The Life of Philip Melanchthon

In a hilly part of the Kraichgau lies the city of Bretten. In former times it belonged to the Electors of the Palatinate, and in the year 1504 defended itself bravely against Duke Ulrich of Würtemberg, and also manifested a brave loyalty to its hereditary sovereign in the war of the peasants. It is now included in the Grand-Duchy of Baden. It has acquired an imperishable name, because a great man, Philip Melanchthon, was born in it. We will begin by hearing what an old account relates of his ancestors and parents, his birth and youth.

"In the days of the Count Palatine Philip, Elector on the Rhine, there lived in Heidelberg, before the mountain, a worthy, pious man, named Claus Schwartzerd. With Elizabeth, his wife, he begat two sons, Hans and George, and from their youth up trained them in the fear of God, and the practice of every virtue. The Count Palatine Philip took so great a liking to George, who was a very active and ingenious lad, and discharged every duty most diligently, that he took him to Court, and permitted him to examine a number of professions, in order by this means to satisfy himself what his inclinations were, and what might be made of him. When the boy, therefore, took delight in armor, the Elector placed him in charge of a master in Amberg. He learned the trade so rapidly that every one was astonished, and the journeymen became so hostile to him, that one of them on a certain occasion burned him with hot lead in so dangerous a manner that his life was despaired of, and he was only saved by Divine mercy, and very faithful nursing." By order of the Elector he was then sent to an armorer in Nuremberg. Here also he made rapid advances. "For the boy was so ingenious, that, as we commonly say, his hands could imitate whatever his eyes saw. He could forge as neatly as if it had been done with a file." In a few years he was able to make everything needful for the tournament. The Elector again took him to Court, and appointed him an armorer or armor-bearer. He became so celebrated, that even foreign potentates courted him. Even the German Emperor Maximilian had his armor made by him. For a very skilful suit of armor, the Emperor presented him with a family coat of arms, representing a lion sitting upon a shield and helmet, holding tongs and a hammer in his paws. George's son, our Philip, never made use of this coat of arms, his own representing the serpent upon the cross, alluding to the well-known typical event in the wilderness. When George was thirty years old, the Elector thought of having him married. A well-known citizen of Bretten, Hans Reuter, "a very fine, sensible man, who had even studied," enjoying great respect, having served as Mayor of the place for several years, had a daughter called Barbara. "She was a virtuous and well-bred maiden. By the providence of Almighty God, and the negotiations of the Elector, she was promised to him in marriage, and they were married in Spire, in the presence of many knights, who appeared to do honor to his espousals." The ancient account goes on to say: "The married couple continued to love and esteem each other, for the said George Schwartzerd was a just, pious, God-fearing man, serving God earnestly, praying diligently, and observing his hours of prayer as strictly as any priest, permitting nothing to hinder him from the discharge of this duty, so that he would arise in the night, fall upon his knees, and pray with earnestness. No one ever heard him utter a profane word, or saw him intoxicated, or even heard of anything of the kind of him to the day of his death." He did not concern himself especially with laying up this world's goods, and he was never seen in the courts to carry on lawsuits. His wife, besides her piety, and domestic, frugal spirit, exercised benevolence towards the poor and afflicted. The familiar saying was often upon her lips: "Alms do not impoverish," and the lines also-

Whoever wishes to consume more

Than his plough can support,

Will at last come to ruin,

And die upon the gallows.

After living childless for four years, a son was born to them on the 16th of February, 1497, on the Thursday after the first Sunday in Lent, who, in baptism, received the name of Philip. "Thus does God bless this pious and godly man with the gift of such a child, which afterwards became a blessing to the whole land, yea, many lands, and the whole of Christendom, and will remain so to the end of the world." Their marriage was further blessed by the birth of another son and three daughters.

Philip, and his brother George, four years younger than himself, attended the town-school of Bretten, to acquire the rudiments of human learning. But because a malignant disease was raging at that time, and their teacher himself was confined with it, their careful grandfather Reuter removed the boys from school, fearing lest they too might be attacked, and provided a private tutor for them in his own house. His name was John Unger. A little grandson, John Reuter, enjoyed these instructions together with the two boys. Unger was an excellent teacher, who laboured to give his pupils a thorough education. He took especial pains in his Latin instructions. Melanchthon, who was "a master in that language," in after years could not sufficiently praise the teacher of his youth. He says of him: "He loved me as a son, and I loved him as a father." Unger was afterwards made court chaplain of the Margrave Philip of Baden, and continued to preach the gospel faithfully in Pforzheim to a very advanced age. "When their grandfather observed the diligence of the boys, he bought them a Missal, in order that they might become familiar with the hymns of the church, whilst pursuing their other studies; and he required of them to take their places in the choir on all holy days. About this time the great Bachanti (so called roving scholars) roved through the country. When one of these came to Bretten, his grandfather would set Philip to dispute with him. It was a rare thing to find one who was a match for him. This pleased the old man, and he took special delight in these contests. The boy too became bolder, and more fond of study. And his grandfather took care to provide books and other things, so that the boy might not be hindered."

