Johannes Janssen (10 April 1829 – 24 December 1891) was a Catholic priest and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

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 st ...

born in

Xanten Xanten (, Low Rhenish: ''Santen'') is a town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the district of Wesel. Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park, one of the largest archaeological open air museums in the worl ...

. After graduating from the ''Rektoratsschule'' in Xanten (today's ''Stiftsgymnasium''), he was educated at the universities of

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state d ...

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. Th ...

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

and

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, afterwards becoming a teacher of history in

Frankfurt-am-Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its nam ...

. He was ordained priest in 1860, became a member of the Prussian House of Deputies in 1875, and in 1880 was made domestic prelate to the pope and

apostolic pronotary In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic (PA; Latin: ''protonotarius apostolicus'') is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pop ...

. He died at Frankfurt. Janssen was a stout champion of the Ultramontane party in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Works

His great work is his ''Geschichte des deutschen Volkes seit dem Ausgang des Mittelalters'' (8 vols., Freiburg, 1878–1894). He argues against Luther, Zwingli and the other Protestant reformers

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

, and claims that Protestantism was responsible for the general unrest in Germany during the 16th and 17th centuries. The author's conclusions led to some controversy, and Janssen wrote ''An meine Kritiker'' (

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

, 1882) and ''Ein zweites Wort an meine Kritiker'' (Freiburg, 1883) in reply to the ''Janssens Geschichte des deutschen Volkes'' (

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, 1883) of

Max Lenz Max Albert Wilhelm Lenz (13 June 1850 – 6 April 1932) was a German historian. Biography Lenz was born to a Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian and devoutly Lutheran notary in Greifswald, Pomerania Province (1815-1945), Province of Pomerania. After gr ...

, and other criticisms. The ''Geschichte'', which has passed through numerous editions, has been continued and improved by

Ludwig Pastor Ludwig Pastor, later Ludwig von Pastor, Freiherr von Campersfelden (31 January 1854 – 30 September 1928), was a German historian and a diplomat for Austria. He became one of the most important Roman Catholic historians of his time and is most no ...

, and the greater part of it has been translated into English by M. A. Mitchell and

A. M. Christie A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to: Science and technology Quantities and units * ''a'', a measure for the attraction between particles in the Van der Waals equation * ''A'' value, a measure o ...

(London, 1896, fol.). Of his other works perhaps the most important are: the editing of ''Frankfurts Reichskorrespondenz, 1376–1519'' (Freiburg, 1863–1872); and of the ''Leben, Briefe und kleinere Schriften'' of his friend JF Böhmer (

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, 1868); a monograph, ''Schiller als Historiker'' (Freiburg, 1863); and ''Zeit- und Lebensbilder'' (Freiburg, 1875).

Works in English translation

* ''History of the German People at the close of the Middle Ages,'' Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co, Ltd. (1896-1910): ** Vol. I
''Popular Education and Science – Art and Popular Literature – Political Economy,''
1896. ** Vol. II
''The Holy Roman Empire,''
1896. ** Vol III
''The Revolution Party and its Proceedings – The Diet of Worms and the Progress of the Politico-Clerical Revolution,''
1900. ** Vol. IV
''The Social Revolution,''
1900. ** Vol. V
''Propagation and Systematising of the New Doctrines – Plan of War Against the Emperor – The League of Smalcald – The Zwinglian Religious Disturbance in Suabia – Fresh Overtures of Peace from the Emperor,''
1903. ** Vol. VI
''The Smalcaldian War and Internal Disintegration Down to the So-Called Religious Peace of Nuremberg,''
1912. ** Vol. VII
''General Conditions of the German People from the So-Called Religious Pacification of Augsburg in 1555 to the Proclamation of the Formula of Concord in 1580,''
1905. ** Vol. VIII
''General Conditions of the German People from the So-Called Religious Pacification of Augsburg in 1555 to the Proclamation of the Formula of Concord in 1580''
(Cont.),1905. ** Vol. IX
''The Politico-Religious Revolution from the Proclamation of the Formula of Concord in 1580 up to the Year 1608,''
1906. ** Vol. X
''Leading up to the Thirty Years' War,''
1906. ** Vol. XI
''Art and Popular Literature to the Beginning of the Thirty Years' War,''
1907. ** Vol. XII
''Art and Popular Literature to the Beginning of the Thirty Years' War,''
(Cont.), 1907. ** Vol. XIII
''Schools and Universities, Science, Learning and Culture Down to the Beginning of the Thirty Years' War,''
1909. ** Vol. XIV
''Schools and Universities, Science, Learning and Culture Down to the Beginning of the Thirty Years' War''
(Cont.), 1909. ** Vol. XV
''Commerce and Capital – Private Life of Different Classes – Mendicancy and Poor Relief,''
1910. ** Vol. XVI
''General Moral and Religious Corruption – Imperial Legislation Against Witchcraft – With Persecution from the Time of the Church Schism to the Last Third of the Sixteenth Century,''
1910.
''Index Volume,''
Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co, Ltd., 1925.

Gallery

Image: Frankfurt Hauptfriedhof Janssen.JPG Image: Johannes Janssen, Frankfurter Dom.JPG

References

* Alexander, Joseph (1892)
"Johannes Janssen,"
''The Catholic World'', Vol. LV, pp. 572–579. * Duhr, Bernard (1930). "Johannes Janssem als Katholiseher Historiker," ''Der Katholische Gedanke'', Vol. III, No. 3. * Jedin, Hubert (1974). "Janssen, Johannes". In: ''Neue Deutsche Biographie''. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. * Meister, Franz (1896). ''Erinnerung an Johannes Janssen''. Frankfort: A. Foesser Nachf. * Mooney, John A. (1887)
"Professor Janssen and other Modern German Historians,"
''The American Catholic Quarterly Review'', Vol. XII, pp. 424–451. * Mooney, John A. (1888)
"Johannes Janssen, Germany's Great Historian,"
''The American Catholic Quarterly Review'', Vol. XIII, pp. 429–462. * Pastor, Ludwig von (1893)
''Johannes Janssen.''
Freiburg: Herder. * Pastor, Ludwig von (1905). "Janssen, Johannes". In: ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie.'' Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 733–741. * Schwann, Mathieu (1892). ''Johannes Janssen und die Geschichte der deutschen Reformation''. München: C. Mehrlich. * Thompson, James Westfall (1942)
"Catholic Historians."
In: ''A History of Historical Writing''. The Macmillan Company, pp. 535–558. * Wildermuth, Bernd (1990). "Johannes Janssen". In: ''Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon.'' Hamm: Bautz. *

External links

* Catholic Encyclopedia

{{DEFAULTSORT:Janssen, Johannes 1829 births 1891 deaths 19th-century German historians German Roman Catholics People from Xanten People from the Rhine Province Prussian politicians University of Münster alumni University of Bonn alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Burials at Frankfurt Main Cemetery 19th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers

Works

Works in English translation

Gallery

See also

References

External links