Elisabeth Cruciger (also spelled Kreuziger, Creutziger etc.; née von Meseritz) ( – 2 May 1535), a German writer, was the first female poet and hymnwriter of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

and a friend of

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

Life

Elisabeth von Meseritz was born into a noble family in Eastern Pomerania. While still a child, she became a nun at the Marienbusch Abbey, a

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Chur ...

cloister in Treptow an der Rega. At the cloisters, she learnt of the religious ideas of the Reformation through Johannes Bugenhagen, one of the influential figures in

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

. In 1522 Elisabeth left the abbey to move to

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

, where she joined Bugenhagen's household. Then in 1524 she married the theologian Caspar Cruciger, a student and an assistant to

. Together they had two children: a daughter, Elisabeth, who married Andreas Kegel, the rector of Luther's hometown

Eisleben Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as both the hometown of the influential theologian Martin Luther and the place where he died; hence, its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. First mentioned in the late 10th century ...

, and then—on Kegel's death—Luther's son Johannes; and a son, Caspar Cruciger the Younger, who succeeded in

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 ...

's post as professorship at Wittenburg. Elisabeth Cruciger died in

in 1535.

Veneration

In 2022, Elisabeth Cruciger was officially added to the Episcopal Church liturgical calendar with a feast day on 3 May.

Works

* For Epiphany - "" in the current German Protestant hymnal ' (EG) Nr. 67 (originally known as ''Eyn Lobsanck vom Christo'', first published in Erfurt 1524 in '' Eyn Enchiridion oder Handbüchlein'', an early Protestant hymnal)

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Further references

* * Carl Bertheau
Kreutziger, Elisabeth.
In: ''

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...

'' (ADB). Vol 17, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1883, p. 148 f. * Sonja Domröse: ''Frauen der Reformationszeit, Gelehrt, mutig und glaubensfest'', Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2010, * Walther Killy: '' Killy Literaturlexikon''. Autoren und Werke deutscher Sprache''. Directmedia Publications, Berlin 2000, . (1 CD-ROM) * Elisabeth Schneider-Böklen: ''Elisabeth Cruciger, die erste Dichterin des Protestantismus''. In: ''Gottesdienst und Kirchenmusik''. Heft 2/1994, S. 32 ff. * Wolfgang Herbst: Wer ist wer im Gesangbuch?
Onlineleseprobe

External links

* 1500 births 1535 deaths 16th-century German Roman Catholic nuns Premonstratensian nuns German women poets German Lutheran hymnwriters Converts to Lutheranism from Roman Catholicism 16th-century hymnwriters Women hymnwriters 16th-century women composers Cruciger family Family of Martin Luther Anglican saints People of the Protestant Reformation 16th-century German composers {{songwriter-stub