Europa reformata (English Edition): Reformationsstädte Europas und ihre Reformatoren 9783374041305, 3374041302

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This beautifully illustrated, compact volume traces the profile of 48 European cities in early Reformation times. It transports readers across Europe from Spain to Estonia, from Scotland to Romania, passing through many fascinating cities in the Reformation heartland of this continent. With finely drawn historical portraits and abundant pictorial material, the articles by different scholars also feature the most prominent Reformers who lived and worked in each city (including six dynamic women). Supplemented by an illustrated map of Europe, local websites and reading lists, Europa Reformata will serve as a guide for G E R M A N Y visitors and armchair travelers alike. By highlighting so many cities and pioneers of the Reformation, it makes a timely and unique contribution to the 500th anniversary of this groundSWITZERbreaking movement. LAND

Europa reformata

1517 — 2017

Europa reformata 1517 — 2017

Viborg Hans Tausen

Turku Mikael Agricola

SWEDEN Copenhagen Johannes Bugenhagen

Edinburgh George Wishart, John Knox

Hamburg Stephan Kempe, Johannes Bugenhagen, Johannes Aepinus

Emden Johannes a Lasco

Cambridge Thomas Cranmer

L AT V I A

DENMARK

Witmarsum Menno Simons

G R E AT B R I TA I N

FINLAND

Leiden Petrus Bloccius, Jan van Hout

Oxford William Tyndale, John Wycliffe

NETHERLANDS

Münster Bernhard Rothmann, Jan Matthys, Jan van Leiden

Antwerp Jacob Propst, William of Orange, Philip Marnix of St. Aldegonde

Marburg Philip of Hesse, Adam Krafft

Breslau/ Wrocław Johann Hess, Zacharias Ursinus Prague Jan Hus

Orlamünde Andreas Karlstadt

CZECH REPUBLIC Zurich Huldrych Zwingli, Heinrich Bullinger

SWITZERLAND

AUSTRIA

Vienna Paul Speratus

HUNGARY SLOVENIA

EUR 30,00 [D]

FRANCE

POLAND

GERMANY

Herborn Caspar Olevian

ISBN 978-3-374-04130-5

Wittenberg Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon

Geneva John Calvin, Théodore de Béze

SPAIN Europa_Reformata-Umschlag-engl_.indd 1

Seville

I T A LY

07.11.16 11:52

ROMANIA

Europa reformata

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Europa reformata European Reformation Cities and their Reformers­ Edited by Michael Welker, Michael Beintker and Albert de Lange

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In grateful memory of Bishop Prof. Dr. Friedrich Weber (1949–2015)

Bibliographic information from the German National Library

The German National Library has recorded this publication in the German National Bibliography; for detailed bibliographical data see http://dnb.dnb.de @ 2016 by Evangelische Verlagsanstalt GmbH Leipzig Printed in the EU

All rights reserved. Any use outside the limits of copyright law without the permission of the publishers is inadmissible and an offence. That particularly applies to reproduction, translation, microfilming, and storage and editing in electronic systems. The book was printed on age-resistant paper.

Translation: Douglas Stott et al. Overall design: Kai Michael Gustmann, Leipzig Cover and end paper: Kai-Michael Gustmann, based on a model by Alexander Maßmann and Maren Ossenberg-Engels Printing and binding: GRASPO CZ a. s., Zlín ISBN 978-3-374-04130-5 www.eva-leipzig.de

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Contents





9 Preface

13 Introduction Michael Welker 25 Antwerp – Jacob Propst, William of Orange and Philip Marnix of St. Aldegonde Guido Marnef 35 Augsburg – Wolfgang Musculus Andreas Link 47 Basel – Erasmus of Rotterdam and Johannes Oecolampadius Christine Christ-von Wedel 57 Béarn – Marguerite de Navarre, Gérard Roussel, and Jeanne d’Albret Philippe Chareyre 67 Bern – Berchtold Haller and Niklaus Manuel Martin Sallmann 77 Breslau/Wrocław – Johann Hess and Zacharias Ursinus Irene Dingel 87 Bretten – Philipp Melanchthon Günter Frank

97 Cambridge – Thomas Cranmer Charlotte Methuen 107 Constance – Ambrosius, Margarete and Thomas Blarer Hermann Ehmer 5

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117 Copenhagen – Johannes Bugenhagen Martin Schwarz Lausten 125 Debrecen – Márton Kálmáncsehi Sánta and Péter Melius Juhász Béla Levente Baráth 135 Edinburgh – George Wishart and John Knox Charlotte Methuen 147 Emden – John a Lasco Klaas-Dieter Voß 157 Ferrara – Renée de France and Olympia Morata Susanna Peyronel Rambaldi 167 Geneva – John (Jean) Calvin and Théodore de Bèze Michel Grandjean 177 Hamburg – Stephan Kempe, Johannes Bugenhagen and Johannes Aepinus Rainer Postel 189 Heidelberg – Petrus Dathenus and Zacharias Ursinus Christoph Strohm 199 Herborn – Caspar Olevian Tobias Sarx 209 Hermannstadt/Sibiu – Paul Wiener Daniel Buda 217 Kronstadt/Braşov – Johannes Honterus and Valentin Wagner Andreas Müller 227 Leiden – Petrus Bloccius and Jan van Hout Kees de Wildt 237 Ljubljana/Laibach – Primož Truber Anton Schindling and Dennis Schmidt 6

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245 Lyon – Waldes and Pierre Viret Albert de Lange

Contents

255 Marburg – Philipp of Hesse and Adam Krafft Wolf-Friedrich Schäufele 265 Memmingen – Christoph Schappeler Peter Blickle 273 Mühlhausen in Thuringia – Thomas Müntzer Siegfried Bräuer 279 Münster – Bernhard Rothmann, Jan Matthys and Jan van Leiden Hubertus Lutterbach 291 Neuchâtel – William (Guillaume) Farel Grégoire Oguey 301 Nuremberg – Lazarus Spengler and Andreas Osiander Berndt Hamm 311 Orlamünde – Andreas Karlstadt Thomas Kaufmann 321 Oxford – John Wycliffe and William Tyndale Martin Ohst 331 Prague – Jan Hus Martin Wernisch 341 Reval/Tallinn and Dorpat/Tartu – Hermann Marsow Matthias Asche

351 Riga – Andreas Knopken Ainars Radovics and Ojārs Spārītis

361 Schwäbisch Hall – Johannes Brenz Wolfgang Schöllkopf

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369 Seville – Dr. Egidio Mariano Delgado 379 Speyer – Michael Diller Klaus Bümlein 389 Stockholm – Gustav I Wasa and Olaus Petri Tarald Rasmussen 399 Strasbourg – Martin Bucer and Katharina Zell Matthieu Arnold 407 Turku – Michael Agricola Reijo E. Heinonen 417 Ulm – Sebastian Franck and Caspar von Schwenckfeld Susanne Schenk 427 Venice – Bartolomeo Fonzio and Baldassarre Altieri Federica Ambrosini 437 Viborg – Hans Tausen Rasmus H.C. Dreyer and Anna Vind 447 Vienna – Paul Speratus Rudolf Leeb 457 Witmarsum – Menno Simons Klaas-Dieter Voß 467 Wittenberg – Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon Johannes Schilling 481 Worms – Martin Luther, Hans Denck and Ludwig Hätzer Ulrich Oelschläger 491 Zurich – Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger Judith Engeler and Peter Opitz 497 Photo credits 8

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Preface



Five hundred years of Reformation – the social, cultural, and religious movement that commenced during the early sixteenth century arose from efforts to renew the church in the light of the gospel. Within a remarkably short period, this resulted in developments the impacts of which continue to be felt globally today – and not just where the Reformation was successful. Even where such success was denied, the movement was still able to shape the very opposition it provoked. The beginning of the Reformation is inextricably linked to the name of Martin Luther and the debate concerning penitence and indulgences he ignited in Wittenberg during the autumn of 1517. During the following years, no one shaped the drama and dynamics of the Reformation as did Luther, and in this sense he is undeniably of epochal significance. Precursors prepared the ground. Waldes of Lyon, John Wycliffe, and Jan Hus along with the movements they inspired all struggled and suffered on behalf of a comprehensive renewal of the church. But the radical change and departure into a new age came about only with Luther. Nothing less than world history was now being written. The Reformation spread like wildfire. Under Lutherʼs influence and unmistakably parallel to the events in Wittenberg, new Reformation cells and centers emerged, notably Zurich, Strasbourg, and Geneva. These cities can also be called strongholds, or hubs of the reformational movement. Yet limiting the discussion to them fails to do justice to the multifaceted, polycentric nature of what actually took place. Whether it be Antwerp or Riga, Leiden or Debrecen, Copenhagen or Lyon, Oxford or Venice – almost every place in Europe has its own Reformation story to relate. Although these stories did not always end successfully, with nascent Reformation initiatives often being bloodily suppressed, their stories must not be forgotten, since those who died for their faith shaped these stories no less than those who – as the grand

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thinkers and organizers of this renewal – were far more prominent and visible. The Reformation in Europe consisted in a whole array of larger and smaller reformations and as such constituted a phenomenon and a network of genuinely pan-European proportions. Hence our title Europa reformata. The 500th anniversary of the Reformation was a welcome occasion for the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE) to draw public attention to the European dimensions of the Reformation. The CPCE has always acknowledged the importance of the sometimes quite different experiences of both its larger and its smaller member churches, originating as it did from the approval of the Leuenberg Agreement (1973). In doing so, the churches that emerged from the sixteenth-century Reformation and their pre-Reformation siblings in faith laid aside their centuries-old ecclesiastical estrangement and began living together in pulpit and table fellowship. To date, 107 European Protestant churches have signed the Leuenberg Agreement, bringing with them at least 107 different Reformation stories. Yet even these 107 Reformation stories could easily be enriched by the Reformation stories attaching to the numerous localities and regions within those individual Protestant churches: a colorful tableau indeed, easily illustrating how selective this present volume has had to be – with its 72 prominent figures and 48 cities associated with the Reformation. In short, it can only hope to give the reader a taste of the multifaceted nature of the Reformation and its resonance within its pan-European setting. At its seventh general assembly in Florence in 2012, the churches of the CPCE initiated the project Europa reformata: 500 Years of Reformation in Europe. The assembly called for cities to apply for the title “European City of the Reformation”. Candidates were to be those towns and cities that had played a special role in the sixteenth-century Reformation. Naturally there were to be historical testimonies to the Reformation period and the cities were to be sufficiently accessible for visitors and tourists. The assembly wanted these cities, located across the entire continent, to commemorate the Reformation over its entire breadth for the European public at large and to inspire dialogue with contemporary culture concerning the social and cultural insights associated with the Reformation. The response to this initiative surpassed all expectation. Although the editors of this volume could easily have presented 80 Reformation cities, the 48 that were eventually included, along with the Reformers associated with them, offer a commemorative panorama that will enable readers not merely from Europe but from all over the world to participate in an exciting expedition that follows the traces of the Reformation down through history. On this expedition, readers will not only be journeying to Wittenberg, Zurich, Strasbourg, and Geneva, but will also find themselves, perhaps even unexpectedly at times, following the Reformation trail right across the entire European continent.

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We would like to thank the authors who contributed to this “travel guide” through European Reformation history. The individual chapters stem from theologians and historians with specialized knowledge of the specific Reformation sites and the prominent figures portrayed. Each author may have a slightly different angle of vision, focusing sometimes on a townʼs religious, political, or architectural profile during the Reformation period, and sometimes on the personal and theological profile of individual Reformers, or even on the historical setting. The overall yield of these contributions, however, throws into striking relief the grand contours of the Reformation. We would also like to thank the numerous churches and church leaders who through subscription have enabled the financing of this ambitious undertaking. We are especially grateful to the Church Office of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and to the City of Basel for providing printing subsidies. Bishop Prof. Dr. Jochen Cornelius-Bundschuh of the Protestant Church in Baden, the executive of the Protestant Church of the Palatinate and Dr. Thies Gundlach, vicepresident of the EKD Church Office, supported the English translation. Senior pastor Dr. Younghoon Lee of the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul funded the Korean edition (edited by Prof. Dr. Kim Jae Jin). Church historians Prof. Dr. Berndt Hamm and Prof. Dr. Christoph Strohm provided extensive advice during the preparation of this volume. We are grateful to Dr. Alexander Massmann and Maren Ossenberg-Engels for preparing the map Europa reformata, and to Bettina Höhnen, Corinna Klodt, Irmela Küsell, Simon Layer, Charlotte Reda and Dr. Hanna Reichel for gathering special information concerning the Reformers and for collecting the addresses of church, political, and tourist contact centers. Dr. Albert de Lange has done a great deal of editorial work and presented the numerous illustrations. We would also like to thank Dr. Annette Weidhas of the Evangelische Verlagsanstalt for her invaluable assistance. For the English edition we thank the translators Margaret Lampe (Heidelberg and Nuremberg), Neville Williamson (Emden) and Dr. Douglas Stott, who trans­ lated the majority of the remaining essays (six were submitted in English). Endre Iszlai translated the essay on Debrecen from Hungarian into English. Elaine Griffiths edited the entire English manuscript with a mixed international readership in mind. We dedicate this book to the memory of Bishop Friedrich Weber, who died on 19 January 2015 after a short period of serious illness. Friedrich Weber, executive president of the CPCE Council from 2012, followed and supported the development of this book with passion and commitment from the very outset, and we remember him with profound gratitude. For the editors: Michael Beintker

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Introduction



by Michael Welker

I. The spiritual heart of the Reformation: trust in God’s revelation The Reformation message is characterized by profound trust in God and by fearlessness in the face of human power. The alternatives it articulates are quite clear: – God’s word before human words, if necessary even against human words – Biblical witnesses before human doctrines – God’s truth before human certainties or opinions – Faith in redemption that cannot be attained through one’s own actions, but solely through God, not trusting in indulgences and one’s own works (cf. Berndt Hamm’s article on Nuremberg) The Reformation emphasizes that God has turned compassionately toward human beings, and that precisely this action on God’s part is revealed in Jesus Christ and grasped in faith (cf. Christoph Strohm’s article on Heidelberg). God, God’s Word and God’s truth draw near to human beings, seeking to comfort, encourage and uplift them. – God reveals himself in the compassionate, suffering human being Jesus Christ, who was executed on the cross. – Jesus Christ takes hold of his witnesses in the power of the Holy Spirit and draws them into his life and authority – even against the power of pope and emperor. The Reformation’s stirring theological insights and life-changing energy are today associated especially with the towns of Wittenberg (Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon), Zurich (Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger), and Geneva

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(John Calvin and Théodore de Bèze), on the one hand, and with the developments commencing after 1517 (Luther posts his theses in Wittenberg), on the other. And yet more than a century earlier than the Reformation in Germany, Switzerland, and other European countries, reform initiatives and the articulation of several key Reformation insights prompted the demand for corresponding reforms, especially from circles near the universities of Oxford (John Wycliffe) and Prague (Jan Hus), and indeed even earlier from Waldes of Lyon and the Waldensians. Such Reformation forerunners were already emphasizing that God’s grace alone constitutes the foundation of human salvation, and that the status of Scripture was higher than any church doctrine. For just that reason, they argued, not only should the Bible be made accessible to all people, it should also be preached and its teachings communicated in the country’s native language. Emphasis was on human maturity, on human beings having come of age in spiritual matters, and accordingly on the bread and wine in the Eucharist being distributed to all congregation members. Even before later Reformation figures, several of these “pre-Reformers” were publicly executed for having disseminated these liberating, but also heretical notions.

II. The importance of the printing press and education for the Reformation One simply cannot overestimate the importance of what at the time was the still relatively new technology of moveable-type printing for the success of the Reformation, especially with regard to the production of pamphlets and books in the vernacular. Between 1518 and 1530, no fewer than 457 printings of Luther’s writings – with an overall print run of a half million copies! — appeared in Augsburg alone. Publishers and printing shops were enormously successful in Basel, Emden, Hamburg, Herborn, Hermannstadt, Kronstadt, Leiden, Nuremberg, Speyer, Stockholm, Ulm, Urach, Vienna, Worms, and other cities. Pamphlets, often with gripping illustrations, shook people up. Printed sermons and treatises made it possible to disseminate the Reformation message directly among the people. Catechisms summarized the most important elements of faith and were disseminated far and wide — some globally. Translations of the Bible into the language of the people swiftly appeared in many countries. New congregational hymns and even entire hymnals were printed. Many Reformers distinguished themselves through their extraordinary rhetorical and creative talents. Several, often supported by teams of translators, produced Bible translations that in their own turn determinatively influenced the development of local languages: Martin Luther in Germany, William Tyndale in England, Pierre-Robert Olivétan in France, Casiodoro de Reina in Spain, the Petri

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brothers in Sweden, Michael Agricola in Finland, Gáspár Károli in Hungary, and Primož Truber in Slovenia. Johannes Bugenhagen’s translation of the Bible into Low German provided the model for the Danish Bible. The list could easily go on.

III. Reformation advocacy of education and liberation At the time, enthusiasm for the Reformation was borne largely by an educated middle class with a pronounced emancipatory disposition. Yet even before the Reformation, larger towns as centers of both news and communication were already providing the backdrop for educational movements – about forty percent of the population in Nuremberg, for example, could read. In some towns, circles of educated persons met who not only were attracted by the humanist ideals of Erasmus of Rotterdam but were also open to the Reformation. To put it simply: “Without humanism, no Reformation!” (Bernd Moeller). These circles, often with a broad network of correspondents, both disseminated and otherwise promoted Reformation doctrine. But it was not just in larger towns that the Reformation was able to gain a foothold. Devout rulers also joined and began supporting it in their own territories. Ultimately the Reformation spread to every class in the population. As an educational movement, the Reformation attached great value to founding schools and Hohe Schulen (schools of higher learning), and in renewing the educational system from the ground up. The impetus behind this extraordinary commitment was the will to promote universal access to the Bible as the Word of God and, by educating all people – not just the clergy – to promote a sound community in which human freedom could flourish. Portraits of numerous towns in this volume (Debrecen, Ferrara, Ljubljana, Riga, Strasbourg, etc.) vividly illustrate these developments. In Schwäbisch Hall, for example, Johannes Brenz taught in his own writings that children were to be esteemed and respected, and demanded the development of more empathetic pedagogical methods. Just as Luther himself had proposed in his publication To the Councilors (1524), Brenz founded German and Latin schools for both boys and girls of all classes. In 1526 in Nuremberg, similarly inspired by Melanchthon, a new type of school altogether was created, the Gymnasium (secondary school). And finally, in 1541 the Reformer Johannes Honterus founded the first humanist Gymnasium in Kronstadt in southeastern Europe. In 1527 Philipp of Hesse, in Marburg, founded the first Protestant university. The Hohe Schule in Herborn was developed as an educational institution not only for theology but also for philosophical and jurisprudential research and teaching. Dynamic young scholars (a notable pioneer in Herborn: Caspar Olevian)

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and erudite teachers from other European countries accepted appointments at the various universities, contributing considerably to these institutions’ ability to attract students from all over Europe and enhancing their interdisciplinary renown. Through these developments, the Reformation provided an enduring source of energy and inspiration for early modern universities in the fields of theology, philology, historiography, jurisprudence and political science. This intensified and enhanced educational climate together with the will to support and sustain it similarly contributed to a renewal and fortification of people’s self-confidence, which at least over time promoted change with respect to freedom in the political sphere. Members of the clergy enthusiastically embraced the new ecclesiastical and theological freedoms. Legal scholars sensed the potential of political freedom and were keen on putting these theories into actual practice. And even the mercantile upper classes, tradesmen and the guilds participated in emergent Reformation developments, intent in their own turn on helping secure and solidify these newly acquired freedoms. At the same time, such developments often served to strengthen previously existing anticlerical attitudes among the various strata of society, with the clergy’s political, economic, and taxation privileges now coming under fire or being eliminated entirely. The message was clear: This yearning for a radical renewal of the church could no longer be repressed. As was to be expected, especially where the Reformation did not enjoy the protection of a territorial ruler, various forms of opposition against the Reformers and their followers quickly emerged, including persecution and even public executions. Like the pre-Reformation, the Reformation movement proper was from the very outset also a movement of martyrs. Indeed, in some places, especially in southern Europe (e.g. Seville, Valladolid, Venice), Protestants could sustain their faith only as “crypto-Protestants”, organizing themselves in secret networks.

IV. Reformation and the sharing of power:   the involvement of city councils, guilds and kings Even prior to the Reformation, secular authorities were becoming increasingly interested in expanding their oversight and control of ecclesiastical spheres and concerns. Indeed, in some cities councils even received papal support or at least tolerance in this regard, the pope granting the council in Bern, for example, the right to appoint ecclesiastical officeholders before the Reformation. In many places, however, politicians simply exploited Reformation successes to expand the scope of their own power. In Augsburg, for example, where ninety percent of the citizens quickly became Protestant, the town council and laypersons took over the

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task of appointing ecclesiastical officeholders, adjudicating disputes in matters of faith, and ensuring that sermons adhered to Scripture and were of an acceptably Protestant orientation. There was cautious maneuvering on the part of some town councils with respect to the uncertainty of their legal status in the empire, e.g. in Augsburg, Speyer, Worms, and also in certain towns in Switzerland (Zurich, Bern) and in Latvia (Riga, Reval). In some instances this was able to promote peaceful and even biconfessional arrangements — situations in which groups and church communities of Protestants could coexist with those of members of the “old faith” — sometimes even for the long term. In other places, a hesitatingly de facto emergence of a division of power between church and political authorities (also legal and scholarly bodies) was unfortunately hindered by monarchical actions. In Copenhagen and Stockholm, for example, the king exploited Reformation enthusiasm to rid himself of opponents from among the nobility and upper citizenry, or to have himself consecrated in a quasi-religious fashion and then assume the corresponding authority. In Lyon, Huguenots under the influence of Pierre Viret tried, through violent means, to turn the town into a “second Geneva”. These and similar developments are sometimes adduced — especially among some Roman Catholic authors — to demonstrate how the Reformation utterly disempowered the church and surrendered control to political authorities. However, what in fact emerged was a gradual process of division of power (religion, politics, law, scholarship/education) and a commitment to an ecumenical search for truth that turned out to be quite compatible with a more globally receptive and open piety, on the one hand, and an enhanced focus on freedom and democracy in later developments, on the other.

V. Public theology: the importance of sermons and disputations The Reformation was “a reading and preaching movement” (Berndt Hamm). Even the worship service was now to serve spiritual, ethical, and political education. Questions of faith and church policy were to be stated and discussed freely and openly. Town councils in many places embraced the Reformation message and accordingly promoted theologically and biblically informed “sermons according to God’s word”. Public reaction to these developments was strong and positive. “Disputations” played an important role in spreading new Reformation ideas, in which regard the famous Heidelberg Disputation of 1518 can serve as a kind of model. It was through this disputation that Luther, focusing intently and unswervingly on God’s revelation in Jesus Christ, excited and won over numerous future Reformers. Other important disputations included those in Zurich in

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1523; Breslau in 1524 (contributing to the adoption of the Reformation there); religious colloquies in Memmingen in 1524 and Nuremberg in 1525; disputations in Hamburg in 1527 and 1528; Stockholm in 1527; Bern in 1528 (the Ten Bernese Theses), as well as a synod there in 1532; and Flensburg in 1529. The missive to the emperor himself issued by the urban diet in Ulm in 1524 represents the first Reformation confession at the imperial level. Of 1865 qualified voters in Ulm in 1530, 1621 voted to adopt the Reformation. “In all public or semi-public disputations during the 1520s, those of the old faith inevitably ended up having to depart in defeat” (Peter Blickle’s article on Memmingen).

VI. Catechisms — church ordinances — innovations in ordinary life In many cities, adopting the Reformation was accompanied by the emergence of church ordinances (the first, by Johannes Aepinus in Stralsund, appearing in 1525) and catechisms designed to provide reliable orientation in both life and doctrine. Over time, Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms (1528/29), the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), and Thomas Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer (1549) all became perennial spiritual bestsellers throughout the world. Yet even catechisms that today remain relatively unknown often exerted enormous influence. The most important of the three catechisms by Johannes Brenz from Schwäbisch Hall (1535) went through five hundred printings. Reformers focused not merely on renewing church life and doctrine in the narrower sense, but also on improving the culture of social services and assistance, for example, of care for the poor, services to the ill, and care of orphans (cf. the alms ordinance of 1522 in Nuremberg). Reformers largely transferred care for the poor from ecclesiastical to secular oversight. In Hamburg and elsewhere, a fund was established to address the needs of the poor and ill, overseen by twelve citizen “deacons”. This reorganization of church institutions, of school systems, and of institutions of social services, e.g. hospitals, was buoyed and sustained by a spirit of Christian fellowship. In Constance, Ambrosius Blarer drafted exemplary ordinances for reorganizing monastic life and implementing worship services that were commensurate with Scripture (1535 and 1536). Whether through the reorganization of existing structures or the adoption of completely new forms, initiatives for concrete aid for the poor emerged in many places, often as a reaction to acute crises, for example, in connection with the demise of the textile industry (Leiden, Memmingen) or after natural disasters (Witmarsum).

