Johann Maier von Eck | |
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 Johann Maier von Eck | |
| Born | 13 November 1486 |
| Died | 10 February 1543(1543-02-10) (aged 56) |
| Occupation(s) | German Scholastic theologian, Catholic prelate, and earlycounterreformer |
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Johann Maier von Eck (13 November 1486 – 13 February 1543), oftenanglicized asJohn Eck, was a GermanCatholic theologian,scholastic,prelate, and opponent ofMartin Luther.
Johann Eck was bornJohann Maier at Eck (later Egg, nearMemmingen, Swabia) and derived his additional surname from his birthplace, which he himself, after 1523, always modified into Eckius or Eccius, i.e. "of Eck". His father, Michael Maier, was a peasant andbailiff, orAmtmann, of the village. The boy's education was undertaken by his uncle, Martin Maier, parish priest atRottenburg on the riverNeckar.[1]
At the age of 12 he entered theUniversity of Heidelberg, which he left in the following year forTübingen.[2] After taking his master's degree in 1501, he began the study of theology under Johann Jakob Lempp, and studied the elements of Hebrew and political economy withKonrad Summenhart [de;it].[3]
Johann Eck leftTübingen in 1501 on account of the plague and after a year atCologne finally settled atFreiburg University, at first as a student of theology and law and later as a successful teacher where he was mentor to the prominentAnabaptist leader ofWaldshut andNikolsburg,Balthasar Hubmaier, and later retaining this relationship during their move to theUniversity of Ingolstadt. In 1508 he entered the priesthood inStrasbourg and two years later obtained his doctorate in theology.[3]
AtFreiburg in 1506 he published his first work,Ludicra logices exercitamenta. At odds with his colleagues, he accepted a call to a theological chair atIngolstadt in November 1510, also receiving a canon at Eichstadt. In 1512 he became prochancellor at the university and made the institution a bulwark ofCatholicism. In the theological field he produced hisChrysopassus (Augsburg, 1514), in which he developed a theory ofpredestination, and also commented on theSummulae ofPeter of Spain and onAristotle'sDe caelo andDe anima.[3]
As apolitical economist he defended the lawfulness of putting out capital at interest,[4][3][1] arguing his view at disputations atAugsburg (1514),Bologna (1515), andVienna in 1516 where he also disputed about predestination. Through these successes he gained the patronage of theFuggers.[1][5]
Between 1516 and 1520, in addition to all his other duties, he published commentaries on theSummulae of Petrus Hispanus, and on theDialectics,Physics and lesser scientific works of Aristotley. During these early years, Eck was considered a modern theologian, and his commentaries were informed by theNew Learning. His aim, however, had been to find avia media between old and new.[1]
He championed the cause of the papacy, writingDe primatu Petri in 1519, and hisEnchiridion locorum communium adversus Lutherum ran through 46 editions between 1525 and 1576. From 1530 to 1535 he published a collection of his writings against Luther,Opera contra Ludderum, in 4 vols. He verbally assailed his friend, humanist and juristUlrich Zasius, for a doctrine proclaimed ten years before, andErasmus'sAnnotationes in Novum Testamentum. Eck died atIngolstadt on 10 February 1543.[1]
As early as the spring of 1517 Eck had entered into friendly relations withMartin Luther, who had regarded him as in harmony with his own views, but this relationship was short-lived. In hisObelisci, Eck attacked Luther's theses, which had been sent to him byChristoph von Scheurl, and accused him of promoting the "heresy of theBohemian Brethren", fostering anarchy within the Church[3] and branded him aHussite.[1] Luther replied in hisAsterisci adversus obeliscos Eccii, whileAndreas Karlstadt defended Luther's views ofindulgences and engaged in a violent controversy with Eck.[3]
A mutual desire for a public disputation led to a compact between Eck and Luther by which the former pledged himself to meet Karlstadt in debate atErfurt orLeipzig, on condition that Luther abstain from all participation in the discussion. In December 1518, Eck published the twelve theses which he was prepared to uphold against Karlstadt, but since they were aimed at Luther rather than at the ostensible opponent, Luther addressed an open letter to Karlstadt, in which he declared himself ready to meet Eck in debate.[3]
The disputation between Eck and Karlstadt began atLeipzig on 27 June 1519. In the first four sessions Eck maintained the thesis thatfree will is the active agent in the creation ofgood works, but he was compelled by his opponent to modify his position so as to concede that the grace of God and free will work in harmony toward the common end. Karlstadt then proceeded to argue that good works are to be ascribed to the agency of God alone, whereupon Eck yielded so far as to admit that free will is passive in the beginning of conversion, although he maintained that in the course of time it enters into its rights; so that while the entirety of good works originates in God, their accomplishment is not entirely the work of God.[3]
