Background
Martin Bucer was born in 1491 in Sélestat (Schlettstadt), Alsace, a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. His father and grandfather, both named Claus Butzer, were coopers (barrelmakers) by trade.
Butzer
liturgical scholar mediator reformer
Martin Bucer was born in 1491 in Sélestat (Schlettstadt), Alsace, a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. His father and grandfather, both named Claus Butzer, were coopers (barrelmakers) by trade.
Bucer entered the Dominican monastic order in 1506. He was sent to study at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, where he became acquainted with the works of the great humanist scholar Erasmus and of Martin Luther, the founder of the Protestant Reformation. In 1521 Bucer withdrew from the Dominicans and entered the service of the count palatine of the Rhine, one of the seven electors of the Holy Roman emperor.
In 1506, Bucer became a Dominican, but at Heidelberg in 1521 he heard Martin Luther and was converted to Protestanism. He left the Dominican order and became chaplain to the Elector Palatine. After preaching a while at Wittenberg, he went in 1523 to Strasbourg, where he became one of the principal leaders of the German Protestants. He tried to reconcile the differences between the opposing schools of Protestant thought of Zwingli and Luther and in 1540 and 1541 attempted to bring about a reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants, but he refused to sign the Augsburg Interim in 1548. Consequently he was forced to leave Strasbourg. He accepted the invitation of Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, to go to England, where Edward VI commissioned him to prepare a Latin translation of the Bible. Later he became Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge.
Martin Bucer is chiefly remembered for his promotion of doctrinal unity, or ecumenism, and his lifelong struggle to create an inclusive church. He influenced Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican doctrines and practices.
Bucer believed that the Catholics in the Holy Roman Empire could be convinced to join the Reformation. Through a series of conferences organised by Charles V, he tried to unite Protestants and Catholics to create a German national church separate from Rome. He did not achieve this, as political events led to the Schmalkaldic War and the retreat of Protestantism within the Empire.
Bucer was originally a member of the Dominican Order.
In his view the Reformation was not only concerned with the church, but in all areas of life. Noting the difficult social conditions in England, he promoted the role of deacons to care for the poor and needy. He described marriage as a social contract rather than a sacrament, hence he permitted divorce, a modern idea that was considered too advanced for its time. He advocated the restructuring of economic and administrative systems with suggestions for improving industry, agriculture, and education. His ideal society was distinctively authoritarian, with a strong emphasis on Christian discipline.
In summer 1522, he met and married Elisabeth Silbereisen, a former nun. Bucer's wife Elisabeth died on 16 November 1541. During Elisabeth's final hours, she urged Bucer to marry Capito's widow, Wibrandis Rosenblatt, after her death. He married Rosenblatt on 16 April 1542, as her fourth husband - she had outlived Ludwig Keller, Johannes Oecolampadius, and Wolfgang Capito. She brought with her four children from her previous marriages. The new couple produced a daughter, whom they named Elisabeth.
