with
the rationalists; and Bretschneider contended that he himself was not a
rationalist in the ordinary sense of the term, but a "rational
supernaturalist." Some of his numerous dogmatic writings passed through
several editions. An English translation of his _Manual of the Religion and
History of the Christian Church_ appeared in 1857. His dogmatic position
seems to be intermediate between the extreme school of naturalists, such as
Heinrich Paulus, J.F. Roehr and Julius Wegscheider on the one hand, and D.F.
Strauss and F.C. Baur on the other. Recognizing a supernatural element in
the Bible, he nevertheless allowed to the full the critical exercise of
reason in the interpretation of its dogmas (cp. Otto Pfleiderer,
_Development of Theology_, pp. 89 ff.).

See his autobiography, _Aus meinem Leben: Selbstbiographie von K.G.
Bretschneider_ (Gotha, 1851), of which a translation, with notes, by
Professor George E. Day, appeared in the _Bibliotheca Sacra and American
Biblical Repository_, Nos. 36 and 38 (1852, 1853); Neudecker in _Die
allgemeine Kirchenzeitung_ (1848), No. 38; Wuestemann, _Bretschneideri
Memoria_ (1848); A.G. Farrar, _Critical History of Free Thought_ (Bampton
Lectures, 1862); Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopaedie_ (ed. 1897).

BRETTEN, a town of Germany, in the grand duchy of Baden, on the Saalbach, 9
m. S.E. of Bruchsal by rail. Pop. (1900) 4781. It has some manufactories of
machinery and japanned goods, and a considerable trade in timber and
livestock. Bretten was the birthplace of Melanchthon (1497), and in
addition to a [v.04 p.0503] statue of him by Drake, a memorial hall,
containing a collection of his writings and busts and pictures of his
famous contemporaries, has been erected.

BRETWALDA, a word used in the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_ under the date 827,
and also in a charter of AEthelstan, king of the English. It appears in
several variant forms (_brytenwalda_, _bretenanwealda_, &c.), and means
most probably "lord of the Britons" or "lord of Britain"; for although the
derivation of the word is uncertain, its earlier syllable seems to be
cognate with the words Briton and Britannia. In the _Chronicle_ the title
is given to Ecgbert, king of the English, "the eighth king that was
Bretwalda," and retrospectively to seven kings who ruled over one or other
of the English kingdoms. The seven names are copied from Bede's _Historia
Ecclesiastica_, and it is interesting to note that the last king named,
Oswiu of N