SPENGLER, Lazarus

(1479-1534)

A civic leader and champion of the Reformation in Nuremberg, Lazarus Spengler helped shape that city's political and religious landscapes during a time of momentous change. His father's early death led Spengler to take a job with the government of Nuremberg; in 1507 he became secretary to the city council and functioned as a diplomat who represented the city. He was influenced by the sermons of a number of reformist preachers in Nuremberg, and when Martin Luther* posted his ninety-five theses in 1517, Spengler wrote a spirited defense of him in 1519 that effectively began the Reformation in Nuremberg. Under Spengler's leadership, the city began to appoint Lutheran preachers and provosts and extended its control over the local monasteries and nunneries.

Spengler wanted to remain loyal to the Holy Roman Empire, but refused to bend on any moral questions issuing from his new religious convictions, which inevitably meant a break with Rome. Spengler argued that the truth from Scrip­ture had to outweigh any civil custom, a position that Nuremberg adopted: the city's clergy were subsequently required to be in conformity with official reli­gious policies. The council continued to rely on Spengler to help it hold the line against the Holy Roman Empire, but Spengler, like Luther, was opposed to any use of force to protect the Reformation. As hostilities between the Lutherans and the Catholics continued to grow, Nuremberg refused to join in any alliance against the emperor, and this refusal meant that the city and Spengler gave up their leading role in the spread of the Reformation and in the affairs of the Holy Roman Empire. By 1534 illness had confined Spengler to his home, and he died there on 7 September 1534, leaving behind a permanent legacy of Protestantism in Nuremberg.

Bibliography

H. J. Grimm, Lazarus Spengler: A Lay Leader ofthe Reformation, 1978.

Connie S. Evans