Valens Acidalius

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Valens Acidalius, AKA Valtin Havekenthal (1567, Wittstock–25 May 1595, Neisse) was a German critic and poet writing in the Latin language.

Acidalius was the son of a pastor working in Wittstock. He studied at the universities of Rostock, Greifswald and Helmstedt. Even in his early youth, his Latin poems caused a stir. In 1590 he accompanied his friend Daniel Bucretius (Daniel Rindfleisch) to Italy where he published his first literary work, an edition of Velleius Paterculus. Acidalius studied philosophy and medicine in Bologna and was awarded a doctorate degree in both disciplines.

He was however not attracted by the practical work as a medic and therefore concentrated on the criticism of classic works. He returned to Germany in 1593 after several fever attacks, moving to Breslau, the home town of his friend Bucretius. In spring 1595, he accepted an invitation of his friend and supporter, the episcopal chancellor Wacker von Wackenfels to Neisse. There he died to a fever at the age of only 28 years.

Publications

Velleius Paterculus, 1590, Padua
Animadversiones in Curtium, 1594, Frankfurt

Posthumously:

a collection of poems, elegies, odes and epigramms, 1603, Liegnitz
Centuria prima epistolarum, 1606, Hannover
Divinationes et interpretationes in comoedias Plauti, 1607, Frankfurt, 566 pages
Notae in Taciti opera, 1607, Hannover
Notae in Panegyricos veteres, 1607, Heidelberg

Disputed:

Disputatio nova contra mulieres, qua probatur eas homines non esse, 1595, probably printed in Zerbst, 11 sheets 4°. A tract which caused much annoyance among the theologians of the time because of its blasphemic precepts. His attackers overlooked that the tract was intended as a parody on the Socinian methods of disproving the godhood of the Christ. During his lifetime, Acidalius denied to have written these papers. It is believed that while Acidalius did not write the tract, he nevertheless promoted the writing. Thus, the actual author remains anonymous.

Sources

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie— at Wikisource

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