Hermann Thyräus (b. at

Neuss Neuss (; written ''Neuß'' until 1968; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It is primarily known for its ...

on the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

, 1532; d. at

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

, 26 October 1591) was a German

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

theologian and preacher.

Life

Thyräus studied first at

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. After 1522, he studied at the Collegium Germanicum at Rome, where he was a member of the first graduating class. On 26 May 1556, he was received into the Society of Jesus by

Ignatius Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the So ...

. In the same year, Thyräus was made a professor of theology at

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...

, where he taught for three years the "Magister sententiarum", and in the fourth year controversial theology. In 1560 he became a professor at

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

, and lectured on the Epistles of St. Paul. He was rector of the college at Trier from 1565 to 1570. There he became a noted preacher, drawing crowds of as many as 4000 listeners. Thyräus was provincial of the Jesuit province of the Rhine from 1571 to 1578, where the archbishops often employed him in important matters. In 1574, he accompanied Daniel Brendel von Homburg, the

archbishop of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

, to Duderstadt, where the city council was petitioning for permission to practice

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

. Daniel refused the petition, instead enforcing the terms of the

Augsburg Interim The Augsburg Interim (full formal title: ''Declaration of His Roman Imperial Majesty on the Observance of Religion Within the Holy Empire Until the Decision of the General Council'') was an imperial decree ordered on 15 May 1548 at the 1548 Die ...

. Sermons Thyräus delivered during the visit were met with hostility and scorn. From 1578 until his death, Thyräus served as rector of the college at

Works

The , ascribed to Thyräus, was written most probably by his younger brother

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, also a Jesuit. His , with controversial notes, appeared at Dillingen in 1567. He also left several volumes of sermons.

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thyraus, Hermann 1532 births 1591 deaths 16th-century German Jesuits 16th-century German Catholic theologians 16th-century German male writers Academic staff of the University of Ingolstadt