RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
George of Brandenburg George of Polentz
Brief e zur Kirchenpolitik Herzog George von Sachsen, vol. i., 1517-24, Leipsic, 1905; articles id the Neues Archiv fur siichsische Geschichte by Friedensburg, Briefwechsel zwischen Herzog Georg und Philipp von Hessen, 1885; by Gess, Leipzig und Wittenberg, 1895, and by E. Brandenburg, Herzog Heinrich der Fromme, 1896; K. Mensing, Bilder aus der sachsischen Geschichte, Dresden, 1902; Schaff, Christian Church, vi. 178, 181, 292, 567; Cambridge Modern History, vol, ii., The Reformation, pp. 135, 148, 163-252.
GEORGE OF LAODICEA: Bishop of Laodicea in Syria, one of the leaders of the homoiousian party; b. in Alexandria; d. between 360 and 363. Alexander of Alexandria made him presbyter, and before the Council of Nicaea, during a stay at Antioch, George tried to mediate in the controversy between Alexander and the Arians. The opponents of the Arians treated him as Arian, and Alexander deposed him. George then joined the " Eusebians," and before 335 they procured him the bishopric of Laodicea; he took part in the Synod of Antioch in 339 and for doing so was anathematized by the Occidentals. George regarded the Nicene doctrine as Sabellianism and was an especial enemy of Athanasius; but he did not altogether agree with Eusebius of Nicomedia since he opposed Arianism sharply, and, with Bishop Basil of Ancyra, became founder of the homoiousian party. The new attitude of George after 358 can hardly be called a change of conviction since the homoiousian formulas may be traced back to the Christology of Alexander of Alexandria who influenced his youth. After the Synod of Seleucia George disappears. It is said that he took part in the homoian synod at Constantinople in 360, having submitted at that time, like many other homoiousians, to the power of the court; this is possible, but George of Laodicea seems to have been confounded with George of Doara, the Arian. Of his writings there have been preserved a few sentences of a letter found in Athanasius, De synodis, xvii. (MPG, xxvi. 712, cd), a letter in Sozomen (IV., xiii. 2-3) and a memorial in Epiphanius (Hcer., lxxiii. 22, end). It is said that he wrote also an " Encomium of Eusebius of Emesa," and a treatise against the Manicheans. (F Loofs).
Bibliography: Sources are the histories by Socrates, Sozomen and Theodoret, and the "History of the Arians " by Athanasius, all available in Eng. transl. in NPNF, 2 ser. Consult: Leo Allatius in Georgii Acropolitce . historia, p. 305-306, Paris, 1651; Tillemont, Memoires, vi. 259 of Venice ed.; M. Le Qui en, Oriens christianus, ii. 792-793, Paris, 1740; Fabricius-Harles, Bibliotheca Graxa, vii. 327, ix. 293, Hamburg, 1801, 1804; J. H. Newman, The Arians of the 4th Century, p. 284, London, 1871; J. Draseke, Gesammelte patristische Unlersuchungen, Altona, 1889; DCB, ii. 637-638; KL, v. 335-336; and the literature under Arianism.
GEORGE THE PISLDIAN: Byzantine poet and historian; nourished in the first half of the seventh century. He was a deacon in the church of St. Sophia, Constantinople, and enjoyed the favor of the Patriarch Sergius, and of the Emperor Heraclius, whom he accompanied on his first campaign against the Persians. He wrote a number of long poems of historical, philosophical, and religious content, which were highly praised by the latter Byzantine writers, though modern criticism has condemned them as artificial and tedious. The Hexaemeron seu mundi officium, and his De vanitate vita were
printed, with a Latin translation, by F. Morel (Paris, 1584), and his complete works, with Latin translation and a critical introduction, were edited by G. M. Querci (Rome, 1777). This edition was reprinted in CSHB, vol. xiv., and also in MPG, xcii.
Bibliography: Leo Allatius, De Georgiis, in Fabricius- Harles, Bibliotheca Grmca, x. 561—569, Hamburg, 1807; I. Hilberg, in Wiener Studien, viii (1886), 292-304, ix (1887), 207-222 (on the Hexaemeron); L. Sternbaeh, De Georgio Pisida Nonni sectatore, Cracow, 1893; Krumbacher, Geschichte, pp. 709-712 et passim; KL, v. 337- 338; DCB, ii. 648-649.
GEORGE OF POLENTZ: Bishop of Samland in Prussia, the first bishop who avowed the Evangelical faith; b. in Saxony 1478; d. in Balga (24 m. s.w. of Konigsberg, on the Frische Haff) Oct. 1, 1549. He descended from one of the most prominent and ancient families of the Saxon nobility, studied law in Italy, was for some time private secretary of Pope Julius II., then entered the service of Emperor Maximilian I. He became acquainted with Margrave Albert of Brandenburg (see Albert of Prussia), a later grand master of the Teutonic Order, and subsequently joined the Order. By the faithful and able execution of several important commissions in the affairs of the Order he won the confidence of Albert, through whose influence he became bishop of Samland (1519). When he assumed in 1522 the regency of the Order in the absence of the grand master, his mind had already been turned toward the Evangelical cause by the writings of Luther. In 1523 he tolerated the preaching of the pure Gospel in the cathedral church of Konigsberg and put no obstacle in the way of the Reformatory movement. After 1524 he advocated the nullifiation of the papal constitution and the secularization of the Order. On the recommendation of Luther, Johannes Briessmann became cathedral preacher at Konigsberg, and introduced the bishop to a deeper knowledge of the Evangelical doctrine of salvation. In the summer of 1523 the bishop publicly avowed the cause of the Reformation. In a mandate of 1524 he admonished his subjects to accept the new doctrine, and, instigated by the ignorance of his people, advocated in another mandate the preaching of the Gospel in the vernacular. As early as 1524 he sent Evangelical preachers from place to place, as many as he could gather. While he himself received instruction from Briessmann in Greek and Hebrew to study the Bible in the original text, he inculcated upon his preachers the diligent use of the Bible and of Luther's translation and his most important writings. After the transformation of the Order into a secular duchy (see Teutonic Order), Albert on his return to Konigsberg in 1525 immediately entrusted George of Polentz and his second bishop, Erhard von Queiss in Pomerania, with the organization of Evangelical church life. The first church orders and visitations were prepared by Bishop Polentz in connection with Briessmann and Paulus Speratus, the new preacher of Konigsberg. The first Prussian church order was issued in 1525 under the title, Artikel der Ceremonien und anderer Kirchenordnung, and thus the Prussian State Church was organized before that of electoral Saxony. Bishop Polentz considered it an essential part of
George, Saint Gerberon