Reuchlin

Reuchlin, Johann (1455-1521), scholar and reformer, was born of poor parents at Pforzheim, and was sent to Paris in youth, and theie received an excellent education. In 1474 he was teaching Greek and Latin himself at Basle. He studied law and, being admitted, practised at Tubingen, where he married. He made the acquaintance of many notable people, and received a legal appointment at Stuttgart, which gave him the leisure to study Hebrew, of which he became a master. There was a project for the destruction of all Jewish anti-Christian books, and Reuchlin pronounced strongly against it. A fierce discussion arose, and he was attacked by the Dominicans, but the Pope sided with him, and he gained the day. This controversy distinctly heralded the Reformation. Reuchlin wrote some learned works in the Hebrew language.