Early modern Mosaic physics and its pre-Comenian representatives (1559–1613)

In his Physicae synopsis of 1633, Johann Amos Comenius (1592–1670) presented a list of previous representatives of Mosaic physics. They included Francisco Vallés (1524–1592), Lambert Daneau (1530–1595), Levinus Lemnius (1505–1568), Thomas Lydiat (1572–1646), Kort Aslakssøn (1564–1624), and Otto Casmann (1562–1607). Although Ann Blair has noted some time ago that Mosaic physics did not form a unified school but was, rather, a cluster of names linked by an agenda and mutual references, the question remains as to what exact topics the individual representatives were pursuing and, above all, whether it is possible to find thematic overlaps and referential bonds between all six authors named by Comenius. This paper, therefore, analyzes their definition and understanding of the Mosaic program with particular attention to the imperative to read the Scriptures literally and explores in detail the mutual links of Comenius’s alleged forerunners.