Home > Philipp Melanchthon
Philipp Melanchthon ( February 16, 1497 - April 19, 1560) was a German theologian and writer of the Protestant Reformation and an associate of Martin Luther.
1 Early Life and Education
Melanchthon was born at Bretten , near Karlsruhe, where his father, Georg Schwarzerd , was armorer to Count Palatine Philip .
In 1507 he was sent to the Latin school at Pforzheim, the rector of which, Georg Simler of Wimpfen , introduced him to the study of the Latin and Greek poets and of the philosophy of AristotleAristotle ( Greek Αριστοτλης Aristotelēs) ( 384 BCE March 7, 322 BCE) was a Greek scientist and philosopher. Along with Plato, he is often considered to be one of the two most influential philo. But he was chiefly influenced by his great-uncle, Johann ReuchlinJohann Reuchlin ( February 22, 1455 1522) was a German humanist and Hebrew scholar. He was born at Pforzheim in the Black Forest, where his father was an official of the Dominican monastery. According to the fashion of the time, his name was graecicized b, the great representative of humanismHumanism is a neologism that defines a socio-political doctrine (" -ism") whose bounds exceed those of locally developed cultures, to include all of humanity and all issues common to human beings. Because doctrines of cultural distinction and exclusivity, who advised him to change his family name, Schwarzerd (literally Black-earth), into the Greek equivalent Melanchthon.
Not yet thirteen years old, he entered in 1509Events February 2 Battle of Diu took place near Diu, India. April 22 Henry VIII becomes King of England on the death of his father, Henry VII. April 27 Pope Julius II places Venice under interdict. May 14 Battle of Agnadello French forces defeat the Venet the University of HeidelbergHeidelberg (halfway between Stuttgart and Frankfurt) is a city in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. As of 2002, there are 140,000 people living on the city's 109 km2. Heidelberg Castle, Heiliggeist Church and the Old Bridge Heidelberg lies on the river Neckar a where he studied philosophyPhilosophy literally means 'love of wisdom' from the Greek 'philo' and 'sofia'. It is now widely used to designate the pursuit of knowledge or wisdom about fundamental matters concerning life, death, meaning, reality, being and truth. The term may also re, rhetoricRhetoric (from Greek ρητωρ, rhetor "orator") is one of the three original liberal arts or trivium (the other members are dialectic and grammar). While it has meant many different things during its 2500-year history, it is generally d, and astronomyAstronomy which etymologically means " law of the stars," (from Greek: + nomos) is a science involving the observation and explanation of events occurring outside Earth and its atmosphere. It studies the origins, evolution, physical and chemical propertie/ astrology, and was known as a good Greek scholar. Being refused the degree of master in 1512 on account of his youth, he went to Tübingen, where he pursued humanistic and philosophical studies, but devoted himself also to the study of jurisprudence, mathematics, astronomy/ astrology, and even of medicine.
When, having completed his philosophical course, he had taken the degree of master in 1516, he began to study theology. Under the influence of men like Reuchlin and Erasmus he became convinced that true Christianity was something quite different from scholastic theology as it was taught at the university. But at that time he had not yet formed fixed opinions on theology, since later he often called Luther his spiritual father. He became conventor (repetent) in the contubernium and had to instruct younger scholars. He also lectured on oratory, on Vergil and Livy.
His first publications were an edition of Terence ( 1516) and his Greek grammar ( 1518), but he had written previously the preface to the Epistolae
clarorum virorum of Reuchlin ( 1514).
