i84 INTRODUCTION 



of observation and analysis so admirably fitted him, in order to devote 

 himself to questions of education and theology. 



In 1675 Steno took Holy Orders; in the following year (Septem- 

 ber 14, 1676), Pope Innocent XI rewarded his zeal in attempting to 

 convert his former friends ^ and co-religionists by appointing him 

 Bishop of Titopolis,^ in partibus infidelium, and Apostolic Vicar of 

 Northern Germany and Scandinavia. In consequence, toward the 

 end of 1677, he took up his residence in Hannover. An account 

 preserved by Manni^ gives a graphic picture of the austere life 

 Steno's devotion now induced him to lead : 



'The prelate lived and dressed as though he were the poorest 

 person in the world. His position could only be inferred from his 

 ecclesiastical garb, and even this was only serge. For he would not 

 take the robes of his predecessor although they were offered to him 

 at a low price. And notwithstanding the Duke made him an ample 

 allowance to enable him to live as became his rank, he gave everything 

 to the poor. For them he sacrificed everything. And he did this 

 as long as we knew him. He even gave the gold necklace with a 

 medallion containing a portrait of the Duke — he had received it on 

 his second return from Denmark to Rome by way of Hannover* — 

 to a friend with the injunction that it be bestowed upon the poor. 

 When he had nothing else he sold his silver crucifix and costly 

 bishop's ring to relieve the distress of others.' 



Upon the death of Johann Friedrich, in 1679, and the accession 

 of his Protestant brother, Duke Ernst August, Steno was forced to 

 withdraw to Munster. Here he was appointed Suffragan Bishop to 

 Ferdinand, Baron von Fiirstenberg, the Bishop of Munster (1680). 

 The latter died in 1683, and was succeeded by Archbishop Maxi- 

 milian Heinrich. Steno had opposed his election and refused to 

 celebrate mass in honor of the event. He therefore withdrew to 

 Hamburg, where his self-imposed poverty and his asceticism alienated 

 the CathoHcs themselves. They threatened to cut off his nose 

 and ears, to drive him from the city, and even to kill him. In his 



'Plenkers, Niels Stensen (pp. 122, 123), quotes, among other letters, an interesting appeal 

 to Spinoza. The latter did not reply. 



^ An old bishopric in Isauria. 



' Vita del letteratissimo Mons. IV. Stenone (Florence, 1775), p. 229; quoted by Plenkers, 

 Niels Stensen, p. 131. 



^ This statement is inexact; Steno did not go to Denmark in 1670, and in 1674 his objective 

 was Florence, not Rome. 