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VII. Princesses, female Reformers, and young theologians and jurists   in leading roles Theologically and spiritually engaged princesses and educated women from the upper classes of the citizenry made important contributions to the Reformation. Marguerite of Angoulême, Queen of Navarre, and her daughter Jeanne d’Albret, the Duchess of Albret in the principality of Béarn, promoted “simultaneous churches”, that is, churches that opened Roman Catholic church buildings to Protestant preachers. In contact with Reformers in Geneva, they assisted in reforming church institutions and the principality itself as well as in efforts to purify “Roman idol worship”. In cosmopolitan Emden, Countess Anna of East Frisia appointed as senior spiritual administrator the Polish humanist and Reformation theologian John a Lasco, charging him with reorganizing the entire church and its institutions in East Frisia. New synodical leadership committees were created, and in Emden itself leaders organized religious colloquies with those who were still adherents of the “old faith” and with peaceable Anabaptists. At the court of Ferrara, Renée de France promoted interest in Protestant ideas in a circle of ladies and gentlemen of the nobility. One of the most genteel families in Constance, the Blarers, was captivated by the educational ideals of humanism and inspired by the Protestant spirit. The Blarer siblings, acquainted with both Melanchthon and Luther, endeavored not only to renew the church and school system, but also to improve care for the poor. Margarete Blarer, whom no less a personage than Erasmus of Rotterdam publicly praised, began a correspondence with Martin Bucer and became personally engaged on behalf of impoverished women and orphans as well as in care for the sick. In 1523 in Strasbourg, Katharina Zell not only became one of the first Protestant clergyman’s wives as the wife of the preacher at the Strasbourg cathedral, but also a distinguished Reformation writer. She defended publicly the abolition of celibacy as well as — adducing as support the biblical testimony to the effects of the Holy Spirit — the right of women to speak and play a role in spiritual matters. She became engaged for refugees of faith not only by providing practical assistance, but also through letters of consolation and encouragement. She published a hymnal reflecting the spirituality of the Bohemian Brethren, and defended peaceable Anabaptists against public persecution. The spirit of the Reformation was, finally, also characterized by the con­ siderable influence exerted by energetic young theologians and jurists who, often immediately after concluding their university studies, assumed key leadership roles in doctrinal matters, proclamation, and church administration and governance. Distinguished examples include, of course, Philipp Melanchthon and John Calvin,

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Introduction

though also numerous other young Reformers, such as Márton Kálmáncsehi Sánta in Debrecen, Johannes Honterus and Valentin Wagner in Kronstadt, Johannes Brenz in Schwäbisch Hall, Michael Diller in Speyer, Michael Agricola in Turku, Hans Tausen in Viborg, and Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger in Zurich.

VIII. European internationality The small town of Wittenberg became the “center of the civilized world” from which a new religious culture radiated out in all directions. The only recently founded university (1502), with its renowned teachers Luther and Melanchthon, attracted more than forty-seven hundred students from all over Europe between 1535 and 1545, making it the most populous university in the empire. Distinguished artists as well, especially from the school of Lucas Cranach, extended the Reformation’s aura far beyond Germany. Other institutions of higher learning where Reformation doctrine was represented similarly attracted students and scholars from all over Europe. Heidelberg, Marburg, Herborn, and also Cambridge were especially successful in this regard. Alongside the attraction of theological, jurisprudential, and humanist edu­ cational opportunities, however, the persecutions and resultant flood of refugees also contributed across borders to education and exchange, and to the increasingly international connections in daily life. By accepting refugees from other countries, towns such as Emden and Frankfurt am Main, also enhanced their own economic and cosmopolitan aura. Students, teachers and church workers, who because of their beliefs had to flee their country, acquired additional cultural and linguistic skills that enabled them to pass on the new ideas in the most varied contexts. Cosmopolitan towns with a long local tradition and great power, such as the Republic of Venice or Edinburgh — and also places characterized by multiple ethnic groups such as Kronstadt and Turku — were stimulated anew through their often contentious exposure to the Reformation spirit. At the same time, their previous cultivation of tradition and fixed cultural routines underwent constructive tests of endurance.

IX. Thematic conflicts with the Church of Rome Not surprisingly, copious thematic issues generated conflicts between the Refor­mation and the Roman Church. Although many people today view the Reformation as having been initiated or set into motion by the sale of indulgences, that theme was but one among many. The central theme prompting this new

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religious departure was the Reformation’s disagreement with the prevailing speculative and metaphysical theology and its ideas about the remoteness of God. Luther’s Heidelberg disputation of 1518 broke completely new ground from which to criticize a theology that did not grant absolutely normative status to God’s revelation in Jesus Christ and to a focused orientation toward the biblical witnesses. Whereas the new theology, oriented toward Jesus Christ and Scripture, was intent on enabling all people to gain access to the sources of knowledge of God, speculative and metaphysical theology now seemed exposed as a theology exclusively of rulers and of those who sought even more power to rule. The new theology also called into question the powerful practice of confession as well as celibacy. Another controversial topic during the Reformation was the traditional church’s refusal to offer the Eucharist to the congregation in its two forms (bread and wine — sub utraque). The Reformation objected that this position clearly contradicts the witness of Scripture. The Reformation similarly rejected other themes as being non-biblical or as exaggerations with little or no direct biblical support, including the cult of Mary and the saints, the transmission of legends of the saints, saying the rosary, and the doctrine of purgatory. It also demanded the abolition of the mass held in Latin, processions, excessive imagery in churches, and the often numerous secondary altars. Such objections and disputes were often particularly vehement precisely where unjustified economic privilege and the obvious cultivation of a double morality were associated with clerical hegemony. Conflicts similarly arose when social problems and poor educational opportunities were attributed to the inadequate leadership of the church itself. The notion of the priesthood of all believers provided support for those who criticized the questionable authority of the pope, the hierarchical organization of the clergy, and the powerful status of monasteries. Teaching and proclamation that was focused solely on Scripture was to expel all obscurantism from the church. The dominance of church jurisdiction was called into question, and in many areas adjudication by secular authorities replaced canon law and traditional dispensation of justice by the church. Many developments initiated by the Reformation anticipated that a division of power offered a more effective way of promoting individual and societal freedom; people began to see that such freedoms were best served when politics, the administration of justice, science and scholarship, and oversight of church and religious matters were not concentrated in a single entity.

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X. Intra-Protestant thematic conflicts As early as 1520, conflicts arose between Luther and the very man whom, alongside Luther, many between 1518 and 1522 considered one of the most important representatives of Wittenberg’s Reformation theology. This was Luther’s own doctoral advisor, Andreas Rudolf Bodenstein, called Karlstadt after the Franconian town of Karlstadt. The initial issue concerned the inviolability of the biblical canon. Luther had questioned the canonical validity of the Letter of James, which in Luther’s view advocated “righteousness through works”. His colleague Karlstadt sensed here a threat to the authority of Scripture. The two men also came into conflict concerning infant baptism and the appropriate age for baptism, as well as concerning the presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Karlstadt, influenced by mystical theology, emphasized more radically than Luther the maturity of the individual Christian and the authority of the congregation — even without the important prerequisite of education and training that was so important for Melanchthon and Luther. Called Brother Andreas in his church community in Orlamünde, he developed a ministry that emphasized the importance of all laypersons. These and other issues generated intra-Protestant conflicts that, along with social conflicts and the accompanying tensions, exacerbated the contentious arguments. The dispute concerning Christ’s presence in the Eucharist turned into one of the central conflicts between Lutherans and Reformed believers. In Marburg in 1529, after a debate that had started in 1526 and been carried on in polemical pamphlets, Philipp of Hesse tried to find a “middle ground between Lutherans and Zwinglians”, albeit without success. Although an important step along this path was taken with the Wittenberg Concord of 1536 (Bucer and Melanchthon), intraProtestant reconciliation in this matter was not achieved until the Leuenberg Agreement of 1973. Similarly fierce conflicts arose in connection with spiritualist movements, which appealed to the “inner word of the Spirit” in emphasizing the theological authority of the individual Christian (e.g. Sebastian Franck and Caspar von Schwenckfeld in Ulm) and called into question central tenets of faith such as the doctrine of the Trinity and of Christ’s divine nature (cf. the Anti-Trinitarians in Venice, Poland, and Transylvania; and Miguel Servet in Geneva). Conflicts arose in connection with the rejection of infant baptism and the introduction of adult baptism, which not infrequently was accompanied by a willingness to undergo rebaptism (Anabaptism). These conflicts came to a head within the framework of emancipatory and ultimately violent protest movements that also directed their anger toward oppressive economic abuses and situations of acute distress. Mühlhausen, Münster, Memmingen and other cities became centers of such radicalization.

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In the spring of 1525, the largest uprising in Europe prior to the French Revolution commenced in Upper Swabia, gravitating around Memmingen. Pre­sumably fifty thousand rebellious peasants demanded in Twelve Articles the abolition of serfdom, the right of the congregation to choose its own pastor, and the replacement of the hegemony of the nobility and ecclesiastical princes by a “common government” and the implementation of other freedoms and privileges. Thousands of peasants perished in battles with troops of the nobility. Reformation historian Heiko A. Oberman was inclined to assert that Memmingen in fact represented a “fourth center of the Reformation” — alongside Wittenberg, Zurich and Geneva. Anabaptist movements also fell prey to extremism, e.g. in Münster, where the tailor Jan van Leiden had himself declared king, thereafter abolishing, among other things, money and imposing the death penalty on those who transgressed against the Ten Commandments, and even arrogating to himself the right to choose the name of every newborn child. Such phenomena remained isolated incidents and were nonetheless able to damage the reputation of the Reformation. To this day, the unsatisfactory engagement with the Anabaptists, the Reformers’ failure to address the misery of the peasants, and the stubborn recurrence of anti-Semitism throughout church history belong to the dark side of the Reformation. The Mennonite strand of the Anabaptist movement was markedly different from the violently inclined peasants and Anabaptists and their equally violently inclined opponents in the sixteenth century. To this day, Mennonite churches continue to embody a rigorous and consistent peace theology and ethics (see Menno Simons in Witmarsum). Such Reformation highlights include countless other examples of non-violent resistance and efforts on behalf of peaceful ecumenical coexistence. Many towns, after dramatic show trials, public executions and burnings, and even posthumous condemnations with public burnings of coffins (Antwerp, Augsburg, Cambridge, Ferrara, Oxford, among others), became temporary or even permanent places in which refugees of faith from many different countries could find a safe harbor. Protestants in Augsburg, after their churches were confiscated following their impressive initial successes, patiently and peacefully conducted their services for fourteen years out in the open air. Accounts from other towns similarly relate how Protestants had “leave town” to attend worship (e.g. as late as 1649 in an engraving of Hernals Castle near Vienna by Merian). The turbulent emergence of the Reformation was followed in many countries by long periods of hardship and patience — but always on a path ultimately leading to a peaceful ecumenical life enduringly inspired by the Reformation.1 1 I would like to thank Irene Dingel, Berndt Hamm, Albert de Lange, Jan Stievermann and Christoph Strohm for their careful reading and many fine suggestions.

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Antwerp Jacob Propst, William of Orange and Philip Marnix of St. Aldegonde by Guido Marnef

A tourist visiting present-day Antwerp and seeing the many churches might conclude that the city was always a stronghold of the Catholic Church. At the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century Antwerp became indeed a bulwark of the Counter-Reformation and the new churches and convents built in a baroque style still leave their distinct traces in the urban landscape. Yet the baroque splendor conceals the fact that Antwerp was once the big center of Protestantism in the Netherlands.

A cosmopolitan metropolis It was no coincidence that Antwerp was the first city in the sixteenth-century Netherlands touched by the broad Protestant and the more specific Lutheran reform movement. In the first half of the sixteenth century, Antwerp became the big metropolis of western trade. Merchants coming from Spain, Portugal, the German Empire, England and other parts of Europe came together in Antwerp. The commercial expansion stimulated existing industries and attracted new ones. The population exploded from 40,000 at the end of the fifteenth century to 100,000 in the 1560s. Antwerpʼs economic boom profoundly affected cultural life. The availability of capital, distribution channels, skilled labor, and a vast reading public turned the city in an international center of book production and book trade. A well-developed school system enhanced the cultural emancipation of the urban middle classes. There are no data about the degree of literacy in sixteenth-century Antwerp but everything seems to indicate that at least half of the population achieved elementary literacy. Three chambers of rhetoric — poetry guilds that

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performed like amateur theater companies — reflected in their vernacular poems and plays upon the social and religious problems of the day.

Early support for Luther’s reform As a cosmopolitan trading metropolis with a vibrant cultural life Antwerp was open to new religious and cultural influences. Martin Luther’s ideas reached Antwerp at an early stage through German merchants and some Antwerp printers did not hesitate to publish the work of the Reformer from Wittenberg. The most important center of support, however, was the Augustinian monastery. This had been founded in 1513 and was part of the reformed German congregation of Augustinians to which Luther’s branch in Wittenberg also belonged. Several Antwerp friars had studied at the University of Wittenberg. Jacob Propst (1486?–1562), who was prior of the Antwerp monastery in 1518–22, was even a close friend of Luther. He supported Luther’s theology from the pulpit. In a letter to Luther, Erasmus of Rotterdam called Propst “a genuine Christian, who is most devoted to you and was once your pupil […]. He is almost the only one who preaches Christ; the others, as a rule, preach the inventions of men or their own advantage”. Propst’s sermons found fertile ground in Antwerp. However, the ecclesiastical authorities were alarmed and with the central government started a campaign against the Lutheran influences in the city. Propst was summoned and questioned by an inquisitor and on 9 February 1522 he was forced to abjure his errors in the main church of Brussels. Shortly afterwards he returned to his Lutheran convictions and had to flee to Wittenberg. From 1524 till 1559 he worked as a Lutheran pastor at Bremen. Yet, the actions of the authorities did not succeed in silencing the Lutheran spirit in the Augustinian monastery. The new prior who succeeded Propst in the summer of 1522, Hendrik van Zutphen (ca. 1488–1524), had also studied at Wittenberg and was an acquaintance of Martin Luther. Van Zutphen, too, preached Lutheran opinions and was arrested on 29 September 1522. The next day, he was liberated by a crowd of angry supporters, mostly women, and he left the city, heading for Wittenberg. In October 1522, Margaret of Austria, the regent of the Netherlands, ordered the arrest of the remaining friars. Three friars refused to recant and two of them, Hendrik Voes and Johann van den Esschen, were burned at the stake at the Brussels Great Market on 1 July 1523. They were immediately hailed as the first martyrs of the Lutheran Reformation. In the meanwhile, Emperor Charles V had ordered that the monastery buildings be demolished. The Augustinian church, however, was spared and turned into a new parish church.

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Jacob Propst, William of Orange and Philip Marnix of St. Aldegonde

The parish church of St. Andrew. The church building was part of the Augustinian monastery in the early sixteenth century

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The rise of Anabaptism and Calvinism After the dissolution of the Augustinian monastery, the Lutheran reform move­ ment lost its leading institution and centrifugal forces gained influence. The Lutheran minority though kept in close contact with Wittenberg. Small groups met in private houses, reading from Scripture and from Luther’s Postille (collection of sermons) while others emigrated to German cities where they could practice their faith openly. However, a broad, eclectic Protestant movement set the tone in Antwerp and elsewhere in the Netherlands from the mid-1520s. At secret meetings a variety of new ideas could be heard, stemming from Protestant reformers of different flavor. Several of those present at these meetings had completely broken with the Catholic Church but others still maintained ties with the old Church. The Lutherans and the supporters of the broad Protestant movement in Antwerp did not form a real church with an appropriate structure. Yet the Anabaptist movement, which came to the fore in the 1530s, developed an elaborate underground organization. While the pragmatic Antwerp city fathers were quite moderate towards Protestants, especially when people of economic weight were involved, they severely persecuted the Anabaptists. Since the seizure of Münster, Anabaptism had been associated with rebellion and disorder. The city government strictly executed the heresy edicts of the central government and condemned eight Anabaptists to death in 1535. Another fifteen followed until 1550. Most of the prosecuted Anabaptists were simple artisans. This prosecution pattern continued during the next decades. In the meanwhile, the pacifist Anabaptism molded by Menno Simons (1491–1561) had thrown off the revolutionary taint of the early movement, but this did not change the policy of the Antwerp city government. The rigorous persecution notwithstanding, the Anabaptists succeeded in building substantial underground communities. The Anabaptist leaders demanded high standards for membership of the “brotherhood” and had to be “without spot or stain”. Adult baptism was only administered when someone was prepared to leave the world of sin and after a conscious process of soul-searching and penance. The Calvinist church, however, was best equipped to challenge the hostile authorities and the rivalry of other religious communities. In 1554, a Walloon or French-speaking church was established in Antwerp, followed the next year by a Dutch-speaking congregation. From the beginning, both churches were equipped with a strong organization. An extensive and decentralized network of elders, deacons and “messengers” (which informed the members where and when the secret services were taking place) formed a close link between the community’s core leadership and the faithful brethren. Furthermore, the Antwerp Calvinist church was integrated in a European network. Preachers from the exile churches

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Jacob Propst, William of Orange and Philip Marnix of St. Aldegonde

Antwerp; colorized town map from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 5, Cologne, 1599 Middle left: Church of Our Lady (no. 1); middle right: Church of St. Andrew (no. 3)

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Iconoclasm in the Antwerp church of Our Lady, 20 August 1566. Engraving by Frans Hogenberg

were sent to Antwerp. In times of need, Calvinists in London, Cologne, Emden and other places held collections for their co-religionists in Antwerp. These bonds of solidarity were invaluable for the Antwerp underground churches. Needless to say, the contacts and the mobility were greatly enhanced by the commercial channels and networks of the Antwerp metropolis. The first minister and architect of the Dutch-speaking church, Gaspar van der Heyden (1530–85), was a typical representative of the Calvinists of the first generation. He compiled a church order and required from each member a confession of faith. He followed a very strict line and wanted to exclude all those who from time to time took part in the ceremonies connected with Catholic “superstitions”. Van der Heyden distinguished between the children of God — those who made the confession of faith and submitted to ecclesiastical discipline — and the children of the World. Not all the members of the Antwerp church shared Van der Heyden’s sharp demarcation and a distinction remained between the small congregation of fully-fledged members and the wider circle of sympathizers who did not make a far-reaching commitment.

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Jacob Propst, William of Orange and Philip Marnix of St. Aldegonde

From the beginning, Antwerp acted as a kind of bridgehead, from which Reformed ideas were carried into the surrounding towns and provinces. At the same time, the Antwerp Calvinist church played a leading role in spreading and supporting Reformed Protestantism in other provinces, such as Flanders, French Flanders, Hainaut and Artois. Above all, the Antwerp metropolis acted as a central refuge for persecuted Calvinists from Flanders and the Walloon provinces.

Protestant expansion during the annus mirabilis In the 1560s there was an increasing opposition to the strict heresy policy of Philip II, the son and successor of Charles V. At this level, the Calvinist church showed a firm militancy and a readiness to interact with the political developments. The annus mirabilis (the Wonder Year) — the period from April 1566 to April 1567 – offered ample room for political and religious action. In April 1566, a group of confederated nobles presented to the Regent, Margaret of Parma, a petition demanding that the Inquisition be abolished and the heresy edicts suspended. This presentation stimulated the self-confidence of the Calvinists. Many exiles returned and in June 1566, a synod of the Calvinist churches held in Antwerp decided it was time to come into the open. Mass meetings organized outside the Antwerp city walls attracted thousands of listeners. Yet, the Calvinist leaders also wanted to exercise their religion within the city walls. In this regard, the wave of iconoclasm which swept through the Netherlands in August 1566 proved to be instrumental. On 20 August, the image breaking started at Antwerp. Relatively small groups of rioters led by Calvinists smashed images in the church of Our Lady — Antwerp’s main parish church — and in several other churches, monasteries and chapels. The iconoclasm was not only a religiously inspired act but also a way to expand the rights of the Calvinists within the city. The iconoclastic wave indeed had an immediate impact on the Calvinist Church. On 2 September, William of Orange (1533–84), who was sent to Antwerp by the Regent, reached an agreement with the Calvinist leadership that granted the Calvinists three places where they could preach. The very same day, the accord was extended to include the Lutherans. The 2 September accord was a milestone in the development of Protestantism in Antwerp. For the first time, a legal framework now allowed Calvinists and Lutherans to live and worship in the city. Both Calvinists and Lutherans built new churches on their assigned places and they succeeded in recruiting new followers. At the same time, there was a growing tension between Calvinists and Lutherans. The discord was on political, as well as religious grounds. In the autumn and winter of 1566, the leaders of the Antwerp Calvinist church openly

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opted for political resistance and the church even served as the headquarters of the rebel movement against Philip II and the central government. By contrast, the Lutherans followed a more prudent line. In March 1567, after the defeat of a rebel army at short distance of the Antwerp city walls, the Calvinists tried to seize power in Antwerp. The Lutherans remained loyal to the civic authorities and joined the Catholics. The Calvinist leaders, who now had to withdraw, perceived this as a betrayal of the Protestant cause and continued to consider the Lutherans politically unreliable. In April 1567, Margaret of Parma and her royal troops regained control of the situation in the Netherlands. On 11 April, William of Orange and many Calvinists and Lutherans left the city. The arrival of Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva, in the summer of 1567 heralded a period of harsh repression. The Protestant communities of Antwerp were driven underground again.

A last climax of Protestantism: the Calvinist Republic After the annus mirabilis the fortunes of the Protestant communities in Antwerp were closely connected to the course of the Dutch Revolt. After the proclamation of the Pacification of Ghent (8 November 1576), which suspended the heresy edicts, the situation of the Protestants considerably improved. When the Antwerp citadel, built by the Duke of Alba, was cleared from its Spanish garrison, the Antwerp city fathers more and more followed the political line of William of Orange and the rebellious States-General. The Calvinists, who were the most loyal supporters of the Revolt, gradually took over the different echelons of the Antwerp city government. In August 1578, the city fathers proclaimed a “Religionsfried” or religious peace that granted Calvinists and Lutherans places for worship. From then onwards, the Calvinist and Lutheran Church experienced a rapid growth. Several preachers left their exile centers and henceforth labored in the “fertile vineyard” of Antwerp. Among them was Gaspar van der Heyden who came over from Middelburg. Calvinist ministers who wrote about the expansion of their church once again distinguished between core members and “sympathizers”. In April 1579 the minister Johannes Cubus declared that the Dutch church already had 12,000 hearers or sympathizers and more than 3000 incorporated members. In June 1579 the city government proclaimed a second religious peace which granted more church buildings to the Calvinists and Lutherans including existing Catholic parish churches and convents. The Catholic Church was more and more sidelined and in July 1581 the public exercise of the Catholic religion was forbidden. The Calvinist Church acquired a truly cosmopolitan character with a

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Jacob Propst, William of Orange and Philip Marnix of St. Aldegonde

The statue of William of Orange and Philip Marnix of St. Aldegonde located at the back of Antwerpʼs Museum of Fine Arts

Dutch and French-speaking church and smaller Italian and English congregations. The Lutherans had not only a Dutch and French church but also a German one. It was, however, military developments which sealed the fate of the “Calvinist Republic”. From August 1584 Alexander Farnese besieged Antwerp with his Spanish army. The city’s defense was headed by burgomaster Philip Marnix of St. Aldegonde (1540–98), a staunch Calvinist and adviser of William of Orange. Yet, after one year the rebellious city government had to surrender. The capitulation treaty of 17 August 1585 granted the Calvinists and Lutherans a term of four years during which they were allowed to live in the city without being troubled. Within this period, a number of Calvinists and Lutherans converted to the Catholic Church but many more decided to leave the city. The population of Antwerp nearly halved, going from ca. 82,000 in 1585 to 42,000 in 1589. Henceforth, the new city government and ecclesiastical authorities closely collaborated in building a new Catholic Church with a distinct Counter-Reformation character. A new religious era had begun.

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Antwerp

 Dr. Guido Marnef is professor of Early Modern History at Antwerp University and a member of its Center for Urban History.

