ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Seth Calvisius work as a chronologist and attempts to understand why the problems of dating Biblical and civil history might have been of interest to a music theorist. As Biblical hermeneutics became more sophisticated, a comprehensive timeline of Universal History was slowly being pieced together that attempted to harmonize biblical and pagan histories. Hence, the cycles of astral orbs as well as the seasons on Earth represented a kind of harmonia temporis. Chronology possesses a distinguished lineage traceable at least to Roman antiquity, where writers such as Ovid, Censorinus and Eusibius attempted to construct comprehensive historical calendars of significant civil events and personages. The handsome memorial portrait of Calvisius engraved by Conrad Grahl in 1616 is clear testimony to the esteem to which Calvisius's work as chronologist was held by his peers. The Exercitatio is noteworthy, however, for singling out a number of historical music theorists for attention.