The extraordinary gifts of little Philip manifested themselves at an early period. He was possessed of a quick perception, a retentive memory, and great acuteness. He was continually engaged in asking questions during school hours, and afterwards, he would seek out his friends, in order to converse more about what he had learned. It was impossible not to love the boy, for he was peculiarly amiable and modest. His talkativeness found a great obstacle in his stammering tongue, which, however, he endeavoured to surmount. It is said of him, that in early life he could be very easily irritated; but he would sometimes apply to himself the saying: "He cuts and stabs, and yet hurts nobody."

His grandfather was particularly attached to Philip, and it is to be regretted that the worthy man was so soon to leave the land of his pilgrimage, which happened in the year 1507. As Philip's father was frequently taken away from home by his many engagements, he was obliged to intrust the education of his children to his wife and her father. We are told "he enjoined it upon his father-in-law, Hans Reuter, to look to his children, so that they might be sent to school regularly, and might learn something profitable." In his travels he came to Manheim, in Neuburg, in 1504. His sovereign had summoned him thither, in order that he might be nearer him in preparing and forwarding ordnance in the Bavarian war. Here, however, he found an incurable disease. The wells from which he drank were poisoned. As the life of this man was of great value to the prince, he left no efforts untried to save him, but all proved in vain. It is true he lived for four years after this, but in a very helpless condition. About the very time when grandfather Reuter died, Schwartzerd was also lying upon his death-bed. Three days before his death, he expressed himself to the following effect: "These three things I will also leave my little children when I die-that they are in the bosom of the true Christian Church, that they are one in Him, and united among each other, and heirs of eternal life." When he felt the approach of death, he called for Philip, then ten years old, commended him to God, and exhorted him to fear God. Dying, he said, "I have experienced many changes in the world, but greater ones are coming. My prayer is, that God may rule you in them. I counsel thee, my son, to fear God, and live honestly." These words were treasured in the boy's memory as long as he lived. In order that he might not behold the death of his father, he was sent to Spire. He was naturally very tender-hearted, and the communication of his father's illness deeply moved him. He says: "Like all children, I had never yet thought of sickness and death, nor had I ever seen a sick person or a corpse. When my mother, therefore, told me,-'Your father is ill,' I was obliged to ask what that imported. But she had scarcely given me an idea of it, when I was overwhelmed with grief." On the 27th of October, of the same year in which his grandfather Reuter died, his father also finished his course, in the forty-ninth year of his age. But a very important outward change for the boy was brought about by these two deaths. The three boys, who had hitherto enjoyed Unger's instructions, were removed, in the autumn of this year, to the Latin school in the city of Pforzheim, in Baden. Their mother had a relative, named Elizabeth, a sister of the well-known distinguished scholar Reuchlin,[1] residing in Pforzheim. The boys lodged in her house.

The able Rector, George Simler, and John Hildenbrand, were their teachers. The Latin language was then the principal study, and the great object to be reached was, that the pupils should be able to speak it. The Greek language was still a very rare accomplishment. Simler, who had some knowledge of it, only introduced it to the notice of his ablest pupils. It was Philip Schwartzerd's good fortune to be one of this number, and he used the opportunity with great profit to himself. Of Simler, he somewhere says: "He first unlocked the meaning of the Greek and Latin Poets to me, and introduced me to a purer philosophy." He met with this teacher again in the University at Tübingen. In Pforzheim he was fortunate enough to become better acquainted with the celebrated John Reuchlin, who then resided in Würtemberg, as President of the Swabian Court of the Confederates. Reuchlin took great delight in the talented boy, gave him his paternal regard, called him his son, and presented him with beautiful and useful books. On a certain occasion he also gave him his chestnut-colored Doctor's hat, and placed it on the boy's head. "All this greatly pleased Philip, and he so advanced in his studies, that he was soon promoted to a place among the largest and oldest pupils." Reuchlin also gave young Schwartzerd the name of Melanchthon,[2] which is the Greek word for his own name, (black earth). It was then a very general custom to change German names into Greek. After the year 1531, he did not write his name Melanchthon, but Melanthon, most likely because this is more easily pronounced.

But it is time to notice the internal development of the boy. As the parents lived in the fear of God, this was also aimed at in the education of their children. Philip soon exhibited a great love for the public services of the house of God. He was especially delighted with the histories of the holy men of the Christian Church. Of these he heard much, both in the church and at home. Had the Gospel been opened to him at that time, he would doubtless have received it joyfully. However, he admits the use of the Legends of the saints in the words: "It was a part of our domestic discipline rather to employ the boys with these matters, than to permit them to run about the streets, or engage in wild noise." As a matter of course, such food, as the Church then profferred, could not satisfy an inquiring mind like that of Philip. The law, as it was then exclusively employed by the Catholic Church, was barely able to plow up the soil of the heart. But when it is yet considered, in addition to this, that the laws of God occupied the background behind the frequently ridiculous laws of the Church, it is matter for surprise that so many spiritual wants were yet felt, as we find to be the case with young Melanchthon. But his mind at this time was still principally directed to the acquisition of learning, of which he had already gathered an unusually large store in Pforzheim, by the instructions of Simler, and the encouragement of the deeply-learned Reuchlin.

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