-13 (i)The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) has been changed from 10 to 13 digits on 1 January 2007:	978 90 04 16118 4
ISBN-10:	90 04 16118 X

Cover:	Hardback
Number of pages:	Vol I: x, 524 pp.; Vol. II: 320 pp.

List price:	€ 149.00 / US$ 221.00

Table of contents

PART ONE. INTRODUCTION
1. Girolamo Zanchi: The itinerary of an Italian Reformer
2. The genesis of De religione christiana fides
3. Structure and content
4. Descriptions of editions
5. Editorial principles

PART TWO. GIROLAMO ZANCHI: DE RELIGIONE CHRISTIANA FIDES – CONFESSION OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION
- Epistola ad Ulyssem Martinengum – Letter to Ulysses Martinengus
- Ad lectorem
- De religione christiana fides: main text – Confession of Christian religion: main text
- Observationes – Observations
- Appendix ad caput XI. – Upon the eleventh chapter of Christ the redeemer
- Theses – Points

Bibliography
1. Sources
2. Encyclopedias, Bibliographies, Series, Collected Works
3. Literature

Indices
1. Table of Contents
2. Index of biblical references
3. Index of authors and works
4. Index of names and places

Readership

The work is aimed at readers with an interest in Reformed theology, post-Reformation dogmatics and polemic, as well as church history and intellectual history more generally.

About the author(s)

Luca Baschera, lic. phil. (2002), is a member of staff of the Institut für Schweizerische Reformationsgeschichte at Zurich University. He works primarily on the relationship between Renaissance philosophy and Protestant theology.
Christian Moser, lic. phil. (2003), is an editor of Heinrich Bullinger’s correspondence and a member of staff of the Institut für Schweizerische Reformationsgeschichte at Zurich University. His research is focused on the history of historiography and on early modern exegesis.

Forced to leave Italy because of his Protestant views, Girolamo Zanchi (1516-1590) became a respected Reformed theologian abroad and helped to shape the emerging ‘Reformed Orthodoxy’. Zanchi’s work on a common confession of faith for the Reformed churches placed him at the heart of the international Reformed community. Although that project was never brought to fruition, the result of Zanchi’s efforts was De religione christiana fides, a critical edition of which is published here, alongside a 16th-century English translation of the work. De religione christiana fides serves as a compendium of Zanchi’s mature theology and reflects the development of Reformed dogmatics and polemic more generally in the late 16th century. It therefore provides an interesting picture of the theology of a whole era.