Stanislaus Rapagelanus

Stanislaus Rapagelanus, also Lituanus , Lithuanian: Stanislovas Rapalionis , Polish: Stanisław Rapajłowicz (* around 1485 near Eišiškės , now Rajongemeinde Šalčininkai , Lithuania ; † May 13, 1545 in Königsberg ) was a Lutheran theologian of the Reformation period .

Life

Stanislaus Lituanus , as he is mostly called in the sources, came from a Lithuanian noble family and was related to the Lithuanian reformer and Bible translator Abraham Culvensis . The meaning of the name Rapagelanus is unclear. His birth, youth and education are in the dark. It is documented that he studied in Krakow and obtained the degree of baccalaureus . When the persecution of the evangelicals began in Poland , he and Abraham Culvensis will have sought refuge in Prussia. Duke Albrecht I of Brandenburg-Ansbach accepted him among his scholarship holders and sent him to study in Wittenberg .

He enrolled on March 22nd and made rapid progress due to his talent. After he had acquired the academic degree of licentiate in 1544, he received his doctorate in theology together with Theodor Fabricius under Martin Luther's chairmanship on May 29, 1544 . The Duke warned him beforehand to return, but, at Johannes Bugenhagen's intercession , allowed him to stay for the summer. He lectured in Hebrew and was finally called back on June 11, 1544 to take over a theological professorship at the Albertus University of Königsberg . Rapagelanus had been close to Bugenhagen and Philipp Melanchthon , but Luther also knew him and, as dean, had made a special invitation to his doctorate. Equipped with a letter of recommendation from Melanchthon, he went to Konigsberg and read there first about the Psalms .

As a linguistically gifted, theologically founded man who faithfully adhered to the Wittenberg doctrine, and as an honest character, Rapagelanus soon gained respect and respect in Königsberg. A treatise De ecclesia is available from him, in which he explains the nature of the Church in the sense of the Confessio Augustana and the Schmalkaldic Articles . He was the first theologian when the University of Königsberg opened. His lectures received a lot of attention and were attended by the Duke himself. A letter to Paul Speratus showed him to be an educated, discerning theologian with a mild disposition who stood above all disputes. He was an expert advisor to the bishop on questions relating to the neighboring Polish-Lithuanian region.

Lithuanian literary history begins with his name . Rapagelanus is the first Lithuanian poet to write a passion song in the Lithuanian language .

In November 1544 Rapagelanus married the daughter of the ducal personal physician Basilius Axt . A few days after his first disputation , on May 13, 1545, Rapagelanus died suddenly, mourned by his students. Johann Briesmann kept him in the cathedral the grave speech .

literature

• Paul Tschackert : Document book for the history of the Reformation in the Duchy of Prussia , 1, pp. 259, 288; 3, p. 282.
• Eduard Kneifel : The pastors of the Evangelical Augsburg Church in Poland . without year, p. 238.
• Walter Hubatsch : History of the Protestant Church in East Prussia . Goettingen 1968.
• Gertrud Bense: On the regional and personal environment of the earlier Prussian-Lithuanian literature . In: Annaberger Annalen 4 (1996), pp. 55-67 ( PDF file ).