Sturm, Jacob, administrator of the government of Strasburg, a statesman and iidlueniial promoter of the cause of the IJeforniation, was born in 1489. His education was largely guided by Wimpfeling, who was an intimate friend of the family, and who preserved him from falling into the toils of monkish preceptors, and brought him under the influence of the classics instead. In 1505 he was a master of arts, and in loOt! a member of the theological faculty of Freil)urg. Kiiiouming the purpose of becoming a priest, he travelled in ditlerent lands, and in 1514 joined the literarv association of Stras- burg, to cultivate the study of the classics. In 1522 he recommended, for the reformation of the University of Heidelberg, that thorough grammatical instruction should precede the study of the classics; that Agricola's methtid of logic should be adopted ; that more attention should be given to mathematics; and that in theologj' scholasticism should be replaced by the study of the Holy Scriptures under the guidance of the Church fa- thers. He became a member of the City Council, and in 1526 chief magistrate, in every position displaying so much ability and character as to occasion the coining of a medal in his honor, lie advocated lil)crty of eon- science in religious matters, and recognised neither em- peror nor pope as his spiritual head; but he desired, also, that all believers in the Gospel should unite their energies for the common work. As a statesman, he ad- vocated an alliance of the (Jermans and Swiss, in order that a stronger front might be presented to the liomish powers. At Spires, in 1529, he defended the action of Strasburg in having caused the cessation of the mass in the previous year, and joined the evangelical princes in their protest, besides uniting with Philip of Hesse to prevent the condemnation of the Swiss. He attended the Marburg Colloquy, and in 1530 united with other delegates in presenting the Coufcssio Tctrupdlitinm at Augsburg. His endeavors to unite the Saxons and the South Germans were indefatigable, though unsuc- cessful. He participated in the deliberations which re- sulted in the Wittenberrj Concord of 1536. At this time, too, he was cnable<l to accomplish the work of establish- ing a gymnasium at Strasburg. having, in 1528, become a member of the board of scholarclis to whom was com- mitted the direction of ))ulilic instruction. During the period of the Interim he not oidy preserved the peace in Strasburg, but also the dignity and freedom of the city. He was venerated by all parties, and prominently I employed in all the great events of his time and conn- j trv, having been Strasburg's representative at political and religious convocations no less than ninety-one times between 1525 and 1552. His rich acipiaiutance with men and events enabled him to afford \ahiable assist- I ance to his friend Sleidan ((p v.) in the preparation of j the latter's great historical woik. He died Oct. 30,
1553, leaving behind the reputation of a model Chris- tian patriot. His library was donated to the Strasburg School. — Ilerzog, Real-luicyklnp. s. v.
Sturm, Johann, a famous Protestant schoolman, was born at Sleiila in 1507, and graduated at Louvain, where he also managed a printing-ofHce in comiection with Prof lludiger IJescius, and published several (Jreek works. To sell his books, he W(rnt to Paris, and while there was inviteil to deliver public lectures, which he did. taking dialectics for his subject, and following the method of H. Agricola. At this time, too, he adopted the i)rinciples of the Heformation. In 1.534 he was com- missioned by the king and the bishoi) of Paris to par- ticipate in the efforts then being made to reiniite the Protestant and the Komish Church. In 1.537 he ac- cepted a call to the (Jymnasium of Strasburg. In his new position he advocated a uinon of classical culture and evangelical piet^-, the exaltation of the Latin lan- guage at the expense of the vernacidar, the utter rejec- tion of scholastic methods and quibbles, the simplifying of dialectics, etc. On the opening of the gymnasium in 1538, he was appointed rector for life. 'I'hough a Prot- estant, he retained his I'riendship for many Itomaii Cath- olic scholars, and hojied that the difl'erences between the two communions might be removed — an idea frequently expressed by him, e. g. in a criticism of the popish Con- silium de Kmcndtmda Krchsiii. 1 538. II e possessed rare oratorical and diplomatic aliilities, and was accordingly often employed in negotiations and missions by the Strasburg and other Protestant governments, and even by the French king. In 1540 he attended the collocpiies of Ilageiiau and Worms, and in 1.541 that of Katisbon. In 1545 he co-operated with other agents of (Jermany in settling a peace between Kngland and France: and afterwards, on the breaking-out of the Smalcald war, was engaged in an unsuccessful mission to the court of Francis I to secure help. Sturm, iiitluenced. perhaps, by his personal intimacy with many French Protestants and also with Calvin, inclined to the Keformed rather than to the Lutheran view of the sacrament, while the clergy of Strasburg were decidedly opposed to the Ke- formed theology. Frecpient disputes were the natural consequence, whose bitterness was increhseii by his per- sistent care for the fugitive Huguenots that were settled in the city. He also induced the scholarclis to appoint Hcformcd professors, defended Zanclii, who was charged with being a Calvinist. and by such means excited the persistent hostility of his clerical opponents. He was charged by duke Wolfgang of Zweibriicken with the reorganization of the (iymnasium of Lauenburg in 15t)4, and two years afterwards obtained for the city of Stras- burg the imperial authorization for an academy in ac- cordance with his plans. After this period no cheering incidents marked his life. The theological conflict de- veloped increased fury. Apparently Settled by the de- cision of arbitrators in 1575, it became more virulent than before when Sturm o|ipo>ed the reception of the Form of Concord. His oiipoiients linally, in 1.581, in- duced the njagistracy to deprive him of the rectorate which he had held during forty years. F^xasperated by the indignity, he appealed to the Chamber at Spires, but died in 15H9, before the case was decided. His plan of instruction became the model for many schools of (Jermany, and his name has c<inie down to our time among the most honored of his time, no less on account of his noble character than of his learning and far-reach- ing labors for Protestant education an<l freedom. See Schmidt, Im Vie et les Trarniix de J tun Sturm (Strasb. 1855). — Hcrzog, Rml-FnryUop. s. v.