Today in 1549 was the last day on earth of Johannes Honter, ‘the Apostle of Transylvania’. He not only brought Lutheranism to what is now Romania, but also set up the first printing press in Transylvania, published books there, and engraved the first-ever map of the region. His fame today is as an early, gifted cartographer (see above).
The first of Blaise Pascal’s Provincial Letters appeared on this day in Paris, 1656. The letters, written anonymously, were a satirical attack on the French Jesuits, who allowed very low moral standards when people went for confession. Pascal plays the part of a puzzled penitent, pouring ridicule on the Jesuits’ approach:
’So it would appear,’ I observed, with a smile, ‘that a single doctor may turn consciences round about and upside down as he pleases, and yet always land them in a safe position.’ Blaise Pascal, The Provincial Letters
Gustave Doré, whose 241 engravings for an edition of the Bible published in 1866 are world famous, died today in Paris in 1883. His images of Moses and the crossing of the Red Sea influenced Hollywood movies in the 20th century, as did his engravings for Dante’s Inferno.
Phillips Brooks, who wrote the carol, ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’, died today in 1893. Brooks, who was the Bishop of Massachusetts, wrote the carol for a Christmas Sunday school service, after visiting Bethlehem in the 1860s, and his organist wrote the music. ‘Neither Mr Brooks nor I ever thought the carol would live beyond that Christmas of 1868,’ said the organist.
Image: Wikimedia Commons