Justus Lipsius

Justus Lipsius (born Joest Lips; October 18, 1547 – March 23, 1606) was a Flemish Catholic philologist, philosopher, and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatible with Christianity. The most famous of these is *De Constantia* (*On Constancy*). His form of Stoicism influenced a number of contemporary thinkers, creating the intellectual movement of Neostoicism. He taught at the universities in Jena, Leiden, and Leuven. Born in Overijse, Brabant, his parents sent him to the Jesuit college in Cologne. He later studied at the University of Leuven. His publication *Variarum Lectionum Libri Tres* earned him an appointment as a Latin secretary and a visit to Rome. After returning from Rome, he published another volume of criticism. In 1570, he taught at the University of Jena. The Eighty Years' War drove him to Leiden University, where he was appointed professor of history. His years in Leiden were highly productive, during which he prepared his editions of Seneca and Tacitus. In 1590, he returned to the Roman Catholic Church and settled in Leuven as a professor of Latin. He also served as privy councillor and historiographer royal to King Philip II of Spain. Lipsius died in Leuven at the age of 58.