Gallus, Carolus (or Karel de Haan) (16 August 1530 in

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

– 28 January 1616 in

Nijbroek Nijbroek is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located in the municipality of Voorst, about 12 km northeast of Apeldoorn. Nijbroek was a separate municipality until 1818, when it was merged with Voorst. History It was fir ...

) was a Reformed minister and polemicist against the

Anabaptists Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. The term (tra ...

. Native to the Netherlands, Gallus was raised in a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

family, and studied law and theology to become a priest.

Life

As a Roman Catholic preparing to study for the priesthood, and against the warnings of his friend Joannes Visser, Carolus Gallus chose to study theology under

John Calvin John Calvin (; ; ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French Christian theology, theologian, pastor and Protestant Reformers, reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of C ...

and Theodore de Beze at the

Genevan Academy The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology unti ...

. In early 1560, he became a priest at Deventer, though by February 1561, he was sued by dean of Deventer and brought under charges of heresy due to his administration of the Eucharist during a Christmas Mass. The city kept him in his position until June 1561, when he fled to the city of Hamm. He was appointed as Evangelical pastor by the Duke of Cleves and remained in this position until 1576. He moved to Bremen for a brief time and became a bitter opponent to the Anabaptists. He published his first book against the Anabaptists entitled ' (Bremen, 1577 ?). From 1578 to 1581, at the behest of Count Johan Nassau, he was a military chaplain with his friend Johannes Fontanus in Gelderland, where the Reformation was beginning to take hold. Between the years of 1583 and 1586, he ministered once again in Deventer, but once again had to flee as Roman Catholics from Spain who infiltrated the city. He was appointed as professor of theology at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

in 1587 and maintained this position rather shortly, as he took a call to become minister in Oldenbroek in 1592, where he remained until his death.

Chief works

*'. Bremen, 1577(?). *'': ''. 1577. *'. 1592. *'. Apoc. 22 vers 10. Lugd. Bat. 1592. *'. Ferrariae, Apud Victorium Baldinum, 1600. *'. Arnhem: Jan Janssen, 1606. *'. Franeker, 1642.

References

*Dyck, Cornelius J. and Dennis D. Martin. ''The Mennonite Encyclopedia''. 5 vols. Scottdale: Mennonite Publishing House, 1955–1990. *G.P. van Itterzon
Gallus, Carolus
in '. 3 vols., Nauta, Doede and Johannes van den Berg editors, Kok: Kampen, 1978–2006. * Knipscheer
Gallus (Carolus)
in Sijthoff, A.W., et al. '. 10 vols. Leiden: Sijthoff, 1911–1937. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallus, Carolus 1530 births 1616 deaths 16th-century Dutch clergy 16th-century Anabaptists 16th-century Dutch Calvinist and Reformed ministers Dutch Calvinist and Reformed theologians People from Arnhem