Further reading Victoria Christman, Pragmatic Toleration. The Politics of Religious Heterodoxy in Early Reformation Antwerp, 1515–1555, Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2015 Guido Marnef, Antwerp in the Age of Reform: Underground Protestantism in a Commercial Metropolis 1550–1577, Baltimore/London: John Hopkins University Press, 1996 Guido Marnef, “From prosecuted minority to dominance: the changing face of the Calvinist Church in the cities of Flanders and Brabant (1577–1585)”, in: Herman J. Selderhuis and J. Marius J. Lange van Ravenswaay (eds.), Reformed Majorities in Early Modern Europe, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015, pp. 227–244 Visiting Antwerp www.visitantwerpen.be www.protestantsekerkantwerpennoord.be http://users.skynet.be/lutherse.kerk

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Augsburg Wolfgang Musculus by Andreas Link

The Augsburg Confession (1530) and the Peace of Augsburg (1555): This early Swabian imperial city stands for highpoints of Reformation history, albeit only owing to its preeminent role in connection with the Imperial Diets. It was not until a century later that Augsburg became a notable Protestant city, through its steadfastness during the Thirty Years War. For fourteen years its Protestant citizens held their services of worship outdoors, even in inclement weather, seeing that all six of their churches had been confiscated. The townspeople’s recollection of these events provided the original basis for the Augsburg Peace Festival, a public holiday held in the city on 8 August that is unique in modern Germany. By contrast, the early history of the Reformation in Augsburg is characterized by a variety of theological positions and movements in individual church communities. The town council adopted a non-committal, wait-and-see attitude for itself and an equally cautious “moderate middle course” in its external relationships. Hence, Augsburg joined neither the Speyer Protestants in 1529 nor was it, in 1530, a signatory to the Confessio Augustana, the fundamental Protestant confession that bears its name. While the city fathers in Zurich (as early as 1522) and in Nuremberg and Memmingen (1525) conducted debates concerning matters of faith that ultimately prompted the councils to implement the Reformation in those cities, Augsburg held back. There were a variety of reasons for this policy: divisions in the town council itself, tensions between the council and the political community of guilds, an ongoing conflict with the bishop, the legal dependency of the parishes, and not least the obligatory loyalty to the emperor as lord of the imperial city. In addition, Augsburg had no real-estate possessions in the surrounding area and was surrounded by Catholic powers, including episcopal territory, the Duchy of Bavaria,

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and the Habsburg margravate of Burgau. Between 1522 and 1534, Wurttemberg, too, passed to Ferdinand von Habsburg as a benefice. The town’s “moderate middle course” was an elastic reaction to this complex set of circumstances. It took a while for the town council to finally acknowledge that Augsburg was almost ninety percent Protestant. In 1534, it restricted the celebration of the Catholic mass to eight collegiate and monastery churches that were still intact. Then in January 1537 it entirely banned “papist idol-worship”, stating its reasons in a document addressed to the emperor and imperial estates which was also published. The remaining monasteries were dissolved and transferred to civic ownership. Almost the entire Catholic clergy went into exile. In cooperation with Martin Bucer from Strasbourg, the council created a church ordinance, a forma for worship services, a new disciplinary and police ordinance, and a marital court. The council also took control of the entire school system, including the new Latin school (1531) at St. Anne’s Church. Augsburg had now set out on the Reformation path taken by the upper German imperial cities oriented toward Zurich and Strasbourg. Wolfgang Musculus played a leading part in this, after his arrival in Augsburg from Strasbourg in 1531. The city now cautiously left the “moderate middle course” with respect to external relationships as well. After concluding a special alliance with Ulm and Nuremberg in late 1533, Augsburg joined the Schmalkaldic League in 1536, which promised to provide broader political support. In the same year it acceded to the Wittenberg Concord — the compromise between Luther and Bucer on the Eucharist. Augsburg had now also positioned itself externally as a town committed to the Protestant confession.

Augsburg ca. 1520: Episcopal city and global business center Yet Augsburg had provided a backdrop for Reformation history early on. When in October 1518 Luther arrived for consultation with Cardinal Cajetan after the conclusion of the Imperial Diet, his Ninety-five Theses were the talk of the town, no surprise in an Episcopal city with seventeen monasteries ranging from the exclusive foundation for the nobility to the more citizen-oriented mendicant (begging) order. Augsburg had countless devotional institutions focused on the salvation of souls. “Everyone wants to get into heaven,” a chronicler noted. Famous institutions include the “Fuggerei” social settlement founded in 1516 by Jakob Fugger the Rich, and his tomb in St. Anne’s. Designed according to plans by Albrecht Dürer and consecrated in early 1518, this is a Renaissance monument of genuinely European stature.

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Wolfgang Musculus

View from the nave of St. Anne’s toward the Fugger chapel

It was, however, that same Jakob Fugger whose new municipal palace was used to administer indulgence payments for Rome, and where Martin Luther was interrogated after criticizing indulgences. Canon Bernhard Adelmann was a resolute opponent of Fugger’s business profits from charging interest. A cathedral chapter with humanist members was an exception among south German dioceses. The new bishop Christoph von Stadion (in office 1517–43) exhibited a conciliatory disposition, and town secretary and imperial counselor Konrad Peutinger, who invited Luther to dinner in October 1518, was a respected humanist whose “singular zealousness for my cause” Luther himself attested. Yet it was the same Konrad Peutinger who, as the “gray eminence” of municipal politics, advocated the “moderate middle course”. However, debates concerning a reformatio were not simply a matter for scholars and theologians. In the rapidly expanding economic metropolis of Augsburg, the gap between the rich and poor was enormous. The 25,000 inhabitants of Augsburg around 1500 included, on the one hand, the rich (30 of whom were worth at least 10,000 guilders and 140 at least 2400 guilders), and, on the other, the “have-nots”, representing more than half the inhabitants, including many weavers who were

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barely managing to make ends meet due to the capitalist methods now being used in the textile trade. The social tensions in Augsburg inevitably entered into the debates surround­ ing the reformatio and were further nourished by numerous publications in German. This was a specialty of Augsburg printers, who — in this town without a university — targeted readers unable to read Latin. Indeed, between 1480 and 1500, three fourths of all books published in Augsburg used the vernacular. With eighteen per cent of Luther publications, Augsburg was positioned after Wittenberg but still ahead of Nuremberg, Strasbourg and Erfurt. Between 1518 and 1530, 457 publications of works by Luther in Augsburg sold half a million copies. They were theological bestsellers. Only 17 publications by Zwingli are known, and other theologians, even those living in Augsburg itself, follow at a considerable distance. Publications defending the Roman church are entirely absent; not even the bull threatening to ban Luther found a printer in Augsburg. In 1520 the council decreed that nothing be published concerning “aberrations between the clergy and doctors of the Holy Scriptures”. Nevertheless, no genuinely effective censorship was enforced, and the development of opinions in the town continued unobstructed.

Local parish reformations and the town council’s deferred Reformation One crucial reason for the decentralized development of the Reformation in the beginning was the legal status of parishes. Rather than being independent, they were all under the purview of monasteries and ecclesiastical foundations, which in their turn enjoyed a status as special districts outside town law. As early as the Middle Ages, however, the citizenry and civil institutions acquired increasing influence over these parishes. Officers appointed by the council oversaw the economic affairs of the Holy Spirit hospice (Heilig-Geist-Spital) and the mendicant orders; monasteries even occasionally acquired rights of citizenship. The involvement of lay members of the parishes became especially important. In the thirteenth century, financial oversight boards emerged from the need to check whether the monasteries were correctly fulfilling their obligations with respect to the numerous foundations. As independent legal bodies, they managed the foundation funds and acquired a say in matters ranging from public worship and church furnishings to parish schools and their own preaching halls. When, on 11 August 1523, the council forbade preaching anything other than “the holy Gospel and Word of God”, lay members also resorted to appointing pastoral positions. In the impoverished quarter of St. George’s Church, for example, Johann Seifried was elected by the parish community in 1524 and appointed

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Augsburg; colorized town map from Sebastian Münster, “Cosmographey”, Basel, 1567 Middle: Churches of St. Maurice and St. Anne. Below: “Fuggerei” and town hall

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The Eucharist in both kinds; 1525 in St. Anne’s. Illustration from [Augustin Scheller], “Chronica Ecclesiastica Augustana”, 1744. Manuscript from the State and City Library of Augsburg

by the oversight board. Even in the elite quarter around St. Maurice’s Church, the parish members took action. When Johann Speiser preached the Lutheran doctrine of justification in 1523 in St. Maurice’s, as a result of which Johann Eck declared him a heretic, four hundred citizens demanded that the council offer him

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protection — successfully! When the abbot of St. Ulrich dismissed Johann Schmidt in 1526, who was allegedly preaching in a “wholly Lutheran fashion”, the oversight board promptly hired him. In the church of the Holy Cross, the board took control of the parish and financed its radical preacher Wolfgang Haug by a door-to-door collection. Even though lacking a parish, the mendicant orders similarly opened their doors to the introduction of Reformation ideas; indeed, under the prior Johann Frosch, the Carmelite Monastery of St. Anne became known as a Lutheran stronghold. In 1523 the council additionally appointed Urban Rhegius as preacher, and in 1525 St. Anne’s offered Holy Communion in both kinds. Among the Franciscans in the Barfüsser Church, Johann Schilling preached such political sermons that the council authorities found their own status being questioned, and were only able to remedy this situation by dismissing the “reading master”. This event, however, became the catalyst for an armed uprising of craftsmen on 6 August 1524, which resulted in the immediate execution of the two ringleaders and considerable confusion. That autumn saw the arrival of Michael Keller, who had been driven out of Bavaria. He conducted Holy Communion in its Swiss form as a purely commemorative celebration and soon became the most important preacher in Augsburg, able to exert considerable influence even on council politics. The people voted with their feet. While Rhegius or Speiser preached to a dozen listeners, Keller’s church was full. In a letter to Georg Spalatin in 1527, Luther expressed his horror at this doctrinal diversity: “Augusta in sex divisa est sectas” (Augsburg is divided into six). Alongside the Zwinglian majority, there were also adherents of Johannes Oecolampadius and Martin Bucer, with the Lutherans at St. Anne’s falling behind and adherents of the old faith remaining under the influence of the Fuggers. The council’s rather soft attitude attracted religious “dissidents”. Under the guidance of the emigrants Balthasar Hubmeier, Hans Denk and Hans Hut (for a time a student of Luther and later of Thomas Müntzer), Augsburg also became a center for Anabaptists. Yet events in the Peasants’ War compelled the council to take action. During a gathering of south German Anabaptists in the summer of 1527, known as the “Synod of Martyrs”, the leaders were arrested and expelled from the town. Some were even branded. Hut died in the dungeon, and in 1528 another Anabaptist was executed as well. Henceforth the Anabaptist gatherings ceased, and the only trace of them is the occasional reference to isolated adherents underground.

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The Council’s late Reformation after the Imperial Diet of 1530 and its theological advocate, Wolfgang Musculus (1497–1563) The Imperial Diet of 1530 was a turning point for the Augsburg Reformation. As a result of the pulpit prohibition Charles V imposed on all local preachers, several Lutheran doctors departed, including Stephan Agricola, Johannes Frosch, and Urbanus Rhegius. New appointees came from Strasbourg, including Bonifatius Wolfart (St. Anne’s), Theobald Niger (St. Ulrich’s), and Wolfgang Musculus. The Augsburg Reformation found its advocate in Musculus, whom Bucer and Wolfgang Capito had recommended as follows: “He does not put on airs and graces. But those who know what a peaceful, gentle, correct and modest spirit the Lord has bestowed upon him, along with a refined, bright, quick and even-tempered understanding accompanied by a considerable acquaintance not only with divine Scripture, but also with the Church Fathers, and all of it encompassed within a quiet, wholly irreproachable life — they will think all the more highly of him because of his wholly inconspicuous appearance.” Wolfgang Mäuslin (Latin: Musculus) came from simple circumstances and in his early years was shaped by Alsatian humanism, Benedictine life at the monastery Lixheim (1512–27), Lutheran doctrine as early as 1518, and the Strasbourg Reformation. He had moved to Strasbourg after his life in the monastery, married and worked as a weaver. Bucer and Capito appointed him preacher in Dorlisheim in Alsace, and in 1528 deacon at Strasbourg cathedral. Musculus continued to educate himself, attended the lectures of both, and learned Hebrew. When he received a call from Augsburg, he hesitated to accept the task of reconciling the doctrinal diversity in a compromise, where others had failed. The council appointed him to the pulpit at Holy Cross in 1531, where he preached until 1537. These were the years of the council’s Reformation, during which the church institutions were established through the wrangling of theologians and lay members, guilds and the council. Bucer paid lengthier annual visits of support beginning in 1534. Musculus’ actions were unspectacular but no less enduring. In 1535, for example, he translated St. Augustine’s ideas on authority in matters of religion and worship into German (Vom Ampt der Oberkait / in sachen der Religion vnd Gotsdienst) and published it with a preface and a timely epilogue by Bucer. According to Musculus, an acquaintance with the Church Fathers heightens the reader’s understanding of the Bible. The council based its actions on this careful argumentation concerning the right and even duty of the authorities to take an active role in religious matters. In 1536 Musculus as the town’s representative signed the Wittenberg Concord concerning the question of the Eucharist, agreeing “that the body and blood of

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Wolfgang Musculus. Anonymous portrait (late 16th century)

Wolfgang Musculus, “Vom Ampt der Oberkait”, 1535. Title page. This copy belonged to Konrad Peutinger

Christ are present and truly offered”. The following year he became preacher at the cathedral, and from 1540 functioned as the council’s theological contact, representing the town at the (ultimately futile) religious colloquies in Worms and Regensburg. Alongside these official duties, Musculus learned Greek from Sixt Birk, who had become headmaster of the grammar school (Gymnasium) in 1536. He also taught himself Arabic to read Psalm commentaries. He translated several important Greek Church Fathers into Latin, published commentaries on numerous biblical books, and composed his own systematic theology. In 1543/44 he persuaded the council to acquire almost one hundred early Greek manuscripts in Venice, thereby laying the foundation for the Augsburg library’s international reputation. In 1544 the council dispatched Musculus to Donauwörth, where he was to strengthen the Reformation on the pattern already established in Augsburg. But his efforts were in vain, since Donauwörth ultimately decided to follow the model of Nuremberg. Not only did the defeat in the Schmalkaldic War burden Augsburg with enormous debt, the harsh Imperial Diet of 1548 also introduced a new constitution.

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It deprived the guilds of their political rights (Emperor Charles viewed them as the source of all evil) in favor of the patricians. It also ensured that Catholics outnumbered Protestants in the city administration. Representatives of the Catholic Church received back their rights, and also the confiscated churches. Most importantly, at the height of his power, Charles V decreed an “interim religion” for Protestants aimed at guiding them back to the old church; although it permitted priests to marry and the laity to receive both the bread and wine at the Eucharist, the Roman rite alone was to be followed. Musculus immediately left Augsburg in protest and, after a hazardous flight, made it to Bern. There, as a professor of theology until his death in 1563, he acquired a wealth of international influence and shaped an entire generation of Reformed theologians.

Augsburg as a town of two religions It must be said that the council implemented the “Interim” in Augsburg only half-heartedly, and the residents boycotted it. After various shifts in power within the empire and the Treaty of Passau in 1552, which ensured the continuation of the Augsburg Confession, King Ferdinand again opened an Imperial Diet in Augsburg in 1555. This too had religious matters on the agenda. A specific article stipulated that because the (later) formula cuius regio, eius religio did not sufficiently encompass confessionally mixed imperial cities, the two confessions should there remain in place. After the horrors of the Thirty Years War, this juxtaposition, accompanied by various controversies, led to a legal guarantee of parity. As a result, Augsburg even saw the emergence of a unique Protestant Baroque culture. During subsequent periods, this cohabitation of two confessions was laborious but it ultimately worked in practice. It would have been unimaginable Plaque commemorating the Joint in those times that the two adjacent Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification on 31 October 1999, in St. Anne’s Church churches of St. Ulrich would one day

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Wolfgang Musculus

In the past, the close proximity of the Catholic Basilica of St. Ulrich and St. Afra (behind) and the Protestant Church of St. Ulrich was a cause of conflict; today it symbolizes good ecumenical relations

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be viewed as a symbol of ecumenism. Or that a Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification would be signed by both the Lutheran World Federation and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. A commemorative plaque at St. Anne’s recalls this event, which took place in 1999 on Reformation Day.  Dr. Andreas Link is a retired pastor. He has published on Swabian history and on church and art history. Further reading Rudolf Dellsperger et al. (eds.), Wolfgang Musculus (1497–1563) und die oberdeutsche Reformation, Akademie-Verlag, Berlin: 1997 Rolf Kießling et al. (eds.), Im Ringen um die Reformation. Kirchen und Prädikanten, Rat und Gemeinden in Augsburg, Epfendorf/Neckar: Bibliotheca-Academica-Verlag, 2011 Rolf Kießling (ed.), St. Anna in Augsburg. Eine Kirche und ihre Gemeinde, Augsburg: Wißner, 2013 Visiting Augsburg www.augsburg-tourismus.de/tourist-info.html www.augsburg-evangelisch.de

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Basel Erasmus of Rotterdam and Johannes Oecolampadius by Christine Christ-von Wedel

On 21 October 1515 the priest Johannes Oecolampadius (1482–1531) journeyed from his Württemberg hometown Weinsberg to the distinguished imperial city and business metropolis Basel with its bishop’s see, grand cathedral, university, monasteries and rich libraries. A friend from his student days, the new cathedral preacher Wolfgang Capito, had invited him. How enthusiastically this friend had spoken about all the scholars in Basel, the excellent printers with whom Oecolampadius doubtless could find work, and especially about the famous Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466/67–1536)! Indeed, Oecolampadius was even carrying a letter of introduction to the great Erasmus in his luggage. But how would this respected and admired scholar receive him, a scholar who was shaking up Christendom itself in such elegant Latin, summoning it to a new life that combined the virtues of antiquity with Christian love and humility? People could hardly believe the utterly original way Erasmus had exhorted Christendom to embrace a reform of both church and society in his book In Praise of Folly, in which he boldly dared to chastise the inadequacies of even the most respected institutions. This work, which was anything but a hackneyed satire, fairly scintillated with wit and jest — deftly pointing beyond all that was merely commonplace human folly and guiding the reader to the very heart of the Christian faith. Indeed, here foolishness itself turned into wisdom, for on the cross of Jesus Christ God “made foolish the wisdom of the world”, as the apostle Paul had written (1 Cor. 1:18–25). And now word had it that Erasmus wanted to give to that same world the New Testament in its original text; that is, a Greek-Latin edition was in the works.

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Two scholars, young and old, become friends From letters, Erasmus already knew that his visitor was a competent Hebraist and a gifted theologian. Oecolampadius himself, however, could report even more to him in person, namely how captivated he was by the new studia humanitatis, how he had learned more from language studies than from scholastic lectures and disputations, and more still from conversations in Tübingen and Heidelberg with Philipp Melanchthon, Johannes Reuchlin and Wolfgang Capito. Those university Scholastics, Oecolampadius believed, with their contentiousness and quibbling, did more to damage the dogmas of the holy church than to promote them. In any case, they were of no use to him in preparing sermons in his native Weinsberg. Such opinions, however, were quite in line with Erasmus’s own position, who later wrote that there was no one of whom he thought more highly or expected more than Oecolampadius.

The Greek New Testament Erasmus immediately engaged Oecolampadius as an assistant and proofreader for his New Testament project. This young scholar, with an outstanding knowledge of Hebrew that, as Erasmus acknowledged quite without envy, far surpassed his own, had arrived at just the right time, since an analysis of the Greek New Testament texts also required a sound knowledge of Hebrew, and Erasmus had variously referred to Hebrew terms in his annotations. Through this intense teamwork between Erasmus and Oecolampadius, the first Greek edition of the New Testament emerged, what is known as the textus receptus, which then served as the foundational text not only for the Reformers themselves, but also for nonReformation commentators and translators. Johann Froben printed the work. In his introductions, Erasmus urged people to read the Bible, especially laypersons. Individuals should read the New Testament and allow it to alter the course of their lives toward new life in Christ. Erasmus further exhorted theologians to engage with the biblical text in a completely new scholarly fashion, urging them to read the texts in context and to remain ever mindful of precisely that context rather than introducing alien philosophical methodology into the Bible; that is, he urged them to interpret the Bible on the basis of itself. Doing so, however, required reading it in its original language and familiarizing oneself not only with the authors, but also with the historical situation of those being addressed. Although this edition made Erasmus even more famous than he already was, it also generated vehement criticism, for this Greek text, the new Latin translation

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Erasmus of Rotterdam and Johannes Oecolampadius

Albrecht Dürer depicts Erasmus as a Church Father, writing and surrounded by books; the Greek text reads: “His writings show him better.” Copper engraving, 1526

Title page of the New Testament edition, Basel, 1516. This copy belonged to the Humanist Johannes Cincinnius

accompanying it, and the copious annotations all jolted what at the time were universally accepted dogmas. Such was the case, for example, with respect to the understanding of original sin, the doctrine of justification, confession, canon law and the sacraments — all of which were topics the Reformers later addressed. Although Erasmus was quite conscious that he was here attacking the entirety of scholastic theology, he also knew he could count on the agreement and even enthusiasm of the educated elite in both the empire and the church; Oecolampadius himself emphasized in his afterword how the accessibility of these texts would promote both education and devotion among readers. It was a foregone conclusion, Oecolampadius continued, that the most learned scholars would reach passionately for the nourishment Erasmus was here offering them. And indeed, not only scholars, but also the grand personages of the world, the Curia, the emperor’s court, and princes could hardly wait to obtain a copy, many even making Erasmus attractive offers if he would enter their service. But would they heed him and bring about the urgently needed reforms of empire and church he was advocating?

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The appearance and condemnation of Luther Erasmus declined all offers, wishing instead to remain independent. He moved to Brabant, where he had friends, and established a new educational institution in Louvain for teaching theology according to his own ideas. Professors were to offer instruction in both Latin and the biblical languages, engage in scholarly exegesis, and — something unprecedented at the time — were required to interpret the Bible with a focus on real life and at no cost in lectures for the public at large. Oecolampadius initially returned to Weinsberg, where he went about creating the index for a basic edition of the church father Hieronymus on which Erasmus was working, and also deepened his study of the Old Testament. In 1518 he returned to Basel as the general father confessor at the cathedral. Here he published a Greek grammar and translated several texts of the Church Fathers, though he was soon appointed cathedral preacher in Augsburg. Augsburg, however, was in turmoil, since Martin Luther had only just appeared there before Cardinal Thomas Cajetan. People were torn between joining forces with this courageous theological rebel or remaining loyal to the old teachers. Although Oecolampadius initially defended Luther’s theological positions without intending to break with the church, the entire situation increasingly weighed on him. He broke off his ecclesiastical career and withdrew to a monastery, though Erasmus did not think this withdrawal from the world would bring his young friend the peace of mind he was seeking. And he was right. After the emperor’s condemnation of Luther in May 1521 in Worms, Erasmus slipped out of imperial Brabant and returned to the free imperial city of Basel, since he himself was viewed as a supporter or even as an initiator of Lutheran heresy. A bit later, after much soul-searching, Oecolampadius left the monastery. He fled first to Ebernburg castle in the Eifel to Franz von Sickingen, who intended to use the sword to fight for Luther’s cause, and returned to Basel in 1522.

Oecolampadius becomes a Reformer Because peace and quiet eluded Oecolampadius here as well, he now threw himself wholeheartedly into the Reformation movement. Unrest had come to Basel as early as 1520/21, instigated by preachers who insisted that the church be organized according to the model of the apostolic period, and who especially rejected the understanding of the Mass as a sacrifice, as well as the cults of saints and relics. Artisan guilds demanding a greater voice in the town council now also supported them, while town council members in their turn increasingly ignored

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Erasmus of Rotterdam and Johannes Oecolampadius

the influence the bishop of Basel had traditionally exerted on the city. Fasts were broken, and increasingly radical sermons hostile to Rome were delivered from the pulpits. It was at this point that Oecolampadius began delivering biblical lectures at the university, a privilege he enjoyed by virtue of his doctoral degree. He ­lectured on the book of ­Isaiah, first in Latin and then also — ­publicly — in German. The response was enormous, and Oecolampadius was soon appointed full professor at the university and ­people’s priest, i. e. preacher and pastoral counselor, at the Church of Oecolampadius as a preacher and teacher St. Martin. His lectures on Isaiah were holding the Bible; painting post mortem cast quite in the framework of Erasmica. 1550 by Hans Asper an biblical ­humanism. Concerning the doctrine of predestination, for example, Oecolampadius declared that God was not the initiator of evil, and emphasized that Christians should serve God not only in spirit through meditation, but also by practicing love and charity toward fellow human beings. The lectures appeared in print two years later, and Oecolampadius, full of praise for the older biblical humanist, made references to Erasmus noster (our Erasmus). Yet his one-time sponsor vehemently protested at his former friend and assistant requisitioning him in this way as an advocate. Much had happened in the meantime, and Erasmus no longer had the same opinion of Oecolampadius. Beginning in 1524, Oecolampadius had not only advocated the symbolic understanding of the Eucharist represented by Erasmus, he also explicitly rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation, something Erasmus was not prepared to do even though he himself did not quite know what to do with the doctrine of the transubstantiation of the elements of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. In the sixteenth century, denying transubstantiation meant breaking with the church — to which Erasmus wanted to remain loyal — and could only lead to condemnation by the church. And as expected, such condemnation was indeed pronounced on both Oecolampadius and his similarly minded new friend, the Zurich Reformer Huldrych Zwingli. Erasmus was unable to thwart this pronouncement despite having made vigorous appeals both to the Curia and at the imperial court against their pro­

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The Church of St. Martin in Basel, where Oecolampadius delivered his inspiring Reformation sermons

claiming Reformation doctrines to be heresy. At the same time, however, Reformers were becoming increasingly embroiled with what Erasmus could only view as rebellious political forces. These groups were not only trying to promote the desired reform of church life but also laying claim to the church's worldly possessions, and its social and cultural power.

