Peter Scheibenhart

Peter Scheibenhart (* around 1478 in Deidesheim , † 1529 in Heidelberg ) was a German theologian and rector of Heidelberg University .

Life

The date of birth of Peter Scheibenhart is not known. The first written evidence of him can be found in the register of the University of Heidelberg on April 5, 1494. He was registered as a student and at that time probably 16 years old, so his year of birth should be around 1478. The family Scheibenhart in Deidesheim found in the population intake of 1530 and in goods renovations ; after 1536 the name was no longer mentioned in Deidesheim. The ancestors of Peter Scheibenhart probably come from the community of Scheibenhardt .

He probably received his first Latin lessons at the Latin school in Deidesheim. After being under the Rector of John Niger in 1494 at the University of Heidelberg as a theology had matriculated student, he was born on June 5, 1495 for bachelor doctorate and was now allowed the licentiate aspire. He was then presumably ordained a priest . Scheibenhart received income from a benefice in Worms that was not subject to a residence obligation. He lived in a house in Heidelberg that belonged to the university.

On the day before St. Thomas' Day (December 20th) 1503, Scheibenhart was elected dean , presumably from the theological faculty . At academic degrees he obtained a licentiate and a doctorate. On the day before St. John's Day (June 23rd) 1507, Scheibenhart was elected Rector of Heidelberg University for the first time . The rector's office always lasted six months, from St. John's Day (June 24th) to St. Thomas's Day (December 21st). On St. Thomas's Day 1507, Scheibenhart was replaced as rector by Magister Johannes Link von Hirschorn. Scheibenhart then acted as Vice Rector ; in this capacity he had to travel to Mainz to take the rector's oath from Johannes Link, who had fled there before the plague . After the elector Philipp died at the beginning of 1508, Scheibenhart, who was the prorector representative of the university, had to go to his successor Ludwig V to ask for confirmation of the university privileges.

The Reformation began in 1517 with the publication of Martin Luther's theses . Luther's theses, insofar as they contradicted the current teaching of the church, should be scientifically examined and defended . Luther did this whenever the opportunity arose. On this matter he came to Heidelberg in the spring of 1518, where the Augustinians had organized a public disputation on April 26th . The event, at which the inadequacy of human moral strength was discussed, was attended by Augustinians, students and professors from Heidelberg University, as well as by courtiers. Luther defended 40 tenets; Peter Scheibenhart was one of the Heidelberg professors who met him and represented current church teaching.

In 1519 the plague broke out in Heidelberg; the university gave their relatives permission to leave the city. After seals and sticks were brought to the Heiliggeistkirche , and files and books were brought to Scheibenhart's house, the university was temporarily orphaned; However, enough professors came together to elect the rector on December 20. You elected Peter Scheibenhart as rector for the second time; At that time, however, he was in Worms, where he had his benefice. He did not return until the spring of 1520, after the plague in Heidelberg had passed its peak. Scheibenhart's second rectorate lasted until June 23, 1520. Two years later, on December 20, 1522, Scheibenhart was elected rector of Heidelberg University for a third time. His third term as rector lasted a full year, because Elector Ludwig V had ordered that the duration of the rectorate should be extended to a full year, as was usually done at other universities.

Scheibenhart was Vice-Rector of the University several times: in 1517 under Rector Peter Günther from Neustadt and in 1519 under Rector Johannes Hötzer; then in 1525 again under the 13-year-old rector Christoph von Henneberg and finally again in 1526 under rector Philipp Zwengel.

In 1529, Scheibenhart died in Heidelberg, probably from the plague that was raging again in Heidelberg at that time. Like many other members of the university, he was probably buried near or in St. He was probably a highly respected professor of theology; The fact that there is little historical evidence about him and his achievements may be related to the fact that shortly after his death the Reformation prevailed in the Electoral Palatinate, which resulted in a downgrade in the evaluation of the representatives of the "old" doctrine. Today the University of Heidelberg no longer has any documents or files from Peter Scheibenhart.

Foundation, endowment

On Bartholomew's Day (August 24th) 1531, Scheibenhart's will was carried out. He left a foundation with a capital stock of 200 florins . It was supposed to grant those interested, especially those from his hometown Deidesheim, a scholarship to study at Heidelberg University. It was one of the financially strongest scholarships from Heidelberg University. In Deidesheim's city archive there is the so-called “Red Book”, a legal book in which legal processes were noted. There is a copy of the document establishing the foundation. The last mention of the Scheibenhart Foundation was in 1683 when the university's assets were compiled.

literature

• Arnold Siben : Magister Peter Scheibenhart. Dr. theol., Professor at Heidelberg University, † 1529 . In: Journal for the history of the Upper Rhine . No. 89 , 1937, pp. 74-90 .
• Viktor Carl: Lexicon of Palatinate personalities . Arwid Hennig Verlag, Edenkoben 1998, ISBN 3-9804668-2-5 , p. 607 f .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Siben, p. 76
2. ^ Carl, p. 607
3. ↑ Siben, p. 77
4. ^ The register of Heidelberg University from 1386 to 1553. Gustav Toepke , p. 409 , accessed on January 20, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Siben, p. 77
6. ↑ Siben, p. 78
7. ↑ Siben, p. 79 f.
8. ↑ Siben, p. 81 f.
9. ↑ Siben, p. 82 f.
10. ↑ Siben, p. 83 f.
11. ↑ Siben, p. 90.
12. ↑ Siben, p. 84.
13. ↑ Siben, p. 84 f.