Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) was born Philip Schwartzerdt at Bretten; his father was armourer to the local lord; his mother was a niece of the great humanist scholar, Johann Reuchlin.

At the age of 10 he was sent to a Latin school where he learned both Latin and Greek, and read a great deal of poetry in both languages as well as Aristotle. His father and grandfather dying a year later, he went to live with his maternal grandmother. Her brother, Reuchlin, became a great influence on the boy, who translated his original surname (meaning “black earth”) into Greek as a result, and under his tutelage the following year he went to the University at Heidelberg. There Melanchthon studied astrology, philosophy and rhetoric; but in 1512 he was refused the master’s degree because of his age. The young prodigy went on to Tübingen to study law, medicine and more astrology. In 1516 he was awarded the degree at last, and began to study theology. Two years later he accepted Martin Luther’s call to teach at Wittenberg.