Matthias Hoë von Hoënegg (24 February 1580, in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

– 4 March 1645, in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

) was a German Lutheran pastor.

Life

Matthias's father was Leonhard Höe von Höenegg, a Lutheran imperial councillor and doctor of law descended from old Austrian nobility. Matthias was born prematurely and so his health was weak during his early years, meaning he only started speaking when he was seven. His father initially had him taught by a private tutor until, once he was almost fully educated, he was allowed to visit Vienna's St Stephan's Stadtschule, where he developed remarkably and began talking to the city's scholars. Due to the imminent capture of Vienna in 1594 by the Ottomans, Matthias, his father and his brother moved to

Steyr Steyr (; ) is a statutory city (Austria), statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3rd lar ...

, where they spent three years and where Matthias attended the local gymnasium. His father then returned to Vienna and recalled Matthias, giving him a chance to attend the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, where he initially studied philosophy. On the recommendation of an envoy from Saxony, on 16 June 1597 he moved to the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

, where he studied philosophy and gained his master's degree, toying with going into law but in the end deciding to study theology. After several disputations and lectures in Wittenberg, his father's death in 1599 brought him back to Vienna for a short time, before returning to Wittenberg, where he gained his licentiate in theology in 1601. In 1602 he travelled to Dresden, where he aimed to become court-preacher to the Prince Elector. After a trial sermon on 17 February 1602 he gained the post and also graduated on 6 March 1604 as a doctor of theology in Wittenberg. Christian II of Saxony then sent him to

Plauen Plauen (; ; ) is a town in Saxony, Germany with a population of around 65,000. It is Saxony's 5th most populated city after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest cit ...

as superintendent, where on 20 April he was introduced to

Polykarp Leyser the Elder Polykarp (von) Leyser the Elder or Polykarp Leyser I (18 March 1552 – 22 February 1610) was a Lutheranism, Lutheran theologian, superintendent of Braunschweig, superintendent-general of the Saxon church-circle, professor of theology at the Univ ...

. Despite several offers of other posts, he remained in the service of Saxony and in 1611, at the request of the elector of Saxony, moved to

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

as director of Protestant schools and churches in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. He then moved back to Dresden on the death of Paul Jenisch and replaced him as chief court preacher of Saxony. His most notable work is his two-volume ''Commentarii in Joannis Apocalypsin'' (Leipzig 1610/40). His sermons and writings were strong Lutheran polemics against the

Reformed churches Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian ...

, whose beliefs he loathed more than

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

Catholicism. Older literature on the topic has overestimated his influence on John George I of Saxony and Saxon policy at the start of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, though he was on John George's privy council when it approved siding with the Emperor against Frederick V and wrote propaganda to support that decision.

References

Bibliography

* Frank Müller: ''Kursachsen und der böhmische Aufstand 1618–1622.'' Münster 1997, . * Christian Gottlieb Jöcher: ''Gelehrtenlexikon.'' Vol 2 p. 1638 * Wolfgang Sommer: ''Die lutherischen Hofprediger in Dresden: Grundzüge ihrer Geschichte und …'' Franz Steiner, 2006, * Adolf Brecher
Hoë von Hoënegg, Matthias.
In:

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...

(ADB). Vol 12, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, S. 541–549. * *

External links

*
Church history of Saxony
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoe Von Hoenegg, Matthias 1580 births 1645 deaths 17th-century German Lutheran clergy German people of Austrian descent University of Wittenberg alumni University of Vienna alumni Clergy from Vienna