Martin Ruarus

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Martin Ruarus

Martin Ruarus (also Martin Ruar ; * between 1588 and 1590 in Krempe in the Duchy of Holstein ; † 1657 in Straszyn (Strashin) near Danzig ) was a Unitarian theologian and representative of early modern socinianism .

Life

Ruarus was born between 1588 and 1590 as the son of the Lutheran pastor Peter Ruarus in Krempe, Holstein. Joachim and Petrus Ru (w) arus, who began studying in Rostock in 1609 and 1614, were his younger brothers. Joachim was electoral Brandenburg Leibmedicus and Petrus († 1636) 1618 pastor in Münsterdorf and 1630 in Breitenburg . The somewhat younger Wewelsfleth pastor and poet Heinrich Hudemann was his cousin.

In 1608 Ruarus enrolled at the University of Rostock . In 1611 he moved to the University of Altdorf , where he studied law and philosophy, and later theology. Here he first came into contact with anti-Trinitarian Unitarianism through the philosopher and physician Ernst Soner and soon belonged to a Unitarian private college set up by Soner, in which Johann Krell and Polish students also took part. In 1614 the Unitarian circle in Altdorf was broken up, in the same year Ruarus traveled undercover to the Polish town of Raków and there became a member of the Polish Brothers , the Unitarian Socinian Church.

On his return he became a tutor and undertook extensive trips with his students through Europe, during which he acquired an extensive education, including a knowledge of the Arabic and Syrian languages. He also spoke French, Italian, Greek and Hebrew. This led to the fact that he was offered a professorship during his stay in Cambridge , which he turned down because of his socinian views. Instead, he moved back to Raków in 1620 and became head of the local Raków Academy , which was the central educational institution of Polish Unitarianism. Because this work was too much for him, from 1622 to 1631 he again went on trips to Europe with various Polish nobles.

In 1631 Ruarus moved to Danzig , where he married and became a preacher in the Unitarian community there. Unitarians had been in Gdansk since around 1581. The community initially developed independently of the Polish Unitarians and was mainly based on Dutch spiritualists and anti-Trinitarians from Hungary and Italy. Since the Unitarians in Danzig were not allowed to assemble freely, communities were formed first in Buschkau and Straszyn (Strashin), which the Danzigers could visit. In Danzig Ruarus also sought dialogue with the Mennonites and Remonstrants . When Ruarus was to be expelled from Danzig as a heretic in 1638, this was prevented by influential friends. In 1643 the Polish King Władysław IV. Wasa appointed him advisor, in which office he was confirmed by John II Casimir . In 1645 he took part in the Thorner Religious Discussion , where he met Georg Calixt .

At the end of 1657 he died impoverished in Straszyn near Danzig. His writings, including a commentary on Fausto Sozzini's Raków Catechism , were published by his sons only after his death. One year after his death, the Polish edict of 1658 came into force, which deprived the Unitarians of the right to exercise their religion freely and marked the beginning of the Counter-Reformation in Poland.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Registration of Ioachim Ruarus in the Rostock matriculation portal
  2. ↑ enrollment of Peter Ruwarus in Rostock Matrikelportal
  3. ^ Matriculation of Martin Ruarus in the Rostock matriculation portal
  4. ^ Hermann Beyer-Thoma (Ed.): Bavaria and Eastern Europe: From the history of the relations of Bavaria, Franconia and Swabia with Russia, Ukraine and Belarus . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2000, ISBN 3-447-04254-0 , p. 165 .
  5. ↑ Sabine Beckmann, Klaus Garber (ed.): Cultural history of Prussia, royal Polish share in the early modern period . Niemeyer, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-484-36603-6 , p. 269 .
personal data
SURNAME Ruarus, Martin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Socinian theologian and scholar
DATE OF BIRTH between 1588 and 1590
PLACE OF BIRTH brim
DATE OF DEATH 1657
Place of death Straszyn (Strashin) near Danzig