Johannes Messenius
Encyclopedia
Johannes Messenius was a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, dramatist and university professor. He was born in the village of Freberga, in Stenby parish in Östergötland
Östergötland
Östergötland, English exonym: East Gothland, is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland, and the Baltic Sea. In older English literature, one might also encounter the Latinized version, Ostrogothia...
, and died in Oulu
Oulu
Oulu is a city and municipality of inhabitants in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world....
, in modern-day Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
.
Childhood
He was the son of a millerMiller
A miller usually refers to a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a cereal crop to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents in other languages around the world...
named Jöns Thordsson. At an early age his brilliance caught the attention of a monastery priest named Magnus Andreae, who gave him guidance and taught him. Unbeknownst to the boy's parents, the priest sent him to the Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
school in Braunsberg, which was specialized in educating boys for winning Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
back from Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
.
Seeking a position
After seven years in Braunsberg, Johannes travelled across EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. He visited Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in 1602, and in 1603, he was a dinner speaker at Bishop Piotr Tylicki in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
. He made a short visit in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 1604, but the climate forced him to return to Germany
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...
where he possibly won an M.A. in Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt is a city in the Free State of Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany. It is located along the banks of the Danube River, in the center of Bavaria. As at 31 March 2011, Ingolstadt had 125.407 residents...
, in 1605. He is also said to have received the title Poëta cæsarius ("poet of the Emperor") from emperor Rudolph II
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Hungary and Croatia , King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria...
.
Johannes moved further north to the Jesuit hostel in Danzig, he taught at a school in Braunsberg, and eventually, he opened a private school in Danzig, where he married Lucia Grothusen, the daughter of Arnold Grothusen, the teacher of king Sigismund
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
.
By doing a panegyric
Panegyric
A panegyric is a formal public speech, or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing, a generally highly studied and discriminating eulogy, not expected to be critical. It is derived from the Greek πανηγυρικός meaning "a speech fit for a general assembly"...
work, Genealogia Sigismundi, in 1608, he strove for receiving a better position from the king. When the king did not show the expected gratitude, Johannes returned to Sweden, hoping to reclaim his father's farm Långebro, which had been confiscated by the State.
Back in Sweden
Since Charles IX of SwedenCharles IX of Sweden
Charles IX of Sweden also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, brother of Eric XIV and John III of Sweden, and uncle of Sigismund III Vasa king of both Sweden and Poland...
was suspicious towards Catholics
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and Jesuits, Johannes published a family tree of the kings ancestry, which showed how he was related to the many old dynasties of Europe. Through the intervention of his wife, Johannes received a repatriation permit, and after having given a vow of fealty, he received the position of professor of law and politics at Uppsala University
Uppsala University
Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...
.
Professorship
Johannes began a productive period in his life, which showed considerable learning. In Danzig, in 1605, his brethren among the Jesuits had informed the Swedish King Charles IX that Johannes had written a mocking poem on him. In order to convince everybody of his contempt for the Jesuits, he published two works. One was shorter and named Detecto Fraudis Jesuiticæ, in 1610, and a longer in Swedish named Retorsion och genswars skrifft emoot then lögn och skamlig dicht, which had already been published in GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
in 1609.
He showed his newly acquired fidelity to the House of Vasa
House of Vasa
The House of Vasa was the Royal House of Sweden 1523-1654 and of Poland 1587-1668. It originated from a noble family in Uppland of which several members had high offices during the 15th century....
by a new genealogic work and by translating into Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
a number of writings against Sigismund of Poland (King Charles' brother). With fervour, he started to do research and to write on Swedish history, and his source criticism was a forerunner of modern history writing.
In a rapid succession, he published the following works:
- Chronicon episcoporum per Sueciam, etc. (1611)
- Tumbæ veterum ac nuperorum apud Sveones regum, reginarum, ducum etc.
- Sveopentaprotopolis, etc.
- Specula (1612 (published in FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, in 1655) - Retorsio imposturarum (1612)
- Theatrum nobilitalis suecance (1616), which was the first publication of the pedigrees of the Swedish nobility.
Beside this work, he also published older sources for historical studies. He published Ragnvald Ingemundsson's Latin translation of the law of Magnus Eriksson
Magnus IV of Sweden
Magnus Eriksson as Magnus IV was king of Sweden , including Finland, as Magnus VII King of Norway , including Iceland and Greenland, and also ruled Scania . He has also vindictively been called Magnus Smek...
, in 1614, Ericus Olai's Swedish chronicle (1615), the Old Prose Chronicle and the Small Rhyme Chronicle, Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum .-Background:Little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles...
's description of Scandinavia and the beginning of the Large Rhyme Chronicle. It is evident that this large amount of work did not guarantee an even and high quality, but the many editions of his works that were printed testify to their popularity.
As a professor and teacher at the university, he became very popular by his concerns for his students, and by teaching them according to the recent Braunberg methods. He also made plays in the Swedish language
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
a popular activity for young people and he also made dramas himself.
Conflict
However, his hubris, boasting and waywardness caused difficulties with his colleagues at the university, especially since Johannes Rudbeck became his main enemy. The students were finally divided into two factions, one for him, and the other one against him. The ConsistoryConsistory
-Antiquity:Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek synedrion ....
at Uppsala became the battle ground for open fights and antics (partly with Messentius' support) that became so serious that the chancellor
Chancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
Axel Oxenstierna
Axel Oxenstierna
Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre , Count of Södermöre, was a Swedish statesman. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a confidant of first Gustavus Adolphus and then Queen Christina.Oxenstierna...
had to intervene.
