The Most Influential People Across History
Find the most influential people in 24 academic disciplines and numerous subdisciplines
Find famous and important people related to your research. This is an excellent tool for research papers, topic papers, and building a bibliography. Using our influence-based algorithm, our rankings synthesize data from Wikipedia, Wikidata, Semantic Scholar, and CrossRef.
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List of the most influential people in Religious Studies,
#4651
Adolf Paul Johannes Althaus
1861 - 1925 (64 years)
Adolf Paul Johannes Althaus was a German Lutheran theologian, born in Fallersleben . He was a professor at the universities of Göttingen and Leipzig since 1897. He was the father of Paul Althaus . He died in Leipzig.
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Heinrich Bassermann
1849 - 1909 (60 years)
Heinrich Gustav Bassermann was a German Lutheran theologian born in Frankfurt am Main. From 1868 to 1873 he was a student at the universities of Jena, Zurich and Heidelberg. At Jena he was a pupil of Karl August Hase , and in Heidelberg he studied under Heinrich Julius Holtzmann . During this time period he also served with a dragoon unit in the Franco-Prussian War .
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Adam Mitchell Hunter
1871 - 1955 (84 years)
Rev Adam Mitchell Hunter FRSE DLitt was a Scottish minister, mathematician, astronomer and author of church history. Life He was born in Edinburgh in 1871. He was educated at George Watsons College then studied divinity at the University of Edinburgh and Marburg University in central Germany.
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Antonio Possevino
1533 - 1611 (78 years)
Antonio Possevino was a Jesuit protagonist of Counter Reformation as a papal diplomat and a Jesuit controversialist, encyclopedist and bibliographer. He was the first Jesuit to visit Muscovy, Sweden, Denmark, Livonia, Hungary, Pomerania, and Saxony in amply documented papal missions between 1578 and 1586 where he championed the enterprising policies of Pope Gregory XIII.
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Jean Langevin
1821 - 1892 (71 years)
Jean-Pierre-François-Laforce Langevin was born and lived his life in Quebec. He was taught by a governess before entering the Petit Séminaire de Quebec. He began his studies for the priesthood at the Grand Séminaire and taught back at his old school, a vocation he continued after he was ordained priest. His teaching and parish experience covered a number of years and were rewarding and successful. His final position in education was principal of the École Normale Laval.
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Johannes Hoornbeek
1617 - 1666 (49 years)
Johannes Hoornbeek , was a Dutch Reformed theologian. He was a student and a follower of Gisbertus Voetius, writing with him on spiritual desertion. Like his teacher Voetieus, he was also later a professor of theology at the University of Leiden and University of Utrecht. The two universities were closely related in the 17th century, and both the teacher and his students participated in the intellectual "Utrech Circle." Another member of the circle was Hornbeek's student colleague Andreas Essenius. The circle was also known as De Voetiaanse Kring , and it was one of the most influential intell...
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William Turner
1871 - 1936 (65 years)
William Turner was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo in New York from 1919 until his death in 1936. He was ordained in 1893, and spent his early years as a priest teaching in various institutions. Upon his appointment as Bishop of Buffalo he was occupied with pastoral duties in a very large diocese.
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Heinrich Bergner
1865 - 1918 (53 years)
Heinrich Bergner was a German art historian and Protestant pastor. Life He studied theology in Jena, Tübingen and Berlin and graduated from Jena in 1890. He was a pastor in Pfarrktzlar from 1891, Nischwitz from 1901 and Heilingen in Saxony-Anhalt from 1914. He was a major contributor and editor for the Historische Kommission für die Provinz Sachsen und Anhalt's series Beschreibenden Darstellung der älteren Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler - as part of it he published Kreis Ziegenrück und Schleusingen , Kreis Grafschaft Wernigerode , Kreis Wanzleben , Kreis Wolmirstedt , Kreis Liebenwerda , Kreis Querf...
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Andrés Pacheco
1550 - 1626 (76 years)
Andrés Pacheco was a Spanish churchman and theologian. Biography Andrés Pacheco was born in La Puebla de Montalbán on April 5, 1550. His father was Alonso Pacheco y Téllez-Girón, Lord of La Puebla de Montalbánm, who was a Knight of the Order of Santiago and commander of Medina de las Torres. His mother was Juana de Cárdenas, daughter of Alonso de Cárdenas, Conde of Puebla del Maestre.
