Born: c. 1500, Meseritz, Farther Pomerania
Died: May 2, 1535, Wittenberg
Elisabeth Cruciger, née von Meseritz, was born c. 1500 to Polish nobility. At a young age, she entered the convent in Treptow an der Rega, the same town where Johannes Bugenhagen was serving as Rector. Bugenhagen came to embrace the Reformation, and when he left for Wittenberg in 1521, Elisabeth followed soon thereafter in 1522. There she lived as a member of Bugenhagen’s household until her marriage in 1524 to Caspar Cruciger, a pupil of Martin Luther who would later become a professor of Theology in Wittenberg. Elisabeth died 1535 in Wittenberg. Her hymn “Lord Christ, God’s Only Dear Son (Herr Christ, der einig Gotts Sohn)” printed in the Erfurt Enchiridion of 1524, was the first “Jesuslied,” a song of affection and praise for the Savior.