Johann von Staupitz ( 1460 – 28 December 1524) was a German

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

, university preacher, and

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

of the

Augustinian friars The Order of Saint Augustine (), abbreviated OSA, is a mendicant religious order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who were following the Rule of Saint Augustine ...

in Germany, who supervised

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 ...

during a critical period in his spiritual life. Martin Luther himself remarked, "If it had not been for Dr. Staupitz, I should have sunk in hell." Although he remained

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 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, died as a Benedictine monk and had repudiated the

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

, he is commemorated on 8 November as a priest in the

Calendar of Saints The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

of the

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod 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 ...

Biography

Johann von Staupitz was born in Motterwitz around 1460. Descended from an old

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

family of

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

origin (ze Stupic), he matriculated in the year 1485 and was accepted into the Augustinian order of friars in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

before being posted to

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

, where he was eventually promoted to the rank of

prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

. In 1500, Staupitz was made a

Doctor of Theology Doctor of Theology (, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equivalent to the Doctor o ...

and in 1503 he was elected to the post of

of the "Saxon Reformed Congregation" of the Augustinian friars, which took in greater Germany. He was also made dean of the theology faculty at the new

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 ...

when it was founded in 1502. In 1512, while in his fifties, Staupitz resigned his professorship and relocated to the southern part of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, resigning his vicar-generalship officially in 1520. In 1522 he accepted an offer from the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

s inviting him to join their order, becoming

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

of St Peter's in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

. As Augustinian Superior, Staupitz first met Martin Luther at

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

in April 1506. A young friar plagued by persistent thoughts of spiritual inadequacy, Luther felt compelled to confess to Staupitz everything sinful he had ever done. At least once, Luther spent six hours confessing to Staupitz, who responded to the young man's doubts by counselling him on the

Means of Grace The means of grace in Christian theology are those things (the ''means'') through which God gives grace. Just what this grace entails is interpreted in various ways: generally speaking, some see it as God blessing humankind so as to sustain and em ...

and on salvation through the blood of Christ. He also commanded Luther to pursue a more academic career, hoping it would provide a distraction from his recurrent theological brooding. In 1518, after Luther was declared a

heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...

, Staupitz was appointed promagister of the Augustinian order to plead in protest with Luther, discussing the issue of

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission bef ...

s in great detail."4374 Johann von Staupitz", augnet
/ref> Staupitz perceived Luther's complaints as questions against clerical abuses, rather than as fundamental disputes of

dogma Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Islam ...

. Ultimately, Staupitz released Martin Luther from the Augustinian order, preserving the good name of the order while simultaneously giving Luther freedom to act. His connection with Luther's views was now sealed, and in 1520

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X (; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Med ...

demanded an abjuration and revocation of heresy from Staupitz. He refused to revoke, on the grounds that he had never asserted Luther's heresies himself, but he did abjure and recognize the

Pontiff In Roman antiquity, a pontiff () was a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term ''pontiff'' was later applied to any h ...

as his judge. Staupitz was no Lutheran, and was thoroughly Catholic in matters of faith, especially as regards the freedom of the will, the meritoriousness of good works, and justification, which has been established by Paulus from the writings of Staupitz. However, Luther perceived his abjuration as a betrayal. In his last letter to Luther in 1524, Staupitz made it clear he was bitter about the direction of the

and its seemingly willful destruction of the unity of the Christian Church. Staupitz also wrote theological works on the topics of

predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby Go ...

faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

, and

love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

. In 1559,

Pope Paul IV Pope Paul IV (; ; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559), born Gian Pietro Carafa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death, in August 1559. While serving as papal nuncio in Spain, he developed ...

added these texts to the Index of Prohibited Books, seeing them as perhaps compromised by the friendly relations between Staupitz and Luther during Luther's earlier years."Johann von Staupitz", Reformation 500
/ref> Staupitz died in 1524 at St Peter's Archabbey, Salzburg, where he had become a monk in 1522, rising quickly to the post of

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

. He is now celebrated in the

Lutheran 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 ...

liturgical calendar.

References

External links

* Johannes von Staupitz's Influence on Martin Luther – Oxford Research Encyclopedias. {{DEFAULTSORT:Staupitz, Johann von 1460s births 1524 deaths People from Leipzig (district) Augustinian friars German Benedictines 15th-century German Roman Catholic priests 16th-century German Roman Catholic priests 16th-century German Catholic theologians People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar People of the Protestant Reformation German male non-fiction writers Benedictine abbots 16th-century German male writers 16th-century Christian abbots

Biography

See also

References

External links