Wolfgang Capito

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Wolfgang Capito

Wolfgang Koepfel (* 1478 in Haguenau , † November 4, 1541 in Strasbourg ; also Wolfgang Fabricius Köpfle ), known as Wolfgang Fabricius Capito , was an important reformer in Strasbourg.

Live and act

Wolfgang Köpfle was born in Hagenau in Alsace in 1478 as the son of the respected master blacksmith Johann Köpfle. Later he latinized his name to Wolfgang Capito with the nickname Fabricius , after his father's profession. He received his first training in his hometown and later at the Latin School in Pforzheim . He then studied at the University of Ingolstadt , where he obtained the Baccalaureus Artium in 1501 . In 1504 he was enrolled at the University of Heidelberg . In 1511 he graduated from the University of Freiburg im Breisgau with a licentiate and in 1515 with a doctorate in theology. From his time in Freiburg, he remained a few acquaintances, some of whom were at the university at the same time. He made the acquaintance of the humanist Jakob Wimpfeling , the lawyer Ulrich Zasius and the theologian Gregor Reisch . Here he also got to know Matthäus Zell and Jakob Sturm , his later fellow combatants in Strasbourg, as well as probably Thomas Murner , his future opponent.

In 1512 he was appointed by the Bishop of Speyer as a preacher to the Canon of Bruchsal . During this time he learned Hebrew and made the acquaintance of Konrad Pellikan and Johannes Oekolampad . In 1515 he was called to Basel as minister preacher. With this office he was automatically integrated into the theological faculty of the University of Basel and worked as a theologian and Hebraist . In 1517 he was rector of the university. He frequented Erasmus von Rotterdam and entered into correspondence with Martin Luther (from 1518) and Ulrich Zwingli (from 1520) , among others . His sermons on Romans are said to have enjoyed great popularity.

On the recommendation of Erasmus and Ulrich von Hutten , he was appointed cathedral preacher at Mainz Cathedral in 1520 . As an advisor to Archbishop Albrecht von Mainz , Capito tried to moderate the emerging dispute between the denominations and, as electoral chancellor, to achieve a compromise with Luther. In 1521 he accompanied Albrecht to the Diet in Worms and spoke out in favor of Luther. However, his mediation work caused irritation, which he tried to clear up in March 1522 during a visit by Luther to Wittenberg . His role as a hidden supporter of the Lutheran movement made his life in the old-believing stronghold of Mainz dangerous, so that Capito retired to Strasbourg in 1523.

Reformation in Strasbourg

In March 1523, Capito returned to Strasbourg and took over the position of provost of the Thomasstift as beneficiary . For the time being, his position was contested by both the papists and the Lutherans . Only after a conversation with the evangelical minister preacher Matthäus Zell in the summer of 1523 did he finally seem to have decided in favor of the Reformation side. In an apology he tried to justify his attitude to the bishop. In the same year he bought himself as a citizen in the city and began to preach at the Jung-Sankt-Peter church. In a new letter to the bishop, he campaigned for the seven married preachers who had been excommunicated by the bishop ( appellation of the Eelichen priests 1524). Capito took part in the lectures held in the barefoot monastery with the interpretation of the Old Testament and became one of the most important figures of the early Reformation in Strasbourg alongside Matthäus Zell, Kaspar Hedio and Martin Bucer . When it came to a dispute with the Augustinian Provincial Konrad Treger in the summer of 1524 , Capito was one of the leading exponents of the new believers. Since there was no actual disputation, Capito published several pamphlets against Treger ( Tregerhandel ). Again and again, his mediating side was expressed. During the Peasants' War he tried together with Bucer and Zell in Altdorf to call on the peasants to be patient and moderate. He also tried to mediate in the Last Supper dispute, as it was expressed in the dispute between Luther and Andreas Bodenstein . From 1525 to 1529, Capito, together with the other Protestant preachers, tried to convince the Strasbourg authorities to abolish the mass.

In 1526 there was a certain estrangement between Bucer and Capito when Bucer was too indulgent in his attitude towards the Anabaptists . Capito did not oppose infant baptism , but he could imagine other forms of baptism. In addition, his tolerance of the Anabaptists was expressed in the acceptance of various supporters of the radical reformers . In his house he accommodated, among others, the dissidents Ludwig Hätzer , Andreas Cellarius , Kaspar Schwenckfeld and Michael Servetus . When the future Anabaptist martyr Michael Sattler was captured, Capito campaigned in vain for his release.

Church politics

Capito was co-author of the Confessio Tetrapolitana , took part in the Wittenberg Agreement , took part in the Bern disputation of 1528 and was co-author of the Bern Synod of 1532. He was at the Hagenau Religious Discussion (1540), the Worms Religious Discussion (1541) and the Diet in Regensburg (1541). In occasional arguments with the Anabaptists, he was often yielding, but in 1534 took a more decisive stance against them.

Marriage policy

After Capito had finally broken with the Catholic Church and had become a Reformation preacher at the Jung-Sankt-Peter-Kirche, he married Agnes Röttel, the daughter of a Strasbourg councilor, in August 1524, thus making his new believing position visible to everyone. Bucer, who was very keen to get married, had suggested Odilia von Utenheim , who would later become Cellarius' wife, be his wife. With Agnes, Capito had several children.

When his first wife died of the plague in 1531, Bucer pushed for a new marriage soon. The sister of the Constance reformers Margarete Blarer came into consideration . Capito himself had his eye on Sabina Bader , the widow of the Augsburg Anabaptist martyr Augustin Bader . In the same year as Capito became a widower, the reformer Johannes Oekolampad died in Basel . Ökolampad left behind his wife and four underage children. Just five months later, Capito, who was over fifty years old, married Wibrandis Rosenblatt, a widow of two who was twenty years his junior . She gave birth to five more children to her third husband.

