Johannes Major

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Johannes Major

Johannes Major (also: Groß ; * December 26, 1564 in Reinstädt ; † January 4, 1654 in Jena ) was a German Lutheran theologian.

Life

Born as the son of the farmer Johannes Groß († January 29, 1597) and his wife Magaretha Ackermann, he first learned to read and write in the village school in his home town. It was found that he had a good ability to learn and was sent to Weimar in 1574, where he showed a quick grasp of things by skipping several classes. A febrile illness caused him to return to his hometown for some time to cure. After a year at the school in Orlamünde, he returned to Weimar, graduated from the school there, then joined the choir singers, was accepted into the choir and accepted into the princely chapel.

In 1581 he left Weimar, attended school in Stettin , then in Kolberg and the school in Hof . During this time he had acquired the necessary knowledge so that he could start a university course. In 1584 he moved to the University of Jena and received a scholarship. Because of financial shortage, he could not obtain a master's degree. Therefore, he applied to the philosophical faculty to be allowed to give mathematical lectures, which was granted to him. His lectures were very popular; Georg Mylius , who came to Jena in 1589, promoted Johannes Major's study of theology by making his library available to him. He was also able to improve his financial situation through a position as court master of Mr. von Ritzenstein.

When Mylius went to Wittenberg in 1592 to carry out the visitations there, he followed him as a consultant. In the same year he received an appointment as a deacon in Weimar; During his diaconate he mainly dealt with the followers of Samuel Huber . After Mylius was finally transferred to Wittenberg, Johannes Major was taken over by Duke Johann III in 1605 . from Sachsen-Weimar appointed as superintendent to Jena. In 1611, after the death of Petrus Piscator , he took over a professorship in theology at the Jena University of Applied Sciences and, for this reason, earned his doctorate in theology with Abraham Lange in 1612 . During his 43 years as a professor of theology, he was rector of the Jena Academy four times during the Thirty Years' War , as well as prorector and several times dean of the theological faculty. He died of old age and was buried on January 8, 1654 in the town and parish church of St. Michaelis in Jena.

family

Major was married twice.

He concluded his first marriage on September 25, 1592 in Weimar with Maria (* 1570 in Jena; † January 25, 1609 ibid.), The daughter of the cloth maker, citizen and councilor in Jena Ludwig Kopf and his wife Anna Grübner. Of the children are known:

  • Ludwig I Major (* August 22, 1594; † February 12, 1595)
  • Johann Andreas Major (born November 30, 1595 in Weimar; † January 4, 1654 in Isserstedt) pastor in Lehnstedt and Isserstedt, married. September 26, 1625 with Maria Magdalena Sagittarius, daughter of Jena professor Thomas Sagittarius
  • Ludwig II Major (born June 13, 1597 - † September 10, 1600)
  • Georg Major (born April 10, 1599)
  • Nicolaus Major (born December 3, 1602)
  • Margaretha Major (born June 22, 1604; † 1609)
  • Johannes Friedrich Major (born October 12, 1600), who served in the military.

His second marriage was on February 26, 1610 in Jena with Elisabeth (* July 5, 1574 in Weimar; † January 13, 1639 in Jena), the daughter of the mayor of Weimar Jacob Schröter and his wife Barbara Brück. Barbara Brück was the daughter of Christian Brück . Elisabeth Schröter was widowed twice. Her first husband was the Chamber Secretary in Weimar Johann Georg Neumair (1570–1597), the second the Count Hohenstein Chancellor Johann Stromer the Younger (von Auerbach). The marriage with Major produced five children:

  • Maria Elisabeth Major (* December 2, 1610 in Jena; † February 10, 1611 ibid.)
  • Johann Jacob Major (born March 13, 1613; † in Nuremberg) studied in Jena and Altdorf and died in Nuremberg
  • Johann Tobias Major (born February 2, 1615 in Jena; † April 25, 1655 ibid.), Lutheran theologian
  • Julius Christian Major (born June 26, 1616 in Jena; † August 4, 1616 ibid.)
  • Barbara Major (* July 25, 1617 in Jena; † September 17, 1617 ibid.)

Selection of works

  • Theologus & concionator orthodoxus
  • Judicium de acatholicorum credendi regula castigatum, Jena 1630
  • Speculum exemplorum Jo. 18, Jena 1648
  • Parapharis poetica in Psalmos
  • Postilla poetica, Zerbst 1607

literature

Web links