, one of the most celebrated Protestant divines of the 16th century,
, one of the most celebrated Protestant divines of the 16th century, was born at Breslau,
in Silesia, July 28, 1534. He had already made a considerable progress, for one so young, when he was sent to
Wittemberg in 1550, where he studied seven years, and,
as his father was not rich, he was assisted by gratuities
both private and public, and by the profits of taking pupils. At the same time, he applied himself so closely to
study, that he acquired great skill both in poetry, lan-r
guages, philosophy, and divinity. Melancthon, who was
the ornament of that university, had a particular esteem
and friendship for him. Ursinus accompanied him in 1557
to the conference of Worms, whence he went to Geneva,
and afterwards to Paris, where he made some stay, in order
to learn French, and improve himself in Hebrew under
the learned John Mercerus. He was no sooner returned
to Melancthon at Wittemberg, than he received letters
from the magistrates of Breslaw in September 1558, offering him the mastership of their great school; and having
accepted it, he discharged the duties of his employment
in so laudable a manner, that he might have continued in
it as long as he pleased, had he not been prosecuted by
the clergy, the instant they perceived he was not a Lutheran. When he explained Melancthon’s book, “De
examine ordinandorum ad Ministerium,
” he handled the
subject of the Lord’s supper in such a manner, as made
the demagogues or factious orators (for so the author of his Life calls them) term him Sacramentarian. He wrote,
however, a justification of himself, in which he discovered
what his opinions were with regard to Baptism and the
Lord’s Supper; and when he found that this did not pacify his adversaries, he obtained an honourable leave from
the magistrates; and as he could not retire to his master
Melancthon, he being dead a little before, in April 1560,
he went to Zurich, where Peter Martyr, Bullinger, Simler, Gesner, and some other eminent personages, had a
great friendship for him. From this place he was soon removed by the university of Heidelberg, which was in
want of an able professor; and in September 1561 was
settled in the Collegium Sapientiae (College of Wisdom)
to instruct the students. He also attempted to preach,
but finding he had not the talents requisite for the pulpit,
he laid that aside. As a professor, he evinced, in the
most eminent elegree, the qualifications requisite: a lively
genius, a great fund of knowledge, and a happy dexterity
in explaining things, and therefore, besides the employment he already enjoyed, he exercised the professorship
of the loci communes, or common places in that university.
To qualify him for this place, it was necessary for him,
agreeably to the statutes, to be received doctor of divinity,
and accordingly he was solemnly admitted to that degree
the 25th of August, 1562, and he was professor of the
common places till 1568. It was he who wrote the Catechism of the Palatinate, which was almost universally adopted by the Calvinists, and drew up an apology for it by ordtr of the elector Frederic III. in opposition to the clamours which Flacius Illyricus, Heshusius, and some other
rigid Lutherans, had published in 1563. The elector, finding himself exposed, not only to the complaints of the
Lutheran divines, but likewise to those of some princes, as
if he had established a doctrine concerning the Eucharist,
which was condemned by the Augsburg Confession, was
obliged to cause to be printed an exposition of the
une doctrine concerning the Sacraments. Ursinus the
following year was at the conference of Maulbrun, where
he spoke with great warmth against the doctrine of Ubiquity. He afterwards wrote on that subject, and against
some other tenets of the Lutherans. The plan and statutes
which he drew up for the elector, for the establishment of
some schools, and several other services, raised him so
high in his esteem, that finding him resolved to accept of
a professorship in divinity at Lausanne in 1571, he wrote
a letter to him with his own hand, in which he gave several
reasons why it would not be proper for him to accept of
that employment. This prince’s death, which happened
in 1577, produced a great revolution in the palatinate;
prince Lewis, his eldest son, who succeeded him, not permitting any clergyman to be there, unless he was a sound
Lutheran; so that Ursinus and the pupils educated by
him in the Collegium Sapientiae were obliged to quit it.
He retired to Neustadt, to be divinity-professor in the illustrious school which prince Casimir, son to Frederic III.
founded there at that time. He began his lectures there
the 26th of May, 1578. He also taught logic there in his
own apartment; published some books, and was preparing
to write several more, when his health, which had been frequently and strongly attacked, occasioned by his incredible
application to study, yielded at last to a long sickness, of
which he died in Neustadt, the 6th of March, 1583, in the
forty-ninth year of his age. His works were collected after
his death, by the care of his only son, a minister, and by
that of David Pareus and Quirinus Reuterus, his disciples;
and to the last of these we are indebted for the publication
of them in 1612, 3 vols. folio.