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Georg(e) Spalatin (German:[ˈʃpaːlatiːn]) was thepseudonym taken byGeorg Burkhardt (German:[ˈɡeːɔʁkˈbʊʁkhaʁt]; 17 January 1484 – 16 January 1545), a Germanhumanist, theologian,reformer, secretary of the Saxon ElectorFrederick the Wise, as well as an important figure in the history of theReformation.
Burkhardt was born atSpalt (from which he took theLatinized name "Spalatinus"), nearNuremberg, where his father was a tanner. He went to Nuremberg for his education when he was thirteen years of age, and soon afterward to theUniversity of Erfurt, he received his bachelor's degree in 1499. There he attracted the notice ofNikolaus Marschalk, the university's most influential professor, who made Spalatin his amanuensis and took him to the newUniversity of Wittenberg in 1502.[1] There he lived in quarters on the Schlossplatz just east ofSchlosskirche, Wittenberg.[2]
In 1505 Spalatin returned toErfurt to studyjurisprudence. He was recommended toConrad Mutianus and was welcomed by the German humanists of whom Mutianus was chief. His friend acquired a post for him as a teacher of novices in the monastery atGeorgenthal, and in 1508 he was ordainedpriest by Bishop Johann von Laasphe, who had ordainedMartin Luther. In 1509 Mutianus recommended him toFrederick III the Wise, the Elector of Saxony, who sent him back to Wittenberg in 1511 to act as tutor to his nephews, including the future electorJohn Frederick.[1]
Spalatin speedily gained Frederick's confidence and was rewarded with a canon's stall inAltenburg. In 1512 the elector made him his librarian. He was also promoted to be courtchaplain and secretary and took charge of all the elector's private and public correspondence. His solid scholarship, and especially his unusual mastery ofGreek, made him indispensable to the Saxon court.[1]
Spalatin had never cared fortheology, and, although a priest and a preacher, had been ahumanist. How he first became acquainted with Luther is unknown — probably at Wittenberg — but the reformer became his chief counselor in all moral and religious matters. His letters to Luther have been lost, but the answers remain. He read Luther's writings to the elector and translated for his benefit those in Latin intoGerman.[1]
Spalatin accompanied Frederick to theDiet of Augsburg in 1518, and shared in the negotiations with thepapal legates,Thomas Cajetan andKarl von Miltitz. He was with the elector whenCharles V was chosen emperor and crowned and at theDiet of Worms, through all the troubled diplomacy of the earlier years of the Reformation. Spalatin dissuaded Luther repeatedly from publishing books or engaging in overt acts against thepapacy, but was ready to translate the books or justify the acts when they were done.[1]
On the death of Frederick in 1525, Spalatin left the Saxon court but continued to attend the imperial diets and became an advisor to John and John Frederick. He went into the residence as a canon at Altenburg and incited the chapter to institute reforms, somewhat unsuccessfully. He married in the same year.[1]
During the later portion of his life, from 1526 onwards, Spalatin was chiefly engaged in the visitation of churches and schools in theElectorate of Saxony, reporting on the confiscation and application of ecclesiastical revenues, and he was asked to undertake the same work for Albertine Saxony. He was also a permanent visitor of Wittenberg University. Shortly before his death, he fell into a state of profound melancholy and died at Altenburg.[1] He was buried in the vault of the St. Bartholomew church.
A list of Spalatin's works, published and unpublished, may be found inAdolf Seelheim'sGeorg Spalatin als sächsischer Historiograph (1876). They include:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Spalatin, George".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 591.