The New International Encyclopædia/Blaurer, or Blarer, Ambrosius

BLAURER, blou′rēr, or BLARER, Ambrosius (1492-1564). A German religious reformer. He was born at Constance, and studied at the University of Tübingen. In 1515 he entered the Benedictine monastery at Alpirsbach, where he afterwards became prior. In consequence of his advocacy of the doctrines of Luther, however, he was deposed in 1521. He then became a Protestant preacher at Constance, and was sent to regulate the ecclesiastical affairs at Memmingen (1528) and Ulm (1531). In 1534 Duke Ulrich summoned him to Württemberg, where, during a period of four years, he introduced the principles of the Reformation into the Church, his sphere of activity embracing 62 towns and 450 villages. In consequence of his leaning toward Zwingli, however, he was, at the instigation of the extreme Lutherans, dismissed from his office. Afterwards he expounded the new doctrine in Isny, Lindau, and Augsburg. In addition to numerous letters, which are valuable as historical documents, he left a number of writings bearing upon the Reformation. For his biography, consult: Keim (Stuttgart, 1860); Pressel (Elberfeld, 1861).