Marcin Ruar
Encyclopedia
Marcin Ruar pseudonym Aretius Crispinus) (Krempe
, Holstein 1589 - Straszyn
near Gdańsk
1657) was a Socinian writer, advocate of religious tolerance, and rector of the Racovian Academy
from 1620 to 1622.
Ruar was born son of a Lutheran preacher. He studied in Altdorf
, where he became acquainted with and adopted the non-trinitarian of Fausto Sozzini, and then studied law at Leiden. He was a polyglot making frequent travels through Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the countries of Germany, promoting non-trinitarian teaching and pleas for tolerance, publishing and earning a reputation as one of the most educated men of his era. He was offered a professorship at Cambridge
, but rejected the proposal, due to the requirement to acknowledge the Trinity
. He moved to Poland in 1614 and was appointed rector of the Racovian Academy
for three years in the 1620s, but resigned because of the burdens of the teaching and administration.
In 1631 Ruar moved to Gdańsk, where he was a minister in the German-speaking Socinian congregation. Known for his humanist and liberal views, Ruar was not doctrinaire and tried to reconcile Socinians with the Mennonite Remonstrants. Journeying to the Netherlands Ruar established contacts between the Polish Arians
and the Dutch Remonstrant movement and with Jacobus Arminius
. However his position against the Trinity remained clear, as in extensive correspondence with Remonstrants, such as the minister of Hazerswoude
, Samuel Naeranus
, on the Trinity.
In 1643 Ruar had married the daughter of Martin Voss, from a well-off and prominent Gdańsk family and converted his wife, her family, friends and many citizens. These conversions did not escape the attentions of the city council, most of whom belonged to the local Lutheran Church. Following the 1638 decision of the Sejm
which drove the Polish brethren
from Raków and closed the Racovian Academy
, the Gdańsk city council moved to exile Ruar. However, as a lawyer Ruar demanded an official trial, appealing to the support of the Polish magnates who were patrons of the Polish Brethren
. Ruar argued that the doctrine of his faith, wrongly called "Arianism," was in reality based on the Bible. The city council relented, providing Ruar was to cease converting Lutherans. After five years Ruar received from King Władysław IV Vasa
a certificate of immunity, and began again to convert Lutheran burghers of the city, which in 1643 resulted in a further banishment from Gdańsk - with his father in law Voss, the doctor Florian Crusius, Daniel Zwicker, the secretary of the council Ladebach and the eighty year old barber Werner David Buttel, with their families.
Ruar initially went to Warsaw, where he tried to gain support for the Socinian cause, arguing that his deportation was the beginning of religious persecution in Poland. Although he was conditionally allowed to return to Gdańsk, henceforth Ruar preferred to live outside the city, in Straszyn, where he spent the rest of his life, writing, preaching, corresponding with the congregation in Gdansk, and with scholars abroad under the protection of the hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski. During this period he again travelled widely and freely, visiting England and Italy.
Ruar was an advocate of separation of church authority from natural sciences. In 1643 Marin Mersenne
, sought from a J. Fabricius (a student from Gdańsk
in Paris, apparently no relation to the astronomer), a Socinian with whom Mersenne could correspond concerning the Copernican heliocentrism of Pierre Gassendi
, and was introduced to Ruar. However Ruar was already familiar with Gassendi's works, and replied to Mersenne that such matters should be left to science, not wait the adjudication of the church.
Krempe
Krempe is a town in the district of Steinburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated between Itzehoe and Glückstadt. Krempe is part of the Amt Krempermarsch....
, Holstein 1589 - Straszyn
Straszyn, Pomeranian Voivodeship
Straszyn is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Pruszcz Gdański, within Gdańsk County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately west of Pruszcz Gdański and south of the regional capital Gdańsk....
near Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
1657) was a Socinian writer, advocate of religious tolerance, and rector of the Racovian Academy
Racovian Academy
The Racovian Academy was a school of the Socinian Polish Brethren operating in Raków, Kielce County, Poland 1602-1638, and publisher of the Racovian Catechism in 1605....
from 1620 to 1622.
Ruar was born son of a Lutheran preacher. He studied in Altdorf
University of Altdorf
The University of Altdorf was a university in Altdorf bei Nürnberg, a small town outside Nuremberg. It was founded in the late 16th century, received university privileges in 1622 and was closed in 1809 by Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria....
