Matthias Flacius Illyricus (1520-1575) was a Lutheran theologian, historian, and polemicist born in Labin (Albona) in Istria. Educated in the humanist and reforming environments of University of Wittenberg, he became one of the most uncompromising figures of the Protestant Reformation. A close associate of Martin Luther and later a leading voice among the so-called Gnesio-Lutherans, Flacius devoted much of his career to defending what he saw as the doctrinal purity of early Christianity against both Catholic and moderate Protestant positions.

One of his seminal contributions lies in the field of Church history, as he was a driving force behind the monumental Magdeburg Centuries (Ecclesiastica Historia), a multi-volume work that systematically presented Church history century by century. This project aimed not merely to recount events, but to demonstrate a central Reformation thesis: that Luther’s teaching was not a novelty, but the revival of the true Church that had been progressively corrupted over time, yet survived throughout the Middle Ages in “witnesses of truth,” as Flacius titled another of his substantial works written in the same spirit.

In an effort to secure support from secular rulers and nobles, as well as to gather the opinions of leading theologians on the Centuries project, Flacius composed several shorter and longer programmatic drafts in which he outlined the purpose and methodology of his historiographical undertaking. One such shorter draft is the Scheda, which he enclosed with letters sent to a number of learned correspondents, requesting their evaluation of the project.

We are reading a programmatic passage here, rather than a narrative or descriptive one. The text outlines the ideal of an ecclesiastical history – what it should do, how it should be constructed, and why it matters. The passage argues that a proper history of the Church must show its gradual decline from the original apostolic purity, the causes of this corruption (negligence, ignorance, and deliberate malice), the periodic restoration through genuinely pious individuals, and finally, the full restoration of truth in recent times (i.e., the Reformation).

This is not neutral historiography, but a confessional and polemical one, where the narrative serves theology.

Stylistically, the Latin reflects humanist scholarly prose, but with a distinctly theological and argumentative edge. Its distinctive features included long sentences structured around ut-clauses and infinitives, heavy use of abstract nouns, frequent antithesis, and a crucial Biblical reference to the small herd of seven thousand (1 Kings 19:18) as the key motif: the true believers always existed, even if hidden.

As the Scheda is suitable for advanced intermediate readers, the analysis omits vocabulary and grammar acquired at lower levels.

I hope you will enjoy this month’s reading and not get too intimidated by humanist Latin!

TEXT

Utile esset scribi historiam ecclesiasticam, in qua ordine per temporum successionem monstraretur, quomodo vera ecclesia eiusque religio ab illa prima puritate et simplicitate, quam apostolorum tempore habuit, paulatim successione temporum et hominum crescentibus falsitate et erroribus declinavit in peius, partim ob negligentiam et inscitiam, partim etiam ob malitiam impiorum, contra etiam quomodo subinde per aliquos vere pios nonnihil instaurata sit, atque ita veritatis lux iam clarius fulserit, iam tenebris impietatis augescentibus obscurata plus minusve sit, quoad tandem hisce postremis temporibus, cum deleta ferme penitus veritas esset, ingenti Dei beneficio vera pietas penitus sit in integrum restituta. Hac enim historia vere monstrari posset, quod omnibus temporibus fuerint, qui veritatem hanc religionis, quam iam pii amplectuntur, tenuerint et secuti sint, quod inquam semper fuerint septem milia Antichristum eiusque abominationes detestantium et Christum eiusque pietatem pure amplectentium; qua opera tum aliae plurimae consolationes piis pararentur, tum etiam occurreretur unico ferme isti papistarum argumento, qui semper clamitant, ecclesiam Christi veram nunquam defecisse, sed semper omnibus temporibus fuisse, nostram vero ecclesiam esse novam, nuper ante annos 30 natam, suam semper fuisse, ergo ipsos, non nos esse illam veram catholicam et perpetuam Dei ecclesiam. Ad hanc porro rem praeter alios impressos libros hi potissimum quaerendi essent: primum agendae vetustissimae, quae ante Gregorium in usu fuerunt; deinde inquisitiones et processus contra pios homines ante haec tempora facti; tertio scripta a piis hominibus contra Antichristum aut eius abominationes composita, quorum multa passim adhuc in veteris bibliothecis inveniuntur; quarto libri scripti a papistis contra recte sentientes, nam et ex illis aliquid sumi posset, quod ad historiam faceret; quinto inspiciendae essent chronicae seu annales singulorum locorum, in quibus etiam certaminum religionis mentio saepe fit; denique explorandum e senibus esset, an meminerint, se audisse alicubi olim aliquem recte sentientem aut docentem vel in tota religione vel in aliquibus eius partibus fuisse. Hos vero autores nominatim habere cupio: Inquisitiones Nicolai Emerici impressas, Monarchiam Dantis, Caesarii de haereticis, libros theologicos Johannis de Vesalia, Johannis de Janduno, Arnoldi de nova Villa; denique omnia ea, quae quoquo modo vestigia aliqua illorum 7000 piorum monstrare possent, praesertim autem quaecunque antiquiora de Waldensibus habere possunt.

