Konrad Braun

Konrad Braun (* around 1495 in Kirchheim am Neckar ; † June 20, 1563 in Munich ), Latinized form of name: Conradus Brunus , doctor of ecclesiastical and secular law ( utriusque iuris doctor ), was a canonist and Catholic theologian . As a law professor in Tübingen, prince-bishop chancellor in Würzburg, vice-chancellor of the Archbishop of Mainz, chancellor for the Bavarian dukes Ludwig X and Wilhelm IV, as well as chancellor in the service of cardinal and Augsburg bishop Otto Truchseß von Waldburg , he was one of the most prominent Catholic jurists Theologians of his time. At times he also worked as an assessor and head of the office at the Reich Chamber of Commerce . He left behind numerous controversial theological writings and fought against the Augsburg Religious Peace of 1555. He was involved in the revision of the Imperial Court of Justice rules.

Life

Konrad Braun came from a family of craftsmen and theologians in Kirchheim am Neckar. As a 15-year-old he began his studies at the Faculty of Arts of the 1510 University of Tuebingen and turned after the took place on June 24, 1513 Doctor of magister artium law school to whether next times also studying theology is not occupied. When he was elected as a member of the artistic faculty for one year on September 12, 1521, he was still entitled to a master's degree, but when he was first employed as a professor for the institutions of Roman law on August 20, 1522, he was given the title of doctor ecclesiastical and secular law ( utriusque iuris doctor ). He had to undertake in an unusual way to treat older professors with respect and not to offend them by word or deed. His teaching post was repeatedly extended and was rector in the winter semester 1523/24 until he preferred to embark on a career in church politics after the end of the winter semester 1525/1526.

On May 27, 1526 Braun took over a council position with the Würzburg bishop Konrad von Thüngen . Here he took part in the daily councilor, which was also concerned with daily political events. Thanks to his knowledge of canon law, he made a significant contribution to strengthening the episcopal jurisdiction by using the institution of church visitation as a counter-reformation instrument of the church government. He won the trust of the bishop in particular, so that from 1528 to 1532 he sent him to the Swabian Confederation as Federal Councilor . He also gained in-depth insights into the religious and political contexts in the empire through his participation in the diets from 1528 to 1530 and 1532, partly accompanied and partly on behalf of the bishop.

On March 12, 1533, at the suggestion of the Franconian bishops, he moved to the Imperial Chamber Court as an assessor, but took over the Chancellery on May 17, 1535 in Würzburg after the death of Marsilius Prenninger. Braun has been among the assessors at the Imperial Court of Justice since June 10, 1536, but now for the clergy of the Upper Rhine District. Since this position was actually intended for a nobleman, he was accepted by the emperor on November 13, 1536 into the lower nobility.

On June 8, 1537, Braun received the office of the Chamber Court Assessor for the Archbishop of Mainz, who also took him into his service as Vice Chancellor and Councilor and, thanks to Braun's good reputation as an opponent of Protestants, made him head of the Chamber Court Chancellery in the spring of 1540. However, the opportunities for development that Braun hoped for in religious politics remained limited. Above all, the concessions to the Protestants went too far for him, and he now had to fear for his safety.

In the spring of 1542, he entered the service of the Bavarian Duke Ludwig X. until his death, then from 1545 to 1550 as Chancellor in the service of Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria . Since he was in the service of a secular prince at this time, he was not allowed to take part in the Council of Trent , which began in 1545 . In 1546 he therefore sought indirect influence by drafting a catechism in German, which, however, was not completed. With extensive scientific works on church reform, he then tried, in collaboration with the theologian Johannes Dobneck, alias Cochläus, who was an experienced editor, to reach a broader scholarly public. After excerpts from his works to check the demand, the four best-known printed works of Braun's were published by Franz Behem in Mainz in 1548 and 1550: De legationibus ( About legations - an early study of international politics and diplomacy), De caeremoniis ( About ceremonies - a liturgical scholarly treatise) , De imaginibus ( About images - an illustration of iconography and symbolism in the Catholic Church) and De seditionibus ( About insurrections - statements about the right to resist on the one hand, and the right to suppress resistance on the other). Another scientific treatise De haereticis et schismaticis ( On Heresy and Schism - Presentation of the canonical measures against the Reformation and the division of the Church) was not carried out. In addition, in 1547 he was involved in the revision of the Reich Chamber Court Code, which was decided in 1548.

When Duke Wilhelm IV died in 1550, Braun's position as chancellor in Bavaria ended the following year. But now the chancellorship from 1554 to 1559 in the service of Cardinal and Augsburg Bishop Otto Truchsess von Waldburg became the high point of his career in religious politics. As envoy of an important ecclesiastical empire, he took part in the negotiations of the diets of 1555, 1556/1557 and 1559 and also represented his sovereign at the meetings of the Swabian Circle during this time. On behalf of the cardinal, but also out of his own conviction, he fought the Augsburg Religious Peace of 1555 as a contradiction to papal authority and violation of canon law. He was also involved in the negotiations for a peace enforcement order.

In his first year as chancellor in 1554, he had his German translation of the mystical work De imitatione Christi printed by Thomas a Kempis . It had lasting success through many new editions. In 1557 he was given a canon position in Augsburg and in Regensburg. He wanted to support the newly founded University of Dillingen in 1557 by donating a scholarship for three students, but then handed it over to the University of Freiburg im Breisgau after disputes with the Augsburg Cathedral Chapter . An eye disease forced Braun to resign from the Augsburg Chancellery in 1559. However, he remained an advisor to Cardinal Otto Truchsess von Waldburgs, who stayed in Rome from the same year until 1563, and in the spring of 1563 was appointed to a theological commission of Emperor Ferdinand I , which met in Innsbruck . On the way back from Innsbruck he died on June 20, 1563 in Munich and found his final resting place in the Augsburg Cathedral . According to the inscription on his grave slab in the cathedral, he was 68 years old, so that the year he was born is also documented.

No estate is known. However, an extensive library with over 600 volumes of general educational, scientific and theological literature has survived , which has been preserved in Dillingen an der Donau (study library) and Salzburg (St. Peter's Benedictine Abbey).

literature

• Remigius Bäumer : Konrad Braun (1491–1563) . In: Erwin Iserloh (Hrsg.): Catholic theologians of the Reformation period . Vol. 5. Münster 1988, ISBN 3-402-03347-X , pp. 115-136.
• Theobald Freudenberger:  Braun, Konrad. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, ISBN 3-428-00183-4 , p. 556 ( digitized version ).
• Emil Julius Hugo Steffenhagen:  Braun, Konrad . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 271.
• Maria Barbara Rößner: Konrad Braun (approx. 1495–1563), a Catholic lawyer, politician, controversial theologian and church reformer in the denominational age (Reformation history studies and texts, vol. 130). Aschendorff, Münster (Westf.) 1991, ISBN 3-402-03778-5 .
• Karl Konrad Finke: Konrad Braun (around 1495 to 1563) . In: The professors of the Tübingen Faculty of Law (1477–1535) (= Tübingen professor catalog , vol. 1,2). Edited by Karl Konrad Finke. Jan Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2011, ISBN 978-3-7995-5452-7 , pp. 73-93.