BRENZ, JOHANN Lutheran divine, eldest son of Martin Brenz, was born at Weil, Wurttemberg, on June 24, 1499. Ordained priest in 152o, he ceased to celebrate mass in 1523. Protected by his patron Duke Ulrich of Wurttemberg, he was appointed (Jan. 1553) provost of the collegiate church of Stuttgart. He was a strong advocate of Lutheran doctrine, and author of Syngramma Suevicum (Oct. 21, 1525), which set forth Luther's doctrine of the Eucharist. He opposed applying the death penalty to anabaptists or other heretics in the De Haereticis, an sint persequendi (1554), issued by Sebastian Castellio under the pseudonym of Martinus Bellius. An incomplete edition of his works (largely expository) appeared at Tubingen, 1576-159o. A volume of Anecdota Brentiana was edited by Pressel in 1868. He died on Sept. 11, 157o.