Up to age of 14 he attended the Latin School at Weth in his hometown of Wemding and then went to study at the University of Ingolstadt.
In the following year, he moved to the University of Wittenberg, where he met the reformer Martin Luther and the humanist Philipp Melanchthon, which shaped his future.
With in-depth study of the church fathers, Amerbach came to a different conclusion, so that disagreements arose with Reformation ideas, particularly with regard to the doctrine of justification and of papal primacy.
After much controversial correspondence with Melancthon, he left Wittenberg in 1543, and was received back into the Catholic Church, along with his wife and children.
Soon he enjoyed a widespread reputation as a commentator on Horace and Cicero; he also tried his hand at poetry, likewise in Latin.