PRÆDINIUS, REGNERUS: Dutch Roman Catholic; b. at Winsum, province of Groningen, in 1510; d. at Groningen Apr. 18, 1559. At an early age he went to Groningen, where he studied in the house of the Brethren of the Common Life, where he was the room-mate of Albert Hardenberg (q.v.), who, with other liberal-minded men, formed the sphere of Prædinius' development. He studied theology of the Erasmian type at Louvain until about 1529, and was appointed rector of St. Martin's school, Groningen, some time before 1546, and held this position until his death. He lectured on theology, appealing constantly to the authority of the Bible and predicting that the Church would be reformed under the guidance of learning. Though in sympathy with the two principles of the Reformation, the free study of the Bible and justification by faith alone, and though studying the writings of the Reformers, he was, under the spiritual influence of his masters Wessel and Erasmus, less drawn to the frequently violent Luther and, being a prudent and impassionate spirit, preferred to remain in the background and teach quietly. Many of his pupils, however, who came from Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and Poland, actively promoted the cause of the Reformation, among them David Chytræus (q.v.), and Joannes Acronius, who edited his Opera (Basel, 1563). As an outcome of his influence, some of his pupils in the ministry dispensed the Eucharist in both kinds, preached in the vernacular, and laid no value on processions and ceremonies.

Though long permitted to spread his views unmolested, Prædinius was at last accused of heresy and condemned to banishment, but died before the sentence could be carried into effect. Soon after his death his writings were placed on the Index. In one of these, "The Invocation of the Saints," he rejects the practise as inefficacious and contrary to Scripture.

(S. D. VAN VEEN.)