Johannes de Indagine, also known as Johannes Indaginis, John of Hagen, otherwise Johannes Bremer von Hagen (c. 1415–1475) was a German

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its ...

monk,

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and theological author.

Life

Johannes de Indagine was born in around 1415 in Hattendorf in

Auetal Auetal is a municipality in the district of Schaumburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 10 km south of Stadthagen, and 22 km east of Minden. Its seat is in the village Rehren. The coat of arms features an image of ...

near

Stadthagen Stadthagen () is the capital of the district of Schaumburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km east of Minden and 40 km west of Hanover. The city consists of the districts Brandenburg, Enzen-Hobbensen, Hörkamp-L ...

in what is now

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

as Johannes Bremer (or ''Brewer'' or ''Bräuer'').Helge Bei der Wieden: ''Die Ausstrahlung der Reformation: Beiträge zu Kirche und Alltag in Nordwestdeutschland''. In: ''Studien zur Kirchengeschichte Niedersachsens'', Band 43, V&R Unipress, Göttingen 2011, p. 21, He matriculated at the

University of Erfurt The University of Erfurt (german: Universität Erfurt) is a public university located in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia. It was founded in 1379, and closed in 1816. It was re-established in 1994, three years after Germ ...

in 1436 to study law as Johannes Bremer von Hagen. Erfurt-1525-Kartäuserkloster

In 1440 he entered the

Carthusian Order The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its ...

at Erfurt Charterhouse. From 1454 to 1456 he was prior of Eisenach Charterhouse. In 1457 he was recalled to his home monastery in Erfurt as prior. From 1461 to 1464 he was head of the charterhouses of

Frankfurt an der Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (), is a city in the German state of Brandenburg. It has around 57,000 inhabitants, is one of the easternmost cities in Germany, the fourth-largest city in Brandenburg, and the largest German ...

and

Grabow Grabow () is a town in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the river Elde, 7 km (4.35 mi) southeast of Ludwigslust, and 34 km (21.12 mi) northwest of Wittenberge. It ...

near

Stettin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...

. In 1465 he returned once more to Erfurt, this time as a simple monk, where he dedicated himself for the rest of his life to theological study and writing. Johannes acted as an advisor in theological and legal matters to bishops, princes and scholars. Even the University of Erfurt and theologians such as Johannes von Wesel (1425−1481) and Johannes von Dorsten (1420−1481) sought his advice. He opposed abuses in ecclesiastical life and was a champion of the reform of the church and religious orders. Towards the end of his life he wrote that he had probably written over 500 works. His written commentaries on the text of the Bible comprise 80 volumes, but the greater part of his writings were not printed.

Notes and references

Literature

* Joseph Klapper: ''Der Erfurter Kartäuser Johannes Hagen: ein Reformtheologe des 15. Jahrhunderts''. 2 Bände, St. Benno-Verlag, Leipzig 1960 u. 1961 *

External links

* * Rolf Schönberger (ed.)
Iohannes de Indagine OCart
in ''Alcuin, der Regensburger Infothek der Scholastik''
Engraving of Johannes Indagine (Bremer von Hagen)
on the Digitaler Portraitindex website, accessed 14 August 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Indagine, Johannes de Carthusians 15th-century German Catholic theologians Writers from Erfurt 1415 births 1475 deaths 15th-century Latin writers