- Johannes Janssen
Johannes Janssen (
April 10 ,1829 -December 24 ,1891 ) was a Germanhistorian born inXanten . After graduating from the "Rektoratsschule" in Xanten (today's "Stiftsgymnasium") he was educated at the universities ofMünster ,Leuven ,Bonn andBerlin , afterwards becoming a teacher of history inFrankfurt-am-Main .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. He died at Frankfurt. Janssen was a stout champion of the Ultramontane party in the
Roman Catholic Church .Works
His great work is his "Geschichte des deutschen Volkes seit dem Ausgang des Mittelalters" (8 vols., Freiburg, 1878-1894). In this book he shows himself very hostile to the
Reformation , and attempts to prove that theProtestants were responsible for the general unrest in Germany during the 16th and 17th centuries. The author's partisanship led to some controversy, and Janssen wrote "An meine Kritiker" (Freiburg , 1882) and "Ein zweites Wort an meine Kritiker" (Freiburg, 1883) in reply to the "Janssens Geschichte des deutschen Volkes" (Munich , 1883) ofM. Lenz , and other criticisms.The "Geschichte", which has passed through numerous editions, has been continued and improved by
Ludwig Pastor , and the greater part of it has been translated into English byM. A. Mitchell andA. M. Christie (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 , 1868); a monograph, "Schiller als Historiker" (Freiburg, 1863); and "Zeit- und Lebensbilder" (Freiburg, 1875).References
*
Ludwig Pastor , "Johannes Janssen" (Freiburg, 1893)
*F. Meister , "Erinnerung an Johannes Janssen" (Frankfort, 1896)
*Mathieu Schwann , "Johannes Janssen und die Geschichte der deutschen Reformation" (Munich, 1892).
*1911
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