When Strasbourg was hit by another wave of the plague in 1541, three of her children died and, on November 4th, her husband Wolfgang Capito as well. After five months, she married her mutual friend Martin Bucer for the fourth time.

Works

  • Hebraicarvm Institvtionvm Libri Duo , Basel 1518, 1525 digitized ( Hebrew grammar )
  • Ad reverendissimum atque illustrissimum principem, D. Albertum Archiepiscopum Moguntinum , Basel 1519 Digitized
  • Divi Io. Chrysostomi Homilia, De Eo Quod Dixit Apostolus, Utinam Tolerassetis Paululum Quiddam Insipientiae Meae , Basel 1519. Digitized
  • Sorry about becoming a citizen , Strasbourg 1523 digitized
  • Appellation of the sacred priests, of the Mayied Excommunication, of the Bishop of Strasbourg , Strasbourg 1524
    • Appellatio sacerdotum maritorum urbis Argentinae adversus excommunicationem episcopi , Strasbourg 1524
  • Warning of the servants of the word and the brothers in Strasbourg to the brothers of Landen and Stetten of the common Confederation. Against the Gothenburg disputation, brother Conradts Augustiner . Strasbourg 1524
  • Answer D. Wolffgang Fab. Capitons on brother Conradts Augustinian order Provincials Conrad Treger vermanung, so he recently wrote to common Confederation . Strasbourg 1524 full text in google book search
  • That the Pfafheit is guilty of civil Eyd to do on violation of their Eeren , Strasbourg 1524 full text in the Google book search
  • What to think of the split between Martin Luther and A. Carolstadt , Strasbourg 1524 full text in the Google book search
  • Doctor Capito, Mathis cells and other preachers at Strasbourg, full responsibility , Strasbourg 1526 digitized
  • Epistola ad Huldericum Zuinglium , Strasbourg 1526 Digitized
  • To the parish, now and at Speier , without location information , 1526
  • Hosea, the Prophet ... Germanized , Strasbourg 1527
  • Children's report and fragments of common points of Christian faith , Basel 1527 digitized
  • Digitized in Habakkuk Prophetam V , Strasbourg 1526
  • Bern Synodus. Order as pastors and preachers ... maintain söllen , Basel 1532
  • A wonderful story ... as it comes to a rebirth named Claus Frey , Strasbourg 1534 digitized

Remembrance day

November 21 in the Evangelical Name Calendar .

literature

  • Martin Heimbucher: Prophetic interpretation: The Reformation profile of Wolfgang Fabricius Capito based on his commentaries on Habakkuk and Hosea . Frankfurt am Main 2008, ISBN 3-631-57759-1
  • Hans Scholl: Wolfgang Fabricius Capitos reformatory peculiarity . In: Zwingliana 16/2 (1983) digitized
  • Olivier Millet: Correspondance de Wolfgang Capiton (1478-1541). Analyze et index (d'après le Thesaurus Baumianus et autres sources). Mission de la Recherche du Ministére des Universitas, Strasbourg 1982, ISBN 2-85923-007-6
  • James M. Kittelson: Wolfgang Capito. From humanist to reformer. Brill, Leiden 1975, ISBN 90-04-04312-8
  • Beate Stierle: Capito as a humanist. Gütersloher Verlagshaus Mohn, Gütersloh 1974, ISBN 3-579-04326-9
  • Otto Erich Strasser : La pensée théologique de Wolfgang Capiton dans les dernières années de sa vie. Université de Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel 1938 ( Mémoires de l'Université de Neuchâtel Série in-octavo 11, ZDB -ID 757221-9 ).
  • Paul Kalkoff : Wolfgang Capito in the service of Archbishop Albrechts of Mainz. Sources and research on the decisive years of the Reformation (1519–1523). Trowitzsch, Berlin 1907 ( New Studies on the History of Theology and the Church. 1, ZDB -ID 187217-5 ).
  • August Ernst, Johann Adam: Catechetical history of Alsace up to the revolution. Strasbourg 1897
  • Joh. Martin Usteri: The position of the Strasbourg Reformation Butzer and Capito on the baptism question. In: Theological Studies and Criticisms. 3, 1884, ISSN  0259-7071 , pp. 456-524, online .
  • JW Baum : Capito and Butzer. Strasbourg reformers. Represented from her handwritten letters, her printed writings and other contemporaneous sources. Friderichs, Ebernfeld 1860 ( Life and Selected Writings of the Fathers and Founders of the Reformed Church 3).

reference books

Web links

Commons : Wolfgang Capito  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ It is not certain whether he obtained his medical doctorate in Freiburg im Breisgau at the age of 20 in 1498 and is described by Heinrich Grimm as an erroneous assumption. Grimm NDB (1957), p. 132.
  2. ↑ See Stierle (1974), p. 29ff.
  3. ↑ Cf. Susanna Burghartz : Wibrandis Rosenblatt - Die Frau der Reformatoren. In: Theologische Zeitschrift , 60 (2004), pp. 337-349.
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Capito in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
personal data
SURNAME Capito, Wolfgang
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Köpfle, Wolfgang Fabricius; Capito, Wolfgang Fabricius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Strasbourg reformer
DATE OF BIRTH 1478
PLACE OF BIRTH Haguenau
DATE OF DEATH November 4, 1541
Place of death Strasbourg