Nikolaus von Laun,

O.E.S.A. The Order of Saint Augustine, ( la, Ordo Fratrum Sancti Augustini) abbreviated OSA, is a religious mendicant order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who were fo ...

(also known as Nicolaus de Luna and Mikuláš z Loun) was a Bohemian

Augustinian friar Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

and scholar. He served as the

Prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

Provincial of the large

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

. Nikolaus was one of the first

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

professors at

Charles University in Prague Charles University ( cs, Univerzita Karlova, UK; la, Universitas Carolina; german: Karls-Universität), also known as Charles University in Prague or historically as the University of Prague ( la, Universitas Pragensis, links=no), is the oldest an ...

(founded in 1348). He wrote several works in the subject area of

homiletics In religious studies, homiletics ( grc, ὁμιλητικός ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or ...

. Between 1362 and his death in 1371 he served as a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Life

Nikolaus was born in the city of

Louny Louny (; german: Laun) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 18,000 inhabitants. It lies on the river Ohře. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic) ...

(''Laun'' in German), in the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

, about 1300. He joined the Augustinian friars in 1315 and completed his studies at the studium of the Order located at the Priory of St. Thomas in the

Lesser Town of Prague Lesser, from Eliezer (, "Help/Court of my God"), is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adolf Lesser (1851–1926), German physician * Aleksander Lesser (1814–1884), Polish painter and art critic * Anton Lesser (born 1952), Bri ...

, then known as the German quarter of Prague. A subsequent period at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

earned him a doctorate in theology. He then returned to Prague and began work, in 1334, as a lecturer at the Augustinian College of St Thomas there. In 1342, and again from 1344 to 1354 and finally from 1362 till 1363, Nikolaus occupied the office of

Provincial of the Augustinian friars' Bavarian Province (which at the time also included Bohemia). As Provincial superior he founded several new monasteries, including one at

Bělá pod Bezdězem Bělá pod Bezdězem (german: Weisswasser) is a town in Mladá Boleslav District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,700 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as urban monument zon ...

(''Weißwasser'' in German) in Northern Bohemia. He also campaigned for missionary activity in the

Baltic region The terms Baltic Sea Region, Baltic Rim countries (or simply the Baltic Rim), and the Baltic Sea countries/states refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea, mainly in Northern Europe. ...

, and in 1345

Pope Clement VI Pope Clement VI ( la, Clemens VI; 1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death in December 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the Bla ...

granted his consent for the Baltic Augustinian Province to be added to the territories under Nikolaus' responsibility. Nikolaus was in good standing with the Prague political establishment, and in 1344 he delivered the address "De pallio archiepisopi Arnesti" (''"The mantle of Archbishop Arnesti"'') on the occasion of the installation of

Arnošt of Pardubice Arnošt of Pardubice ( cs, Arnošt z Pardubic, german: Ernst von Pardubitz) (25 March 1297 probably in Vestec (Náchod District), Hostinka – 30 June 1364 in Roudnice nad Labem) was the first List of bishops and archbishops of Prague, Archbisho ...

as the city's first

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

. Three years later it was Nikolaus who delivered the "Eris corona gloriae" (''"To you the Crown of Glory"'') address when

Emperor Charles IV Charles IV ( cs, Karel IV.; german: Karl IV.; la, Carolus IV; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charle ...

took on the crown of Bohemia. Following the establishment by the emperor of

Prague University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , underg ...

, Nikolaus was one of the five professors initially appointed to the Faculty of

. In 1362/63 Nikolaus was appointed an auxiliary bishop of the

Diocese of Regensburg The Diocese of Regensburg ( la, Dioecesis Ratisbonensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory seated in Regensburg, Germany. Its district covers parts of northeastern Bavaria; it is subordinate to the archbishop of Munich and Freising. , ...

, becoming named the

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Castoria. Among Nikolaus' written works, one entitled ''Super Missus es exposicio litteralis'' deals with the infancy narratives found in the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-volu ...

, giving details of the birth and childhood of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. He probably also wrote for relatively advanced theological students. Nikolaus died in Regensburg on 26 March 1371.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolaus von Laun 1300s births 1371 deaths Augustinian friars University of Paris alumni Medieval German theologians Academic staff of Charles University German Roman Catholic titular bishops Augustinian bishops 14th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire Burials in Bavaria

Life

Further reading

References