[Spangenberg, Wolfhart]
(b Mansfeld, probably before 1570; d Buchenbach, nr Freiburg, before Oct 1636). German theologian and writer. The first two names of his pseudonym are equivalents of Wolfhart Spangenberg, his original name, and Andropediacus derives from the name of his birthplace. He was the son of Cyriac and grandson of Johann Spangenberg. His father having been obliged to leave his position as court preacher at Mansfeld in 1574 because he supported Matthias Flaccius's substantialist view of Original Sin, he spent his earliest years at, among other places, Strasbourg, from 1578, and Schlitz, near Fulda, from 1581 and came under his father's influence in theological and artistic matters. He matriculated at Tübingen University on 5 April 1586 and took the bachelor's degree in 1588 and master's degree in 1591. He too was an adherent of Flaccianism, which hindered his career as a theologian. In 1595 he followed his father to Strasbourg, where he gained citizenship and earned his living as a proofreader. In ...