Johann Heinrich Alsted: A Mediator between Francesco Patrizi and Jan Amos Comenius?

This study follows the author's previous research that pointed out to signifi cant similarities between the philosophical conceptions of Francesco Patrizi and those of Jan Amos Comenius. If we admit that the contents of Patrizi's greatest work Nova de universis philosophia did infl uence Comenius's thought in some respect, it raises the question of when Jan Amos encountered Patrizi's views. The question is the more topical when we consider that an indirect reference to Patrizi's work can be found in Comenius's treatise Conatuum pansophicorum dilucidatio, written several years before he travelled to London where, according to the present opinion of historians of philosophy, he became familiar with the contents of Nova de universis philosophia. The most probable mediator of Patrizi's work is Comenius's Herborn teacher Johann Heinrich Alsted. On the basis of an analysis of Alsted's works we come to the conclusion that even though he knew Patrizi's philosophical views, he took over and presented in his writings completely diff erent ideas from those which later infl uenced Jan Amos Comenius.