Johannes Bugenhagen

Johannes Bugenhagen
Bugenhagen in 1537 by Lucas Cranach
Born	(1485-06-24)24 June 1485 Wollin (Wolin), Pomerania, Holy Roman Empire
Died	20 April 1558(1558-04-20) (aged 72) Wittenberg, Saxony, Holy Roman Empire
Occupation	Priest, Theologian
Spouse(s)	Walpurga Bugenhagen, maiden name unknown (13 October 1522)
Children	Johannes (the Younger, 1531/2-1592, professor for theology at the University of Wittenberg) Martha Sara
Parent(s)	Gerhard Bugenhagen

Johannes Bugenhagen (24 June 1485 – 20 April 1558), also called Doctor Pomeranus by Martin Luther, introduced the Protestant Reformation in the Duchy of Pomerania and Denmark in the 16th century. Among his major accomplishments was organization of Lutheran churches in Northern Germany and Scandinavia. He has also been called the second Apostle of the North.

Johannes Bugenhagen was pastor to Martin Luther at St. Mary's church in Wittenberg. He is also commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod as a pastor on 20 April.

Bugenhagen was born in Wollin (now Wolin), Duchy of Pomerania, on 24 June 1485 as one of three children of local Ratsherr Gerhard Bugenhagen. From 1502 to 1504, he studied artes at the University of Greifswald. In 1504, he moved to Treptow an der Rega (now Trzebiatów) and became Rector of the local school. Though he had not studied theology, he was ordained as a priest in Treptow's St. Mary's Church in 1509, and served as a vicar at the Kanonikerkolleg of that church thereafter.

In 1517, abbot Johann Boldewan called Bugenhagen to his nearby Belbuck Abbey, where he was appointed Biblical lecturer, where Boldewan and Bugenhagen became the core of a Humanist circle. Duke Bogislav X of Pomerania ordered Bugenhagen to write down the history of Pomerania in Latin. The year 1518 is the beginning of historical writing of the combined territory Pomerania.