Flacius Illyricus (Albona, Istria, 1520-75, Frankfurt/Main), usual designation of Matthias Vlacich or Flacius, who studied under Luther, became a professor at Wittenberg in 1544, and, after a short interval at Magdeburg, was appointed to a chair at Jena in 1557. He was dismissed in 1561, and was for brief periods in Regensburg, Antwerp, Frankfurt, and Strasburg. He was the most prominent and rigid Lutheran after Luther's death, and was involved in several doctrinal controversies. He planned and partly wrote a history of the Church (seen from the Lutheran point of view), which is known as the Magdeburger Zenturien (1559-74), from its division into centuries. His other works include Catalogus testium veritatis (1556) and Calvis scripturae sacrae (1567).
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