Reuchlin, Johannes

Reuchlin, Johannes

(born Feb. 22, 1455, Pforzheim, Württemberg—died June 6, 1522, Bad Liebnzell) German humanist. After obtaining his law degree in 1481, he held court and judicial posts in Württemberg and its capital, Stuttgart, from the 1480s until 1512. Second only to Desiderius Erasmus among the German humanists, Reuchlin was a pioneer in the scientific study of Classical Greek and translated many Classical texts. His grammar and lexicon, On the Fundamentals of Hebrew (1506), revolutionized Hebrew studies and advanced Old Testament research. His opposition to the Dominicans' plan to destroy all Hebrew literature was one of the great controversies prior to the outbreak of the Reformation, and in 1516 he was acquitted of heresy by a papal commission. Philipp Melanchthon was his nephew.