Andreas Karlstadt

Andreas Karlstadt (1486–1541), born Andreas Bodenstein, was a radical theologian of the early Reformation. A professor at the University of Wittenberg, he defended Luther against Johann Eck at the Leipzig Debate of 1519. While Luther was in hiding in 1521–1522, Karlstadt led reform in Wittenberg, celebrating Mass in German and removing images.

In 1522 he married, breaking with clerical celibacy. Later in conflict with Luther and expelled from Saxony, he served as a minister before taking a post at Basel in 1534, where he died of the plague in 1541.