Ludwig Crocius

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Ludwig Crocius (also Ludovicus Crocius , born March 29, 1586 in Laasphe ; † December 7, 1653 or 1655 in Bremen ) was a preacher, participant in the Dordrecht Synod and professor of theology and philosophy at Bremen's Illustre high school (the old Bremen University ) .

biography

Ludwig's father was Paul Crocius (* July 27, 1551; † September 5, 1607), a former tutor of the sons of Counts Nassau-Dillenburg and Wittgenstein-Berleburg and since 1583 pastor and church inspector (superintendent) in Laasphe, as well as editor of the book “ Large Book of Matyrs and Church Histories ”(1606). His grandfather Matthias Crocius (* 1479; † 1557) had been a pastor in Zwickau and had been personally close to Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon . His younger brother was the theologian Johannes Crocius .

Studies and calling as a preacher in Bremen

In 1600 Ludwig Crocius entered the tertia of the pedagogy in Herborn . On October 12, 1603, he began to study theology at the University of Marburg and in 1604 he obtained the academic degree of a master's degree there. On September 5, 1607, Ludwig Crocius' father died, who had meanwhile become a preacher and inspector of the Landgrave-Hessian county Katzenelnbogen in Langenschwalbach . Ludwig Crocius became his successor. In 1608 he asked his employer Moritz “the scholar” of Hessen-Kassel for permission to go on a study trip. The trip took him to the universities in Bremen, Marburg and Basel . On April 4, 1609 he was named “Dr. theol. "PhD. From there he went to Geneva to continue studying there. During his time in Geneva he was called to Bremen to the St. Martini Church as first preacher and to the grammar school Illustre as philosophy and theology professor; he took up these offices in 1610. He turned down later offers from the Margrave of Brandenburg (1615) and Landgrave Moritz von Hessen-Kassel (1618), as well as an offer to become general superintendent for Silesia .

From 1630 to 1639 and from 1647 until his death he was Vice Rector at the Illustre Gymnasium.

Synod of Dordrecht

At the invitation of the Dutch States General in 1618 to send representatives to the synod in Dordrecht to the Senate of Bremen, the rector of the grammar school Illustre Mathias Martinius, the preacher at the Bremen Church of Our Lady Heinrich Isselburg and Ludwig Crocius traveled to the synod. The synod was supposed to clarify the issues between adherents of a strict doctrine of predestination on the one hand and Arminians and remonstrants on the other. Representatives of the Reformed Churches in England, Scotland, the Electoral Palatinate, Hesse, Nassaus and Wetterau as well as the cities of Emden , Zurich , Bern , Basel and Geneva were invited .

The Senate of the City of Bremen demanded from its three delegates that they should take a mild line that goes back to Philipp Melanchthon, that this was laid down in the Consensus Bremensis of 1595 and that it corresponds to Bremen practice. The background to this was that the Augsburg imperial and religious peace only applied between Catholics and Lutherans, so Bremen belonged to the Augsburg Confession in order not to endanger its own position in the empire .

In the 154 negotiations of the synod, which lasted from November 13, 1618 to May 29, 1619, the representatives of the doctrine of predestination could not fully assert themselves. The representatives of Bremen signed the resolutions of the synod as they did not impose any restrictions on the Bremen church and were not binding.

Disputes about the doctrine of predestination within Bremen

After the synod, the dispute over the doctrine of predestination began in Bremen. The conflict was started by the preacher of the Church of St. Ansgarii Philipp Caesar , who was an advocate of strict doctrine. Caesar also preached against the Bremen council and church ministry. In 1624 he resigned his office and left Bremen, but the parishes of St. Ansgari and St. Stephani tried to win Caesar over as a preacher. This was rejected by the Senate. Heinrich Isselburg, the preacher of the Liebfrauenkirche, died on March 29, 1628 and there was a danger that Caesar could find the vacant position. To prevent this, Ludwig Crocius was appointed to the position of preacher.

Caesar was able to be enforced as a preacher in St. Martini in 1628, since this position was now vacated by the appointment of Crocius, but he was deposed again in 1630, left the city and finally converted to Catholicism. In the meantime, Ludwig Crocius, Conrad Bergius (1592–1642), preacher in St. Ansgarii, and Balthasar Willius (1606–1656), preacher in Our Dear Women, stood in Bremen as representatives of the milder doctrine oriented towards Melanchthon and, on the other hand, the rector of the Illustre Johann Combach grammar school , the preacher of St. Remberti Henricus Flockenius, and the preacher of St. Stephani Petrus Zimmermann as a representative of the strict teaching opposite.

Crocius suffered a stroke in 1651 , but remained active at the church until the resignation of the preaching office at the Liebfrauenkirche on May 14, 1652. He held his lectures at the Illustre grammar school until his death.

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Crocius, Ludwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Protestant pastor
DATE OF BIRTH March 29, 1586
PLACE OF BIRTH Laasphe
DATE OF DEATH December 7, 1653 or December 7, 1655
Place of death Bremen