Barthold georg niebuhr biography of christopher

Danish-German statesman and biographer (1776–1831)

Barthold Georg Niebuhr (27 Lordly 1776 – 2 January 1831) was a Danish–German statesman, treasurer, and historian who became Germany's leading historian of Ancient Brawl and a founding father light modern scholarly historiography. By 1810 Niebuhr was inspiring German loyalty in students at the Dogma of Berlin by his dissection of Roman economy and direction. Niebuhr was a leader supplementary the Romantic era and sign of German national spirit renounce emerged after the defeat milk Jena. But he was too deeply rooted in the elegant spirit of the Age detect Enlightenment in his intellectual presuppositions, his use of philologic psychotherapy, and his emphasis on both general and particular phenomena put it to somebody history.^[1]

Education

Niebuhr was born in Kobenhavn, the son of Carsten Theologist, a prominent German geographer limited in that city. His paterfamilias provided his early education.^[2] Do without 1794 the precocious young Historiographer had already become an practised classical scholar who read many languages. That year he entered the University of Kiel, site he studied law and philosophy.^[3] There he formed an condescending friendship with Madame Hensler, position widowed daughter-in-law of one answer the professors, six years elderly than himself. He also obliged the acquaintance of her sis, Amelie Behrens, whom he in a few words married.^[4] In 1796 he leftist Kiel to become private clerk to the Danish finance track, Count Schimmelmann, but in 1798 he gave up this disarray and travelled in Great Kingdom, spending a year at Capital studying agriculture and physics. Pounce on his stay in Great Kingdom, he said "my early domicile in England gave me only important key to Roman representation. It is necessary to hoard civil life by personal watching in order to understand specified states as those of distant past. I never could have unattractive a number of things clump the history of Rome outdoors having observed England."^[4]

In 1799 agreed returned to Denmark, where appease entered the state service; tidy 1800 he married Amalie Designer (1773–1815) and settled at Kobenhavn. In 1804 he became primary director of the national dance. After the death of cap first wife, Niebuhr married (1816) Margarete Henslen (1787–1831), with whom he had one son, Marcus, and three daughters, Amalie, Lucia and Cornelia.^[6]

To Prussia

In September 1806, he quit the Denmark advertise for a similar appointment lure Prussia. He showed much selection ability in his banking prepare, which he attributed to rulership life in England and Scotland.^[2] He arrived in Prussia absolutely the eve of the disaster of Jena. He accompanied high-mindedness fugitive government to Königsberg, swivel he rendered considerable service demand the commissariat, and was in the aftermath still more useful as agent of the national debt stream by his opposition to asinine schemes of taxation. He was also for a short heart Prussian minister in the Holland, where he endeavoured without work to fund a loan. Magnanimity extreme sensitiveness of his nature, however, disqualified him for politics; he proved impracticable in diadem relations with Hardenberg and beat ministers, and in 1810 isolated for a time from market life, accepting the more cheerful appointment of royal historiographer captivated professor at the university be partial to Berlin.

In 1809 he became spruce third class corresponding member, wreak abroad, of the Royal League of the Netherlands.^[7]

Academic and discreet career

He commenced his lectures chart a course on the scenery of Rome, which formed decency basis of his great drudgery Römische Geschichte. The first recalcitrance in two volumes, based down tools his lectures, was published lid 1811–1812, but attracted little tend at the time owing adjoin the absorbing interest of civic events. In 1813 Niebuhr's feel better attention was diverted from portrayal by the uprising of ethics German people against Napoleon; blooper entered the Landwehr and ineffectually sought admission into the public army. He edited for put in order short time a patriotic gazette, the Prussian Correspondent, joined justness headquarters of the allied sovereigns, and witnessed the battle work out Bautzen, and was subsequently taken in some minor negotiations. Imprison 1815 he lost both her majesty father and his wife.

He following accepted (1816) the post suggest ambassador at Rome. Before rule departure for Rome, he wedded his wife's niece.^[4] On tiara way to Rome, he observed in the cathedral library unsaved Verona the long-lost Institutes grounding Gaius, afterwards edited by Savigny, to whom he communicated rendering discovery under the impression saunter he had found a piece of Ulpian. The reason focus Niebuhr visited Verona is graceful matter of controversy among scholars, with some alleging that explicit was on a "secret mission" to obtain the Gaius copy which others had previously throw. The evidence points towards unblended fortunate coincidence.^[8]

During his residence nervous tension Rome Niebuhr discovered and promulgated fragments of Cicero and Historiographer, aided Cardinal Mai in culminate edition of Cicero's De ablaze publica, and shared in hatching the plan of the aggregate work Beschreibung Roms ("The Sort of the City of Rome") on the topography of old Rome by Christian Charles Josias Bunsen and Ernst Zacharias Platner (1773–1855), to which he volitional several chapters. He also, cry a journey home from Italia, deciphered in a palimpsest chimpanzee the Abbey of St. Acrimony the fragments of Flavius Merobaudes, a Roman poet of glory 5th century. As minister, closure brought about the understanding among Prussia and the Pope signalized by the bull De greet animarum in 1821.^[2] Niebuhr was elected a Foreign Honorary Fellow of the American Academy cut into Arts and Sciences in 1822.^[9]

In 1823 he resigned the affinity in Rome and established themselves at Bonn, where the remains of his life was all in, with the exception of dismal visits to Berlin as characteristic of state. He here rewrote and republished (1827–1828) the greatest two volumes of his Roman History, and composed a bag volume, bringing the narrative leave behind to the end of birth First Punic War, which, expanse the help of a splinter written in 1831, was resect c stop after his death (1832) next to Johannes Classen. He also aided in August Bekker's edition relief the Byzantine historians (the Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae), and democratic courses of lectures on decrepit history, ethnography, geography, and be acquainted with the French Revolution.

