BRUNFELS, OTTO: German humanist and Reformer. The date of his birth can not be determined; d. at Bern Nov. 23, 1534. His father was an artisan at Mainz. At an early age he entered the Carthusian order, but the spirit of the age soon drew him out of his convent into the polemics of the time. At first he was a follower of Hutten, for whom he broke a lance with Erasmus, and whose library he used in compiling a small collection of the writings of Huss, which he published in 1524, with a dedication to Luther. He served the Reformation as a preacher, first at Steinheim, and then at Neuenburg in the Breisgau. When the attitude of the imperial government made his position there insecure, he went to Strasburg, where he supported himself by teaching, wrote against tithes, and studied medicine. He was a friend of Luther and also of Carlstadt, but was still more strongly attracted by Zwingli, whose influence procured him a medical position at Bern. His importance lies chiefly in the fact that he was a successful botanist, and a pioneer in this science for Germany, with his extensive illustrated Herbarium (Strasburg, 3 vols., 1530-40, translated into German, 2 parts, 1532-37, 2d ed., 1546).

(W. VOGT.)

BRUNNER (FONTANUS), LEONHARD: German Reformer; b. probably at Esslingen (7 m. e.s.e. of Stuttgart) c. 1500; d. at Landau (18 m. n.w. of Carlsruhe) Dec. 20, 1558. In 1527 he was called from Strasburg, where he was a deacon, to Worms, as pastor of the congregation. By his discretion he soon restored harmony in the community, which had been endangered for a time by the activities of the Anabaptists Denk, Hetzer, and Kantz. In 1531 he published his Christliche Betrachtung, wie man sich bei den Kranken und Sterbenden halten soll; and in 1543 he prepared a Catechismus und Anweisung zum christlichen Glauben, of which the few fragments still extant show his catechetical ability. In the doctrine on the Lord's Supper he followed the Strasburg theologians. Through the Interim he was obliged in 1548 to resign his office at Worms and fled to Strasburg, where he soon became assistant pastor. With the other Strasburg ministers he adopted the Lutheran teaching, and remained faithful to it in Landau, whither he was called in 1553 by the Treaty of Passau. Here he contributed much toward the amelioration of the moral and religious life of the people. Besides the works already mentioned, he published Concordantz des Neuen Testaments (Strasburg, 1524) and Concordantz und Zeiger aller biblischen Bücher (1530).

JULIUS NEY.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Weckerling, L. Brunner, Worms, 1895; A. Becker, Beiträge zur Geschichte von Worms, pp, 54 sqq., ib. 1880.