Wilhelm Bidembach

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Wilhelm Bidembach (born November 2, 1538 in Brackenheim , † April 6, 1572 in Bebenhausen ; also Wilhelm Bidenbach ) was a German Lutheran theologian and clergyman .

Life

Wilhelm Bidembach was born in Brackenheim in 1538 as the son of the Amtskeller Johann Bidembach and Elisabeth von Petershain. He had two siblings who also gained notoriety, Eberhard Bidembach and Balthasar Bidembach . Having trained at the Pädagogium Stuttgart, he moved to the University of Tübingen on April 30, 1552 . That year he also received a scholarship . In September of the next year he became a Baccalaureus , on February 12, 1556 Magister artium .

On August 6, 1558, Bidembach began to give lectures at the University of Tübingen. In the same year he was given the professorship in music. At the St. Leonhard Church in Stuttgart he was active as a pastor from 1559. Together with his colleague Matthäus Alber , he preached in 1562 after a large hailstorm against the Esslingen pastor Thomas Naogeorg , who blamed witches for it and demanded that they be severely punished. He was awarded the theological doctor degree in 1563. Later he became the first pastor of the collegiate church in Stuttgart and then both ducal council and church council . In 1569 he followed a call to Strasbourg as a preacher .

Among others, Johann Marbach , who was friends with Bidembach, offered him as the successor to the late Melchior Speccer at the Strasbourg Academy. In addition to academic qualities, Marbach was also interested in personal virtues, and theologians from Württemberg were very popular in both Strasbourg and himself. On December 24, 1569, the offer was received by Bidembach. In order for this project to have succeeded, Duke Ludwig Bidembach had to be released from his previous position. The negotiations with Duke Ludwig dragged on for months; even the mother of the underage duke, who stood up for Bidembach, could not change the duke's mind. Because he did not dismiss Bidembach, he could not go to the Strasbourg Academy, which is why the offer did not work. It is believed that the Duke could not imagine that the Württemberg church could survive without damage for even a year without its headmaster Bidembach.

On April 6, 1572, around three o'clock, Bidembach died in Bebenhausen after jumping from a tower. He had suffered from melancholy . The following children came from Bidembach's marriage to Katharina Schenk: Felix Bidembach , Paulus Bidembach, Johann Moritz Bidembach , Barbara and Elisabeth.

Bidembach was the first Tübingen music professor who later became a clergyman. This was trend-setting, after him the office of music professor was combined with that of repetitee, which basically followed the church service. Julian Kümmerle is of the opinion that Bidembach wanted to enter church service when he took over his professorship, since he studied theology and was a preacher at the same time. In addition, most theologians of the time were too poor for a doctorate, which is why Bidembach's résumé is an exception here as well. At the time of his doctorate, however, he had already been serving in the church for two years. For lawyers and medical professionals, a doctorate was a prerequisite for reaching higher offices; the relationship between doctorate and preacher office, the highest in the Stuttgart church, is unclear.

In the Wickiana news collection , there was a report of the “ terrible falconer Wilhelmen Bidenbach, pastor zuo Stuotgart” , who “ happened in the morning umb die drü” and had led to his “fatal exit” , and a pen drawing had been made. In the Wickiana the phrase “er sy des tüfels” is used , which implied Bidembach to be possessed and to indicate his melancholy. The death of Bidembach caused further sensation and also a controversy. According to Julian Kümmerle, it is rather unusual that this "spectacular event, but certainly secondary in view of other sensations [...] found its way into the news collection" . Bidembach had ensured that Johannes Brenz 's will was issued. As a result, he was criticized polemically, specifically accused of having caused conflicts within Protestantism in order to support the Catholics. In the Wickiana, it is alleged that Bidembach's death was suicide because he admitted that his behavior was wrong. Besides, he had shortly before his death the font Uff Men Johannsen Brentzen Testament of Heinrich Bullinger read that also could have given rise to suicide. Shortly before his death, Bidembach was brought from Stuttgart to Bebenhausen by his brother Eberhard Bidembach. There, according to Wickiana, he threw himself out of the window early in the morning when nobody was paying any attention to him, lived "an hour or two" and then died. He was buried that same day. Johannes Fries, pastor in Bretten, speaks in a letter that Bidembach has gone mad, possessed by the devil and has proclaimed a false doctrine. In this respect, Fries thinks that Bidembach's fate was predetermined during his sermons. Several texts also show that Eberhard was aware that his brother Wilhelm was mentally threatened and that he was protecting him. Others saw Bidembach's death as God's punishment for defaming the Zwinglian and communion doctrines . Furthermore, writings of the time relating to the family are silent about Bidembach's death.

