Johann Adolf Cypraeus

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Johann Adolf Cypraeus , born as Johann Adolf Koppersmidt , also Johann Adolf Kupferschmidt (* 1592 in Schleswig ; † October 1636 in Brussels ) was a German Catholic pastor.

Life

Johann Adolf Cypraeus was a son of the lawyer Paulus Cypraeus and his second wife Gertrud, whose father Paul von Eitzen was superintendent in Schleswig. He had four siblings, including Hieronymus (born October 31, 1581; died not before 1642), who served as councilor to King Charles IX from 1607 to 1611 . served from Sweden and then lived in Schleswig. The brother Philipp Cypraeus (born around 1588; died between 1641 and 1654) was an official at the Gottorf court. His uncle Hieronymus Cypraeus was a Schleswig canon.

Cypraeus himself wrote in his Annales Episcoporum Slesvicensium that he was baptized in 1592. His godfather was Duke Johann Adolf von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf . Since the baptism took place shortly after his birth, this contradicts his matriculation at the University of Leipzig , which took place in 1596. Enrollment should therefore have been a purely formal act. The fact that Cypraeus looks much younger than his brothers on an epitaph of his father in the Schleswig Cathedral is an indication that the date of birth is correct. In addition, the duke did not take over rule until 1590 and Paulus Cypraeus probably did not ask him for a sponsorship before this event.

Part of the edition of the Annales written by Cypraeus contains a dedication to Duke Friedrich III. Cypraeus reported that he had first learned from Jacob Fabricius the Elder , who worked as a preacher at the Gottorf court. According to his information, he attended the cathedral school in Schleswig . Obviously he also studied at a grammar school in Lemgo and then studied theology. In August 1608 he enrolled in Wittenberg . In the spring of 1611 he moved to the University of Giessen . Evidence is missing for the following years. He himself said that Duke Johann Adolf employed him as a preacher in the palace chapel. He went back to Schleswig in 1616, the year the duke died, where he quickly found a job. From 1618 he worked as a pastor at the Michaeliskirche in Schleswig.

In 1631 Cypraeus suffered a serious illness and doubted his Lutheran religion. He contacted the Dutchman Nicolaus Janssenius , who lived in Friedrichstadt and campaigned for the Counter Reformation . The Dominican had recently published the Defensio fidei catholicae , in which he argued against Lutherans. He repeatedly traveled secretly to Schleswig and was able to convince Cypreaus to leave office and convert. Cypraeus changed to the Catholic faith in the spring of 1633. Due to Cypraeus' reputation Janssenius very much hoped that this step would have consequences and possibly even Duke Friedrich III. whose example would follow. Janssenius successfully asked the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide for support for a joint visit to Rome. Cypraeus and Janssenius traveled to the Netherlands in the autumn of 1633. Cypraeus moved from here to Cologne with the intention of commissioning a print of his defense of the conversion. For reasons unknown, it never appeared. In 1634, however, he published his Annales Episcoporum Slesvicensium in the cathedral city . Since Janssenius died in November 1634, the helpless Cypraeus was unable to travel to the Italian capital.

Cypraeus then moved to Antwerp . The local Prefect of the Dominican Mission in Holland and Northern Germany stood up for him and gave him a job in Brussels, which he only held for a short time. He died impoverished in Belgium after a long, debilitating illness.

plant

Cypraeus became known with the Annales Episcoporum Slesvicensium published by him . It was the first printed description of the history of the Church and politics of the Diocese of Schleswig . For a long time there were no subsequent writings for this. The title page of the Annales names Cypraeus as the only author. In fact, the work is largely based on his father's handwritten notes, which Cypraeus shortened, supplemented until the end of the Reformation and revised in the spirit of Catholicism.

Cypraeus also brought together in the Annales the epigrams of the bishops of Schleswig created by his uncle and the genealogy of the Danish kings created by his brother Philip. He did not mention either of them as authors. While his father and uncle used sources from archives, Cypraeus only did compilation and editing.

Fonts

  • Annales Episcoporum Slesvicensium: Unius, Verae, Sanctae, Catholicae, Et Apostolicae Ecclesiae statum, quoad eius Originem, Propagationem ac Mutationem in Regno Daniae ac finitimis Slesvici ac Holsatiae Ducatibus ... explicantes. Cologne: Woringen 1634 digitized

literature

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