Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 9.djvu/482

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von Euenach, then rector of tbo university, and nuide ciirpfut nriiPiircii, foHtnt'ing Duvanu (Brvnr), a

Bartholomaus Amoldi von Udngen (q. v.). Tbe pupil lA Luther, goeu u Htep further, collinK tliix im-

former waa pre-eminently the Doclor Er/oTdi^rtsig, and known friend Alexius, and ascrilieit Ium dcutli U> a

Btood without an admitted rival in Germany. Luther thunderbolt (SecLendorf, " Ausfiihrltchc UiHtorie des

addresses him in a letter (1518) as not only "tbe first Lutherthunis",Leipii(i, 1714,nl). D'Aubign^ chusges

theologian ahd philosopher ", but also the first of con- this Alexiua into .\lexi8 and has him 0EsiisGinat«d at

temporary dialecticians ('KaTOpechultfl, "DieUniver- Erfurt (D'Aubign*, "History ot the Reformation",

aitflt Erfurt", I, Trier, 1858, 43). Usingen was an NewYork,B.d.,I,186).Oerger("VomjungenLuther",

Augustinian friar, and second only to Trutvetter in Erfurt, 1899, 27-41} has proved the existence of this

learning, but sutpaasing him in literary productivity friend, his name of Alexius or Alexis, hia death by

(ibid.). Although the tone of the university, especially lishtmng or aasassination, a mere legend, destitute M

that of the students^, waa prouounoedly, ev^ enthuBi- aU historical verification. KOstLin-Kuwcrau (I, 45)

astically, humanistic, and although Erfurt led the states that returning from bis" Mansfeld home he was

movement in Gemiany, and in its theologicat t«n- overtaken by a terrible storm, with an alarming light-

dencies was supposedly "modem", nevertheless "it ning flash and thunderbolt. Terrified and over-

nowise showed a depreciation <rf the currently pre- whelmed he cries out: 'Help, St. Anna, I will be a

vailing [Scholastic) syst^" '"'" "'^'-- ■ "---

(ibid.,I, 37). Luther him- self, in spite of an acquaint- ance with some of the moving spirits of human- ism, seems not to have been appreciably affected by it, hved on its outer fringe, and never qualified to enter its "poetic circle.

Luther's sudden and un- expected en

1505. The motives that prompted the step are vari- ous, contUcting.and the sub- Sct of considerable debate, e himseif alleges, as above stated, that the brutality of his home and school life drove him into the monas- tery. Hausrath, his latest biographer and one of the most scholarly Luther specialists, unreservedly in- clines to this belief. The " house at Mansfeld rather repelled than attracted him" (Beard, "Martin Lu- ther and the Germ. Kef.", London, 1889, 140), and to " the question 'Why did Lu- ther go into themonastery 7' the reply that Luther him- self gives is the most satis- factory" (Hausrath, " Lu- thers Leben", I, Berlin, 1904, 2, 22). He liimselt again, in a letter to his flit tier, in explanation of his defection from the old Church, writes, "when

tory of the change is far less easy to narrate. We have DO direct contemporary evidence on which to rely; while Luther's own remi-

chietiy depend, are neces- sarily coloured by his lat«r experiences and feelingi" (Beard, op. cit., 146).

Of Luther's monastic hfe we have little authentic information, and that ia based on his own utterances, ^ which his biographers frankly admit are highly exsiggc rated, frequently contradictory, and com- monly misleading. Thusthe alleged custom by which he ' WOM forced to chan^ hia baptismal name Martin into the monastic came Augus- tine, a proceeding he de- zes as "wicked" and iltgious", certainly

bad ]


 * the

Augustinian Order (Oei op. cit., 75; Kolde, "' deutscbe Augustiner C^-

I V

His accidental dis- covery in the Erfurt mon- astery library of the Bible, " a book he had never seen in his life" (Mathesius, op. cit.,fol. 5a),orLutber'8a»- sertion that he hod "never Been a Bible uiitil he was twenty yearsofage" (t«u- terbach, " Tagebuch", - . . Dresden, 1872, 36), or his

terror-Btncken and overwhelmed by the fear stillmoreemphaticdecIarationthatwheDCarlstadtwaa

mpending death, I made an involuntary ajid forced vow " (De Wetle, " Dr. Martin Luthers Briefe ", II, Berlin, 1825. 101). Various explanations are given of this episode. Melanchthon ascribes his step to a deep melancholy, which attained a critical

Eoint "when at one time lie lost one of bis conirades y an accidental death" (Corp. Ref., VI, 156). Cocb- licus. Luther's opponent, relates " that at one time he was so frightened in a field, at a thunderbolt, as commonly reported, or was in such anguish at the loss lays especial stress

of a companion, who was killed in the storm, that in a " read the Scripture . .._.

short time to the amazement of many persons he !eamitfervently"("ConBtitutione80rdiniBFratr.'Eie- sought admission to the Order of St. Augustine" mit. Sti Augustini', Rome, 1551, cap. xvii) At this (•Cochlitus, "HistoriaD. M.Luther8",Dimngen, 1571, very time Biblical studies were in a flourishing condi- 2). Mathesius, his first biographer, attributes it to the tion at the university, so that its historian states that fatal "stablang of a friend and a terrible storm with a " it is astonishing to meet such a great number of thunder clap" (op. cit., fol. 4 b). Seckendoff, who Biblical commentaries, which force us Ijj conclude. 

promoted to the doctorate " he had as yet never seen a Bible and I alone in the Erfurt monastery read the Bible" (Bindseil, " D. Martini Luthori Colloquia", II, 1863-66, 240), which, taken in their literal sense, are not only contrary to demonstrable facts, but have perpetuated misconception, bear the stamp of im- probability written in such obtrusive characters on their face, that it ia hard, on an honest assumption, to account for their longevity. Tbe Augustinian rule 1 the monition that the iio«oo (siduously, hear it dcvoully, and