Christoph Ering

According to the latest research, the picture should not show Johannes Bugenhagen , as is often assumed , but Christoph Ering.

Christoph Ering (* 1491 in Leipzig ; † March 1, 1554 in Zwickau ) was a theologian of the Reformation , changed from the Catholic to the Protestant camp in 1532 and settled in Wittenberg with Lucas Cranach the Elder. Ä. portray as a reformer .

Life

The Catholic phase

After studying artes liberales and parallel to studying theology in Leipzig, he was ordained a priest in 1516 and court chaplain of George the Bearded , until 1526 educator of Moritz of Saxony , George's godson. In 1522, when Peter Henlein visited Nuremberg , he received a self-running clock from him that was built into a muskrat . During his time as a preacher in St. Annaberg (1526–1529), where he also married for the first time, he fell out with Georg.

Order of the Reformation in St. Joachimsthal

Ering worked from 1529 to 1531 as a preacher in St. Joachimsthal (Bohemia). The hospital and cemetery were laid out there in 1530, the church register and regulations for the hospital and the common caste to regulate the welfare of the poor in 1531 .

Time in Wittenberg and as a preacher and superattendent in Zwickau

After he had probably received his doctorate in theology in Leipzig in 1530 , he enrolled in the University of Wittenberg in 1532 . In 1533 he became a preacher at St. Marien, in 1540 at St. Katharinen in Zwickau , in 1553 pastor and "superattendent" (= superintendent ) in Zwickau. In 1553 he married Margarete Göpfert. In 1537 he consecrated the first Protestant church in St. Joachimsthal; In 1547 he saved Zwickau from destruction during the Schmalkaldic War . In both Catholic and Protestant times he always worked in extremely wealthy communities.

The portrait of Lucas Cranach from 1532

His 1532 by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Ä. Portrait created in Wittenberg is incorrectly associated with Johannes Bugenhagen . Neither the elaborate scholarly garb (Bugenhagen received his doctorate in theology until 1533 and professor in 1535) nor the rosary (Bugenhagen had spoken out against praying the rosary in 1529) match this. The specified age (42nd year) does not match Bugenhagen's date of birth (June 24, 1485), and neither the initials (CE) nor the house mark in the coat of arms match those of Johannes Bugenhagen: Bugenhagen's coat of arms contained David's ten-string harp.

All of these features of the portrait are in line with Christoph Ering's biography. No other Saxon theology of the Reformation period bore the initials CE; as early as 1515, Christoph Ering used the house brand by hand. The muskrat on the rosary indicates either Ering's chronically ailing health (muskrat [= balsam] apples were filled with fragrant herbs to ward off the plague) or the case of the watch that Peter Henlein gave him. The high-quality garment also suits the wealthy Christoph Ering, who was 42 in 1532.

effect

Christoph Ering deliberately left hardly anything in writing - because of "the dangerous times" - apart from two letters received in Hamburg and Dresden as well as a list of the costs and the expiry of his master's degree from 1515 on the last free pages of an Aristotle volume (received in the Ratsschulbibliothek Zwickau ) and one of twenty dedications for a magnificent Bible by the Mayor of Zwickau, Oswald Lasan, from 1542 (preserved in the library of the Academy of Sciences at the University of Danzig). Ering based himself on the theology of Luther and Bugenhagen and showed an astonishing diplomatic skill, which did not prevent him from being arrested in the fortress of Pirna in 1550 and given leave of absence as a preacher by the Zwickau City Council for a year - albeit with full payments. He was mainly recognized as a preacher.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The assumption that Christoph Ering was born in 1485 is based on an error. His year of birth was calculated back from his matriculation date winter semester 1501/02. An age of around 16 years was assumed. Enrollment at the age of ten was not uncommon. Parents secured a place at the university in their place of residence (Leipzig). Ering was ordained a priest in Merseburg in 1516. This usually happened at the age of 25. In his portrait from 1532 by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Ä. he is referred to as standing in the 42nd year of life. Further information: Ahuis, The portrait of a reformer , pp. 25–28.
2. ^ Gerhard Dohrn-van Rossum : The story of the hour. Clocks and modern time systems. Cologne 2007, p. 193.
3. ^ Johannes Bugenhagen: Der Ehrbaren Stadt Hamburg Christian Order 1529. Edited and translated by Hans Wenn with the collaboration of Annemarie Hübner. Hamburg 1976, p. 21.
4. ↑ Hans-Günter Leder: Notes and observations on Bugenhagen's coat of arms. In: Irmfried Garbe (ed.), Volker Gummelt (ed.); Hans-Günter Leder: Johannes Bugenhagen Pomeranus - Postponed studies on biography. , Frankfurt / M. 2008, pp. 188-201. (Greifswalder theological research 15) (tightened reprint: Hans-Günter Leder: My praise is David's harp. In: Baltic Studies. NF 80 (1994) pp. 25–35)
5. ↑ Ulinka Rublack : Dressing Up. Cultural Identity in Renaissance Europe. Oxford 2010, ISBN 978-0-19-929874-7 .
6. ↑ ^{a b} State and University Library Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky Sup. Ep. 104: 45.
7. ^ Sächsisches Staatsarchiv - Main State Archive Dresden - 10024 Secret Council (Secret Archive), Loc. 10300/2, Dr. Martin Luther's Religion and Other Matters, 1518-1539. Bl. 270a, b.
8. ↑ Quartband XXVI. V. 11.
9. ^ Biblioteka Gdanska Polskiej Akademii Nauk; Signature: Ms. 2499.
10. ↑ Ahuis, The portrait of a reformer , pp. 25, 32, 37, 61.

literature

• Ferdinand Ahuis : The portrait of a reformer. The Leipzig theologian Christoph Ering and the alleged Bugenhagen picture by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Ä. from the year 1532. Vestigia Bibliae 31, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, New York, Oxford, Vienna 2011, ISBN 978-3-0343-0683-6 .
• Alfred Eckert: The German Protestant pastors of the Reformation time in West Bohemia . Bad Rappenau-Obergimpern 1974–1976, p. 62.