Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Comenius, Jan Amos

Born: 28 March 1592, Southeast Moravia

Died: 15 November 1670, Amsterdam

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy

  • 5 Accesses

Abstract

John Amos Comenius was a Czech theologian, philosopher, writer, and educational reformer. Although renowned primarily for his didactic and pedagogical legacy, today it is his philosophical and theological works that are gaining increasing attention. These are represented mainly by the extensive treatise De Rerum Humanarum Emendatione Consultatio Catholica (General Consultation on the Improvement of Human Affairs), in which Comenius contemplates the ways to remedy the three basic human institutes (philosophy, politics, and religion) through the systematization of knowledge based on a new methodology, a new system of education, and a new universal language and through building new social organizations. Comenius’ works as such were heavily influenced by eschatology, rejection of violence, and the pursuit of religious reconciliation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 1,399.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 1,599.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Primary Literature

  • Comenius, John Amos. 1657. Lux in tenebris, hoc est Prophetiae donum. Amstelodami [publisher not identified].

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. 1665. Lux e tenebris novis radiis aucta. Lugduni Batavorum [publisher not identified].

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. De rerum humanarum emendatione consultatio catholica. Vol. I and II. Prague: Academia 1966.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. Dílo Jana Amose Komenského/Johannis Amos Comenii opera omnia. Prague: ČSAV, Academia, 17 vols. Since 1969. For the contents of the volumes, see: http://komeniologie.flu.cas.cz/cz/edice-djak/opera-omnia

  • Comenius, John Amos. 1969a. Amphitheatrum universitatis rerum. In Opera omnia 1, 183–200. Prague: Academia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. 1969b. Theatrum universitatis rerum. In Opera omnia 1, 95–181. Prague: Academia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. J. A. Comenius: Selections from His Works. Prague: SPN 1964.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. Veškeré spisy Jana Amose Komenského, 8 vols., Brno: Ústřední Spolek Jednot učitelskyćh na Moravě 1910–1929

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. 1978a. Centrum securitatis, Renuntiatio mundi. In Opera omnia 3, 473–564. Prague: Academia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. 1978b. Labyrint světa a ráj srdce [Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart]. In Opera omnia 3, 267–412. Prague: Academia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. 1978c. Truchlivý I [The Mournful I]. In Opera omnia 3, 19–65. Prague: Academia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. Opera didactica omnia I-III. Prague: Academia 1975.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. 1974a. Pansophiae diatyposis. In Opera omnia 14, 169–278. Prague: Academia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. 1974b. Unum necessarium. In Opera omnia 18, 71–145. Prague: Academia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. 1974c. Via lucis. In Opera omnia 14, 281–385. Prague: Academia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. The Labyrinth of the world and the paradise of the heart, that is a bright portrayal showing that in this world and in its works there is nothing but confusion and staggering, floundering and drudgery, deceit and fraud, misery … . Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press 1972.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. Vybrané spisy J. A. Komenského I-VIII. Prague: SPN 1958–1978

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. 1989a. Conatuum pansophicorum dilucidatio. In Opera omnia 15/II, 57–82. Prague: Academia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. 1989b. Pansophiae praeludium. In Opera omnia 15/II, 11–53. Prague: Academia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comenius, John Amos. 1992. Clamores Eliae. In Opera omnia 23. Prague: Academia.

    Google Scholar 

Secondary Literature

  • Blekastad, Milada. 1969. Comenius. Versuch eines Umrisses von Leben, Werk und Schicksal des Jan Amos Komenský. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caravolas, Jean. 2016. Les Français et Jan Amos Coménius: histoire d’une relation difficile (1631–2000). Paris: Honoré Champion Éditeur.

    Google Scholar 

  • Červenka, Jaromír. 1970. Die Naturphilosophie des Johann Amos Comenius. Prague: Academia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Čížek, Jan. 2016. The conception of man in the works of John Amos Comenius. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Verlag.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Floss, Pavel. 1968. Příroda, člověk a společnost v díle J. A. Komenského [Nature, man and society in the work of John Amos Comenius]. Přerov: MNV.

    Google Scholar 

  • Floss, Pavel. 1997. Grundriss der Philosophie des Johann Amos Comenius. Studia Comeniana et Historica 57–58(XXVII): 5–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Floss, Pavel. 2005. Poselství J. A. Komenského současné Evropě [Comenius’s Message to Today’s Europe]. Brno: Soliton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goris, Wouter, Vladimír Urbánek, and Meinert A. Meyer (eds.). 2016. Gewalt Sei Ferne Den Dingen!: Contemporary perspectives on the works of John Amos Comenius. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalivoda, Robert. 1992. Husitská epocha a J. A. Komenský [The Hussite era and John Amos Comenius]. Prague: Odeon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kopecký, Jaromír, Jan Patočka, and Jiří Kyrášek. 1957. Jan Amos Komenský. Nástin života a díla díla [John Amos Comenius: An outline of his life and work]. Prague: SPN.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumpera, Jan. 1992. Jan Amos Komenský. Poutník na rozhraní věků [John Amos Comenius: A pilgrim at the turn of eras]. Ostrava: Amosium Servis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Novák, Jan V., and Josef Hendrich. 1932. Jan Amos Komenský. Jeho život a spisy [John Amos Comenius. His life and works]. Prague: Dědictví Komenského.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patočka, Jan. 1997. Komeniologické studie I [Comeniological studies I]. Prague: OIKOYMENH.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patočka, Jan. 1998. Komeniologické studie II [Comeniological studies II]. Prague: OIKOYMENH.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patočka, Jan. 2003. Komeniologické studie III [Comeniological studies III]. Prague: OIKOYMENH.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pavlas, Petr. 2015. Trinus liber Dei: Komenského místo v dějinách metaforiky knihy [Trinus Liber Dei: Comenius’s place in the history of book metaphor]. Červený Kostelec: Pavel Mervart.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popelová, Jiřina. 1958. Jana Amose Komenského cesta k všenápravě [Comenius’s path to a great reformation]. Prague: SPN.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turnbull, G.H. 1947. Hartlib, Dury and Comenius: Gleanings from Hartlib’s papers. London: University Press of Liverpool.

    Google Scholar 

  • Urbánek, Vladimír. 2013. Komeniologie a intelektuální dějiny raného novověku [The comeniology and early modern intellectual history]. In Základní problémy studia raného novověku, ed. Marie Šedivá Koldinská and Ivo Cerman. Prague: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny.

    Google Scholar 

  • Válka, Josef. 1994. Komenský a nadkonfesijní křesťanství [Comenius and Non-Denominational Christianity]. Studia Comeniana et Historica 51(XXIV): 124–130.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Arts, Centre for Renaissance Texts, Department of Philosophy, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic

    Jan Čížek

  2. Department of Comenius Studies and Early Modern Intellectual History, Institute of Philosophy, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic

    Jan Čížek

Authors
  1. Jan Čížek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jan Čížek .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Philosophy a. Cultural Heritage, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Venezia, Italy

    Marco Sgarbi

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Čížek, J. (2022). Comenius, Jan Amos. In: Sgarbi, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14169-5_1162

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation