Francesco Lismanini ( Corfu, ca. 1504 -

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...

, April 1566) was an Italian Franciscan friar of Greek origin, who converted to Calvinism and also a

Protestant reformer Protestant Reformers were those theologians whose careers, works and actions brought about the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. In the context of the Reformation, Martin Luther was the first reformer (sharing his views publicly in 15 ...

Biography

His Greek parents soon moved to Italy and in 1515 the family arrived in Krakow, Poland, where in 1525, Francis became a Franciscan friar. A fine preacher, he was chosen by Queen Bona Sforza, compatriot and wife of King Sigismund I, as a preacher and confessor. In 1540, he was elected as a Franciscan Father, but as a humanist of the Erasmian circle and proponent of reformed doctrines, in 1550 he was suspected of heresy during a trip to Italy. In 1553, arrived in Moravia, then returning again to Italy and then Switzerland, where he openly proclaimed Calvinism and became a friend of John Calvin,

Heinrich Bullinger Heinrich Bullinger (18 July 1504 – 17 September 1575) was a Swiss Reformer and theologian, the successor of Huldrych Zwingli as head of the Church of Zürich and a pastor at the Grossmünster. One of the most important leaders of the Swiss R ...

and Johannes Wolf. He returned to Poland to be part of the Protestant Church of Poland. He tried to reach an agreement with the anti-Trinitarian church of the Polish Brethren to strengthen the Reform movement, but due to the opposition of Calvin and Bullinger, the attempt failed. Thus in the late 1550s he was involved with numerous Calvinist and Lutheran disputes with people such as

Francesco Stancaro Francesco Stancaro (also Latin: Franciscus Stancarus) (1501 in Mantua – 1574 in Stopnica) was an Italian Catholic priest, theologian, Protestant convert, and Protestant reformer who became professor of Hebrew at the University of Königsberg ...

. In 1563, he entered the service of Duke Albrecht of Prussia in

, where he died in 1566.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lismanini, Francesco Italian Franciscans Italian Calvinist and Reformed Christians 1504 births 1566 deaths Clergy from Corfu Italian people of Greek descent Converts to Calvinism from Roman Catholicism