Johann Baptist Alzog (8 June 1808 – 1 March 1878) was a German theologian and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

church historian. He was born at Ohlau, in

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is spli ...

. He studied at the universities of Breslau and

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

and was ordained a priest at

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

in 1834. In the following year he accepted the chairs of exegesis and church history at the seminary of Posen. He defended with ardour the Archbishop of that city, Martin von Dunin, during his persecution by the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n government, became vicar-capitular, professor and regens at

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the ...

in 1845, and in 1853 was appointed to the chair of church history at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württe ...

(Breisgau); at the same time he was appointed an ecclesiastical councillor (''geistlicher Rat''). He held that post until his death at

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

. Together with

Ignaz von Döllinger Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger (; 28 February 179914 January 1890), also Doellinger in English, was a German theologian, Catholic priest and church historian who rejected the dogma of papal infallibility. Among his writings which proved con ...

, Alzog was instrumental in convoking the famous

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

assembly of Catholic scholars in 1863. He also took part, with

Bishop Hefele Karl Josef von Hefele (March 15, 1809 – June 6, 1893) was a Roman Catholic bishop and theologian of Germany. Biography Hefele was born at Unterkochen in Württemberg and was educated at Tübingen, where in 1839 he became professor-ordinary ...

and

Bishop Haseberg A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

, in the preparatory work of the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth e ...

and voted in favor of the doctrine of

Papal infallibility Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the Pope when he speaks '' ex cathedra'' is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "initially given to the apos ...

but against the opportuneness of its promulgation.

Works

Alzog's fame rests mainly on his ''Handbuch der Universal-Kirchengeschichte'' (Mainz, 1841, often reprinted under various titles; English translation by Pabisch and

Byrne ' Byrne (also O'Byrne) is an Irish surname. It is derived from the Gaelic ''Ó Broin'' or ''Ó Beirn''. There are two Irish surnames which have Byrne as their English spelling; the most common comes from Ó Broin, which refers to the Leinster-ba ...

''Manual of universal church history''
4 volumes, 1900). Based upon the foundations laid by Johann Adam Möhler, this manual was generally accepted as the best exposition of Catholic views, in opposition to the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

manual by C. A. Hase, and was translated into several languages. His ''Patrology'' went through four editions (1866–84), and his edition of the ''Oratio Apologetica'' of St. Gregory of Nazianzus reached a second edition. He was also a frequent contributor to various periodicals. Besides a host of minor writings on ecclesiastical subjects, and an active collaboration in the great Kirchenlexicon of Wetzer and Welte, Alzog was also the author of ''Grundriss der Patrologie'' (Freiburg, 1866, 4th ed. 1888), a scholarly work; though now superseded. He also wrote (1857) a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

treatise on the relation of Greek and Latin studies to Christian theology, and the valuable work: ''Die deutschen Plenarien im 15 und zu Anfang des 16 Jahrhunderts'' (Freiburg, 1874).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alzog, Johann Baptist 1808 births 1878 deaths People from Oława 19th-century German Catholic theologians 19th-century German historians People from the Province of Silesia University of Breslau alumni University of Bonn alumni Academic staff of the University of Freiburg People from Posen-West Prussia 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German writers German male non-fiction writers