Melanchthon, Philipp

Melanchthon, Philipp

 orig. Philipp Schwartzerd

Philipp Melanchthon, engraving by Albrecht Dürer, 1526.

(credit: Courtesy of the Staatliche Museen Kuperstichkabinett, Berlin)

(born Feb. 15, 1497, Bretten, Palatinate—died April 19, 1560, probably Wittenberg, Saxony) German Protestant reformer. His education in Germany was greatly influenced by humanist learning, and he was named professor of Greek at Wittenberg in 1518. A friend and defender of Martin Luther, Melanchthon was the author of Loci communes (1521), the first systematic treatment of the principles of the Reformation, and of the Protestant creed known as the Augsburg Confession (1530). He also reorganized the entire educational system of Germany, founding and reforming several of its universities. His willingness to compromise with Catholics on theological issues in his later years became controversial.