Franz Posset is a German-American independent church historian and lay theologian in the Catholic Church. He is an internationally recognized ecumenist, specializing in the history and theology of the Renaissance and early Lutheran Reformation. Franz was born in 1945 in Gl�ckelberg in the Bohemian Forest (Sudetenland), and between 1965 and 1970 he was a student of Hans K�ng, Josef Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI emeritus), and Walter Kasper (Cardinal). He earned a diploma in Catholic theology at University of T�bingen, and received a PhD in Religious Studies, with his dissertation directed by the late Kenneth Hagen, at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI. He was the associate editor of Luther Digest (1993-2012) and is a member of the International Luther Society. Franz is the author of numerous articles and books in English and German including award-winning articles and books: - The first annual Natalie Zemon Davis Prize (Canada) in 2006 for his "Polyglot Humanism in Germany circa 1520 as Luther's Milieu and Matrix." - Davidias Prize of the Association of Croatian Writers in 2014 for the book, Marcus Marulus and the Biblia Latina of 1489. - Franz-Delitzsch-F�rderpreis (Germany) in 2015 for his "In Search of an Explanation for the Suffering of the Jews: Johann Reuchlin's Open Letter of 1505." - The Koenig Prize in Biography of the American Catholic Historical Association in 2016 for the book, Johann Reuchlin (1455-1522): A Theological Biography.