CAMERARIUS, Joachim

(1500-1574)

Joachim Camerarius, a German classicist and theologian, edited and translated works of numerous classical authors, wrote biographies of contemporary hu­manists, helped reorganize the universities at Tübingen and Leipzig, and had a moderating influence on Lutheranism in the Augsburg Diets. The son of an episcopal official, Camerarius was born in Franconia and studied at the univer­sities in Leipzig and Erfurt, where he joined the humanist circle. He went on to Wittenberg in 1521, where he became a pupil of Philip Melanchthon* and a renowned scholar of classical Greek. In a distinguished academic career, he advanced from rector of the gymnasium in Nuremberg to a professorship at the University of Tübingen and then to dean at the University of Leipzig. He pub­lished over 150 works, mostly editions and translations of Greek authors, in­cluding Homer, Sophocles, Herodotus, Thucydides, Aristotle, Ptolemy, and Galen. In addition to his classical works, he wrote biographies of Eobanus Hes-sus, Duke George of Anhalt, and Philip Melanchthon. He worked to promote religious compromise, serving in 1530 as a deputy of the city at the Diet of Augsburg, where he helped write the Augsburg Confession. He participated in discussions with Francois I* in 1535 and Maximilian II in 1568 regarding re­uniting Catholics and Protestants.

By supporting Luther in the 1520s, he contributed to the initial success of Protestantism, and by advocating flexibility and compromise, he exerted a peace­ful influence during a period of religious strife. Through his administration and promotion of classical studies, Camerarius helped turn Tübingen and Leipzig into leading Protestant universities.

Bibliography

M. Forster in The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation, ed., H. J. Hillerbrand, 1995: 249.

Tim McGee