Ulrich Pierius

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Ulrich Pierius († 1642 in Lage (Lippe) ) was a Reformed pastor.

Ulrich Pierius was born as the son of Urban Pierius . On a request from 1610 the father, who was superintendent of the Reformed Church in Bremen , Ulrich Pierius was of Count Simon VI. zur Lippe was appointed pastor in Schwalenberg after several negotiations . Count Simon pursued the intention to introduce the reformed faith in the county of Lippe .

In Schwalenberg there were disputes between the local community, which was still attached to its Lutheran predecessor, and Pierius. The congregation insisted on early sermons on Sunday morning and in 1611 complained to the count that he was assigning them to the devil and that congregation members were referring to the devil's children. As recently as the 1620s there were complaints that Pierius came to church very irregularly. Conversely, Pierius submitted lists of allegations against the community in 1612 and 1618, in which he accused it of refusing the Lord's Supper according to the Reformed rite and of attending church services only poorly. There were also conflicts with his Lutheran predecessor Haase, as Pierius did not pay him his salary for the first half of 1610. In 1614 Count Simon VII even had to instruct him in this regard, but in 1615 he still had not paid Haase. Pierius introduced the Heidelberg Catechism in children's teaching from 1616 and founded the Rector's School in 1626 to promote the reformed school system.

From 1628 his life was shaped by the effects of the Thirty Years War . After Catholic troops invaded Schwalenberg on November 15, 1628 , the church was robbed and Pierius and his family were driven from his house. He was forbidden from entering the church by the Catholic side in order to reintroduce the Catholic faith. As a result, there was also a dispute with the Schwalenberg mayors who wanted to exclude him from the parish administration and supervision of the poor register. Help from the Count zu Lippe came only hesitantly. It was not until the end of 1628 that Count Johann Bernhard zu Lippe issued him a collection letter and granted him clothing and food donations. As the guardian of Simon Ludwig zu Lippes, Count Christian von Waldeck arranged for him to stay in Blomberg in May 1629 . In November 1629 he applied unsuccessfully for a vacant pastor's position in the County of Lippe, but received an annual payment and then traveled to his daughter in Amsterdam in 1630 . In 1632 he was again issued a collection letter. Nevertheless, he lived impoverished in Blomberg because billeting had taken place. In 1633 he was given the parish office in Lage. In 1636 his wife and daughter were captured and deported to Paderborn . In 1641 Pierius proposed changes to the teaching of children to the Lippe consistory before he died in 1642.

He published some funeral sermons.

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