Lars Stigzelius (27 October 1598 – 31 August 1676) was Archbishop of Uppsala in the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

from 1670 to his death.

Biography

He was the son of a priest and was a student at the

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

until his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

in 1625. After undertaking a travel through Europe in 1630, he in 1640 became professor of theology in Uppsala. During his time as professor he was under pressure since both

Johan Skytte Johan Skytte (1577, in Nyköping – 15 March 1645, in Söderåkra, Sweden) was a Swedish statesman, and the founder of the ''Academia Gustaviana'' (today's University of Tartu in Estonia), in 1632. He was a son of the mayor of Nyköping, Beng ...

, the chancellor of the university, and

Laurentius Paulinus Gothus Laurentius Paulinus Gothus (10 November 1565 – 29 November 1646) was a Swedish theologian, astronomer and Archbishop of Uppsala. Biography Gothus was born Lars Paulsson at Söderköping in Östergötland County, Sweden. In 1588, Gothus travel ...

, the vice chancellor and a learnt professor who would later become archbishop, were supporters of the philosophy of

Ramism Ramism was a collection of theories on rhetoric, logic, and pedagogy based on the teachings of Petrus Ramus, a French academic, philosopher, and Huguenot convert, who was murdered during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in August 1572. Accord ...

(deriving from

Petrus Ramus Petrus Ramus (french: Pierre de La Ramée; Anglicized as Peter Ramus ; 1515 – 26 August 1572) was a French humanist, logician, and educational reformer. A Protestant convert, he was a victim of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. Early life ...

), while Stigzelius was an aristotelian. This problem he had from 1630, when he became professor of

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premise ...

, until, as said, 1640, when he became professor of theology. When in the 1660s Cartesian thoughts spread to the university, Stigzelius was working against it. He had a reputation at the University as being highly knowledgeable. His views usually counted. For instance he was working to remove

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...

as one of the Church dogmas (which still was in use in Sweden).

References

Nordisk familjebok (1917), article Stigzelius, p. 1377
In Swedish {{DEFAULTSORT:Stigzelius, Lars 1598 births 1676 deaths Lutheran archbishops of Uppsala Uppsala University alumni 17th-century Lutheran archbishops 17th-century Swedish people