PFLUG
787
PFLUG
he was pastor first in Dottenihausen; 31 Jan., 1839,
at Rosswangen; 11 May, 1841, at Risstissen; from
1851 also school inspector in Ehingen. On 12 Aug.,
1867, the Catholic theological faculty of Tubingen
granted him the degree of Doctor of Theology. In
May, 1877, he withdrew to Ober-Dischingen. In
1857 he founded the "Rottenburger Kirchenblatt",
which he publiBhed for thrre years. From 1860 he
edited the " Katlicili.^rlics Sdiulwciclienblatt" Spaich-
ingen), which, tot^i'tluT with llcnnann Rolfus, he con-
tinued as "Suddeutschcs kalhuUsches Schulwochen-
blatt" (1861-67), and with J. Haugand Fr. J. Knecht
as "Magazin fiir Padagogik" (1868-72). But his
most valuable work was the editing with Rolfus of
the " Real-Encyclopadie des Erziehungs- und Unter-
richtswesens nach katholischen Principieu" (4 vols.,
Mainz, 1863-66; 2nd ed., 1872 1S74; a 5th vol.,
"Erganzungsband", was published by Rolfus alone
in 1884 after Pfister's death). Among Pfister's other
writings may be mentioned: "TJnterricht iiber das
Werk der Glaubensverbteitung" (Freiburg, 1850); a
German translation of Thomas a Kcmpis, " Vier
Bucher von der Nachfolge Christi" (Freiburg, 1860;
4th ed., 1873); and " Kinderlegende " (Freiburg, 1863);
he also compiled several prayer-books.
RoLFOa AND PFlsTin, i:,.,l-r' , irlr.p.uUf ,1,'s Er:!, hun.js- und UnterriMswesens. F. Mini/. Issn. L'l,:, 7; Ktn-
REIN, Biographiscli-h ! <' I ■ it.m ,l,r l.,i!hnli , h'-n ilnU- schen Dichter, Volks- un.l J ...,, „.^ , :., ,ii,;-Urr ,m l:i, J,ihrhun,i,-rt,n (Wurzburg, 1871), U; .\Kiitit, t-', i ^„ii,U-Kat,ih„i ,l,r (,, ,.w/icA. n ,les Bisthums RoUtnburu (3ri.l e.l., Scliwaljiacli Guitiiul, 1S',I4), 54.
Friederich Lauchert.
Pflug, Julius von, last Catholic Bishop of Naum- burg-Zeitz, b. at Eythra, near Leipzig, 1499; d. at Zeitz, 3 Sept., 1564. He was the son of Cu'sar von Pflug, who acted as commissary for the Elector of Saxony in the religious disputation at Leipzig in 1519. Julius entered college at l^eipzig, when only eleven - years of age, continued his studies at Padua, and finished them in 1521 at Bologna, obtaining the de- gree of Doctor of Laws. At Leipzig he was the pupil of Peter Mosellanus, and at Padua of Lazaro Buona- mico. He had received benefices at Mainz and Merseburg, and on his return was made dean of the cathedral of Meissen and provost at the collegiate church of Zeitz. The times in which he lived were full of troubles; Luther and his adherents were using every energy in spreading their religious views, and were supported in their work by the civil power. Pflug himself had received an education in accordance with the humanistic ideals then prevalent, while his theological knowledge, mostly self-acquired, was not very profound. He was gifted with rare diplomatic talents, and, being naturally inclined to peace and harmony, he was willing to make sacrifices even in matters of doctrine ami discipline. Hence his presence was requested for nearly every theological conference held for the purpose of finding some lines of conform- ity in doctrine between the Catholics and Evangelicals. Thus we find him engaged at Leipzig in 1534, together with Behus and Tiirk against Melanchthon and Briick. In 1539 he was similarly employed by the Bishop of Meissen when the Elector of Saxony was introducing Protestantism into this diocese. It seems that, by order of the bishop, Pflug and Wicel composed a trea- tise giving four articles of belief, " which every Chris- tian is bound to accept". This produced no j^acifying effect, nor did the personal interview between the elector and Pflug, but rather brought al)out Pflug's loss of favour with John Frederick of Saxony.
