Ubbo Emmius (5 December 15479 December 1625) was a German

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

Early life

Ubbo Emmius was born on 5 December 1547 in

Greetsiel Greetsiel is a small port on the bight of Leybucht in western East Frisia, Germany that was first documented in letters from the year 1388. Since 1972, Greetsiel has been part of the municipality of Krummhörn, which has its administrative seat in ...

East Frisia East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...

. From the ages of 9 to 18 Emmius studied in a Latin school, before having to leave on the death of his father, 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 ...

preacher. After studying at

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

, at the age of 30, Emmius took classes in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

with Theodorus Beza, 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 ...

who influenced Emmius greatly.

Life

Upon returning to East Friesland in 1579 he took the position of rector in the very school in which he was taught, the college at

Norden Norden is a Scandinavian and German word, directly translated as "the North". It may refer to: Places England * Norden, Basingstoke, a ward of Basingstoke and Deane * Norden, Dorset, a hamlet near Corfe Castle * Norden, Greater Manchester, a vi ...

. He was subsequently sacked by the local court in 1587 because, as a

, he would not subscribe to the

confession of Augsburg The Augsburg Confession, also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Ref ...

. Following this, in 1588, the Calvinist count Johan offered him the position of rector in the Latin school of Leer (later renamed the

Ubbo-Emmius-Gymnasium The Ubbo-Emmius-Gymnasium is a gymnasium in the town of Leer in Lower Saxony, Germany. History The Ubbo-Emmius-Gymnasium was founded in 1584 as a High School for boys only and girls were not accepted before 1972. It was named after Ubbo Emmius, ...

). Whilst remaining in Leer it is known that Emmius had corresponded with many other important people of the time who had fled from

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

after the area fell into the hands of the Spanish. When Groningen surrendered to Prince Maurits in 1594 those who fled returned and offered Ubbo the position of rector in St Maarten school. When in 1614 the decision was made to form a university, under the guidance of Emmius. As a result, he was chosen as the principal and professor of history and Greek and ultimately became the first rector magnificus of the

Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

in which he formed.

Work

Ubbo Emmius made prominent contributions to historiography. His primary works were on the History of the

Frisia Frisia is a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Frisians, a West Ger ...

n Territories: his 6 part ''Rerum Frisicarum historiae decades'' from 1592 to 1616. In one of his other important works titled the ''Chronologicum'' he compared the histories of different nations that used different calendars. Ubbo Emmius - Ostfriesland (1595)

Other works include: *''Opus chronologicum'' (Groningen, 1619) *''Vetus Graecia illustrata'' (Leiden, 1626) *''Historia temporis nostri'', which was first published at Groningen in 1732 An account of his life, written by Nicholas Mulerius, was published, with the lives of other professors of Groningen, at Groningen in 1638.

Death

Ubbo Emmius died on the 9 December 1625 in Groningen; his grave stone reads:

''For the immortal memory of the famous and faithful old man Ubbo Emmius, a Frisian from Greetsiel, first rector of the academy, theologist of the pure doctrine, excellent philologist, perfect historian.''

Early life

Life

Work

Death

References

Further reading