Polykarp Leyser II (20 November 1586,

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...

- 15 January 1633,

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

) was a German Lutheran theologian and superintendent in

. He was professor of theology since 1613.

Life

Provenance

His father

Polykarp Leyser the Elder Polykarp (von) Leyser the Elder or Polykarp Leyser I (18 March 1552 – 22 February 1610) was a Lutheran theologian, superintendent of Braunschweig, superintendent-general of the Saxon church-circle, professor of theology at the University of Wit ...

, was a theologian. His mother was Elisabeth, daughter of the painter

Lucas Cranach the Younger Lucas Cranach the Younger (german: Lucas Cranach der Jüngere ; October 4, 1515 – January 25, 1586) was a German Renaissance painter and portraitist, the son of Lucas Cranach the Elder and brother of Hans Cranach. Life and career Lucas Cranach ...

Family

He was the father of nine recorded children, most of whom became theologians. His son, , was also a theologian, but found himself cut off from his family for his controversial defense of polygamy. One of Polykarp's sons, however,

Michael Leyser Michael Leyser (also Michael Lyser: 14 April 1626 - 20 December 1660) was a German physician and anatomist.There are also sources giving his year of death as 1659. Life Michael Leyser was born in Leipzig in 1626. His father was the theologian Poly ...

became a physician and anatomist, making important contributions to documenting the medical advances of the time, notably in respect of the

Lymphatic system The lymphatic system, or lymphoid system, is an organ system in vertebrates that is part of the immune system, and complementary to the circulatory system. It consists of a large network of lymphatic vessels, lymph nodes, lymphatic or lymphoid o ...

. His grandson

Polykarp Leyser III Polykarp Leyser III. (1 July 1656 in Halle – 11 October 1725 in Celle) was a German Lutheran theologian, superintendent, chaplain (''Oberhofprediger''), and orientalist. Family His father Friedrich Wilhelm Leyser (1622–1691) was the son ...

and his great-grandson

Polykarp Leyser IV Polykarp Leyser IV (4 September 1690 in Wunstorf – 7 April 1728 in Helmstedt) was a German Lutheran theologian, philosopher, physician, lawyer and historian. He was the son of Polykarp Leyser III, the great-grandson of Polykarp Leyser II an ...

were all also theologians.

References

Bibliography

Biography
in

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...

* * Erdmann Hannibal Albrecht: ''Sächsische evangelisch-luther’sche Kirchen- und Predigengeschichte, von ihrem Ursprung an die bis auf gegenwärtige Zeiten.'' Leipzig 1799, S. 61,
GoogleBooks
German Lutheran theologians 17th-century German Lutheran clergy 17th-century German Protestant theologians People from Wittenberg 1586 births 1633 deaths German male non-fiction writers 17th-century German writers 17th-century German male writers {{Germany-writer-stub