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{{Short description|French linguist, astronomer, diplomat, and professor (1510–1581)}}
[[File:Guillaume Postel - Thevet.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Postel as depicted in ''Les vrais pourtraits et vies des hommes illustres grecz, latins et payens'' (1584) by [[André Thevet]]]]

'''Guillaume Postel''' (25 March 1510 – 6 September 1581) was a [[French people|French]] [[linguist]], [[astronomer]], [[Christian Kabbalah|Christian Kabbalist]], [[diplomat]], [[polyglot]], [[professor]], [[Religious universalism|religious universalist]], and [[writer]].

Born in the village of [[Barenton]] in [[Normandy]], Postel made his way to [[Paris]] to further his education. While studying at the [[Collège Sainte-Barbe]], he became acquainted with [[Ignatius of Loyola]] and many of the men who would become the founders of the [[Society of Jesus]], retaining a lifelong affiliation with them. He entered [[Rome]] in the novitiate of the Jesuits in March 1544, but left on December 9, 1545 before making religious vows.

==Diplomacy and scholarship==
Postel was adept at [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], and [[Syriac language|Syriac]] and other [[Semitic languages]], as well as the Classical languages of [[Ancient Greek]] and [[Latin]], and soon came to the attention of the [[Kingdom of France (1498-1791)|French court]].

===Travel to the Ottoman Empire===
[[File:Note of Postel on an Arabic astronomical manuscript in 1436 in Constantinople.jpg|thumb|left|Note of Guillaume Postel on the Arabic astronomical manuscript of [[al-Kharaqī]], ''Muntahā al-idrāk fī taqāsīm al-aflāk'' ("The Ultimate Grasp of the Divisions of Spheres"), 1536, [[Constantinople]]]]

In 1536, when [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] sought a [[Franco-Ottoman alliance]] with the [[Ottoman Turks]], he sent Postel as the official interpreter of the French embassy of [[Jean de La Forêt]] to the [[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman sultan]] [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] in [[Constantinople]]. Postel was also apparently assigned to gather interesting Eastern manuscripts for the royal library, today housed in the collection of oriental manuscripts at the [[Bibliothèque Nationale]] in Paris.

===Works===
[[File:Samaritan letters and Jerusalem coin, Guillaume Postel 1538, Linguarum duodecim characteribus differentium alphabetum, introductio.png|thumb|Page from ''Linguarum Duodecim Characteribus Differentium Alphabetum Introductio'' including what is thought to be the first Western representation of a Hasmonean coin<ref name=Madden>[[Frederic Madden]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=T2JRAAAAcAAJ&pg=PR16 History of Jewish Coinage and of Money in the Old and New Testament], page ii</ref>]]
[[File:De La Republique des Turcs Guillaume Postel Poitiers 1560.jpg|thumb|''De la République des Turcs'', Guillaume Postel, [[Poitiers]], 1560]]
In ''Linguarum Duodecim Characteribus Differentium Alphabetum Introductio'' ("An Introduction to the Alphabetic Characters of Twelve Different Languages"), published in 1538, Postel became the first scholar to recognize the inscriptions on [[Judea]]n coins from the period of the [[First Jewish–Roman War]] as Hebrew written in the ancient "[[Samaritan script|Samaritan]]" characters.<ref name=Madden/>

In 1543, Postel published a criticism of Protestantism, and highlighted parallels between [[Islam and Protestantism]] in ''Alcorani seu legis Mahometi et Evangelistarum concordiae liber'' ("The book of concord between the Coran and the Evangelicals").<ref>''Orientalism in early modern France'', by Ina Baghdianitz McCabe, {{ISBN|978-1-84520-374-0}}, p.25</ref>

In 1544, in ''De orbis terrae concordia'' ("Concerning the Harmony of the Earth"), Postel advocated a [[Religious universalism|universalist]] [[world religion]]. The thesis of the book was that all [[Jews]], [[Muslims]], and [[Paganism|Pagans]] could be [[Conversion to Christianity|converted]] to [[Christianity]] once all of the religions of the world were shown to have common foundations and that the Christian religion best represented these foundations. He believed these foundations to be the love of God, the praising of God, the love of mankind, and the helping of mankind.