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John of Wales
1300 - 1285 (-15 years)
John of Wales , also called John Waleys and Johannes Guallensis, was a Franciscan theologian who wrote several well-received Latin works, primarily preaching aids. Born between 1210 and 1230, almost certainly in Wales, John joined the Franciscan order, and incepted in theology at the University of Oxford sometime before 1258. After this, he taught there until 1270 when he moved to the University of Paris, where he remained until his death around 1285. He was a moral theologian and a great admirer of the ancient world, incorporating many classical authors into his works. He is often considered a forerunner of later Christian humanists.
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Jacobus Revius
1586 - 1658 (72 years)
Jacobus Revius was a Dutch poet, Calvinist theologian and church historian. His most renowned collection of poems, the Over-ysselsche Sangen en Dichten , forms a high point of Dutch baroque. According to Pieter Geyl,
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Paris de Grassis
1470 - 1528 (58 years)
Paris de Grassis was the master of ceremonies to Pope Julius II and Pope Leo X. He joined the Office of Ceremonies in May 1504 as a participating ceremonialist, progressed to role of president of the Office when he became bishop of Pesaro in 1513, and continued as president until he died in 1528. De Grassis' diary covers his work at the papal court from 1504 to 1521.
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Jia Yuming
1880 - 1964 (84 years)
Jia Yuming was a Chinese Christian theologian and biblical commentator. He worked at several seminaries and eventually became a vice-chairperson of the Communist Party-aligned Three-Self Patriotic Movement. He self-identified as a fundamentalist and taught that "perfect salvation", which in his definition entailed becoming a "Christ-human", was the ultimate goal of all Christians.
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Onofre Pratdesaba
1733 - 1810 (77 years)
Onofre Pratdesaba was a Catalan jesuit and writer. He taught philosophy in Barcelona and theology in Girona. He was expelled by Charles III of Spain and, like many others, he continued to study arts and sciences in Italy.
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Edward Patrick Allen
1853 - 1926 (73 years)
Edward Patrick Allen was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Mobile from 1897 until his death in 1926. Biography Edward Allen was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, to John and Mary Allen. His parents were both natives of King's County, Ireland. He received his early education in the public schoolss of his native city, and attended Lowell Commercial College before entering Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He earned a Master of Arts degree with honors in 1878, and remained at Mount St. Mary's for his theological studies. On December 17, 1881, he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Thomas A.
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James of Lausanne
James of Lausanne was the superior of the Dominican order in France from 1318 until his death in 1321. Nothing is known of James's life before his entrance into the Dominican priory at Lausanne in Switzerland and his assignment to theological studies in Paris in 1303. James earned his master's degree in theology in 1317 and was elected superior of the Dominican Province of France in 1318, a position he held until his death in 1321. In the course of his short academic career, James authored commentaries on multiple books of the Old and New Testaments and produced some 1,500 sermons. His oeuvr...
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Theophilus Gale
1628 - 1678 (50 years)
Theophilus Gale was an English educationalist, nonconformist and theologian of dissent. Early life Gale was born at Kingsteignton, Devon, the son of Bridget Gale and Theophilus Gale D. D. , vicar of Kingsteignton and prebendary of Exeter Cathedral. Gale was educated by a private tutor, before attending grammar school, and being admitted to the University of Oxford, entered Magdalen Hall in 1647 as a commoner. Magdalen Hall was shortly to be the home of nonconforming students: William Conway, John Cudmore, Joseph Maisters and, according to Edmund Calamy, a 'Mr. Sprint'. In August 1648 Henry W...
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Valentin Gröne
1817 - 1882 (65 years)
Valentin Gröne was a Catholic theologian. He obtained a Doctor of Theology from the University of Munich in 1848. In 1868, he became the dean of Irmgarteichen, within Netphen. Known works "Tetzel und Luther oder Lebensgeschichte und Rechtfertigung des Ablasspredigers und Inquisitors Dr. Johann Tetzel aus dem Predigerorden "Die Papst-Geschichte" "Sacramentum oder Begriff und Bedeutung von Sacrament in der alten Kirche bis zur Scholastik" [Brilon , 1853]"Glaube und Wissenschaft" "Der Ablass, seine Geschichte und Bedeutung in der Heilsokonomie" "Compendium der Kirchengeschichte"
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Marie Dentière
1495 - 1561 (66 years)
Marie Dentière was a Walloon Protestant reformer and theologian, who moved to Geneva. She played an active role in Genevan religion and politics, in the closure of Geneva's convents, and preaching with such reformers as John Calvin and William Farel. In addition to her writings on the Reformation, Dentière's writings seem to be a defense and propagation of the female perspective in the rapidly changing world. Her second husband, Antoine Froment, was also active in the reformation.
