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Philip Melanchthon the Protestant Preceptor of Germany 14971560

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Philip Melanchthon the Protestant Preceptor of Germany 14971560 PHILIP MELANC HTHON C H A PT ER I BI RTH AN D EAR LY Y EARS — — — Bretten Cl au s Schwar tze rd His S ons Philip S chwartzerd Born S — F choo —ohn U n e r—De ath His Brothe r and iste rs His irs t S l J g ’ — — in Pfor h eim o f Philip s Father and Grandfathe r R eu chl z — n e d Stu di e s G re e k N am e Cha g . C B EAR arlsruhe , the capital of aden , in the beautiful valley of the Kraichg au , is the little B . city of retten , with five thousand inhabitants Four hu n dred years ag o it belong ed to the Palat inat e m b m , and nu ered three hundred fa ilies as the s u m Fo r total of its population . a town so small it m enjoyed uch intercourse with the outside world , since throu gh its principal street passed a large part of the m erchandise carried from Italy to the lower B Rhine . u t the inhabitants of the town lived m ostly from the produce of their fertile fields . They m were simple in their anners , upright in their lives, and r o warmly attached to the Church . Their elig Phil ip Mel a nchth o n [ 1 497 ious faith was sincere ; but it was colo ured by the i n superstitions of the times , since that little Pala 1 0 tine city so late as 5 4 , five persons were convicted H of witchcraft and burned to death . owever , the fam e of Bretten does no t rest on the beauty of its situation , nor on the probity of its inhabitants , nor on the nu m ber of w itches it burned four hundred years ag o ; for as m uch could be said of m any m another town in the Palatinate . Its fa e rests on x P b the fact that on Thursday , the si teenth of e ru ’ 1 s ix m n ary , 49 7 , at just inutes past seve o clock in ‘ t o Phil i the evenin g , it g ave birth p Melanchthon , P r ece to o Ger m a n a a c the p r f y . An uthentic old count runs thus : In C t E the the days of ount Pala ine Philip , lector on R l d H d b hine , there ive in ei el erg , at the foot of the m m an m C w ountain , an upri ght , pious na ed laus Sch artz e r d w h o b his w E z b h a d t w o s n , , y ife li a eth , o s , john and who m w l George , fro their youth up ere carefu ly trained in the fear of G o d and in the practice of every v d d m b u t irtue . John learne the tra e of a locks ith ; who d id w w as b d d him w George , everythin g hich i en ith m was v b o - so wo n the ut ost alacrity, and a ery active y, E E the favour of the lector , that his lectoral Grace took him C had him w d d w to ourt , and sho n all kin s of han i ork , m w m d d and w that he i ght learn hat he ost elighte in , hat d b e m d him N ow w b o d coul a e of . , hen the y took elight m and d m w m in ar our , associate ost ith ar ourers , the Elector placed him und er a m aster at Amberg to l earn d H e d as the tra e . learned so rapi ly to astonish every one ; and his companions grew so jealous of him that one d ay one of them burned him s o dangerously with hot rsog] Bi rth a nd Ea rly Years his l was d I t was nl lead that ife despaire of . o y by and was divine grace special care that he saved . “ When the Elector l ear ned what had happened he him w and him m b m took a ay, sent to Nure erg to a aster d al l k m its m b skille in inds of ar our , even to ost o scure W m h w d l p arts . hen the aster s o e specia interest in the bo m d m y, the latter gave all the ore hee and soon co pre d d w was w him so m hen e hatever sho n , for he had uch skill that he could im itate w ith his hands whatever his saw H e d his w m as eyes . coul forge ork as s ooth though b H e d it had een filed . pursued his tra e for several was b m e r years , and at . length a le to ake everythin g p m v b T he E tainin g to ar our in the ery est style . lector now d him b C r m d him his m calle ack to ou t and a e ar ourer , ” 1 m - b or ar our earer . ‘ The old account g oes on . to say that Georg e S chw a rt z e rd became so celebrated for his skill in the n m ma ufacture of ar our , that such foreign potentates D W ii rt e mbe r as the King of Poland , the uke of g , the x e B Elector of Sa ony , the Margrav of aden , impor tuned the Elector Philip for his services . B u t E m the lector , in order that he i ght attach who was no w m George , thirty years old , the ore surely ‘ own b b to his country, egan to look out for an honoura le m him e nd w arriage for , and to that he negotiated ith H R B his ans euter , a distin guished citizen of retten , for ‘ Short R e p o rt writte n by the P rofe sso rs of the U nive r m I O 2 The Cor u s sit of Wi tte nb e r Cor u s R e or m a tor u : . y g , p f , 5 5 p i n i n tw e n t R e or ma l or u m he r e afte r re fe rre d t o as C. R . co nt a s f , , y e i h o u m e s e dite d b Bre tschne id e r and Bi ndse il the w or s o f g t v l , y , k M e anchtho n and ma n o he r a u ab e docu m e n s of the Re forma ion l , y t v l l t t e ra. Philip Mel a nchtho n B b w - b m e who b dau ghter ar ara, a virtuous , ell red aid n , , y m and ne o tia the providence of the Al i ghty God , the g ‘ E was m him m a tions of the lector , pro ised to in rriage . They were m arried at Spires in the prese nce of m any k who m d o m nights asse bled to the honour . The two loved each other d early for George S c hwar tz e rd was G o d - m an an upright , pious , fearing , who d ob served God earnestly, prayed evoutly, and o f m served the hours prayer as dili gently as a inister . f O w m idni ht . al l an d ften ould he rise at g , upon his knees , f his o fer devout prayer . No oath ever escaped lips , and saw d his b H e no one ever or hear of ein g drunk . lived in wedlock four years without children ; b u t after the l w w as 1 T c ose of the fourth year , hich 4 9 7 , on hursday ' I nvocawt his s o n d m after , first , Philip , our ear aster and w as b B u teacher , orn in retten , in the ho se of the father i n - l aw H R T b and grandfather , ans euter . hus God lessed - m an w son this p ious and God fearin g ith the gift of a , ‘ w m b u t m e a al l Christ e ndom ho not one land , any, y , , has , enjoyed and without doubt will enjoy to the end of the w ” orld . Other children were born to George and Barbara S chwart z e rd 1 , as , in 499 , a dau ghter named Anna , C who was married to hilian Grumbach , and died in H b eilbronn ; Georg e , a out four years youn g er than m B Philip , who became ayor of retten and wrote 1 06 m several histories ; Margaretha , born in 5 , arried first to Andrew Stichs , and , after his death , to the H aw e re r I 0 B electoral secretary , , died in 5 4 ; arbara , n born in 1 5 08 and married to Peter K e ch e l .
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