Acontius [Aconcio, Contio, Concio], Jacob & Hotman, Francis

Acontius:#11;Stratagematum satanae: Sive, De recte & prudenter cum in Doctrina, in Disciplina instituenda, reforma(n)da... Diabolici insidiaspraemunienda Dei Ecclesia,Libri IIX. Ad Elisabetham Angliae Reginam...#11;Basel: Conrad Waldkirch, 1610.#11;

      Contemp. vellum, title in ms. on spine, yapp fore-edge, old owner's name on f.f.e.p. some light browning, occ. dampstains, marginal paperflaws on q7 & 8 of Acontius slightly affecting sidenote.. 8vo. 2 works in 1 vol. . Acontius has a woodcut title-page border, folding table in Hotman, woodcut papal seal on O2, head- and tail-pieces, decorated initials. Aconcio, Jacopo [Jacobus Acontius] (c.1520!1566/7?), theologian and military engineer. OAccording to Aconcio's own recollection, he had already become attracted to the ideas of the Reformation while still with Landriano, views confirmed in Milan. Since he could not openly express such thoughts in Italy, he decided to choose a career by which he could earn a living in exile, and settled on military engineering... Meanwhile Aconcio had been busy developing his religious views, which were much more radical than his engineering. From 1560 he had become involved in a dispute which had split the Strangers' ChurchNthe Dutch church, which he joined after the Spanish reformers' church had been disbanded. The minister had been severely attacked for allowing Anabaptist refugees to join the church. Indeed loyal Calvinists had already been enquiring about Aconcio's past, as if he had always been suspect. When Bishop Grindal took the side of the objectors, Aconcio wrote to him to defend the minister and himself. This may have been the spur for him to publish his major work, the Stratagematum Satanae (1565), a military metaphor appropriate for a military engineer... In this book Aconcio turns the persecution of heresy upside down; instead of the heretics being seduced by the devil, it is the wish to persecute which is diabolical, for it is the means whereby the devil injures true Christianity. Given the fallibility of human judgement, and men's love of their own opinions, it can never be certain that any particular doctrine is totally erroneous. Satan moreover seeks to persuade men to ignore the bidding of their own consciences by surrendering their judgement to another (meaning all priests and ministers), while he encourages those with influence to exert their authority over the consciences of others. Curses, denunciations, and cruel punishments will only reinforce sectarian resistance. In effect persecution is wrong but also ineffective, having led to the present multiplication of opinions, all passionately defended. For Aconcio there are only a very few fundamental teachings in Christianity, derived directly from the plain meaning of the New Testament; everything else can be accepted or rejected so that any disagreement should be conducted mildly, acknowledging that either or indeed both sides may have a caseNor may be wrong.O [Oxford DNB]#11;Fran!ois Hotman (August 23, 1524 - February 12, 1590), was a French Protestant lawyer and writer. OHotman was a home-loving and genuinely pious man (as his Consolatio shows). His constant removals were inspired less by fear for himself than for his family, and he had a constitutional desire for peace. He did much for 16th-century jurisprudence, having a critical knowledge of Roman sources, and a fine Latin style. He broached the idea of a national code of French law.... a polemic (Brutum fulmen, 1585) directed against a bull of Sixtus V...{EB 11th ed.]#11;Both of these works relate to the excommunication of Queen Elizabeth I by the Pope. Acontius: VD 17 14:001209R. Coumont A8.2. Rausch, Index Verbotener Bucher I,413 ORarete Prodigieuse.O Rosenthal, BPM 2002.#11;Hotman: VD 17 1:070553N. See:Adams H1058. BM STC (French) 756. Hooter, NBG XXV, 232.