Augusta John

Augusta John a Bohemian theologian, born at Prague in 1500, died Jan. 13th, 1575. He studied at Wittenberg under Luther and Melancthon, with whom he subsequently remained in correspondence, without, however, adopting all the views of Luther. He became a minister of the Bohemian brethren, and subsequently a bishop in the Church. He tried to bring about an understanding among the Protestants at an interview with Luther in 1542. After the Schmalkaldie war many of the Bohemian brethren were banished, and Augusta, together with the chief preachers, was arrested. To recover his liberty, he consented to join again the "Utraquists," to whom he had originally belonged, but he refused to make a public retractation. He was liberated in 1564, but had to pledge himself by an oath not to teach or preach. He is the author of an "Outline of the doctrine of the Bohemian Brethren," and of two works on "the Duties of the Christian Religion" and on "Temptations." — Hoefer, Biographie Generale, 3, 642.