PRECHTL. MAXIMILIAN. - German Benedictine controversialist, born at Hahnbach (Palatinate) on 20 Aug. 1757, died at Amberg on 12 June 1832. Ordained priest in 1781, he taught canon law and theology first at Michaelfeld, then at the Lyceum of Amberg, of which he became rector in 1799.
Abbot of Michaelfeld (1800-1802), when the religious Orders were suppressed by the Bavarian government, he withdrew into private life. His apologetic writings, animated by a spirit of understanding towards those in error, after 1817 (the third centenary of the Protestant revolt), assumed a distinctly polemical tone.
Among his works should be noted: Über den Geist u. die Folgen der Reformation (s. l. 1810); Friedensworte (Sulzbach 1810); Friedens-Benehmen zwischen Bossuet, Leibnitz u. Molan für die Wiedervereinigung der Protestanten u. Katholischen (ivi 1815); Seitenstück zur Weisheit Dr. Martin Luthers (s. l. 1817); Über das moralische (psychologische) Räthsel im Betragen Luthers (Ratisbona 1818); Kritischer Rückblick (Sulzbach 1818); Protestantismus u. Katholizismus (ivi 1822).