, one of the reformers, was born, at Bremgarten, “a village near Zurich,
, one of the reformers, was born,
at Bremgarten, “a village near Zurich, in Switzerland,
July 18, 1504. At the age of twelve he was sent by his
father to Emmeric, to be instructed in grammar-learning,
and here he remained three years, during which his father,
to make him feel for the distresses of others, and be more
frugal and modest in his dress, and temperate in his diet,
withdrew that money with which he was wont to supply
him; so that Bullinger was forced, according to the custom of those times, to subsist on the alms he got by singing from door to door. While here, he was strongly inclined to enter among the Carthusians, but was dissuaded
from it by an elder brother. At fifteen years of age he
was sent to Cologn, where he studied logic, and commenced
B. A. at sixteen years old. He afterwards betook himself
to the study of divinity and canon law, and to the reading
of the fathers, and conceived such a dislike to the schooldivines, as in 1520, to write some dialogues against them;
and about the same time he began to see the errors of the
church of Rome, from which, however, he did not immediately separate. In 1522, he commenced M. A. and returning home, he spent a year in his father’s house, wholly
employing himself in his studies. The year after, he was
called by the abbot of La Chapelle, a Cistercian abbey
near Zurich, to teach in that place, which he did with great
reputation for four years, and was very instrumental in
causing the reformation of Zuinglius to be received. It is
very remarkable that while thus teaching and changing the
sentiments of the Cistercians in this place, it does not appear that he was a clergyman in the communion of the see
of Rome, nor that he had any share in the monastic
observances of the house. Zuinglius, assisted by Oecolampadius and Bucer, had established the reformed doctrines
at Zurich in 1523; and in 1527, Bullinger attended the
lectures of Zuinglius in that city, for some months, renewed his acquaintance with Greek, and began the study
of Hebrew. He preached also publicly by a licence from
the synod, and accompanied Zuinglius at the famous disputation held at Bern in 1528. The year following, he
was called to be minister of the protestant church, in his
native place at Bremgarten, and married a wife, who
brought him six sons and five daughters, and died in 1564.
He met with great opposition from the papists and anabaptists in his parish, but disputed publicly, and wrote several
books against them. The victory gained by the Romish
cantons over the protestants in a battle fought 1531, forced
him, together with his father, brother, and colleague, to
fly to Zurich, where he was chosen pastor in the room of
Zninglius, slain in the late battle. He was also employed
in several ecclesiastical negociations, with a view to reconcile the Zuiuglians and Lutherans, and to reply to the,
harsh censures which were published by Luther against the
doctrine of the Swiss churches respecting the sacrament.
In 1549, he concurred with Calvin in drawing up a formulary, expressing the conformity of belief which subsisted
between the churches of Zurich and Geneva, and intended
on the part of Calvin, for obviating any suspicions that he
inclined to the opinion of Luther with respect to the sacra,
ment. He greatly assisted the English divines who fled
into Switzerland from the persecution raised in England
by queen Mary, and ably confuted the pope’s bull excommunicating queen Elizabeth. The magistrates of Zurich,
by his persuasion, erected a new college in 1538. He
also prevailed with them to erect, in a place that had formerly been a nunnery, a new school, in which fifteen
youths were trained up under an able master, and supplied
with food, raiment, and other necessaries. In 1549, he
by his influence hindered the Swiss from renewing their
league with Henry It. of France; representing to them,
that it was neither just nor lawful for a man to suffer himself to be hired to shed another man’s blood, from whom
himself had never received any injury. In 1551 he wrote
a book, the purport of which was to shew, that the council
of Trent had no other design than to oppress the professors
of sound religion; and, therefore, that the cantons should
pay no regard to the invitations of the pope, which solicited their sending deputies to that council. In 1561 he
commenced a controversy with Brentius concerning the
ubiquity of the body of Christ, zealously maintained by
Brentius, and as vehemently opposed by Bullinger, which
Continued till his death, on the 17th of September, 1575.
His funeral oration was pronounced by John Stukius, and
his life was written by Josias Simler (who had married one of his daughters), and was published at Zurich in 1575,
4to, with Stukius’s oration, and the poetical tributes of
many eminent men of his time. Bullinger' s printed works
are very numerous, doctrinal, practical, and controversial,
but no collection has ever been made of them. His high
reputation in England, during the progress of the reformation, occasioned the following to be either translated into
English, or published here: 1.
” A hundred Sermons
upon the Apocalypse,“1561, 4to. 2.
