Brunner (Fontanus), Leonhard

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.