He is known as a pioneer in the study of
karst topography. Together with his other writings, until the late 19th century his best-known work—the 1689 Glory of the Duchy of Carniola, published in 15 books in four volumes—was the main source for older
Slovenian history, making him one of the precursors of modern Slovenian historiography.[3]
Biography
Valvasor was born in the town of
Ljubljana (Laibach), at the time the principal city of
Duchy of Carniola, today the capital of Slovenia, to an aristocratic family originally from
Bergamo,
Italy.[4] In the 16th century, it was Johann Baptist Valvasor who moved the Valvasor family to the Duchy of Carniola in central Europe, to a part of the
Habsburg monarchy that is now part of Slovenia. In medieval Latin Valvasor or Valvasore held the meaning 'carrier of a feud'.[5]
Neither the exact day nor the actual place of Valvasor's birth are known, but his baptism was registered at
Ljubljana Cathedral, where he was baptized Joannes Waichard Valvasor.[6] He was the twelfth child born to Bartholomäus and Anna Maria Freiin von Rauber, who only lived at
Medija Castle in
Izlake but also had a town residence in Ljubljana at
Old Square. His godparents were Freiherr (Baron) Konrad Ruess von Ruessenstein from
Strmol Castle and Regina Dorothea Rasp from
Krumperk Castle.
Valvasor's father died when the boy was ten years old. His mother died when he was 16. At the time he was attending the
Jesuit school in Ljubljana.[7] Graduating in 1659 at the age of seventeen, he did not choose to continue his studies at a university but decided to broaden his horizons by meeting learned men on a journey across Europe. This journey lasted fourteen years and it even took him to
northern Africa. During this period, he joined the army in the
Austro-Turkish War, where he became closely acquainted with the conditions on the
Croatian Military Frontier.
Shortly after marrying 13-year-old Anna Rosina Grafenweger in 1672, Valvasor acquired
Bogenšperk Castle near
Litija, where he arranged a writing, drawing and printing workshop. Valvasor spent a fortune on the publishing of his books; towards the end of his life, his debts forced him to sell Bogenšperk Castle, his vast library and his collection of prints. In 1690, Aleksandar Ignacije Mikulić, the
Bishop of Zagreb, bought his library, along with some 7,300 graphics, and moved it to Slavonia, where the collection became part of the library of the Zagreb Archbishopric, now part of the
Croatian State Archives.[8]
In 1692, he lost most of his wealth after he invested in travel, graphics and printbooks which proved unprofitable. He had nine children, among them daughters Maria Sidonia, Maximilla Kordula, Johanna Rosina, and Anna Theresia, and sons Wolfang Waikhard, Johann Gottlieb, Johann Ludwig, Johann Wolfgang Engelbert, and Franz Joseph. Five children died very early, and then, when delivering their last child in 1687, Anna Maria Rosina died as well. Just three months after her death, Valvasor married Baroness Anna Maximilla Zetschker of Vrhovo. They had four children. In 1693, the same year that their last child, Franz Engelbert, was baptized, Valvasor died at age 52 in
Krško.
He is believed to have been buried in the family crypt at
Medija Castle,[9] but this is uncertain.[1] The
Yugoslav Partisans dynamited the castle in 1944[10] and no trace of his putative grave remains today.[9]
Legacy
The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola
Valvasor's most important work remains The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola (original title: Die Ehre deß Herzogthums Crain,[11][12] Slovene: Slava vojvodine Kranjske), published in 1689[13] in 15 books (four volumes), totalling 3532 pages and including 528 illustrations and 24 appendices, which provides a vivid description of Carniola at the time. He also recorded the first written document on
vampires when he wrote on the legend of a vampire in
Istria named
Jure Grando.[14][15]
From 2009 until 2012, it was translated into Slovene by
Doris,
Primož and
Božidar Debenjak. The initiator, project manager, editor and technical editor of this monumental publishing project was
Tomaž Čeč.[16]
Karst research
Valvasor was a pioneer of study of
karst phenomena. Upon the proposal of
Edmond Halley, who was not only an astronomer but also a geophysicist, and in 1687 his extensive treatise on the
hydrology of intermittent
Lake Cerknica won him a fellowship of the Royal Society.[17]
Topographia Ducatus Carnioliae modernae das ist Controfee aller Stätt, Märckht, Clöster und Schlösser, wie sie anietzo stehen in dem Herzogthumb Crain, 1679, reprint 1970
COBISS19019831
Topographia arcium Lambergianarum id est arces, castella et dominia in Carniolia habita possident comites a Lamberg; Bagenspergi (Bogenšperg), 1679
COBISS75121664, reprint 1995
COBISS50098688
Topographia Archiducatus Carinthiae modernae: das ist Controfee aller Stätt, Märckht, Clöster, undt Schlösser, wie sie anietzo stehen in dem Ertzhertzogthumb Khärnten; Wagensperg in Crain (Bogenšperg), 1681
COBISS87695872; Nürnberg, 1688
COBISS87695872
Carniolia, Karstia, Histria et Windorum Marchia, Labaci (Ljubljana) 1681
COBISS217886464
Theatrum mortis humanae tripartitum: figuris aeneis illustratum : das ist: Schau-Bühne des menschlichen Todts in drey Theil : mit schönen Kupffer-Stichen geziehrt vnd an Tag gegeben; Laybach, Saltzburg (Ljubljana, Salzburg); 1682
COBISS53622528
Topographia Archiducatus Carinthiae antiquae & modernae completa: Das ist Vollkommene und gründliche Land – Beschreibung des berühmten Erz – Herzogthums Kärndten; Nürnberg 1688,
COBISS87695872
Opus insignium armorumque ...; (1687–1688)
COBISS33650176
Die Ehre deß Hertzogthums Crain: das ist, Wahre, gründliche, und recht eigendliche Belegen- und Beschaffenheit dieses Römisch-Keyserlichen herrlichen Erblandes; Laybach (Ljubljana) 1689
COBISS29952257
Notes
^The word "Freiherr" denotes a
baron. Valvasor never officially held the title, but was referred to as such by the people who admired him and gradually adopted it also himself in his writings.[1]
^Although the spelling Weichard is used in Die Ehre... and Topographia..., the spelling Weikhard is more common in printed sources today.
^Johann Weichard von Valvasor: Die Ehre Deß Hertzogthums Crain, Das ist, Wahre, gründliche, und recht eigendliche Gelegen- und Beschaffenheit dieses, in manchen alten und neuen Geschicht-Büchern zwar rühmlich berührten, doch bishero nie annoch recht beschriebenen Römisch-Keyserlichen herrlichen Erblandes : Anjetzo, Vermittelst einer vollkommenen und ausführlichen Erzehlung aller seiner Landschafften, Felder ... alter und neuer Denckwürdigkeiten ... Jn Funffzehen, wiewol in vier Haupt-Theile unterschiedenen, Büchern, wie auch häuffigen Abrissen und zierlichen Kupffer-Figuren, ausgebreitet / von Johann Weichard Valvasor, Freyherrn. Aber Jn reines Teutsch gebracht von Erasmum Francisci. Laybach, Anno MDCLXXXIX.
^Ley, Willy (February 1968).
"Epitaph for a Lonely Olm". For Your Information. Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 95–104.