Anton Praetorius
Encyclopedia
Anton Praetorius was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...

 pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....

 who spoke out against the persecution of witches (witchhunts, witchcraft trials) and against torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...

.

Life and writings

Praetorius was born in Lippstadt
Lippstadt
Lippstadt is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town within the district of Soest.-Geography:Lippstadt is situated in the Lippe valley, roughly 70 kilometres east of Dortmund and roughly 30 kilometres west of Paderborn...

 as the son of Matthes Schulze. He later changed his name to the Latin Praetorius
Praetorius
Praetorius, Prätorius, Prætorius was the name of several musicians and scholars in Germany.In Germany of the 16th and 17th centuries it became a fashion that educated people named "Schulze" or "Schultheiß" or "Richter", which means "judge", put their name into the Latin language as "Praetorius",...

. He studied theology and became principal of the humanistic Latin school in Kamen
Kamen
Kamen is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the district Unna.-Geography:Kamen is situated at the east end of the Ruhr area, approx...

, Westphalia
Westphalia
Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...

. There, he married, but his wife Maria died of the plague. They had one child, Johannes.

As the first Calvinist pastor in the parish of Dittelsheim, he undertook a trip to Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...

, the centre of Calvinist theology in Germany. Praetorius was so impressed by the Great Wine Barrel
Heidelberg Tun
The Heidelberg Tun is an extremely large wine vat contained within the cellars of Heidelberg Castle. There have been four such barrels in the history of Heidelberg; the present one has a capacity of approximately 220,000 litres and was made in 1751. One hundred and thirty oak trees were reputedly...

 in Heidelberg Castle
Heidelberg Castle
The Heidelberg Castle is a famous ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps....

 that he published a poem with the title "Vas Heidelbergense" in October 1595, praising its size as an apparent proof of the superiority of the Calvinist religion.

In his poem on Wolfgang Ernst, Count of Ysenburg, Büdingen and Birstein ("De pii magistratus officio"), he asked the Christian governments for a reformation of nation and church along the principles of the Bible and the Calvinist faith. Subsequently, the count called him as a princely preacher to his castle in Birstein
Birstein
Birstein is a municipality on the northeastern edge of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis in Hesse, Germany with approximately 6,600 inhabitants. It was the home of the former principality of Isenburg-Birstein.-Geography:...

 near Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

.

In the town of Birstein, Praetorius published church songs, a catechism, and a book for families about Christian education in 1597. In 1602, he made a contribution to the discussion about the interpretation of the Last Supper
Last Supper
The Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...

 and the Sacrament
Sacrament
A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...

s in his book De Sacrosanctis novi foederis Jesu Christi.

Fight against the persecution of witches

In 1597 Praetorius was appointed as pastor to the Count of Büdingen/ Ysenburg in Birstein and had to witness the torture of 4 women accused of witchcraft.
According to the court records, Reverend Praetorius was so upset about the torture of the accused woman that he pressed for a stop in the trial against the last surviving woman. His protest against the torture can be found in the record of the witch-trial of Birstein 1597: "As the pastor has violently protested against the torture of the women, it has therefore been stopped this time." As a consequence Anton Praetorius was dismissed by the count.

In his new parochy in Laudenbach
Laudenbach (Rhein-Neckar)
Laudenbach is a town in the district of Rhein-Neckar in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....

 near Heidelberg he wrote the book Gründlicher Bericht über Zauberey und Zauberer (Thorough Report about Witchcraft and Witches) to protest against torture and the prosecution of witches. At first he published the book in 1598 under the name of his son Johannes Schulze ("Johannes Scultetus"). In 1602 he dared to publish the book under his own name. The book was published again in 1613 and posthumously in 1629.

Praetorius was one of the first to describe the terrible situation of the prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

ers and to protest against torture, and with his "Bericht" Praetorius publicly objected to the prevailing attitude in the church (a view held by Roman Catholics as well as Protestants such as Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

 and John Calvin
John Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...

