Petrus Dathenus

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A. Schouman: Portrait detail of Petrus Dathenus, 1755 (based on an original from the 16th century)

Petrus Dathenus also Pieter Daten (* around 1531/32 in Cassel ; † March 17, 1588 in Elbing ) was a Flemish theologian and reformer .

Live and act

Dathenus, initially a Carmelite , joined the Reformation , fled Flanders because of the persecution that began and went to England in 1550 . When the Roman Catholic Church regained strength there under Maria I , Dathenus turned to Germany, where Johannes a Lasco appointed him pastor of the Flemish refugee community in Frankfurt am Main in 1555 .

Violent disputes with Lutheran preachers such as Hartmann Beyer under the aegis of Joachim Westphal led to a decision by the magistrate in 1561 to ban Reformed worship. Frederick the Pious finally offered Dathenus and his 58 families of “Calvinists” a settlement in the Frankenthal monastery .

In 1566 he returned home, where he participated as a field preacher in the Dutch struggle for freedom. When he took over the presidency of the Synod in Antwerp in 1566, the Confessio Belgica , which he had revised and written by Guy de Brès for Philip II of Spain , was adopted as a creed.

Due to pressure from the Inquisition , he returned to the Palatinate in 1567 and stayed with Johann Casimir von der Pfalz in France. In 1568 he was the moderator of the Wesel Convention , in 1570 he became the court preacher of Elector Friedrich and in 1571 acted as chairman of the Anabaptists at the Frankenthal Religious Discussion . Together with Jean Taffin he organized the first national synod of the Dutch Calvinists at the Synod of Emden in 1571 .

In 1578 Dathenus was called to Ghent and chaired the Second National Synod of Dordrecht . He criticized the behavior of William of Orange and went back to the Palatinate. Returned to his home country in 1585, he served an eight-week prison sentence . Via Husum he went to Stade , Danzig and Elbing , where he worked as a doctor until the end of his life.

The Psalms of David

Title page of the Psalms of David: m [i] t den Francoyschen density in nederlandschen overgeset / by Petrum Dathenum, 1635

Dathenus endeavored to unite the Reformed from France , the Netherlands and the Palatinate . In 1563 he translated the Heidelberg catechism (in the drafting of which, according to recent research by Tobias Schreiber, he himself participated) into Dutch and in 1566 published a Dutch liturgy for his Palatinate congregation together with a Dutch adaptation of the Huguenot psalter of Clément Marot . This psalm book formed the hymn book of the Dutch Reformed Churches until it was replaced in 1773 by a new version of the psalms. There was considerable resistance from the population when the new book of psalms was introduced. There are now other new versions of the Psalms, but the Datheen Psalms are still being reprinted and used in about thirty parishes in Zeeland . At present, datheen singing evenings in the Netherlands attract a large number of people and an association is committed to safeguarding its heritage. Choirs, schools and clubs are named after Datheen.

Works (selection)

  • De CL Psalms of the Prophet David. Van der Peyl. Kruiningen 1977
  • De CL Psalms of the Prophet David. Gereformeerde Bijbelstichting 2012
  • De Psalms of David. (1566) Reprint Houten 1992

literature

in order of appearance

  • Ernst Martin :  Dathenus, Petrus . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 764.
  • JG Fredriks: A portrait of Petrus Dathenus . In: Nederlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis (NAGK), Vol. 7, 1888/90, pp. 74-80.
  • Aart Arnout van Schelven: Petrus Dathenus . In: Nederlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis (NAGK), Vol. 10, 1913, pp. 328–343.
  • Theodorus Ruys: Petrus Dathenus . Utrecht 1919 (Diss. Amsterdam); Reprinted in 1988.
  • J. Sluis: Datheen en de Oud-Gereformeerden . Zutphen 1927.
  • BHW de Graaf: Yes, yes. Levensstrijd en levenswerk van Petrus Datheen. 1938; Reprinted by JP van den Tol, Dordrecht 1976.
  • Heinz Kraft:  Dathenus, Petrus. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 521 ( digitized version ).
  • Hendrikus Johannes Jaanus: Petrus Dathenus. In: Documenta Reformatoria. Teksten uit de geschiedenis van kerk en theologie in de Nederlanden sedert de Hervorming , vol. 1: Tot het einde van de 17. eeuw . JH Kok, Kampen 1960, pp. 247-253.
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Dathenus, Petrus. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 1230-1231.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • JD Barth: Het leven van Petrus Datheen . Study Association Petrus Datheen. Veenendaal 1985.
  • Thomas Kaufmann :  Dathenus, Petrus . In: Religion Past and Present (RGG). 4th edition. Volume 2, Mohr-Siebeck, Tübingen 1999, Sp. 591-592.
  • Gereformeerde Bijbelstichting: Petrus Datheen en zijn Psalmberijming . Leerdam 2004.
  • A. Ros: Davids soete lier. Vijf eeuwen Nederlandse Psalmenberijmingen . De Banier 2010.
  • Gustav Adolf Benrath : Petrus Dathenus (1531–1588) and its importance for the Palatinate. In: Blätter für Pfalzische Kirchengeschichte 79 (2012), pp. 369–399.
  • Tobias Schreiber: Petrus Dathenus and the Heidelberg Catechism. A study of the history of tradition on denominational change in the Electoral Palatinate around 1563. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2017, ISBN 978-3-525-55247-6 .

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Dathenus, Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pieter dates; Datheen, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch Reformed theologian, reformer, Bible translator
DATE OF BIRTH 1531
PLACE OF BIRTH Cassel
DATE OF DEATH March 17, 1588
Place of death Elblag