Justus Lipsius (1547-1606), Flemish humanist. Lipsius was born in Brabant and was educated at Cologne and Louvain. As a classical scholar and philologist, Lipsius prepared several editions of great Latin texts such as those of Seneca and Tacitus. He wrote a series of works in which he attempted to reconcile ancient Stoicism with contemporary Christain theology. He proposed the idea that the ideal citizen acts according to reason and accepts responsibility for his own decisions found great support in the theological and political environment of the Reformation. However, Lipsius himself was uneasy with the complete abrogration of the authority of the Church, and in 1590 reconciled with Catholicism during a visit to Mainz. He was later appointed privy counsellor to King Philip II of Spain. This engraving comes from van Meurs' Illustris Academia Lugd-Batava, printed at Leiden in 1613.