Petrus Medmann

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Petrus Medmann (born November 11, 1507 in Cologne , † September 18, 1584 in Emden , buried in the Great Church ) was a German theologian and diplomat during the Reformation.

Life

Petrus Medmann attended the Latin school in Emmerich until 1522 , then he studied at the University of Cologne at the artist faculty and acquired the title magister liberalium artium (master of the liberal arts). In Cologne the turning point in his life towards the Reformation takes place . At the university he met Theodor Fabritius (1501–1570), who later became the leader of the Evangelicals in Cologne. In 1526, together with Fabritius, Medmann went to the university in Wittenberg , where Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon taught. Here Medmann seems to be particularly influenced by Melanchthon, with whom he was also friends in later life.

Medmann returns to Cologne after a year, where the persecution of the Protestants has already started. Medmann witnessed the inquisition interrogation of Adolf Clarenbach in 1529, who was burned on September 28, 1529. The agony of this man left a lasting impression on Medmann and shaped his further work.

In October 1529 Medmann took part in the religious conversation between Luther and Zwingli in Marburg . He became tutor at the court of Count Johann III. zu Wied-Runkel and became acquainted with his brother, Count Hermann von Wied , Archbishop of Cologne and Elector, who was in opposition to the Pope and showed evangelical inclinations. Medmann became his secret advice . It was here that Medmann met Albert Ritzaeus Hardenberg , who later also worked in Emden. In April 1546 the Pope pronounced the ban on Hermann von Wied, and Medmann was excommunicated by the Pope on September 10, 1547 .

Most likely through the mediation of Count Christoph von Oldenburg , who was Cologne canon, Medmann was recommended to his sister, Countess and Regent Anna von Ostfriesland. So Medmann came to Emden in 1548 . Medmann already knew Johannes a Lasco , the first superintendent in East Frisia .

In Emden, Medmann married Anna Buttel in 1550, the daughter of a respected citizen of Emden. In 1553 Medmann became mayor of Emden and held this office continuously until his death. During his term of office of the Reformation upheaval, his careful political work was of particular importance. On June 10, 1574, he laid the foundation stone for the construction of the Emden town hall, a symbol of the upswing that the city experienced during this period.

In the Johannes a Lasco library in Emden there are still 87 books from Medmann's possession.

literature

  • Conrad Varrentrapp : Hermann von Wied and his attempt at the Reformation in Cologne. A contribution to the history of the German Reformation . Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1878
  • Hermann Klugkist Hesse : Life and work of Petrus Medmann, secret council of the Elector Hermann von Wied . In: Monthly Issues for Rhenish Church History 26 (1932), pp. 321–341