Justus Velsius
Justus Velsius | |
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Humanist |
Justus Velsius, Haganus, or Joost Welsens in Dutch (c. 1510, The Hague, Low Countries[notes 1] – after 1581 at an unknown location), was a Dutch humanist, physician, and mathematician.
Velsius started his career as a highly respected professor of
Life
After studying
Strasbourg
From Easter 1544-50 Velsius taught
Cologne: prosecuted by the Inquisition
Velsius matriculated at Cologne on 3 June 1550. The Council of Cologne wanted to build a
Velsius attended the meetings of the
Velsius refused to leave, and went voluntarily in detention, from December 1555 to the end of March 1556. He asked his influential friend Viglius to support him, but Viglius declined to get involved. Greatly offended by this refusal, Velsius apparently accused his friend of Protestant leanings, and severed all connections with his former friend. Because of this precedent the council adopted in 1555 a comprehensive directive against all heretics.
The
Frankfurt: disputation with Calvin
- predestination. The debate with Calvin, Johannes à Lascoand Horne lasted two days; Velsius' argument boiled down to this: aut esse liberum arbitrium, aut Deum tyrannum esse (Either there is free will, or God is a tyrant).
In a letter addressed to
Melanchthon, dated 17 September 1556, Calvin commented as follows:I have been dragged hither by the dissensions with which Satan has rent, for nearly two years, the little French church established here, and reduced to such extremities that it must have disappeared, unless some remedy had been very promptly applied. Since I entered the town I have not had a moment's repose, and as if I had not had sufficient occupation in this affair, a madman called Velsius, to whom you had written twice, involved us in new fooleries. But we have devoted only two days to this importunity. I am continually distracted up to this moment, in appeasing those dissentions which, from the long lapse of time, have struck deep root.[11]
On 15 April 1557 Velsius was expelled by the Council of Frankfurt.
Heidelberg: trouble with the Kurfürst
On 5 August 1557 Velsius matriculated at Heidelberg,
new birth and free will, and accused the pastor of being a false apostle and misleader of the prince and people.[13] In November 1559 he was also disallowed to give private lectures, after intervention of Kurfürst Friedrich III, and was expelled by the Senate of the University. Velsius shook the dust off his shoes[14] as he left.[15]In 1560 Velsius was back in Frankfurt. He asked the council for permission to have a book printed he had written die Summa christlicher Lehre und Lebens (The Summary of Christian Doctrine and Life). The council referred his request to the Lutheran pastors, who on 2 August 1560 reported back that his book contained theses that were against orthodox doctrine. They also expressed concern that these doctrines could lead to unrest in the foreign churches in the city,
happened in Münster. On 18 March 1561 the council ordered Velsius to leave the city, since he had his book printed without permission. The innkeeper where he was boarding, Hansen Braun, was told to no longer allow him to stay in his house.[17]In May 1561 Velsius was in Strasbourg. He wrote to Flinner (who had returned from Heidelberg) and the preachers, and to the council as well, submitting 20 propositions, probably the same ones as he announced in Heidelberg and in Frankfurt. These were not accepted, since they disagreed with the catechism then in use in Strasbourg.
A month later, in June 1561, Velsius was in Basel. He was luckier there, at least he could count on Sebastian Castellio, with whom he had corresponded before, and advocates of tolerance such as Cellarius and Celio Secondo Curione. He submitted a summary to the Council of the University, who considered it on 16 June. The council forwarded it to the Faculty of Theology, since it was outside their area of expertise. Cellarius proposed a number of theses for an academic disputation, but Velsius declined after the council had refused a public debate.
On 25 June Velsius departed for Zürich, where he arrived the next day. He wrote to the council, and Bullinger responded on behalf of the council, pointing out that his criticism didn't apply since it was directed at Luther and at the Roman Catholic Church. On 4 July Velsius had left town.
On 1 August Velsius was back in Heidelberg, where he wrote a last time to Bonifacius Amerbach and to Johannes Sturm. He matriculated in Marburg at the end of August 1561, where he lectured at the medical school. However, he remained only a few months in Marburg.
London: more religious turmoil
In 1563, Velsius had crossed the
Queen Elizabeth.
