the mystical theology of valentin weigel - DataSpace at Princeton ...

first years after immigration. 543 As for André Wechel, throughout his confessional
persecution, he neither renounced his faith nor made it the basis of his publishing
program, and he cautiously describes himself as a member of a Republic of Letters rather
than as a Protestant (he was a Huguenot). He published neither religious polemics, nor
much vernacular writing, focusing his efforts (certainly after settling in Frankfurt) on
medical literature, historical chronicles, and pedagogical books, producing only the
occasional work of Calvinist theology. Although Wechel’s edition of Dionysius’ works
antedates his move to Germany and the beginnings of serious Huguenot persecution,
Weigel might have found Wechel the most congenial Dionysius editor—a Protestant who,
at least in public, took care to avoid the worst of the polemic and religious controversy of
his time. Moreover, given the direct link to Saxony via Languet, or at least to German
scholars in general, Wechel’s books might have found their way to Wittenberg. While
there is no textual evidence to prove that Weigel used Wechel’s edition of Dionysius, nor
is there anything in Wechel’s Dionysius edition to mark it either as pro- or anti-Roman,
Wechel’s prudent Protestantism makes him a counter-type for anti-Lutheran Dionysius
readers such as Clichtove or Cochlaeus.
Italy
There are two Italian Dionysius editions published up until 1570, both from
Venice, which is no surprise since by 1520, Venice was the largest publishing center in
Europe. 544 The first edition was published in 1502 by Joannes Tacuinus de Tridino
543 Ian Maclean, Learning and the Market Place: Essays in the History of the Early Modern Book (Leiden:
Koninklijke Brill, 2009), 168-170.
544 Paul F. Grendler, ""Venice"," The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation, ed. Hans J. Hillerbrand,
Oxford University Press, 1996,
196