The epithaph of Carolus Clusius can still be seen on a column of the Pieterskerk in Leiden (Kloksteeg 16). It consists of a copper plate in a marbled wooden frame and was transferred to this church in 1819, after the demolition of the Vrouwekerk of Leiden (1).
The Latin text of the epitaph reads as follows:
“BONAE MEMORIAE / CAROLI CLUSII / ATREBATIS / POS. / QUI OB NOMINIS CELEBRITATEM / PROBIBATE, ERUDITIONE, TUM REI / IMPRIMIS HERBARIAE ILLUSTRATIONE / PARTAM, INTER AULAE CAES. FAMILIARES / ALLECTUS; ET POST VARIAS PEREGRINA- / TIONES A NOBB. DEMUM ET AMPLISS. DD. / CURR. ET COSS. IN HANC URBEM CONDE- / CORANDAE ACADEMIAE EVOCATUS, ET STI- / PENDIO PUB. PER ANNOS XVI. HONORA- / TUS, XXCIV AE. S. ANNUM INGRESSUS / OBIIT CELEBS IV. APR. M.DC.IX.”(2)
On a memorial tablet in the nearby wall, we can also read:
“MONUMENTA HAEC / ANTE DUO AMPLIUS SAECULA / IN HONOREM SCALIGERII ET CLUSII POSITA / EX AEDE GALLICANA / CUM RUINAM MINITARI VIDERETUR / HUNC IN LOCUM TRANSFERRI / IUSSERUNT / PER ILLUSTRES ACADEMIAE LUGDUNO / BATAVAE CURATORES / ANNO CIƆIƆCCCXIX”.
- Photos and page layout by Luca Borghi @ (August 2025)
- Locate the item on this Google Map
Bibliography
- Frieke Hurkmans et al. (eds), History of the Pieterskerk Leiden, Pieterskerk Leiden Foundation, Leiden undated [c. 2020], pp. 74