CRELL or KRELL, NICHOLAS (c. chan cellor of the elector of Saxony, was born in Leipzig and educated at the university of his native town. About 158o he entered the service of Christian, the eldest son of Augustus I., elector of Saxony, and when Christian succeeded his father as elector in 1586 became his most influential counsellor. Crell's religious views were Calvinistic or Crypto-Calvinistic, and both before and after his appointment as chancellor in 1589 he sought to substitute his own form of faith for the Lutheranism which was the accepted religion of electoral Saxony. In foreign politics, also, he sought to change the traditional policy of Saxony. These proceedings made the chancellor very unpopular, and when the elector died in October 1J91 he was deprived of his offices and thrown into prison by order of Frederick William, duke of Saxe-Altenburg, the regent for the young elector Christian II. His trial dragged on for ten years until he was sentenced to death and executed at Dresden on Oct. 9, 16o1.
See A. V. Richard, Der kurfiirstliche sachsische Kanzler Dr. Nicholas Krell (Dresden, 2 vols., 1859) ; F. Brandes, Der Kanzler Krell, ein Opfer des Orthodoxismus (Leipzig, 1873) ; B. Bohnenstadt, Das Pro zessverfahren gegen den kursdchsischen Kanzler Dr. Nikolaus Krell (Halle, 19o1) .