Johann von Staupitz

Johann von Staupitz
Engraving of Johann von Staupitz, 1889
Born	ca. 1460 Motterwitz, Saxony
Died	December 28, 1524(1524-12-28) St Peter's Archabbey, Salzburg
Theological work

Johann von Staupitz, O.S.B., (ca. 1460, Motterwitz – 28 December 1524, St Peter's Archabbey, Salzburg) was a theologian, university preacher, and Vicar General of the Augustinian friars in Germany, who supervised Martin Luther during a critical period in his spiritual life. Martin Luther himself remarked, "If it had not been for Dr. Staupitz, I should have sunk in hell." Although he died as a Benedictine monk and had repudiated the Reformation, he is commemorated on 8 November as a priest in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

Staupitz was born in Motterwitz around 1460. Descended from an old Saxon family of Czech origin (ze Stupic), he matriculated in the year 1485 and was accepted into the Augustinian order in Munich before being posted to Tübingen, where he was eventually promoted to the rank of prior. In 1500, Staupitz was made a Doctor of Theology and in 1503 he was elected to the post of Vicar general of the German Congregation of Augustinians. He was also made dean of the theology faculty at the new University of Wittenberg when it was founded in 1502. In 1512, while in his fifties, Staupitz resigned his professorship and relocated to the southern part of Germany, resigning his vicar-generalship officially in 1520. In 1522 he accepted an offer from the Benedictines inviting him to join their order, becoming Abbot of St Peter's in Salzburg.