Schütz, Johann Jakob

Author

b Frankfurt am Main, Germany 1640, d Frankfurt 1690. He studied at Tübingen to become a licentiate in civil and canon law, but returned to spend most of the rest of his life as a lawyer at Frankfurt. A man of faith and of great legal skill, he was a friend of the Lutheran Philipp J Spener and influenced him to found the Collegia Pietatis, the meetings for prayer which signalled the rise of pietism. But after 1686, when Spener left Frankfurt, Johann W Petersen persuaded Schütz towards separatism, no longer being a communicant or even attending Lutheran services. All three men were hymnwriters. No.261.