This week in Christian history: NY diocese formed, Friedrich Myconius dies, Thomas Brownell ordained
Friedrich Myconius dies – April 7, 1546
This week marks the anniversary of when Friedrich Myconius, a former Catholic priest- turned-Protestant Reformation leader and close friend of Martin Luther, died from a lengthy illness.
A native of Lichtenfels, Franconia, which is located in modern Germany, Myconius had been a Catholic priest and member of the Franciscan order until he read Luther's 95 Theses.
Myconius became good friends with Luther and made efforts to spread the Reformation ideas throughout Central Europe and England.
“Myconius, together with [other Protestant leaders] was entrusted with the mission of introducing the Reformation into Saxony, and particularly into Leipsic,” noted the McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia.
“Yet he always remained especially attached to Gotha and Thuringia. In the former city he founded afterwards celebrated gymnasium, and he used every exertion to procure for institutions of learning the necessary endowments.”
