Henricus Reneri

Henricus Reneri, also called Renerius (1593 to 1639), was a Dutch philosopher born at Huy in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. He studied liberal arts at Leuven, converted to Calvinism in 1616 and went to the Dutch Republic, where he studied theology and medicine at Leiden and for ten years tutored the children of Amsterdam merchant-regents. From 1631 he was professor of philosophy at the illustrious school of Deventer and from 1634 at the new illustrious school of Utrecht, which became a university in 1636. He mainly taught scholastic logic and natural philosophy, worked out a method of his own in the Ramist tradition that was warmly received in the Hartlib circle, and carried out experiments in optics, thermometers, water clocks, alchemy and natural magic. He was a close friend and admirer of René Descartes and read the Discours de la méthode in his classes, though his own works show little Cartesian influence. Over sixty of his letters survive.