On 6 January, 1541, Philip, Bishop of Naumburg, died at Freising, and ten tlays later the chapter re- ceived the news. Dreading the interference of the elector, the chapter ordered the occupation of the palace at Zeitz which held the treasures of the diocese, and on the twentieth of the same month proceeded to the election of a successor, at which Pflug was the
unanimous choice. The apprehensions of the chapter
were entirely justified, for John Frederick had deter-
mined to fill any vacancy and give no chance for an
election. Pflug was at the time with Cardinal Al-
brecht of Mainz whose position brought him into close
contact with the emperor. Pflug was informed of his
election, and was earnestly requested not to refuse
acceptance. At the imperial court he was considered
the proper person to defend the independence of the
diocese even against the elector. John Frederick re-
ceived notice of the death of Philip on 23 January, and
on the next day news of the election. He would not
permit Pflug to take possession, and immediately
issued orders to the city council that, until further
orders, no allegiance be offered the new bishop. In
the following year, on 20 January, he ordered Luther
to ordain Nicholas von Amsdorf as Bishop of Naum-
burg. In the meantime Pflug was employed to
further the reformatory projects of the emperor, and
appeared in April, 1541, at the religious colloquy at
Ratisbon. The book published at this meeting and
the imperial edict of 29 June, 1541, called the Interim
of Ratisbon, gave little satisfaction to either party:
Luther and the elector wanted larger concessions,
while the Catholics claimed that too much had been
granted. Pflug and Cropper tried to justify them-
selves in a iianiplilet. After the victory of MVihldorf,
24 April, 1547, over the comliined forces of the Smal-
kaldic League, Pflug was able to enter his diocese,
which had become almost entirely Protestant. He
did his best tc bring back the people to the Catholic
faith, but in vain. He was permitted to hold Catholic
service only in the cathedral of Naumlnirg and in the
collegiate church at Zeitz ; the monasteries and their
property remained secularized. He removed the
Evangelical preachers from some of the churches, but
the civil authorities restored them to their positions.
In 1549 he called the pastors to Zeitz to find out
their qualifications. He found a sad condition of
affairs: all the priests were married with one excep-
tion, and willing rather to lose their pastorates than
to give up their wives. He applied to other bishops to
obtain unmarried priests, but they were unable to
assist him, and thus he reported to Pope Julius III.
Under this pressure he had a petition drawn up to the
Cardinals Mendoza and Pole asking the toleration of
married priests, though personally he preferred the
unmarried clergy. Similarly he had on a former
occasion expressed his opinion that many wavering
minds might be kept in commimion with the Church if
the Holy Eucharist were administered to the laity
under both species. His plan to establish a Catholic
etiucational institution for aspirants to the clerical
state failed, but he assisted students at Catholic
colleges out of his own scanty income. He no longer
expected any good results from disputations w-ith the
Protestants, though he was present in December,
1547, at Jiiterbogk and in August, 1548, at Pegau,
and assisted in framing the Interim of Augsburg.
In November, 1551, he made his appearance at the
Council of Trent, but on account of ill-health remained
only a short time. In 1553 the elector introduced a
Protestant consistory into Zeitz, and gave the cathe-
dral of Naumburg to the common use of Catholics and
Protestants. In 1559 Pflug expressed a desire for a
coadjutor with the right of succession, and in 1561 he
wished to resign in favour of Peter von Naumark,
dean of the cathedral, but received no answer. For
the temporal welfare of his diocese he made many use-
ful regulations, lightened the burdens of the people
after the ravages of the war, ordered the highways and
forests to be cleared of the prowling bands of rolibers,
and regulated the wages and time of labour. Though
Pflug has been accused of crypto-Lutheranism, no
charges have ever been made against his priestly
character. After death he was buried in his church
at Zeitz. He wrote many treatises in Latin and