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John Erskine
1721 - 1803 (82 years)
John Erskine , the Scottish theologian, was born near Dunfermline at Carnock on 2 June 1721. His father was the great Scottish jurist John Erskine of Carnock and his grandfather was Colonel John Erskine of Cardross who had been in William of Orange's army when it invaded England in the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
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Walter Blankenburg
1903 - 1986 (83 years)
Walter Blankenburg was a German Protestant pastor, director of church music and musicologist, who focused in several publications on liturgy, hymnology, and on the sacred music of the early Baroque period, especially by Johann Sebastian Bach.
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William P. Harrison
1830 - 1895 (65 years)
William Pope Harrison was an American Methodist minister and theologian, and was the 48th Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives. He was an author of books on Methodist theology, most notably The Gospel among the Slaves, the first comprehensive accounting of the religious beliefs of African American slaves in the United States.
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Bernard Lamy
1640 - 1715 (75 years)
Bernard Lamy was a French Oratorian, mathematician and theologian. Life Lamy was born in Le Mans, France. After studying there, he went to join the Maison d'Institution in Paris, and to Saumur thereafter. In 1658 he entered the congregation of the Oratory.
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Joseph Lebon
1879 - 1957 (78 years)
Joseph Lebon was a Belgian priest and professor of theology at the University of Louvain. He is best known for his immense work devoted to the reception of the Council of Chalcedon in the Syriac and Armenian domains. His 1909 thesis devoted to Monophysite resistance to the Chalcedonian definition or horos centred on the writings of Severus of Antioch and the influence of Cyril of Alexandria. Editions of the surviving Syriac translations of Severus in the Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium and ground-breaking articles in Le Muséon followed at regular intervals. The climax of Lebon's w...
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John Conant
1608 - 1694 (86 years)
Rev. John Conant D.D. was an English clergyman and theologian. He was Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, and later archdeacon of Norwich. Life Conant was born at Yettington, Bicton, in the south-east of Devon, England, the eldest son of Robert Conant, son of Richard Conant, and his wife Elizabeth Morris. He was educated first in the free school at Ilchester, Somerset, and then under the instruction of the schoolmaster Thomas Branker, with additional instruction by his uncle John, rector of Limington in Somerset. Taken by his uncle to Oxford in 1627, he was enrolled on 18 February as a commoner of Exeter College, Oxford.
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Hierax
300 - 400 (100 years)
Hierax , or Hieracas, was a learned ascetic who flourished about the end of the 3rd century AD at Leontopolis in Egypt, where he lived to the age of ninety, supporting himself by calligraphy and devoting his leisure to scientific and literary pursuits, especially to the study of the Bible.
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Charles William Schaeffer
1813 - 1896 (83 years)
Charles William Schaeffer was a Lutheran clergyman and theologian of the United States. Biography His parents were Frederick Solomon Schaeffer and Catherine Elizabeth Schaeffer. His father was a Lutheran clergyman, as were his uncles David Frederick Schaeffer, Frederick Christian Schaeffer and Charles Frederick Schaeffer, and his grandfather Frederick David Schaeffer. He grew up in the home of his grandfather and that of stepfather Benjamin Keller. He attended Germantown Academy, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1832, and at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysbu...
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John Hutchinson
1674 - 1737 (63 years)
John Hutchinson was an English theologian and natural philosopher. He was born at Spennithorne, Yorkshire, and served as steward in several families of position, latterly in that of the Duke of Somerset, who ultimately obtained for him the post of riding purveyor to the master of the horse, a sinecure worth about £200 a year. In 1700 he became acquainted with Dr. John Woodward , physician to the duke and author of a work entitled The Natural History of the Earth, to whom he entrusted a large number of fossils of his own collecting, along with a mass of manuscript notes, for arrangement and pu...
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Robert Burns
1789 - 1869 (80 years)
Robert Burns was a Scottish theological writer and church leader. Biography Burns was born at Bo'ness in 1789. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, licensed as a probationer of the Church of Scotland in 1810, and ordained minister of the Low church, Paisley, in 1811. He was a man of great energy and activity, a popular preacher, a laborious worker in his parish and town, a strenuous supporter of the evangelical party in the church, and one of the foremost opponents of lay patronage. In 1815, impressed with the spiritual wants of his countrymen in the colonies, he helped to form a c...
