RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Albert
A reorganization of ecclesiastical affairs on the basis of the existing episcopal constitution now took place. The two bishops, George 4. Reor- of Polentz and Erhard of Queiss, who ganization were separated from Rome by their of Eccle- evangelical faith and reformatory siastical activity, married. As the first evan- Affairs. gelical bishops they confined themselves to purely ecclesiastical functions — ordination, visitation, inspection, and the celebration of marriage. The duke, as evangelical sovereign, felt himself obliged in publicly professing the Reformation and reserving the right to call a diet for regulating the affairs of the Church, to issue a mandate (July 6, 1525) requesting the ministers to preach the Gospel in all purity and Christian fidelity, and to testify against the prevailing superstition, as well as against the widespread godless and immoral drunkenness, lewdness, cursing, and frivolous swearing. The first diet to regulate the affairs of the Church was held in Dec, 1525, at Konigsberg. The result was the Landesordnung, which regulated the appointment and support of ministers, the filling of vacancies, the observance of the feast-days, the appropriation of moneys received for the churches, for pious foundations, and for the poor. The Landesordnung contained also regulations for divine service, drawn up by the bishops and published by Albert (Mar., 1526) under the title Artikel der Ceremonien und andere Ordnung.
For the better regulation of existing evils, Albert, in agreement with the bishops, appointed a commission of clerical and lay members, 5. His Visi- to visit the different parishes, to investation tigate the life and work of the minisand Its ters, and, where necessary, to give Conse- them instruction and information, quences. The result of this visitation, the first in Prussia, was such that in a mandate dated Apr. 24, 1528, Albert recommended the two bishops to continue such visitations in their dioceses and to impress upon the ministers their task with reference to doctrine and life. That such supervision might be permanent he ordered the appointment of superintendents. For the benefit of the many non- Germans, the ministers were supplied with translators of the preached word. Albert recommended Luther's Postilla as pattern for the preaching of the Gospel and caused a large number of copies to be distributed among the ministers. He also ordered quarterly conferences under the presidency of the superintendents, and in July, 1529, he authorized the bishops to arrange synodical meetings, at which questions pertaining to faith, doctrine, marriage, and other matters of importance to the pastoral office were considered. He induced Speratus (who had succeeded Queiss as bishop of Pornesania) to prepare an outline of doctrines, which was published under the title Christliche statuta synodalia, and distributed among the ministers as the sovereign's own confession, as is indicated by the preface, dated Jan. 6, 1530. This precursor of the_ Augsburg Confession the bishops assigned to the ministers in 1530 as their canon of doctrine.
It was of special importance during a crisis brought on by the duke. Influenced by his friend Friedrich von Heideck, he favored the teachings of the enthusiast Kaspar Schwenckfeld (q.v.), whom he met at Liegnitz, and gave appointments to his adherents. The new ordinances of the bishops were at first not heeded. A colloquy held at Rastenburg in Dec, 1531, under the presidency of Speratus brought about no satisfactory results. Luther's representations, at first unsuccessful, finally evoked the duke's prohibition of the secret or public preaching or teaching of the enthusiasts; at the same time he stated that he allowed his subjects liberty in matters of faith, since he would not force a belief upon the people. His eyes were finally opened by the Anabaptist disorders at Miinster (see Munster, Anabaptists in) and he saw the political danger of such fanaticism. In Aug., 1535, he issued a mandate to Speratus enjoining him to preserve the purity and unity of doctrine. He renewed his assurance to his brother, Margrave George, " that he and his country wished to be looked upon as constant members in the line of professors of the Augsburg Confession," and to this assurance he remained faithful to the end.
In 1540 Albert issued an ordinance treating of the many evils in the life of the people and their cure, and another concerning the 6. Ordinan- election and support of the ministers, ces of 1540 their widows and orphans, as a suppleand 1544. ment to the Landesordnung of 1525. Assisted by the two bishops, he made a tour of inspection in the winter of 1542-43 to obtain a true insight into the religious and moral condition of the country. Toward the end of this tour, he issued (Feb., 1543) a mandate in the German and Polish languages, exhorting the people to make diligent use of the means of grace and admonishing those of the nobility who despised the word and the sacrament. Each house had to appoint in turn an officer to keep watch, from an elevated place, over the church attendance. Besides the Sunday pericopes the minister was to spend a half-hour in explaining the catechism. During the week devotional meetings were to be held in the houses, at which the people were to be examined as to their knowledge of the word of God. To maintain the episcopal constitution Albert, in a memorandum of 1542, assured the continuance of the two ancient bishoprics with the provision that godly and learned men should always be chosen for them. To promote Church life he issued an Ordnung vom dusserlichen Gottesdienst und Artikel der Ceremonien (1544), supplementing the Artikel of 1525. To improve the service in the churches he required the schools to train the children in singing, and had a hymn-book prepared by Kugelmann, the court band-master.
Albert continued to correspond with Luther and Melanchthon, and many notes from his hand, remarks on the Psalms and the Pauline epistles, show how deeply he endeavored to penetrate into the Scriptures. To promote Christian culture he established a library in his castle, the basis of the public library founded by him in 1540. For
Albert Albertus