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Erasmus of Rotterdam and Johannes Oecolampadius

Erasmus was compromised by the fact that the Reformers could appeal to him in all their most important teachings, such as redemption through Christ alone, justification through faith alone and doctrine based on Scripture alone. During the autumn of 1524 he mounted an attack on Luther with his publication on the disputed doctrine of predestination, De libero arbitrio (On free will), which broke all ties with the Wittenberg Reformer. This did not suffice to protect him from accusations of heresy, however, against which he would find it necessary to defend himself for the rest of his life. In the meantime, Oecolampadius undauntedly continued his own Reformation activity as a university lecturer and people’s priest, though in doing so he came under increasing pressure. Peasants in Basel’s territory rose up, adducing the authority of the Reformers as justification. Anabaptists attacked both him and his friends, and even municipal authorities, for having betrayed the gospel. Although Oecolampadius, otherwise of a mild disposition, tried to be conciliatory, eventually he, too, defended the council policy of banning Anabaptists and after 1529 even condemning them to death. Oecolampadius did away with the Mass at St. Martin’s, celebrated the Eucharist in both forms, and introduced German chorales. This led to conflicts — even to the point of physical attacks — with those who were traditionally disposed. Up until 1529, the council tried to mediate, and with a supporting opinion from Erasmus finally stipulated that all preachers were to adhere to the Bible as the only foundation and avoid any and all polemic. In four churches, priests inclined toward Reformation doctrine were permitted to organize their worship services according to the new rite, and later even to remove images; in the other churches the old Mass was to be said as before. Citizens were now able to follow their own consciences. Artisan guilds that were already radicalized, however, wanted more and ­demanded that the council implement their reform agenda for the entire city. ­During Shrovetide, on 8 and 9 February 1529, their adherents gathered ­together into an armed mob, threatened the council, stormed the cathedral and completely destroyed countless disputed images of the saints.

The Reformed city The council gave in, removed Reformation opponents from its own ranks, and promised to grant the guilds more say in municipal affairs. It decreed that in all the churches in both the city and its territory no Masses were henceforth to be read, and all images were to be removed or whitewashed. On 1 April it passed a Reformation ordinance. Although Oecolampadius had not participated in the uprising,

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Basel; colorized town map from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 1, Cologne, 1593 Below left: the town hall (no. 4), St. Martin’s (no. 5), the university (no. 6), and the Fish Market (no. 8); below right: the cathedral (no. 1)

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Erasmus of Rotterdam and Johannes Oecolampadius

he approved of its result. “The Lord doubtless wanted it thus,” he wrote. It is likely, however, that he did contribute to the Reformation ordinance, which reorganized not only church life, but moral life in Basel as well. Prostitution and harlotry became punish­able no less than drinking toasts, lux­ury clothes, dancing, and gambling. But the city also pledged that schools and the university would have good teachers “for the sake of fostering and nourishing a peaceful, Christian, civic disposition among the citizenry”. That is, a truly Christian city was to be formed. Sermons on workdays and Sundays were to contribute to this lofty goal, and aldermen ensured that preachers dutifully adhered to Scripture and avoided polemics. The sepulchral monument for Erasmus in Although the Basel church included the Basel cathedral, fashioned from red lime­various offices and functions, such as stone by the sculptor Hans Mentzinger in 1538 preachers and deacons, there was no longer any hierarchy as before, since Oecolampadius himself had referred to such hierarchy of office as the source of all errors and abuses in the church. It was not at all in line with his thinking, however, when the council not only organized the Basel church anew externally, but now also intervened in congregational life and began determining who was to be admitted to the Eucharist. The Reformer fought for the establishment of a board of elders appointed by the church community — a presbytery — entrusted, as during the apostolic period, with the power of the ban and thereby with internal power. It was the task of the church community, Oecolampadius argued, not that of the worldly authorities, to reprimand and, when necessary, to exclude errant members. But Oecolampadius was unable to assert these views in Basel. The council appointed a commission with the power of the ban dominated by council members. Oecolampadius’s vision of a presbytery, later mediated by way of Strasbourg, was adopted by Calvin in Geneva in 1541 and even today continues to represent one of the typical elements of Reformed heritage. In order to secure its church ordinance, the council took severe action against deviants in the early years, especially against

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Anabaptists. Dissenting opinions no longer had a place, as Erasmus remarked when he left the city for precisely that reason. Such confessional stricture and narrowness, however, did not remain typical of Basel. In 1532 the council reopened the university according to Oecolampadius’s plans and vision — he had died on 24 November 1531 — appointing lecturers with a decidedly humanistic inclination. It granted printers considerable free play in publishing even nonconformist works, enabling Erasmus to continue working with the Froben printing house and even to return to the city in 1535, which showered the loyal son of the Roman church with displays of honor. Up into the 1580s, Basel remained one of the most cosmopolitan Reformed cities. It attracted countless scholars and refugees of faith who were not tolerated elsewhere, including Sebastian Castellio, a respected teacher who had been forced to leave Geneva after having advocated to Calvin a policy of tolerance toward divergent doctrinal opinions. After years of severe poverty, he finally received a position as lecturer at the University of Basel, where in 1554 he wrote his famous tract on tolerance, De haereticis, an sint persequendi (On heretics, whether they are to be persecuted). It was not until the late sixteenth century that confessional intolerance gained the upper hand in Basel as well, though barely a century later Basel’s reformed preachers and theology professors, now in the role of early Enlightenment thinkers, once again picked up on the double heritage of Erasmus and Oecolampadius.  Dr Christine Christ-von Wedel is a fellow of the Institute for Swiss Reformation History of Zurich University and the Faculty of Theology at Basel University.

Further reading Hans Rudolf Guggisberg, Basel in the Sixteenth Century. Aspects of the City Republic before, during, and after the Reformation, Saint Louis, Mo: [s. n.], 1982 Christine Christ-von Wedel, Erasmus of Rotterdam: Advocate of a New Christianity, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013 Kaspar von Greyerz, “Switzerland”, in: Bob Scribner et al. (eds.), The Reformation in National Context, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 30–37 Ulrich Gäbler, “Die Basler Reformation”, in: Theologische Zeitschrift 47 (1991), pp. 7‒17 Ernst Staehelin, Das theologische Lebenswerk Johannes Oekolampads, Leipzig: Heinsius, 1939 Visiting Basel www.basel.com www.altbasel.ch www.erk-bs.ch

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Béarn Marguerite de Navarre, Gérard Roussel, and Jeanne d’Albret by Philippe Chareyre

In certain independent European territories during the sixteenth century, and under the protection of the ruling territorial prince, several independent ecclesiastical organizational forms emerged representing variations of either the Lutheran or the Reformed-Calvinist model. Such was the case, for example, in the former French viscounty of Béarn. After Bishop Gérard Roussel had already implemented moderate Protestant reforms here during the first half of the sixteenth century, a Reformation on the Calvinist model was adopted in 1560. It went even further than the Calvinist church ordinance that was establishing itself in France at the same time and it attained at least temporary legitimacy in 1598 with the Edict of Nantes. Béarn owed its political independence to the Hundred Years War (1337–1454). The counts of Foix, who had inherited the viscounty, rendered homage to neither the French nor the English king. The House of Foix and then the House of Albret were able to consolidate Béarn’s sovereignty further after inheriting the Kingdom of Navarre during the last quarter of the fifteenth century, although following the Spanish king Ferdinand of Aragon’s conquest of Navarre in 1512 that glorious royal title was only recognized in the area of Lower Navarre situated north of the Pyrenees. In the meantime, the king of Navarre, Henri II d’Albret (1503–55), was able to secure his own power in the neighboring viscounty of Béarn, where he reorganized the administration and, by constructing a fortified complex in Navarrenx (1538– 49), put Béarn in a position to withstand a Spanish invasion. Even though he persevered in his independence, he was nonetheless counting on the support of the French king in retaking his lost kingdom of Navarre. Hence in 1527 Henri II d’Albret married Marguerite d’Angoulême (1492–1549), sister of King François I of France.

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The viscounty of Béarn; excerpt from a map by Jean-Baptiste Nolin, 1763

The Protestant reforms of Gérard Roussel Although itinerant preachers had already disseminated the fundamental ideas of the Lutheran Reformation in Béarn early in the sixteenth century, Gérard Roussel (ca. 1500–55), court chaplain to Queen Marguerite de Navarre, exercised enormous influence in the viscounty. Roussel initially belonged to what is known as the cénacle de Meaux, a Protestant circle that grew up around Bishop Guillaume Briçonnet of Meaux (40 km east of Paris). In 1525 Roussel fled to Strasbourg, where he came under the decisive influence of the Reformer Martin Bucer. After his return to France, between 1527 and 1534 he led a small, reformminded congregation in whose meetings the young John Calvin, his Picard countryman, also participated. In 1533 Roussel’s sermons in the Louvre (at the time the royal palace in Paris) on fasting were so overwhelmingly successful that they prompted condemnation from Noël Béda, legal advisor of the rigorously conservative theological faculty at the University of Paris. Although the university twice had him arrested, Roussel was able to avoid further persecution thanks to the protection of the French royal court. He could have played a key role in the renovation of a Gallican church had he not been forced into permanent exile after what is known as the affaire des placards (during the night of 17–18 October 1534,

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Marguerite de Navarre, Gérard Roussel, and Jeanne d’Albret

Marguerite de Navarre, also known as Marguerite d’Angoulême or Marguerite de Valois; portrait from Théodore de Bèze’s “Icones”, Geneva, 1580

Gérard Roussel; portrait in the chancel of the Cathedral of St. Marie d’Oloron. On this poorly illuminated frieze, we can only assume the presence of Roussel (without any discernible mention of his name) within the array of Bishops of Oloron portrayed here.

placards vilifying the Catholic Mass appeared in several French towns, even inside the Loire castle at Amboise). This event permanently soured any goodwill the king may have had toward efforts to renew the church. Together with Jacques Lefèvre d’Etaples (Faber Stapulensis), Roussel sought refuge with his patroness Marguerite at her court in Nérac, capital of the Duchy of Albret. He became Bishop of Oloron, one of two dioceses in Béarn, where from 1536 till his death in 1555 he implemented a Protestant reform under the authority of the territorial lord Henri II d’Albret. He adhered to the prescribed administrative duties of a bishop, following the residence requirement, taking steps for training the clergy, preaching two to three times daily, composing an ordinance for visitations in the diocese, founding schools, and establishing funds for the poor. His liturgical renewal in the Oloron diocese was patterned on the established models of Meaux and Strasbourg. Roussel preached “true faith in God alone”, emphasizing thus the central significance of Scripture and Christ as sole intercessor. He articulated the tenets of his faith in the Familière exposition sur le simbole, de la loy, et oraison dominicale en forme de colloque (Informal exposition concerning the Apostolic Confession, the Decalogue, and the Lord’s Prayer in dialogue form), which he dedicated to

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Henri II d’Albret. Since Roussel took his orientation primarily from the Epistle to the Romans, he came quite close to the Reformation doctrine of justification by faith alone, similarly recognizing baptism, penitence and the Eucharist as the three main sacraments, albeit without entirely dispensing with the other four. Mass was to be celebrated without the elevation before the believers, who together with the priest were to receive the Eucharist in both forms. There was to be no invocation of Mary or the saints, nor any repetition of Christ’s sacrificial death in the Mass. Roussel’s understanding of the Eucharist closely resembled that of Martin Bucer as presented at the religious colloquy in Regensburg in 1541, and hence all that remained was for Roussel to break officially with Rome. The king and queen of Navarre would very likely have prohibited such a step lest it provoke the ire of the rulers in the two neighboring powerful kingdoms of France and Spain. It may be noted, however, that during the rule of Henri II d’Albret not a single person was ever burned at the stake for religious reasons. After Strasbourg had to submit to the Augsburg Interim of 1548 and Bucer was dismissed, Roussel became the last representative of a position still seeking to mediate between Catholics and Protestants, a position he now occupied entirely alone. By contrast, French Protestants resolved to make a radical break and fled to Geneva — though not, tellingly, to Oloron. Gérard Roussel’s position prompted condemnation from Calvin, who accused him of having accepted episcopal benefices and distinctions and classified him among the “Nicodemites”. All the same, Roussel’s influence should not be underestimated. Jeanne d’Albret (1528–72) was the daughter of Henri II and Marguerite. She and her husband, Antoine de Bourbon, who with her succeeded to the throne of Navarre in 1555, were consistently indecisive about which form a renewal of the church in their territory might take. It is worthy of note that in October 1561, these two — alongside the young French king Charles IX, his mother and guardian, Catherine de Medici, and the chancellor Michel de l’Hospital — chaired the religious colloquy of Poissy, arguably the final attempt at reconciling the French Catholics and Protestants before the outbreak of the religious wars.

The Calvinist Reformation of Jeanne d’Albret In Béarn, the conversion of Jeanne d’Albret  — who attended a Reformed Lord’s Supper for the first time at Christmas 1560 — was the decisive step toward the sovereign viscounty’s gradual transition to a Calvinist Reformation. Following the ordinances of Nérac in July 1561, Queen Jeanne d’Albret introduced the simultaneum system of sharing churches. It opened Catholic churches to the new Protestant preachers, under the supervision of the bishops of Oloron and

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Marguerite de Navarre, Gérard Roussel, and Jeanne d’Albret

The Chateau of Pau, birthplace of King Henry IV; lithograph by Pierre Gorse, ca. 1870

Lescar. In 1563 Jean Reymond Merlin arrived in Béarn at Calvin’s initiative to set up the institutions necessary for founding a new church. The Reformed con­gregations in Béarn-Navarre had hitherto been assigned to the Reformed provincial synod of lower Guyenne. On 20 September 1563, Merlin now held the first independent synod of Béarn-Navarre, thereby founding a “national” Reformed church under royal protection, subdividing it into five larger colloques (district synods). He also composed a Discipline des Églises réformées du Béarn (Church ordinance of the Reformed churches of Béarn) following the Geneva model, and a catechism as an “extrait de celui de Genève” (a summary of Calvin’s Geneva ­catechism) for the new church. On Merlin’s request, the synod similarly established a collège (­secondary school). For the first time, religious renewal in Béarn was moving forward not exclusively under the supervision of the bishops, but through the synod and with the concurrence of the territorial sovereign. In June 1563, by order of Jeanne ­d’­Albret, the interior furnishings of Lescar cathedral were removed in a symbolic act so that henceforth the cathedral would be reserved exclusively for Reformed worship.

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These developments were interrupted during the very same year by a papal admonition dated 23 September 1563, ordering the Queen of Navarre to appear in Rome or to have her territories confiscated. After the French King Charles IX intervened on Jeanne d’Albret’s behalf, this missive had no consequences. But precisely that intervention, along with royal policy decisions focusing on harmony after the First War of Religion (1562–63), left its mark on Jeanne. She now joined in France’s general reorientation in religious matters, and within two years favored milder reforms. Jean-Baptiste Morély, her new preacher, also influenced this change of course. In July 1566, however, on the eve of the Second War of Religion (1567–68), Queen Jeanne reestablished contact with Geneva and issued a church ordinance with twenty-two articles for the “complete purification from Roman idolatry”. She appointed Pierre Viret to the court in Pau as “supernumerary” pastor, his primary function being to implement a reform of church institutions and take over leadership of the synods. Viret arrived from Switzerland in the spring of 1567. Then, in April 1569, his work was interrupted when French troops supported by the Catholic nobility of Béarn marched into the viscounty (during the Third War of Religion, 1568–70). In August of the same year, an auxiliary army under the command of Gabriel de Lorges, Count of Montgomery, liberated the fortress of Navarrenx, in which most of the queen’s pastors and loyal servants had sought refuge, and reestablished the rule of Jeanne d’Albret over her territory. This one, brief episode of war involving the viscounty during the second half of the sixteenth century also accelerated the Reformation process in Béarn. Catholic ecclesiastical possessions were confiscated on 2 October 1569 and all practice of the Catholic religion was prohibited on 28 January 1570. The seventy-seven articles constituting the church ordinance issued by Jeanne d’Albret on 26 November 1571 at Pau transformed Béarn into a Calvinist principality. This ordinance was initially drafted in April 1571 at the Seventh National Synod of the Reformed Church of France in La Rochelle, which was convened at the end of the Third War of Religion and which Jeanne d’Albret herself attended. The church ordinance of Béarn doubtless represents the institutional companion to the confession of faith (Confessio Gallicana) which was adopted at the same time at the National Synod in the presence of Théodore de Bèze. The content of this church ordinance, which was given its final wording by the chancellery of Navarre and Nicolas des Gallars, also reflects the theology of Pierre Viret, who died on his way to the National Synod. Although the ordinance relates the church closely to the state, which is charged with guaranteeing the smooth functioning of church life, and although pastors are obliged to take an oath of allegiance to the ruler, it does not establish a state church on the English or Zurich model. Instead the ordinance allows for a certain separation of church

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Marguerite de Navarre, Gérard Roussel, and Jeanne d’Albret

and state, granting the church its own, legally recognized institutions, including the right to bar members of the congregation from partaking in the Lord’s Supper. Disputes over who  — church or state — had the right to excommunicate church members had been the source of repeated conflicts in Swiss towns and this provision clearly shows the influence of Pierre Viret. The church ordinance of 1571, by assigning official powers to ecclesiastical organs, legally recognized the church’s function according to the consistorial-synodal model. That is, the church was to be administered by competent assemblies, by consistoires (consistories; local church councils), colloques (district synods), Jeanne d’Albret, Queen of Navarre; and the “national” synod, which was sixteenth-century portrait held in the presence of the territorial lord or his representative. Each year the synod appointed pastors to oversee those district synods. The latter were then entrusted with visitations in the various church communities within the jurisdiction of each district synod, and with delivering a report at the next “national” synod. This project succeeded better in Béarn than in France, where it was difficult to convene regular assemblies of the sort necessary for implementing an organized consistorial-synodal model of church leadership. Catholic churches were transformed into temples (as Protestant dubbed their places of worship), and a sizeable clergy (60 pastors up till 1620) provided a much more compact source of support and care for the population than in neighboring regions. Pastors were paid from church funds administered by a diacre general (general deacon), who in his turn was supported by a council, a legal advisor, and auditors. As already mentioned, the church of Béarn had had access to its own catechism since 1563 and, since 1571, to a revised church ordinance. In 1583 a translation of the Psalms into the national language (a variant of Occitan) by Arnaud de Sallette, Los Psalmes de David metuts en rima bernesa (The psalms of David rhymed in the language of Béarn), was printed in Orthez and complemented by church prayers, thus codifying the written language of Béarn for the first time.

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In 1549 Queen Marguerite de Navarre had founded a collège in the episcopal town of Lescar. On 16 July 1566, Jeanne d’Albret transformed it into an academy, also relocating it to Orthez. After Lausanne, Geneva, and Nîmes, it became the fourth pedagogical institution of this type in Europe. The school did not have the good fortune to recruit Pierre Viret. He had established the academy model in 1537 in Lausanne but was now concentrating on establishing Reformed church institutions in Béarn. However, he doubtless examined the final version of the school’s charter of 1568 with great care. The academy did manage to attract other respected teachers, such as Nicolas des Gallars, who became rector in 1571, or the famous theologian Lambert Daneau. Even though the academy advanced to the status of a university in 1583, its fame was brief, doubtless a result of its marginal location, increasing financial difficulties, and frequent changes of location between Lescar and Orthez (1566–69 in Orthez; 1569–79 in Lescar; 1579–93 Orthez; 1593–1609 Lescar; 1609–20 Orthez). In 1620 it was closed down at the command of King Louis XIII. After the death of Jeanne d’Albret in 1572, the Protestant principality of Béarn managed to maintain its independence for a generation under the rule of her daughter, Catherine de Bourbon, whose brother, Henri de Navarre, was preparing to ascend to the French royal throne. After becoming king of France as Henri IV and converting to Catholicism, he issued the Edict of Fontainebleau for Béarn in 1599  — a somewhat lackluster reflection of the Edict of Nantes (1598) that applied to France. It required the reintroduction of Catholic worship in twelve Béarn localities. In September 1617, Henri’s son, the resolutely Catholic Louis XIII, issued an edict stipulating the restitution of all ecclesiastical assets to the Catholic Church. This was not implemented, however, until French troops occupied the principality in 1620 and annexed it to France. After 1620, the synod of Béarn, which had now joined the Reformed Churches of France and lost its ecclesiastical possessions as well as its academy, was reduced to a provincial institution. Yet it managed to maintain some distinctive features, notably its church ordinance. During the following period the Bourbons implemented an array of classical measures in order to win Béarn back to Catholicism — it was, after all, the territory where their dynasty had originated. The first measure was to dispatch numerous Catholic religious orders there. In 1668 a temporary revocation edict was issued, reducing the number of Protestant temples to twenty (effectively closing down three fourths of them), reducing schools similarly to twenty, and also restricting Protestant instruction to reading, writing and arithmetic. The edict also prohibited Protestants from exercising certain professions (e. g. the office of notary) and contained various political measures limiting the number of Protestants in municipal councils to at most a third and excluding them from any representation in estates assemblies. In 1685 the royal intendant (administrator)

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Marguerite de Navarre, Gérard Roussel, and Jeanne d’Albret

Title page and sample page from “Los Psalmes”, Orthez, 1583

Nicolas Foucault further reduced the number of churches to a mere five and also implemented the dragonnades, a system that coerced conversions through the billeting of soldiers in Protestant households. He was already preparing Béarn for the complete revocation of the Edict of Nantes in October 1685, which prohibited any public exercise of Reformed religion in France. Many Reformed believers fled France. Because of the enormous distances to territories willing to accept such refugees, however, the number immigrating from Béarn never exceeded around five hundred, that is, 2 percent of the Protestant population. These developments notwithstanding, an underground Reformed church emerged during the eighteenth century, constituting the basis for the reestablishment of Protestant churches in Béarn during the nineteenth century.

 Dr. Philippe Chareyre is professor of Modern History at Pau University and specializes in Reformation history. He also chairs the Centre d’Étude du Protestantisme Béarnais/CEPB and is head of the Museum Jeanne d’Albret in Orthez. Further reading Nancy Lyman Roelker, Queen of Navarre: Jeanne d’Albret, 1528‒1572, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1968

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Mark Greengrass, “The Calvinist experiment in Béarn”, in: Andrew Pettegree et al. (eds.), Calvinism in Europe 1540–1620, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 119– 142 David Bryson, Queen Jeanne and the Promised Land: Dynasty, Homeland, Religion and Violence in sixteenth century France, Leiden: Brill, 1999 Jonathan A. Reid, King’s Sister — Queen of Dissent: Marguerite of Navarre (1492–1549) and her Evangelical Network, 2 vols., Leiden: Brill, 2009 Philippe Chareyre and Robert Darrigrand (eds.), Sur les pas des huguenots. Vingt itinéraires en Béarn, Pays basque et Bigorre, Pau: Centre d’Étude de Protestantisme Béarnais, 2009 Philippe Chareyre, La construction d’un État protestant. Le Béarn au XVIe siècle, Pau: Centre d’Étude de Protestantisme Béarnais, 2009 Arnaud de Salette, Los Psalmes de David metuts en rima bernesa. Edition critique bilingue par Robert Darrigrand sur le texte de l’édition publiée en 1583 à Orthez par L. Rabier, Paris: Champion, 2010 Visiting Béarn www.tourisme-bearn-gaves.com www.museejeannedalbret.com/musee https://www.eglise-protestante-unie.fr www.cepb.eu www.museeprotestant.org

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Bern Berchtold Haller and Niklaus Manuel by Martin Sallmann

Significance of the Bern Reformation Bern played a key role in the Reformation in both the German and French-speaking parts of Switzerland and its influence extended far beyond Switzerland itself. Although the Reformation had begun in Zurich, Bern, as the most powerful citystate north of the Alps, consolidated it in the Swiss Confederation, introduced it in the subordinate territory of Vaud and implemented it in the republic of Geneva. In contrast to Zurich or Basel, no single, outstanding figure emerged in Bern that might be viewed as the movement’s leader. Instead, pastors, members of the various religious orders, artists, merchants and council members all joined forces to expand and consolidate Reformation ideas. Even today, Bern is the only Swiss canton in which the majority of the inhabitants are Reformed (53.9 %). Together with the Roman Catholic Church (16.3 %) and the other Christian faith communities (6.6 %), over three fourths of the population identify with Christianity. Islam accounts for 3.7 % and those unaffiliated with any religion make up the largest group (16.9 %) beside the established denominations. The Reformed church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Old Catholic Church, and the Jewish community are recognized under public law. The relationship between churches and the canton is still quite close. While the churches are free with regard to managing their internal affairs, such as doctrine and church life, as regional churches (Landeskirchen) they have certain obligations toward the overall population. This kind of partnership between churches and the state is currently a topic of political discussion.

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Bern

Aare

Dominican monastery

Antonine Church Nydegg Chapel

Lower Spital

Upper Spital Cathedral

Inselkloster

Franciscan monastery

House of the Teutonic Order

Aare

The city of Bern at the bend in the River Aare. At the center the cathedral (“Leutkirche”/ “Münster”) and house of the Teutonic Order; to the south the Franciscan monastery (today: “Kultur Casino”) and the “Inselkloster”, a convent of Dominican nuns (today the site of the Swiss Parliament); to the north the Dominican monastery (today the French Church) and the Antonine Church (today the Evangelical Lutheran Church); to the east the Nydegg Chapel and the Lower Spital with its chapel and cemetery; to the west the Upper Spital of the Holy Spirit (today the Church of the Holy Spirit).The city buildings of the rural monasteries, of the Beguines, and of the Clerics are also indicated

Bern — a powerful city-state Founded by the Duke of Zähringen in the late twelfth century inside a bend in the River Aare, Bern was already developing into the most powerful city-state north of the Alps from the fourteenth century. Although a member of the Confederation from 1353, it nonetheless pursued its own economic and political interests. Its foreign policy was focused westward, since mercenary service for France promised lucrative pensions. As a result of its victories in the Burgundian Wars (1474–77), Bern acquired several western bailiwicks, including Erlach, Aigle and — administered jointly with Freiburg — Morat, Echallens, Grandson and Orbe.

