Christian Weise

Christian Weise (30 April 1642 – 21 October 1708), also known under the pseudonyms Siegmund Gleichviel, Orontes, Catharinus Civilis and Tarquinius Eatullus, was a German writer, dramatist, poet, pedagogue and librarian of the Baroque era.

However, in 1668 he secured a post at the court in Halle, as the secretary of Simon Philipp von Leiningen-Westerburg, the minister of Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels.

During the 1670s Weise produced a number of innovatory political and satirical novels, starting with Die drey Haupt-Verderber in Teutschland (1671).

His comedies, written in the dialects of Upper Lusatia and North Bohemia, gave a sympathetic portrayal of common people.

The circles appeared in Nucleus Logicae Weisianae (1712), a treatise written by Johann Christian Lange describing Weise's contributions to logic.

[8][6][7] Johann Sebastian Bach used an adaptation of the first verse of Weise's poem Der weinende Petrus for the text of the aria "Ach, mein Sinn" in the St John Passion.

[9] Weise presented the poem in Der grünen Jugend nothwendige Gedancken (1675), as a demonstration of writing strophic poetry for existing music, namely a lost work by Sebastian Knüpfer.