” Bullae papisticae
contra reginam Elizabetham, refutatio,“1571, 4to. 3.
” The Judgment of Bullinger, declaring it to be lawful for the ministers of the church of England to wear the
apparel prescribed by the laws, &c.“Eng. and Lat. 1566,
8vo. 4.
” Twenty-six Sermons on Jeremiah,“1583. 5.
” An epistle on the Mass, with one of Calvin’s,“1548, 8vo.
6.
” A treatise or sermon, concerning Magistrates and
Obedience of Subjects, also concerning the affairs of War,“1549, 8vo. 7,
” Tragedies of Tyrants, exercised upon
the church of God from the birth of Christ unto this present year 1572,“translated by Tho. Twine, 1575, 8vo. 8.
” Exhortation to the ministers of God’s Word, &c.“1575,
8vo. 9.
” Two Sermons on the end of the World,“1596,
8vo. 10.
” Questions of religion cast abroad in Helvetia
by the adversaries of the same, and answered by M. H. Bullinger of Zurich, reduced into seventeen common places,“1572, 8vo. 11.
” Common places of Christian Religion,“1572 and 158J, 8vo. 12.
” Bullinger’s Decades, in Latin,“1586. 13.
” The Summe of the Four Evangelists,“1582,
8vo. 14.
” The Sum or Substance pf St. Paul’s Epistle to
the Thessalonians,“1538, 8vo. 15.
” Three Dialogues
between the seditious Libertine or rebel Anabaptist, and
the true obedient Christian,“1551, 8vo. 16.
” Fifty godly
and learned Sermons, divided into five decades, containing the chief and principal points of Christian religion," a
very thick 4to vol. 1577, particularly described by Ames.
This book was held in high estimation in the reign of queen
Elizabeth. In 1586, archbishop Whitgift, in full convocation, procured an order to be made that every clergyman of
a certain standing should procure a copy of them, read one
of the sermons contained in them every week, and make
notes of the principal matters.
, one of the reformers, was born at Carlolostadt, a town in Franconia,
, one of the reformers, was born at Carlolostadt, a town in Franconia, founded by Charles the Bald in the year 875. The time of his birth is not stated. He was partly educated at home, but studied afterwards in various celebrated schools, and after going through his divinity course at Rome, was admitted doctor of divinity at Wittemberg in 1502, and was appointed professor of the same, and held a canonry and archdeaconry. In 1512, while he was dean of the college, Luther was admitted to his doctor’s degree, which appears to have led to their intimacy, as in 1517, we find Carolostadt one of Luther’s most zealous adherents in opposing the corruptions of popery. In 1519, he held a disputation at Leipsic with Eckius, on free will, in the presence of George duke of Saxony, Luther, and Melancthon, and acquitted himself with so much credit, that Eckius could think of no other retaliation than by applying to the court of Rome, which suspended Carolostadt from all communion with the church.
, an eminent Lutheran divine, and one of the reformers in Germany, was born at Britzen, a town in
, an eminent Lutheran divine,
and one of the reformers in Germany, was born at Britzen,
a town in the marquisate of Brandenburg, in 1522. His
father was a poor wool-comber, who found it difficult to
give him much education, but his son’s industry supplied
the want in a great measure. After having learned the
rudiments of literature in a school near home, he went to
Magdeburg, where he made some progress in arts and languages. Then he removed to Francfort upon the Oder,
to cultivate philosophy under his relation George Sabinus;
and to Wittenburg, where he studied under Philip Melancthon. Afterwards he became a school-master in Prussia;
and, in 1552, was made librarian to the prince. He now
devoted himself wholly to the study of divinity, though he
was a considerable mathematician, and skilled particularly
in astronomy. After he had continued in the court of
Prussia three years, he returned to the university of Wittemberg, and lived in friendship with Melancthon, who
employed him in reading the com-mon-places. From thence
he removed to Brunswick, where he spent the last thirty
years of his life as pastor, and commenced D. D. at Rostock. He died April 8, 1586. His principal works are,
1. “Harmonia Evangeliorum,
” Francfort, Examen Concilii Tridentini.
”
3. “A treatise against the Jesuits,
” wherein he explained
to the Germans the doctrines and policy of those crafty
devisers, &c. His “Examination of the Council of Trent
”
has always been reckoned a very masterly performance,
and was translated and published in English, 1582, 4to.
