Candidius was born in 1597 at
Kirchardt in the
Palatinate. He studied at
Leiden in the
Dutch Republic from 1621 to 1623, when he was persuaded by
Sebastiaen Dankaerts to minister overseas. Before arriving in
Formosa in 1627 Candidius worked in Ternate,
Moluccas. Having arrived in Taiwan he refused to live in the Dutch castle
Zeelandia and settled in the native village of Sinckan (modern-day
Sinshih) instead. After a year in residence in the region of Tayouan (present-day
Tainan), Candidius commented regarding his missionary duties that: Candidius returned to the Netherlands in 1639 and went to
Batavia (
Jakarta) in the
Dutch East Indies (
Indonesia) in 1643. There, he served as rector of the Latin school until his death ==Published works==