) on the torture and burning of witches. Praetorius died in Laudenbach.

Publications (German and Latin)

  • Vas Heidelbergense, Heidelberg, October 1595 (Poem about the 1. Great Wine Barrel in the Castle of Heidelberg. Only one remaining print, translated into German by Burghard Schmanck)
  • De pii magistratus officio (Poem on Wolfgang Ernst, Earl of Ysenburg, Büdingen and Birstein). Heidelberg, Printed by Christoph Löw, 1596 (Only one remaining print, translated into German by Burghard Schmanck)
  • Hauptstück (catechism) Christlicher Religion sampt den gemeinesten Gebetlein/ und etlichen Fragen. Printed in Lich by Nicolaum Erbenium. 1597. Only one remaining print, fragment
  • Haußgespräch, darinn kurtz doch klärlich vnd gründlich begriffen wirdt, was zu wahrer Christlicher Bekanntnuß auch Gottseligem Wandel ... zu wissen von nöhten, (conversation in the family about Christian education) Printed in Lich 1597
  • Gründlicher Bericht von Zauberey und Zauberern/ darinn dieser grausamen Menschen feindtseliges und schändliches Vornemen/ und wie Christlicher Obrigkeit ihnen Zubegegnen/ ihr Werck zuhindern/ auffzuheben und zu Straffen / gebüre und wol möglich sey... kurtz und ordentlich erkläret. (Thorough Report about Witchcraft and Witches) By Joannem Scultetum Westphalo camensem. (Johannes Scultetum is a pseudonym of Anton Praetorius) printed in Lich by Nicolas Erbenis. 1598
  • Clarissimo juris utriusque Doctori Domino Jano Grutero Sponso. Poem for the wedding of Jan Gruter, (translated into German by Burghard Schmanck) 1601 (Only one remaining print)
  • Gründlicher Bericht von Zauberey und Zauberern: kurtz und ordentlich erkläret durch Antonium Praetorium, (Thorough Report about Witchcraft and Witches) printed in Lich/ 1602
  • De Sacrosanctis novi foederis Jesu Christi (about the sacraments) printed by Wolgangus Kezelius and Conradus Nebenius, Lich 1602
  • Nemo Ad Desideratissimas 15. Iunii.,1613 (Poem for a wedding of a pastor) Lancellotus Heidelberg (only one remaining print)
  • Von Zauberey und Zauberern/ Gründlicher Bericht, (Thorough Report about Witchcraft and Witches) printed 1613 in Heidelberg by Johann Lancellot/ Andreae Cambier.
  • Gründlicher Bericht, (Thorough Report about Witchcraft and Witches) printed 1629 in Frankfurt am Main by Johann Niclas Stoltzenbergern/ Johann Carl Unckels
  • several handwritten letters

External links

  • http://www.bautz.de (Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, Verlag Traugott Bautz)
  • http://www.anton-praetorius.de biography and literature about Anton Praetorius
  • http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/%7Ecd2/drw/F3/praetor/o02wid.htm reprinted text of the "Bericht" of Praetorius 1613
  • http://www.theology.de/praetorius.htm Biography including coulored pictures
  • http://news.genealog.de/rheinhessen/dittelsheim-hessloch/anton-praetorius-teil1.shtml Praetorius as pastor in Dittelsheim (with pictures)
  • http://www.sfn.uni-muenchen.de/hexenverfolgung/art784.htm biography
  • http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/Chronologia/Lspost16/Praetorius/pra_mag.html (Latin texts of Praetorius)
  • http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/Chronologia/Lspost16/Praetorius/pra_vas0.html Latin text der Schrift von Praetorius Das 1. Große Fass von Heidelberg
  • http://www.schmanck.de/desacrFormat20Auszug.pdf De sacrosanctis, Homilia quinta: De infantibus ante baptismum mortuis Latin text
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