Editing Martin Bucer (section)

==Death and legacy==
[[File:Plaque Martin Bucer à St Mary the Great (Cambridge).jpg|thumb|Plaque commemorating Martin Bucer in [[Great St Mary's]], where he was buried.|alt='In memoriam Martini Buceri olim sanctae Theologiae Professor Regis, cujus Corpus in hoc cancello humatum A.D. 1551. Exhumatum fuit A.D. 1557 et in foro crematum, secunda funere memoriam ejus honorante A.D. 1560']]
Bucer's time in England was dogged by illnesses, including rheumatism, coughs, and intestinal ailments. Symptoms such as vomiting, shivering, and sweating suggest severe tuberculosis. In February 1551, his health finally broke down, and on the 22nd he dictated an addition to his will. He named [[Walter Haddon]] and [[Matthew Parker]] as executors, commended his loved ones to Thomas Cranmer, and thanked his stepdaughter Agnes Capito for taking care of him. On 28 February, after encouraging those near him to do all they could to realise his vision as expressed in ''De Regno Christi'', he died at the age of 59.{{Sfn |Greschat|2004|p=248}}{{Refn | group = lower-alpha | According to Eells, Bucer died on 1 March 1551, and he cites sources that support that date. However, he also notes that Beza and Edward VI mentioned the 28 February date.{{Sfn |Eells|1931|p= 412}} {{Harvnb| Selderhuis | 1999 | p = 115}} also says he died on 1 March.}}  He was buried in the church of [[Church of St Mary the Great, Cambridge|Great St Mary's]] in [[Cambridge]] before a large crowd of university professors and students.

In a letter to Peter Martyr, [[John Cheke]] wrote a fitting eulogy:
{{Quote | We are deprived of a leader than whom the whole world would scarcely obtain a greater, whether in knowledge of true religion or in integrity and innocence of life, or in thirst for study of the most holy things, or in exhausting labour in advancing piety, or in authority and fulness of teaching, or in anything that is praiseworthy and renowned.{{Sfn |Hall|1994|p= 144}}}}

Bucer left his wife Wibrandis a significant inheritance consisting mainly of the household and his large collection of books. She eventually returned to Basel, where she died on 1 November 1564 at the age of 60.{{Sfn | Greschat |2004|pp=202, 247}}

When [[Mary I of England|Mary I]] came to the throne, she had Bucer and Fagius tried posthumously for heresy as part of her efforts to restore Catholicism in England. [[exhume|Their caskets were disinterred]] and [[posthumous execution|their remains burned]], along [[book burning|with copies of their books]]. On 22 July 1560, [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] formally rehabilitated both reformers. A brass plaque on the floor of Great St Mary's marks the original location of Bucer's grave.{{Sfn |Eells|1931|pp=413–4}}{{Sfn |Greschat|2004|p= 249}}

After Bucer's death, his writings continued to be translated, reprinted, and disseminated throughout Europe. No "Buceran" denomination, however, emerged from his ministry, probably because he never developed a systematic theology as Melanchthon had for the Lutheran church and Calvin for the [[Reformed churches]]. Several groups, including [[Anglicans]], [[Puritans]], [[Lutherans]], and [[Calvinists]], claimed him as one of their own. The adaptability of his theology to each confessional point-of-view also led polemicists to criticise it as too accommodating. His theology could be best summarised as being practical and pastoral rather than theoretical. Bucer was not so concerned about staking a doctrinal claim ''per se'', but rather he took a standpoint in order to discuss and to win over his opponents. At the same time his theological stand was grounded in the conditions of his time where he envisioned the ideal society to be one that was led by an enlightened, God-centred government with all the people united under Christian fellowship. Martin Bucer is chiefly remembered for his promotion of doctrinal unity, or [[ecumenism]], and his lifelong struggle to create an inclusive church.{{Sfn | Greschat | 2004 | pp= 251–4}}{{Sfn |Kittelson|1994|pp=83–106}}{{Sfn |Matheson|1994|p= 7}}