ANALYSIS

Utile esset scribi historiam ecclesiasticam, in qua ordine per temporum successionem monstraretur, quomodo vera ecclesia eiusque religio ab illa prima puritate et simplicitate, quam apostolorum tempore habuit, paulatim successione temporum et hominum crescentibus falsitate et erroribus declinavit in peius, partim ob negligentiam et inscitiam, partim etiam ob malitiam impiorum, contra etiam quomodo subinde per aliquos vere pios nonnihil instaurata sit, atque ita veritatis lux iam clarius fulserit, iam tenebris impietatis augescentibus obscurata plus minusve sit, quoad tandem hisce postremis temporibus, cum deleta ferme penitus veritas esset, ingenti Dei beneficio vera pietas penitus sit in integrum restituta.

Notes:

1) Utile esset scribi historiam ecclesiasticam – This is an impersonal expression: utile esset = “it would be useful” is followed by the passive infinitive scribi. Literally: “It would be useful for an ecclesiastical history to be written.” In smoother English: “It would be useful to write an ecclesiastical history.” The collocation historiam ecclesiasticam is an accusative subject of the passive infinitive, since Latin often allows this kind of expression after utile est / esset and similar impersonal constructions.

2) … contra etiam quomodo – This second quomodo (you have to look for the first some lines back ) introduces contrast and balance: having read how and why the Church declined, we are now going to learn how it was occasionally restored (contra etiam could be translated here as “as well as conversely.”

3) You will notice that the clauses after the first quomodo are in indicative and after the second one in subjunctive. Purely syntactically, these two series of clauses are analogous, so why the difference? This is where Flacius subtly uses grammatical structures to drive his message home: whereas the historical decline of the Church is seen as a sequence of concrete events, the restoration is seen as a recurring, interpreted pattern within a theological view of history. This whole stretch is a conceptualized narrative, almost as if Flacius was instructing his readers how to read history. 

4) Expressions like subinde, nonnihil, iam… iam, and plus minusve serve to build up the expectation gradually, which culminates in what follows after quoad tandem = “until at last.” The historical process has come to its completion, and the happy end came in the last moment, cum deleta ferme penitus veritas esset. Repetition of penitus enhances the contrast, and in integrum restituere is a strong idiom: “restore completely,” “restore to its original condition.”

Hac enim historia vere monstrari posset, quod omnibus temporibus fuerint, qui veritatem hanc religionis, quam iam pii amplectuntur, tenuerint et secuti sint, quod inquam semper fuerint septem milia Antichristum eiusque abominationes detestantium et Christum eiusque pietatem pure amplectentium; qua opera tum aliae plurimae consolationes piis pararentur, tum etiam occurreretur unico ferme isti papistarum argumento, qui semper clamitant, ecclesiam Christi veram nunquam defecisse, sed semper omnibus temporibus fuisse, nostram vero ecclesiam esse novam, nuper ante annos 30 natam, suam semper fuisse, ergo ipsos, non nos esse illam veram catholicam et perpetuam Dei ecclesiam.