In his ''De la République des Turcs'' ("Of the Turkish Republic"), Postel makes a rather positive description of the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman society]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=TWk4C0rV0fgC&pg=PA21 ''Veiled encounters: representing the Orient in 17th-century French travel'' by Michael Harrigan p.21]</ref> His 1553 ''Des merveilles du monde et principalemẽt des admirables choses des Indes & du nouveau monde'' is one of the earliest European descriptions of [[religion in Japan]]. He interprets Japanese religion in terms of his universalist views on religion, claiming that the indigenous Japanese religion was a form of Christianity and that one could still find evidence of their worship of [[Crucifix|crucifixes]].<ref name="Josephson">{{cite book|last=Josephson |first=Jason |title=The Invention of Religion in Japan |publisher=University of Chicago Press|page=59-60 |year=2012 |url=https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo13657764.html}}</ref> Such claims about Japanese religion were common in Europe at the time; Postel's writings may have influenced [[Francis Xavier]]'s expectations of Japan as he traveled there.<ref name="Josephson"/>

Postel was also a relentless advocate of the unification of all [[Christian denomination|Christian churches]], a common concern during the period of the [[Protestant Reformation]], and remarkably tolerant of other faiths during a time when such tolerance was unusual. This tendency led him to work with the Jesuits in Rome and then [[Republic of Venice|Venice]], but the incompatibility of their doctrine with his beliefs prevented his full membership in their order. Riccioli provides an alternative account in his biography of Postel in ''Almagestum Novum'' - that Postel was ejected by St. Ignatius from the Jesuits after taking his vows.

===Cartographer===
[[File:Guillaume Postel CHASDIA seu Australis terra.jpg|thumb|Guillaume Postel: "Chasdia or Terra Australis, which the common sailors call Tierra del Fuego and others say is the Land of the Parrots"<ref name=CeltsGauls />]]
Postel took an interest in geography in his course of lectures at the Collège Royal, now known as [[Collège de France]], in 1537. He is believed to have spent the years from 1548 to 1551 traveling to the [[Holy Land]] and [[Ottoman Syria]], to collect manuscripts. After this trip, he earned the appointment of Professor of Mathematics and Oriental Languages at the Collège Royal. In 1557, he published a short compendium under the name, ''De Universitate Liber'', perhaps inspired by that of [[Henricus Glareanus]] (1527). This geographer had drawn two polar projections which remained in manuscript. Postel expanded upon ''De Universitate Liber'', which was published as the ''Cosmographicae Disciplinae Compendium'' by [[Johannes Oporinus]] in [[Basel]], in 1561.

In ''Cosmographicae'', Postel clearly set out his ideas on the continents of Asia (''Sem''), Africa (''Cham'' or ''Chamesia''), Europe (''Iapetia''), the Americas (''Atlantides''), and Australia (''Chasdia''). He denoted the Americas as ''boreal'' and ''austral'', and distinctly separated them from Australia (''Terre Australle'' or ''Chasdia'') by the [[Strait of Magellan]] (''Fretum Martini Bohemi''). ''Chasdia'' was a term created by Postel.

====World map and Chasdia====
''Cosmographicae'' has an index of 600 names, which Postel included in his 1578 world map, ''Polo aptata Nova Charta Universi''. Australia is called ''Chasdia'' in three places: under the Americas (''CHASDIAE residuum Atlantidis meridiana pars''); under the Moluccas (''CHASDIAE pars'') where it is joined to an unnamed New Guinea with its Rio Saint Augustin; and under Africa (''CHASDIAE pars adhuc incognita'').

