Hubert Languet

Hubert Languet (pseudonym Stephanus Junius Brutus Celta ; * 1518 in Vitteaux (near Dijon ), † September 30, 1581 in Antwerp ) was a French diplomat, lawyer and Reformed theologian.

Life

He went to Poitiers University to study law, but he was also interested in theology, history, and natural and political science. He also attended the Universities of Padua and Bologna and toured Italy and Spain. Melanchthon's Loci theologici strongly influenced him and put an end to his doubts about faith. In 1549, Languet went to Wittenberg , where he was hospitably received by Melanchthon, whom he accompanied on his travels and with his friends, especially Pantaleon Candidus, he used to be familiar. When he was expelled from France during the persecution of the Protestants, he settled in Wittenberg, where he spent the winter, while he traveled extensively in summer and autumn.

In 1559, at Melanchthon's recommendation, Languet entered the service of the Elector of Saxony as a diplomat , in which position he remained until 1577. The elector sent him to various courts: to Paris, Vienna, Prague, Frankfurt, Cologne and the Netherlands. As a friend of Melanchthon , he opposed the growing party of the Orthodox Lutherans , but he still did everything in his power to unite the warring parties. He even tried to get the French Huguenots recognized at the Frankfurt Reichstag in 1562, but without success. In May 1561 he went to France to establish closer ties between the German princes and French Protestants, and took part in the Poissy Religious Conference. In 1562 he was in Antwerp; he spent the following years traveling on a diplomatic mission to France and back to Saxony.

In 1571 the elector sent him to King Karl IX with the ambassadors of other Protestant princes in Germany . of France to congratulate him on the peace of Saint-Germain . On this occasion, Languet represented the equal recognition of both denominations. But the answer was Bartholomew's Night , which he narrowly escaped alive. He left France in October 1572 and returned only once, shortly before his death.

From 1573 to 1576 he lived at the court of Emperor Maximilian II , whom he accompanied on numerous trips. With Maximilian's death in 1576, his connection with the Viennese court was broken. The hostile behavior that was shown to him as a friend of Melanchthon and as a Calvinist prompted him to submit his dismissal from the court. The emperor granted his wish, but let him continue to pay his salary. In 1577 he went to Cologne to be closer to the Netherlands because he strongly sympathized with William of Orange .

The guiding principle of his diplomatic activity was religious and civil liberty for the protection and spread of Protestantism. He worked with all his might for the unity of the Protestant churches. The correspondence with the Elector of Saxony and Ulrich von Mordeisen was published in 1699 by Johannes Petrus Ludovicus under the title Arcana seculi XVI in Halle. Other editions of letters are available under the title Epistolae politicae et historicae ad P. Sydnaeum , Frankfurt 1633 and Epistolae ad J. Camerarium, Patrem et filium , Groningen 1646.

In the past, Languet was ascribed authorship to the Vindiciae contra tyrannos (Edinburgh / Basel 1579). The book was published under the pseudonym "Stephanus Junius Brutus", the name of the ancient murderer of tyrants. In its four parts, the book examines the following questions:

1. Should one obey God rather than a ruler in a dispute?
2. Can one fight a ruler who violates God's law and persecutes the church?
3. How far and with what right can one oppose a ruler who is suppressing or destroying the state?
4. Do neighboring rulers have the right to stand by a ruler against the oppression of his subjects?

The authorship of Languet has not yet been adequately clarified in research, a possible author of the Vindiciae contra tyrannos could also be Philippe Duplessis-Mornay or it would also be possible that both wrote this polemic together.

Fonts

• Hubert Languet: Against the tyrants. Evangelischer Verlag, Zollikon, Zurich 1946.

literature

• Béatrice Nicollier-de Weck: Hubert Languet (1518–1519). Un réseau politique international de Melanchthon à Guillaume d'Orange (= Travaux d'humanisme et renaissance. Vol. 293). Droz, Geneva 1995, ISBN 2-600-00096-8 .
• Béatrice Nicollier-de Weck: “There is no more virtuous ruler in the world.” Hubert Languet, a Frenchman in the service of Elector August of Saxony. In: Dirk Syndram (ed.): Luther and the princes. Self-representation and self-image of the ruler in the age of the Reformation. National special exhibition as part of the Luther Decade, essay volume. Contributions to the scientific conference from May 29th to 31st, 2014 at Hartenfels Castle in Torgau and in the Dresden Residenzschloss. Sandstein, Dresden 2015, ISBN 978-3-95498-159-5 , pp. 201-208.