Paul Wiener

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Paul Wiener (* 1495 in Krainburg or Laibach ; † August 16, 1554 in Sibiu ) was a Protestant clergyman and reformer and the first Protestant bishop in Transylvania .

Life

Nothing is known about Paul Wiener's childhood and youth, except that he was born in the Duchy of Carniola and had a brother who died in 1536. In 1514 he enrolled at the University of Vienna to study theology . In 1520, Wiener can already be identified as a canon , vicar general and episcopal councilor in Ljubljana . Ten years later he entered the clergy in the state parliament of his hometown, and he was also a conqueror of the countryside . In the following year, 1531, he also joined some special commissions of the estates. From 1536 he began to support the then reformer of the city Primož Trubar with evangelical sermons, whereby he had turned to the evangelical denomination for a long time. However, he proceeded cautiously and wanted to avoid polemics . Wiener also seems to have secretly married during this time. While Primož Trubar gave Slovenian sermons, Wiener preached in German. In 1540, however, Trubar had to move to Trieste . From 1541 to 1543 Wiener was a member of the estates. In 1544, Bishop Urban Textor appointed him a German preacher in the Ljubljana Cathedral of St. Nikolai. In 1546 he was appointed sovereign commissioner at the regional parliament of Ukraine.

In 1547, however, the bishop had both preachers arrested because they had turned to the Protestant faith and Wiener had remarried after the death of his first wife. Trubar could not be arrested because he was out of town at the time; In addition, there was an arrest warrant against the Provost Leonhard Mertlitz because he had married his cook. This was removed from his office, his benefice was stolen and he was excommunicated . Wiener himself was robbed of his income, his apartment and its owners were confiscated, books and writings were taken away from him and his goods were sealed. He was also imprisoned at the Ljubljana Castle together with Georg Dragolitz , also a vicar general against whom an arrest warrant was issued. The bishop himself took part in the interrogations, during which it became clear that Wiener was Protestant and did not want to promote the Catholic faith. He then sent files and reports to King Ferdinand, as a result of which Wiener’s detention, which had previously been tolerable for him, intensified considerably, despite the intercession of the Carniolan countryside to the king. Wiener's supporters feared that he would face death at the stake or by beheading .

On May 10, 1548, Wiener received a letter of comfort from the preacher Veit Dietrich . But the situation changed when the king ordered that Wiener’s detention be transferred to Vienna and that a royal commission should decide the consequences. Viennese were brought to prison in the Minorite Monastery in Vienna . There, a commission set up by the king consisting of three bishops and five doctors , chaired by the Viennese bishop Friedrich Nausea , advised on the case. On the basis of Wiener's answers during the investigation, a written confession of guilt was drawn up, whereby most of the statements reproduced there did not come from Wiener, but were forged. The latter refused to sign and wrote a letter to the king. On his orders, the commission interrogated Wiener again, responding to his complaints and presenting him with a commitment to sign, this time not forged and promising the most accurate reproduction of his words. In accordance with this commitment, the commission drafted a revocation, which Wiener was supposed to confirm in public. Wiener refused and realized that signing the confession had been a mistake. Again he wrote to the king. As a result, Wiener was asked to explain his report and why he had not carried out the public withdrawal. The work that he wrote following the invitation was considered learned, thorough and clear. However, he also enclosed a text addressed to the king with this explanation, in which he openly but submissively complained about the situation of his imprisonment. So he had been seriously ill all winter, was now dependent on a walking aid, had a poor memory and did not have the necessary books available when writing the explanation. He asked to be allowed to serve elsewhere.

In 1548 finally pardoned the king Vienna, provided this hike to Transylvania from. He moved poorly to Sibiu , where the city ​​council offered him a job as a preacher and teacher. Since May 11, 1552 he also worked there as a pastor . The Transylvanian Evangelical Synod , which was looking for a head, a bishop or superintendent , appointed Wiener on February 6, 1553 bishop over the Evangelical Church of Transylvania . On August 16 of the following year, however, he died of the plague .

literature

personal data
SURNAME Wiener, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Protestant clergyman and reformer in Transylvania
DATE OF BIRTH 1495
PLACE OF BIRTH Krainburg or Laibach
DATE OF DEATH August 16, 1554
Place of death Sibiu