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Jacob van Hoogstraten[1] (c. 1460 – 24 January 1527) was a BrabantianDominicantheologian andcontroversialist.
Van Hoogstraten was born inHoogstraten,Burgundian Netherlands (nowBelgium). He studied the classics and theology with theDominicans atOld University of Leuven. In 1485, was among the first in the history of that institution to receive the degree ofMaster of Arts. He there entered the order, and after his ordination to the priesthood in 1496, he matriculated in theUniversity of Cologne to continue his theological studies. At the general chapter held in 1498 atFerrara he was appointed professor of theology at the Dominican college of Cologne. In 1500 he was electedprior ofSt Paul’s Priory inAntwerp. On the expiration of his term of office he returned to Cologne, where, in February, 1504, he received the degree ofDoctor of Theology. At the general chapter of the Dominican Order held inPavia in 1507 he was made regent of studies, and thereby became professor of theology at the university. His vast theological attainments and his natural ability to impart knowledge made him an exceptionally successful teacher.
Van Hoogstraten began his controversial career by publishing in 1507Defensorium fratrum mendicantium contra curatos illos qui privilegia fratrum injuste impugnat (Cologne) in defence of themendicant orders, who had been accused of abusing their privileges. In the following year he published several works against the eminent Italian jurist,Pietro Tomasi ofRavenna, who was then lecturing in the German universities. During his controversy with the Italian jurist he was elected prior of the convent of Cologne, and thus becameinquisitor general of the archbishoprics ofCologne,Mainz, andTrier.
He played his principal role in the controversy on the confiscation ofHebrew books, in which withJohann Reuchlin defended preserving those books against the calls of the converted JewJohannes Pfefferkorn to destroy them, in particular theTalmud. While van Hoogstraten took no active part in the earlier stages of the controversy, his sympathies were with Reuchlin's opponents as evidenced by his close relationship with Pfefferkorn. Influenced no doubt, to some extent by the unfavourable attitude of the universities towards the Jewish books, van Hoogstraten on 15 September 1513, in his capacity as inquisitor, summoned Reuchlin to appear within six days before the ecclesiastical court of Mainz to answer to the charges of favouring the Jews and theiranti-Christian literature. The latter appealed toRome; whereuponPope Leo X authorized theBishop of Speyer to decide the matter. Meanwhile, van Hoogstraten had Reuchlin'sAugenspiegel, a previously published retort to Pfefferkorn'sHandspiegel, publicly burned at Cologne.
On 29 March 1514, the Bishop of Speyer announced that theAugenspiegel contained nothing injurious to theCatholic Faith, pronounced judgment in favour of Reuchlin, and condemned van Hoogstraten to pay the expenses consequent upon the process. The latter appealed to Rome, but the pope postponed the trial indefinitely. At the instance ofFranz von Sickingen and others, the Dominicans deprived van Hoogstraten of the office of prior and inquisitor, but in January, 1520, the pope annulled the decision of the Bishop of Speyer, condemned theAugenspiegel, and reinstated van Hoogstraten.
Van Hoogstraten was the initial inquisitor, who, in 1523, sentenced to deathJan van Essen and Hendrik Vos, the first Lutherans to die as martyrs for their beliefs. Van Hoogstraten died inCologne on 24 January 1527.
Among the other works of van Hoogstraten besides those already mentioned, the following are the more important:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Jacob van Hoogstraten".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.