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Berchtold Haller and Niklaus Manuel

View of the city of Bern from the north, surrounded by the River Aare. Woodcut by Heinrich Holzmüller after a drawing by Hans Rudolf Manuel, 1549, from Sebastian Münster’s “Cosmographey”, Basel, 1567 Below left: the “Leutkirche” (cathedral/“Münster”); below right: the “Barfüßerkloster” (Franciscan monastery), the “Zytglogge” tower and the “Inselkloster” (convent of Dominican nuns)

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Bern

Bern cathedral (“Münster”) before the expansion of the tower in 1889–96; to the right, alongside the cathedral square, the former edifice of the Teutonic Order. Aquatint by Gabriel Lory, ca. 1818

Bern’s rich tradition of religious devotion and piety This political and economic success also generated religious ambitions. During the second half of the fifteenth century Bern underwent a powerful religious renewal. People built new churches, established numerous endowments and undertook pilgrimages to new places of grace. Life in Bern was marked by a rich late-medieval piety, firmly rooted in numerous church institutions and broadly supported by its residents. With the parish church (Leutkirche) at its center, the monasteries and convents to the north and south, chapels to the west and east, and the various hospitals, the city was tied into a rich network of religious institutions. Even prior to the Reformation the municipal authority had begun transitioning to a more territorial state authority, with the secular authorities regularly ­trying to acquire oversight of spheres previously under church control. One clear example is the founding of the chapter of canons at the cathedral of St. Vincent between 1484 and 1485, whose financial maintenance was secured by ­dissolving several

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Berchtold Haller and Niklaus Manuel

rural collegiate churches and monasteries and rerouting their funds to the chapter of canons in town. The pope granted permission, also authorizing the council to appoint office holders and the canons, and granted the provost with the insignia of a bishop, namely, miter, ring and staff. The Teutonic Order, which since the thirteenth century had appointed the parish priest of the Leutkirche and otherwise exerted considerable influence, was forced out of the city. Although the city now ­acquired the status of a bishop’s see, the bishop resided in faraway ­Lausanne. The Bern council controlled appointments to the chapter of canons and also its finan­ cial affairs. This concentration of ecclesiastical authority in the hands of the city, together with its cathedral (whose foundation stone had been laid in 1421), would do much to extend its influence beyond Bern’s immediate environs.

How the Reformation began in Bern Even though the Franciscan Bernhardin Sanson was still able to preach in favor of indulgences and sell them in Bern cathedral as late as 1518, with the support of the secular authorities, various respected citizens were raising objections to such activity. That same year, Johannes Froben had printed and successfully distributed works by Martin Luther in Basel, and these new views were the subject of lively debate both in Bern among the city’s educated citizens and in rural church communities. In 1522 rural pastors criticized the flourishing trade in mercenaries, intercessions for the dead, the sacrificial understanding of the Mass and the rules on fasting. One recorded case involved Georg Brunner, a pastor in Kleinhöchstetten, who was alleged by the dean of the chapter to cast doubt on the consecration of priests, reject the authority of the pope and bishop, and contest the efficacy of the mass for both the living and the dead. By order of the town council, prosecution and defense of these accusations took place in the Franciscan monastery. Brunner defended himself quite deftly on the basis of the Bible, underscoring the authority of Jesus Christ even over the pope, attesting the universal priesthood of believers, rejecting the sacrifice of the mass, and pointing out the one-time sacrifice of Christ. The court, composed of council members and theologians, decided in favor of Brunner, this being the first time the secular authorities had issued decisions not only in administrative matters but also in questions of faith. In so doing they were intervening directly in the competence of the bishop.

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Bern

Supporters of Reformation ideas in Bern Reformation ideas were discussed not only at the various educational institutions in the city, such as at the chapter of St. Vincent at the cathedral and in the Franciscan and Dominican monasteries, but also among educated citizens, council members, merchants and scholars. As early as 1522, Sebastian Meyer, a doctor of theology and lector of the Franciscans, was already publicly expressing Reformation ideas. He participated in the first disputation in Zurich in 1523, and was exiled from the city in 1524 for these views. Barth­ olomew May, a wealthy and experienced merchant with international business contacts and a member of the lesser council, was also one of the first to criticize church abuses. He promoted the Reformation movement together with Jacob von Wattenwyl, an experienced council member and proven military commander, who later became mayor of Bern. Another key figure was Berchtold Haller (1490/94–1536), parish priest and canon at the cathedral from 1520. Haller made contact early on with Huldrych Zwingli in Zurich and in 1523 he began preaching on the books of the Bible in a continuous series of interpretations (lectio continua). Sympathizers included Niklaus von Wattenwyl, who as the son of the mayor had already enjoyed an impressive ecclesiastical career, becoming canon and, in 1523, also provost of the chapter

Berchtold Haller. Medal, ascribed to Jakob Stampfer, 1535 (?)

The painter, writer, and politician Niklaus Manuel, supporter of the Reformation. ­ Self-portrait, 1520

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Berchtold Haller and Niklaus Manuel

of St. Vincent. Von Wattenwyl, who ­corresponded with Zwingli, became increasingly resolute in promoting the Reformation. This educated milieu also included ­Valerius Anshelm, head of the Latin school and municipal ­physician in Bern, who maintained cordial ties with Zwingli, Haller and Joachim Vadian in St. Gallen. Ans­ helm had to leave the city in 1525 because his wife had criticized the cult of Mary. The artist Niklaus Manuel (ca. 1484–1530) deserves special mention. He carried out several important commissions in Bern, including painting the altarpieces in the Dominican monastery, the vaulted ceiling of the cathedral choir, the monumental Dance of the Dead on the cemetery wall of the Dominican monastery, and the high altar in the chapel of the Antonines. He was present with Confederation mercenary contingents on the battlefields of the warring powers and experienced the catastrophic defeat of the French army at Bicocca (1522). During the carnival time 1523, Manuel directed the performance of two Shrovetide plays (on Kreuzgasse, which connects the town hall and cathedral) that trenchantly criticized the traditional church with all its ecclesiastical, political, and military abuses. The powerful pope with his ostentatious clerical followers was compared to the miserably clothed Christ with his powerless followers — the oppressed, the wretched and the sick.

Introduction and establishment of the Reformation in Bern The town council promulgated various mandates (orders) over the next few years that aimed to keep these religious disputes within acceptable boundaries. It was less a matter of being for or against the Reformation movement as such than of securing and consolidating religious peace. Those asked their opinion during this period included the territorial authorities (Ämter), i. e. the administrative districts of Bernese territory. They preferred to adhere to the traditional faith. At the confederate level, the Bern council opposed the isolation of Zurich, which had introduced the Reformation in 1523. And when the Disputation of Baden condemned Zwingli in 1526 at the confederate level, Bern together with Basel and Schaffhausen refused its support. These political and religious developments ultimately led to the Bern Disputation, which took place from 6 to 26 January 1528 in the spacious church of the Franciscan monastery. The Bern council convened the disputation, which was attended by the council members and clergy from the city and territory of Bern. Also present was a sizeable delegation from Zurich including Zwingli and representatives from Protestant localities in the Confederation and imperial cities in southern Germany, altogether about 450 people. Zwingli stayed at the home of Bartholomew May (today Münstergasse 62) near the Franciscan monastery. The

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Bern

The Bern Disputation in the Franciscan Church, 1528. Colored illustration from the copy of Heinrich Bullinger’s “Reformationsgeschichte”, 1605/06

four responsible bishops, however, did not show up, and the most distinguished theologians of the traditional church declined the invitation. The basis of the disputation was the “Ten Bern Theses”, composed and presented after consultation with Zwingli by Berchtold Haller and Franz Kolb, who had become a preacher in Bern in 1527. In a formally succinct and substantively consistent fashion, the theses addressed central theological tenets including the understanding of the church, the authority of scripture, the mediation of salvation, the function of images, and the marriage of priests. Following the disputation, the council ordered the elimination of the mass and images, required an oath from the municipal citizenry, and in the mandate of 7 February 1528, instituted the Reformation in both the city and the territory of Bern. Hardly had the disputation finished when churches were cleared out. On 30 January, the day of his departure, when Zwingli preached in the cathedral on the steadfastness of Christians, paintings and statues had already been removed from the altars and pedestals. The remnants were burned or dumped into the backfill of the cathedral terrace, where they were rediscovered in 1986 during renovation of the support walls. Today this unique treasure of art history is on show in the Bern Historical Museum.

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Title page of the “Bern Synod”, 1532. Printed by Hieronymus Froben, Basel. The title page depicts Bern’s national emblem: three bears, armed as mercenaries, hold and support the double Bern shield beneath the imperial shield with its double-headed eagle and imperial crown. The coats of arms recall Bern’s status as a free imperial city empowered to exercise dominion and law in the name of the emperor, which after the Reformation also included authority over the church

Berchtold Haller and Niklaus Manuel

The Reformation mandate made the “Ten Bern Theses” and the new church ordinances ecclesiastically valid for the entire Bernese territory. Messengers delivered the printed mandate to the territorial offices, where it was to be read aloud publicly. Although the Reformation did encounter resistance in the Bern highlands, military intervention finally enforced its implementation; no pitched battles were fought, but the leaders were executed. Since the Reformation mandate had suspended all judicial and territorial rights of the bishops, episcopal jurisdiction over marriage and morals was now obsolete. Hence, in the same year, the council followed the model of Zurich in establishing a marital or ecclesiastical court in the city. And beginning in 1529, at least two respectable men and the pastor were to officiate at this ecclesiastical court in every rural church community as well. Confessional standards and values were established in cooperation between the authorities and population of the communities.

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Consolidation and expansion of the Reformation After the catastrophic defeat at Kappel and the Gubel in October 1531, critical voices were again being raised in Bernese territory. Bern subjects accused their pastors of preaching rebellion and encouraging war and bloodshed. The Bern council affirmed its commitment to the Reformation and in 1532 summoned the pastors to a synod which would contribute a great deal to consolidating the Reformation. The “Bern Synod”, i. e. the synod acts, provided for a balance between the authorities and the church. However, over the following years that balance shifted markedly in favor of the former; the result was the emergence of a magisterial church shaped and directed by the authorities. In 1536 the Bernese conquered the Vaud region and started to introduce the Reformation. They liberated the city of Geneva from occupation by the Duke of Savoy, leaving the republic intact and promoting the Reformation, which John Calvin would fully implement in the following years. The first article of the currently valid constitution of the Reformed Church of the Canton of Bern underscores the status of the Reformation up to the present day. It designates the “Ten Bern Theses”, the Reformation mandate, and the “Bern Synod” as its historical foundations.  Dr. Martin Sallmann is professor of Modern History of Christianity and Confessional Studies at the Faculty of Theology at Bern University.

Further reading André Holenstein (ed.), Berns mächtige Zeit. Das 16. und 17. Jahrhundert neu entdeckt, Bern: Schulverlag / Stämpfli Verlag, 2006 Paul Zinsli and Thomas Hengartner (eds.), Niklaus Manuel: Werke und Briefe. Vollständige Neuedition, Bern: Stämpfli Verlag, 1999 Gottfried W. Locher (ed.), Der Berner Synodus von 1532. Edition und Abhandlungen zum Jubiläumsjahr 1982, 2 vols., Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1984–1988 Martin Sallmann and Matthias Zeindler, Dokumente der Berner Reformation: Dispu­ tationsthesen, Reformationsmandat, Synodus, Zürich: TVZ, 2013 Martin Sallmann, “The Reformation in Bern”, in: Amy Nelson Burnet and Emidio Campi (eds.), A Companion to the Swiss Reformation, Leiden: Brill, 2016, pp. 126–169 Visiting Bern www.bern.com/en/index.cfm www.refbejuso.ch

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Breslau (Wrocław) Johannes Hess and Zacharias Ursinus by Irene Dingel

Wroclaw’s historical context Breslau (now Wrocław), the most important city in historic Silesia, is situated on the River Oder and its tributaries and today extends over twelve islands connected by numerous bridges, earning it the nickname “the Venice of Poland”. Historically as well, Breslau always functioned as a “bridge city”. Situated at crossroads leading from Kiev and Cracow toward western and southern Europe, and from Hungary and Bohemia north toward the Baltic Sea, it traditionally connected Europe in every direction, becoming thus a natural center for trade and commerce. Documentation dating back to the year 1000 attests that Emperor Otto III had founded the bishopric of Breslau and the town had already started to build its first cathedral. A cathedral chapter in Breslau is documented from the year 1100. The diocese of Breslau was part of the archbishopric of Gnesen, whose archbishop was at once both the primate of Poland and the highest-ranking senator of the Polish Republic of the Nobles (Rzeczpospolita), which in its own turn was part of a union with Lithuania. Following the Treaty of Trenčín in 1335, however, Silesia became subject to the Bohemian crown, which after 1490 was also combined with the Hungarian crown. When King Louis II of Bohemia was killed at the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the Bohemian-Hungarian crown, and with it Silesia, fell to the Habsburgs, who enjoyed the status of Silesian dukes until 1742. The first Silesian territorial lord from this dynasty was Ferdinand I. Unlike in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, where he functioned as a governor for Emperor Charles V, he took little action in Silesia with respect to the religious questions that arose in connection with the Reformation in the sixteenth century.

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Silesia thrived politically and economically under his rule, including a healthy trade in iron ore with Hungary and extensive commerce with the great merchant families in Nuremberg and Augsburg. The Fuggers had opened an office in Breslau as early as 1517 to oversee their copper trade with Hungary, establishing a significant presence in the city. Their most important business contact and then co-partner was the Hungarian Thurzo family, who later also took up residence in Cracow. A notable member of this family was one of the best-known of Breslau’s humanistic bishops, Johann V. Thurzo (bishop 1506–20). Such commercial con­ tacts with imperial cities also influenced intellectual exchange, making it easier for humanistic and Reformation ideas to gain an early foothold in Breslau.

Humanism and the Reformation In Breslau the humanist movement functioned not only as an influence on education and culture, but also as a powerful impetus for renewal in both church and society at large. Humanism attracted followers especially among members of the city administration and legal community, who often also had positions in church chancelleries. As elsewhere, humanism strengthened historical consciousness and picked up on reform currents within late medieval piety. As early as the late fifteenth century, Canon Kaspar Elyan set up a small printing press that began publishing in 1475. Both Bishop Johann IV Roth (bishop 1482–1506) and his successor, Johann V. Thurzo, promoted humanism and the school system shaped by it. Johann V. Thurzo gathered together Silesia’s most distinguished humanists,

In 1517 Bishop Johann V. Thurzo had a grand Renaissance portal built for the cathedral sacristy. The bas-relief depicts the beheading of John the Baptist; Thurzo as the founder is portrayed kneeling

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Colorized town map from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Contrafactur und Beschreibung von den vornembsten Stetten der Welt”, vol. 4, Cologne, 1590 Below left: Church of St. Elizabeth (no. 10), the town hall (no. 14), and the Church of St.  Mary Magdalene (no. 56); below right: the Cathedral Island with the cathedral (no. 80)

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Epitaph of Johannes Hess from the Church of St. Mary Magdalene. Below left: Johannes Hess. Painting by an unknown Breslau artist, ca. 1547/49, based on the well-known motifs for law and grace in paintings of Lucas Cranach the Elder

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such as Ursinus Velius, Georg von Logau, Bartholomaeus Stein and the later Reformer Johannes Hess. The most famous humanists born in Breslau doubtless include Johann Crato von Crafftheim, who worked as an extremely influential personal physician in the service of emperors Ferdinand I and Maximilian II. Against such a background, the Reformation was able to develop in Breslau in what was a calmer environment than in many other places. This humanist sensibility and the will to institute reforms were shared by the bishop and the majority of the cathedral chapter as well as by municipal functionaries, despite ongoing conflicts of interest between cathedral and city, cathedral chapter and council. The council, which also enjoyed regional political control over the territory of the principality of Breslau, had repeatedly tried to appropriate patronage over the municipal churches and in so doing to acquire at least partial control over the church. Once the Reformation, beginning in Breslau and with the help of the Silesian estates, took hold in the entire territory during 1519/20, the council found conditions ideal for pursuing its own interests, not least because the Reformation encountered few opponents. In contrast to Liegnitz, where the influence of Caspar Schwenckfeld von Ossig resulted in rigorous changes in both doctrine and rites, events in Breslau proceeded more cautiously under the leadership of the Reformer Johannes Hess. Although Protestant services were eventually held in all eight municipal churches in Breslau, churches under the responsibility of the canons and those of the Dominicans, the Augustinian canons, the Premonstratensians, and the Knights of the Cross remained with the old faith. Protestant preachers were integrated into municipal society by granting them the rights of citizenship.

Johannes Hess and the adoption of the Reformation in Breslau Bishop Johann V. Thurzo died on 2 August 1520, and the adoption of the Refor­ mation in Breslau took place under his successor, Jacob von Salza (bishop 1520–39). The lengthy tug-of-war concerning this succession actually proved favorable to this change, since although Jacob von Salza had already been chosen by the cathedral chapter on 1 September 1520, Pope Leo X preferred a different candidate. The Pope finally approved his election on 24 July 1521, in part due to pressure from the Breslau town council. Salza’s consecration was performed in November of that year. Breslau chapter records mentioned a factio lutherana as early as 1520, and although this presence was not specifically addressed in the minutes of a cathedral chapter meeting until 11 July 1522, it is probably safe to assume that Luther’s writings had spread swiftly in Breslau. In any case, in March 1522 fear of such “Lutheran subversives” prompted the removal of the cathedral treasures from Breslau. But while the cathedral chapter not surprisingly turned to

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Church of St. Mary Magdalene, in 1728. View by Wilhelm Sander. From [Carl Adolf Menzel], “Topographische Chronik von Breslau”, 5th quarter, Breslau, 1806, pp. 432–433

Pope Hadrian VI for help, the town council following a quite different line of action. It seized the initiative and on 19 May 1523 appointed Johannes Hess preacher in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, trusting that Hess could reestablish calm and orderly circumstances in the city. Hess had studied artes liberales and jurisprudence at Leipzig (1505–10) and Wittenberg (1510–12), then entered the service of Bishop Johann V. Thurzo as a secretary and held various posts as a canon. After additional theological studies in Bologna, he earned his theological doctorate in Italy and on the return journey in 1520 stopped over in Wittenberg again, where he became acquainted with Luther and Melanchthon. After his return to Breslau, he was ordained that same year (2 June 1520). Well known for his Reformation tendencies, he entered an uncertain period after the death of Bishop Johann V. Thurzo, with whom he had enjoyed quite close relations. In late 1520 he entered the service of the Duke of Münsterberg-Oels, where he soon began preaching Protestant doctrine. During a brief visit to his hometown of Nuremberg, he received the council’s invitation to return to Breslau.

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Hess hesitated, however, saying he would accept only on condition that the bishop himself appointed him. Although Jacob von Salza initially confirmed the council’s decision, he later refused to conduct the investiture, disassociating himself under pressure from the cathedral chapter, the Polish king, and the pope. Hence on 21 October 1523, the council itself appointed Hess to the pastoral position, and on 25 October Hess delivered his first Protestant sermon in the church of St. Mary Magdalene. The adoption of the Reformation in Breslau came about via a public disputation, a procedure frequently chosen in towns. Hess had presented nineteen theses addressing the themes “word of God”, “priesthood of Christ” and “marriage”, all of which he had presented beforehand to Luther and Melanchthon, and also to Zwingli. The disputation was conducted from 20 to 22 April 1524, in the Church of St. Dorothy, with Hess supported by Valentin Trotzendorf (rector of the school in Goldberg) and Anton Niger (schoolteacher in Breslau), who held the same views. His main opponent was the Dominican Leonhard Czipser, whose objections Hess was able to refute. The council subsequently decreed that all churches would thenceforth preach only Protestant doctrine oriented toward the theology of Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon. Schools were organized according to Reformation principles and finally, with the approval of the council, an ordinance for the care of the poor was passed on 7 May 1525. Further reorganization affecting the life of the church congregations addressed only what was strictly necessary. The former consecration rituals, masses and the veneration of saints were abolished. However, any ceremonies and ritual acts not viewed as being in contradiction with the correct understanding of the gospel were maintained, such as the tolling of bells, organ music, and songs in Latin, the latter also in deference to the Poles in the city who did not know German. The bishop’s jurisdiction also remained intact. And when Hess married on 8 September 1525, about three months after Luther had taken the same step, this decision was also an unequivocal public sign that he was renouncing the old forms of spiritual life and reorienting himself toward Reformation doctrine. The three great churches in Breslau — St. Mary Magdalene, St. Bernard, and St. Elizabeth — became early centers of Reformation preaching. From 16 May 1525, Hess worked with Ambrosius Moibanus, who had studied under both Luther and Melanchthon in Wittenberg, as a pastor at the Church of St. Elizabeth. The council had appointed him, and Bishop Jacob von Salza performed his investiture. Moibanus contributed to the consolidation of the Reformation in Breslau with his Catechismus, auf zehn Artikel göttlicher Schrift gestellt, wie man vor Gott und den Menschen ein christlich frommes Leben führen soll (Catechism, based on ten articles of Scripture, on how a person ought to lead a life of Christian devotion before God and our fellow human beings), published in 1535. As before, however,

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the cathedral chapter continued to oppose such consolidation, trying to gain the support of Hieronymus Emser and Johannes Cochläus, two of the most prominent theologians of traditional faith who opposed Luther. In fact, Cochläus, who in late 1536 had himself sought support from the cathedral chapter for the publication of his own piece against Moibanus’s catechism, became canon in Breslau in 1539 when a position became vacant.

Zacharias Ursinus and the international Reformation Whereas the early Reformation as shaped by Hess and Moibanus drew primarily on its Wittenberg heritage, combining elements from both Luther and Melanchthon and continuing to cultivate its humanist roots, the second-generation Reformer Zacharias Ursinus set different accents. Zacharias, whose father had headed the municipal alms office (founded in 1525) as deacon, was born on 18 July 1534, in Breslau. He attended the Latin school at the Church of St. Elizabeth, where Moibanus was his teacher. He left the city in 1550 to study in Wittenberg. Although he did not get to know Luther, who had died four years earlier, he did make contact with Melanchthon, becoming his student and later making the acquaintance of distinguished, internationally known Reformers in the persons of the French diplomat Hubert Languet and the Polish noble John a Lasco. A journey for addi­ tional study took Ursinus to Switzerland and France. Encounters with, among others, Heinrich Bullinger and John Calvin, profoundly influenced both him and his theology. After returning to Breslau in September 1558 to begin work as a teacher at St. Elizabeth’s school, he became embroiled in a quarrel with his colleague Johannes Praetorius concerning the understanding of the Eucharist. Praetorius defended the Lutheran doctrine of the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the elements of bread and wine, and thus also of a genuine presence not only of the deity, but also of the humanity of Christ in the Eucharist. This position, of course, implied that what was taking place in the Eucharist was not only a spiritual, but also a corporeally experienced communication of Christ and his redemptive activity. By contrast, Ursinus insisted on the individual’s exclusively spiritual participation in faith. His view was that in the Eucharist, the bread and wine should not be identified or confused with the body and blood of Christ. Instead, these external elements of the sacrament themselves were able to mediate something to the believer alone, namely, grace and salvation gained through Christ. In this position — influenced by views in Geneva — he was already moving beyond Melanchthon’s doctrine of the Eucharist: that the real presence of the deity and humanity of Christ is in usu, i. e. solely in the performance of the Eucharist.

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Title page of Ambrosius Moibanus, “Catechismus”, Wittenberg, 1535

Zacharias Ursinus; portrait from Zacharias Ursinus, “Het schat-boeck der verklaringen”, Amsterdam, 1642

This dispute concerning the Eucharist was one of a whole series of controversies during these decades that arose in many places among Reformation followers. Eventually these differences of opinion led to a division into Lutheranism and Calvinism, as major Protestant denominations. Politically speaking, people living in territories under Habsburg rule became doubly suspect if their doctrine was not merely oriented toward the Reformation as set out in the Confessio Augustana of 1530 but perhaps even “Zwinglian” or “Calvinist”. And indeed, Ursinus himself was expelled and accepted an appointment in Heidelberg in the Electoral Palatinate in 1561. His Heidelberg Catechism of 1563 remains one of the foundational documents of the Reformation legacy in Europe and the world.

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 Dr. Irene Dingel directs the Leibniz Institute for European History in Mainz (department of Western Church History) and is a professor at the Faculty of Protestant Theology, Mainz University.

Further reading Klaus Garber, Das alte Breslau. Kulturgeschichte einer geistigen Metropole, Wien u. a.: Böhlau Verlag, 2014 Arno Herzig, Schlesien, Das Land und seine Geschichte in Bildern, Texten und Dokumenten, Hamburg: Ellert & Richter, 2012 Die Reformation in Breslau, vol. 1: Ausgewählte Texte, vorgelegt und eingeleitet von Georg Kretschmar, Ulm: Verlag Unser Weg, 1960 Visiting Wrocław www.wroclaw-info.pl/start/index/lang/EN www.luteranie.wroc.pl

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Bretten Philipp Melanchthon by Günter Frank

“What is lacking, Bretten, for your noble worth? Suffice it that you are Melanchthon’s place of birth!”

