RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
George, Bishop George of Brandenburg
three chapters of this letter are also in W. Wright's edition of the Homilies of Aphraates, pp. 19-37, London, 1869, and in the work of J. Forget, De vita et scriptis Aphraatis, pp. 1-56, Louvain, 1882; his great poem on the consecration of the oil and that on the life of the monks were edited by V. Ryssel in the Atti of the Reale accademia dei Lincei, vol. ix., part 1, 1892. On his life consult: J. S. Assemani, Bibliotheca orientalis, vol. i., chap, xvi., Rome, 1719; E. Renan, De philosophia peripatetica, pp. 32 sqq., Paris, 1852; J. G. E. Hoffmann, De hermeneuticis apud Syros, pp. 148-151, Leipsic, 1869; V. Ryssel, Ein Brief Georg's , mil einer Einleitung uber sein Leben und seine Schriften, Gotha, 1883; idem, Georg's des Araberbischofs Gedichte und Brief e . . iibersetzt und erlautert, Leipsic, 1891; W Wright, Short Hist, of Syriac Literature, pp. 156-159, London, 1894.
GEORGE OF BRANDENBURG: Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach; b. at Onolzbach (Ansbach, 25 m. s.w. of Nuremberg), Middle Franconia, Mar. 4, 1484; d. there Dec. 27, 1543. He was the third of the eight sons of Margrave Frederick the Elder and a grandson of Albert Achilles, the founder of the Ansbach-Kulmbach Hohenzollern line. Through his mother, Sophie, a Polish princess, sister of King Ladislaus II. of Bohemia and Hungary, he was related to the royal court in Buda. He entered the service of his uncle, the king of Hungary, living at his court from 1506. The king received him as an adopted son, entrusted him in 1515 with the duchy of Oppeln, and in 1516 made him member of the tutelary government instituted for Hungary, and tutor of his son Louis.
At the court of Hungary there were two parties arrayed against each other — the Magyar party under the leadership of Zapolyas and His Terri- the German party under the leadertories and ship of George of Brandenburg, whose Influence, authority was increased by the acquisition of the duchies of Ratibor and Oppeln by hereditary treaties with their respective dukes and of the territories of Oderberg, Beuthen, and Tarnowitz as pledges from the king of Bohemia, who could not redeem his debts. By the further appropriation of the duchy of Jagerndorf, George came into possession of all Upper Silesia. As the owner and mortgagee of these territories he prepared the way for the introduction of the Reformation, here as well as in his native Franconia. At an earlier time than any other German prince and any other member of the Hohenzollem line, even before his younger brother Albert, the grand master of the Teutonic Order (see Albert of Prussia), he turned his eyes and heart to the new faith proceeding from Wittenberg.
The first Reformatory writings began the work of winning him over to the Evangelical cause. Luther's powerful testimony of faith at the Diet of Worms in 1521 made an indelible impression upon his mind, and the vigorous ser- He Accepts mons of Evangelical preachers in the the Refor- pulpits of St. Lawrence and St. Sebald mation. in Nuremberg, during the diet there in 1522, deepened the impression. The study of Luther's translation of the New Testament, which appeared in 1522, established his faith on personal conviction. Moreover, he entered into correspondence with Luther, discussing with him the most important problems of faith, and in 1524 met him personally on the occasion of the
negotiations of his brother, Albert, regarding the reformation of the Teutonic Order and its transformation into a secular duchy. George was aided in his reformatory efforts, after the accession of King Louis, by his wife, Queen Mary, a sister of Charles V. and Ferdinand, who was favorably inclined toward the new doctrine. As the councilor of the young king, George firmly advocated the cause of the new Gospel against the influences and intrigues of his clerical opponents and successfully prevented their violent measures. His relationship with Duke Frederick II. of Liegnitz, Brieg, and Wohlen and Duke Charles I. of Munsterberg-Oels, who had both admitted the Reformation into their countries, contributed not a little to the expansion of the Gospel in his own territories. But it was his own personal influence, energy, and practical spirit that introduced the new doctrine and founded a new Evangelical and churchly life. He made efforts to secure preachers of the new Gospel from Hungary, Silesia, and Franconia, and tried to introduce the church order of Brandenburg- Nuremberg, which had already found admission in the Franconian territories.
In the hereditary lands of Franconia, where with his older brother Casimir he had assumed the regency in place of their father, he encountered
greater difficulties, although the pop-
The Refor- ular spirit was inclined toward the
mation in Reformation. Owing to his marriage
Franconia. with a Bavarian princess and to his
military commandership in the imperial service, his brother was allied more closely with the old Church and resisted the new reformatory efforts. But the pressure of the estates of the land soon compelled him to allow preaching according to Luther's doctrine, although he exacted the retention of the old church ceremonies, even of those that were contrary to the Gospel. George protested against such half-measures and showed bis dissatisfaction with the half-hearted resolutions of the state assembly of Oct., 1526. It was only after the death of his brother, that as sole ruler he could successfully undertake and carry out the Reformation in the Franconian territories, with the assistance of his councilors Johann von Schwarzenberg and the chancellor George and through the new resolutions of the state assembly of Ansbach (1528). At the same time George maintained his correspondence with Luther and Melanchthon, discussing such questions as the evangelization of monasteries, the use of monastic property for Evangelical purposes, and especially the foundation of lower schools for the people and of higher schools for the education of talented young men for the service of Church and State. He tried to gain, by his continued correspondence with Luther and other Reformers such as Urbanus Rhegius, efficient men for the preaching of the Gospel and for the organization of the Evangelical Church. Hand in hand with the Council of Nuremberg he worked for the institution of a church visitation after the model of that of electoral Saxony from which developed after repeated revisions and emendations the excellent church order of Brandenburg-Nuremberg of 1533. After its in-
George of Brandenburg George of Polentz