Deák Antal András: A Duna fölfedezése
Tartalom - III.A DANUBIUS PANNONICO-MYSICUS, 1726
T II E DISCOVERY OF THE DANUBE money, so Marsigli's ownership rights were rather questionable. Aware of this, he emphasised when he donated his protected treasure to his native town that, apart from a few copper plates, the whole work had been carried out through the emperor's financial support. 225 On his arrival in Italy, Marsigli first went to the camp of Louis XIV's fighting army. He was to face, however, another disappointment. The French needed his services but only on conditions that Marsigli could not accept. Namely, they would have liked to send him as an experienced military engineer with an intimate knowledge of Hungarian conditions to Hungary in the company of a group of French officers and military engineers to help Ferenc Rákóczi II in his war of liberation against Vienna. 226 Marsigli, a convinced monarchist, did not like the idea of fighting on the side of the rebels, and found it too dangerous as well. He refused the offer and returned to Switzerland. He arrived in Luzern around September. 227 However, he felt out of place in a world enclosed by mountains, and planned, on Cassini s suggestion, to settle in Montpellier, a French town with a lively intellectual life. Torcy, 22 8 the French minister, attached a letter to his passport stating King Louis XIV's wish that he should travel via Paris. In October, he crossed the St Gotthard pass once more, and with this ended the Swiss chapter in his life. He spent the January and February of 1706 in Paris. The king received him benignly, but he soon saw that he should abanndon all hope of an appropriate position in the French army stationed in Italy or in Spain. So, according to his original plan, he settled in Montpellier. This happened at a time when Louis XIV conferred the title Royal to the freshly established academy in the town (1706). The Scientific Society, to match the traditions of a town famous for its medical university, botanical garden and, hydrographic department, placed natural sciences at the focus of its activities. Among scientists, Marsigli regained his composure, and forgetting about his derailed military career, found consolence in science. He became the first corresponding member of the academy. He made a summary of the results of his research into the seas for the Society 22 9, and it was to his great merit that he urged them, just as he had done in London, to inform foreign scholars concerning their scientific results by means of correspondence as well, collecting as much information as possible from them. It seemed to him extremely important that scientists inform each other about the results of their work and discoveries and also attributed great significance to publication. He even initiated contacts with states that were at war with France! In order to help the Scientific Society in these endeavours, he, a scientist with experience of the world, sent a letter with the addresses of European scientists, with whom, he thought, contacts should be established. He mentioned eight physicians and anatomists, five mathematicians, four physicists, three astronomers, three botanists and three professors from various European states. In acknowledgement of his work, he was elected member of the Academy of Montpellier. 230 In January 1708, Marsigli wrote to 22 5 Archivio di Stato, Bologna; Assuntcria di Istituto - Diversorum - B. 20 n. 7. fasc. 3. 226 Ferenc. Rákóczi II (Borsi, 1676 - Tekirdag, 1735) asked the French join forces with him against the Hapsburgs as early as 1700. He was betrayed and imprisoned. He fled from the prison in Bécsújhely and went into exile in Poland. He returned in 1703 and took to the field for the liberation of the country. He was abandonned and had to sign a peace treaty with Vienna in 1711. He spent the rest of his life in exile, first in France and then in Turkey. 22 7 Stoye op. Cit: 262. 22 8 Torcy, Jean Baptiste Colbert (1665 - 1746), under-secretary of state for Louis XIV from 1699 -1715. 22 9 A shorter version of his study on the seas appeared in Italian in 1711: Brieve ristretto del saggio fisico intorno alia storia del mare A. Poletti, Venezia, 1711. 72 pp. 1725 a full version was published by a company, perhaps of bookhandlers, in Amsterdam in French with the title „Histoire physique de la mer". 230 -pFe data concerning the Academy of Montpelliere came from the study: J. Carpine-Lancra and A. McConnell: Le comte 1.. F. Marsigli et la societé royale des scienses de montpelliere. 131