Pforzheim-born historian Siegmund Friedrich Gehres mentions this distich in his “little chronicle of Bretten” published in 1805. Legend has it that in 1689 a group of Reformed clerics, having read this Latin inscription on the town hall, resolved in the Crown Inn (Gasthof Krone) that whoever could translate these lines into German most felicitously would be allowed to imbibe “on the house” that day. And yet the rhyme is of more than anecdotal interest, for Bretten’s renown does indeed derive from that fact that the humanist and Reformer Philipp Melanchthon (Schwartzerdt — “black earth” in Greek) was born here on 16 February 1497, and spent the first eleven or so years of his life in Bretten. And despite his becoming — at twenty-two years of age — Martin Luther’s most important associate and colleague in Wittenberg, at heart he always remained close to the German southwest.

Melanchthon’s place of birth Bretten, at the time alongside Heidelberg the largest and economically most important town in the Palatinate on the right bank of the Rhine River, was an Electoral Palatinate administrative town. Even during Melanchthon’s own lifetime, his hometown could already look back on more than six hundred years of history. It was administered by a district magistrate appointed by the prince-elector, whose duties included providing legal protection for the town’s citizens and safe passage for travelers on roads crossing through the Bretten district.

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Bretten. Illustration from Matthäus Merian, “Topographia Palatinatus Rheni et Vicinarum Regionum”, Frankfurt am Main, 1645 Excerpt: At center: the Collegiate Church (Stiftskirche) in which Melanchthon was baptized; to the right: the town hall; to the left: the Pfeifer Tower

During Melanchthon’s childhood, the town of Bretten had approximately three hundred Husgesessen, that is, families with their own house. Melanchthon’s family home was on the market square. Whenever Melanchthon looked out one of the windows or simply walked outside the door (the house is unfortunately no longer there), several times a week he doubtless beheld the animated scenes of a bustling market. For it was in Bretten that the most important trade routes intersected, from Paris to Strasbourg and Durlach and on to Heilbronn, Nuremberg, or even Prague, or from the town of Frankfurt with its impressive trade fair on to Heidelberg and

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Cannstatt just outside Stuttgart. And just as often he could even peer directly into the market booths themselves, in which the town’s tanners, tawers, saddlers, shoemakers, furriers, dyers, milliners, tailors, cloth-shearers and weavers, linen weavers, and clothier apprentices all offered their wares. Melanchthon grew up in this important Electoral Palatinate town between 1497 and 1508. The old Elector Philipp the Upright (1476–1508) was still ruling the Palatinate, which at the time extended along the upper and middle Rhine and from the Mosel River to Kraichgau. When Melanchthon was seven years old, a Württemberg army under the command of Duke Ulrich threatened Bretten. The citizenry, however, successfully defended the town and blindsided the enemy in a nocturnal assault, an event that has since provided the occasion for the famous “Peter and Paul Festival” celebrated annually in Bretten on the first weekend after the feast-day of Peter and Paul (29 June).

Bretten’s market square. To the right: the fountain with the statue of Elector Friedrich II. To the rear: the Crown Inn. To the left: the neo-Gothic Melanchthon House erected in red sandstone in 1897 according to plans by the Berlin professor Nikolaus Müller at the site of the Reformer’s birth house, which burned down in 1689. Today the house is home not only to a museum and research center, but also one of the most comprehensive libraries specializing in Melanchthon studies, and a document center for international Melanchthon research

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Immediately after the war and the death of Melanchthon’s father, who died from poisoned well water, a private tutor, Johann Unger from Pforzheim, was secured for Melanchthon and his brother Georg, four years his junior, and for his uncle Johann Philipp Reuter, who was still quite young. Unger guided Melanchthon kindly but firmly through the initial stages of learning Latin, and awakened in him a love of languages. Strictly speaking, it was at this early stage that Melanchthon set out on the path of his future career, namely, that of a Greek scholar. In 1518, albeit not without the mediation of a distant relative, Melanchthon was appointed to the newly established professorship of Greek in Wittenberg, the second such position after Leipzig. Melanchthon later composed Greek poems and even Latin comedies and grammars. His career was thus firmly rooted in his childhood years here in his father’s house on the market square in Bretten. In 1555 Melanchthon looked back at these foundational childhood years:

“I had an excellent grammar teacher. Two years ago he was still alive, a venerable old man, and still teaching the gospel in Pforzheim. He introduced me to grammar; I had to learn twenty or thirty grammatical rules … I could not omit anything; whenever I made a mistake, he struck me, but always with moderation … He was a splendid man, loved me like a son, and I him like a father. We will, I hope, soon meet again in eternal life. I loved him despite his severity, which was actually not severity at all, but rather a kind of fatherly discipline that prompted me to do things thoroughly.”

Southwest German Humanism In 1508 Melanchthon moved to Pforzheim, where he attended the excellent Latin school run by Georg Simler. His progress in Greek was so impressive that on 15 March 1509, his distant relative Johann Reuchlin, a jurist and famous Hebrew scholar, gave him a valuable grammar as a gift and on this same occasion translated his civil name “Schwartzerdt” into its Grecized form, “Melanchthon” — a special distinction among humanists. Acquiring such knowledge of Greek was ground-breaking at the time, since the Latin-speaking world of the Middle Ages was generally not so familiar with that language. But after the “fall of Constantinople” on 29 May 1453, i. e. the conquest of the cultural center of the Byzantine world by the army of Sultan Mehmed II, the Conqueror, many Greek-speaking humanists from Byzantine had made their way to Italy, where they founded several famous Greek schools, notably in Florence and Rome. The first humanist north of the Alps to study Greek in Rome was none ­other than Johann Reuchlin. Melanchthon relates the following anecdote about a meet-

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ing in Rome between Reuchlin and his Byzantine teacher Johann Argyropolos. After Reuchlin had demonstrated his own brilliant knowledge of Greek, his teacher cried out, “From our exile, Greek has now flown over the Alps!” This newly acquired knowledge of Greek set in motion a breathtaking reappropriation of Greek antiquity and its literature, not least also because the Septuagint, the oldest translation of the Hebrew-Aramaic Bible, was composed in Greek. The humanist movement thus communicated a canon of knowledge from antiquity that would profoundly alter the science and scholarship of the time, along with methods of teaching. The humanist movement in south­ western Germany and the upper Rhine area flourished during the lifetimes of Reuchlin and Melanchthon. A group Philipp Melanchthon. Colorized woodcut of approximately one hundred fifty by Lukas Cranach the Younger, 1561 humanists, most of them scholarly burghers, saw this region as leading in cultural terms, not least due to the discovery of printing. There were many distinguished schools in the southwest, such as in Schlettstadt, Strasbourg and Pforzheim, alongside universities such as those of Basel, Freiburg, Tübingen, Mainz and Heidelberg. These humanists did not view the reappropriation of antiquity as an end in itself, however, but as service to the whole church and social order. Culture and education now became central to social change by way of excellent preachers and teachers. Yet the reform program uniting the humanists was no longer founded on theologically trained and ordained priests who guided their congregations by example and doctrine. Instead, it focused on individual Christians, highly educated or not, who were to be directly guided by the basically simple teachings of Christ. Erasmus of Rotterdam, praised by contemporaries as “a credit to Germany”, was the leading humanist in Freiburg and especially in Basel. His annotations to the New Testament, which Luther also read, made history, and his educational and political writings shaped an entire generation of reform-minded humanists. We

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might also mention Beatus Rhenanus in Schlettstadt. He edited new editions not only of the classics of antiquity, but also of the Church Fathers, who would acquire considerable significance for the program of ecclesiastical reform. Strasbourg profited from the presence of Jakob Sturm, council member and founder of the secondary school that Emperor Maximilian II rededicated as an academy before Emperor Ferdinand elevated it to the status of a university. And last but not least, there was Sturm’s own teacher, Jakob Wimpfeling. A poet and historiographer, he had studied philosophy and theology in Freiburg, Erfurt and Heidelberg and in various cities initiated a new understanding of national historiography and a renewal of pedagogy. The unique feature in this southwestern German and upper Rhineland humanism was its emphasis on the inner unity of humanity and religion. Reforms in education and the church intertwined within this process, and it was through Melanchthon that many of the concerns of these eager Reformers made their way into the nascent Wittenberg Reformation. Melanchthon became acquainted with many of these southwest German humanists during his studies in Heidelberg and then especially in Tübingen, though he was disappointed that the older humanist generation could not be won over to Protestant issues. Even after beginning a long career at Luther’s side in 1518, at the Electoral Saxon university in Wittenberg, he maintained warm feelings for his hometown of Bretten. This is reflected in a fresco on the rear wall of the commemorative hall in the Melanchthon House, depicting Melanchthon’s journey to Bretten in 1524. Unfortunately, for lack any genuinely reliable documentation from either Melanchthon or his traveling companions we cannot know exactly what happened here during this approximately two-week “home leave”. What we do know, however, is that on 6 May a three-person delegation from Heidelberg University journeyed to Bretten, entered the Crown Inn and presented a cup as a trophy to their Wittenberg colleague. The group comprised Dean Martin Frecht, a later Reformer in Ulm; Simon Grynäus, a friend from Melanchthon’s student days; and the Rhinelander Hermann von dem Busche. All three humanists were resolutely favorable to the Reformation. Friedrich Nausea, secretary to Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio and later bishop of Vienna, also appeared in the Crown Inn during May 1524; the cardinal’s commission was to convince this promising young Melanchthon to abandon the Lutheran camp and return to Catholicism. Joachim Camerarius, who probably witnessed these conversations in person, provides an account of the cardinal’s attempt. Melanchthon’s brief and clear answer to this enticement, namely, an unequivocal refusal, was published that same year under the title Ain warhafftigs urtayl des hochgelerten Philippi Melanchthonis von D. Marti Luthers leer, dem

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At the sight of this hometown during the summer of 1524, Melanchthon dismounts and prays. Fresco by August Groh in the Melanchthon House, 1920/21

Cardinal und Päbstlichen legaten gen Stugarten zugeschickt (A true assessment by the highly learned Philipp Melanchthon of the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther, sent to the cardinal and papal legate in Stuttgart, 1524).

Bretten and the Reformation The adoption of the Reformation in the administrative town of Bretten itself was shaped by the political circumstances at the time in the Palatinate. The Heidelberg Disputation of 1518 had acquainted southwest Germany with Luther and attracted numerous followers among the people and at the university. Yet Count Palatine Ludwig V (1508–44) was still undecided. On the one hand, at the Diet of Worms in 1521 he opposed violating the guarantee of free passage that had been granted to Luther. On the other hand, in 1522 he issued a decree forbidding the Heidelberg theologians Johann Brenz and Theobald Billican to continue their Reformationfocused lectures. Even though the Count Palatine took a mediating position in

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Philipp Melanchthon, “Ain warhafftigs urtayl” etc. Title page

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favor of the Protestants at the Imperial Diets of 1530 and 1532, he officially still adhered to the old faith. The Kraichgau Knights, however, who had been summoned to an assembly in Heidelberg in late September 1525, were already insisting that the worldly authorities not impede the “free teaching of the pure gospel”. The Kraichgau Knights were thus the first to allow the new teaching to be preached in their territories. As early as 1525, the Reformation movement in Kraichgau had already made significant progress, with Protestant preachers active in the immediate vicinity of Bretten, for example, in Flehingen, Sulzfeld, Kürnbach and Eppingen. Melanchthon’s younger brother Georg Schwartzerdt played a significant role in the introduction and implementation of the Reformation in the town and district of Bretten. Nikolaus Müller, who was not only the builder of the Melanchthon House and founder of its collections, but also Melanchthon’s biographer, pointed this out quite early. It was at Georg’s initiative that in 1541 the pastor Adam Bartholomäus celebrated the Eucharist with his congregation in both kinds, bread and wine. It is even possible that Georg had already solicited the Count Palatine earlier to allow the Eucharist under both kinds in Bretten. The Bretten citizens themselves also seems to have pressed for this development, since Bartholomäus, the pastor in charge, later recounted that “several of his [the count’s] subjects waited three years unrenewed”. That is, not a few citizens had, out of protest at this clinging to the old form, not received the Eucharist for three years. Bartholomäus himself — he is quick to add  — was forced to dispense communion under both kinds to avoid even greater grievances among the citizenry. The pastor’s account here suggests that in Bretten, too, the Protestant faith had profoundly touched people’s hearts. It was only after the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, however, that the Reformation was able to establish itself enduringly in Bretten. Elector Ottheinrich then directed his officials to shape the teaching and institutional ordinances of the church according to the Bible and the Augsburg Confession.  Dr. Günter Frank is director of the European Melanchthon Academy Bretten and professor of Philosophy at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Further reading Siegmund Friedrich Gehres, Bretten’s kleine Chronik welche zugleich umständliche Nachrichten von Melanchthon und seiner Familie enthält, Esslingen: Lochner, 1805 Alfons Schäfer, Geschichte der Stadt Bretten. Von den Anfängen bis zur Zerstörung im Jahre 1689, Bretten: Stadtverwaltung, 1977 Luther und die Reformation am Oberrhein. Eine Ausstellung der Badischen Landesbibliothek und der Evangelischen Landeskirche in Baden in Zusammenarbeit mit dem General­

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landesarchiv Karlsruhe und dem Melanchthonverein, Bretten, Karlsruhe: Badische Landes­bibliothek, 1983 Stefan Rhein and Gerhard Schwinge (eds.), Das Melanchthonhaus Bretten. Ein Beispiel des Reformationsgedenkens der Jahrhundertwende, Ubstadt-Weiher: Verlag Regional­ kultur,1997 Sönke Lorenz, Sönke et al. (eds.), Vom Schüler der Burse zum „Lehrer Deutschlands“: Philipp Melanchthon in Tübingen, Tübingen: Stadtmuseum Tübingen, 2010 Visiting Bretten www.melanchthon.com www.bretten.de

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Cambridge Thomas Cranmer by Charlotte Methuen

In the White Horse Inn Cambridge is often said to be the cradle of the English Reformation. In the sixteenth century, Cambridge and Oxford were the only two universities in England, and Cambridge is seen as having espoused the Reformation with some enthusiasm, whilst Oxford dragged its heels. The assessment is not quite fair, but in the early 1520s, in the White Horse inn, a group of men gathered to discuss the works of Erasmus and Luther — or at least those of Luther’s works which they had been able to rescue from being burnt by Cardinal Wolsey and his followers. Amongst them were several later English Reformers: Robert Barnes, an Augustinian friar who at Midnight Mass in 1525 would preach one of the earliest English Reformation sermons at the Cambridge church of St. Edward, King and Martyr, in which he criticised the corruption of the clergy; Thomas Bilney, who soon afterwards received a license from the Bishop of Ely to preach, and spoke out against the veneration of the saints, the use of relics, and pilgrimages to Walsingham and Canterbury; Miles Coverdale, who completed William Tyndale’s translation of the Bible to produce what later became known as “The Great Bible”; John Frith, an early English proponent of the Swiss doctrine of the Eucharist later espoused by Cranmer; Hugh Latimer, later Bishop of Worcester; Matthew Parker, who under Elizabeth I would become Archbishop of Canterbury; Nicholas Ridley, later Bishop first of Rochester and subsequently of London and Westminster, and one of the architects of the Book of Common Prayer; and others. Many of the group would be martyred for their Reformation views: Tyndale, Frith, Bilney and Barnes during the reign of Henry VIII, and Ridley and Latimer under Mary I. Many

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of the White Horse circle had been directly influenced by the Humanist scholar, Erasmus, who taught Greek in Cambridge from around 1510 until around 1515, holding a Fellowship at Queen’s College. Thomas Cranmer, whose theological convictions at this time were still deeply traditional, was probably not a member of the group although he was a Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge; however, later conservatives, such as Stephen Gardiner, the future Bishop of Winchester, may have also joined in the discussions at the White Horse Inn. White Horse Inn plaque. The group which The White Horse Inn no longer met here to discuss Luther’s work was given exists. It stood on the western side of the nickname “Little Germany” King’s Parade, then called High Ward, on the site of what is today King’s Lane. On the other side of King’s Pa­rade, hidden down St. Edward’s Passage, lies the church of St. Edmund King and Martyr, where much of the early Reformation preaching in Cambridge took place. The pulpit from which Barnes, Bilney and the others preached, built in 1510, still stands in the church. The church of St. Edward King and Martyr had been transferred in 1445 to the Cambridge Colleges of Trinity Hall and Clare Hall (now Clare College), after the church they had been using as a chapel was demolished to make way for King’s College. Two aisles were built: the north aisle was used by Trinity Hall, and the south aisle by Clare Hall. The church was a royal peculiar, meaning that jurisdiction over it lay with the King, rather than, as for most churches in Cambridge, with the Bishop of Ely. This, together with its College connections, made it possible for preachers there in the 1520s to give sermons which were deeply critical of the church in ways which were being suppressed elsewhere. Many of the future Reformers were attached to colleges which still exist today. While Barnes was Prior of the Augustinian friars, and Coverdale was one of those friars, Parker was a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, later master of his College and Vice-Chancellor of the University before fleeing to Frankfurt under Mary I, and becoming Archbishop under Elizabeth I in 1559. Bilney was a Fellow at Trinity Hall; Frith was at King’s College, where his tutor was Gardiner; Latimer was a Fellow of Clare Hall; Ridley was at Pembroke College; and Cranmer at Jesus College.

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Church St. Edward King and Martyr with a view of the pulpit of 1510

Thomas Cranmer in the reign of Henry VIII Thomas Cranmer was probably born at Aslockton, Nottinghamshire, on 2 July 1489. In 1503 he was admitted to Jesus College, where he eventually took his BA in 1511 and his MA in 1515. Soon afterwards, he married, but his wife, Joan, died in childbirth. By 1518 he had been re-admitted to the fellowship at Jesus College which he had given up at his marriage, and by 1520 had been ordained. Annotations on his copy of John Fisher’s Assertionis Lutheranae confutatio, an attack on Luther’s theology which was published in Antwerp in 1523, include his condemnation both of Luther’s criticisms of the pope and of his dismissal of the authority of a general council. Although he held Sir John Rysley’s lectureship in the Old and New Testaments, and had been granted by the University license enabling him to preach anywhere in the British Isles, Cranmer was at this stage decidedly not an evangelical.

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By 1527, however, Cranmer had been drawn into the debates surrounding King Henry’s efforts to secure an annulment of his marriage to Katherine of Aragon or a divorce from her. The period 1527 to 1533 saw Cranmer travelling on diplomatic missions seeking to gain judgements favourable to the king from European universities. After 1529 he would rarely, if ever, return to Cambridge. By August 1530 he was rector of the parish of Bredon, a rich living which he probably never visited, and by 1532 he was also Archdeacon of Taunton. That summer he travelled to Germany, and settled for a while in Nuremberg, by now a Lutheran city, where he became Thomas Cranmer. Portrait by Gerlach Flicke, a close friend of the Reformer Andreas 1545 Osiander and married Osiander’s niece Margaret. This second marriage was a clear statement that Cranmer had embraced Reformation principles. When William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, died later that autumn, Henry VIII’s choice of Cranmer as his successor must, therefore, have provoked a crisis of conscience. Perhaps this is why he did not return to London to take up his new post until January 1533. He was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury on 30 March 1533 on the authority of the traditional papal bulls, and took the normal oath of loyalty to the papacy, following it with a declaration that this oath could not override the law of God or Cranmer’s loyalty to his king. Less than six weeks later, Cranmer presided over the church court which annulled the marriage between Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, and on 28 May he approved the king’s petition that his marriage to Ann Boleyn, which had taken place in January, be adjudged valid. Ann was crowned on 1 June. She was already six months pregnant, and her daughter Elizabeth was born on 7 September. Three days later she was baptized by the Bishop of London and confirmed by Cranmer. In the summer of 1533, Cranmer was involved in the trials of both John Frith, whom he may well have known from Cambridge, and Elizabeth Barton, the “Maid of Kent”, who had become a focus for opposition to the king’s divorce from Katharine of Aragon. Both were executed. Cranmer was enthroned on 3 December 1533. The following year, 1534, proved crucial for the church in England: through a series of

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Cambridge; colorized town map from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 2, Cologne, 1575 Detail: Great St. Mary’s and St. Edward King and Martyr

parliamentary acts, culminating in the Act of Supremacy, authority over the church was transferred from the Pope to the king. Cranmer was given the power to issue dispensations form Canon Law which had previously lain with the Pope. However, by January 1535, Thomas Cromwell had been appointed as the king’s vicar general

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or vice-gerent, and it was he who would drive forward many of the measures that followed. The period 1536–38 saw the height of the Reformation under Henry VIII. In 1536, the Ten Articles were drawn up. In 1536 and 1538 these were implemented through the passing by Parliament of two sets of Injunctions. These instructed that an English translation of the Bible should be placed in every parish church and made available to the people; that the Lord’s Prayer, the creed, the Ten Commandments and the Ave Maria should be taught in every parish in English; that records of baptisms, weddings and funerals be kept; and that lights should no longer be burned before images. Preaching was to teach the theology presented in the Ten Articles, which showed some Lutheran influences, although they did not espouse justification by faith alone. These measures triggered rebellious protests in Lincolnshire in autumn 1536 and in Yorkshire, where the “Pilgrimage of Grace” took place in spring 1537. In response Cranmer and his bishops composed The Institution of a Christian Man, generally known as the Bishops’ Book, which laid out doctrine and practice for the English church. This was also the period which saw the fall of Ann Boleyn, and with her the Reform-minded circles which her family had brought to court. Ann was executed on 19 May 1536; on 17 May, Cranmer had annulled her marriage to Henry and made her daughter Elizabeth officially illegitimate. Henry became betrothed to Jane Seymour the following day and married her on 30 May. A son, the future Edward VI, was born on 12 October 1537. Jane died twelve days later, and on Henry’s orders was given a traditional funeral. Despite his initial support, for Henry the Reformation had gone too far. He would never return the English Church to the authority of the Pope, and with Cromwell’s help he initiated the process which dissolved England’s religious houses, providing estates for Henry’s favourites. However, he offered a conservative commentary on the Bishops’ book, and in 1539 actively supported the passing of the Act of Six Articles which reiterated traditional theology: transubstantiation, clerical celibacy, and auricular confession. Cranmer sent his wife and their children to Germany for their safety. In 1543, another Act was passed restricting the access of women and lay men — other than noblemen — to English Bibles. Cranmer, who by the mid1540s had come to embrace a Swiss Reformed understanding of the Eucharist managed to keep the King’s favour to the extent that he did not lose his head — unlike Cromwell, who was executed in 1540 — but he could do little more than hope to survive. He contributed a preface to the Great Bible, which was published with the King’s approval in 1540, and he also helped to give to the cathedrals of Canterbury and Rochester new, non-monastic constitutions. From 1543, Cranmer’s relationship to the king improved, and Cranmer also developed close ties to the Protestant tutors of Prince Edward, Richard Cox, John

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Cheke and Roger Askham, and to Edward’s uncle, Edward Seymour, who on Henry’s death would be appointed his nephew’s regent. In 1544 he was able to publish an English litany, the first officially authorized vernacular service in England, and in 1545 he contributed to an official primer, or catechetical work, also published in English. When Henry VIII died on 28 January 1547, Cranmer was in attendance: the king did not receive the last rites.

Thomas Cranmer in the reign of Edward VI It was under Edward VI that Cranmer’s theological imagination began to bear real fruit. As the Augsburg Interim came into effect in the German imperial lands, Cranmer issued invitations to leading Reformers to move to England and take up posts in the English church and universities. First to arrive were Bernardino Ochino, an Italian former Franciscan who had recently moved to Augsburg, who was now appointed prebendary of Canterbury Cathedral, and Peter Martyr Vermigli, another an Italian who had moved to Strasbourg, who became Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford. They were soon followed by Martin Bucer, also from Strasbourg, and Paul Fagius, who had returned to Strasbourg after a failed attempt to reform the University of Heidelberg. Bucer was appointed Regius Professor of Divinity in Cambridge, and Fagius was made Lecturer in Hebrew. Both would die in Cambridge, Fagius in 1549 and Bucer in 1551. They found a university which was undergoing liturgical change: Thomas Cromwell, appointed Vice-Chancellor in 1535, had instructed the Colleges, whose foundations had been based on regular prayer for their benefactors, to introduce new forms of worship and new forms of university ceremonial more in accordance with the new theological principles. Some colleges had complied more readily than others. Bucer found Cambridge to be full of lazy academics, who did not preach enough and who preferred college feasts to prayer and sermons. Besides importing continental Reformers to England, Cranmer went to work on a new liturgy. His order for an English service of Holy Communion replaced the Latin mass on 1 April 1548. In March in 1549 the first Book of Common Prayer was issued and its use throughout England made compulsory from Whitsunday (Pentecost), 9 June, by the first Act of Uniformity. This provided recognisably Protestant liturgy for all aspects of the English church’s life, but was still too traditional for some of his reforming friends. The revised Book of Common Prayer, published in 1552, retained a fixed liturgy, but its theology and practice were notably more Protestant. It was this version of the Book of Common Prayer which would form the basis for the later editions produced in 1558 under Elizabeth I and in 1662 under Charles II. Cranmer’s liturgical legacy would prove long-lasting.

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Cramer also composed an order for “the making of bishops, priests and deacons”: the ordinal came into use in 1550 and was retained in all subsequent Books of Common Prayer. Unlike the German and Swiss Protestant churches, the Church of England would retain the traditional threefold order of ministry.

