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v t e

Johann Ruchrat von Wesel (died 1481) was a German Scholastic theologian. He objected to the system of indulgences, and has been called a "reformer before the Reformation".

He was born at Oberwesel early in the 15th century. He appears to have been one of the leaders of the humanist movement in Germany, and to have had some intercourse and sympathy with the leaders of the Hussites in Bohemia.

Erfurt was in his day the headquarters of a humanism which was both devout and opposed to the realist metaphysics and the Thomist theology which prevailed in the universities of Cologne and Heidelberg. Wesel was one of the professors at Erfurt between 1445 and 1456, and was vice-rector in 1458. In 1460 he was appointed preacher at Mainz, in 1462 at Worms, and in 1479, when an old and worn-out man, he was brought before the Dominican inquisitor Gerhard Elten of Cologne. The charges brought against him took a theological turn, though they were probably prompted by dislike of his philosophical views. They were chiefly based on a treatise, De indulgentiis, which he had composed while at Erfurt twenty-five years before. He had also written De potestate ecclesiastica. He died under sentence of imprisonment for life in the Augustinian convent in Mainz in 1481.

Theology

It is somewhat difficult to determine the exact theological orientation of Wesel. Ullmann claims him as a "reformer before the Reformation", but, while he mastered the formal principle of Protestantism, that scripture is the sole rule of faith, it is more than doubtful that he had that experimental view of the doctrines of grace which lay at the basis of Reformation theology. He held that Christ is men's righteousness in so far as they are guided by the Holy Ghost, and the love towards God is shed abroad in their hearts, which clearly shows that he held the medieval idea that justification is an habitual grace implanted in men by the gracious act of God. He seems, however, to have protested against certain medieval ecclesiastical ideas which he held to be excrescences erroneously grafted on Christian faith and practice. He objected to the whole system of indulgences; he denied the infallibility of the church, on the ground, that the church contains within it sinners as well as saints; he insisted that papal authority could be upheld only when the pope remained true to the evangel; and he held that a sharp distinction ought to be drawn between ecclesiastical sentences and punishments, and the judgments of God.

Johann also held that God chooses some people to salvation, and believed in a church invisible.

Literature

The best account of Wesel is to be found in K. Ullmann's Reformers before the Reformation. His tract on Indulgences is published in Walch's Monumenta Medii Aevi, volume i., while a report of his trial is given in Ortwin's Fasciculus rerum expetendarum et fugiendarum (ed. by Browne, London, 1690), and d'Argentré's Collectio judiciorum de novis erroribus (Paris, 1728).

See also

• Wessel Gansfort
• Johann von Goch

Notes

1. ^ "Philip Schaff: History of the Christian Church, Volume VI: The Middle Ages. A.D. 1294-1517 - Christian Classics Ethereal Library". ccel.org. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
2. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Wesel, Johann Ruchrat von". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 526.

Further reading

• Heiko Oberman, The Harvest of Medieval Theology: Gabriel Biel and Late Medieval Nominalism, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001.

External links

• "Rucherat, Johannes". Repertorium "Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages" (Geschichtsquellen des deutschen Mittelalters).
• Legal deeds, digitalised manuscripts
• Literature by and about Johann Ruchrat von Wesel in the German National Library catalogue
• Works by and about Johann Ruchrat von Wesel in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (German Digital Library)

v t e Proto-Protestantism
400–1100 AD	People Jovinian Claudius of Turin Gottschalk of Orbais Ratramnus Berengar of Tours Sects and groups Pataria Berengarians
1100–1400 AD	People Tanchelm Peter of Bruys Henry of Lausanne Arnold of Brescia Peter Waldo Milíč of Kroměříž John Wycliffe Matthias of Janov Marsilius of Padua Sects and groups Arnoldists Waldensians Lollardy Strigolniki Friends of God Petrobrusians
1400–1500 AD	People Jan Hus Jan Žižka Mikuláš of Pelhřimov Petr Chelčický Johannes von Goch Johann Ruchrat von Wesel Wessel Gansfort Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples Lorenzo Valla Girolamo Savonarola Luke of Prague Sects and groups Bohemian Reformation Hussites Taborites Utraquism Czech Brethren Piagnoni
Events	Oldcastle Revolt Hussite Wars Compacts of Basel Peace of Kutná Hora Mérindol massacre Savoyard–Waldensian wars Piedmontese Easter
Literature	Wycliffe Bible Hussite Bible Jistebnice hymn book Ecclesiae Regimen Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards Triumph of the Cross (Girolamo Savonarola)
Other	Comparison of Catharism and Protestantism
Italics indicate their inclusion to be controversial or disputed.

• 1481 deaths
• 15th-century German Catholic theologians
• German Renaissance humanists
• People from Oberwesel