Justus Velsius' signature on his letter to Queen Elizabeth He also wrote a letter to the French Ambassador denouncing the vengeance of God on all who refused to receive his propositions.[21] In his letter to the Queen, Velsius claimed to have confirmed his calling by performing miracles. The servant to the ambassador, Cosmus, fasted five or six days by Velsius' persuasion that after his abstinence he might receive illuminations a cœlo. According to Grindal in the end he fell mad, so neither of those miracles stood the test of further investigation. Bishop Grindal wrote a rebuttal, showing that Velsius' teachings were against orthodox doctrine. Velsius was summoned before the ecclesiastical commission, consisting of Bishop Grindal, the Bishop of Winchester Robert Horne, and the Dean of St. Paul's Alexander Nowell, who had a frank discussion with him, and charged him in the Queen's name to leave the kingdom. This he complained of in very rude words to the Queen, and predicted the death of the bishop of Winchester and other important public figures.[notes 2]
Groningen: imprisonment
Velsius returned to his native Holland, in April 1566 he was
de Roblesrequired the jail to be vacated, since the adjacent castle had to be strengthened and readied for the garrison.Holland: faith healer
In April 1570 he was again in Cologne and then traveled through the Netherlands as a Protestant preacher. In 1578, 1580 and 1581, he was in Leiden.
Work
Velsius published the Greek text of Proclus's De Motu (On Motion), along with a Latin translation.[works 5]
Theology
Justus Velsius is interesting because his life reflects so well the unsettled intellectual conditions of 16th-century Europe. His theological profile in the religious landscape is not clearly defined: first, he did not agree with
forgiveness of sins. He thought of himself as a messenger of God, sent to warn people for eternal damnation, and claimed to be able to confirm his teachings by miracles.It has been suggested that Velsius may have known
Anabaptist religious reformer Johann Campanus, or at the very least that they were aware of each other's work.Velsius' teachings appear to be related to those of the Family of Love. Velsius was a contemporary of Hendrik Niclaes, the founder of the Family of Love, and it seems likely that they may have known each other.
Selected works
Notes
- Friesland instead.[1]
- ^ Velsius' Christiani Hominis Norma, and his letters to Grindal, Queen Elizabeth, the French Ambassador, Cecil, and related papers from Grindal have been placed online on the website of the University of Hull, Volume 28 March–May 1563. Included is a letter to Calvin with propositions contrary to Calvin's doctrines, with Horne's response; these may be the theses used at the Frankfurt disputation. For transcripts of Grindal's paper, and Velsius' Norma, see here, here, and here.
References
- ^ OCLC 14866965.
- OCLC 1129338.
- ^ Ball, J.M. (1910). Andreas Vesalius, the reformer of anatomy. Medical science press. p. 71. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
- OCLC 185923822.
- OCLC 19041747.
- ^ Neff, Christian. (1958). Imbroich, Thomas von (1533–1558). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 31 October 2010, from http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/I475.html.
- OCLC 162895721.
- OCLC 166109991.
- OCLC 644086668.
- ISBN 9789004075658. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
- ISBN 9780891300250. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
- OCLC 24849061.
- OCLC 42081608.
- ^ Matthew 10:14–15, Mark 6:11–13, Luke 9:5–6, Acts 13:51–52
- OCLC 165944546.
- OCLC 1481953.
- OCLC 470721818.
- ISBN 978-9004157842.
- OCLC 17573600.
- OCLC 15137522.
- OCLC 15137458.
- OCLC 39941293.
Further reading
- OCLC 79416230.
- Bor, Pieter Cristiaenszoon (1680). Oorsprongk, begin, en vervolgh der Nederlandsche oorlogen, beroerten, en borgelyke oneenigheden (in Dutch). Amsterdam: Weduwe van Joannes van Someren, Abraham Wolfgangh, Hendrick en Dirck Boom. pp. 21–23. OCLC 249050708.
- OCLC 222764557.
- Sepp, Christiaan (1885). Kerkhistorische studiën (in Dutch). Leiden: E.J. Brill. pp. 91–179. OCLC 13389121.
- OCLC 9239220.
- Pollet, Jacques V. (1977). "XXV : Justus Velsius". Martin Bucer: études sur les relations de Bucer avec les Pays-Bas (in French). Vol. I. Leiden: E.J. Brill. pp. 321–344. OCLC 401444765.
- Feist-Hirsch, Elisabeth (1957). "The strange career of a humanist: The intellectual development of Justus Velsius (1502–1582)". In Berthoud, Gabrielle (ed.). Aspects de la propagande religieuse: études. Genève: Librairie Droz. pp. 308–325. OCLC 153879529.
- Klaus-Bernward Springer (2002). "Velsius (Velsen, Welsens), Justus". In Bautz, Traugott (ed.). Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 20. Nordhausen: Bautz. cols. 1492–1495. ISBN 3-88309-091-3.
External links
Media related to Justus Velsius at Wikimedia Commons
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