Paul Tossanus (Toussain; 1572–1634) was a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

minister, who spent most of his life in Germany.

Life

He was born at Château de Montargis, owned by

Renée of France Renée of France (25 October 1510 – 12 June 1574), was List of Ferrarese consorts, Duchess of Ferrara from 31 October 1534 until 3 October 1559 by marriage to Ercole II d'Este, grandson of Pope Alexander VI. She was the younger surviving ch ...

, and was the son of Daniel Tossanus. The family moved to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

the next year, at that time ruled by

Frederick III, Elector Palatine Frederick III of Simmern, the Pious, Elector Palatine of the Rhine (14 February 1515 – 16 October 1576) was a ruler from the house of Wittelsbach, branch Palatinate-Simmern-Sponheim. He was a son of John II of Simmern and inherited the Pala ...

, a

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

. Frederick's death and the accession of the

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 ...

Louis VI, Elector Palatine Louis VI, Elector Palatine (4 July 1539 in Simmern – 22 October 1583 in Heidelberg), was an Elector from the Palatinate-Simmern branch of the house of Wittelsbach. He was the first-born son of Frederick III, Elector Palatine and Marie of Bra ...

saw the family move to Lambrecht; but after his death in 1583 they returned, and Paul continued his education in the Palatinate, graduating M.A. in 1592. In 1618 he was sent, with

Abraham Scultetus Abraham Scultetus (24 August 1566 – 24 October 1625) was a German professor of theology, and the court preacher for the Elector of the Palatinate Frederick V. Biography Early life Abraham was born in Grünberg in Schlesien in Silesia (aft ...

and

Heinrich Alting Johann Heinrich Alting (17 February 1583 – 25 August 1644), German divine, was born at Emden, where his father, Menso Alting (1541–1612), was minister. Heinrich studied with great success at the University of Groningen and the Herborn Academ ...

, to represent the Palatinate at 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 ...

. The outbreak of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

in the Palatinate sent him in exile, in

Hanau Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ...

Theodore Haak Theodore Haak (1605 in – 1690 in London) was a German Calvinist scholar, resident in England in later life. Haak's communications abilities and interests in the new science provided the backdrop for convening the "1645 Group", a precursor of t ...

was his nephew.

Views

In a move towards

eirenicism Irenicism in Christian theology refers to attempts to unify Christian apologetical systems by using reason as an essential attribute. The word is derived from the Greek word ''ειρήνη (eirene)'' meaning peace. It is a concept related to a commu ...

in the continuing controversies between Lutherans and Calvinists, he suggested dropping those labels, and debating only the distinctions between the public confessions, rather than attacks on individual theologians.

References

External links

WorldCat pageCERL page

''Biographie universelle'' entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tossanus, Paul 1572 births 1634 deaths French Calvinist and Reformed Christians Participants in the Synod of Dort