Matthäus Zell (also ''Mathias Zell''; anglicized as ''Matthew Zell'') (21 September 1477, in

Kaysersberg Kaysersberg (german: Kaisersberg ; Alsatian: ''Kaiserschbarig'') is a historical town and former commune in Alsace in northeastern France. The name is German for ''Emperor's Mountain''. The high fortress that dominates the town serves as a remi ...

– 9 January 1548, in Strasbourg) was a Lutheran

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

and an early

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 ...

based in Strasbourg. He joined the Reformation as early as 1521. His widow was Katharina Zell.

Life

Zell was the son of a wine maker in Kaysersberg. He studied at the Universities of

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

and Freiburg im Breisgau. His compatriot Johann Geiler von Kaysersberg exerted a strong influence on him.

References

General references

* '' Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'', ADB 45 (1900), 17ff. * ''Realenzyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche'', Band 21 Seite 650 * * T. W. Röhricht. Matthäus Zell (Mitt. a. d. Gesch. d. ev. K. d. Elsasses 3). Straßburg 1855, 84-154. * W. Baum. Capito und Bucer. Elberfeld 1860, 195ff. * Ficker-Winkelmann. Handschriftenproben 2. Straßburg 1905, 55. * J. Adam. Ev. kg d. Stadt Straßburg. Straßburg 1922. * Martin Bucers Deutsche Schriften 1, Gütersloh 1960, 31 u. ö. * M. Weyer, L'Apologie chrétienne du réformateur strasbourgeois Matthieu Zell (Christliche Verantwortung, 1523), 3 Bde., Diss; Université de Strasbourg, 1981. * M. Weyer, Martin Bucer et les Zell : Une solidarité critique, dans Martin Bucer and Sixteenth Century Europe. Actes du colloque de Strasbourg (28-31 août 1991), éd. par Christian Krieger et Marc Lienhard, 2 vol., Leiden-New York-Köln, 1993, p. 275-295 * M. Weyer, "Matthieu Zell", in: Nouveau dictionnaire de biographie alsacienne, Strasbourg (Fédération des Sociétés d'Histoire et d'Archéologie d'Alsace) 2003. 1477 births 1548 deaths People from Kaysersberg-Vignoble 16th-century German Lutheran clergy Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni University of Erfurt alumni German Protestant Reformers {{Christian-clergy-stub