24 April 1514 A.D. Hebrew scholar, Johann Reuchlin, Acquitted of Heresy Charges
24
April 1514 A.D. Hebrew scholar, Johann Reuchlin, Acquitted of
Heresy Charges
Graves, Dan. “Reuchlin Found Not Guilty.” Christianity.com. Apr 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/reuchlin-found-not-guilty-11629914.html .
Accessed 23 Apr 2015.
To Johann Reuchlin, Luther owed the Hebrew grammar
for his Bible translation. A man of lowly birth, Reuchlin's talent for singing
brought him to the attention of the Margrave of Baden who made him a companion
of his son. In love with learning, the singer seized every opportunity his new
position afforded to educate himself. Languages were his forte. He wrote the
first Latin dictionary to be published in Germany and a Greek grammar. Hebrew
was his dearest love. He ferreted out the rules of Israel's ancient language by
study of Hebrew texts and converse with every rabbi who appeared within his
range. His authority became widely recognized.
Reputation was nearly the cause of his ruin. A
converted Jew and a Dominican inquisitor extracted from Emperor Maximilian an
order to burn all Hebrew works except the Old Testament, charging they were
full of errors and blasphemies. Before the edict could be carried out, the
Emperor had second thoughts and consulted the greatest Hebrew scholar of the
age: Reuchlin.
Reuchlin urged preservation of the Jewish books as
aids to study, and as examples of errors against which champions of faith might
joust. To destroy the books would give ammunition to the church's enemies, he
said. The emperor revoked his order.
The Dominicans were furious. Selecting passages
from Reuchlin's writings, they tried to prove him a heretic. Possibly he was.
He seemed to expect salvation through cabalistic practices rather than relying
totally on Christ's atoning blood. The inquisition summoned him and ordered his
writings burnt. Sympathetic scholars appealed to Leo X. The Pope referred the
matter to the Bishop of Spires, whose tribunal heard the issue. On this day,
April 24, 1514, the tribunal declared Reuchlin not guilty. It was a great victory
for freedom of learning.
The Dominicans were not so easily brushed off. They
instigated the faculties at Cologne, Erfurt, Louvain, Mainz and Paris to
condemn Reuchlin's writings. Thus armed, they approached Leo X. Leo dithered.
Should he win applause from scholars by protecting the Jewish books, or placate
the clerics? He appointed a commission. It backed Reuchlin. Still Leo
hesitated. At last he decided to suspend judgment. This in itself was a victory
for Reuchlin. The cause of the embattled scholar became the cause of the
innovators. Reuchlin's nephew, Melanchthon, rejoiced. Erasmus praised him.
In 1517 Luther posted his 95 theses. "Thanks
be to God," said the weary Reuchlin. "At last they have found a man
who will give them so much to do that they will be compelled to let my old age
end in peace." Thanks to Reuchlin, the Talmud and Kabbala were preserved.
Although he died a broken man, freedom for academic production was strengthened
because of his ordeal. Soon his studies formed the basis for better
translations of the Old Testament. Furthermore, his influence assured
Melanchthon a position among the learned and a place in the Reformation.
Bibliography:
Hirsch, Samuel A. Book of Essays. Macmillan, 1905.
Loeffler, Klemens. "Johannes Reuchlin."
The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
Manschreck, Clyde Leonard. Melanchthon, the Quiet
Reformer. New York, Abingdon Press, 1958), especially 24, 25.
Mee, Charles L., jr. White Robe, Black Robe. New
York: Putnam, 1972; p. 154ff.
"Reuchlin, Johannes." The Oxford
Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone.
Oxford, 1997.
Rummel, Erika. The Case against Johann Reuchlin:
religious and social controversy in sixteenth-century Germany. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 2002.
Comments
Post a Comment