Leisentrit, Johannes

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Leisentrit, Johannes

Leisentrit, Johannes, important Moravian-born German theologian, hymnologist, and composer; b. Olomouc, May 1527; d. Bautzen, Nov. 24, 1586. He received his theological training in Krakow. After his ordination in 1549, he was active in Meissen until becoming canon of Bautzen Cathedral in 1551. In 1559 he was made dean and in 1560 official-general for the diocese of Lusatia. When the bishopric of Meissen became Protestant in 1661, he was appointed administrator and commissioner-general of the see of Meissen for Upper and Lower Lusatia by the Prague papal nuncio. He publ. the most important Counter-Reformation hymnbook, Geistliche Lieder und Psalmen (Bautzen, 1567; 3rd ed., 1584), which contained some 250 hymns and 180 melodies, some of which were his own.

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire