Matthias de l'Obel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mathias de l'Obel
|
|
|---|---|
Engraving by Francis Delaram, 1615
|
|
| Born | 1538 |
| Died | 3 March 1616 (aged 77–78) Highgate, England
|
| Resting place | St Denis, Highgate |
| Nationality | Flemish |
| Alma mater |
|
| Known for | Herbal |
| Children | 2 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Medicine, botany |
| Institutions | Antwerp, Delft, Middelburg, London |
| Influences | Guillaume Rondelet |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Lobel |
Mathias de l'Obel (1538 – 1616) was a doctor and plant expert from Flanders, a region now part of France. He was born in Lille and later passed away in Highgate, England. Mathias studied medicine at the University of Montpellier and worked as a physician in both the Netherlands and England. He even served as a personal doctor to two kings! He was an important botanist who wrote many books about plants. He was also the first to notice a big difference between two main types of plants: monocotyledons and dicotyledons. The beautiful Lobelia plant is named after him.
Contents
His Life Story
Mathias de l'Obel was born in Lille, Flanders, in 1538. His father, Jean De l'Obel, was a lawyer. Mathias became interested in plants and medicine by the age of sixteen. He traveled and studied in Italy for a while. Later, he studied medicine at the University of Leuven and the University of Montpellier in France.
He chose Montpellier because of Guillaume Rondelet, a famous teacher. People said that l'Obel was Rondelet's favorite student. When Rondelet died in 1566, l'Obel received all his notes and writings. Mathias stayed in Montpellier for two more years. During this time, he went on plant-finding trips in the Languedoc region.
From 1566 to 1571, l'Obel traveled before settling in England. He likely came as a Protestant refugee, seeking safety. He lived in London, where many other refugees from Europe lived. There, he met other plant enthusiasts, including the English botanist John Gerard. Mathias and his friend Pierre Pena explored England, looking for plants. They returned to the Netherlands between 1571 and 1574.
In 1596, when he was 58, l'Obel married Isabeau Laigniez in Lille. They had two daughters. Both of his sons-in-law became pharmacists in London. Mathias eventually moved back to England for good in 1596. He was close friends with Thomas Penny, another botanist he met in Montpellier. Mathias de l'Obel died in Highgate in 1616 at the age of 78. He was buried in the churchyard of St Denis.
L'Obel's coat of arms, which you can see on his books, shows two poplar trees. This is a clever way to hint at his name, as "Aubel" is French for poplar.
His Work with Plants
After his studies, l'Obel worked as a doctor in England from 1566 to 1571. He lived in London and then in Somerset. He went on plant expeditions with Carolus Clusius, another famous botanist. When he returned to Europe, he practiced medicine in Antwerp (1571–1581) and then Delft (1581–1584).
This period was very busy for him, and he published two important books. In Delft, l'Obel became the personal doctor to William the Silent, the Prince of Orange. His book Kruydtboeck (1581) was dedicated to the Prince. After the Prince was assassinated in 1584, l'Obel became a city doctor in Middelburg. He helped create a botanical garden there.
In 1596, he moved back to England for good. In 1607, he became the personal doctor and "Royal Botanist" to King James I of England. One of his jobs was to manage the botanical garden of Lord Zouch in Hackney, London. This garden was a special place where botanists gathered. It helped connect plant experts in England with those on the continent. In 1598, he also traveled with Lord Zouch to Denmark, where he explored for new plants.
Mathias de l'Obel spent much of his life trying to find a logical way to sort and classify plants. He wanted a system that could be tested by careful observation.
In his 1571 book, Stirpium, he focused on the shape of plant leaves and their veins. He noticed that grass-like plants had long, straight, parallel veins. Most other plants had wide leaves with veins that looked like a net. He was the first to see this basic difference between monocotyledons (like grasses) and dicotyledons (like most trees and flowers). However, he didn't give these groups special names.
The World of Botany in His Time
L'Obel was part of a group called the "Flemish Fathers of Botany." This group included other famous botanists like Carolus Clusius and Rembert Dodoens. People in Flanders had been collecting and growing plants for a long time. Their gardens had many rare plants, but many were destroyed during the civil wars of the 1500s.
At the start of the 1500s, people thought that all plants had already been discovered. But during l'Obel's life, plant knowledge grew a lot! This was partly because explorers were finding new plants in other parts of the world. Also, the invention of printing and the use of wood-block pictures made it easier to share information about plants. This time was like a "botanical Renaissance" or rebirth.
From the 1530s, people across Europe became very interested in natural history. Gardening and growing plants became popular, even among kings and queens. The first botanical gardens appeared, along with the first illustrated plant encyclopedias. Thousands of detailed drawings of plants were made. Farmers, gardeners, and doctors were joined by new plant experts. Collecting plants became a serious study.
Many great botanists of the 1500s, like l'Obel, were first trained as doctors. They studied plants not just for medicine, but because they were interested in plants themselves. Universities started creating special courses in botany within their medical schools. Scientists began using careful observation and experiments to study plants.
These were also difficult times. After the Protestant Reformation, there was a lot of religious conflict. In the Netherlands, the northern provinces started a war against the Spanish rulers, called the Eighty Years War (1568–1648). Many people had to flee their homes, and many gardens were destroyed. L'Obel himself said it was becoming hard to live in his home country of Flanders.
His Legacy
Plants Named After Him
The plant genus Lobelia and the plant family Lobeliaceae were named after Mathias de l'Obel by Charles Plumier in 1703.
See also
