Forgotten Reformers: Others in Brief

People sometimes ask me: "How can the names and deeds of minor Reformation figures be distinguished and memorized? How can they be recalled in five seconds or less?" I find it is helpful to understand that most reformers had discrete geographic roles. That is, in most major cities or polities that became Protestant, there was one guy who brought Protestantism to that city. Sometimes the same guy would bring Protestantism to two or even three different places; other times a single city would require two guys, often in succession, to become fully Protestant. Since this isn't a Reformation blog and I can't do a "Forgotten Reformers" entry on every single forgotten reformer, I thought I'd make a list of somewhat notable reformers and tell you a bit about where they were active, or other fun facts about them.

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Andreas Osiander (Lutheran): Lead the reformation in Nuremburg, later went to Prussia and helped lead the Lutheran reformation there.

Johannes Honterus (Lutheran): Brought the reformation to Transylvania, where he preached to the Transylvania Saxons, ethnic Germans who lived mostly in the seven walled cities of Transylvania. The Hungarian population in Transylvania would later become largely Calvinist or Unitarian, while the Romanian population in Transylvania remained Eastern Orthodox.

Michael Agricola (Lutheran): Lutheran scholar from Finland. Translated the Bible into Finnish. Finland was part of Sweden at the time of the Reformation, which became Lutheran after the Stockholm Bloodbath.

Philipp Melancthon (Lutheran): Author of the Augsburg Confession, the creed of Lutheranism. Important figure in early Lutheranism.

Johannes Bugenhagen (Lutheran): German reformer, helped Melancthon write the Augsburg confession. Later went to Denmark to help the Danes organize their state-sponsored reformed church.

Johannes Oecolampadius (Calvinist): Brought the reformation to Basel. His last name means "house lamp" in Greek. His birth name was Johannes Hussgen. "Hussgen" sounds kind of like "Hausschein", which is the German word for house lamp. From there, it was only a short step to translating his sounds-like name into Greek.

The best way to remember this name is to note that "Oeco", house, is also the root of "economics", which originally meant management of an estate or farm. Hence, Xenophon's socratic dialogue on farm management is called "Oeconomicus". Then "Lampadius" sounds a lot like "lamp". You just have to memorize the -adius ending.

Theodore Beza (Calvinist): Successor of Calvin in Geneva; edited Calvin's writings, including Institutes of the Christian Religion.

Heinrich Bullinger (Calvinist): Successor of Zwingli in Zurich.

Ferenc David (Unitarian): After 1526, Transylvania became an independent principality ruled by the Hungarian nobility. Many Hungarian nobles adopted Calvinism or Unitarianism at this time. Ferenc David was an advisor to the Zapolya dynasty of Transylvania princes and urged them to establish freedom of religion in Transylvania. The result of this was the Edict of Turda, one of the first proclamations of religious toleration in all of Europe. Subsequently, many different denominations flourished in Transylvania, but especially Calvinism and Unitarianism (among Hungarians) and Lutheranism (among Germans).

Jerome of Prague (Hussite): The best friend and companion of Jan Hus. Along with Hus, he was burned at the Council of Constance

Forgotten Reformers: Paul Craw

The Hussite movement is one of the most notable pre-Reformation attempts to reform the Catholic Church. But it's geographically limited -- indeed, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish Hussitry from Czech nationalism.

But there's one big exception: Paul Craw, a.k.a Pavel Kravar in Czech. He was the man who tried to spread Hussitry to Scotland.

Craw, a Taborite from Silesia, was sent to Scotland in 1431, during the reign of King James I. For reference, this was 16 years after the death of Jan Hus at the Council of Constance, and about 3 years before the Battle of Lipany ended the Hussite Wars in Bohemia.

Craw's mission in Scotland was probably related to the Council of Basel, which was in progress at the time. Craw's assignment was likely to make contact with Scottish Lollards -- followers of the earlier English reformer John Wycliffe -- and ally with them to create a united front at the council.

However, once in Scotland, Craw began preaching Hussitry to the people.

Paul Craw's preaching ran afoul of Henry Wardlaw, the Bishop of St. Andrews, and an important advisor to the king. Wardlaw was dedicated to ridding Scotland of Lollards, and Hussitry seemed an awful lot like Lollardry to him. With a monk named John Fogo servin as chief inquisitor, Craw was arrested and tried for heresy.

According to later Protestant historians, Paul Craw was condemned for the following deeds:

• denying transubstantiation
• opposing the confession of sins to priests
• opposing prayer to saints

Paul Craw was burned at the stake in the market square of St. Andrews. Before the burning, authorities put a brass ball in his mouth -- to prevent him from preaching his views during the execution.