Wansleben, Johann Michael

an Oriental scholar and traveler in Abyssinia and Egypt, was born in Thuringia in 1635. H e was living at Erfurth in 1663, when he was sent by Ernest, duke of Saxe-Gotha, with instructions to conciliate, if possible, the good will of the Abyssinians, and open up the way for teachers of the Reformed religion. He lingered in Egypt, and, on his return, not being able to account for the money entrusted to him, revolted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1667. He then went to Paris, whence he was sent by Colhert, in 1672, to Egypt, to purchase rare manuscripts for the king's library. In 1678 he became vicar of a church near Fontainebleau, and subsequently vicar of Bouron, where he died in 1679. He was the author of Historia Ecclesice Alexandrinae: — Relazione dello Stato Presente dell Egitto: — Nouvelle Relation en Forme de Journal de son Voyage Fait en Egypte (1677). See Mosheim, Hist. of the Church, bk. 4 cent. 17 § 2, pt. 1, ch. 2.