To the south of South America, he included the following [[map#legend|legend]]:
<blockquote>''Ce quart de globe, ou demy Hémisphere contient dedans sa longitude clxxx degrès [180º], partie Australle de l'Atlantide dicte Peru ou America par Americ Vespuce Florentin son inventeur, et davantage une partie de la Chasdia ou terre Australle vers les Isles Mologa ou Moluques''. (This quarter of the globe, or half hemisphere, contains within its 180 degrees of longitude the southern part of the Atlantide called Peru or America by [[Republic of Florence|Florentine]] [[Amerigo Vespucci]] its discoverer, and as well a part of Chasdia or Terra Australis toward the Mologa or Moluccas Islands.)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Postel |first1=Guillaume |title=''Polo aptata Nova Charta Universi'' |date=1578 |publisher= |location=Service historique de la Marine, fonds du service hydrographique, Paris, France |language=fr |chapter=Recueil no.1, carte no.10}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Postel |first1=Guillaume |title=''Polo aptata Nova Charta Universi'' |date=1578 |publisher= |location=Ministério de Relaçiões Exteriores, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |pages=193–3}}</ref></blockquote>

The South Pole is alluded to:
<blockquote>''Chasdia qui est vers le Gond ou Pole Austral ainsi appellée à cause que de la Meridionale partie ou Australe procede la Misericorde dicte Chassed'' (Chasdia which is toward the Hinge or South Pole, so called because from the southern or austral part originates Mercy called Chessed).<ref>Marcel Destombes, "Guillaume Postel cartographe", (editors Günter Schilder, P. C. J. van der Krogt, Steven de Clercq), ''Marcel Destombes, 1905-1983: contributions sélectionnées à l'histoire de la cartographie et des instruments scientifiques,'' Volume 3 of ''HES Studies in the History of Cartography and Scientific Instruments'', 1987, pp. 552-566.</ref></blockquote>

Another legend on the same map over the southern continent reads: ''CHASDIA seu Australis terra, quam Vulgus nautarum di fuego vocant alii Papagallorum dicunt'' (Chasdia or Terra Australis, which the common sailors call Tierra del Fuego and others say is the Land of the Parrots).<ref name="CeltsGauls">Charles Gilbert Dubois, ''Celtes et Gaulois,'' Paris, 1972, p. 167.</ref>

Postel’s world map strongly influenced [[Gerard de Jode]] and others of the Antwerp school.<ref>Rodney W. Shirley, ''The Mapping of the World: Early Printed World Maps 1472-1700,'' Riverside, Connecticut., World Press, 2001, pp. 166-7, pl. 122.</ref>

===Near East and Central Europe===
[[File:Arabic astronomical manuscript of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi annotated by Guillaume Postel.jpg|thumb|Arabic astronomical manuscript of [[Nasir al-Din al-Tusi]], annotated by Guillaume Postel]]

After several years, Postel resigned his professorship and traveled throughout [[Central Europe]], including the [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburg Empire]] and [[Renaissance Italy]]. He returned to France after each trip, often by way of Venice. Through his efforts at manuscript collection, translation, and publishing, he brought many Ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic texts into European intellectual discourse in the Late [[Renaissance]] and [[Early modern period|early modern]] periods. Among these texts are:

* [[Euclid's Elements]], in the version of the astronomer [[Nasir al-Din al-Tusi]];
* An astronomical work by [[al-Kharaqī]], ''Muntahā al-idrāk fī taqāsīm al-aflāk'' ("The Ultimate Grasp of the Divisions of Spheres"), disputing [[Ptolemy]]'s ''[[Almagest]]''.<ref>''Islamic science and the making of European Renaissance'', by George Saliba, p.218 {{ISBN|978-0-262-19557-7}}</ref>
* Astronomical works by al-Tusi and other Arabic astronomers;
* Latin translations of the ''[[Zohar]]'', the ''[[Sefer Yetzirah]]'', and the ''[[Bahir|Sefer ha-Bahir]]'', which are works of Jewish [[Kabbalah]], printed in 1552;
* [[Christian Cabbala]] texts, such as his own commentary on the significance of the [[Menorah (Temple)|Menorah]], which he published in 1548 in Latin and subsequently in Hebrew.