Thomas Cranmer in the reign of Mary I Besides his liturgical efforts, Cranmer was also involved in the drafting of an English statement of faith, the Forty-Two Articles, which were agreed in 1553, and in an attempt to revise canon law. Both were cut short by Edward VI’s death on 6 July 1553; he was just fifteen years old. Edward’s attempt to give England a Protestant monarch in the form of his cousin Lady Jane Grey proved abortive: Edward’s elder half-sister, the Catholic Mary I, was proclaimed queen. In autumn 1553, Cranmer was arrested. The following spring, he was taken, together with his former Cambridge colleagues Ridley and Latimer, to Oxford to stand trial for heresy. On 16 October 1555, Ridley and Latimer were burned in Broad Street, Oxford; Cranmer was forced to watch from the window of his prison. He was held for several further long months, during which he signed a series of recantations and submissions. These were not to save his life. On 20 March 1556, he was brought to Oxford’s University Church, St. Mary the Virgin, where, instead of affirming the statements prepared for him, he expressed his regret that he had recanted his beliefs. Cranmer was dragged from the church and through the city’s North Gate, where he was burned in what today is Broad Street. In Cambridge, heresy trials were imposed on the dead. In 1557, the coffins of Fagius and Bucer were dug up and the two men tried in Great St. Mary’s Church on the basis of their works. Posthumously condemned as heretics, their coffins were chained to stakes and burnt. Three years later, after Elizabeth I’s succession to the throne in 1558 on her half-sister’s death, Bucer and Fagius were reinstated, the dust from their place of burning interred, and a plaque erected in Bucer’s honour in Great St. Mary’s Church. Cambridge, the cradle of England’s Reformation, was Protestant once more.

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The burning of the coffins and books of Bucer and Fagius. Engraving from: John Foxe, “Acts and Monuments”, London, 1563

Plaque in Great St. Mary’s Church commemorating Martin Bucer, 1871

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 Dr. Charlotte Methuen is senior lecturer in Church History and head of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Glasgow.

Further reading H[enry] C. Porter, Reformation and reaction in Tudor Cambridge, London: Cambridge University Press, 1958 Elisabeth Leedham-Green, A concise history of the University of Cambridge, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996 Diarmaid MacCulloch, Thomas Cranmer: a life, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996 David Hoyle, Reformation and religious identity in Cambridge, 1590–1644, Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2007 Peter Marshall, Reformation in England: 1480–1642, London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2011

Visiting Cambridge www.visitcambridge.org https://sainteds.wordpress.com www.churchofengland.org www.elydiocese.org

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Constance Ambrosius, Margarete and Thomas Blarer

by Hermann Ehmer

Ambrosius und Thomas Blarer Favorably situated on Lake Constance, the imperial city Constance not only facilitated trade between Italy and Germany, it was also an ideal location for the council — the grand ecclesiastical assembly — that was held there from 1414 to 1418. In this city, the Blarers were reckoned among the most distinguished families. But it was not just the siblings Ambrosius, Margarete and Thomas Blarer who played a key role in the events associated with the Reformation. In 1520 one of their distant relatives, Gerwig Blarer, became abbot of the free imperial Benedictine monastery Weingarten and in 1547 also abbot of Ochsenhausen and chair of the Swabian Council of Imperial Prelates. As such, Abbot Gerwig Blarer, valued by the emperors Charles V and Ferdinand I, also played a political role among the opponents of the Reformation. Ambrosius Blarer, the eldest sibling, was born on the feast day of Ambrosius (Ambrose), 4 April 1492, Margarete in 1493 and Thomas in 1499. Their father died young, presumably in 1503, and their mother, whose family was from Rottweil, sent her eldest child to the university in Tübingen when he was thirteen and later saw to it that was able to enter the Benedictine monastery in Alpirsbach. Blarer’s goal was apparently to pursue the life of a scholar in the tranquility of monastic life, for he was quite taken by the educational movement of humanism. From Alpirsbach he was then able to continue his studies in Tübingen, where he became friends with Philipp Melanchthon. In 1512 he attained his master’s degree, and after returning to the monastery he became master lector and prior and for a time also pastor in Alpirsbach.

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Constance; colorized view from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 2, Cologne, 1575 Bottom left: the cathedral; bottom right: the former trading house (“Kaufhaus”) that in 1417 housed the conclave to elect Pope Martin V, since then called the “Konzil” (Council)

In the meantime, his brother Thomas studied at the university in Freiburg/ Breisgau, and from 1520 in Wittenberg. Here he witnessed first-hand the burning of the bull containing the threat of excommunication at the Elster Gate in December 1520, afterwards accompanying Luther to the Imperial Diet in Worms in 1521. Convinced of the necessity of church reform, he sent enthusiastic reports to his brother in Alpirsbach about the Wittenberg scholar and even sent him Luther’s writings, for example, De captivitate Babylonica and On the Freedom of a Christian.

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It was these writings that guided Ambrosius to the Bible as the source of faith, and to the realization that salvation was revealed in Christ. However, rather than keeping such insights to himself, Ambrosius incorporated them into his own sermons in both the monastery and the village. During this period after the Edict of Worms of 1521, which had proscribed Luther’s teachings, Blarer’s position in Alpirsbach soon became untenable, and in July 1522 he secretly left the monastery and returned to Constance.

The beginnings of the Reformation in Constance Although Protestant sermons had already been delivered in Constance over the past year, Blarer initially did not participate, preferring instead to live in seclusion and devote himself to his studies. He justified his departure from the monastery in a long publication, but it was only after a lengthy period of reflection and at the urgent behest of the town council that he agreed, in February 1525, to begin preaching regularly. Church reform was promoted by his brother Thomas Blarer, who became a council member in 1525, and by the cousins Johannes Zwick as preacher and Konrad Zwick as council member. It made swift progress in the imperial city. One sign of such progress was that the bishop left the town in 1526 and set up his new see in Meersburg. Beginning in October 1525, disputations took place with the Constance cathedral preacher Antonius Pirata, in which the council itself functioned as referee. The Reformation party realized that instead of genuinely addressing their arguments, defenders of the old faith had merely presented formal objections, and Pirata was expelled in 1527. In Constance, the Reformation meant first of all a renewal of worship, especially the distribution of the Eucharist with bread and wine. Monasteries were then also closed, holidays restricted, and processions eliminated. Like all later Reformation activities ­initiated by Blarer, in Constance, too, Medal with the likeness of Ambrosius Blarer, the Reformation involved an unequiv1538, when he was forty-six years old. The ocal orientation toward practical life. signs in front of his mouth symbolize his rhetorical gifts The confession of faith, for example,

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Birth house of the Blarer siblings in Katzgasse. It was here that Margarete ran her kindergarten. In the background the cathedral

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was to manifest itself in a moral ­renewal of the town’s life as stipulated in the Disciplinary Ordinance published in 1531. ­Although this ordinance largely followed the tradition of similar decrees issued by the authorities during the late Middle Ages, it received new stimulus from the ­Reformation. The Women’s House, i. e. the town brothel, was closed, and efforts made to reform the school system and improve welfare for the poor. As Blarer ­later put it, a “complete, full, sated Reformation” was the goal.

Margarete Blarer Like her brother Ambrosius, Margarete Blarer was originally wholly inspired by the educational ideal of humanism. In fact, the education she received was probably quite the equal of that of her brothers. No less than Erasmus of Rotterdam honored her in his Colloquia as a model of female education alongside the women from the Morus family in England and the Pirckheimer family in Nuremberg. She declined to enter a convent or even to marry so that she might instead remain independent as a woman. During a visit to Ulm in 1531, she made the acquaintance of Martin Bucer, with whom she entered into a scholarly correspondence quite as his equal and who sent her Reformation publications for her perusal, and also encouraged her to undertake further study. The high degree of independence Margarete Blarer secured by consciously remaining unmarried was both ensured and complemented by the economic independence she attained through her involvement in the linen trade. Unfortunately, imprudent speculation caused her considerable financial losses in 1537 and even brought her brother Ambrosius into difficulty as well. Reformation insights similarly had a practical effect on Margarete Blarer’s life. She founded a welfare association of Christian women and girls to assist impoverished women, took orphans into her own home in order to instruct them herself, and helped to care for the sick. These enterprises were direct consequences of church reform. On the one hand, it focused on improving the school system, but on the other, through eliminating third orders such as the Beguines, it entailed reorganizing welfare services for those suffering from poverty and illness.

The Tetrapolitan Confession of 1530 Ambrosius Blarer quickly became the spiritual head of the Constance Reformation, his influence soon extending beyond the imperial city. In fact, the exemplary character of the Reformation in Constance prompted other imperial cities in southern Germany to seek out Ambrosius Blarer’s advice and assistance for their

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own Reformations. Such was the case in Memmingen, Isny, Kempten, Ulm, Geislingen, Esslingen and Lindau. The close ties that emerged during these exchanges were such that Constance, together with Memmingen and Lindau, joined the confession worked out by Strasbourg members at the Diet of Augsburg in 1530, the Confessio Tetrapolitana (Confession of the four cities). Compared to the Augsburg Confession drafted mainly by Philipp Melan­ chthon, the Confessio Tetrapolitana diverged basically only in the article concerning the Eucharist. A ­seemingly unbridgeable difference of ­opinion had emerged on this score since ­approximately late 1524 between ­Luther in Wittenberg and Zwingli in Title page of Martin Bucer’s German Zurich. The basic point of contention translation of the “Confessio Tetrapolitana”, Strasbourg, 1531 was that Luther still insisted on the traditional view of the real presence, or true presence, of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, a position he took especially for reasons associated with pastoral care, so that people might also experience divine grace corporeally. By contrast, Zwingli understood the Eucharist as a commemorative meal functioning as a focal point for the assembly of believers. Blarer and his friends wanted to articulate a position of their own, one that, however, still left a full resolution of the disputed point in abeyance. In any event, they wanted to avoid the harshness that the dispute had acquired over time because in Constance these theological questions were simply not viewed as being as theologically crucial as they were in Wittenberg or Zurich. Here, too, the more practical focus of the Constance Reformation for daily life was evident.

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Ambrosius, Margarete and Thomas Blarer

Ambrosius Blarer in Württemberg, 1534–38 Ambrosius Blarer was a man of many talents and considerable experience. At the Bern Disputation in 1528, he made the personal acquaintance of the Strasbourg Reformer Martin Bucer, who in 1543 bestowed on Blarer the nickname “Apostle of Swabia”, not least because in 1534 Blarer had been summoned to assist in establishing the Reformation in the Duchy of Württemberg. This summons, however, also had a political background. Duke Ulrich of Württemberg, wanting to take a middle path, summoned as reformers Blarer, who was trusted by the Swiss, and then also the Lutheran Erhard Schnepf. The first time the two met in person in the presence of the duke, they were able — contrary to expectation  — to come to an agreement in the question of the Eucharist based on a compromise formula proposed by Blarer. This agreement was doubtless encouraged by the fact that each of the two Reformers was assigned part of the duke’s territory as his area of responsibility, with Blarer receiving the south, and Schnepf the north. Reformation activities in this regard consisted especially in visitations, which in their own turn involved decisions involving pastoral appointments. Schnepf’s headquarters were in Stuttgart, Blarer’s in Tübingen, where the university, however, was to a certain extent resisting the Reformation. Considerable efforts were made to persuade monasteries to accept the new doctrine, including in 1535 a monastic ordinance (probably composed by Blarer) providing for a Protestant reorganization of monastery life with worship services strictly in accordance with Scripture. This ordinance did not enjoy the anticipated success. A worship ordinance was promulgated in 1536 that prescribed not the Lutheran Mass for Sunday community worship but the pre-Reformation form of south German worship with a focus on the sermon. At a disputation in Urach in 1537, Blarer and Schnepf were unable to come to an agreement in the presence of Johann Brenz and other theologians in the question of altar imagery and figures of the saints. The decision was instead left to the duke, who followed Blarer’s suggestion to eliminate imagery. Although Blarer remained in Württemberg service for four years, in 1538 he was summarily dismissed. The Strasbourg theologian Martin Bucer had succeeded in bringing about an agreement between south German theologians and Luther in the question of the Eucharist. Although Blarer initially concurred with these efforts, he did not join the Wittenberg Concord of 1536, believing its doctrinal definition of the Eucharist went too far. His friends in Constance similarly declined to approve this formula of agreement, as did the Swiss. Blarer’s presence in Württemberg had thus now become untenable.

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The end of the Reformation in Constance After visiting various places where he had earlier been active, such as Kempten and Isny, and after a brief period of activity in Augsburg, Blarer returned to Constance in 1540, where since 1536 Thomas Blarer had alternately held the office of imperial magistrate and mayor of Constance. Because of his sister’s financial difficulties, Ambrosius, hitherto active as a kind of honorary member of the church in Constance, had to request a salary, which was also granted to him. Blarer had been married to Katharina Ryff von Blidegg since 1533, a former nun at the Münsterlingen convent in Thurgau, who bore him three children, two of whom died early. For the next decade Blarer was engaged not in the far-reaching activities of a reformer, but rather in quiet pastoral work in the Constance church community. Constance theologians no longer participated in the religious dialogues and dogmatic disputes of the age. Various plague epidemics made Blarer’s pastoral work difficult, but also all the more necessary. Margarete Blarer died during the epidemic of 1541 while caring for the sick in the Dominican Island Monastery, which had been turned into a hospital. At the time, Ambrosius Blarer referred to his sister as archidiacona (archdeaconess). Johannes Zwick, who had indefatigably visited the ill, also died from the plague in 1542. It was during this time of distress that Ambrosius Blarer composed several of his twenty-two extant hymns, two of which are still found in the hymnal: the Pentecostal hymn Jauchz, Erd, und Himmel, juble hell (EG 127, Rejoice, earth, and heaven, exult brightly), and the later Wach auf, wach auf, ’s ist hohe Zeit (EG 244, Wake up, wake up, ’tis high time). Political circumstances in the empire and thus also the situation of the imperial city Constance soon underwent fundamental change. In the Smalkaldic War of 1546/47, Emperor Charles V was victorious over Protestant rulers, and south German cities now also had to submit to him. Constance, however, resisted, viewing such subordination as a question of faith. Hence in 1548 the emperor had Spanish troops storm the city. He stripped it of its status as imperial city and assigned it as a possession to the house of Austria. The Reformation, of course, was rolled back. Thomas Blarer lost his offices as well as all his possessions through this change, and fled to Neu-Giersberg in Canton Thurgau, where he died on 19 March 1567. Like his brother, he composed hymns, and today the hymnal includes the Eucharistic hymn Du hast uns Leib und Seel gespeist (EG 216, Thou hast nourished us body and soul). Ambrosius Blarer had left Constance before the worst had happened. From the estate of his sister in Griessenberg in Swiss Thurgau, he observed the new developments in his hometown. When the Austrian government protested at

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Ambrosius, Margarete and Thomas Blarer

Constance soldiers do battle with Spaniards at the Rhine Bridge on 6 August 1548; fresco on the façade of the town hall, 1864

his presence near to Constance, he fled to Winterthur, and in 1551 accepted an appointment as pastor in Biel near Bern, where he served another eight years. Although he was offered appointments in Germany after 1552 and after the situation there had improved for Protestants, he did not accept. After concluding his service in Biel, he retired to Winterthur. Even there, however, he was soon asked to take over the parish of Leutmerken, though a protest from the Catholic canton forced him to give up this ministry as well. He returned to Winterthur, where he died on 6 December 1564 after a brief illness.

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 Dr. Hermann Ehmer was director of the Church Archives in Stuttgart from 1988 till 2008; from 1996 till 2012 he taught Württemberg church history in the Faculty of Protestant Theology in Tübingen.

Further reading Bernd Moeller (ed.), Der Konstanzer Reformator Ambrosius Blarer 1492‒1564. Gedenk­ schrift zu seinem 400. Todestag, Konstanz/Stuttgart: Thorbecke, 1964 Urte Bejick, “Margarete Blarer (1493‒1541). Humanistin, Reformatorin und Diakonin in Konstanz”, in: Adelheid M. von Hauff (ed.), Frauen gestalten Diakonie, vol. 1, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2007, pp. 295‒304 Hermann Ehmer, “Ambrosius Blarer und Gerwig Blarer. Zwei Benediktiner in den Entscheidungen der Reformationszeit”, in: Blätter für württembergische Kirchengeschichte 86 (1986), pp. 196‒214 Visiting Constance www.constance-lake-constance.com/start.html www.konstanz.de/rosgartenmuseum www.ekikon.de

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Copenhagen Johannes Bugenhagen by Martin Schwarz Lausten

King Christian III and Johannes Bugenhagen In the summer of 1537, Johannes Bugenhagen moved to Copenhagen with his family at the invitation of King Christian III. A year earlier, Christian had already introduced the Reformation to Denmark-Norway after victory in the Danish civil war, known as the “Count’s Feud” (1534–36). This transition came about quite dramatically, with the king throwing all the Catholic bishops into prison after accusing them of bearing sole responsibility for the civil war. He then asked Prince Elector Johann Friedrich of Saxony to give Bugenhagen leave of absence from his duties at the university and church in Wittenberg so that he might come to Copenhagen to assist the king in implementing the Reformation and reorganizing the church. King Christian and Bugenhagen had been acquainted since 1529. As early as 1526, Duke Christian had adopted the Reformation in his small fief in Schleswig. After the lay preacher Melchior Hoffman had begun teaching non-Lutheran doctrine there — denying the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist — the duke and his father, King Friedrich I (reigned 1523–33), held a disputation in Flensburg in 1529, to which Bugenhagen was also invited. Bugenhagen came, leading the main assault against Melchior Hoffman, who was afterward expelled from the territory. During this time a close relationship developed between Christian and Bugenhagen. King Christian and his counselors planned to demonstrate through four ceremonies that the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway had left the Catholic Church and accepted the Lutheran confession, namely, through the coronation of the king;

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the adoption of a “church ordinance”; the consecration of seven superintendents; and the opening of the university in Copenhagen. Bugenhagen played the primary role in all four ceremonies in August/September 1537 — apart, of course, from the king.

The royal coronation The first act, the coronation and anointing of King Christian, took place on 12 August 1537, in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen. Bugenhagen officiated at the ceremony, which lasted several hours. During the time of the old faith, the coronation of the king was an ecclesiastical act performed by the archbishop and strongly resembling the ceremony during which bishops themselves were consecrated. Through this ceremony, the king was invested with an element of holiness; the deacon’s vestments was placed around him, and at the coronation mass he was permitted to received the Eucharist in both forms, something hitherto reserved solely for clerics. But could such a ceremony be performed in a Lutheran church as well? Could the office of king be equated with that of a priest?

Christian III (1503–1559); portrait by the German artist and Danish court painter Jacob Binck, 1550

Johannes Bugenhagen (1485–1558); portrait by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1537

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Johannes Bugenhagen

Copenhagen, 1587; colorized views from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Contrafactur und Beschreibung von den vornembsten Stetten der Welt”, vol. 4, Cologne, 1590 Bottom left: the royal castle; bottom right: the Church of Our Lady

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Indeed, was it even the church’s place in the larger sense to invest the ruler with the powers of his office? There was a strong desire in Copenhagen, however, to associate this coronation with ecclesiastical anointing. The earlier ritual was used but, Bugenhagen argued, it was performed in a “Christian fashion”. He himself, as the one ‘ordaining’ (the ‘ordinator’), explained the meaning of the act, anointed the king and queen, took the sword and crown, scepter and imperial orb from the altar and handed it over to the king. He delivered the sermon, one quite liberally endowed with polemic against the Catholics. Hymns were sung, and the Lord’s Prayer recited. The high point was the Te deum laudamus intoned by Bugenhagen and the other clergy. Trumpets and trombones were sounded, the king stepped forward. With drawn coronation sword in hand, he read the gospel for the day and professed that “the sword was strengthened rather than weakened by the gospel”  — a statement hardly commensurate with Luther’s doctrine of the two kingdoms.

Adoption of a new church ordinance After having the Catholic bishops arrested in July 1536, King Christian III appointed a commission to work out a new church ordinance. To ensure that the ordinance was crafted as carefully as possible, the king sent the draft to Luther in Wittenberg in March/April 1537. Luther presumably immediately passed it on to Bugenhagen, who was viewed as an expert in Wittenberg in questions of church ordinances and constitutions. It had already been decided that Bugenhagen should travel to Denmark and during the summer of 1537, a new committee — composed of the king, Bugenhagen, several imperial counselors, and perhaps also the Danish theologian Petrus Palladius — revised the draft. The work was concluded in August, and on 2 September 1537 the king signed the introduction to the new church ordinance. The text, presumably authored by Bugenhagen, presents the primary features of Lutheran theology, a crass polemic against the Catholic Church, and articulates the difference between “God’s ordinance” and the ordinance of the king. The drafting had gone ahead quickly, indeed, too quickly, for the ordinance clearly exhibited inadequacies and inconsistencies. Bugenhagen was dissatisfied, later telling the king that “one can easily discern that it is often just patchwork”. Almost two years later, the king and imperial council adopted an altered church ordinance at a meeting at which Bugenhagen was also present. This one drew on earlier ordinances that Bugenhagen had authored. It also included provision from specifically Danish ecclesiastical traditions.

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Johannes Bugenhagen

A Reformation memorial was erected in 1943 in the square in front of the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, Denmark’s main church. One of four reliefs shows Bugenhagen consecrating the first seven superintendents in this church on 2 September 1537

Consecration of the seven superintendents Bugenhagen similarly consecrated Denmark’s first Lutheran bishops on 2 Septem­ ber 1537. These seven men were called superintendents rather than bishops, in part to avoid resonance with the previous Catholic period and in part because the other church ordinances authored by Bugenhagen also used this title. In fact, the Reformation period was not even over before the title of bishop was retrieved, which also explains why even today the Danish church still has bishops. Bugenhagen himself was never consecrated a bishop, and so the Danish church lost what is known as “apostolic succession” according to Catholic understanding. He acted quite in the spirit of Luther, however, in believing that a person becomes a proper bishop not by the laying on of hands by someone already consecrated, but through calling and prayer. The church ordinance describes the consecration rite.

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The reopening of the university The fourth Reformation ceremony at which Bugenhagen functioned as the coordinating figure was the reopening of Copenhagen University, which took place on 9 September 1537 in Copenhagen’s Church of Our Lady. The earlier university, founded in 1479, had been dissolved during the civil war (1534–36). Its chancellor had always been the Catholic bishop of Roskilde. Now, however, the university was reorganized, not surprisingly, on the model of the statutes of the university in Wittenberg from 1536. Yet here, too, things proceeded too quickly, and the economic resources were simply not yet available. Bugenhagen lamented to the king that, among other things, there were neither benches nor even windows. The king merely shook his head and remarked that the Copenhagen laborers merely needed a proper “taskmaster”. The department of theology was, of course, the most important one. Three professors were appointed, including Bugenhagen himself. He later published his lectures on the Psalms of David and dedicated them to the university. He also translated various theological writings from German to Latin for the Danish students, and prepared an expert opinion for the king concerning questions of marriage and divorce. What is known as his “Passion Harmony”, that is, a history of the suffering and death of Christ, which Bugenhagen assembled from the four gospels, was translated into Danish and quickly acquired almost canonical importance by being incorporated into the official hymnal of the Danish church, where it can still be found.

Return to Wittenberg The relationship in Copenhagen between the Reformation king Christian III and the Reformer Johannes Bugenhagen became increasingly intimate. It remained so even after Bugenhagen returned to Wittenberg in 1539, as attested by their voluminous correspondence, from which approximately eighty letters have been preserved. The king was a resolute Lutheran and extremely devout. He admired Bugenhagen and the other Wittenberg theologians, and sent them butter, herrings and money. He was amused by Bugenhagen’s enjoyment of good food and Bugenhagen, in turn, was allowed a certain freedom of tone with His Royal Majesty. The king, for example, often asked Bugenhagen along with his Wittenberg colleagues to recommend new court preachers or candidates for vacant bishoprics or professorships. Bugenhagen sent the king his recommendations and urged him to appoint only learned scholars who had been educated in Wittenberg.

