Nicolaas Grevinckhoven (Grevinchovius, Grevinghoven or Grevinchoven in German sources) (died 1632) was a Dutch Protestant minister, a combative proponent of the

Remonstrant 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 ...

party.

Life

He studied in

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 ...

. From 1601 he was a preacher in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. He attended the debate between

Jacobus Arminius Jacobus Arminius (10 October 1560 – 19 October 1609), the Latinized name of Jakob Hermanszoon, was a Dutch theologian during the Protestant Reformation period whose views became the basis of Arminianism and the Dutch Remonstrant movement. He ...

and

Franciscus Gomarus Franciscus Gomarus (François Gomaer; 30 January 1563 – 11 January 1641) was a Dutch theologian, a strict Calvinist and an opponent of the teaching of Jacobus Arminius (and his followers), whose theological disputes were addressed at the Synod ...

in 1609, signed the Remonstrance of 1610, and attended the Hague Conference of 1611. Around 1610 he had a high-profile debate with

William Ames William Ames (; Latin: ''Guilielmus Amesius''; 157614 November 1633) was an English Puritan minister, philosopher, and controversialist. He spent much time in the Netherlands, and is noted for his involvement in the controversy between the Cal ...

; and John Owen later quoted from his written work against

Arminians Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Rem ...

in general. In Rotterdam he was on bad terms with the

Contra-Remonstrant Franciscus Gomarus (François Gomaer; 30 January 1563 – 11 January 1641) was a Dutch theology, theologian, a strict Calvinism, Calvinist and an opponent of the teaching of Jacobus Arminius (and his followers), whose theological disputes were ad ...

minister Cornelis Geselius, who quarrelled insistently with Grevinckhoven at the prompting of the extremist Adriaan Smout. The result was an intervention of the magistrates, with the Contra-Remonstrants worshipping outside the town. With Jacobus Taurinus of

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

he was one of the most strident of Remonstrant pamphleteers. In

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

after the

Synod of Dort The Synod of Dort (also known as the Synod of Dordt or the Synod of Dordrecht) was an international Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618–1619, by the Dutch Reformed Church, to settle a divisive controversy caused by the rise of Arminianism. The fi ...

in 1619, he tried to rally the Remonstrants, who had suffered defeat at the Synod in theological terms, and had also lost a major political battle in Holland. He was one of those reshaping the movement into the Remonstrant Reformed Brotherhood, in a committee with

Johannes Wtenbogaert Johannes Wtenbogaert (Also Jan or Hans, Uytenbogaert or Uitenbogaert.) (11 February 1557 – 4 September 1644) was a Dutch Protestant minister, a leader of the Remonstrants. Life Born at Utrecht, he was brought up a Roman Catholic, and attended t ...

, Eduardus Poppius, Carolus Niellius and

Johannes Arnoldi Corvinus Johannes Arnoldi Corvinus born Joannes Arnoldsz Ravens (c.1582, Leiden – 2 January 1650, Amsterdam) was a Dutch Remonstrant minister and jurist. Life He was born in Leiden, and in 1606 was a Calvinist preacher there. A pupil of Jacobus Arminius,A ...

. While there he provided shelter for

Hugo Grotius Hugo Grotius (; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Huig de Groot () and Hugo de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, poet and playwright. A teenage intellectual prodigy, he was born in Delft ...

, recently escaped from imprisonment, in 1621.Israel p. 459. Grevinckhoven spent time in

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

References

* :de:s:ADB:Grevinghoven, Nikolaus *

Jonathan Israel Jonathan Irvine Israel (born 26 January 1946) is a British writer and academic specialising in Dutch history, the Age of Enlightenment and European Jews. Israel was appointed as Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the School of Historical Studies a ...

(1998), ''The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806''

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grevinckhoven, Nicolaas Year of birth missing 1632 deaths Remonstrants Arminian writers Arminian ministers