The two enemies were called to interrogation in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, in front of the Church council in July 1613. After an investigation, there was a settlement, but both professors were moved from Uppsala
Uppsala
- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...
. Messenius was entrusted the keeping of the kingdom's old archives, and he was promoted to assessor of the Swedish court of appeal (Svea hovrätt), in 1614.
Dramatist
This was the time, when he began to write his plays, which were to influence Swedish drama during the following century. He almost completely rejected the so-called school drama, to which almost all previous Swedish plays had belonged. Instead, he rather followed the movement of the German Jakob AyrerJakob Ayrer
Jakob Ayrer was a German playwright and author of Fastnachtsspiele .Little is known of Ayrer's living circumstances...
.
However, his most successful decision was to write plays on Swedish history, as it was perceived in his time, i.e. including the Fornaldarsagas. His most influential works were:
- Disa (1611, reprinted 7 times (1612–1740)).
- SignillHagbard and SignyHagbard and Signe or Habor and Sign'ild were a pair of lovers in Scandinavian mythology and folklore whose legend was widely popular. The heroes' connections with other legendary characters place the events in the 5th century AD...
(1612, reprinted 9 times (1612–1740)). - Swanhuita (1613, reprinted 4 times (1635–1727)).
- Blanckamäreta (1614, reprinted 4 times (1614–1660s), on Blanka of Sweden and Margareta, a Danish princess who married king Birger Magnusson of Sweden.
Encouraged by the success of his first two plays, he declared in the introduction of his third play that he intended to cover all of Sweden's history in 50 comedies and tragedies and make them public. Technically, his works were undeveloped and were a combination of ridiculous scenes with serious ones, and he had a certain feel for the presentation of dramatic effects. According to German tradition, he used people from the lower classes for comedy, but the scenes are usually disconnected from the rest of the play. The main play is organized as a series of dialogues that are loosely joined, and motivation and character depiction are considered to be very primitive. He paid close attention to the rendering of historic clothes, although the limited knowledge of his time showed its limitations in this respect. Occasionally, there are songs in the play, songs that belong to the best he has written, and they have been reprinted as late as 1879.
The works he wrote in prison, Christmannus and Gustavus are less known, and incorrectly attributed to his son. They consist of summaries in dialogue of the history of the church in Sweden. In the spite of its weaknesses, Messenius' dramas are considered to be the most original and most patriotic in Sweden's older literature, and the only part of Swedish literature from this time to have been generally praised.
Imprisonment
In 1616, he was accused of conspiring with king Sigismund and the Jesuits. He was found guilty as charged, when he could not find twelve men who swore that he was innocent. He was sentenced to death in July 1616, but the king changed the sentence to prison, probably for life.In October 1616, he was transported to the desolate fortress Kajaneborg at Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
near the Russian border, where he was harshly treated by its commander Erik Hara. He occupied himself with writing historical works and by doing research in Swedish source documents. Every once in a while, he sent pleas to king Gustav II Adolph and later to Christina
Christina
-People:* Saint Christina , several saints with the name* Christina the Astonishing , also known as 'Christina Mirabilis', a Christian holy-woman of Belgium* Christina Aguilera, an American Pop/R&B recording artist, songwriter and dancer....
's regency. In these pleas, he swore on his innocence, or referred to his works as reason for pardon. In 1635, he was moved to Oulu
Oulu
Oulu is a city and municipality of inhabitants in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world....
, and had his pension doubled. At this time, the government sent him the translator Erik Schroderus, to appraise himself of Messenius' monumental work Scondia illustrata, which treated Sweden's history from the deluge to Messenius' own time. When Messenius suspected that the government wanted to publish the work in its own name, he demanded freedom for his son, who was also imprisoned, and free passage for himself to wherever he wished. These demands offended the regency who threatened to send him back to Kajaneborg.
Shortly, after this, Messenius died, and the government offered his widow 500 dollars for Scondia illustrata. However, she left the kingdom with the manuscripts, and it was her son who later returned the text to Sweden in order to have it published. However, it took a long time to publish the work, and it was only thanks to Johan Peringskiöld
Johan Peringskiöld
Johan Peringskiöld was born in Strängnäs and died in Stockholm .His father was Lars Fredrik Peringer, a senior master at the gymnasium and his mother Anna Maria Mulich. He began his studies at Uppsala University in 1677 and he was an ardent student of the national antiquities...
that it was published in folio 1700–1705.
Considering the scholarly traditions of its time, and the conditions in which it was written, this monumental work can only be described as prominent. More than anyone else of his time, he mastered both Swedish and foreign historical literature. The seventh tome of Scondia, which describes the religious conflicts of John III of Sweden
John III of Sweden
-Family:John married his first wife, Catherine Jagellonica of Poland , house of Jagiello, in Vilnius on 4 October 1562. In Sweden, she is known as Katarina Jagellonica. She was the sister of king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland...
is a model for history writing.
From his time in prison, there are also several other works, which are mostly still extant.
Source
- Nordisk familjebokNordisk familjebokNordisk familjebok is a Swedish encyclopedia, published between 1876 and 1957.- History :The first edition was published in 20 volumes between 1876 and 1899. The first edition is known as the "Iðunn edition" because of the picture of Iðunn on the cover...
: Johannes Messenius