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Alexander Geddes
1737 - 1802 (65 years)
Alexander Geddes was a Scottish theologian and scholar. He translated a major part of the Old Testament of the Catholic Bible into English. Translations and commentaries Geddes was born at Rathven, Banffshire, of Roman Catholic parentage, and educated for the priesthood at the local seminary of Scalan, and at Paris; he became a priest in his native county.
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Anton Friedrich Ludwig Pelt
1799 - 1861 (62 years)
Anton Friedrich Ludwig Pelt was a German Protestant theologian. He studied philosophy and theology at the universities of Jena and Kiel, obtaining his habilitation at the University of Berlin in 1826. While serving as a lecturer of theology at Berlin, he was influenced by the teachings of Friedrich Schleiermacher, August Neander and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. In 1828 he became an associate professor at the University of Greifswald, and in 1835 succeeded August Detlev Christian Twesten as a full professor at the University of Kiel. In 1852 he was relieved of his duties at the university following the takeover of Schleswig-Holstein by the Danish government.
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John Cameron
1579 - 1625 (46 years)
John Cameron was a Scottish theologian. Life and academic career Cameron was born in the Saltmarket district of Glasgow the son of Thomas Cameron and received his early education in his native city. He entered Glasgow University in 1595 and graduated MA in 1599.
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George William Alberti
1723 - 1758 (35 years)
George William Alberti was a German essayist and theologian, who spent many years in England. Biography He was born at Osterode am Harz in 1723, and studied philosophy and theology under Heumann and Oporin at Göttingen, where he graduated in 1745. He spent some years in England. He became minister of Tundern in Hanover, and died there on 3 September 1758.
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Lars Anton Anjou
1803 - 1884 (81 years)
Lars Anton Anjou was a Swedish bishop, church historian and politician. Biography Anjou studied at Uppsala University, where he became a Bachelor of Philosophy in 1827, a Master of Philosophy in 1830, a Bachelor of Theology in 1834 and a Doctor of Theology in 1845. He was ordained a priest in 1827. In 1845, Anjou was appointed professor and pastor in the parish of Helga Trefaldighet, and in the parish of Denmark in 1851. In the academic year 1851–1852, he was rector of Uppsala University and was appointed minister of education and ecclesiastical affairs on 9 March 1855 as the successor of Henrik Reuterdahl.
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John Anderson
1748 - 1830 (82 years)
John Anderson was an Associate Presbyterian theologian. He was born in the far north of England, by the River Tweed. He was brought up as a member of the Associate Presbyterian Church of Scotland and became a minister. He sailed to the United States in June 1783, studied for four years, and was ordained in Philadelphia 31 October 1788. He later became the founding professor of one of the first Presbyterian seminaries in the United States, which later became Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, founded in 1794.
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Jacob Heerbrand
1521 - 1600 (79 years)
Jacob Heerbrand was a German Protestant theologian, reformer and controversialist. Life He was born at Giengen in Swabia on 12 August 1521. He was educated at the school at Ulm, and at the universities of Wittenberg and Tübingen . He was for five years the pupil of Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon.
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Conrad Henry Moehlman
1879 - 1961 (82 years)
Conrad Henry Moehlman was an American professor of church history at Colgate Rochester Divinity School, where he was emeritus professor. A Baptist and known as theologically liberal, he was a strong proponent of the separation of church and state and wrote a number of books on religion and education, church history, and Christianity.
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Charles Bridges
1794 - 1869 (75 years)
Charles Bridges was a preacher and theologian in the Church of England, and a leader of that denomination's Evangelical Party. As a preacher he was well regarded by his contemporaries, but is remembered today for his literary contributions.
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Sylvester Maurus
1619 - 1687 (68 years)
Sylvester Maurus was an Italian Jesuit theologian. Life Sylvester Maurus was born in Spoleto, Italy, on 31 December 1619 to a noble family. He entered the Society of Jesus, 21 April 1636. After his novitiate, he spent three years studying philosophy at the Roman College, where his principal teacher was Sforza Pallavicino. Following a period in which he taught grammar, Maurus studied theology from 1644 to 1648, again at the Roman College. Having completed his theological program, he taught philosophy at the Jesuit college in Macerata from 1649 to 1652. Recalled to Rome, he served a year as regent of studies for Jesuit seminarians.
