Peter Heyling

Peter Heyling (born 1607 or 1608, died c. 1652) was a German Lutheran missionary to Egypt and Ethiopia.[1] He was the first Protestant missionary to Ethiopia.[2]

The son of a goldsmith, Heyling was a native of the Hanseatic city of Lübeck.[1][2] His early education was under Johann Kirchmann in Lübeck. Between 1628 and 1632 he studied theology and law at the University of Paris with four other Lübeckers. There he came under the influence of the Dutch Protestant Hugo Grotius, at that time living in Paris.[1][3]

Heyling set out on his mission in 1632.[4] His goal and that of six other student missionaries was to "reawaken the derelict churches of the Orient", that is, the Coptic and Ethiopian churches, "to genuine evangelical life".[1] In the event, only Heyling and Hieronymus von Dorne ever set out.[4] He went first to Egypt, where he studied Arabic in Coptic monasteries and also in Jerusalem.[3] In 1634, he arrived in Ethiopia. He became an influential preacher and physician at the court of the Emperor Fasilides (1632–1667), but his efforts to reform the church resulted in major disputes over Christology. He translated the New Testament into Amharic. Around 1650 he was expelled from Ethiopia. He died not long after in Suakin.[1] According to some accounts he died a martyr after refusing to renounce his faith to a Turk.[3]

James Bruce on his travels through Ethiopia in 1770 claimed to see lingering signs of Heyling's influence.[3] Samuel Gobat likewise, in 1830, found Heyling's translation of the New Testament still in circulation.[4] In some respects, the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus carries on his legacy.[1]