Matthäus Prätorius (c.1635–c.1704) was a
Protestant pastor, later a Roman Catholic
priest, a
historian and
ethnographer.
Prätorius is thought to have been born in
Memel (Klaipėda). He probably grew up speaking both
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
and
Lithuanian
Lithuanian may refer to:
* Lithuanians
* Lithuanian language
* The country of Lithuania
* Grand Duchy of Lithuania
* Culture of Lithuania
* Lithuanian cuisine
* Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...
, which helped him when preaching to the
ethnic Lithuanians in
Ducal Prussia. His work about
Prussia and its culture, ''Deliciae Prussicae, oder Preussische Schaubühne'', resembles the work of
Christoph Hartknoch
Christoph Hartknoch (1644–1687) was a Prussian historian and educator.
Biography
Hartknoch was born in Jablonken (Jabłonka) near Ortelsburg (Szczytno) in the Duchy of Prussia. In 1650 the family moved to Passenheim (Pasym) and there witn ...
, with whom he collaborated. Prätorius' work provides much more ethnographic information regarding local Lithuanians and
Old Prussians. It was only published partially, in 1725 (in ''Erleutertes Preußen''), 1731 (in ''Acta Borussica'') and 1871. A complete edition, in seven volumes, with original German text and Lithuanian translation, is under preparation in Lithuania.
In 1701, having converted from
Protestantism to
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
, he appealed against an ongoing case of
witch-hunt. He died in
Wejherowo (Weyherststadt).
In ''Orbis Gothicus'' and ''Mars Gothicus'' sustained that Prussia was the original land of
Goths and that Goths can be identified as being "
prussians,
lithuanians
Lithuanians ( lt, lietuviai) are a Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another million or two make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Uni ...
,
samogitians and
curonians atvians.
[Jurate Rosales, Los godos, Barcelona: Ariel (2004), pág. 26,32,328]
Works
Tuba pacis, 1685, 1711, 1820
Scutum Regium, 1685
Orbis Gothicus, 1688-1689
Mars Gothicus, 1691
Deliciae Prussicae oder Preussische Schaubühne, 1689 manuscript
Matas Pretorijus / / Matthew Praetorius. Prūsijos įdomybės, arba Prūsijos regykla / / Deliciae Prussicae or Prussian theater. Edited by Inge Lukšaité and Vilija Gerulaitienė. Vilnius: Pradai. Vol 1 (1999), Vol 2, ed. Inge Lukšaité in collaboration with V. Gerulaitienė, M. Čiurinskas, I. Tumavičiūtė, Vilnius: Lietuvos istorijos instituto Leidykla, (2004), Vol 3, hersg. Inge Lukšaité with the collaboration of M. Girdzijauskaitė, p Drevello, J. Kilius, Čiurinskas M., (2006) Vol 4, hersg. Inge Lukšaité in collaboration with V. Gerulaitienė, J. Kilius, T. Veteikis, Vilnius. Lietuvos istorijos instituto Leidykla, (2011) (for all 7 vol).
See also
*
Jurate Rosales
Jūratė Regina Statkutė de Rosales is a Lithuanian-born Venezuelan journalist and amateur historian. She has published studies in Venezuela, Spain, the United States and Lithuania in which she claims that the Goths were not a Germanic but a Bal ...
References
* ''Matthäus Prätorius' deliciae prussicae oder Preußische Schaubühne. Im wörtlichen Auszuge aus dem Manuscript herausgegeben von ''Dr.'' William Piersson''
atthäus Prätorius' deliciae prussicae or Prussian theater. In the literal excerpt from the manuscript edited by Dr. William Piersson/small>. A. Duncker's Buch-Verlag, Berlin, 1871, 152 pp.
* Franz Heinrich Reusch: Matthäus Prätorius. In: ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Sechsundzwanzigster Band. Auf Veranlassung Seiner Majestät des Königs von Bayern herausgegeben durch die historische Commission bei der Königl. Akademie der Wissenschaften.'' Verlag von Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig, 1888, p. 529 f.
Wikisource
* Nijolė Strakauskaitė: ''Simon Dach und Martin Ludwig Rhesa im litauischen Kontext'' imon Dach and Martin Ludwig Rhesa in the Lithuanian context/small>. Annaberger Annalen, Heft 14. 2006
annaberger-annalen.de (PDF)
* Inge Lukšaitė
Inge is a given name in various Germanic language-speaking cultures. In Swedish and Norwegian, it is mostly used as a masculine, but less often also as a feminine name, sometimes as a short form of Ingeborg, while in Danish, Estonian, Frisian, G ...
, Vilija Gerulaitienė: ''Matas Pretorijus. Prūsijos įdomybės, arba Prūsijos regykla''. Vilnius: Pradai. Bd. 1 (1999), Bd. 2 (2004). .
* Inge Lukšaitė, Matthew Praetorius - historian of Prussian culture. Life, Work and Scientific sheep, Matas Pretorijus / / Matthew Praetorius. Prūsijos įdomybės, arba Prūsijos regykla / / Deliciae Prussicae or Prussian theater. Edited by Inge Lukšaité and Vilija Gerulaitienė. Vilnius: Pradai. Vol 1 (1999), pp. 85–140; same, Matthew Praetorius and the second and third book of his work, Deliciae Prussicae ', op. 2, pp. 25–43.
* William Mannhardt Letto-Prussian Götterlehere, Riga, 1936, pp. 524–604; Baltų religijos ir mitologijos šaltiniai / / Sources of Baltic religion and mythology, Bd . 3, hersg. of Norbertas Velius, Vilnius: The science and encyclopaedia publishing institutions, pp. 107–323.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratorius, Matthaeus
Balticists
1635 births
1704 deaths
17th-century German historians
People from Klaipėda
People from the Duchy of Prussia
German Roman Catholics
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism
German male non-fiction writers