 Descended from an old Saxon family of Czech origin (ze Stupic), he matriculated in the year 1485 and was accepted into the Augustinian order of friars in Munich before being posted to Tübingen, where he was eventually promoted to the rank of prior.In 1500, Staupitz was made a Doctor of Theology and in 1503 he was elected to the post of Vicar general of the German Congregation of Augustinians.He was also made dean of the theology faculty at the new University of Wittenberg when it was founded in 1502.