Andreas Aurifaber (born Goldschmidt, 1514 – 12 December 1559) was a German

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

of some repute, but through his influence with

Albert of Brandenburg Albert von Brandenburg (; 28 June 149024 September 1545) was a German cardinal, elector, Archbishop of Mainz from 1514 to 1545, and Archbishop of Magdeburg from 1513 to 1545. Through his notorious sale of indulgences, he became the catalyst ...

, last grand-master of the

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

, and first

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

duke of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, became an outstanding figure in the controversy associated with

Andreas Osiander Andreas Osiander (; 19 December 1498 – 17 October 1552) was a German Lutheran theologian and Protestant reformer. Career Born at Gunzenhausen, Ansbach, in the region of Franconia, Osiander studied at the University of Ingolstadt before ...

whose daughter he had married.

Early life and education

Andreas Aurifaber was born in Breslau (Wrocław);

Johannes Aurifaber of Breslau Joannes Aurifaber Vratislaviensis (30 January 151719 October 1568), born Johann Goldschmidt in Breslau, was a Lutheran theologian and Protestant reformer. He adopted the cognomen ''Vratislaviensis'' ("of Breslau") to distinguish himself from anot ...

was his younger brother. He studied at the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

in 1527, and there became a friend of

Philip Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the L ...

. In 1529 he became rector of the Latin school at Danzig (Gdańsk), and two years later accepted a similar post at Elbing (

Elbląg Elbląg (; ; ) is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 127,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County. Elbląg is one of the ol ...

). The bounty of Duke Albert of Prussia enabled him to pursue the study of medicine at Wittenberg and in Italy.

Career

After 1545 Aurifaber was physician to the Duke and professor of physics and medicine in the newly established

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg () was the university of Königsberg in Duchy of Prussia, which was a fief of Poland. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant Reformation, Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke A ...

. There he wrote a number of treatises on physics and physiology. In 1550 he married a daughter of Osiander, and became involved in the bitter controversy aroused by the latter's views on justification and grace. After Osiander's death in 1552, Aurifaber, who in the preceding year had been made rector of the university, became the leader of the Osiandrian faction and made use of his office and his influence over the duke to crush the rival faction in Prussia, driving its adherents from the university in 1554. He went on to travel extensively throughout Germany, aroused the hatred of the conservatives, who assailed him with extreme virulence. Aurifaber, however, retained his influence until his death, which occurred suddenly, in the antechamber of the Duke in Königsberg, on December 12, 1559.

Early life and education

Career

See also

References

Works cited

Attribution

Further reading