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Janez V. Valvasor, encyclopedian

The last of the Renaissance men
Janez Vajkard Valvasor
(1641-1693) was born in
Ljubljana in 1641, probably
in No.4 Stari trg.
His early life was typical of
any well-to-do young man
of the period. After
completing his secondary
schooling at the Jesuit
grammar school, he did not
continue to university but
followed the custom of the
time in improving his
knowledge and broadening
his horizons by travel and
by serving in the army. He
joined the army to fight in
the Austro-Turkish war and
later served in a Franco-
Swiss infantry regiment and
travelled extensively on the
Introduction
Cultural Treasures
Ethnographic Heritage
Myths and Legends
About Aleksandra Ceferin Natural Heritage
Notable Slovenes
Aleksandra Ceferin (M.A., B.A., Slovenian Arts
Dip.Ed.) has introduced Slovenian Slovenian History
language as a school subject in Slovenian Landmarks
Australian school system and
founded the Slovenian Teachers'
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Association of Victoria in 1976.
She has extensive experience in
Iacobus Gallus – monumenta
language education: as teacher,
artis musicae sloveniae
lecturer, curriculum coordinator,
Fairies
course writer, language consultant
Plečnik’s Ljubljana
and manager, VCE State Reviewer
and Chief Examiner. Since 1998 The Goldenhorn
she has been the President of Easter eggs
ISSV and the manager and chief Glagolitic script in Slovenia
editor of its projects. Aleksandra Karst sheepdog
visits Slovenian annually,
Kavčnik Homestead
establishing and maintaining
House of Tona
contacts with Slovenia, and
initiating exchanges and The Other World

continent for 14 years. cooperation between organizations.

In 2004 she was the recipient of Search
It was not the conventional the National Education Award of Webzine Sloveniana
tour undertaken by young RS Slovenia.
men of the time. Valvasor gained valuable experience and knowledge and
became a cosmopolitan gentleman of the 17th century. By the same writer SUBMIT

Slovenian lands in 16th century

He was an extraordinary man of his time or indeed any time. His talents Links and RSS News
Primož Trubar, Reformer
and achievements are unique and for his scientific investigations he was
Terra Cognita
made member of the prestigious Royal Society of London. He is known as
polymath, in his case, a historiographer, geographer, ethnographer, Plečnik’s Ljubljana

topographer, cartographer, naturalist and technician. Also a collector, Jože Plečnik, architect
draughtsman, publisher, and finally officer and commander. Ptuj, the oldest Slovenian city
Frescoes of Hrastovlje
All his talents and skills are demonstrated, incorporated and integrated in Mithraic cult in Slovenian lands
his life’s work In Praise of the Duchy of Carniola - a monument to his life’s Old Vine of Maribor
work and his love of the country. Proteus anginus
Idrija lace Join our Mailing List
Valvasor spent 14 years Karst sheepdog
travelling. It is not known Freising (Brižinski) Manuscripts
how he occupied himself on SUBMIT
Pre-Christian goddess worship
his extensive journeys, that
Hrastovlje: a Gothic monument
took him to England,
Glagolitic script and the Slavs Syndicate
France, Germany, Holland,
Dancing horses of Lipica
Denmark, Spain, Italy and
Cerknica lake phenomenon Atom
Africa. There are only brief
In Praise of Duchy of Carniola RSS 2.0
references and fragmentary
Dalmatin Bible ShareThis
notes from these journeys.
Valvasor kept a diary, for The enigma of Venetic culture
which he developed a secret The origin of Slovenes: Veneti
code, but it was lost. We do Kozolec - hayrack
Slovenia Tours
know that he was intensely Carantania - the early Slovenian
Enjoy a well deserved
interested in nature and all state
holiday Today Trafalgar
its phenomena, that he Fairies
offers variety and value
dealt with mathematics and Anton Janša, Slovene apiarist www.Trafalgar.com/AUS
physics, since he acquired a King Matjaž
number of mathematical Bonfire man Slovenia Ancestry
devices, which he later used The Goldenhorn Discover your Family
for his research into Tales of Dwarfs History Today. Join Online
cartography and
Water Man myth according to to Find Out More!
topography. Prešeren
Ancestry.com.au/GlobalRecords

Water Man and the Boy

 The Water Man
In common with his contemporaries he was also interested in magic,
The White Serpent
alchemy and psychic phenomena.
Tales of three rivers
How it came to be
In 1672 Janez Vajkard Valvasor returned to Ljubljana, married Ana Rosina
Graffenweger von Grafenau and bought the castles and domains of When the world was created

Bogenšperk, Črni potok, Lichtenberg for 20,000 florins of Carniolan Plečnik’s Prague

currency. He settled down to his studies and first of all began to collection Plečnik’s Vienna
for his library. After a few years the library contained several thousand Glagolitic script in Slovenia
volumes and a great collection of engravings, comprising 8,000 prints. Stična Abbey
Another collection contained about 2,000 coat’o’arms. Both collections were Insight into Venetic culture
unique in Carniola. Shepherd’s sundial
Skis of Bloke
In 1678 he also established his own printing shop in Bogenšperk in order Potica - walnut roll cake
to be able to do the kind of topographical painting that he wanted, and Dormouse
was the first one in the country. It seems that initially he planned to Cobbler’s lamp
develop a publishing house for cartographical, historical and naturalist
publications. When he began to devote himself for his encyclopedic work
In Praise of the Duchy Carniola, that took up all his energy, as it grew in
scope beyond the initial intention of publishing copperplate engravings of
places.