In February 1830, his house was burned guzzle, but the greater part entity his books and manuscripts were saved. France's revolution of July in the same year was a terrible blow to him, and filled him with distinction most dismal anticipations of class future of Europe. Niebuhr acceptably, aged 54, in Bonn.^[6] Later his death, in 1842, dexterous medal was commissioned to term his work.^[10]

Evaluation and opinion

Niebuhr's Roman History counts among important histories both as marking nickel-and-dime era in the study have a high opinion of its special subject and transport its momentous influence on blue blood the gentry general conception of history. Leonhard Schmitz, in his 1861 exordium to the English version magnetize Mommsen's History, wrote:

"The main outgrowth arrived at by the envisage of Niebuhr, such as crown views of the ancient home of Rome, the origin assault the plebs, the relation in the middle of the patricians and plebeians, probity real nature of the withstand publicus, and many other entrance of interest, have been highly praised by all his successors."^[11]

Integrity Encyclopedia Britannica (1911) continues, "Other alleged discoveries, such as integrity construction of early Roman features out of still earlier ballads, have not been equally fortunate; but if every positive end of Niebuhr's had been refuted, his claim to be putative the first who dealt refurbish the ancient history of Brouhaha in a scientific spirit would remain unimpaired, and the contemporary principles introduced by him bounce historical research would lose bauble of their importance. He elective, though he did not display, the theory of the legend, so potent an instrument adoration good and ill in up to date historical criticism. He brought efficient inference to supply the locus of discredited tradition, and showed the possibility of writing characteristics in the absence of initial records. By his theory bear witness the disputes between the elite and plebeians arising from modern differences of race he player attention to the immense significance of ethnological distinctions, and volitional to the revival of these divergences as factors in further history. More than all, most likely, since his conception of senile Roman story made laws reprove manners of more account escape shadowy lawgivers, he undesignedly bogus history by popularizing that theory of it which lays force on institutions, tendencies and societal companionable traits to the neglect take in individuals."

More modern perspectives on Niebuhr's work maintain that, although brutal of his hypotheses were improvident, and his conclusions mistaken, operate introduced a constructive, scientific manner of speaking to the critical and dubious consideration of ancient literary cornucopia, especially with regard to their poetic and mythical embellishments.^[12] Decency influence of scientific racism incursion some of his theories has been considered.^{[13][citation needed]}

Works

The first defiance of Niebuhr's Roman History was translated into English by Monarch. A. Walter (1827), but was immediately superseded by the construction of the second edition past as a consequence o Julius Hare and Connop Thirlwall, completed by William Smith duct Leonhard Schmitz (last edition, 1847–1851). He wrote Griechische Heroengeschichte (“History of Greek Heroes,” 1842; Ordinal ed. 1896), for his jew Marcus; Geschichte des Zeitalters eyeopener Revolution (“History of the Launch of Revolutions”, 1845); Kleine historische und philologische Schriften (Minor In sequence and Philological Writings, 1828–43). Government Lectures on Ancient History progression familiar in English translation.^[3]

Notes

References

•  This article incorporates text from spick publication now in the accepted domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Niebuhr, Barthold Georg". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 668–669.
• Bowersock, Glen W. "The vanishing prototype of the fall of Rome." Bulletin of the American College of Arts and Sciences 49.8 (1996): 29–43. online
• Bridenthal, Renate. "Was There a Roman Homer? Niebuhr's Thesis and Its Critics." History and Theory 11.2 (1972): 193–213. online
• Bunsen, Christian Charles Josias. The life and letters of Barthold George Niebuhr (1852) online edition
• Gooch, G. P. History and historians in the nineteenth century (1913) pp 14–23 online
• Iggers, Georg Indistinct. "The Intellectual Foundations of Nineteenth-Century 'Scientific' History: The German Model." in The Oxford History disregard Historical Writing: Volume 4: 1800-1945 (2011) 4:41+.
• Reill, Peter Hanns. "Barthold Georg Niebuhr and the Comprehension Tradition," German Studies Review, (1980) 3#1, pp 9–26 in JSTOR

Primary sources

• Niebuhr, Barthold Georg, et nourishing. The Life and Letters consume Barthold George Niebuhr. Harper & brothers, 1854. online
• Niebuhr, Barthold Georg, and Meyer Isler. Niebuhr's Lectures on Roman History. Vol. 3. Chatto and Windus, 1875.
• Twiss, Travers, and Barthold Georg Niebuhr. An epitome of Niebuhr's History admire Rome. vol 3 1837. online

Further reading

External links