, one of the German reformers, sometimes, from his native country,
, one of
the German reformers, sometimes, from his native country,
called Pomeranus, was born at Julin, or Wollin, near
Stetin, in Pomerania, June 24, 1485, and his parents being of some rank in the state were enabled to give him a
very liberal education. He was sent early to the university of Grypswald, where he employed his time so assiduously in classical learning, that, at the age of twenty, he
taught school at Treptow, and raised that school to a very
high degree of reputation. The first impressions he
appears to have received of the necessity of a reformation
was from a tract of Erasmus: this induced him to look
with more attention into the sacred volume, and he proceeded to instruct others by lecturing in his school on various parts of the Old and New Testament. As a preacher
he likewise became very popular, and chiefly on account
of his learning, in which he exceeded many of his contemporaries. His knowledge extending also to history and
antiquities, prince Bogislaus engaged him to write a “History of Pomerania,
” furnishing him with money, books,
and records, and this was completed in two years, but it
was long unpublished, the prince reserving it in manuscript, for the use of himself and his court. It appeared
at last in 1727, 4to. He was still, however, attached to
the religious principles in which he had been brought up,
until in 1521 Luther’s treatise on the Babylonish captivity
was published. Even when he began first to read this, he
declared the author to be “the most pestilent heretic that
ever infested the church of Christ;
” but after a more attentive perusal, he candidly recanted this unfavourable
opinion, in the following strong terms, “The whole
world is blind, and this man alone sees the truth.
” It is
probable that he had communicated this discovery to his
brethren, for we find that the abbot, two aged pastors of
the church, and some other of the friars, began to be convinced of the errors of popery about the same time. Bugenhagius now avowed the principles of the reformation sa
openly, that he found it necessary to leave Treptow, and
being desirous of an interview with Luther, went to Wittemberg, where he was chosen pastor of the reformed
^church. Here he constantly taught the doctrines of the
reformation, both by preaching and writing, for thirty-six
years. He always opposed the violent and seditious practices of Carlostadt, and lived on the most friendly terms
with Luther and Melancthon. At first he thought Luther
had been too.violent in his answer to Henry VIII. of England, but he changed his opinion, and declared that the
author had treated that monarch with too much lenity.