THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
Bibliography: The Vita, attributed to Osbem, really by Eadmer, is, with comment, in ASB, July, ii. 63-73; ASM, v. 288-296; H. Wharton, Anglia sacra, ii. 78-87, London, 1691; J. Langebek, Script, rer. Danicarum, ii. 401—411, 9 vols., Copenhagen, 1772-1878; Historians of the Church of York, ed. J. Raine, in Rolls Series, i. 399-475, London, 1879; and MPL, cxxxiii. 931-944. Consult T. D. Hardy, Descriptive Catalogue of Materials Relating to the Hist, of Great Britain and Ireland, in Rolls Series, no. 26, i. 2, p. 566, nos. 1148-51, London, 1862; T. Wright, Biographia Britannica literaria, i. 428-433, ib. 1842; T. Hook, Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. i., 1860; DNB, xli. 421-423, where references are made to scattering notices.
ODO: Second abbot of Cluny. See Cltjny, Abbey and Congregation of, § 2.
CECOLAMPADIUS, ec'o-lam-pS'di-us, AND THE REFORMATION IN BASEL.
Life of (Ecolampadiua till 1522 (§ 1). Beginnings of the Reformation in Basel (§ 2). Early Work of (Ecolampadius There (§ 3). Final Success in 1529 (§ 4). Controversy over the Lord's Supper (§ 5). Closing Work of (Ecolampadius (§ 6).
Johannes (Ecolampadius (Johann Heussgen,
Hussgen, Hauschein, in the South German dialect
equivalent to " candlestick," whence the grecized
form of his name) was born at Weinsberg (25 m.
n. of Stuttgart), in the Palatinate, 1482; d. at
Basel Nov. 24, 1531. He began his studies in
Heilbronn and continued them in
i. Life Bologna, where he devoted himself to
of QJcolam- jurisprudence. But his aversion to
padius law induced him to leave Bologna
till 1522. and study theology at Heidelberg (1499), where he occupied himself with the study of Thomas Aquinas, of the mystics, such as Richard of St. Victor, and of later theologians like Gerson. His inherent mysticism was thus intensified, and he remained a pious and loyal Romanist. In 1503 he took his bachelor's degree and soon afterward became tutor of the younger sons of the Elector Philip the Upright in Heidelberg. But the life of the court displeased him and he longed to return to the study of theology. The facts of his life from 1503 to 1512 are still veiled in obscurity. It is known only that he departed from the court of the elector and accepted a prebend at Weinsberg. A prebend was established there by the council Apr. 8, 1510, confirmed by the bishop June 9, meanwhile (Ecolampadius had been presented, Apr. 3, by Duke Ulrich (Blatter fur wurttembergische Kirchengeschichte, 1895, p. 40). The same year he was in Stuttgart to hear Reuchlin and published at Freiburg some sermons which he had preached in Weinsberg. Then he went to Tubingen, where he became intimate with Melanchthon. In 1514 he seems to have returned to Heidelberg, where he associated with Brenz and Capito. In 1515 he was called to Basel as preacher by Bishop Christoph of Utenheim, where he met Erasmus and assisted him in the publication of his Greek New Testament. They formed an intimate friendship, and Erasmus exercised a considerable influence upon the young preacher. In 1516 (Ecolampadius lectured at the University of Basel on Obadiah, Ephesians, and the " Sentences " of Lombard. But after a short time he returned to Weinsberg to attend to his prebend and at the same time
pursued private studies at Heidelberg. In 1518 he was again in Basel assisting Erasmus in the second edition of his New Testament. At this time he pursued the study of Greek grammar and of Jerome's translation of the Bible, lecturing at the same time at the university. In December, 1518 he received a call as preacher to the principal church in Augsburg, where the first events of the Reformation had made a deep impression upon the citizens. GCcolampadius found himself greatly oppressed by these excitements and would have liked to return to his studies; but he remained loyal to his position, especially after it had become clear to him that Luther spoke the truth. Luther's sermons on the Ten Commandments and his theses decided (Ecolampadius to adopt the new teachings. But in 1520 he suddenly startled his friends by entering the monastery of Altenmtinster near Augsburg, in which action he was following out his natural leaning toward mysticism and his deep-rooted sympathy with the ideals of monastic life. In a treatise of 1515 he had exalted those who from love of perfection renounce marriage and in Basel had given offense to his humanistic friends by his predilection for the mysterious elements in the Roman cult and for the ascetic life. But on entering the monastery, he reserved to himself the right to live according to the word of God and to leave if he found it necessary. In fact, his dissatisfaction with the old conditions increased. In his sermon on the Lord's Supper he gave up the doctrine of transubstantiation; the sacrifice of the mass was for him only a memorial, not a repetition of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross; he also defended the administration of the Lord's Supper in both kinds; while the institution of confession he tried to save by its transformation in the Evangelical sense. His treatises and sermons became continually more Evangelical, and he openly expressed his admiration for Luther. He left the monastery in 1522 and accepted in April from Franz von Sickingen (q.v.) the position of chaplain at the castle of Ebernburg. There he took his first step as a Reformer by reading mass in German and preaching on week-days in the same language, affirming that the Church must be reformed on the basis of the Word of God. But he did not feel at ease in Ebernburg and in November, 1522, gladly accepted an invitation of Cratander to come to Basel, where the work of his life was awaiting him.
(Ecolampadius was not the originator of the
Reformation in Basel. On his arrival at Basel the
fundamental basis of the old order had already been
shaken. But it was his special merit that by his
powerful and impressive sermons, by
2. Begin- his moderation and considerateness, nings of the and especially by his spiritual clear- Reformation ness and determination the reforma-
in Basel, tory movement of Basel, which at this time was strongly intermingled with political motives, was transformed into a religious movement. When Basel joined the Swiss federation (1501), the example of the Swiss democracies induced the citizens to change their political conditions. So far the city had been ruled exclusively by the nobility. After their democratic reforms,