GEYTER, ge'ter, JAN DE (1830—). A Flem ish poet, born at Lede. His works are distin guished by a largeness of vision, and vigorous, expressive language. They include: Drie men schen van de wieg tot in het graf. Den epos uit onzen tijd (1861) ; Geuzenlied (1872) ; Reinaart de vos, a charming version of the old poem (1874); Vlaanderens kunstroem (1872); De "Wereld in. Schoolcantate ( 1880 ) ; De Rijn (1882) ; and Keizer Karel in het rijk der Neder landen (1888), an epic.
GPRiiRER, g'-frelrer, AUGUST FRIEDRICH (1803-61). A German historian. He was born at Calw in the Black Forest, and much against his own inclination was put to studying theology, and kept at it till the age of twenty-two. After traveling in Switzerland and Italy, he became tutor in theology at Tubingen in 1828, and in 1830 secured a position in the National Library at Stuttgart. His ability was very great, and his energy inexhaustible, and the works he now put forth received, and deserved, great atten tion. His whole life manifested a steady evolu tion from liberal Protestantism to Ultramontane Catholicism. During the writing of his Philo und die jiidisch-alexandrinische Theosophie (1831), and the Geschichte des Urchristentum (1838), his views on Christianity underwent a radical transformation. During the publica
tion of Gustav Adolf und seine Zeit, he changed his point of view, and while at work on his Allgemeine Kirchengeschichte (1841-46), embrac ing the history of the Christian Church to 1305, he became convinced of the wrongfulness of the Reformation and the truth of the Catholic posi tion. He was called to the Catholic University of Freiburg in 1846, showed himself an enemy of Prussia at the Frankfort Parliament, 1848-49, and became a vigorous champion of the Catholic faith, which he embraced in 1853. He died July 6, 1861. Besides the works already mentioned, he wrote: Urgeschichte des menschlichen Geschlechts (1855); Papst Gregor VII. and sein Zeitalter (1859-61); Geschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts (1862-74) ; Zur Geschichte deutscher Volks rechte (1866); Byzantinische Geschichten (1872 74). The last three works were published by Weiss after the death of the author.