Editing Matthias Flacius (section)

=== Early life and education ===
Flacius was born in [[Labin]] (Albona) in [[Istria]], son of Andrea Vlacich (Andrija Vlačić{{efn|Vlacich (Vlačić) is a surname typical of Labin, generally bore by its Slavic-speaking (Croat) inhabitants. Its etymology is not clear. It might be related to the term ''Vlach'', a historical term from the [[Middle Ages]] that designates an [[Exonym and endonym|exonym]] mostly for [[Eastern Romance languages|Eastern Romance]]-speaking peoples living in the Balkans.<ref name="Acta Croatica">{{cite web|url=https://actacroatica.com/en/surname/Vla%C4%8Di%C4%87/ |title= Surname Vlačić |author= |publisher= [[Acta Croatica]] |access-date=28 January 2021|archive-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128121123/https://actacroatica.com/en/surname/Vla%C4%8Di%C4%87/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://dexonline.ro/definitie/valah|publisher=dexonline.ro|title=Valah|work=Dicționare ale limbii române|access-date=18 June 2018}}</ref>}}) alias Francovich and Jacobea (Jakovica) Luciani, daughter of a wealthy and powerful Albonian civic family.<ref name="Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht"/> Her family was related by marriage<ref name="Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht"/><ref name="Mirkovic">{{cite book |last1=Mirković|first1=Mijo|title=''Matija Vlačić Ilirik''|date=1960|publisher=Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umietnosti|location=}}</ref><ref name="Twesten"/> to the local Lupetino (Lupetina) family: Jacobea's brother, Luciano Luciani, married Ivanka Lupetina, the sister of the friar Baldo Lupetino (Lupetina), likewise born in Labin, who later was condemned to death in Venice for his Lutheran sympathies.<ref name="Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht"/>

Andrea Vlacich was a small landowner, who died during his son's early childhood. Flacius went also by the name Franković. He matriculated at the [[University of Basel]] in 1539 under the name ''Mattheus de Francistis [Franković] de Albona''.<ref name="Wackernagel">{{cite book |last1=Wackernagel|first1=Hans Georg|title=''Die Matrikel der Universität Basel'' vol. 2 (1532–1601)|date=1956|publisher=Verlag der Universitätsbibliothek|location=Basel}}</ref><ref name="Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht">{{cite book|last1=Ilić|first1=Luca|title=Theologian of Sin and Grace: The Process of Radicalization in the Theology of Matthias Flacius Illyricus Volume 225 of Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Europäische Geschichte Mainz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YV4IBAAAQBAJ&q=saint+jerome+istria+theologian+of+sin+and+grace|date=2014|publisher=[[Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht]]|location=Göttingen, Germany|page=34|isbn=9783647101170}}</ref> Further, he himself signed a payment slip at the [[University of Wittenberg]] as ''Mathias Francovich Illyricus''.<ref name="Friedensburg">{{cite book |author=[[Walter Friedensburg]]|title=''Die Anstellung des Flacius Illyricus''|date=1904|publisher=[[:de:Gütersloher Verlagshaus|Gütersloher Verlagshaus]]|location=Gütersloh|page=}}</ref> The origin of the double surname is not clear, but it might have been a double last name resulting from marriage, his or some of his ancestors'.<ref name="Mirkovic"/><ref name="Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht"/> Likewise, the 'Illyricus' is of uncertain origin, likely in reference to his place of origin, the historical province of [[Illyricum (disambiguation)|Illyricum]].<ref>{{cite journal | url = https://hrcak.srce.hr/en/clanak/138 | first = Ivan | last = Kordić | year = 2005 | title = Croatian Philosophers IV: Matija Vlačić Ilirik – Mathias Flacius Illyricus (1520–1575) | journal = Prolegomena: Journal of Philosophy | publisher = Udruga za promicanje filozofije | location = Zagreb, Croatia | issn = 1846-0593 | volume = 4 | number = 2 | page = 219 | access-date = 27 March 2022}}</ref>

At the age of sixteen, Flacius went to study in [[Venice]], where he was taught by the [[Renaissance humanism|humanist]] [[Giambattista Cipelli]] (Baptista Aegnatius / Battista Egnazio). At the age of seventeen, he intended to join a monastic order, with a view to sacred learning. His intention, however, was diverted by his uncle-in-law,{{efn|As mentioned, his uncle Luciano Luciani, married Ivanka Lupetina, the sister of the friar Baldo. Flacius himself calls Lupetino the "brother-in-law of his uncle (''der Schwager meines Oheims'')<ref name="Twesten">{{cite book |author=[[August Detlev Christian Twesten]]|title=''Matthias Flacius Illyricus, eine Vorlesung: Mit autobiographischen Beilagen und einer Abhandlung über Melanchtons Verhalten zum Interim''|date=1844|publisher=G. Bethge|location=Berlin|page=37}}</ref><ref name="Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht"/>}} Baldo Lupetina, [[provincial superior|provincial]] of the [[Franciscan]]s and sympathetic to the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] cause, who convinced him to start a university career.<ref name="Chisholm1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Flacius, Matthias|volume=10|page=543|first=Alexander|last=Gordon|author-link=Alexander Gordon (Unitarian)}}</ref>

Flacius continued his studies in [[Basel]] in 1539, then went to [[Tübingen]] and finally ended up in [[Wittenberg]], where in (1541) he was welcomed{{clarify|meaning what exactly?|date=September 2017}} by [[Philip Melanchthon]]. In Tübingen, Flacius was received into the house of [[Matija Grbac|Matthias Garbitius]] (Matija Grbac) a humanist and a professor of Greek at the [[University of Tübingen]], who, like Flacius, was from Istria, and was called "fellow countryman" (''conterraneous'') by Flacius.<ref name="Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht"/> There he came under the influence of [[Martin Luther]]. In 1544, Flacius was appointed professor of [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] at Wittenberg. He finished his master's degree on 24 February 1546, ranking first among the graduates.<ref name="Chisholm1911"/>