===Two aspects of the soul===
To Postel, the human soul is composed of intellect and emotion, which he envisaged as male and female, head and heart. The soul's [[Triple deity|triadic]] [[wikt:unity|unity]] is through the union of these two halves. Yet Postel did not mean a second [[Incarnation (Christianity)|incarnation]] of divinity: his sentiment and language make it clear that he spoke [[Figure of speech|figuratively]].<ref>[[Eliphas Levi]] ''Histoire de la Magie'', 1860.</ref>

===Heresy and confinement===
[[File:Guillaume Postel.jpg|thumb|right|Guillaume Postel]]

While working on his translations of the ''Zohar'' and the ''Bahir'' in Venice in 1547, Postel became the confessor of Mother Zuana, an elderly woman who was responsible for the kitchen of the hospital of San Giovanni e Paolo. Zuana confessed to experiencing divine visions, which inspired Postel to believe that she was a prophet, that he was her spiritual son, and that he was destined to be the unifier of the world's religions. When he returned from his second journey to the East, he dedicated two works to her memory: ''Les Très Merveilleuses Victoire des Femmes du Nouveau Monde'' and ''La Vergine Venetiana''.

Based on his own visions, these works brought Postel into conflict with the [[Inquisition]]. Postel's ties, however, with the very men tasked with trying him led to a verdict of [[insanity]], rather than [[heresy]], which could to the death penalty, and consequently Postel was confined to the [[Papal States|papal prisons]] in Rome.<ref>Yvelise Bernard, L'Orient du XVIe siècle, Paris, L'Harmattan 1988. see her annotated biography pp 31-37</ref> He was released when the prison was opened upon the death of [[Pope Paul IV|Paul IV]] in 1559. [[Czech Republic|Czech]] [[Renaissance humanism|Renaissance humanist]] Šimon Proxenus ze Sudetu (1532–1575),<ref>{{cite book |last= Proxenus ze Sudetu |first= Šimon |editor-first= Dana |editor-last= Martínková |title= Commentarii de itinere Francogallico |series= Bibliotheca scriptorum Medii Recentisque Aevorum, ser. nova, t. 5 |year= 1979 |publisher= Akadémiai Kiadó |location= Budapest |language= Latin |isbn= 978-963-05-1843-7 |oclc= 7736635 }}</ref> reports that in 1564 Postel was detained to the monastery of [[Musée des Arts et Métiers|St. Martin des Champs]] in Paris, "because of his delusions on the Mother Jeanne".<ref>{{cite book |last= Secret |first= François |title= Postel revisité: nouvelles recherches sur Guillaume Postel et son milieu |year= 1998 |publisher= S.É.H.A.|location= Paris |language= French |isbn= 978-88-7252-187-8 |oclc= 123291208 }}</ref>

Postel resumed his life in Paris, but the alleged [[Nicole Aubrey|miracle at Laon]] in 1566 had a profound effect on him, and that year he published an account of it, ''De summopere considerando miraculo'', in which he again expounded upon the interrelatedness of all parts of the universe and his imminent restoration of the world order.<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 2543605|last1 = Kuntz|first1 = Marion Leathers|title = Guillaume Postel et Jean Boulaese: De Summopere (1566) et le Miracle de Laon (1566)|journal = Sixteenth Century Journal|volume = 28|issue = 4|pages = 1355|doi = 10.2307/2543605|year = 1997}}</ref> As a result, he was sentenced to house arrest by the [[Parliament of Paris]], and eventually spent the last eleven years of his life confined to the monastery of St. Martin des Champs.