, where he became acquainted with and adopted the non-trinitarian of Fausto Sozzini, and then studied law at Leiden. He was a polyglot making frequent travels through Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the countries of Germany, promoting non-trinitarian teaching and pleas for tolerance, publishing and earning a reputation as one of the most educated men of his era. He was offered a professorship at Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, but rejected the proposal, due to the requirement to acknowledge the Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
. He moved to Poland in 1614 and was appointed rector of the Racovian Academy
Racovian Academy
The Racovian Academy was a school of the Socinian Polish Brethren operating in Raków, Kielce County, Poland 1602-1638, and publisher of the Racovian Catechism in 1605....
for three years in the 1620s, but resigned because of the burdens of the teaching and administration.
In 1631 Ruar moved to Gdańsk, where he was a minister in the German-speaking Socinian congregation. Known for his humanist and liberal views, Ruar was not doctrinaire and tried to reconcile Socinians with the Mennonite Remonstrants. Journeying to the Netherlands Ruar established contacts between the Polish Arians
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
and the Dutch Remonstrant movement and with Jacobus Arminius
Jacobus Arminius
Jacobus Arminius , the Latinized name of the Dutch theologian Jakob Hermanszoon from the Protestant Reformation period, served from 1603 as professor in theology at the University of Leiden...
. However his position against the Trinity remained clear, as in extensive correspondence with Remonstrants, such as the minister of Hazerswoude
Hazerswoude
Hazerswoude is a former municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland. It contained the towns of Hazerswoude-Dorp and Hazerswoude-Rijndijk, and the villages Groenendijk and Bent....
, Samuel Naeranus
Samuel Naeranus
Samuel Naeranus was a Dutch Remonstrant minister and neo-Latin poet, exiled in 1619 after the Synod of Dort.-Life:He was born in Dordrecht, where his father Servatius was a preacher, and attended the Latin school there under Rekenarius, moving to Amsterdam when his teacher did...
, on the Trinity.
In 1643 Ruar had married the daughter of Martin Voss, from a well-off and prominent Gdańsk family and converted his wife, her family, friends and many citizens. These conversions did not escape the attentions of the city council, most of whom belonged to the local Lutheran Church. Following the 1638 decision of the Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
which drove the Polish brethren
Polish Brethren
The Polish Brethren were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658...
from Raków and closed the Racovian Academy
Racovian Academy
The Racovian Academy was a school of the Socinian Polish Brethren operating in Raków, Kielce County, Poland 1602-1638, and publisher of the Racovian Catechism in 1605....
, the Gdańsk city council moved to exile Ruar. However, as a lawyer Ruar demanded an official trial, appealing to the support of the Polish magnates who were patrons of the Polish Brethren
Polish Brethren
The Polish Brethren were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658...
. Ruar argued that the doctrine of his faith, wrongly called "Arianism," was in reality based on the Bible. The city council relented, providing Ruar was to cease converting Lutherans. After five years Ruar received from King Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....
a certificate of immunity, and began again to convert Lutheran burghers of the city, which in 1643 resulted in a further banishment from Gdańsk - with his father in law Voss, the doctor Florian Crusius, Daniel Zwicker, the secretary of the council Ladebach and the eighty year old barber Werner David Buttel, with their families.
Ruar initially went to Warsaw, where he tried to gain support for the Socinian cause, arguing that his deportation was the beginning of religious persecution in Poland. Although he was conditionally allowed to return to Gdańsk, henceforth Ruar preferred to live outside the city, in Straszyn, where he spent the rest of his life, writing, preaching, corresponding with the congregation in Gdansk, and with scholars abroad under the protection of the hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski. During this period he again travelled widely and freely, visiting England and Italy.
Ruar was an advocate of separation of church authority from natural sciences. In 1643 Marin Mersenne
Marin Mersenne
Marin Mersenne, Marin Mersennus or le Père Mersenne was a French theologian, philosopher, mathematician and music theorist, often referred to as the "father of acoustics"...
, sought from a J. Fabricius (a student from Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
in Paris, apparently no relation to the astronomer), a Socinian with whom Mersenne could correspond concerning the Copernican heliocentrism of Pierre Gassendi
Pierre Gassendi
Pierre Gassendi was a French philosopher, priest, scientist, astronomer, and mathematician. With a church position in south-east France, he also spent much time in Paris, where he was a leader of a group of free-thinking intellectuals. He was also an active observational scientist, publishing the...
, and was introduced to Ruar. However Ruar was already familiar with Gassendi's works, and replied to Mersenne that such matters should be left to science, not wait the adjudication of the church.