Valentin Krautwald

Valentin Krautwald (Latin: Cratoaldus) (1465–1545) was a German religious reformer, lector of theology at Liegnitz, and colleague of Caspar Schwenckfeld.

Born into a burger family of Neisse (now Nysa, Poland), he was supported in his higher education by Johann Thurzo. He was for several years in Krakow. On his returned with a doctorate, the bishop made him a canon in Neisse and appointed him notary in his office.

Thurzo had sympathy with the reforming views of Martin Luther, and Krautwald took a leading role in a small early evangelical congregation, around Breslau. At this point Jan Hess was still hesitant about reform, though in contact with Luther and Philip Melanchthon. Via correspondence with Wittenberg, the Protestant-minded Frederick II of Legnica called Krautwald in 1523 to become Lector of theology and canon of the collegiate church in Legnica. There Krautwald came into close contact with Caspar Schwenckfeld, personally but also as a scholar and theologian.

In particular Krautwald influenced Schwenckfeld's doctrine of the Eucharist. It was unacceptable to Luther, who attacked Krautwald in a pamphlet of 1526. The controversy drew in the Breslau bishop Jakob von Salza, without a resolution in sight. Schwenckfeld chose voluntary exile in 1529; but Krautwald was left isolated in an unsatisfactory position. He died in Liegnitz in 1545.

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