Philipp Melanchthon, German theologian

Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560), German theologian of the Protestant Reformation. Born Philipp Schwartzerd near Karlsruhe, he was educated at the Latin schol at Pforzheim. He was strongly influenced by humanism, the attempt to reconcile the classics with christianity, and translated his name into Greek and became known as Melanchthon. In 1509, aged thirteen, he entered the University of Heidelberg to study philosophy and astronomy. He was refused a degree on account of his youth, so went to Tubingen to continue his education. In theology classes he decided that true Christianity was different from scholastic theology. He accepted Luther's invitation to become professor at Wittenberg where he set about the intellectual foundation of the Protestant Reformation by making the distiction between the Papacy and its rules and the individual's contact with Christ through scripture., by ETH ZURICH/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY