Basil Faber (1520–1576),

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

schoolmaster and theologian, was born in Sorau (modern Żary), in lower

Lusatia Lusatia (german: Lausitz, pl, Łużyce, hsb, Łužica, dsb, Łužyca, cs, Lužice, la, Lusatia, rarely also referred to as Sorbia) is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr ...

, in 1520. In 1538 he entered the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

, studying as ''pauper gratis'' under

Philipp Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lu ...

. This cites Wagenmann and G. Müller in Herzog-Hauck's '' Realencyklopädie'' (1898). Choosing the schoolmaster's profession, he became successively rector of the schools at

Nordhausen Nordhausen may refer to: * Nordhausen (district), a district in Thuringia, Germany ** Nordhausen, Thuringia, a city in the district **Nordhausen station, the railway station in the city * Nordhouse, a commune in Alsace (German: Nordhausen) * Narost ...

, Tennstadt (1555),

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

(1557) and

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg became a center of in ...

(1560). From this last post he was removed in December 1570 as a

crypto-Calvinist Crypto-Calvinism is a pejorative term describing a segment of those members of the Lutheran Church in Germany who were accused of secretly subscribing to Calvinist doctrine of the Eucharist in the decades immediately after the death of Martin Lut ...

. In 1571 he was appointed to the Rathsgymnasium at

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 ...

, not as rector, but as director (''Vorsteher''). In this situation he remained till his death in 1575 or 1576. His translation of the first twenty-five chapters of Luther's commentary on ''

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

'' was published in 1557; in other ways he promoted the spread of Lutheran views. He was a contributor to the first four of the ''

Magdeburg Centuries The ''Magdeburg Centuries'' is an ecclesiastical history, divided into thirteen ''centuries'', covering thirteen hundred years, ending in 1298; it was first published from 1559 to 1574. It was compiled by several Lutheran scholars in Magdeburg, kn ...

''. He is best known by his ''Thesaurus eruditionis scholasticae'' (1571; last edition, improved by J. H. Leich, 1749, folio, 2 vols.); this was followed by his ''Libellus de disciplina scholastica'' (1572).

Selected works

* Libellus de Synonymia Terentii et copiosa phrasium et locutionum commutatione, Leipzig 1553, 2. Bd. 1556 * Loci observatorium atque expositionum indices numerosissimi in Cicerone Epistolae Familiares omnes, Leipzig 1553 * Libellus de ratione genuina dicendi et scribendi, monstrata e Terentio et Cicerone, Leipzig 1554 * Elenchus legum et disciplinae scholasticae, 1571 * Libellus de disciplina scholastica, 1572 * Thesaurus eruditionis scholasticae, 1571, 1587, 1623, 1625, 1691, 1749

References

1520 births 1576 deaths 16th-century German Lutheran clergy People from Żary People from Lower Lusatia 16th-century Latin-language writers {{christian-clergy-stub