Johann Heinrich Alting

Who was Johann Heinrich Alting?

Johann Heinrich Alting, German divine, was born at Emden, where his father, Menso Alting, was minister.

Johann studied with great success at the University of Groningen and the Herborn Academy. In 1608 he was appointed tutor of Frederick, afterwards elector-palatine, at Heidelberg, and in 1612 accompanied him to England. Returning in 1613 to Heidelberg, after the marriage of the elector with Princess Elizabeth of England, he was appointed professor of dogmatics, and in 1616 director of the theological department in the Collegium Sapientiae.

In 1618, along with Abraham Scultetus, he represented the university in the Synod of Dort. When Count Tilly took the city of Heidelberg and handed it over to plunder, Alting found great difficulty in escaping the fury of the soldiers. He first retired to Schorndorf; but, offended by the "semi-Pelagianism" of the Lutherans with whom he was brought in contact, he removed to Holland, where the unfortunate elector and "Winter King" Frederick, in exile after his brief reign in Bohemia, made him tutor to his eldest son.