To undertake the planned work, he assembled a team of draughtsmen and

coppersmiths, native, German and Dutch artisans, and provided for them
at his own expense at Bogenšperk until the book was published.

During the 11 years of his publishing activities, he managed to write and

publish 6 topographical, and 3 art books illustrated with copperplates.
Valvasor also produced and published maps of Carniola, Carinthia and
Croatia. He carried out the surveying and drew them himself. They
matched the achievements of leading European cartographers of that time,
and were a great step forward for the country.

The graphic output of

Valvasor’s workshop was
important for Slovenian
history and culture. These
topographical depictions are
especially valuable for their
display of places, castles
and monasteries as they
were at the end of the 17th
century - rich pictorial
sources of the 17th century.

After 1680 Valvasor’s

activities underwent a
significant change, due to the influence of his friendship with the
theological and historical writer Janez Ludvik Schoenleben. He had
published Carniolia antiqua et nova, a chronicle of events up to the year
1000, in the form of annals. He asked Valvasor to collaborate on the
projected Volume II, who began exploring and travelling through Slovenian
territories, making enquiries and notes and surveys, climbing mountains
and exploring caves. When Schoenleben died, Valvasor made it his own
project for the honour of the Duchy Carniola. He began researching in
earnest. In the meantime he managed to design a tunnel through Ljubelj
on the border between Carniola and Carinthia. Due to circumstances,
plague in 1679, the project came to nothing. However he was far ahead of
his time. The tunnel was finally built and opened to traffic in 1964.

Valvasor published a number of works, which are all valuable records of

17th century Carniola. However the book in Praise of the Duchy of Carniola
was his great contribution to history and times. At that time no other
country could boast of such a publication.In this work he describes
Carniola, the central Slovenian region. He also investigates and describes
Carinthia, Croatia, Slavonia and coastal regions along the Turkish border,
thereby presenting a comprehensive description of a large part of present
day Slovenia and its neighbourhood in the second part of the 17th century.
Thus was the turning point between two eras when the religious struggles
had ended and the Turkish danger had been averted.

The book is a veritable treasure of data of all kinds, an “encyclopedia” of

Slovenia and a unique source for earlier Slovenian history. Valvasor’s work
has been published in many later editions and revisions. Writers have been
making use of this work for 300 years, drawing material from him
according to their needs and interests. The future generations will no
doubt continue to find his work valuable.

He was interested in people and society, for the past, present and future
generations, in nature and natural phenomena, and in art. His work was
versatile and heterogeneous. His entire work reveals that he was a
polymath in the best sense of the word. He did not receive enough support
in his time. The real recognition came to him only once, when he was
made member of the prestigious Royal Society of London, a rare honour.
Although Valvasor was highly respected in his time, he failed to draw
financial benefits from his efforts. The research and collections were
extremely costly and his domains did not bring in enough to cover the
costs. In 1689 he sold Črni potok, in 1690 he had to part with his library
and graphic collection. This did not cover all his obligations and in 1691 he
sold to Stična monastery the tithe of 39 farms in Temenica. The following
year he sold the domains of Bogenšperk and Lichtenberg, and finally his
house in Ljubljana. With the rest of the property he bought a house in the
centre of Krško, where he spent the rest of his life. He died in 1693.

Valvasor died an impoverished man, but succeeded in honouring his native

country and people in a truly unprecedented way. He left a memorial of
the land and the people that has remained alive for over 300 years and a
source for historians, researchers and fiction writers that will continue to
provide information and insights into the future. Most significantly he
demonstrated by his example what it is to have love and pride in a
country, a people, a tradition. A people who are comparatively few in
number and whose main claim to history is to defend their own land,
survive and retain their identity through language and culture. More than
300 years ago Janez Vajkard Valvasor had laid a strong foundation for
national pride. A great Slovene and an exceptional man.

Bibliography

Kmecl, Matjaž, et al., Janez Vajkard Valvasor, Slovencem in Evropi - To the

Slovenes and to Europe, Narodna galerija, Ljubljana, 1989
Rupel, Mirko, Valvasorjevo berilo, MK, Ljubljana, 1969

Written by Aleksandra Ceferin on 05/05/07 | permalink |

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