Johann Leisentrit (born May 1527 in Olomouc; died November 24, 1586, in Bautzen) was a Roman Catholic clergyman, dean of the Collegiate Chapter of St. Peter in Bautzen, and diocesan administrator of the Diocese of Meissen in the Upper and Lower Lusatia region.
Leisentrit came from a family of craftsmen, studied Catholic theology in Krakow, and was ordained a priest in March 1549. He is documented as a canon in 1551 and as dean of the Collegiate Chapter of Bautzen in 1559. Before the Diocese of Meissen finally became Protestant after 1559, Bishop Johann IX von Haugwitz appointed Leisentrit as ecclesiastical general commissioner of Upper and Lower Lusatia. He was confirmed in this office by the sovereign, Emperor Ferdinand I. Leisentrit was thus responsible for the faithful of both denominations. In 1567, he was appointed diocesan administrator by the Pope. Leisentrit was buried in St. Peter’s Cathedral in Bautzen.
Among Leisentrit’s works, the hymnal ''Geistliche Lieder und Psalmen der Alten Apostolischen recht und warglaubiger Christlicher Kirchen'' (Spiritual Songs and Psalms of the Ancient Apostolic, True, and Faithful Christian Churches), published in 1567, stands out. This hymnal of the Counter-Reformation—the largest, arguably the most beautifully illustrated, and most widely distributed throughout Germany—contains 250 hymns with 181 melodies, including many from Protestant sources and about 70 new ones that are likely to have been written by Leisentrit himself.