, one of the reformers, son of John Judah, a German priest, was born
, one of the reformers, son of John Judah, a German priest, was born in 1482, in Alsace. Some
authors have reported that he was a converted Jew, but
father Simon has proved that he neither was a Jew, nor of
Jewish extraction, but the son of the above John Judah, or
de Juda, who, according to the custom of those times, kept
a concubine, by whom he had this Leo. He was educated at Slestadt, and thence in 1502, was sent to Basil to
pursue his academical studies. Here he had for a fellowstudent, the afterwards much celebrated Zuinglius; and
from him, who had at a very early age been shocked at
the superstitious practices of the church of Rome, he received such impressions, as disposed him to embrace the
reformed religion. Having obtained his degree of M. A.
in 1512, he was appointed minister of a Swiss church, to
the duties of which he applied himself with indefatigable
zeal, preaching boldly in defence of the protestant religion. At length he was appointed by the magistrates and
ecclesiastical assembly of Zurich, pastor of the church of
St. Peter in that city, and became very celebrated as an
advocate, as well from the press as the pulpit, of the reformed religion, for about eighteen years. At the desire
of his brethren, he undertook a translation, from the Hebrew into Latin, of the whole Old Testament; but the magnitude of the work, and the closeness with which he applied to it, impaired his health; and before he had completed it, he fell a sacrifice to his labours, June 9, 1542,
when he was about sixty years of age. The translation was
finished by other hands, and was printed at Zurich in 1543,
and two years afterwards it was reprinted at Paris by Robert
Stephens, accompanying the Vulgate version, in adjoining
columns, but without the name of the author of the new
version. Judah was likewise the author of “Annotations
upon Genesis and Exodus,
” in which he was assisted by
Xuinglius, and upon the four gospels, and the greater part
of the epistles. He also composed a larger and smaller
catechism, and translated some of Zuinglius’s works into
Latin. The Spanish divines, notwithstanding the severity
of the Inquisition, did not hesitate to reprint the Latin
Bible of Leo Judah, with the notes ascribed to Vatabius,
though some of them were from the pen of Calvin. Some
particulars of Judah and of this translation, not generally
known, may be found in a book written by a divine of
Zurich, and printed in that city in 1616, entitled “Vindicise pro Bibliorum translatione Tigurina.
”
t he lived till 1567. It is rather singular that a man of so much celebrity, a great public officer, one of the reformers, or who at least contributed to the reformation,
In 1548 he was sent, as lion herald, to Christian, king
of Denmark, to solicit ships, for protecting the Scottish
coasts against the English, and to negociate a free trade,
particularly in grain: the latter purpose only was accomplished, but at Copenhagen, Lindsay had an opportunity
of becoming acquainted with the literati of Denmark. He
at length returned to his usual occupations, and was probably no more employed in such distant embassies. About
this time he published the most pleasing of all his poems,
“The Historic and Testament of Squire Meldrum.
” In
The Monarchic.
” When he died, seems a matter of great uncertainty. His latest and best-informed biographer is inclined
to place his death in or about 1557; but others say that
he lived till 1567. It is rather singular that a man of so
much celebrity, a great public officer, one of the reformers,
or who at least contributed to the reformation, and the
most popular poet of his time, should have died in such
obscurity, without even a tradition as to when or where he
was buried. Little of his personal character can now be
known, but what is to be gleaned from his writings. Hfc
entered with great zeal into the religious disputes of his
time, but is supposed to lean rather to the Lutheran than
Calvinistic principles of reformation; his satires, however,
were powerfully assisting in exposing the vices of the
clergy, and produced a lasting etiect on the minds of the
people. We shall not enter very minutely into his character as a poet. In his works, says Mr. Ellis, we do not
often find either the splendid diction of Dunbar, or the
prolific imagination of Gawin Douglas. Perhaps, indeed,
the “Dream
” is his only composition which can be cited
as uniformly poetical; but his various learning, his good
sense, his perfect knowledge of courts, and of the world,
the facility of his versification, and above all, his peculiar
talent of adapting himself to readers of all denominations,
will continue to secure to him a considerable share of that
popularity, for which he was originally indebted to the
opinions he professed, no less than to his poetical merit.
The most ample information respecting Lindsay, his personal history, and works, may be found in the very accurate edition of the latter published in 1806, by George
Chalmers, esq. in 3 vols. 8vo. It has been justly remarked
that if the learned editor had executed no more than the
glossary prefixed to this edition, he would have been amply
entitled to the gratitude both of English and Scotch scholars. A more elaborate, learned, and satisfactory production of the kind has certainly not appeared since that of
Ruddiman.