Socinus, Faustus
Socinus, Faustus
(fôs`təs sōsī`nəs) orFausto Sozzini
(fou`stō sōt-tsē`nē), 1539–1604, Italian religious reformer, founder of SocinianismSocinianism, anti-Trinitarian religious movement organized in Poland in the 16th cent. by Faustus Socinus. Antecedents of the movement were such Italian humanist reformers as Bernardino Ochino, Georgio Blandrata, and Laelius Socinus, who fled to Poland from persecution first in
..... Click the link for more information. . Socinus left the Roman Catholic Church when, influenced by the writings of his uncle, Laelius SocinusSocinus, Laelius
or Lelio Sozzini
, 1525–62, Italian religious reformer. After becoming interested in Protestantism, Socinus left Italy in 1544 for the Swiss cantons to escape the newly established Inquisition.
..... Click the link for more information. , he came to deny the Trinity and other traditional doctrines. Faustus left Italy for Basel in 1575, and in 1579 he went to Poland, where he spent the remainder of his life. In Poland he gradually organized the anti-Trinitarian groups into the sect of Polish Brethren and thereby founded the movement known as Socinianism.