Paul Fagius (1504 – 13 November 1549) was a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

scholar of Biblical Hebrew and

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 ...

Life

Fagius was born at

Rheinzabern Rheinzabern is a small town in the south-east of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany near the Rhine river. Currently, Rheinzabern, that belongs to the District of Germersheim has approx. 5000 inhabitants living on an area of 12,75 square kilometres. ...

in 1504. His father was a teacher and council clerk. In 1515 he went to study at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

and in 1518 was present at the Heidelberg Disputation. In 1522 he moved to the University of Strasbourg, where he learned Hebrew and met

Matthäus Zell Matthäus Zell (also ''Mathias Zell''; anglicized as ''Matthew Zell'') (21 September 1477, in Kaysersberg – 9 January 1548, in Strasbourg) was a Lutheran pastor and an early Protestant reformer based in Strasbourg. He joined the Reformat ...

, Martin Bucer and

Wolfgang Capito Wolfgang Fabricius Capito (also Koepfel) ( – November 1541) was a German Protestant reformer in the Calvinist tradition. His life and revolutionary work Capito was born circa 1478 to a smith at Hagenau in Alsace. He attended the famous Lat ...

. In 1527, he became a school master in the free imperial city of

Isny im Allgäu Isny im Allgäu ( Low Alemannic: ''Isny im Allgai'') is a town in south-eastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is part of the district of Ravensburg, in the western, Württembergish part of the Allgäu region. Isny was a Free Imperial City (' ...

. Fagius took part in the Bern Colloquy, where he met the reformer

Huldrych Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the Univ ...

. In 1535, he returned to the University of Strasbourg to devote himself to his study of theology. Fagius returned to Isny as a priest in 1537. There he learnt Hebrew from the Jewish grammarian and publisher

Elia Levita Elia Levita (13 February 146928 January 1549) ( he, אליהו בן אשר הלוי אשכנזי), also known as Elijah Levita, Elias Levita, Élie Lévita, Elia Levita Ashkenazi, Eliahu Levita, Eliyahu haBahur ("Elijah the Bachelor"), Elye Bok ...

, and they founded a printing office together. One of the few known works to be published by this partnership was ''Shemot Devarim'', an Old Yiddish-Hebrew-Latin-German dictionary, in 1542. In 1543, he organized the ''Kirchenwesen'' in

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...

and in 1544 was appointed Professor of Old Testament studies at Strasbourg. In 1546, he moved back to Heidelberg, after Elector Frederick II charged him with reforming the University of Heidelberg. Fagius however encountered such strong opposition that his reform failed and he returned to Strasbourg. With the rise of the Counter-Reformation Paul Fagius found himself under pressure. After the defeat of the

Schmalkaldic League The Schmalkaldic League (; ; or ) was a military alliance of Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire during the mid-16th century. Although created for religious motives soon after the start of the Reformation, its members later came to ...

in 1547, Fagius, who had opposed the

Augsburg Interim The Augsburg Interim (full formal title: ''Declaration of His Roman Imperial Majesty on the Observance of Religion Within the Holy Empire Until the Decision of the General Council'') was an imperial decree ordered on 15 May 1548 at the 1548 Diet ...

, found himself dismissed from his position, along with Martin Bucer. Both sought refuge in England, where they were taken in by

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry ...

. In 1549, Fagius was appointed Hebrew lecturer at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. After being briefly active in Hebrew philology and interpreting the Old Testament Fagius died from plague in 1549, and was buried in St Michael's Church, Cambridge. Under Queen Mary's Catholic restoration, his remains were exhumed and burned (as were Martin Bucer's); in 1560, a memorial was again set up to him.

Works

Latin translations from Hebrew

* Pirḳe Abot (1541) *Levita's "Tishbi" (1541) *Tobit (1542) *Alfabeta de Ben Sira (1542) *Sefer Amanah (1542) * David Ḳimḥi's commentary on Psalms, ch. i.-x. (1544)

Editions

Targum Onḳelos Interlinear text of Hebrew Numbers 6.3–10 with British_Library.html"_;"title="Aramaic_Targum_Onkelos_from_the_British_Library">Aramaic_Targum_Onkelos_from_the_British_Library. Targum_Onkelos_(or_Onqelos;_Hebrew_language.html" "title="B ...

(1546)

Original works

*Exegesis of the first four chapters of Genesis (1542) *Elementary Hebrew grammar (1543) *Liber Fidei seu Veritatis (1542) *Parvus Tractulus (1542)

References

* Gordon, Bruce, ‘Fagius, Paul (c.1504–1549)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004) * MacCulloch, D., Thomas Cranmer: ''A life'' (1996) * Raubenheimer, Richard: ''Paul Fagius aus Bergzabern: sein Leben und Wirken als Reformator und Gelehrter.'' Grünstadt, Verein für pfälzische Kirchengeschichte, 1957 * * *

External links

*''This article is partially based on a translation of the corresponding German-language Wikipedia article.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Fagius, Paul 1504 births 1549 deaths German Christian theologians Christian Hebraists 16th-century deaths from plague (disease) Academics of the University of Cambridge 16th-century German theologians German male non-fiction writers 16th-century German writers 16th-century German male writers Regius Professors of Hebrew (Cambridge)