Pope Leo X
(GIOVANNI DE MEDICI). Born at Florence, 11 December, 1475; died at Rome, 1 December, 1521, was the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492) and Clarice Orsini, and from his earliest youth was destined for the Church. He received tonsure in 1482 and in 1483 was made Abbot of Font Douce in the French Diocese […]
Pope Clement VII
(GIULIO DE’ MEDICI). Born 1478; died 25 September, 1534. Giulio de’ Medici was born a few months after the death of his father, Giuliano, who was slain at Florence in the disturbances which followed the Pazzi conspiracy. Although his parents had not been properly married, they had, it was alleged, been betrothed per sponsalia de presenti, and […]
Philipp Melancthon
Collaborator and friend of Luther, born at Bretten (in Unterpfalz, now Baden), 16 February 1497; died at Wittenberg, 19 April 1560. (1) His Rearing and Education Melancthon was of respectable and well-to-do parentage. His father, Georg Schwarzerd (Schwarzert) was a celebrated armourer, while his pious and intelligent mother was the daughter of Reuter, the burgomaster […]
Philip of Hesse
1. Early Life and Embracing of Protestantism. Philip of Hesse, or Philip the Magnanimous, landgrave of Hesse from 1509 to 1567 and one of the most powerful promoters of the Protestant Reformation, was born at Marburg Nov. 13, 1504; d. at Cassel Mar. 31, 1567. His father died when Philip was five years old, and […]
John Wyclif
(WYCLIFFE, or WICLIF, etc.). Writer and “reformer”, b. probably at Hipswell near Richmond, in Yorkshire, 1324; d. at Lutterworth, Leicestershire, 31 Dec., 1384. His family is said to have come from Wycliffe, on the Tees, in the same county. The traditional date of his birth is given as 1324, but some authorities put it earlier. […]
John Œcolampadius
Protestant theologian, organizer of Protestantism at Basle, b. at Weinsberg, Swabia, in 1482; d. at Basle, 24 November 1531. His family name was Heusegen or Husegen, not Husschyn (Hausschein), as the hellenized form Œcolampadius was later rendered. Having received a preliminary classical training at Weinsberg and Heilbronn, he began the study of law at Bologna […]
John Calvin
This man, undoubtedly the greatest of Protestant divines, and perhaps, after St. Augustine, the most perseveringly followed by his disciples of any Western writer on theology, was born at Noyon in Picardy, France, 10 July, 1509, and died at Geneva, 27 May, 1564. A generation divided him from Luther, whom he never met. By birth, […]
Johann Tetzel
First public antagonist of Luther, b. at Pirna in Meissen, 1465; d. at Leipzig, 11 Aug. 1519. He began his studies at Leipzig during the semester of 1482-83; was promoted to the baccalaureate in 1487, being the sixth in a class of fifty-six. Not long after he entered the Dominican Order, whether at Pirna or […]
Johann Pistorius
A controversialist and historian, born at Nidda in Hesse, 14 February, 1546; died at Freiburg, 18 July, 1608. He is sometimes called Niddanus from the name of his birthplace. His father was a well-known Protestant minister, Johann Pistorius the Elder (died 1583 at Nidda), who from 1541 was superintendent or chief minister of Nidda, and took part in several […]
Johann Eck (Eckius)
Theologian and principal adversary of Luther, b. 15 Nov. 1486, at Eck in Swabia; d. 10 Feb. 1543, at Ingolstadt. His family name was Maier, and his father, Michael Maier, was for many years magistrate in the town, the latinized name of which, Eckius or Eccius, was adopted after 1505 by Johann. His uncle, Martin Maier, pastor at […]