MUNSTER (Sebastian), a learned writer, was
born at Ingelheim, and became a Cordelier; but having embraced Luther's sentiments, he quitted that order in 1529, and retired to Heidelberg, and afterwards to Basel, where he taught with reputation. He was a man of great candour, and void of ambition; and was so well skilled in geography, the mathematics, and the Hebrew tongue, that he was furnished the Eldras and the Strato of Germany. His Latin translation of the bible is esteemed. He was the first who wrote a Chaldee grammar and lexicon; he also published a treatise on cosmography, and several other works. He died of the plague at Basel in 1552, aged 63.