Caspar Schoppe

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Portrait of Kaspar Schoppe by Peter Paul Rubens

Caspar Schoppe (born May 27, 1576 in Pappenberg , † November 19, 1649 in Padua ) was a philologist and publicist of the Counter Reformation .

Life

One of the most violent German propagandists of the Catholic Counter-Reformation was the son of a Protestant bailiff. He began his university studies in the field of classical philology in 1593 in Heidelberg and in 1594 in Altdorf near Nuremberg . In 1595 he studied at the Jesuit Academy in Ingolstadt , where he published his Verisimilium at the age of 19 , which received high praise from Joseph Justus Scaliger . Back in Altdorf, he submitted further philological works in print in 1596. In 1597 he was in Verona and Prague , where he converted to Catholicism. In the wake of an imperial envoy, he came to Rome in 1598 , quickly settled there and found a new circle of friends, including several popes.

Through his conversion, he lost all admirers beyond the Alps, including Kaspar von Barth , Daniel Heinsius and Scaliger, whom he now attacked. He was an eloquent polemicist on behalf of several Roman patrons. With the zeal of the convert he attacked the Calvinists, as a representative of the papal cause he attacked the Jesuits, and individuals such as the kings Henry IV of France and James I of England were not safe from his biting attacks. James had him executed in effigy .

Fearing the growing number of his enemies in Germany, he went to Milan in 1617, from where he published the warmongering Classicum belli sacri (war trumpet for the holy war), in which he called for total war against the Protestants. The result was countless counter-writings, including Matthias Bernegger's Tuba pacis (peace trombone ). As a precaution, he therefore spent the first twelve years of the war he initiated abroad. Due to his polemics in the service of various gentlemen, he finally forfeited the Catholic patrons, which is why, in constant fear of his numerous enemies, he completely withdrew in Padua from 1636.

expenditure

  • Klaus Jaitner (Ed.): Kaspar Schoppe: Autobiographical texts and letters. CH Beck, Munich 2004–2012
    • Volume 1: Philotheca Scioppiana. An early modern autobiography 1576–1630. 2 volumes, 2004
    • Volume 2: Letters. 5 volumes, 2012

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Schoppe, Caspar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schoppe, Kaspar; Scioppius, Gaspar; Ungersdorff, Christoph von; Grosippus, Pascasius (pseudonym); Grubinius, Operinus (pseudonym); Vargas, Alphonsus de (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Philologist, controversial theologian
DATE OF BIRTH May 27, 1576
PLACE OF BIRTH Pappenberg
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1649
Place of death Padua