André

André, JOHANN VALENTIN, born in 1586 near Tübingen, became a Protestant pastor, and died in 1654 at Stuttgart, where he was chaplain to the court. His writings are remarkable for wit and humour, acuteness and moral power. He was long regarded as the founder or restorer of the order of the Rosicrucians (q.v.), a view based on his misunderstood Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosenkreuz (1616)—really meant to ridicule the follies of the age, Rosicrucianism included. He wrote mainly in Latin, but also in the Swabian dialect. Among his works are his Menippus (1617) and his Geistliche Kurzweil (1619).