Johannes Messenius facts for kids
Johannes Messenius (1579–1636) was a famous Swedish historian, playwright, and university professor. He was born in a small village called Freberga in Östergötland, Sweden. He later passed away in Oulu, which is now part of Finland.
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Early Life and Education
Johannes was the son of a miller. From a young age, he showed how smart he was. A priest named Magnus Andreae noticed his talent and helped him. Without his parents knowing, the priest sent Johannes to a special Jesuit school in Braunsberg. This school focused on teaching boys to help bring Scandinavia back to the Catholic Church.
Travels and New Beginnings
After seven years at the school in Braunsberg, Johannes traveled all over Europe. He visited Denmark in 1602 and spoke at a dinner in Kraków in 1603. He also made a quick trip to Rome in 1604. The weather there wasn't good for him, so he returned to Germany. He might have earned a master's degree in Ingolstadt in 1605. People also say that Emperor Rudolph II gave him the special title Poëta cæsarius, which means "poet of the Emperor."
Johannes then moved north to Danzig. He taught at a school in Braunsberg and later opened his own private school in Danzig. There, he married Lucia Grothusen. Her father, Arnold Grothusen, had been the teacher of King Sigismund.
In 1608, Johannes wrote a special work called Genealogia Sigismundi. He hoped this would help him get a better job from the king. But when the king didn't show much thanks, Johannes went back to Sweden. He wanted to get back his father's farm, which the government had taken.
Returning to Sweden
King Charles IX of Sweden was suspicious of Catholics and Jesuits. To show his loyalty, Johannes published a family tree of the king's ancestors. This showed how the king was connected to many old royal families in Europe.
With help from his wife, Johannes was allowed to return to Sweden. After promising his loyalty, he got a job as a professor of law and politics at Uppsala University.
Life as a Professor
This was a very busy and productive time for Johannes. In 1605, some Jesuits in Danzig had told King Charles IX that Johannes had written a poem making fun of him. To prove he was against the Jesuits now, Johannes published two works. One was shorter, called Detecto Fraudis Jesuiticæ (1610). The other was longer and in Swedish, called Retorsion och genswars skrifft emoot then lögn och skamlig dicht. This longer work had already been published in German in 1609.
He also showed his new loyalty to the House of Vasa by writing another family tree. He translated many writings against Sigismund of Poland (King Charles's brother) into Latin. Johannes eagerly started researching and writing about Swedish history. He was very good at checking his sources, which was a new and modern way to write history back then.
He quickly published many works, including:
- Chronicon episcoporum per Sueciam (1611), about bishops in Sweden.
- Theatrum nobilitalis suecance (1616), which was the first book to show the family histories of Swedish noble families.
Besides his own writings, he also published older historical documents. For example, he published a Latin translation of a law by Magnus Eriksson (1614). He also published Ericus Olai's Swedish chronicle (1615) and parts of other important old Swedish stories. He produced a lot of work, and even if the quality wasn't always perfect, his books were very popular.
As a professor, Johannes was well-liked by his students. He cared about them and taught them using new methods. He also made plays in the Swedish language popular among young people. He even wrote some dramas himself.
Challenges and Conflicts
However, Johannes had a bit of a difficult personality. He was sometimes boastful and stubborn, which caused problems with his fellow professors. His main rival was Johannes Rudbeck. Soon, the students at the university were split into two groups: one for Messenius and one against him. The university's council, called the Consistory, became a place for arguments. Things got so serious that the chancellor, Axel Oxenstierna, had to step in.
The two rivals were called to Stockholm in July 1613 to be questioned by the Church council. After an investigation, they reached an agreement. Both professors were moved from Uppsala. Messenius was put in charge of the kingdom's old archives. In 1614, he was also promoted to a position similar to a judge in the Swedish court of appeal.
A Gifted Playwright
This was the time when Johannes began writing his plays. These plays would greatly influence Swedish drama for the next hundred years. He mostly moved away from the usual "school drama" style that was common before. Instead, he followed the style of the German writer Jakob Ayrer.
His best idea was to write plays about Swedish history, including old legends. His most important plays were:
- Disa (1611)
- Signill (1612)
- Swanhuita (1613)
- Blanckamäreta (1614), about Blanka of Sweden and a Danish princess who married King Birger Magnusson of Sweden.
Because his first two plays were so successful, he announced that he planned to write 50 comedies and tragedies covering all of Sweden's history! His plays weren't always perfect in their structure. They often mixed funny scenes with serious ones. He was good at creating dramatic moments. Following German traditions, he used characters from lower classes for comedy, but these scenes often didn't connect well with the main story. The main plays were mostly a series of conversations that were loosely connected. The characters' reasons for their actions and their personalities were quite simple. He paid close attention to showing historical clothing, even though people back then didn't know everything about old clothes. Sometimes, his plays included songs, and these songs are considered some of his best writings.
He also wrote two less-known works while in prison, Christmannus and Gustavus. These were summaries of church history in Sweden, written as dialogues. Even with their weaknesses, Messenius's plays are seen as the most original and patriotic in older Swedish literature. They are the only part of Swedish literature from that time that has been widely praised.
Later Life and Imprisonment
In 1616, Johannes was accused of working against the king with King Sigismund and the Jesuits. He was found guilty because he couldn't find twelve men to swear he was innocent. In July 1616, he was sentenced to death. However, the king changed his sentence to prison, probably for life.
In October 1616, he was sent to the lonely Kajaani Castle in Finland, near the Russian border. The commander there, Erik Hara, treated him harshly. Johannes kept busy by writing historical works and researching old Swedish documents. From time to time, he sent requests to King Gustav II Adolph and later to Christina's regency (the people ruling while she was too young). In these requests, he swore he was innocent or mentioned his writings as a reason for a pardon.
In 1635, he was moved to Oulu, and his pension (money he received) was doubled. At this time, the government sent a translator, Erik Schroderus, to look at Messenius's huge work called Scondia illustrata. This book covered Sweden's history from the great flood to Messenius's own time. Johannes suspected the government wanted to publish the work as their own. So, he demanded freedom for his son, who was also in prison, and free passage for himself to go wherever he wanted. These demands upset the regency, and they threatened to send him back to Kajaneborg.
Soon after this, Messenius died. The government offered his widow 500 riksdaler for Scondia illustrata. However, she left the kingdom with the handwritten books. It was her son who later brought the text back to Sweden to have it published. It took a long time to publish the work. It was finally published between 1700 and 1705, thanks to Johan Peringskiöld.
Considering the way scholars worked back then, and the difficult conditions in which it was written, this huge book is truly remarkable. More than anyone else of his time, Johannes Messenius knew a lot about both Swedish and foreign history books. The seventh part of Scondia, which talks about the religious conflicts during the time of John III of Sweden, is a great example of history writing.
He also wrote several other works while in prison, and most of them still exist today.
Sources
- Nordisk familjebok: Johannes Messenius
