Laurentius Paulinus Gothus (10 November 1565 – 29 November 1646) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

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 ...

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

and

Archbishop of Uppsala The Archbishop of Uppsala (spelled Upsala until the early 20th century) has been the primate (bishop), primate of Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward un ...

Biography

Gothus was born Lars Paulsson at

Söderköping Söderköping is a locality and the seat of Söderköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 6,992 inhabitants in 2010. Söderköping is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a ''town''. ...

Östergötland County Östergötland County ( sv, Östergötlands län) is a county or ''län'' in southeastern Sweden. It has land borders with the counties of Kalmar to the southeast, Jönköping to the southwest, Örebro to the northwest, and Södermanland to the n ...

, Sweden. In 1588, Gothus travelled to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and studied in the Rostock University for three years. He was influenced by

Pierre de la Ramée Petrus Ramus (french: Pierre de La Ramée; Anglicized as Peter Ramus ; 1515 – 26 August 1572) was a French humanist, logician, and educational reformer. A Protestant convert, he was a victim of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. Early life ...

(1515–1572) and his philosophy. After receiving a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

, he returned to

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

in time for the Uppsala Synod in 1593 where the founding dogmas of the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

were made final. He was appointed professor of

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

at the recently reopened, and now Lutheran focused,

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

. In 1598 he re-transferred himself to the professorship in

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

. He was, along with some other professors, suspended from his duty, because of demands that professors to sign a petition supporting Sigismund III Vasa as king of Sweden. However, in 1604, his Protestant uncle Duke Charles was crowned as King

Charles IX of Sweden Charles IX, also Carl ( sv, Karl IX; 4 October 1550 – 30 October 1611), reigned as King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I () and of his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, the brother of King Eric X ...

. When a

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

appeared on the sky in 1607, Laurentius declared he could interpret what this signified. The belief in

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...

and the significance of heavenly signs were still strong. His interpretations made an impression on King Charles and he was re-instated him at the university. Laurentius had acquired a belief in

Ramism Ramism was a collection of theories on rhetoric, logic, and pedagogy based on the teachings of Petrus Ramus, a French academic, philosopher, and Huguenot convert, who was murdered during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in August 1572. Accor ...

from the writings French educational reformer

Petrus Ramus Petrus Ramus (french: Pierre de La Ramée; Anglicized as Peter Ramus ; 1515 – 26 August 1572) was a French humanist, logician, and educational reformer. A Protestant convert, he was a victim of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. Early life ...

and defended his views rigorously. Later he was also involved in philosophical disputes with Jonas Magni Wexionensis (1583–1651) who was a professor and head of Uppsala University and who was an adherent of

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

. Gothus served as Bishop of the

Diocese of Skara The Diocese of Skara ( sv, Skara stift) is the oldest existing diocese in Sweden, originally a Latin bishopric of the Roman Catholic church, and since Protestant reformation a Lutheran diocese of the Church of Sweden (the former state church of ...

(1608–1609) and Bishop of the Diocese of Strängnäs (1609–1637). In 1628, he was tasked with the investigation of the visionary

Margareta i Kumla Margareta i Kumla ('Margareta of Kumla') also known as the ''Sibyl of Kumla'' ('Prophetess of Kumla'), or ''Kumlapigan'' ('Maid of Kumla'), (died after 1628), was a Swedish visionary, who claimed to be possessed. She became the target of pilgrimages ...

. Her visions and alleged meetings with demons and angels were described by Bishop Gothus in a meeting of the Swedish clergy in 1629. During the reign of Christina, Queen of Sweden, Gothus served as

and Primate of Sweden from 1637 to 1646.

Works

Laurentius wrote many theological and astronomical works and also published calendars. He furthermore published a thorough ''Ethica Christiana'' 1615–30, a work in six parts in Swedish about Lutheranism. Following this, he in 1631 wrote a summary of this work which has been called the prime catechetical work from 17th century Sweden. He also wrote some historical works about Swedish history.Nordisk Familjebok (1911), article Laurentius p. 1387–1389
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gothus, Laurentius Paulinus Lutheran archbishops of Uppsala 17th-century Lutheran archbishops Rectors of Uppsala University Swedish Lutheran hymnwriters 1565 births 1646 deaths 16th-century Swedish astronomers 17th-century Swedish writers 17th-century male writers 17th-century Swedish astronomers Lutheran bishops of Strängnäs University of Rostock alumni Swedish male writers 16th-century Protestant theologians 17th-century Protestant theologians Writers about religion and science