Paul Tossanus (Toussain; 1572–1634) was a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

minister, who spent most of his life in Germany.

Life

He was born at Château de Montargis, owned by

Renée of France Renée of France (25 October 1510 – 12 June 1574), was List of Ferrarese consorts, Duchess of Ferrara from 31 October 1534 until 3 October 1559 by marriage to Ercole II d'Este, grandson of Pope Alexander VI. She was the younger surviving ch ...

, and was the son of

Daniel Tossanus Daniel Tossanus (Toussain, Toussaint) (1541–1602) was a French Reformed theologian. Life He was born at Montbéliard on 15 July 1541, the son of Pierre Toussain. He was educated at Basel and Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college ...

. The family moved to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

the next year, at that time ruled by

Frederick III, Elector Palatine Frederick III of Simmern, the Pious, Elector Palatine of the Rhine (14 February 1515 – 16 October 1576) was a ruler from the house of Wittelsbach, specifically the cadet branch of Palatinate-Simmern- Sponheim. He was a son of John II of S ...

, a

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

. Frederick's death and the accession of the

Lutheran 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 ...

Louis VI, Elector Palatine Louis VI, Elector Palatine (4 July 1539 in Simmern – 22 October 1583 in Heidelberg), was an Elector from the Palatinate-Simmern branch of the house of Wittelsbach. He was the first-born son of Frederick III, Elector Palatine and Marie of Br ...

saw the family move to Lambrecht; but after his death in 1583 they returned, and Paul continued his education in the Palatinate, graduating M.A. in 1592. In 1618 he was sent, with

Abraham Scultetus Abraham Scultetus (24 August 1566 – 24 October 1625) was a German professor of theology, and the court preacher for the Prince-elector, Elector of the Palatinate Frederick V, Elector Palatine, Frederick V. Biography Early life Abraham wa ...

and Heinrich Alting, to represent the Palatinate at the

Synod of Dort The Synod of Dort (also known as the Synod of Dordt or the Synod of Dordrecht) was a European transnational Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618–1619, by the Dutch Reformed Church, to settle a divisive controversy caused by the rise of Arminianism. ...

. The outbreak of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

in the Palatinate sent him in exile, in

Hanau Hanau () is a city in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its railway Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ma ...

Theodore Haak Theodore Haak (1605 in – 1690 in London) was a German Calvinist scholar, resident in England in later life. Haak's communications abilities and interests in the new science provided the backdrop for convening the " 1645 Group", a precursor of ...

was his nephew.

Views

In a move towards

eirenicism Irenicism in Christian theology refers to attempts to unify Christian apologetical systems by using reason as an essential attribute. The word is derived from the Greek word ''ειρήνη (eirene)'' meaning peace. It is a concept related to a com ...

in the continuing controversies between Lutherans and Calvinists, he suggested dropping those labels, and debating only the distinctions between the public confessions, rather than attacks on individual theologians.

References

External links

WorldCat pageCERL page

''Biographie universelle'' entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tossanus, Paul 1572 births 1634 deaths French Calvinist and Reformed Christians Participants in the Synod of Dort