Johannes Schefferus (February 2, 1621 – March 26, 1679) was one of the most important

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

humanists Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

of his time. He was also known as Angelus and is remembered for writing hymns.See the link below "German Classics" Schefferus was born in Strasbourg, then part of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

. He came from the

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

family (

Scheffer Scheffer is a German occupational surname related to German Schäfer (meaning "shepherd") or Schaffer (meaning "overseer"). Notable people with the surname include: *Aaron Scheffer (born 1975), American baseball pitcher *Ary Scheffer (1795–1858 ...

), studied at university there and briefly in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

, and was in 1648 made professor Skytteanus of eloquence and government at

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 ...

, a chair he held until his death in 1679. Schefferus also spent time on philological and archaeological studies. His ''De orbibus tribus aureis'' became the first publication on Swedish archaeology. The story of the Sami people, '' Lapponia'' (1673) became popular around Europe but was not translated into Swedish (as ''Lappland'') until 1956. His posthumous publication, ''Suecia literata'' ("The Learned Sweden") (1680) is a Swedish history of science bibliography. Schefferus was later in life involved in an intellectual dispute, particularly with Olof Verelius (1618–1682) over the location of the

Temple at Uppsala The Temple at Uppsala was a religious center in the ancient Norse religion once located at what is now Gamla Uppsala (Swedish "Old Uppsala"), Sweden attested in Adam of Bremen's 11th-century work '' Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' and ...

. He argued that the temple should be found near the current location of ''Helga Trefaldighets kyrka'' (Church of the Holy Trinity) in Uppsala. It is today known that his opponents usually used forgery to meet his argumentation. This was presumably the reason that parts of the largest surviving Gothic text,

Codex Argenteus The Codex Argenteus (Latin for "Silver Book/Codex") is a 6th-century illuminated manuscript, originally containing part of the 4th-century translation of the Christian Bible into the Gothic language. Traditionally ascribed to the Arian bi ...

, were retouched. In 1648, Schefferus married Regina Loccenia, the daughter of a previous (1628–1642) professor skytteanus,

Johannes Loccenius Johannes Loccenius (Johan Locken) (13 March 1598 – 27 July 1677) was a German jurist and historian, known as an academic in Sweden. Life He was born at Itzehoe, Holstein, the son of a tradesman, and educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneum ...

, and had two sons (see

Publications (selected)

''German Classics'' by William Cleaver Wilkinson Published 1900 by Funk & Wagnalls Company in New York, London p. 146
*''Upsalia'' (1666) *''De re vehiculari veterum'' ("Of the vehicles of the ancients", 1671) *''Svecia literata'' ("Learned Sweden", 1680) *''Lapponia'' (1673)

manuscript page from Johannes Schefferus’s work De Antiquis Verisque Regni Sueciae Insignibus Liber Singularis. Clicking on the thumbnail will give you the full image and information concerning it. 1621 births 1679 deaths Alsatian-German people Writers from Strasbourg Swedish people of German descent Renaissance humanists {{Sweden-academic-bio-stub