Ferenc Dávid
Ferenc Dávid (also rendered as Francis David or Francis Davidis; born as Franz David Hertel, c. 1520 – 15 November 1579) was a Protestant preacher and theologian from Transylvania, the founder of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania, and the leading figure of the Nontrinitarian Christian movements during the Protestant Reformation. He disputed the mainstream Christian doctrine of the Trinity, believing God to be one and indivisible.
Ferenc Dávid | |
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Ferenc Dávid holding his speech on the Diet of Torda in 1568 (today Turda, Romania) by Aladár Körösfői-Kriesch (1896) | |
| Born | Franz David Hertel c. 1520 |
| Died | 15 November 1579 (aged c. 58–59) |
| Education | University of Wittenberg University of Frankfurt |
| Known for | Founder of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania |
| Notable work | Rövid Utmutatás az Istennec igeienec igaz ertelmere, mostani szent Haromsagrol tamadot vetélkedesnec meg feytesere es itelesere hasznos es szükseges |
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| Spouse(s) | Unidentified (1st) Kata Barát (Münich) (2nd) |
| Children | 4 |
Philosophy career | |
| Era | Protestant Reformation Radical Reformation |
Main interests | Unitarianism |
Studying Catholic theology in Wittenberg and in Frankfurt an der Oder, he was first ordained as a Roman Catholic priest, later he became a Lutheran minister and then a Calvinist bishop in the Principality of Transylvania. Throughout his career as a Christian theologian and professor, Dávid learnt the teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic and Magisterial Protestant churches, but later rejected several of them and came to embrace Unitarianism.