Descartes: A Biography

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 Descartes: A Biography

van Wel, whose mother, Reyntje Jansdr, had accepted Francine into her

home at Descartes’ request. Following her marriage, Helena Jans settled

permanently in Egmond; she was widowed in thes and married a

second time, to Jacob van Lienen, who was the landlord of the Red Heart

Inn that belonged to Jan Thomasz van Wel (her first father-in-law). She

had three children by her second marriage, and she eventually inherited

the Red Heart Inn.

Utrecht,

When Reneri took up his new post at the Illustrious School of Utrecht

in,one of his colleagues appointed at the same time was to have

a central role in a subsequent dispute with Descartes. Gisbertus Voetius

(–) was a Calvinist minister who had participated at the Synod of

Dort and was the first professor of theology at Utrecht. When the Utrecht

School was promoted to full university status,March,Voetius

became professor of theology and Hebrew. Henricus Regius (–)

was a medical doctor from Utrecht and was initially appointed Professor

Extraordinary of Medicine and Botany in(and full professor in March

). Descartes followed Reneri to Utrecht one year after his appoint-

ment, and began a lengthy correspondence with Huygens (who was offi-

cially based in the Hague) in April.Descartes may have lived on the

edge of the town, as was his custom, at a location that is now absorbed into

the Maliebaan, an impressive avenue that was first designed and built after

his departure in.Within a few weeks of his arrival in Utrecht, however,

Golius wrote to him in Mayfrom Leiden, where he was professor

of mathematics and oriental languages, and offered to provide accom-

modations there. Descartes had been out of town for more than a week,

probably on a trip to Friesland, and he had arrived in Utrecht probably

only two months earlier.Since he had only recently ‘changed residence,’

he had to decline the offer from Golius because, as he claimed, ‘it would

show fickleness on my part to leave so soon after I had arrived’ (i.).

The return trip to Amsterdam took him by boat across the Zuiderzee,

during which he observed coronas around a lighted candle. He decided

to explain this in hisMeteors, which he had already begun to compose.

In writing to Huygens as early as April, Descartes apologizes for

the draft material he sends, the poor quality of the diagrams, and the

distraction from more pressing official duties that he is likely to cause