Krzysztof Crell-Spinowski (Latin: Crellius Spinovius, English: Christopher Crell) (

Raków, Kielce County Raków is a village in Kielce County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Raków. It lies in historic Lesser Poland, approximately south-east of the regional ...

1622 - December 12, 1680) was an Arian theologian, pastor of the church of the

Polish Brethren The Polish Brethren (Polish: ''Bracia Polscy'') were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658. By those on the outside, they were called "Arians" or "Socinians" (, ' ...

. Christopher Crellius was the middle generation of three

Socinian Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...

theologians: he was son of

Johannes Crellius Johannes Crellius (Polish: ''Jan Crell'', English: John Crell; 26 July 1590 in Hellmitzheim – 11 June 1633 in Raków) was a Polish and German theologian. Life Johann Crell's father, Johann Crell Sr., was pastor of the church at Hellmitzheim, ( ...

, and father of

Samuel Crellius Samuel Crell-Spinowski (25 March 1660 in Kluczbork – 9 June 1747 in Amsterdam) was an Arian philosopher and theologian, pastor of the church of the Polish Brethren. Son of Christopher Crellius and grandson of Johannes Crellius. Samuel's mot ...

-Spinowski. Krzysztof Crell-Spinowski was educated first where he was born, at the

Racovian Academy The Racovian Academy ('' la, Gymnasium Bonarum Artium'') was a Socinian school operated from 1602 to 1638 by the Polish Brethren in Raków, Sandomierz Voivodeship of Lesser Poland. The communitarian Arian settlement of Raków was founded in 1569 b ...

, then following the forced closure of the

in 1639, at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

. After his return to Poland, from 1650 he was a preacher in Krzelów, then 1654-1659 minister in

Rąbkowa Rąbkowa is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Łososina Dolna, within Nowy Sącz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Łososina Dolna, north of Nowy Sącz, and south-east o ...

, then at

Kluczbork Kluczbork (german: Kreuzburg O.S., szl, Kluczborek) is a town in southern Poland with 23,554 inhabitants (2019), situated in the Opole Voivodeship. It is the capital of Kluczbork County and an important railroad junction. In Kluczbork the major ...

in Silesia where his sons Christopher Jr. (1658) and Samuel (1660) were born, and his wife died (1666), and where from his second marriage a third son Paweł (1677) was born. In 1669, Krzysztof Sr. moved as minister and teacher to Kosinowo. He completed the editing and printing of works of his father in Amsterdam. During his trips abroad to the Netherlands and England he sought material assistance for exiled Arians. He died on the way home from Kosinowo to Kluczbork. While his second and third sons followed their father's work as ministers in Lithuania, the firstborn, Christopher Crell Jr, accompanied his widowed father to England in 1668 at the age of 10 with his sister, and was left in the care of a spinster, Miss Alice Stuckey. Christoph Jr. later studied, like his father, at Leiden, where he graduated in medicine 6 July 1682, with a thesis on bladder stones. His son and namesake went on to become a licentiate of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

in London on 2 April 1683.Entry for Christopher Crell MD in Munk's Roll, RCP, London
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crell-Spinowski, Krzysztof 1622 births 1680 deaths Polish Unitarians