Hammerlin or Hammerlein, Felix (Lat. Mal- leolus), a Swiss theologian, was born at Zurich in 1389. He studied canon law at Erfurt, was in 1421 appointed caiion of Zofiiigen, and in 1422 jirovost of Solothurn. With the income of these offices he bought a large li- brary, and applied himself earnestly to studA^ He sub- sequently took jiart in the Council of Basle, where he showed great zeal for the restoration of ecclesiastical discipline, and thus made himself a number of enemies. An attempt was made to assassinate him in 1439, but he escaped, though not without being dangerouslv wound- ed. The xxxth chai)ter of his Be Nohilitate,\n which he abused the confederate cantons which had waged war on Zurich in 1443, made him an object of hatred to a large party of his countrymen. A number of these, having gone to Zurich on the occasion of the Carnival of 1454, seized Hiimmerlin, dragged him to Constance, and had him thrown into prison. As he refused to re- tract anything he had said or 'iVritten, he was condemn-
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ed to imprisonment for life in a convent. He was ac- cordingly placed in a convent of barefooted monks at Lucerne, where he died some time after 1457, a victim to his zeal for justice and truth. He wrote Varim Ob- lectationis Opuscula et Tractatus (Basle, 1497, fol.), con- taining a number of treatises on exorcism, on monkish discipline, against the Beghards, etc. He is ven,- se- vere in these writings against the prevailing corruptions of the clergy and the convents. He also left some MSS., which are presers-ed in the collegiate library of Zurich. See Bodmer u. Breitinger, Hdvetische Bihliothek (Zurich, 1735) ; Hettinger, Schola Tiffurina, p. 24 ; Niceron, 3fe- moiies,yo\. xxvui; Hoefer, A'oi/i". Biof/. Geiterale, xxiii, 268 : Keber, Felix IlemmerUn (Zurich, 184G).
Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph von, a German Ori- entalist of great celebrity, was bom July 9, 1774, at Gratz, in Styria, and died in Vienna Nov. 24, 185G. His family name was Hammer, and he is frequently referred to under that name, or as Von Hammer; but having in- herited in 1837 the estates of the counts of Purgstall, he added that name to his own, and ^v'as made a baron. He entered at an early age the Oriental Academy at Vienna, and acquired a knowledge of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. Being subsequently employed in various diplomatic posts in the East, he greatly extended his acquaintance with Oriental languages and literature. He wrote and spoke ten foreign languages, viz. the three above named, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French, English, and Russian ; but his works show rather varied and extensive research and learning than profound mas- tery of his subjects. They are by no means free from en-ors, though his carefid reference to autiiorities makes correction of mistakes comparatively easy. His wTit- ings, including contributions to journals and scientific associations, would make more than 100 octavo volumes, ^ and, on the whole, are regarded as among the most valu- • able contributions of the present century to Oriental his- tory and literature. They are noticed here because of the information they give as to the religious history and condition of Oriental nations. The most important of his works in this respect are Encijclopndische Ueher- sicht der W issensckaften des Orientx (Lpz. 1804, 2 vols. in 1, 8vo), a work based on seven Oriental Avorks, espe- cially the bibliographical dictionary of Hadgi Khalfa : — Ancient Alphabets atid Hieroglyphic Characters explain- ed, with an Account of the Egyptian Priests, their Classes, Initiation, and Sacrifices (translated from the Arabic of Ahwad bin-Abubakr bin-AVahshili, London, 180G, small 4to) : — Fiindyriiben des Orients, etc., ou Mines de V Ori- ent exploitees (Vienna, 1809-18, (i vols, in 3, fol., of which Hammer-Purgstall was the chief editor) : — Morgenlwul- isches Kleeblatt (Persian and Arab In-mns, etc. ; Vienna, 1818, 4to) : — Geschichte der schvnen Redckiinste Persiens (Vienna, 1818, 4to) : — ]\[ysteriiim Baphometis rerelatuni (Vienna, 1818, fol.; also in vol. vi of Mines de V Orient : the author herein seeks to prove from emblems on mon- uments once belonging to the Templars that their order was guilty of the crimes charged to it. Eaynouard [^Jour- naldes Savants, 1819] refuted this opinion, but Hammer- Purgstall defended it with new arguments in a paper in the Memoirs of the Academy of Vie7ina, Wbb) : — Ge- schichte der Assassinen (Paris, 1833, 8vo, and an English ed. by Wood, History of the Assassins, Lond. 1835, 8vo. The author makes curious comparisons between the As- sassins, the Templars, the Freemasons, and the Jesuits) : — Geschichte des Osmunischen Eeichs (best ed. Pesth, 1827-35, 10 vols. 8vo ; French translations by Dochez, Paris, 1844, 3 vols. 8vo, and by Hellert, with notes and an Atlas, Histoire de V Empire Ottoman, Paris, 1835-43, 18 vols. 8vo) :— Geschichte der Osmanischen Dichtlcumt (Pesth, 1836-38, 10 vols. 8vo— a completer history of Turkish poetrA^ than any existing, even in Turkey it- self) : — the celebrated treatise on morals by GhazaU, im- der the title of 0 Kind! die beriihmte ethische Abhand- lung Ghasalis (\\em\&, 1838, 12mo) : — Zeitirarte des Gebetes, a prayer-book in Arabic and German (^'ienna, 1844, 8vo) : — Liter atur-Gtschichte der Araber (Vienna,
HAMMOND
1856, 7 vols. 4to : this work, as first published, ends with the Bagdad caliphate, and contains about 10,000 biographical and bibliographical notices): — Das Ara- bkche Ilohe Lied der Liebe, etc., with commentary, and an introduction relative to mysticism among the Arabs (Vienna, 1854, 8vo). Hammer left an autobiography {Denkwiirdigkeiten cms meineni Leben) and other writings in MS., which have been published, or are publishing, under the direction of Auer, director of the imperial printing-press of Vienna. — Neiu Avierican Cyclopccdia, viii, 690 ; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generate, xxiii, 259 sq. ; Pierer, s. v. ; K. Schlottman, Joseph von U.-Purgstedl, eia kritischcr Beitraq zur Geschichte neuerer deutscher 117a- senschaft (Zurich, 1857, [73 p.] 8vo). (J. W. M.)