Daniel Tossanus
Encyclopedia
Life
He was born at MontbéliardMontbéliard
Montbéliard is a city in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department.-History:...
on July 15, 1541, the son of Pierre Toussain. He was educated at Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
and Tübingen
Tübingen
Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
. Returning to France he preached for six months in his native town, and went to Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
, 1560, where, after being a teacher of Hebrew, he was ordained minister of the local Reformed church in 1561. In 1568 he was forced to flee with other Protestants, but was soon discovered and imprisoned for two weeks. He then left with his family to Montargis
Montargis
Montargis is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France. The town is located about south of Paris and east of Orléans in the Gâtinais....
, where he was protected by the duchess of Ferrara until the king of France demanded the expulsion of all Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
s.
He now sought refuge in Sancerre
Sancerre
Sancerre is a medieval hilltop town , commune and canton in the Cher department of central France overlooking the Loire River. It is noted for its wine.-History:...
, and after a year returned to Montbéliard. Here he was charged with teaching Calvinistic and Zwinglian heresies; his reply was an affirmation of his Lutheran belief. In 1571 he was recalled to Orléans, and held servicee in the castle Isle, a few miles away. At the news of the massacre on St. Bartholomew's Day, he left just in time to escape the massacre and pillage at Isle the next day; and he was concealed by a Roman Catholic nobleman at Montargis and later by the duchess in a tower of
her castle. In November 1572, he was able to return to his father at Montbéliard, but Lutheran intolerance again drove him out, and he accepted a call to the French refugees at Basel.
In March 1573, he was appointed chaplain to the Count Palatine Frederick III at Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, but in 1576 the Calvinistic Frederick was succeeded by his son, the Lutheran Louis VI
Louis VI, Elector Palatine
In the history of the Holy Roman Empire, Louis VI, Elector Palatine 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 Brandenburg-Kulmbach...
, and the Reformed were expelled. They found a Calvinist patron, however, in John Casimir
John Casimir
John Casimir may refer to:*John II Casimir of Poland *Johann Casimir of Simmern *John Casimir, Duke of Saxe-Coburg *John Casimir...
, the brother of the count, at Neustadt
Neustadt
- Germany :* in Baden-Württemberg:** Titisee-Neustadt, a town in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald* in Bavaria:** Bad Neustadt an der Saale, the capital of the Rhön-Grabfeld district...
, where Tossanus became inspector of churches and also helped found an academy in which he was one of the teachers. After the death of Zacharias Ursinus
Zacharias Ursinus
Zacharias Ursinus was a sixteenth century German Reformed theologian, born Zacharias Baer in Breslau . He became the leading theologian of the Reformed Protestant movement of the Palatinate, serving both at the University of Heidelberg and the College of Wisdom...
, he was also preacher to the refugees' church of St. Lambert. In 1583 Louis VI died, and John Casimir became regent. Calling Tossanus onto his council, he expelled the Lutherans from Heidelberg, and Tossanus later became professor of theology, and in 1584, rector.