Bartholomäus Bernhardi

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Bartholomäus Bernhardi, engraving by Johann Christoph Boecklin
Memorial stone for Bartholomäus and Johannes Bernhardi in the home community Schlins in Vorarlberg , Austria

Bartholomäus Bernhardi (born August 24, 1487 in Schlins , † July 21, 1551 in Kemberg ) was a Lutheran theologian and reformer .

Life

Bartholomäus Bernhardi was born as the son of the judge Hans Bernhardi and his wife Elsa. Rüchlin was born in Schlins near Feldkirch , attended the Latin school in Eisenach in 1499 and enrolled in 1503 with his brother Johannes Bernhardi (1490–1534) at the University of Erfurt . On May 28, 1504, he moved to the newly founded University of Wittenberg , where he studied a. a. with Christoph Metzler . There he received the academic degree of a Baccalaureus in 1505 , on February 21, 1508 that of a Magister Artium , was admitted to the artistic senate of the university in 1509 and from that year held the professorship for physics according to Thomasius.

He then turned to theology, became a Baccalaureus biblicus in 1512, worked as a subdeacon in Brandenburg an der Havel from 1513 to 1516 , as a deacon in Halberstadt and a priest in Chur , returned to Wittenberg in 1516 and became a sententiarius of theology. For this he wrote the disputation Quaestio de viribus et voluntate hominis sine gratia , with which he presented Reformation findings to the academic public. This publication enabled communication about the pros and cons of Luther's theological concerns. In 1518 he was accepted as a licentiate at the theological faculty , was dean of the philosophical faculty in the winter semester of 1512 and rector of the university in the winter semester of 1518/19 .

During this time he also got to know the ideas of his former school friend Martin Luther , he had also entered the Wittenberg Augustinian order in 1509, had written dissertations against sophistic school theologians in 1516 and thus denounced the miserable condition of people after the pitiful fall of man. It is therefore not surprising that Bernhardi also stood behind his friend when he made his 95 theses known to the public and defended him as rector of the Wittenberg University during the indulgence dispute in 1518. Due to the death of the then Kemberger provost Ziegelheim an der Pest, as well as the patronage right due to the university, he was elected provost and pastor in Kemberg in 1518 and was the first pastor and provost there to preach Protestant doctrine. On August 24, 1521, he married Gertraude Pannier (* 1495) from Kemberg, despite his priestly vows. From this marriage there were seven children. With that he became the founder of the evangelical rectory. Luther, who was friends with him, wrote him a letter from the Wartburg in which he admired Bernhardi's courage and sent him hearty blessings.

The wedding aroused people's minds and Bernhardi had to publicly defend his move towards marriage. The Archbishop Albrecht of Magdeburg and Mainz asked the Saxon Elector Friedrich the Wise to hand Bernhardi over to the clerical court. In his defense, Bernhardi submitted a protective script ( Apologia pro M. Bartholomaeo praepositio, qui uxorem in sacerdotio duxit ) that had been written by him and revised by Philipp Melanchthon and was printed in several German and Latin scripts in Wittenberg and Erfurt in 1521/22. Also Andreas Bodenstein took this case in his disputations and used it in his writings on celibacy and vows. Since the archbishop did not want to recognize Bernhardi's justification as sufficient, he turned to Friedrich the Wise, who supported Bernhardi and saved him from further persecution.

When Kemberg was occupied by the Spaniards in the Schmalkaldic War after the Battle of Mühlberg , Bernhardi and his community suffered abuse. He himself was hung over his study table, but his wife was able to free him from this condition. Another time he was tied to a horse by the Spanish mercenaries and dragged several miles into the imperial camp , where a German officer released him from the ordeal. Nevertheless, he remained loyal to his community until his death on July 21, 1551. His tombstone is still in the Kemberger town church, where he was depicted, among other things, on the winged altar made by Lucas Cranach the Younger in 1565 Smoldering fire was badly damaged. In 1987 a memorial was erected in front of the St. Anna Chapel in Schlins. On April 21, 2014, a memorial to him was unveiled in Kemberg.

family

The first evangelical marriage resulted in two sons and five daughters:

  • Katharina Bernhardi (* 1522), married June 14, 1540 to Matthias Wanckel , provost in Kemberg
  • Johann Bernhardi (* 1523), deacon in Lobejün
  • Thomas Bernhardi (* 1524; † after 1576 in Crossen), court judge, married to Elisabeth, daughter of the businessman Martin Löhnig (Lönisch)
  • Anna Bernhardi (* around 1526), ​​married to Andreas Wanckel Pastor in Schmiedeberg
  • Elisabeth Bernhardi († before 1555), married to Bartholomäus Wanckel, Rector of the Kemberger City School
  • Maria (* 1532; † 1556 in Kemberg), married to Ambrosius Rhodius, mayor of Kemberg
  • Magdalena († young)

literature

Web links

Commons : Bartholomäus Bernhardi  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Bernhardi, Bartholomäus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Lutheran theologian
DATE OF BIRTH August 24, 1487
PLACE OF BIRTH Schlins
DATE OF DEATH July 21, 1551
Place of death Kemberg