Amsdorf, Nikolaus von (1483–1565)

German Lutheran theologian. One of the most determined supporters of Martin Luther, he assisted in the translation of the Bible into German and accompanied Luther to the Leipzig conference in 1519 and the Diet of Worms in 1521.

Probably born at Torgau on the Elbe, Amsdorf studied at Wittenberg, where he came to know Luther. He became an evangelical preacher, spreading word of the Reformation at Magdeburg (1524), Goslar (1531), Einbeck (1534), and Schmalkald (1537). In 1542 John Frederick, Elector of Saxony (1503–54), appointed him bishop of Naumburg-Zeitz, a post he held until 1547. In 1548 he helped found the university of Jena, and in the same year actively opposed the Interim of Augsburg. From 1552 until his death he lived at Eisenach, remaining a conservative and influential Lutheran.