An ablative for the Greeks? A grammar dispute in Tübingen (1585/1586) and its implications

Raf Van Rooy
Center for the Historiography of Linguistics, KU Leuven | University of Oslo

Summary

In this article, I discuss a grammar dispute that took place between Philipp Nicodemus Frischlin and Martin Crusius in Tübingen in the winter of 1585/1586. I argue that their diverging views on the ablative case reflect a disagreement on two levels, in addition to their obvious personal rivalry: (1) the foundations of grammar, which Frischlin based on meaning rather than form, following J. C. Scaliger, and (2) contrasting attitudes toward the Greek people and heritage. Additionally, I discuss Frischlin’s views on the article and the optative mood, while also tracing a popular misquote from Scaliger’s work to Frischlin.

Publication history
Due a mistake during the production process, the author’s the second affiliation was not published in the first online version. This has been updated in the current version of the article.
Table of contents

In December 1585, while most inhabitants of Tübingen were preparing for Christmas celebrations, the German humanist Philipp Nicodemus Frischlin (1547–1590) was once again in the mood for a quarrel. After several years of exile, Frischlin found it difficult to get out of this old habit of his. This time, it was a scholarly topic which incited him, after a long series of hardly intellectual arguments with his colleagues at Tübingen University, where he had held the chair of poetics, and with local nobility, against whom he had directed a crushing speech, despite himself being a count palatine. Initially tolerated because of his scholarly and literary talents – he was even granted the title of poet laureate by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II – Frischlin made himself increasingly unwelcome in the Swabian city and was forced to flee in 1582 to escape the publication ban and house arrest under which he had been placed.

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