Rosicrucian

Summary

Descartes’ early account of a proposed reform of the mathematical sciences, The Mathematical Thesaurus of Polybius Cosmopolitanus (1619), was dedicated to “learned men throughout the world, and especially to the F.R.C. very famous in G[ermany]” (AT X 241). This was a reference to the Frères de la Rose Croix, or the Rosicrucian Brotherhood, who were just then creating a stir among the learned throughout Europe. When Descartes returned to Paris in 1623, after a trip to Germany (where he had met Johannes Faulhaber [1580–1635], who had publicly expressed an interest in joining the brethren), he was obliged, as a known would-be reformer of knowledge, to deny his affiliation to the Rosicrucians. It is possible that Descartes’ shift in November 1619 from mathematical reform to a reform of knowledge more widely was inspired by Rosicrucianism; certainly the fact that he recounted his inspiration in the form of three dreams (supposedly experienced on the night of November 10) has echoes of Rosicrucianism (see dreams, Descartes’ three).

First recounted in two manifestoes, the Fama Fraternitatis (1614), and the Confessio Fraternitatis R. C. (1615), Rosicrucianism advocated a radical reformation of knowledge. Inspired by supposed contemporary achievements in the occult sciences, the manifestoes hint at a new method of directing and ordering studies according to supposedly sound and sure foundations. It seems that the fraternity never really existed, however. Certainly, those like Faulhaber and Descartes who hoped to meet with a representative of the brethren never succeeded. It seems to have been a fiction developed for allegorical purposes, most likely by Johann Valentin Andreae (1586–1654), who certainly wrote what has been seen as the third Rosicrucian manifesto, the Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz (1616). Within a year of publishing the Chemical Wedding, however, Andreae – evidently appalled by the way Rosicrucianism was taken up, and changed, by supporters (sometimes claiming to be brethren) – shared the view of opponents of Rosicrucianism that its occultism represented a threat to sound religion. The movement, insofar as there ever was a movement, soon died out. It has no continuity with modern groups who call themselves Rosicrucians.