1576 – 1649
Kaspar Schoppe (1576–1649), also known by his Latinized name Caspar Scioppius, was a German Catholic humanist, philologist, and polemicist. A convert from Lutheranism, he became one of the most combative Catholic controversialists of the early seventeenth century, deploying classical scholarship in the service of Counter-Reformation apologetics. He is also notable as a witness to the trial and execution of Giordano Bruno in Rome in 1600.
Authored influential Counter-Reformation polemical tracts attacking Protestant scholars and theologians
Witnessed and documented the trial and burning of Giordano Bruno (1600), providing a primary source account
Produced significant philological and grammatical works, including contributions to Latin scholarship
Converted from Lutheranism to Catholicism and became a prominent defender of papal authority
Engaged in bitter public controversies with leading Protestant humanists, including Joseph Justus Scaliger