Notes:

1) Hac enim historia vere monstrari posset – Again an impersonal passive, with hac historia in instrumental ablative and a subjunctive introducing the potential framework (monstrari posset). The sentence continues in a storm of subjunctives, which all depend on this first one and express characteristic, result, and rhetorical assertion. The series is interrupted by the indicatives amplectuntur and clamitant, which mark occasional shifts to concrete polemical reality, one describing the action of the pious, the other of the papists. The same contrast is emphasized in between them by the pair abominationes detestantium… Christum amplectentium.

2) The genitive plurals of present participles depend on septem milia: “seven thousand of those detesting Antichrist and his abominations and purely embracing Christ and his piety.”

3) The ablative phrase qua opera (“by which work,” “through which undertaking”) does not let the sentence end in order not to lose momentum.

4) occurrere alicui rei = “to meet, counter, oppose,” in the impersonal passive of with dative: “and there would also be a reply/counterattack made to that basically sole argument of the papists.”

5) After clamitant, there is a series of AcI constructions for reported speech and stark contrast between the claims of the opposing sides, alternating for effect.

Ad hanc porro rem praeter alios impressos libros hi potissimum quaerendi essent: primum agendae vetustissimae, quae ante Gregorium in usu fuerunt; deinde inquisitiones et processus contra pios homines ante haec tempora facti; tertio scripta a piis hominibus contra Antichristum aut eius abominationes composita, quorum multa passim adhuc in veteris bibliothecis inveniuntur; quarto libri scripti a papistis contra recte sentientes, nam et ex illis aliquid sumi posset, quod ad historiam faceret; quinto inspiciendae essent chronicae seu annales singulorum locorum, in quibus etiam certaminum religionis mentio saepe fit; denique explorandum e senibus esset, an meminerint, se audisse alicubi olim aliquem recte sentientem aut docentem vel in tota religione vel in aliquibus eius partibus fuisse.

Notes:

1) This sentence explains what kind of sources are to be sought to this purpose (ad hanc rem) and is structured as a list (primum, deinde, tertio, quarto, quinto, denique). The subjunctives show the result of the condition “if such a book were written,” while the indicatives express facts.

2) quod ad historiam faceret is a relative clause of purpose-like nuance: “something useful for the historical project.”

3) mentio fit takes the genitive: certaminum religionis.

4) explorandum e senibus esset: “it should be asked from elderly people,” with an indirect question following: an meminerint: “whether they remember.” The subject changes to the “elderly people” and the next subordinate clause has an AcI construction: se audisse, on which yet another AcI depends: aliquem fuisse.

Hos vero autores nominatim habere cupio: Inquisitiones Nicolai Emerici impressas, Monarchiam Dantis, Caesarii de haereticis, libros theologicos Johannis de Vesalia, Johannis de Janduno, Arnoldi de nova Villa; denique omnia ea, quae quoquo modo vestigia aliqua illorum 7000 piorum monstrare possent, praesertim autem quaecunque antiquiora de Waldensibus habere possunt.

Notes:

1) The last sentence is introduced by a straightforward main clause, followed by a list of works and authors.

2) monstrare possent – subjunctive in parallel with previous subjunctives showing the still potential state of the project: “which could in any way show some traces” – as opposed to the factual possunt: whatever older material can be had (found) on the Waldensians.”

As you can see, the text swarms with impersonal expressions (utile esset scribi, monstrari posset, quaerendi essent, inspiciendae essent, explorandum esset), which give the project proposal a learned, programmatic tone; in addition, gerundives imply necessity. The syntax is cumulative and layered. This is not narrative Latin. The sentence grows by addition:
thesis → explanation → contrast → climax.

Source:  ÖNB Wien, Cod. Vind. 9737k, f. 316r-317v; Historische Methode und Arbeitstechnik der Magdeburger Zenturien. Edition ausgewählter Dokumente, ed. Harald Bollbuck with Carsten Nahrendorf and Inga Hanna Ralle (Wolfenbüttel: Herzog August Bibliothek, 2012), http://diglib.hab.de/edoc/ed000086/start.htm (posjećeno 8. srpnja 2025.), dokument 521110A.