Friedrich Myconius

1490-1546. German Reformer. Born in Lichtenfels, he entered the Franciscan Order in Annaberg in 1510. He was transferred to the monastery in Leipzig and then to Weimar. He was an assiduous student of theology and the Scripture; the doctrine of predestination troubled him greatly. In 1516 he was ordained priest and with the onset of the Lutheran movement found himself greatly in sympathy with it. Feeling himself threatened, he fled the monastery (1524) and went to Zwickau. From there, on the invitation of Duke John he went to Gotha. Here he furthered ecclesiastical and educational reforms, winning the friendship of Luther and Melanchthon, and later of Justus Menius.

He won the respect of Elector John Frederick of Saxony. He participated in visitations in Thuringia, the Marburg Colloquy* (1529), the Wittenberg Concord* (1536), the Smalcald* synod (1537), and the Colloquy of Hagenau* (1540). In 1538 he went with Francis Burkhardt and George von Boyneburg to England for the dialogues with the English theologians, but was disappointed with Henry VIII's attitude. He was especially gratified to be instrumental in aiding the establishment of the Reformation in Ducal Saxony, particularly in Annaberg. He wrote a Historia Reformationis, 1517-42-a valuable account by a contemporary-and German tracts, among them Wie man die Einfältigen, und sonderlich die Kranken, im Christenthum unterrichten soll. His own spiritual struggles, the integrity of his character, and his irenic spirit make him one of the most appealing figures of the Reformation era.