 Thomasius sought refuge in Berlin, in the neighbouring state of Brandenburg which was led by the Calvinist Elector Friedrich III (later king Friedrich I) and had a tradition of toleration. Partly through the support of Pufendorf himself, Thomasius was given an appointment as councillor to the court, and was allowed to lecture at the Ritterakademie in Halle an der Saale, which in 1694 would become the Friedrichs-Universität, with Thomasius among the founding faculty (in law). Thomasius was soon joined by the Pietist orientalist, theologian and educational reformer, August Hermann Francke, who had likewise run afoul of the religious authorities in Leipzig. Thomasius himself had been sympathetic with the anti-scholastic and anti-authoritarian bent of the Pietists (see  §3.2  below), and had publicly defended Francke at one point in Leipzig; however, a public break occurred when Thomasius published a criticism, in 1699, of the pedagogy Francke had adopted in his famous educational institutions in Halle. Thomasius continued to stir controversy with his lectures and publications, which frequently over-reached the purview of the juristic faculty (such as his critical discussion of witchcraft trials—Beck 1969: 253–254), and breached decorum by personally attacking his theological colleagues, all of which led to a reprimand from the Brandenburg court in 1702 and an order to adhere to the boundaries between faculties. Thomasius’ dissertation De concubinatu of 1713, in which he contended that the use of concubines does not violate the marriage contract given that the purpose of marriage is solely procreation, also generated heated discussion. While Thomasius and Francke reconciled in 1714, Thomasius did not play a significant role in the later controversy between Wolff and the Pietists. He died in Halle on 23 September 1728.