Caspar Güttel

Caspar Güttel, also Caspar Guethel (* 1471 in Rötz ; † May 24, 1542 in Eisleben ) was a Lutheran theologian and reformer .

Life

He is one of Martin Luther's oldest friends. Nothing is known of his youth. His pious inclination made him repeatedly take part in pilgrimages to Altötting . From 1494 he studied in Leipzig , where he obtained his master's degree . It remains uncertain whether he was also in Italy with his friend Christoph Scheurl . For internal reasons he was ordained a priest in 1494 and worked in Brüx in Bohemia and in Zwickau . As a preacher, he advocated church teaching and in 1504 published an eulogy for the cult of Mary and Anne.

As a secular priest he found “neither rest nor rest in his conscience”, he decided in 1514 to join the Augustinian order in Neustadt an der Orla . He performed his monastic duties with zeal and devotion. The monastery superiors became aware of him. They assigned him to the new monastery in Eisleben as a preacher. In January 1517 he acquired his doctorate in Leipzig, but took Luther's side in the indulgence dispute .

He was elected prior in Eisleben at the Heidelberg Convention . In the time of crisis in the order, he also stood up for Luther in his sermons. Even when the Eisleben convent dissolved in 1523, he stayed in the city and continued his sermons, many of which appeared in print in Zwickau. Soon he became a preacher at the main church. His sermons show the spirit in which he worked. He fought against church abuses, especially against the cult of Mary, which he himself had previously advocated.

It was a personal commitment when he got married at the age of 57. His work was aimed at leading the citizens from their neutral stance to the decision for the Reformation. Until 1538 he had to face both Georg Witzel and Johann Agricola Eisleben . As a faithful pastor, he meant a lot to the community. It is clear that the introduction of the Reformation in Eisleben, as in the county of Mansfeld, was largely due to him.

literature

Bernhard Anemüller : Guttel, Kaspar . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1879, p. 225 f.
Theodor Kolde : The German Augustinian Congregation. Gotha 1879.
Gustav Kawerau : Caspar Güttel. A picture of life from Luther's circle of friends. In: Journal of the Harz Association for History and Antiquity . Vol. 14, Halle 1882, pp. 33-132. In it: Güttel's Bibliography, p. 77. [1]

Web links

Individual evidence

^ Thomas Hohenberger: Lutheran doctrine of justification in the Reformation pamphlets of the years 1521-22. Vol. 6 Late Middle Ages and Reformation Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 1996, ISBN 978-3-161-46600-7 , p. 331

personal data
SURNAME	Güttel, Caspar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Guethel, Caspar; Guttel, Kaspar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Lutheran theologian and reformer
DATE OF BIRTH	1471
PLACE OF BIRTH	Rötz
DATE OF DEATH	May 24, 1542
Place of death	Eisleben

[1] Thomas Hohenberger: Lutheran doctrine of justification in the Reformation pamphlets of the years 1521-22. Vol. 6 Late Middle Ages and Reformation Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 1996, ISBN 978-3-161-46600-7 , p. 331