Peter Georg Niger

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Peter Georg Niger (latinized from Schwartz) (1434, Kaaden - 1481/1484) was a Dominican theologian, preacher and controversialist.

Niger studied at different universities (Salamanca, Montpellier, Bologna, etc.) and entered the Dominican order in 1452 at Eichstätt, Bavaria. In 1465 he taught philosophy and was regent of studies in Cologne. In 1467 taught theology at Ulm. In 1469 or 1470 was elected prior in Eichstätt, on 31 May 1473, the newly founded University of Ingolstadt conferred on him the degree of Doctor of theology; in 1474 he taught theology in the convent at Ratisbon and in 1478 became professor of Old-Testament exegesis in the University of Ingolstadt. Shortly after, upon the invitation of the patron of learning, Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, he became rector of his newly-erected Academy of philosophy, theology, and Sacred Scripture at Buda.

Niger ranks among the most eminent theologians and preachers of the latter half of the fifteenth century. He was a keen disciple of Thomas Aquinas, zealous for the integrity of his teachings and adhering strictly to the traditions of his school. In his few theological works he limits himself almost entirely to the discussion of abstract questions of logic and psychology. He devoted most of his time to preaching to the Jews. He had learned their language and become familiar with their literature at Salamanca and Montpellier by associating with Jewish children and attending the lectures of the rabbis. At Ratisbon, Worms, and Frankfort-on-the-Main he preached in German, Latin, and Hebrew, frequently challenging the rabbis to a disputation: He wrote two anti-Jewish works. Johann Reuchlin in his "Augenspiegel" declared them absurd. Both works are furnished with appendices giving the Hebrew alphabet in Hebrew and Latin type, rules of grammar and for reading Hebrew, the Decalogue in Hebrew, some Messianic texts from the Old Testament, etc. They are among the earliest specimens of Hebrew printing in Germany, and the first attempt at Hebrew grammar in that country by a Christian scholar.