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Hermann Herlitz
1834 - 1920 (86 years)
Hermann Herlitz was pastor of the Lutheran Trinity Church in East Melbourne, Australia, for 46 years from 22 March 1868 to 14 June 1914. He was president of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Victoria and of the Evangelical Lutheran General Synod. Born to Jewish parents, he converted to Christianity in 1857.
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Joseph Lookstein
1902 - 1979 (77 years)
Joseph Hyman Lookstein was a Russian-born American rabbi who served as spiritual leader of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and was a leader in Orthodox Judaism, including his service as president of the Rabbinical Council of America and of the cross-denominational Synagogue Council of America and New York Board of Rabbis. He was President of Bar-Ilan University from 1957 to 1967.
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Juan Pardo de Tavera
1472 - 1545 (73 years)
Juan Pardo de Tavera was a cardinal and was Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain , Grand Inquisitor of Spain , Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela , Bishop of Osma , Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo and President of the Royal Council .
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Fronton du Duc
1558 - 1624 (66 years)
Fronton du Duc was a French Jesuit theologian. Life Fronton du Duc was born at Bordeaux in France. At first he taught in various colleges of the Society of Jesus, and wrote for the dramatic representations encouraged by the Jesuits the "Histoire tragique de la pucelle de Domrémy, autrement D'Orléans" . It was acted at Pont-à-Mousson before Charles III, Duke of Lorraine. At a later date he took part in the theological discussions of the age and is the author of "Inventaires des faultes, contradictions, faulses allégations du Sieur Plessis, remarquées en son livre de la Sante Eucharistie, par les théologiens de Bordeaux" .
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Fortunatus Hueber
1639 - 1706 (67 years)
Fortunatus Hueber was a West German Franciscan historian and theologian. Life He entered the Bavarian province of the Franciscan Reformati on 5 November 1654. He was general lector in theology; cathedral preacher in Freising from 1670 to 1676; then in 1677 Provincial of Bavaria.
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Bardo
980 - 1051 (71 years)
Bardo was the Archbishop of Mainz from 1031 until 1051, the Abbot of Werden from 1030 until 1031, and the Abbot of Hersfeld in 1031. Bardo was born in Oppershofen in the Wetterau. He was educated and trained at the Abbey of Fulda, where he was selected to be the deacon and provost of Neuenberg in 1018. Towards the end of March in 1029 the Emperor Conrad visited Fulda, who appointed him in the following year the Abbot of Werden. He was said to have taken special attention to the obedience of the monks and quality of their service, and he established a hospitality and care service for those injured in war.
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John Mainwaring
1724 - 1807 (83 years)
John Mainwaring was an English theologian and the first biographer of the composer Georg Friedrich Händel in any language. He was a Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, and parish priest, and later a professor of Divinity at Cambridge.
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Jacob Ziegler
1470 - 1549 (79 years)
The humanist and theologian Jacob Ziegler of Landau in Bavaria, was an itinerant scholar of geography and cartographer, who lived a wandering life in Europe. He studied at the University of Ingolstadt, then spent some time at the court of Pope Leo X before he converted to Protestantism; subsequently his geographical works were placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.
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Bernardo de Rossi
1687 - 1775 (88 years)
Bernardo de Rossi was an Italian Dominican theologian and historian. Biography Rossi was born at Cividale del Friuli. He made his religious profession with the Dominicans at Conegliano, 1704, after which he studied at Florence and Venice. He taught at Venice for fifteen years, and was twice general vicar of his province. In 1722 he was theologian to a Venetian embassy to Louis XV and remained in Paris five months. He resigned his chair in 1730 and devoted the remainder of his life to literary activity. He died in Venice.
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Joseph Heinrich Gügler
1782 - 1827 (45 years)
Joseph Heinrich Aloysius Gügler was a Swiss priest, professor, and theologian. Biography Gügler was born on August 25, 1782, at the village of Udligerschwyl near Lucerne, Switzerland. He was the only son of simple country couple, and was recorded to be a delicate child.
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Hendrik Herp
1400 - 1478 (78 years)
Hendrik Herp , known in Latin as Henricus Harphius, was a Dutch or Flemish Franciscan of the Strict Observance, and a writer on mysticism. Life Herp was born around 1400 either at Erp near Veghel or Erps-Kwerps near Leuven. He is possibly the same person as Heinricus Erppe, clericus Cameracensis dioceses, who in 1426, as one of the first students, was registered at the University of Leuven. "Clericus Cameracensis dioceses" means that this student had held a clerical position in the diocese of Kamerijk, leading some to propose that he was not born in Erp, which is widely believed to be his birt...
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