Augustine of Alfeld

Augustine of Alveldt (also Alveld, Alvelt; * 1480 in Alfeld, near Hildesheim, † about 1535 probably in Halle ( Saale) ) was a Franciscan monk and controversial theologian. He was one of the earliest and most aggressive opponent of Martin Luther and the Reformation.

Life

About his parents and his youth nothing is known, he probably studied in a convent school. Augustine of Alveldt possessed great linguistic skills, mastered Latin fluently, was familiar with the classics, had knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, and also the humanist writings of his time were not unknown to him. He was a man of keen and analytical mind.

In 1520 he became Lecturer in Biblical interpretation in the Franciscan monastery in Leipzig. He wrote in the same year published in Leipzig font apostolica super sede, in which he explained every heretic who does not accept the divine right of the papacy. Martin Luther had this scripture through his famulus, answer the Augustinian Johannes Lonicer, with a rebuttal. A reworked translation, published in German as Augustine of Alveldt shortly thereafter, Luther wrote the reply itself the end of May 1520 seemed to be the font from the papacy to Rome against the highly famous Romanist in Leipzig. In a response to Augustine raised the question whether the chalice withdrawal is justified in the communion of the Bible. Luther addressed this issue and linked with the answer an inquiry about the Sacrament issue in general, which appeared in October 1520 as the extensive font Babylonian Captivity ecclesiae praeludium.

On January 20, 1521 Augustin led by Alveldt in Weimar a public theological dispute about the merits of the monastic life between Johann Lange and Mechler on one side and the Franciscans on the other side. A similar dispute against Long was followed on January 15, 1522 at the Frauenkirche in Weimar, in which Augustine defended the monastic life against the Reformers.

He has served since 1523 the Office of the Guardian of the monastery in Hall, 1529 he was provincial of his order in Saxony.