Martin Cleß

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Martin Cleß (born November 25, 1491 in Uhingen , † August 13, 1552 in Stuttgart ) was a Württemberg theologian and reformer .

Life

Martin Cleß was born as the eldest son of the then Württemberg customs collector Martin Cleß. The Württemberg servant book reports on this : “ Kloess Martin am Sixten blessed instead of being appointed as a valet with the gracious lady on Michaelis 1489. He is the customs officer of Uhingen. "

Martin was only six years old when his father died. The boy was supposed to become a priest and attended the Latin school in Göppingen . In 1512 he enrolled at the University of Tübingen . In 1513 he became a Baccalaureus in Freiburg and in 1514 a master's degree . The Bishop of Constance , then responsible for Uhingen , ordained him a priest in 1516. He read his first Holy Mass on Sunday Jubilate in the Oberhofenkirche in Göppingen. After Duke Ulrich's expulsionIn 1519 Württemberg became Austrian. After years of traveling, Martin Cleß became a pastor in Leonberg from 1521 to 1524 . There he became acquainted with Martin Luther's teaching.

In 1524 he was appointed canon to the canons of Oberhofen in Göppingen. Martin Cleß became more and more enthusiastic about Luther's reformatory ideas. On Corpus Christi day in 1529 there was a break with the authorities when Martin Cleß refused to preach in the traditional way. Martin Cleß and his mother had to flee Göppingen. Philip the Long von Rechberg took them on at his Ramsberg Castle . On Zwingli's recommendation , Martin Cleß came to the Free Imperial City of Biberach in 1530 as the first early Protestant preacher . During this time Martin Cleß had connections with Oekolampadius from Basel, Ambrosius Blarer from Constance and Martin Bucer from Strasbourg. In Biberach reforms took place according to Zwingli's teaching. At Easter 1531 the mass was completely stopped, and on June 29, 1531, as in other southern German imperial cities , there was an iconoclasm in Biberach .

In 1533 Martin Cleß married Appolonia Aulberin from Oberdorf . In 1534 Duke Ulrich was able to return to his country. He introduced the Reformation . For this he needed preachers for the new teaching. In 1536 Martin Cleß received the call to return to Göppingen, from where he had been expelled seven years earlier. A meeting with Philipp Melanchthon took place in Göppingen .

In 1543 Martin Cleß was appointed superintendent (dean) to Cannstatt . The Interim brought his dismissal in 1548. The following year he was employed again in Stuttgart . When Johannes Brenz wrote the "Confessio Virtembergia" under Duke Christoph in July 1551 , Martin Cleß, the Uhinger, was one of the ten theologians who re-examined the work.

Martin Cleß died on August 13, 1552 at the age of 61 in Stuttgart. He was buried in front of the pulpit of the Leonhardskirche .

literature

personal data
SURNAME Cleß, Martin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German reformer and Lutheran theologian
DATE OF BIRTH November 25, 1491
PLACE OF BIRTH Uhingen
DATE OF DEATH August 13, 1552
Place of death Stuttgart