Works

  • Ad Iesuitarum Assertiones, ex epistola priori divi Pauli ad Timotheum, in Schola Dilingana disputatas, quibus totum Papatum stabilire conati sunt, pia responsio. Autoribus D. Wilhelmo Bidenbacchio, & D. Luca Osiandro Theologiae Doctoribus, & c. (Tübingen 1566)
  • A Christian funeral sermon, Bey der Begrebnuss, of the venerable and highly learned gentleman, Johann Brentzen, Probst of Stutgarten: held in the Stifftskirche all there [...]. Item, the first part, his D. Brentij testament or final will, his preaching room, concerning faith, teaching and acquaintance (Tübingen 1570)
  • A Christian consolation sermon / Bey der Leichbelaitung / Hochgebornen / Prince and Mr. / Mr. Christoffs / Hertzogs zuo Würtemberg and Teck / Gravens zuo Mümpelgart / ec. happen at Stuttgart / on Freytag the last day of Decembris / the outgoing eighth and sixtieth jars / as the corpse with civil procession / led from Stuottgarten to Tübingen / and then passed down to earth in: three Christian comforting sermons (Tübingen 1569)
  • Consensus Iesuitarum et Christianorum in doctrina religionis […] autore Wilhelmo Bidembachio (Tübingen 1578)
  • The first gospel, the oldest faith, and the purest church [...] preached by Wilhelmum Bidembach (Tübingen 1570)
  • A summa of several sermons about hail and fiends, given in the parish church zuo Stuottgarten in the month of Augusto Anno MDLXII. By D. Matheum Alberum and D. Wilhelmum Bidenbach, very useful and comforting to read at this time (Tübingen 1562) ( Google Books )
  • The denied Bapstumb. Proof / that still with people / only sixty years ago / in Germany / on public Cantzel / and in public truck / by people's own powers / will / work and merit / who have to pay sin / and gain eternal life / preached false and unchristian and wrote / also held to teach others to set an example and model accordingly. And that instead of the Christian faith / a pagan doubt was introduced and honored. Against the shameful denial and boast of the current Bäpstischen Schreier and Schreiber [...] (Tübingen 1569)

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wulf Segebrecht, Juliane Fuchs, Veronika Marschall: Tübinger Epicedien on the death of the reformer Johannes Brenz (1570), page 94; P. Lang, 1999; ISBN 3631333587
  2. ↑ Kümmerle, pages 146 to 149
  3. ^ Kümmerle, page 145 f.
  4. ↑ Quotation from Kümmerle, page 134 ( illustration of the pen drawing in the catalog of the Zurich Central Library)
  5. ↑ Kümmerle, page 140
  6. ^ Quote from Kümmerle, page 135
  7. ^ Quote from Kümmerle, page 137
  8. ↑ Kümmerle, pages 134 to 140 (section The denominational controversy over the death of Wilhelm Bidembach: Heinrich Bullinger and the legacy of Johannes Brenz )
personal data
SURNAME Bidembach, Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bidenbach, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Lutheran theologian and clergyman
DATE OF BIRTH November 2, 1538
PLACE OF BIRTH Brackenheim
DATE OF DEATH April 6, 1572
Place of death Bebenhausen