Born 21 January 1571, Pontanus was the son of Margaretha van Delen and Isaac Pietersz, the Dutch consul to
Denmark stationed in
Helsingør. The painter
Pieter Isaacsz (1568–1625) was his older brother. In 1578, his family returned to the Netherlands and Pontanus grew up in
Amsterdam. (he was said to be born at sea near Helsingør in the Danish
Hellespont, the
Øresund). The next year he defended his
Dissertatio de rationalis animas facilitate and traveled to Rome, visiting German scholars on his return trip. Subsequently, Pontanus visited Denmark where his parents had returned and became acquainted with
Tycho Brahe and
Arild Huitfeldt. In 1596, he spent mostly in England, visiting Canterbury, Oxford and Stanford. The following years he traveled to German, Swiss and French cities, in part escorting three young family members of Brahe. In 1604, he was appointed professor at the
Gelderse Academie in
Harderwijk, where he remained teaching the rest of his life. Pontanus is best known for writing histories of places and countries. His history of Amsterdam (1611) was considered the first of this city. It was controversial enough to be blacklisted by the Roman church. In 1618, he was asked to write a
history of Denmark in Latin, for which he was appointed as the Royal Danish official historian; he continued writing this work until his death but only managed to publish the first part in 1631. In 1621, he was asked to write a history of
Guelders which he based largely on work of Paulus Merula en Johannes Luntius and finished in 1639. Pontanus married Annetjen van den Herde (or Heerde, Heede) in May and June 1606 in Amsterdam/Harderwijk. They had at least four children. He died in Harderwijk in 1639, nine years before the academy was officially declared the
University of Harderwijk. ==Works==