Johann Jakob Breitinger (19 April 1575 in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

- 1 April 1645) was a

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

pastor in Zürich, professor,

antistes Antistes (from Latin ''ante'' "before" and ''sto'' "stand") was from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century the title of the head of a church in the Reformed Churches in Switzerland. It was the highest office in churches with synodal church gover ...

and politician. Johann Jakob Breitinger studied in Herborn,

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...

Franeker Franeker (; fry, Frjentsjer) is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Waadhoeke. It is located north of the Van Harinxmakanaal and about 20 km west of Leeuwarden. As of 1 January 2014, it had 12, ...

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

und

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

. He was a pastor in

Zumikon Zumikon is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. It is located in the Pfannenstiel region.Albisrieden Albisrieden is a quarter in the district 9 in Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of ...

and then Professor of Logic and Rhetoric at the Collegium Humanitatis. Afterwards pastor to

St. Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

, the Grosse Rat (parliament of the city) elected him in 1613 to pastor at the

Grossmünster The Grossmünster (; "great Minster (church), minster") is a Romanesque-style Swiss Reformed Church, Protestant church in Zürich, Switzerland. It is one of the four major churches in the city (the others being the Fraumünster, Predigerkirche Zür ...

and thus to the Antistes of the Zürich Church. As the sixth successor to

Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the Unive ...

in the leadership of the Zürich Church, he introduced a day of prayer and was known for his sermons, in which he reprimanded foreign military service, bribery, buying offices and national debt. He demanded the improvement of discipline and custom among the people and a ban on the theater. He promoted elementary school, Sunday children's teaching and church singing in town and country and campaigned for poor relief and welfare. On behalf of the authorities, he carried out the first census of the Zürich area after the Reformation in 1634. Theologically, he strictly represented the doctrine of

predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...

and the

Second Helvetic Confession The Helvetic Confessions are two documents expressing the common belief of the Calvinist churches of Switzerland. History The First Helvetic Confession ( la, Confessio Helvetica prior), known also as the Second Confession of Basel, was drawn up in ...

. After the initially negative attitude of the clergy, Breitinger was sent to the Dordrecht Synod (1618-19) as a delegate representing Zürich, following the intercession of the Dutch diplomat Peter von Brederode and his support by Professor Caspar Waser. There he took a stand against the

remonstrants The Remonstrants (or the Remonstrant Brotherhood) is a Protestant movement that had split from the Dutch Reformed Church in the early 17th century. The early Remonstrants supported Jacobus Arminius, and after his death, continued to maintain his ...

. Johann Heinrich Waser, the professor's son, accompanied him as his secretary. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

, the Antistes represented the Swedish side in Zürich and collected 35,000 guilders to alleviate the war needs in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

. He saw in the Catholic towns and the

counter-reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

Habsburg Austria a danger for the reformed Zürich and advocated the modernization of the defense system and the construction of a new, third city fortification.Norbert Domeisen. Bürgermeister Johann Heinrich Waser (1600–1669) als Politiker. Ein Beitrag zur Schweizer Geschichte des 17. Jahrhunderts . Zürich 1975.

Literature

* * * Sundar Henny: "Schriftreliquien und Kopien: Johann Jakob Breitinger (1575–1645)". In: ders.: ''Vom Leib geschrieben. Der Mikrokosmos Zürich und seine Selbstzeugnisse im 17. Jahrhundert'', Böhlau, Köln 2016, ISBN 978-3-412-50289-8, S. 73–11
(open access)
* * *

External links

Johann Jakob Breitinger
in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

collection
Johan Jakob Breitinger
in the

Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online The Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO) is an online encyclopedia of topics relating to Mennonites and Anabaptism. The mission of the project is to provide free, reliable, English-language information on Anabaptist-related top ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breitinger, Johann Jakob 1645 deaths 1575 births Swiss clergy