Lars Stigzelius was Archbishop of Uppsala

Archbishop of Uppsala

The Archbishop of Uppsala has been the primate in Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward under the Lutheran church.- Historical overview :...

 in the Church of Sweden

Church of Sweden

The Church of Sweden is the largest Christian church in Sweden. The church professes the Lutheran faith and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. With 6,589,769 baptized members, it is the largest Lutheran church in the world, although combined, there are more Lutherans in the member churches of...

 from 1670 to his death.

He was the son of a priest and was a student at the Uppsala University

Uppsala University

Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...

 until his Master of Arts

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 in 1625.

After undertaking a travel through Europe in 1630, he in 1640 became professor of theology in Uppsala.

During his time as professor he was under pressure since both Johan Skytte

Johan Skytte

Johan Skytte was a Swedish politician.Skytte was son of the Mayor of Nyköping, Bengt Nilsson Skräddare...

, the chancellor of the university, and Laurentius Paulinus Gothus

Laurentius Paulinus Gothus

Laurentius Paulinus Gothus was a Swedish theologian, astronomer and Archbishop of Uppsala .-Life:In 1588 Gothus travelled to Germany and studied in the Rostock University for three years...

, the vice chancellor and a learnt professor who would later become archbishop, were supporters of the philosophy of Ramism

Ramism

Ramism was a collection of theories on rhetoric, logic and pedagogy based on the teachings of Petrus Ramus, a French academic, philosopher and Huguenot convert who was murdered in 1572.According to Jonathan Israel, Ramism-Development:...

 (deriving from Petrus Ramus

Petrus Ramus

Petrus Ramus was an influential French humanist, logician, and educational reformer. A Protestant convert, he was killed during the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.-Early life:...

), while Stigzelius was an aristotelian

Aristotle

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...

.

This problem he had from 1630, when he became professor of logic

Logic

In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...

, until, as said, 1640, when he became professor of theology.

When in the 1660s Cartesian thoughts spread to the university, Stigzelius was working against it. He had a reputation at the University as being highly knowledgeable. His views usually counted. For instance he was working to remove exorcism

Exorcism

Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...

as one of the Church dogmas (which still was in use in Sweden).

At the time he became archbishop he was already at an advanced age and did not make a mark.