RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Flaoius Flagellation
Adami appellationibus et essentia Flacius maintained that original sin is the substance of man himself and not an accident as Strigel taught. This doctrine was chiefly aimed at the Synergists. Flacius was altogether orthodox on this point. The whole controversy amounted to nothing since he attached to the word substantia two different meanings, it was a mere quibble of words, and yet there were men like Hesshusen (q.v.) who absurdly believed that Flacius considered the devil as the creator of substance.
After his expulsion from Strasburg he settled at
Frankfort, where he was ably protected by
Catharina von Meerfeld, prioress of
9. Last the nunnery Zu den weissen Frauen,
Days at although the Council of the city had Frankfort, not given him permission to remain. Thanks to entreaties and intercessions his order of banishment was deferred from time to time until his death.
In spite of all quarrels and turbulences of his life Flacius possessed such a tenacity and determination that he found time for scientific works which required the most extensive preparation and gradual ripening. He was not only 10. Flacius' the most learned Lutheran theolo-
Literary gian, but also the promoter and founand der of theological disciplines. He was
Scholarly chiefly prominent in the sphere of Work. church history. In Magdeburg he conceived the great plan of two historical works in which he could deal heavy blows at Romanism. He undertook a catalogue of all those who before Luther had combated the heresies of the papacy, and in this way originated his Catalogus testium veritatis, qui ante nostram aetatem reclamarunt Papm (Basel, 1556) and its complement Varia doctorum piorumque virorum de corrwpto ecclesice statu poemata [(1557) in which for the first time was printed Bernard of Cluny's De contemptu mundi]. Still more important was his other plan to write a church history from the original sources which should show how the Church of Christ had deviated from her right course since the time of the apostles, and include a history of antichristianity from its beginning to the development of its highest power and to the restitution of true religion in its purity by Luther. The outcome of this plan was the so-called "Magdeburg Centuries" (Basel, 1562-74; see Magdeburg Centuries). Flacius found many patrons who aided his great undertaking financially and he also made extensive travels in Germany, searching for sources and documents. Many assistants helped him. Many manuscripts and books were bought or donated by patrons. The Magdeburg Centuries denotes a great progress in the science of Church history, not only on account of its extensive tracing of the sources, but also on account of its method. The anti-Roman interest had sharpened the vision and made it capable of critical achievements that marked a new epoch. [In reply Baronius produced his superior "Annals."] Finally rlacius produced two works of importance in the sphere of Biblical science: his Clavis scripture sacrce seu de sermone sacrarum literarum
(1567) and Glossacompendiaria in Novum Testamentum (1570).
Flacius compels admiration by his learning and extraordinary scholarly achievements, his indefatigable capacity for work, his indomitable zeal in defense of pure doctrine, but it is impossible to overlook certain grave defects in his nature, such as arrogance, obstinacy, and even malice — in fact an entire inability to appreciate the rights of others and their motives. [It is more charitable to suppose that he was mentally slightly unbalanced.] (G. Kaweeau.)
Bibliography: Some of his letters are in CR, viii. and ix. and the Supplementum. His merits were long insufficiently appreciated and his rehabilitation is largely due to A. Twesten, Matthias Flaccius Illyricus, eine Vorlesung, Berlin, 1844, and W. Preger, Matthias Flaccius Illyricus und seine Zeit, 2 vols., Erlangen, 1859-61 (a list of his many publications is given ii. 539-572). Consult also J. J. I. Dollinger, Die Reformation, ii. 224 sqq., Regensburg, 1848; A. Ritschl, Theologie und Metaphysik, pp. 52 sqq., Bonn, 1881; ADB, vii. 88 sqq.