Despite the fact that Eck was thus virtually forced to abandon his position, he succeeded in confusing Karlstadt and carried off the victory. He was less successful against Luther, who, according to Eck, was his superior in memory, acumen, and learning.[3] After a disputation on the supremacy of thepapacy,purgatory, penance, etc., lasting twenty-three days (4 July–27 July), the arbitrators declined to give a verdict. Eck did succeed in making Luther admit that there was some truth in the Hussite opinions and declare himself against thePope, but this success only embittered his animosity against his opponents.[1] Eck also forced Luther to declare thatEcumenical Councils were sometimes errant, as in the case when Constance (1414–1418) condemned Hus (1415). Luther effectively denied the authority of both pope and council. Eck was greeted as victor by the theologians of theUniversity of Leipzig.[3]
Soon after his return to Ingolstadt, Eck attempted to persuade ElectorFrederick of Saxony to have Luther's works burned in public, and during the year 1519 he published eight writings against the new movement. He failed, however, to obtain a condemnatory decision from the universities appointed to pronounce on the outcome of theLeipzig disputation. Erfurt returned the proceedings of the meeting to the Saxon duke without signifying its approval, whileParis, after repeated urging, gave an ambiguous decision limited to "the doctrine of Luther so far as investigated".[3]
Eck's only followers were the aged heretic-hunterHoogstraten andEmser of Leipzig, together with the allied authorities of the universities ofCologne andLeuven. Luther returned Eck's assaults with more than equal vehemence and about this timePhilipp Melanchthon wrote toŒcolampadius that at Leipzig he had first become distinctly aware of the difference between what he considered to be true Christian theology and the scholasticism of theAristotelian doctors. In hisExcusatio Eck retorted thatMelanchthon knew nothing of theology, a claim Melanchthon responded to in his reply.[3]
Eck fared still worse in October of the same year when he sought to aidEmser with a strongly worded tirade against Luther. Two satires, one byŒcolampadius and the other byWillibald Pirckheimer, angered Eck who pushed for the public burning of the entire literature in the market-place atIngolstadt, an act from which he was restrained by his colleagueReuchlin.[3]
Johann Eck was more highly esteemed in Rome than in Germany,[3] where he induced the universities ofCologne andLouvain to condemn Luther's writings, but failed to enlist the German princes.[1] In January 1520, he visited Italy at the invitation ofPope Leo X, to whom he presented his latest workDe primate Petri adversus Ludderum (Ingolstadt, 1520) for which he was rewarded with the nomination to the office ofpapal protonotary, although his efforts to urge theCuria to decisive action against Luther were unsuccessful for some time.[3]
In July he returned to Germany with the bullExsurge Domine directed against Luther's writings, in which forty-one propositions of Luther were condemned as heretical or erroneous. He now believed himself in a position to crush not only the "Lutheranheretics", but also his humanist critics. The effect of the publication of the bull, however, made this difficult.[3] Universities and humanists were at one in denunciation of the outrage; and, due the attitude of the people, Eck was barely able to escape fromSaxony alive.[1]
AtMeissen,Brandenburg, andMerseburg, he succeeded in giving the papal measure due official publicity, but atLeipzig he was the object of the ridicule of the student body and was compelled to flee by night toFreiberg, where he was again prevented from proclaiming the bull. AtErfurt the students tore the bull down and threw it into the water, while in other places the papal decree was subjected to still greater insults.[3]
In his anger he appealed to force, and hisEpistola ad Carolum V (18 February 1521) called on the emperor to take measures against Luther, an appeal soon answered by theEdict of Worms (May 1521). In 1521 and 1522 Eck was again in Rome, reporting on the results of hisnunciature. On his return from his second visit he was the prime mover in the promulgation of the Bavarian religious edict of 1522, which practically established the senate of theUniversity of Ingolstadt as a tribunal of theInquisition. In return for this action of the duke, who had at first been opposed to the policy of repression, Eck obtained for him, during a third visit to Rome in 1523, valuable ecclesiastical concessions. He continued unabated in his zeal against the reformers, publishing eight major works from 1522 to 1526.[1]
