RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
mediator Medo-Persia
however, the inhabitants of the cathedral district petitioned the elector for spiritual ministration at the hands of Medler, and John Frederick commanded him forthwith to begin Evangelical worship there, which he did on Sept. 11, 1541. Both Luther and Medler took part officially in the festivities attending the induction of Amsdorf as Evangelical bishop (Jan. 19-20, 1542). Since Amsdorf usually resided at Zeitz, Medler continued to be the leading personality at Naumburg and prosecuted zealously the work of evangelizing the cathedral district. His life, however, became embittered by growing contentions, notably with Georg Mohr, who in 1544 had succeeded Medler's friend, Loner, as cathedral preacher at Naumburg. Even Luther censured Medler's lust of power, and his disposition to treat the new bishop as a nullity. With the council Medler's repeated requests for an increase of salary, and his independence in filling appointments caused manifold frictions. From this situation Medler was released by the elector's command to go to the Electress Elizabeth, his former patroness, who was now seriously ill. He left Naumburg about Apr. 20, 1545, and never returned. About the same time he was confirmed by the elector of Brandenburg in the position of court preacher to the Electress Elizabeth. He declined a professorship at Frankfort-on-the-Oder, but in deference to the wishes of Luther and Melanchthon accepted the superintendency at Brunswick, of which he took charge about Michaelmas, 1545. The agitated state of the times, no less than the wilfulness of his own disposition, prevented any lasting good results. In 1551, on the advice of Melanchthon, he accepted the position of court preacher at Bernburg, but was stricken with paralysis at his first sermon, June 7. Having been conveyed, for better care, to Wittenberg, he had a second stroke, and was brought back
to Bernburg to die a few weeks later. His literary works, apart from the Naumburg Kirchenordnung and writings against the Interim, are mostly schoolbooks, including revisions of Melanchthon's Latin grammar, rhetoric, and dialectics, and some mathematical works. Luther reckoned him, along with Veit Dietrich and Johann Spangenberg, as one of his three true disciples, because he served school and Church with equal ardor. O. Albrecht.
Bibliography: Sources of knowledge are: The Oratio de vita . . N. Medleri by A. Streitberger, Jena, 1591; Epistolce Melanchthonis to Medler, ed. Danz, Jena, 1825; Briefwechsel des J. Jonas, ed. G. Kawerau, 2 vols., Halle, 1884-85; Luthers Briefe, ed. De Wette, vols, iv.-vi.; Braunschweigische Schulordnungen, ed. F. Koldewey, pp. lxix. sqq., 65-97, Berlin, 1886. References to the earlier literature (eighteenth century) will be found in Hauck- Herzog, RE, xii. 492. Consult: Riedel, in Zeitschrift fur preussische Geschichte und Landeskirche, ii (1865), 65-100; Holstein, in the same, iv (1867), 271-287; S. Braun, Naumburger Annalen, ed. Koster, Naumburg, 1892; E. Hoffmann, Naumburg im Zeitalter der Reformation, Leipsic, 1900; Koster, in ZKG, xxii (1901), 145 sqq., 278 sqq.; O. Mertz, Schulwesen der deutschen Reformation, Heidelberg, 1902.
MEDLEY, SAMUEL: English Baptist preacher and hymnist; b. at Cheshunt (6 m. s. of Hertford) June 23, 1738; d. at Liverpool July 17, 1799. After serving in the navy (1755-59), he kept school in London (1762-66); entered the ministry and became pastor at Watford, Hertfordshire (1767), being ordained in 1768; and was pastor of the Byrom Street chapel, Liverpool, from 1772 till his death. He is known principally as a hymnist, his best composition being " O could I speak the matchless worth."
Bibliography: His Memoirs were compiled by his son, Samuel, London, 1800; and by his daughter, Sarah, 2 parts, Liverpool, 1833. Consult also: Julian, Hymnology, p. 722; S. W. Duffield, English Hymns, pp. 51, 402, 623, New York, 1886.
I. The Names. II. The Countries.
Geographical Position and Extent
(§1). Climate; Fauna and Flora (§ 2). III. Exploration and Excavation. IV. Ethnological Data.
Ecbatana (§5)
I. The Names: The form of the word Media in the earliest Persian cuneiform texts is M&da, Assyr. and Hebr., Madai. The_ orjgin_pf Jhe worcL its meaning, and its etymological relationships are entirely unknown. The name Persia, Persian, in the Old Persian inscriptions is Pdrsa, in Susian Parsir, in Babylonian Parsd, in Hebrew Paras. The origin, meaning, and relationship of this word are also unknown.
II. The Countries: The geographical boundaries of Media and Persia varied greatly through the centuries, and it is not possible to do more than roughly define them. The earliest knowledge of the geographical situation comes from the Babylonian and Assyrian texts. In these earliest sources the general name for the whole territory afterward known as Media and Persia was, according to Winckler, Anshan, which is usually connected closely with Suri ("Syria"). In this double geographical