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Dietrich Coelde[1] (1435 – 11 December 1515) was a GermanFranciscan missionary.
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Coelde was born atMünster, made his first studies atCologne, and entered theOrder of the Hermits of St. Augustine at an early age. In 1454 he was received into the Franciscan Order in theNetherlands. When theplague broke out atBrussels in 1489, Coelde ministered to the dying. Before the end of the plague, more than thirty-two thousand had received thelast rites from him. Coelde died atLeuven, aged 80. In 1618 his remains were exhumed, and, after the suppression of the Franciscan convent at Leuven, were transferred toSint-Truiden, where they now repose behind thehigh altar.
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In 1470, Coelde composed a brief, popular treatise on the Catholic Faith, entitled "Kerstenspiegel" or "Christenspiegel" (The Christian's Mirror), which is considered to be the first Germancatechism. It went through thirty-two editions inLow German and two inHigh German, and came to be used throughout Germany and the Netherlands as the principal work of popular instruction in religious matters. At the request of his friend and admirer,Hermann of Wied, he wrote a series of meditations on the sufferings of Christ, which appeared probably about the same time as the "Christenspiegel".
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Theodore Coelde".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.