Johann Eberlin von Günzburg


Johann Eberlin von Günzburg was a German theologian and reformer who became prominent as the author of reformist flysheets and pamphlets.

Life

Eberlin studied theology in Ingolstadt and qualified in 1490 in Basle as Master of Arts. In Heilbronn he joined the Franciscan Order. From 1493 he was in Freiburg im Breisgau, from 1519 in Tübingen, where he was active as a preacher, and from 1521 in Ulm. Here he left the order and joined the Reformation movement. Eberlin was married in 1524, he had 4 children.
He studied in 1522 with Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon in Wittenberg and from 1523 worked in Basle and Rheinfelden. In 1524 he became a preacher in Erfurt and in 1525, spiritual adviser to Count Georg II von Wertheim. Here was created his translation of the Germania of Tacitus, the oldest German translation of the work. After the death of Georg II in 1530, Eberlin became curate of Lautershausen, where he died three years later.

Works