Botaanika rootsiaegses Tartu ülikoolis Johannes Erici ja Andreas Arvidi disputatsiooni „De plantis” (1647) näitel
Botany at the Swedish University of Tartu on the example of the disputation „De plantis” (1647) by Johannes Erici and Andreas Arvidi

Summary/Abstract: Although botany was not taught as an independent subject at the Swedish University of Tartu, plants were addressed within the context of medical studies. Professors of medicine were required to teach natural sciences on the basis of Johannes Magirus’ (?–1596) textbook “Physiologia peripatetica ex Aristotele”. At other Swedish Universities of the 17th century, at Uppsala and Turku, the first botanical treatises were written by professors of medicine, who also spearheaded the establishment of the first botanical gardens. In Tartu there was no botanical garden during that period, founding one was discussed to support medical studies. However, a disputation on plants – titled “De plantis” – emerged from the Swedish University of Tartu in 1647. The praeses of the disputation, Professor of Natural Sciences Johannes Erici Stregnensis (Stiernstråle, 1607–1686), and the respondent, student Andreas Arvidi (ca 1620–1673), both came from Strängnäs, Sweden, where botany was taught at the local gymnasium. A year later, the same student engaged in a debate on medicine presided by Professor of Medicine Sebastian Wirdig. This serves as evidence of the classical connection between botany and medicine. The disputation “De plantis” by Johannes Erici and Andreas Arvidi spans 16 pages in quarto format and contains 125 theses. While the disputation is mostly based on Johannes Magirus’ textbook, where plants are described according to Aristotle and his early modern commentator Julius Caesar Scaliger (1484–1558), the authors have reshaped and elaborated the material to offer a more systematic presentation. Plants are defined in terms of Aristotle’s four causes and Petrus Ramus’ (1515–1572) system of generalization. The authors reference the renowned early modern Flemish botanist Rembert Dodoens (1517–1585), as well as the 16th century French poet Nicholas Bourbon (1503 – ca 1551). Thus, the text of the disputation combines the work of ancient and early modern authors. The style of the disputation leans towards the poetic – this may be a contribution of the student Andreas Arvidi, who later gained prominence as the author of the first Swedish textbook of poetry. The disputation “De plantis” by Johannes Erici and Andreas Arvidi remained the sole botanical work from the 17th-century University of Tartu. It contains no descriptions of the local flora in Livonia or Estonia. It was not until 1803 that Tartu saw the establishment of its botanical garden, followed by the compilation of a plant list in 1807 by its first director, Gottfried Albrecht Germann, documenting the species thriving within the garden. Thus it can be said that there are two beginnings of the botanical science at the University of Tartu.

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