Eck's Student, Regensburg's Preacher
Balthasar Hubmaier was born around 1480, perhaps a few years later, at Friedberg near Augsburg in Bavaria. He attended the Latin school at Augsburg and entered the University of Freiburg in 1503, where his teacher was Johann Eck, later Luther's most formidable Catholic opponent. Lack of money interrupted his studies, but he returned, and when Eck moved to Ingolstadt Hubmaier followed him. In 1512 he received his doctorate in theology there, became a professor and the university's preacher, and in 1515 its vice-rector.
In 1516 he became cathedral preacher at Regensburg, where his eloquence drew crowds. His years there contain the darkest episode of his life. When the emperor Maximilian, who had protected the city's Jews, died in January 1519, Hubmaier helped lead the campaign to expel them. The Jewish community was driven out within days, the synagogue was torn down, and on its site a chapel to the Beautiful Mary was built, which Hubmaier served as chaplain. Reports of miracles drew thousands of pilgrims to the shrine. Years later, as an Anabaptist, he wrote that Christians ought to show friendship to Jews so that a Christian example might draw them to the faith.
Loading the rest of this biography