Niels Hemmingsen (''Nicolaus Hemmingius'') (May/June 1513 – 23 May 1600) was a 16th-century

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

theologian. He was pastor of the

Church of the Holy Ghost, Copenhagen The Church of the Holy Spirit ( Danish: Helligåndskirken) in Copenhagen, Denmark, is one of the city's oldest churches. History Background The first abbey in Copenhagen was a Franciscan monastery founded in 1238, just 12 years after the death o ...

and professor at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

Biography

Born in Errindlev on

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of Region Sjælland (Region Zealand). As of 1 January 2022, it has 57,618 inhabitant ...

. He attended Latin school at

Nysted Nysted is a town in Guldborgsund Municipality in Region Zealand on the southeastern coast of the island of Lolland in south Denmark. Nysted is located on the southern coast of Lolland, and has a population of 1,292 (1 January 2022).

and

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

. He studied from 1537 to 1542 at the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

, where the humanistic theology of Philipp Melanchthon made a strong impression on him. Returning to Denmark, he became a prolific author of works in Latin. In 1543 he became professor of Greek at the

and in 1553 professor of theology. He was pastor of the

from 1547 to 1553. He received his doctorate in 1557 and became vice chancellor in 1572. He gained great influence as a teacher and was also an adviser to the king and the National Council. In 1574 he published ''Syntagma institutionum christianarum'', but was obliged to retract it in 1576 following pressure from

Augustus, Elector of Saxony Augustus (31 July 152611 February 1586) was Elector of Saxony from 1553 to 1586. First years Augustus was born in Freiberg, the youngest child and third (but second surviving) son of Henry IV, Duke of Saxony, and Catherine of Mecklenburg. He con ...

to suppress

Crypto-Calvinism Crypto-Calvinism is a pejorative term describing a segment of those members of the Lutheran Church in Germany who were accused of secretly subscribing to Calvinist doctrine of the Eucharist in the decades immediately after the death of Martin Luth ...

. In 1575 he published ''Admonito de superstitionibus magicus vitandis'', a warning against practicing witchcraft. This was an important text on demonology and witchcraft in the 16th Century. He used a wide definition of witchcraft, including not only harmful activities, but all superstitious and magical behavior. Not all witches had pacts with the devil. Witchcraft and magic were breaches of the first two Commandments, idolatry and sacrilege. He wrote that most of the Devil's power came through illusions and that witches only did physically impossible things in dreams, like flying on brooms. Hemmingsen found drowning tests unreliable since they relied on superstition that the Devil could manipulate. In 1579 Frederick II suspended Hemmingsen from his teaching role at the

after representations from his brother-in-law, Augustus, Elector of Saxony, husband of

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...

. He settled in

, where he lived until his death. Hemmingsen met James VI of Scotland at

on 11 March 1590 and they had a long discussion or debate in Latin on theological issues and

predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...

. James VI, who had owned four of his books since 1575, gave him a silver gilt cup. The English ambassador in Scotland, Robert Bowes heard they disagreed about predestination.David Stevenson, ''Scotland's Last Royal Wedding'' (Edinburgh, 1997), pp. 49, 99, 131.

References

Other sources

*Martin Schwarz Lausten (2013) ''Niels Hemmingsen - Storhed og fald'' (Forlaget Anis) . *Gilje, Nils. 2003. Heksen og humanisten: Anne Pedersdatter og Absalon Pederssøn Beyer, pages 202–205. (Norwegian)

External links

BiographyBayle Dictionary, English edition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemmingsen, Niels 1513 births 1600 deaths People from Lolland Municipality University of Wittenberg alumni Rectors of the University of Copenhagen Danish Lutheran theologians Danish Lutherans Demonologists Philippists 16th-century Protestant theologians Witchcraft in Denmark

Biography

See also

References

Other sources

External links