Nikolaus Magni von Jauer

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Nikolaus Magni von Jauer (also: Nikolaus Groß von Jauer ; Latin Nicolaus Magni de Jawor ; Czech Mikuláš Magni z Jawora ; * around 1355 in Jauer ; † March 22, 1435 in Heidelberg ) was a Silesian theologian. In 1397 he was rector of Charles University in Prague , in 1406 rector of Heidelberg University . As a follower of orthodoxy , he campaigned for the renewal of faith and the clergy.

Life

Little is known about his origins and childhood, including which schools he attended in Silesia. In 1377 he studied philosophy at the University of Vienna and from 1378 at the Charles University in Prague, where among his teachers were Matthäus von Krakau and Konrad von Soltau . After acquiring the academic degrees of a "Baccalaureus artium" and in 1381 the "Licentiatus artium", he worked as a teacher at the artist faculty and studied theology at the same time, which he completed in 1392 with a bachelor's degree and in 1395 with a master of theologiae . The time and place of his ordination are not known. From 1392 he worked as a preacher at the German St. Gallus Church in Prague and as a pastor of a women's monastery, for whose convent he gave a sermon on the suffering of Christ , the version of which has been preserved in handwriting. In 1397 he held the post of rector of Charles University, meanwhile appointed professor of theology.

In 1402 Nikolaus Magni accepted a call to the Wittelsbach University of Heidelberg , founded in 1386 , where his teachers Matthäus von Krakau and Konrad von Soltau had already gone. The reasons why she and other professors left Prague are not known. Presumably, the conflicts between the Bohemian and university members of other nations played a role, which concerned the distribution of the places at the Karlskolleg. The disputes were accompanied by the intellectual influences of John Wyclif in the pre-Hussite period and finally led to the exodus of the German professors to Leipzig in 1409 .

In Heidelberg Nikolaus Magni held the office of dean of the theological faculty several times. In 1406 he was rector and 1407–1421 vice chancellor. He also worked as a notary and advisor in the chancellery of the Palatinate Elector Ruprecht III. and Ludwig III. In addition, he was a preacher at the Heiliggeistkirche until his death , of which he was the dean and “Canonicus senior” from 1413-1418. 1416-1417 he took part in the Council of Constance as envoy from his university . With the speech given there he demanded, among other things, the moral improvement of the clergy and the reform of the benefice system . In the dispute between the Pope and the Council, he was neutral. Already during his time in Prague he opposed the reformer Jan Hus and later he fought his supporters; He also pursued different doctrines. In 1425 he was one of the judges in the trial of the heretic Johannes von Drändorf , who was sentenced to death. In 1432, Nikolaus Magni was sent to the Council of Basel as a deputy ("Ambassiator domini comitis Palatini") of the elector , where he tried to prevent another schism . In 1434 he again took part in the Basel Council as a member of the Faith Deputation. During the council, he held two sermons in the Dominican monastery in Basel, “An den Steinen”, under the title “On Prayer” and “On God's Love”, in which he explained the three religious vows and demanded that the negligence that had occurred in monastic life be remedied. They have been preserved in the German version under the name Nikolaus von Heidelberg . At a provincial synod in Worms, too , he denounced the moral faults of the clergy.

Fonts

In his theological work, Nikolaus Magni dealt primarily with the Christian way of life and the pastoral care of the faithful. His sermons and tracts, which have been handed down exclusively by hand, are documented in several university and state libraries. They were listed in 1898 by A. Franz in his work Der Magister Nikolaus Magni de Jawor . His Tractatus de superstitionibus is well received .

literature

Web links

  • Katrin Moeller: Jawor, Nikolaus de . In: Lexicon for the history of witch persecution, ed. v. Gudrun Gersmann, Katrin Moeller and Jürgen-Michael Schmidt, in: historicum.net 2007.