==Works==
*''De originibus seu de hebraicae lingua'' (Concerning the Origins or concerning the language of Hebrew, in [[Latin]]), 1538.
*''Les Magistratures athéniennes'' (The Athenian Magistrates, in French), 1540.
*''Description de la Syrie'' (Description of Syria, in French), 1540.
*''Les Raisons du Saint-Esprit'' (The Plans of the Holy Spirit, in French), 1543.
*''De orbis terrae concordia'' (Concerning the Agreement [in Doctrines] of the World, in Latin), 1544.
*''De nativitate Mediatoris'' (Concerning the Nativity of Jesus, in Latin), 1547.
*''Absconditorum clavis, ou La Clé des choses cachées et l'Exégèse du Candélabre mystique dans le tabernacle de Moyse'' (The Key to Hidden Things and the Interpretation of the Mystical [[Menorah (Temple)|Menorah]] in Moses' Tabernacle, in French), 1547.
*''Livre des causes et des principes'' (Book of Causes and Principles, in French), 1551.
*''Abrahami patriarchae liber Jezirah'' (The [[Sefer Yetzirah]] of Abraham the Patriarch," in Latin), 1552.
*''Liber mirabilium'' (Book of Miracles, in Latin), 1552.
*''Raisons de la monarchie'' (Reasons for Monarchy, in French), 1552.
*''La Loi salique'' (The [[Salian Franks|Salian]] Law, in French), 1552.
*''L'Histoire mémorable des expéditions depuis le déluge'' (The Known History of Travels after the Flood, in French), 1552.
*''Les Très Merveilleuses Victoires des femmes du Nouveau monde'' (The very Marvelous Victories of the Women of the New World, in French), 1553.
*''Des merveilles du monde et principalemẽt des admirables choses des Indes & du nouveau monde'' (On the Marvels of the world and especially on the Admirable Affairs of the Indies and the New World, in French), 1553
*''Le Livre de la concorde entre le Coran et les Évangiles'' (The Book of Concordances between the Quran and the Gospels, in French), 1553.
*''Cosmographie'' (Cosmography, in French), 1559.
*''La République des Turcs'' (The Turkish Republic, in French), 1560.
*''La Vraye et Entière Description du royaume de France'' (The True and Whole Description of the Kingdom of France, in French), 1570.
*''Des admirables secrets des nombres platoniciens'' (On the Admirable Secrets of Platonic Numbers, in French).

==See also==
* [[Christian universalism]]
* [[Comparative religion]]
* [[French Renaissance literature]]
* [[Islamic Civilization during the European Renaissance]]
* [[Orientalism in early modern France]]

==Sources==
* [[Jeanne Peiffer]], article in ''Writing the History of Mathematics: Its Historical Development'', edited by Joseph Dauben & Christoph Scriba
* Marion Kuntz, ''Guillaume Postel: Prophet of the Restitution of All Things, His Life and Thought'', Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Hague, 1981
* [http://www.columbia.edu/~gas1/project/visions/case1/sci.1.html#f1 Whose Science is Arabic Science in Renaissance Europe?]
* Jean-Pierre Brach, "Son of the Son of God: The feminine Messiah and her progeny, according to Guillaume Postel (1510–1581),' in Olav Hammer (ed), ''Alternative Christs'' (Cambridge, CUP, 2009), 113-130.

==Notes==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Postel, Guillaume}}
[[Category:1510 births]]
[[Category:1581 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century publishers (people)]]
[[Category:16th-century travelers]]
[[Category:16th-century French astronomers]]
[[Category:16th-century French diplomats]]
[[Category:16th-century French educators]]
[[Category:16th-century French translators]]
[[Category:16th-century French writers]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Collège de France]]
[[Category:Christian Hebraists]]
[[Category:Christian Kabbalists]]
[[Category:French emigrants to the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Linguists from France]]
[[Category:Multilingual writers]]
[[Category:Prisoners of the Bastille]]
[[Category:Universalists]]

Guillaume Postel - Revision history

NoraBillings at 10:26, 15 March 2026

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article