26 August 1572 A.D. Petrus Ramus—French Reformed Churchman & Scholar Murdered in Pope-Sanctioned Rampage of St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, Paris
Underhile, Andy. “Obscure Heroes of the
Reformation-Ramus.” Contra Mundum. 5 Sept
2011. http://andycontramundum.blogspot.com/2011/09/obscure-heroes-of-reformation-ramus.html. Accessed 17 Jul 2014.
Obscure Heroes of the Reformation - Ramus
Peter Ramus was born in France in the year 1515. His
grandfather had been a nobleman. But his estate was plundered by Charles, duke
of Burgundy, general under Emperor Charles V. Ramus’ grandfather was forced to
leave his country and become a farmer. Ramus’ father made a living by making
charcoal. Peter was compelled to be a servant in one of his uncle’s homes. But
since he was always so busy, with no time to study, he decided it would be
better if he could work in the home of some learned man.
He moved to Paris and was admitted into the College of Navarre.
He worked hard all day for his masters and devoted the larger part of the night
to his studies. In a sort time he received his M.A. He was much admired at
school by both student and professors.
He began at this time to take private students until he was fit
for more public work. He was shortly appointed to read logic and at the age of
21 he published a book entitled “Logic, with some Animadversion upon
Aristotle.” For this work he was equally admired and hated. Many admired him
for his learning and piety at such a young age, but others, jealous of his
status complained of such a young man daring to correct Aristotle. By their
political clout, the Sorbonne professors were able to have Ramus banned from
teaching or writing any more on philosophy.
The governor of another college, wishing to restore his school
which had been emptied by the plague, sent for Ramus to assist him in this
task. His reputation alone restored the college and filled it with more
students than it had before the plague. The Sorbonne doctors, angered by this
turn of events tried to sow discord between Ramus and the college governor, but
to no avail. Upon the governor’s death, Ramus succeeded him and was appointed
by the bishop of Lorraine as the Regius Professor of Rhetoric and Philosophy at
the ripe old age of 36!
Princes all over Europe tried to lure him to universities in
their kingdoms by offering him large salaries. But no one was able to entice
him to leave his beloved France. Before long he was made dean of the entire
university. This gave him the liberty to pursue a quieter life. Religious
turmoil made it unsafe to stay in Paris so he moved to Fountainbleu where the
king’s library was. But even there it was not safe. Ramus therefore resolved to
move to Germany until peace obtained again in his homeland. He travelled to
Strasburg, Basel, Lausanne, Heidelberg, Nuremberg and Augsburg and was kindly
accepted at all the universities of these cities. He returned to France once
the war ended.
He stayed at the University in Paris until the St.
Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. The college gates were closed and Ramus locked
himself in his house. The violent Papists broke through the gates, forced their
way into his house and ran him through with a spear. Not being satisfied with
this, they threw him out the window and then cut his head off and dragged his
body through the streets of Paris. They finally threw his disfigured and
dismembered corpse into the Seine River. This was in the year 1572. Ramus was 75.
Adding insult to injury, the rioting Papists seized all of his books and
writings, containing many valuable commentaries and destroyed them to the great
loss of learned men.
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