Wealth and power were included in the aspirations of Eck. He appropriated the revenues of his parish ofGünzburg, while he relegated its duties to a vicar. Twice he visited Rome as a diplomatic representative of theBavarian court to obtain sanction for the establishment of a court of inquisition against the Lutheran teachings at Ingolstadt. The first of these journeys, late in the autumn of 1521, was fruitless on account of the death ofLeo X, but his second journey two years later, in 1523, was successful. Eck was the prime mover in many heresy trials, including that of Leonhard Kaser, whose history was published by Luther.[3]
In addition to his inquisitorial duties, every year witnessed the publication of one or more writings againsticonoclasm and in defense of the doctrines of the Mass,purgatory, andauricular confession. HisEnchiridion locorum communium adversus Lutherum et alios hostes ecclesiae (Landshut, 1525) went through forty-six editions before 1576. As its title indicates, it was directed primarily against Melanchthon'sLoci Communes, although it also concerned itself to some extent with the teachings ofHuldrych Zwingli.[3]
AtBaden-in-Aargau from 21 May until 18 June 1526 a public disputation on the doctrine oftransubstantiation was held, in which Eck andThomas Murner were pitted againstJohann Oecolampadius.[1] The affair ended decidedly in favor of Eck, who induced the authorities to enter on a course of active persecution of Zwingli and his followers (Conference of Baden).[3]
The effect of his victory at Baden was dissipated, however, at theBern Disputation (January 1528), where the propositions advanced by the Reformers were debated in the absence of Eck, andBern,Basel, and other places were definitely won for the Reformation. At theDiet of Augsburg (1530), Eck played the leading part among the Roman Catholic theologians.[3]
For theDiet of Augsburg, while still at Ingolstadt, Eck compiled what he considered to be 404 heretical propositions[6] from the writings of the reformers[3] as an aid toCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
At Augsburg he was charged by the Emperor to draw up, in concert with twenty other theologians, a refutation of the LutheranAugsburg Confession, which had been delivered to the emperor on 25 June 1530, but he had to rewrite it five times before it suited the emperor.[1] It was known as theConfutatio pontificia, embodying the Catholic reaction to the reformers. He also was involved in the fruitless negotiations with the Protestant theologians, includingPhilipp Melanchthon, that took place at Augsburg; Eck withWimpina andCochlæus met the Lutherans in August.[7]
He was at theColloquy of Worms in 1540 where he showed some signs of a willingness to compromise.[1] In January 1541 he renewed these efforts and succeeded in impressing Melanchthon as being prepared to give his assent to the main principles of the reformers, e.g.justification by faith; but at thediet of Regensburg in the spring and summer of 1541, he reasserted his opposition.[3] Afterwards Eck clashed withMartin Bucer over the latter's published report of the diet.
Eck produced a German translation of the Bible (the New Testament, a revision of H. Emser's rendering) which was first published at Ingolstadt in 1537.[3]
Eck made a sermon on the genealogy of Christ, namingMary's mother's parents asEmerentia and Stollanus: "The renowned Father John of Eck of Ingolstadt, in a sermon on St. Anne (published at Paris in 1579), pretends to know even the names of the parents St. Anne. He calls them Stollanus and Emerentia. He says that St. Anne was born after Stollanus and Emerentia had been childless for twenty years".[8]
In 1541 Eck published hisAgainst the Defense of the Jews (German:Ains Juden-büechlins Verlegung). In it he opposes the position of the Nuremberg reformerAndreas Osiander, who in the pamphletWhether It Be True and Credible That the Jews Secretly Strangulate Christian Children andMake Use of Their Blood wanted to quash medieval suspicion that Jews were responsible for killing Christian children, desecrating theeucharistic Host, and poisoning wells. Eck accused Osiander of being a "Jew-protector" and "Jew-father", and no fewer than nineteen times reviled the Jews, and called them "a blasphemous race".[9]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Eck, Johann Maier".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
This article incorporates text from a publication in thepublic domain: Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. (1914)."Eck, Johann".New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls.
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Eck at post reformation digital library:https://www.prdl.org/author_view.php?a_id=726
