ALSTEDIUS (John-Henry), a German Protestant divine, and one of the most indefatigable writers of the 17th century. He was some time professor of philosophy and divinity at Herborn in the county of Nassau: from thence he went into Transylvania, to be professor at Alba Julia; where he continued till his death, which happened in 1638, being then 50 years of age. His Encyclopedia has been much esteemed even by the Roman Catholics; it was printed at Lyons, and sold very well throughout all France. His Thesaurus Chronologicus is by some esteemed one of his best works, and has gone through several editions. He also wrote Triumphus Biblicus, to show that the principles of all arts and sciences are to be found in the Scriptures; but he gained very few to his opinion. He was a Millenarian; and published, in 1627, a treatise De mille annis, in which he asserted that the reign of the saints on earth was to begin in 1694.