Jacobus Arminius

Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609), born Jakob Hermanszoon at Oudewater, was a Dutch Reformed minister and theologian. His father died when he was young, and his mother was killed in the Spanish massacre at Oudewater in 1575. He studied at Leiden, where he became a professor of theology in 1603.

Tasked with defending Calvinist predestination against its critics, he came instead to teach a grace sufficient for all who believed, and his disputes split the Dutch Reformed Church. He died at Leiden in 1609, a year before his followers issued the Remonstrance.