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Georg Witzel (Wizel, Wicel, Wicelius) (b. at Vacha,
Landgraviate of Hesse The Landgraviate of Hesse () was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a single entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided among the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. History In the early Middle Ages, the territory of He ...
, 1501; d. at
Electorate of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz ( or '; ), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the Archbishop-Elec ...
, 16 February 1573) was a German theologian.


Life

He received his primary and academic education in the schools of
Schmalkalden Schmalkalden () is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, in the southwest of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is on the southern slope of the Thuringian Forest at the Schmalkalde river, a tributary to the Werra. , the town had a popul ...
,
Eisenach Eisenach () is a Town#Germany, town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia, and bordering northeastern Hesse, Hessian re ...
, and Halle, and then spent two years at the
University of Erfurt The University of Erfurt () is a public university located in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia. It was founded in 1379, and closed in 1816. It was re-established in 1994, three years after German reunification. Therefore ...
, and seven months 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 keeping with his father's wishes, Witzel was ordained a priest in 1520, and was appointed Vicar of Vacha. In 1524, however, the teachings 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 ...
attracted him. Abandoning the Catholic faith, he married, and the following year was appointed to the pastorate of Wenigenlupnitz by James Strauss, and a little later to that of Niemeck by Luther himself. He then began a thorough study of the Scriptures and the
Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical peri ...
, and soon became convinced that the Church of Luther was not the true Church and that Lutheran morals did not make for the betterment of the people. To express his dissatisfaction with the new teaching, he wrote in 1527 two works which he sent to the theologians of Wittenberg without, however, receiving any satisfaction from them. To give more emphatic expression to his conviction of the error of the new religion, he resigned his charge in 1531 and returned with his family to Vacha. Here he spent two years in extreme poverty. In 1532 he published, under the pseudonym Agricola Phaqus, his ''Pro defensione bonorum operum'', a work which aroused all the bitterness of his enemies. Among his works published at this time his ''Apologia'' (Leipzig, 1533) deserves special mention, since in it he gives his reasons for returning to the Church of Rome. Owing to Witzel's opposition to the doctrinal novelties of the age, he was forced to leave Vacha. He proceeded to
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 in 1538 was called to
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
. Here he conceived a plan of reunion, which took the form of a public disputation in Leipzig in 1539. He had already (1537) published his ''Methodus concordiae ecclesiasticae'', and for the new disputation he prepared ''Typus prioris Ecclesiae'' in which he proposed the Church of the first centuries as the ideal to be sought for. His endeavours for reunion, however, were without result. Opposition forced him to flee to
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
, thence to
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. The rapid progress of Protestantism soon convinced him that here too his efforts would be fruitless, and he forthwith proceeded to
Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...
, where he directed his efforts towards defending the Church; but in 1554 he was again forced to flee, now to Mainz, where he spent the remainder of his life in literary work and probably as professor at the
university of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...
.


Works

The number of Witzel's works is extraordinarily large.
Rass Rass or RASS may refer to: Places * Ar Rass a city in central Saudi Arabia * Rass, Bareq, a neighborhood in southwestern Saudi Arabia :''See also Ar Rass (disambiguation) and Ras (disambiguation)#Places for similarly named places'' People * R ...
in his ''Convertiten'' enumerates ninety-four, but this is far from complete. He contributed to
Michael Vehe Michael Vehe (c. 1480–1539) was a German monk and theologian. Life Vehe was born in Biberach (now part of Heilbronn, near Bad Wimpfen). He joined the Dominicans in Wimpfen and was sent to Heidelberg in 1506, where he taught in 1512 and receiv ...
's hymnbook (1537). He supported using the German vernacular for hymns, psalms, and liturgy.


References

*
Hugo von Hurter The von Hurter family belonged to the Swiss nobility; in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries three of them were known for their conversions to Roman Catholicism, their ecclesiastical careers in Austria and their theological writings. Friedric ...
, ''Nomenclator'', I, 8; *Rass, ''Die Convertiten'', I (Freiburg, 1886-80), 123 sqq.; *Holzhausen, ''G. Witzel u. die kirchliche Union'' in Zeitschr. fur histor. Theologie (1849), 382 sqq.; *Schmidt, ''G. Witzel, Ein Altkatholik des 16. Jahrhunderts'' (Vienna, 1876); *
Ludwig Pastor Ludwig Pastor, ennobled as Ludwig von Pastor, Freiherr von Campersfelden (31 January 1854 – 30 September 1928), was a German historian and diplomat for Austria. He became one of the most important Catholic historians of his time and is most no ...
, ''Reunionsbestrebungen'' (Freiburg, 1879), 140 sqq.; * Ignaz Döllinger, ''Die Reformation'', I (Ratisbon, 1846), 28 sqq.


Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Witzel, Georg 1501 births 1573 deaths People from Wartburgkreis Lutheran writers German Lutheran theologians 16th-century German Protestant theologians University of Erfurt alumni University of Wittenberg alumni German male non-fiction writers 16th-century German male writers