WITZEL, Georg

Der Hunderst vnnd zwentzigist Psalm Dauids, Christlich ausgelegt

      Melchior Lotter, Leipzig 1535 19th century paper covered boards. BOUND WITH WITZEL, Georg. Adhortatiuncula, ut vocetur concilium, ad archiepiscopum Moguntinen. &c. privatim scripta a Georgio Vuicelio. Leipzig: Ex officina Nicolae Fabri, 1534. 4to. [8] pp. (last page blank). 4to . I. Rare text on the 120th psalm of David by the German humanist Georg Witzel (1501-1573) who was active in church reform but stayed with the Catholic Church which led to numerous difficulties in his professional life. Witzel, who had taken holy orders, nevertheless married in 1523 and received help from Luther. He always believed the break in the church to be just a temporary and would eventually be healed. This caused friction with the reformers when he sought a university position at Erfurt and later with the Catholic Church when he sought a Papal dispensation. "Without quite realizing it, Witzel never really abandoned his hopes of seeing the Catholic Church reformed along humanistic lines" (see. Contemporaries of Erasmus, III, pp. 458-9). OCLC only locates a microfilm. II. Open letter from Witzel to Albert of Brandenburg, Archbishop and Elector of Mainz, Cardinal (1490-1545) in 1532. Albert was an important and influential German humanist who strove to prevent the radicalization of the religious conflict touched off by Luther and his followers. He often used his office to stall or delay the persecution of religious offenders to avoid an open rebellion on the part of the adherents of Luther. (see Contemporaries of Erasmus, I, 184-187). [40] pp. Blind stamp of the Rochester Seminary Library (deaccessioned). § I. VD16, W3965; Pegg, Swiss, 5344; Richter, Witzel Bibl. 15. II. VD 16, W 3842; Pegg, Swiss, 5302; Richter, Witzel Bibl. 3.