Justus Menius (13 December 1499 – 11 August 1558) was a GermanLutheranpastor andProtestant reformer whose name isLatinized fromJost orJust (i.e.Jodocus)Menig.
Menius was born inFulda to poor but respectable parents. Entering theUniversity of Erfurt in 1514, he received his bachelor's degree in 1515 and his master's degree in 1516. At this time, in association with the keenhumanistsConrad Mutian,Crotus Rubeanus, andEoban Hess, Menius became more sceptical. Moving toWittenberg in 1519, he became evangelical under the teaching ofPhilipp Melanchthon and the preaching ofMartin Luther.[1]
After travel inItaly (1521-1522) Menius was appointed (1523) town preacher atWittenberg, but was soon transferred to the charge ofMühlberg, under Erfurt. Here he published his commentary onActs (1524) and married. He resigned his charge (1525) and opened a school at Erfurt, but the town council insisted on his resuming his ministry, appointing him preacher in St Thomas, Erfurt. He worked in conjunction with Luther's friend,John Lange, and was opposed by theFranciscans underConrad Kling.[1]
Menius left forGotha (1528), resumed teaching, and enjoyed the friendship ofFriedrich Myconius.John, Elector of Saxony, had placed him on the commission for church visitation inThuringia, and in 1529 appointed him pastor and superintendent atEisenach, where for eighteen years he administered church affairs with tact, and fostered the spread of education. In 1529 he brought out hisOeconomia christiana (a treatise in German, on the right ordering of a Christian household) with a dedication to DuchessSybil of Saxony and a preface by Luther. Menius'stractate, written in concert with Myconius, controvertingDer Wiedertaufer Lehre und Geheimniss (1530) was also prefaced by Luther.[1]
The reversion to the Roman communion of his old friend Crotus led to his mordantResponsio amici (1532, anon.) to theApologia (1531) of Crotus. He took his part in the theological disputations of the time, atMarburg (1529), the Concordia at Wittenberg (1536), theConvention at Schmalkalden (1537), and the discussions atHagenau andWorms (1540). His tractate (1542) against the permission ofbigamy in the case ofPhilip of Hesse was not allowed to be printed (the manuscript is in theUniversity of Heidelberg library).[1]
In 1542 Menius moved toMühlhausen, being appointed byMaurice, Elector of Saxony, for the ordering of the church there. On the death of Myconius (1546) he was entrusted with the oversight of Gotha, in addition to that of Eisenach; to Gotha he returned in 1547.[1]
The remainder of his life was not happy. He was against theLeipzig Interim (1548) with its compromise on some Catholic usages, and was involved in controversies and quarrels; withGeorgius Merula, against whom he maintained the need of exorcism in baptism; withOsiander's adherents in the matter ofjustification; with his colleague,Nicholas von Amsdorf, to whom he had resigned theEisenach superintendency; withFlacius Illyricus, and others.[2]
He lost favor withJohn Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, fell into bad health, was deposed (1555) from his offices, and was disappointed in his hopes of being reinstated, after the colloquy at Eisenach (1556). He died atLeipzig.[3]
Menius was twice married, and had several sons, of whom Eusebius held a chair of philosophy at Wittenberg, and married Melanchthon's granddaughter, Anna Sabinus.[3]
G. L. Schmidt wrote a full bibliography of the numerous writings of Menius, who translated several of Luther's biblical commentaries into German. HisOeconomia was reprinted in 1855.[3]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Gordon, Alexander (1911). "Menius, Justus". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 131–132.