Review article
What has Flacius to do with Erasmus? The Biblical Humanism of Matthias Flacius Illyricus
Luka Ilić
orcid.org/0000-0002-3289-8754
; Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg, Ravensburg
Abstract
The sixteenth-century Croatian-born Lutheran theologian Matthias Flacius Illyricus was impacted by Renaissance humanism through his studies at the school of San Marco in Venice, under the teaching of the prominent Renaissance humanist Giovanni Battista Cipelli, Egnazio. As a student of Egnazio’s, who was a scholar and friend of Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, young Flacius was introduced to humanistic ideas. The influence of humanism on young Flacius continued as he moved to study at the university in Basel in 1539. The emphasis on learning Biblical languages, especially Hebrew and Greek, in this phase of his education later proved crucial for Flacius in his work on Biblical exegesis and hermeneutics. Flacius further encountered humanism during his studies in Tübingen and then in Wittenberg, most notably through his teachers and mentors Matthias Garbitius Illyricus and Philipp Melanchthon. This article investigates the various sources and strands of humanist influence on Flacius by exploring in greater detail the intellectual and scholarly milieus in the cities where he spent his student years. Furthermore, it explores expressions of what was to develop into Flacius’ biblical humanism, most importantly through the example of his 1570 Glossa Compendiaria in Novum testamentum. The central question the author sets out to answer is what kind of humanism characterizes Flacius and his work most fittingly.
Keywords
Renaissance Humanism; Biblical Humanism; Matthias Flacius Illyricus; Erasmus of Rotterdam; Philipp Melanchthon; Venice; Wittenberg; Protestant Reformation
Hrčak ID:
138482
URI
Publication date:
30.4.2015.
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