G. BOSSERT.
Bibliography: An index of the works, printed and in MS., of Brenz, and of works about him is furnished in VV. Kohler, Bibliographic, Brentiana, Berlin, 1904. There is
Brfes Breviary
THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
no complete ed. of Brenz's productions, though selected works, in 8 vols., were published, Tubingen, 1576-90. The letters are given in T. Pressel, Anecdvta Brentiana, ib. 1868, and in Beitrage zur bayerischen Kirchengeschichte, ed. T. Kolde, i, 273, ii, 34. The earliest sketch of his life is by J. Heerbrand, Oratio funebris, Tubingen, 1570. For later accounts consult: J. Hartmann and C. Jagcr, Johann Brenz, 2 vols., Hamburg, 1840-42 (still the best account); J. Hartmann, Johann Brenz, Elberfeld, 1862; G. Bossert, Das Interim in Wiirltemberg, Halle, 1895; E. Schneider, W urttembergische Geschichte, Stuttgart, 1896. On the theology of Brenz consult: H. Schmid, Der Kampf der lutherischen Kirche um Luther's Lehre vom Abendmahl im Reformationszeitalter, Leipsic, 1868; A. Hegler, J. Brenz und die Reformation im Herzogtuin \Y iriemberg, Freiburg, 1899; C. \V. Kilgelgen, Die Rechtfertigungslehre des J. Brenz, Leipsic, 1899; G. Traub, Beitraa zur Geschichte des Rechtferligungsbegriffs, in TSK, lxxiii, 1900.
BRES, bre, GUY DE (Guido de Bray) : Reformer in the Netherlands; b. at Mons 1522; executed at Valenciennes May 31, 1567. He was brought up strictly by his Roman Catholic mother, but before his twenty-fifth year had become a thorough Protestant. When persecution broke out in 1548, he fled to England, where he spent four years. Then he came back and settled at Ryssel (Liege), where he won great popularity as a preacher. In 1556 bis congregation was dispersed by a fresh persecution, and he was obliged to flee, going apparently for a while to Ghent, then to Frankfort, and probably to Switzerland. Early in 1559 he returned to the southern Netherlands, with Tournai for his headquarters, but serving also Ryssel and Valenciennes, and visiting Antwerp and Mons in the cause of his religion, often in disguise for safety's sake. The public singing of Marot's psalms in Sept., 1561, gave rise to a judicial investigation, which exposed Bres to fresh danger. Undaunted, he undertook to secure justice for his comrades by laying before the authorities his confession of faith (known as the Belgic Confession, q.v.) in thirtyseven articles, on the model of that adopted by the French Reformed churches in 1559. This modest, sober, positive statement, which he hoped would show the authorities that his friends were not revolutionary Anabaptists, failed to stop the persecution; but the frequent editions of it show that it met with popular approval; it won thousands to the cause of the Reformation, and was soon recognized as a standard formula. Once known, however, as its author, the Reformer was obliged to escape from Tournai to Amiens, and thence possibly to Antwerp. In 1564 he was in Brussels (or a conference with William of Orange, and took part in the negotiations at Metz for a union of the Lutherans and Calvinists. Then he found a refuge at Sedan with Henri Robert de la Marck, Sicur de Bouillon, but was called back to a post of danger in the summer of 1566 by the consistory of Antwerp. In August he settled at Valenciennes, where by this time more than two-thirds of the inhabitants were in sympathy with the Reformation. At first he preached in the open air, but after the iconoclastic outbreak of Aug. 24 took possession of St. John's church. The governor's attempts to suppress the movement led to the siege of the city in December, and its surrender in the following March. Once more Bres was forced to flee, but he and his fellow preachers were captured a few
hours later at Saint-Amand, and sent as prisoners to Tournai and then back to Valenciennes. The letters which he wrote to comfort his wife and his aged mother give an insight into his faith and the nobility of his character. He was sentenced to be hanged in front of the town hall, and thus ended a life full of toil and peril, which is one of the glories of the Reformation in the southern Netherlands. (L. A. van Langeraad.)
Bibliography: L. A. van Langeraad, Guido de Bray; zyn leven en werken. Bydrage tot de geschiedenis van het zuid- Nederlandsche Protestantisme, Zieziksee, 1884; W. C. van Manen, Guy de Bray; opsteller van de Belydenisse des geloofs der gereformeerde Kercken in Nederland, Amsterdam, 1885.
BRESLAU, BISHOPRIC OF: A diocese which is shown to be already in existence at the date of the foundation of the archbishopric of Gnesen (1000). Probably it was established not long before that date, presumably not by Otto III, but by Duke Boleslav Chrobry of Poland. The original extent of the diocese can not be determined, but in later times it was nearly coextensive with the present province of Silesia, including also the Meissen district on the western side of the Queis.
(A. Hauck.)
A line of unusually excellent bishops administered the see with success until the sixteenth century; but Jacob von Salza (1520-39) was too weak to stand against the rising tide of the Reformation, and his successor, Balthasar von Promnitz, was even inclined to Lutheran doctrines. From 1608 to 1664 the see was occupied by three archdukes of Austria and a prince of Poland, who had little care for religion, and when Silesia came under Frederick II of Prussia Protestantism was still more encouraged. In 1821 the diocese, which is now partly in Germany and partly in Austria and numbers about two million souls, was made an exempt bishopric.
BRETHREN, BOHEMIAN; BRETHREN OF THE COMMON LIFE, and similar titles. See Bohemian Brethren; Common Life, Brethukn of the, etc.
BRETSCHNEIDER, bret'shnai"der, KARL GOTT- LIEB: German theologian; b. at Gersdorf (40 m. e. of Dresden), Saxony, Feb. 11, 1776; d. at Gotha Jan. 22, 1848; studied at Leipsic; appointed minister at Schneeberg, 1807, superintendent at Annaberg, 1808, and superintendent-general at Gotha, 1816. He was a prolific writer and took an active part in controversies. Among his principal works may be mentioned: Lexicon manuale Graco-Latinum in libros Novi Testamenti (Leipsic, 1824; 3d ed., 1840); Systematische Entwiekelung aller in der Dogmulik vorkommenden Begriffe (1805; 4th ed., 1841); Handbuch der Dogmatik (1814; 4th ed., 1838). He founded the series of reprints called the Corpus rcformatorum (Halle, 1834 sqq.), in which the works of Melanchthon and Calvin have appeared, to which Zwingli will be added. His standpoint was that of the so-called rational •supernaturalism — a rather untenable ground between rationalism and supernaturalism.
Hiiilkicbaphy: K. G. Bretschneider, Aus meinem Leben; Ka'listbiographie, ed. H. Bretschneider (his son), Gotha, 1852.