A Nicodemite () is a person suspected of publicly misrepresenting their religious faith to conceal their true beliefs. The term is sometimes defined as referring to a Protestant Christian who lived in a Roman Catholic country and escaped persecution by concealing their Protestantism.
The word is normally a
term of disparagement
A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...
. Introduced into 16th-century religious discourse, it persisted in use into the 18th century and beyond. Originally employed mostly by
Protestants, it was usually applied to persons of publicly conservative religious position and practice who were thought to be secretly
humanistic or
reformed.
Friedrich Heer
Friedrich Heer (10 April 191618 September 1983) was an Austrian historian born in Vienna.
Early life
Heer received a PhD at the University of Vienna in 1938. Even as a student, he came into conflict with pan-German historians as a staunch oppone ...
in his book ''The Medieval World'' (1961; English translation published in 1962) refers to the 12th-century circle at Chartres as past masters of nicodemism, which he describes as "dangerous thoughts, dangerous allusions to topical ecclesiastical and political affairs, and above all to ideas hard or impossible to reconcile with the dogma of the Church or the maxims of the prevailing theology".
In England during the 17th and 18th centuries the term was often applied to those suspected of secret
Socinian
Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...
,
Arianist, or
proto-Deist beliefs.
Origin
![Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 181](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld_Bibel_in_Bildern_1860_181.png)
The term was apparently introduced by
John Calvin (1509–1564) in 1544 in his ''Excuse à messieurs les Nicodemites''. Since the French
monarchy
A monarchy is a government#Forms, form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The legitimacy (political)#monarchy, political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restric ...
had increased its prosecution of
heresy
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
with the
Edict of Fontainebleau (1540)
The Edict of Fontainebleau was issued June 1, 1540 by French King Francis I at his Palace of Fontainebleau. It occurred after the " Affair of the Placards" turned Francis I's policy from one of tolerance to persecution of Protestantism. The edict ...
, it had become increasingly dangerous to profess dissident belief publicly, and refuge was being sought in emulating
Nicodemus
Nicodemus (; grc-gre, Νικόδημος, Nikódēmos) was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin mentioned in three places in the Gospel of John:
* He first visits Jesus one night to discuss Jesus' teachings ().
* The second time Nicodemu ...
.
In the
Gospel of John
The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...
John 3:1-2 there appears the character Nicodemus, a
Pharisee and member of the
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , ''synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), ...
. Although outwardly remaining a pious
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
, he comes to
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
secretly by night to receive instruction. Although he was eventually made a
saint, his dual allegiance was somewhat suspect.
Notable suspected Nicodemites
*
Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon
Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (c. 1527 – 18 September 1556) was an English nobleman during the rule of the Tudor dynasty. Born into a family with close royal connections, he was at various times considered a possible match for the ...
(c.1527–1556),
courtier
A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official ...
of
Mary I of England
*
Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry ...
(1489–1556), first
Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury under
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
*
Michelangelo (1475–1564), who sculpted a portrait of himself as Nicodemus in his
Florentine Pietà
*
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...
(1643–1727), eminent scientist and theologian
*
Reginald Cardinal Pole (1500–1558), last
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
Archbishop of Canterbury[Overell 2008, p. 7.]
See also
* ''
An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture
''An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture'' is a dissertation by the English mathematician and scholar Isaac Newton. This was sent in a letter to John Locke on 14 November 1690. In fact, Newton may have been in dialogue w ...
''
*
Crypto-Christianity
Crypto-Christianity is the secret practice of Christianity, usually while attempting to camouflage it as another faith or observing the rituals of another religion publicly. In places and time periods where Christians were persecuted or Christiani ...
*
Crypto-Islam
Crypto-Islam is the secret adherence to Islam while publicly professing to be of another faith; people who practice crypto-Islam are referred to as "crypto-Muslims." The word has mainly been used in reference to Spanish Muslims and Sicilian Musli ...
*
Crypto-Judaism
Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews" (origin from Greek ''kryptos'' – , 'hidden').
The term is especially applied historically to Sp ...
*
Crypto-protestantism
Crypto-Protestantism is a historical phenomenon that first arose on the territory of the Habsburg Empire but also elsewhere in Europe and Latin America, at a time when Catholic rulers tried, after the Protestant Reformation, to reestablish Catho ...
*
Crypto-papism
*
Marrano
*
Morisco
Moriscos (, ; pt, mouriscos ; Spanish for "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Roman Catholic church and the Spanish Crown commanded to convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed the open ...
*
Religious views of Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton (4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727) was considered an insightful and erudite theologian by his Protestant contemporaries. NGLISH & LATIN[Taqiya
In Shi'ism, ''Taqiya'' or ''Taqiyya'' ( ar, تقیة ', literally "prudence, fear")R. STROTHMANN, MOKTAR DJEBLI. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "TAKIYYA", vol. 10, p. 134. Quote: "TAKIYYA "prudence, fear" ..denotes dispensing with th ...](_blank)
References
Bibliography
* Ginzburg, Carlo "Il nicodemismo. Simulazione e dissimulazione religiosa nell'Europa del Cinquecento", Einaudi, Torino 1970
* Eire, Carlos M. N. "Prelude to Sedition: Calvin's Attack on Nicodemism and Religious Compromise". ''Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte'' 76:120-45.
* Eire, Carlos M. N. "Calvin and Nicodemism: A Reappraisal". ''Sixteenth Century Journal'' X:1, 1979.
* Livingstone, E. A. "Nicodemism". In ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000. Entry availabl
here
* Overell, M. Anne ''Italian Reform and English Reformations, c.1535–c.1585''. The Open University, UK. 2008
Excerpt available online.* Overell, Anne. "A Nicodemite in England and Italy: Edward Courtenay, 1548-46". In ''John Foxe at Home and Abroad''. D. M. Loades, ed. Ashgate Publishing, Farnham, Surrey, UK, 2004.
* Pettegree, Andrew. "Nicodemism and the English Reformation" in ''Marian Protestantism: Six Studies'', St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History. Aldershot, 1996, pp. 86–117.
* Shrimplin-Evangelidis, Valerie. ''Michelangelo and Nicodemism: The Florentine Pietà.'' College Art Association, 1989.
*
Snobelen, Stephen D. "Isaac Newton, heretic: the strategies of a Nicodemite." ''The British Journal for the History of Science'', 32:4:381-419. Cambridge University Press, 1999.
* Anderson Magalhães, ''All’ombra dell’eresia: Bernardo Tasso e le donne della Bibbia in Francia e in Italia'', in ''Le donne della Bibbia, la Bibbia delle donne. Teatro, letteratura e vita'', Atti del XV Convegno Internazionale di Studio organizzato dal Gruppo di Studio sul Cinquecento francese, Verona, 16-19 ottobre 2009, a cura di R. Gorris Camos, Fasano, Schena, 2012, pp. 159–218.
{{Intermediates between Catholicism and Protestantism
Christian terminology
Protestant Reformation
Anti-Catholic slurs