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Johannes Bugenhagen

Bugenhagen did not restrict himself merely to ecclesiastical matters. He also suggested a certain individual for the important post of chancellor, a man Christian did ultimately appoint. From time to time, Bugenhagen also passed along news to the king concerning the latter’s daughter Anna, who was married to Elector August of Saxony. He told the king about new books, and kept him up to date concerning ecclesiastical and political circumstances in Germany and other countries. And not least, at the king’s behest, he kept a watchful eye on the Danish students in Wittenberg. The fondness of King Christian III for Bugenhagen is also attested by the king’s attempts to entice ­Bugenhagen into remaining in Danish service perThe “Kommunitet” of 1569, originally manently. In 1541, for example, he an eating hall for poor students behind the main building of the university in asked Bugenhagen to take over the ofCopenhagen. It still contains parts of fice of Bishop of Schleswig, which had the sixteenth-century house in which become vacant. He preferred BugenBugenhagen worked. hagen to any other candidate, the king wrote, because, after all, Bugenhagen was already familiar with the particular circumstances in the king’s territories. Bugenhagen, however, declined the ­offer even though the king tempted him with a generous salary. The king tried again the following year, offering Bugenhagen the directorship of Copenhagen University. Again, Bugenhagen declined. These refusals notwithstanding, in March 1542 Bugenhagen did attend the important provincial parliament in Rendsburg, which adopted a Protestant church ordinance for the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein based on the Danish ordi­ nance. He also took part in a grand meeting with the king, the imperial council, and the bishops in Ribe in South Jutland in April 1542, where articles were adopted to amend the church ordinance. On this occasion, Bugenhagen con­­­ secrated Hans Tausen the new bishop of Ribe. The two were already acquain­ted from Hans Tausen’s student days in Wittenberg; and even before the king offi­ cially established the Reformation in 1536, Tausen had been one of the leading

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Reformation theologians in Denmark. And finally, on his return journey to Wittenberg, Bugenhagen consecrated Tilemann von Hussen bishop of Schles­­wig. Bugenhagen’s final years, beginning about 1550, were difficult for him. He grieved over the loss of old friends, suffered from various illnesses, and his thoughts now revolved increasingly around apocalyptic notions. King Christian III remained steadfastly loyal and generous toward him. In his final extant letter, the king expressed his enormous gratitude for everything Bugenhagen had accomplished for the Danish Empire, which, he assured Bugenhagen, both he and many other princes and magistrates of the various Danish cities would never cease to praise. And the king expressed his hope that the Almighty would grant Bugenhagen many more years so that he might continue to serve his church. Bugenhagen died only a few months later, however, in April 1558. The king followed him in death the following January.  Dr. Martin Schwarz Lausten has since 2008 been emeritus professor at the Institute for Church History at Copenhagen University, with which he still has close ties.

Further reading Leif Grane, “Teaching the People. The Education of the Clergy and the Instruction of the People in the Danish Reformation Church”, in: Leif Grane and Leif Hørby (eds.), Die dänische Reformation vor ihrem internationalen Hintergrund. The Danish Reformation against its international Background, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1990,  pp. 164–184 Martin Schwarz Lausten, “The early Reformation in Denmark and Norway 1520–1559”, in: Ole Peter Grell (ed.), The Scandinavian Reformation. From evangelical movement to institutionalisation of reform, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp. 12–41 Martin Schwarz Lausten, A Church History of Denmark, Aldershot: Ashgate, 2002 Martin Schwarz Lausten, Johann Bugenhagen. Luthersk Reformator i Tyskland og Dan­ mark, København: Anis, 2011 (with a German summary) Visiting Copenhagen www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen-tourist www.domkirken.dk/english www.en.natmus.dk/museums/the-national-museum-of-denmark

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Debrecen Márton Kálmáncsehi Sánta, Péter Melius Juhász by Béla Levente Baráth

The beginning of the Reformation in Debrecen The Reformation spread quickly on the territory of the Hungarian Kingdom, following the lost battle of Mohács in 1526. At first it was supported by the churches in the German-speaking towns in northern Hungary and Transylvania; later a wider and wider circle of followers developed in the Hungarian and Slavic language regions. In the different regions of the country, which had fallen into three parts, the progress of the Reformation took divergent routes. Mátyás Dévai Bíró, also called the “Hungarian Luther”, was one of the prominent figures in the early years of the Reformation. A preacher in Debrecen, he died there in 1545 after enduring many vicissitudes throughout his career. By that time, this large Hungarian market-town had become one of the most important centres of the Reformation in the Transtibiscan region (= the region beyond the river Tisza). Although church history has preserved the memory of the very first Protestant preacher, called Pastor Bálint, we still do not know exactly when, and by whom, the teachings of the Reformation were first introduced to Debrecen. The Enyingi Török family were the squires of the town and exercised the patron’s rights. They were very active in spreading the Reformation, as were the magistrates. The fact that both Franciscan priests and Lutheran pastors preached in the town up to 1552 demonstrates the gradual ecclesiastical changes. Afterwards, the completion of the Reformation and the development of its specific character can be associated with leading figures of the Helvetic Reformation like Márton Kálmáncsehi Sánta and Péter Melius Juhász.

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Debrecen Hungary’s historical borders

Poland

Moravia

Borders of Habsburg monarchy Territories occupied by the Ottoman Empire

Košice

Kingdom of Hungary

Pest

Habsburg monarchy

Buda

za

Bratislava

Tis

Vienna

Territories ruled by Transylvania (Partium)

Debrecen Oradea

Ottoman Empire

Alba Iulia

Principality of Tr a n s y l v a n i a Kronstadt

Temesvár

Mohács

Moldavia Cluj-Napoca

Deva

Hermannstadt

Danube

Adriatic Sea

Wallachia

Hungary’s historical borders

Márton Kálmáncsehi Sánta was born around 1500. From autumn 1523 he studied in Krakow together with other Hungarian pioneers of the Reformation. It is possible that in the course of his further studies he might have turned up in Germany too. Due to the lack of sources we do not know exactly whether he visited Switzerland or was in touch with Swiss Reformers. Anyway, his contemporaries unanimously considered him a representative of the Helvetic branch of the Reformation after 1540 when he was pastor in Mezőtúr (Thur) and Sátoraljaújhely (Neustadt am Zeltberg). Church historian Mihály Bucsay says “he stood for the Bullinger-Calvin confession of Reformation, but the teachings of Bullinger were closer to him than those of Calvin”. Probably for this reason the people of Debrecen called him to be their preacher in 1551. As a result of his activity the religious life of the town became more focused and unified. He compiled a Hungarian hymnbook, and in order to spread the teachings of the Reformation he organised synods with the participation of the pastors of the region. On several occasions he started religious disputes with the representatives of the Lutheran majority, e. g. the pastors Ferenc Dávid and Gáspár Heltai from Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár/ Klausenburg). As a result of his activity the pastors of the episcopate in Oradea (Nagyvárad/ Großwardein) accepted the Helvetic view of the Lord’s Supper in September 1557.

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Márton Kálmáncsehi Sánta, Péter Melius Juhász

Debrecen. View of the city from a guild letter, after 1829. The bigger buildings from left to right: the Reformed College (Kollegium); the Great Reformed Church; the Small Reformed Church; the Roman Catholic church of St. Anne (with steeple); Franciscan monastery; Reformed Church and hospital

This event is considered to mark the establishment of the Helvetic superintendence in the Transtibiscan region, that later became the Transtibiscan Reformed Church District. Márton Kálmáncsehi Sánta was elected its first superintendent (bishop). He died on 21 December 1557, soon after establishing this new organisational unit of the church. Péter Melius Juhász was not only known as a Reformed preacher in Debrecen but also as one who strengthened the Helvetic Reformation in Hungary. He was born in 1532 in Horhi, in the Transdanubian Somogy county and with he attended the Lutheran school in the town of Tolna. In 1556 he enrolled at Wittenberg university, where he became a leader of the Hungarian student body. In 1558 he became pastor in Debrecen. His theological line was based on the teachings of Luther and Melanchton. It was also very close to the teachings of Bullinger and Calvin, while differing from the latter in certain points. In 1559 he was present at the synod in Târgu Mureș (Marosvásárhely/Neumarkt am Mieresch) at which the Hungarian-speaking Transylvanian Reformed Church definitively split from the Transylvanian Saxon Lutheran Church. After Kálmáncsehi’s successor Gergely Szegedi had left Debrecen, Melius became the chief pastor in Debrecen, and in 1562 he was elected bishop of the Transtibiscan Reformed Church District.

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As a church governor he was involved in a series of bitter disputes. He defended the Trinitarian view in Transylvania and in the Transtibiscan Church District against the spreading of anti-Trinitarian teachings, which were particularly promoted by a group led by Ferenc Dávid. In 1567 he convened a synod in Debrecen that played an important role in the stabilization of the position of the Reformed Church. The tombstone of Péter Melius Juhász in the This synod issued a profession of faith Debrecen Reformed College in Latin and in Hungarian repudiating the anti-Trinitarian teachings, adopted the Second Helvetic Confession and created a church ordinance. Melius was a committed apologist and a keen writer. Several of his writings in Latin and Hungarian have got lost, among them many translations. His published works include books of sermons, prayers and hymns, liturgies, confessions, biblical books translated into Hungarian and even a handbook of medical botany. Péter Melius Juhász died in Debrecen on 25 December 1572. His house became a manse for Reformed pastors and was used for several centuries. His tombstone is on display in the Debrecen Reformed College.

Debrecen as “Hungarian Geneva” In the mid-sixteenth century several Hungarian market towns accepted the teachings of the Calvinist Reformation tradition as they had the chance to choose their own pastors according to the “right of patrons”. The case of Debrecen can be looked upon as special as long as the acceptance of the Reformation greatly contributed to the development of the city and to its acquiring a leading role in the country. There were very few places in the Carpathian basin where the joint mission of church and school, stressed so strongly by the Reformers, materialized with such high efficiency as in Debrecen. The city lay at the intersection of the borders of the three main parts of what had earlier been the medieval Hungarian Kingdom. It not only had an extensive guild and commercial network but, as an administrative centre for the Reformed Church and school infrastructure, also became an important connecting element between the parts of the country. These might also have been factors contributing to the later development of the city.

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Márton Kálmáncsehi Sánta, Péter Melius Juhász

In this long symbiosis between the Reformed Church and Debrecen, the church had the responsibility of teaching and preaching, and the city itself provided for the local church and school buildings. Until mid-1750 the city council and the magistrate watched over the moral and religious life of the population. On the basis of biblical teachings, the secular leaders of the city checked on the morality, modest life-style and family life of the population. Specific information The coat of arms of Debrecen made of is available about the godly lifestyle of mosaic tiles can be seen on the main the merchants and guilders, who were square of the city the leaders of the citizenry. The Déri Museum includes a wonderful permanent exhibition on the social and economic history of the city and characteristic artefacts from this period. Debrecen was an intellectual and spiritual centre of Protestantism in Hungary from earliest Reformation times. Due to its close connection with the Reformed (Calvinistic) tradition the city has often been called “Hungarian Geneva” or “Calvinist Rome”. This historical interconnection between the city of Debrecen and the local Reformed Church is expressed by the coat or arms depicted in the charter that pronounced Debrecen a “free royal city” in 1693. The coat of arms shows, above, the mythical Phoenix reborn from its ashes with outstretched wings, gazing at the shining sun. It symbolizes the vitality of the city, which was capable of renewal after each fire and great destruction. Below is the lamb with the flag. In Christian iconography both the Phoenix and the lamb with the flag are strong symbols of Christ. The historical interconnection between the city and the Hungarian Reformed Church explains why the Debrecen coat of arms has become the symbol of Hungarian Reformed people all over the world.

Memorial Garden and College If you want to see buildings from the Reformation period you will be disappointed, because the Great Fire of 1802 caused terrible destruction in the city centre. Even Saint Andrew’s church, built in Gothic style in the fourteenth century, had to be rebuilt, as did the building of the Reformed College.

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The most important Reformation site is the Memorial Garden, which features wall remnants of the old St. Andrew’s, the first big Reformed church in Debrecen. The church of St. Andrew’s played a vital role at the time of the Reformation thanks to prominent early Reformers such as Márton Kálmáncsehi Sánta and Péter Melius Juhász. On 24 February 1567 the synod met there; this synod saw the adoption of the Second Helvetian Confession. The church building was rebuilt with the generous support of Prince Gábor Bethlen from Transylvania between 1626 and 1628, but finally perished in another fire in 1802. Between 1805 and 1827 the city rebuilt the Great Reformed Church as it looks today, based on designs by architect Mihály Péchy. One of today’s scenic edifices is the glass pyramid erected on the base of the former Red Tower. Below the pyramid an exhibition presents the history of the Tower. The Great Reformed Church houses several exhibitions on congregational and Reformation history. The Memorial Garden, between the Great Reformed Church and the Reformed College, features two monuments: the statue of István Bocskai and the monument of the Galley slaves. It is interesting to note that the statue of Bocskai, a Transtibiscan aristocrat who was elected prince of the Transylvanian principality, is one of the figures on the Reformation Wall in Geneva, together with those of Oliver Cromwell and William of Orange. Bocskai, this emblematic figure, was an outstanding defender of religious freedom and the patron of the Reformed College. He caused the Hajdú people to settle around Debrecen. The Treaty (or Peace) of Vienna signed in 1606 was the result of the revolt waged by Bocskai against the Habsburgs in 1604. All religious rights and privileges were granted to the followers of both the Augsburg and Helvetic Confession in 1608. Bocskai and his Reformed successors, Gábor Bethlen and György Rákóczi I, fought for the freedom of “patria” and “religio”, which was also important in the whole context of European Protestantism. At the time of the Thirty Years’ War in the early seventeenth century they successfully opposed Habsburg absolutism and an aggressive Counter-Reformation. The statue of Bocskai in the Memorial Garden was sculpted by Barnabás Holló, and the city of Debrecen had it erected in 1906 to mark the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Vienna. The names of 41 Protestant pastors are engraved on the memorial of the galley slaves — they were taken to court in 1673 in Bratislava (Pozsony/Pressburg), falsely charged and convicted, and then sold as galley slaves in 1675. The reaction to the degrading treatment of Hungarian pastors and teachers was very negative in Europe in the years after the Treaty of Westphalia and so a large-scale international rescue plan developed to release them. Donations were collected, and the diplomatic bodies of Protestant countries took steps on their behalf. Finally the Dutch admiral Michael de Ruyter was asked to free the galley slaves.

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Márton Kálmáncsehi Sánta, Péter Melius Juhász

The Great Reformed Church in Debrecen. In the foreground the “Lycium tree”, a white vine shrub. Legend has it that Bálint, the ardent Reformed pastor, was arguing with Ambrosius, the Catholic priest. In the heat of the debate Ambrosius broke off a white vine branch, stuck it into the ground laughingly and said, “Only if this branch grows into a tree will the doctrines of the Reformation become a religion!” And the branch grew into a tree. The glass pyramid erected on the base of the former Red Tower

He was able to rescue twenty-six of those pastors who had avowed their beliefs so bravely and take them on board his ship on 11 February 1676. The monument was erected in 1895 thanks to the donation of a Debrecen church member. The Latin inscription on it says: “The monument of the pastors who were carried off from Hungary to Naples as galley slaves because of their faith and free practice of religion.” This monument recently played an important role in the process of Protestant-Roman Catholic reconciliation. When visiting Debrecen on 18 August 1991, Pope John Paul II laid a wreath at the monument of the galley slaves. Now a bronze wreath on the monument reminds the visitors of this gesture of apology. The next important Reformation site here is the Reformed College of Debrecen, whose library contains a significant collection of documents from the sixteenth

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and seventeenth centuries. Like the Great Reformed Church, the Reformed College of Debrecen is a national memorial. It is a stately edifice with the memorial tablets of Calvin and Zwingli next to its entrance on the left. In the Reformed College there are exhibitions on local church and school history, the ecclesiastical art collection and the library of the Transtibiscan Reformed Church District. Together they give a comprehensive insight into the life of the Hungarian Reformed Church, which has its roots in the local traditions, but is strongly connected to the spiritual centres of western Europe and to their specific cultures. The school became Protestant in 1538 and, by the second half of the seventeenth century, had developed into a Hungarian Reformed educational institution of national significance. Several of its teachers and pupils earned themselves a high reputation. The Reformed College offered primary, secondary and higher education. Several of the students in higher education gained scholarships and studied at universities in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Great Britain. With the Reformed College as its the “alma mater” an extensive school network grew up in the area. The number of these schools, and the region where they were located, raised the Reformed College of Debrecen to the “school of the country”. Besides its school, the development of the printing press was an important factor for influencing public opinion in Debrecen. The first printing-press was established by Gál Huszár in 1561, and there has been an active publishing industry in the city ever since.

Memorial site of the Reformation At the end of our tour it is worth heading to the Great Forest area of the city to view the statue park in front of the monumental edifice of Debrecen University. Higher education in the city traces its roots back to the Reformed College of Debrecen. The structure of higher education and governing system of the College has changed continually over time. At the beginning of the twentieth century it had departments of Theology, Philosophy and Law. In 1912 the Hungarian Parliament established Debrecen University, which was an expansion of the Reformed College of Debrecen. The impressive main building of the Debrecen University was completed in 1932. The statue park in front of the main building was named “Memorial site of the Reformation” in 1930 as a sign of the good relationship between the Reformed College and the state university. The bronze statue of Péter Melius Juhász, Gál Huszár, Albert Szenci Molnár and György Komáromi Csipkés were erected in the 1930s. The four statues demonstrate that the University of Debrecen wants

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Márton Kálmáncsehi Sánta, Péter Melius Juhász

The library of the Reformed College

to preserve the spiritual legacy of the Reformed College of Debrecen. The same intention is shown inside the main building where the names of the most important professors and students of the legal predecessor are engraved on the walls of the courtyard; it is likewise seen in the main hall of the university where the beautiful stained glass windows designed by Miksa Roth depict the seventeenth century building of the Reformed College of Debrecen and the universities of Wittenberg, Geneva, Zurich, Utrecht, where several students of the Reformed College studied. The stained glass windows were completed in 1938. After suffering serious damage in World War II they had to be reconstructed by 2012 in time for the centenary of Debrecen University.  Dr. Béla Levente Baráth is a lecturer at the Research Institute of the History of Reformation and Protestantism, Reformed Theological University of Debrecen

Further reading Mihály Bucsay, Der Protestantismus in Ungarn 1521–1978. Ungarns Reformationskirchenin Geschichte und Gegenwart, vol. 1, Wien et al.: Böhlau Verlag, 1977

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Stained glass window depicting the building of the Reformed College of Debrecen

Graeme Murdock, Calvinism on the Frontier, 1600–1660. International Calvinism and the Reformed Church in Hungary and Transylvania, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000 Márta Fata et al. (eds.), Ungarn, das Reich der Stephanskrone, im Zeitalter der Reformation und Konfessionalisierung: Multiethnizität, Land und Konfession 1500 bis 1700, Münster: Aschendorff Verlag, 2000 Ábrahám Kovács and Béla Levente Baráth (eds.), Calvinism on the Peripheries: Religion and Civil Society on the Peripheries of Europe, Budapest: L’Harmattan Kiadó, 2009 Márta Fata and Anton Schindling (eds.),Calvin und Reformiertentum in Ungarn und Siebenbürgen. Helvetisches Bekenntnis, Ethnie und Politik vom 16. Jahrhundert bis 1918, Münster: Aschendorff Verlag, 2010 Jan Andrea Bernard, Konsolidierung des reformierten Bekenntnisses im Reich der Stephans­krone. Ein Beitrag zur Kommunikationsgeschichte zwischen Ungarn und der Schweiz in der frühen Neuzeit (1500–1700), Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015 Visiting Debrecen http://eng.debrecen.hu/tourist/tourist_information www.derimuzeum.hu http://reformatuskollegium.ttre.hu www.nagytemplom.hu

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Edinburgh George Wishart and John Knox by Charlotte Methuen

The beginning of the Scottish Reformation The ideas of Luther and other Reformers began to enter Scotland in the 1520s, brought in by merchants through the ports of Leith — which was Edinburgh’s port — and Dundee. In 1525 and 1528, the Scottish Parliament passed acts seeking to control the spread of these ideas. In 1528, Patrick Hamilton was found guilty of preaching heresy, arrested in St. Andrews on 28 February and burned after a show trial. Hamilton had been appointed titular Abbot of Fearn Abbey, Ross-shire when still in his teens, and this post had funded his studies, first in Paris and Leuven, where he encountered the humanist Erasmus and may have been introduced to Luther’s ideas. He also studied at St. Andrews and in 1527 at the newly-founded Protestant University of Marburg. He was the first martyr of the Scottish Reformation, but others soon followed: John Knox reports that during the 1530s, between seven and ten Scottish adherents to Reformation principles were burned on Castle Hill in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Edinburgh was Scotland’s capital city, the seat of the Parliament and Holyrood Palace, one of a number of royal residences, lay just outside the city walls. It was not a cathedral city, but belonged to the Archdiocese of St. Andrews; it had no university until the Tounis (or Town’s) College was founded in 1580 and established as a university by royal charter in 1582, more than two decades after

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Edinburgh. Colorized town map from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Contrafactur vnd Beschreibung von den vornembsten Stetten der Welt”, vol. 3, Cologne, 1582 Below left: the castle; below right: St. Giles

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George Wishart and John Knox

Scotland had introduced the Reformation. Nonetheless, Edinburgh provided the stage for many of the most significant events of the Scottish Reformation, many of which took place in buildings which can still be seen and visited today. Sixteenth-century Edinburgh comprised what is now known as the Old Town. The city was centered on a single street, made up of Castle Hill, the Lawnmarket and the High Street, which runs down the volcanic ridge from Edinburgh Castle at the top to Holyrood Palace at its foot, passing the High Kirk of St. Giles and John Knox’s house (in which he may or may not actually have lived) on the way. The city wall crossed what is now the Royal Mile at the Nether Bow Port, which marked the city’s boundary. The road continued through the relatively open land of the borough of the Canongate to Holyrood Palace. The Nor, or North, Loch, now the site of Princes Street Gardens, bounded the city to the North. By the mid-sixteenth century the city walls had been extended to include the road now called the Cowgate; beyond the walls to the south was a green space including the Burgh or South Loch, today the Meadows. Edinburgh’s New Town and the dramatic bridges which join the Old Town to the New were built much later, in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The port of Leith, which now lies within the city boundaries, was a separate borough, just over two miles, or three kilometers, to the north east of the city.

James Hamilton, Earl of Arran On 14 December 1542, James V of Scotland died of a fever at Falkland Palace, his royal residence in Fife. His heir was his only surviving child, Mary Stuart, who had been born just six days earlier at Linlithgow Palace; James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, was appointed Regent. In 1543, in a series of decrees which marked what later came to be known as “Arran’s godly fit”, possession of the New Testament in English was legalized in Scotland, papal authority was questioned, and belief in purgatory denied. Arran was courting peace with England, where nearly a decade earlier Henry VIII had rejected papal authority; he sought to bring about a betrothal between the infant Mary Queen of Scots and Henry VIII’s only son Edward, her father’s first cousin. However, Arran’s overtures were not well received, and in 1544 the English army attacked and nearly destroyed Edinburgh. Arran found himself under pressure; although he would remain Regent until 1554, he revoked the decrees relating to religion and adopted the pro-French line favored by Mary of Guise (Marie de Guise), mother of the infant Mary Queen of Scots.

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George Wishart (ca. 1513–46) and John Knox (ca. 1514–72) 1543 also saw the return of George Wishart to Scotland. Wishart had probably studied at King’s College in Aberdeen; he was certainly at the University of Leuven before returning to Scotland to teach Greek. In 1538, he was investigated for heresy by the Bishop of Brechin, and fled to England, where he was again accused of heresy. He may have visited Germany or Switzerland or both; he certainly translated the First Helvetic Confession (1536) into English and by 1542 he was studying and teaching at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge. On returning to Scotland, he became an itinerant preacher, denouncing papal authority and the errors of the church. He greatly influenced John Knox, who by this time was acting as tutor to the sons first of James Ker in Samuelston and subsequently of Sir Hugh Douglas in Longniddry. Knox, probably born near Haddington in 1514, had studied in St. Andrews, been ordained priest and become a papal notary. By 1543 Knox had espoused the Reformation: he became not only one of Wishart’s greatest supporters but also his bodyguard.

Portrait of George Wishart by an anonymous painter, 1532

Portrait of John Knox, from Théodore de Bèze, “Icones”, Geneva, 1580

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George Wishart and John Knox

In January 1546, Wishart was arrested on the orders of Cardinal David Beaton, Archbishop of St. Andrews; soon after he was taken to Edinburgh Castle, and thence to St. Andrews where after a show trial he was burned on 1 March. In reprisal, Beaton was murdered on 29 May, and a group of Reformers took over and held St. Andrews castle. At Easter 1547, John Knox and his tutees made their way to St. Andrews and joined the Reformers in the besieged castle, where Knox taught and preached until the castle was stormed by Arran at the end of July with the help of French troops. Knox and his fellow Reformers were taken as prisoners to France where Knox served for several months as a galley slave. On his release, he made his way to England, where, in spring 1549, he was sent as preacher to Berwick-uponTweed, on the English-Scottish border. Knox’s sermons attracted Scots as well as English, but his rejection of the theology of Eucharistic real presence brought him into conflict with his bishop, Cuthbert Tunstall of Durham. Knox was cross-examined, but allowed to continue his ministry in Berwick, and, from 1551, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In 1552, he was called to London as a royal chaplain and preached before the young king, Edward VI. Despite his critical response to the revised English Book of Common Prayer, published in 1552, he was invited to become Bishop of Rochester; he refused, and also refused an ecclesiastical post in London, returning instead to Newcastle, where he became engaged to Marjorie Bowes, whose mother he had long offered spiritual counsel. However, the match was opposed by Marjorie’s father.

John Knox in exile Edward VI died on 6 July 1553. Despite his attempts to provide a Protestant succession in the person of Lady Jane Grey, his half-sister Mary was proclaimed Queen. Like many other Protestants in England, Knox fled. By 20 January 1554 he was in Dieppe; from there he travelled to Geneva where he met John Calvin, whom he engaged in discussion about the legitimacy of the reign of minors and of women. Calvin sent Knox to Bullinger in Zurich, whence Knox made his way back to Dieppe, in an abortive attempt to return to England. Back in Geneva, he received an invitation to become pastor of the English exile church in Frankfurt am Main. With Calvin’s encouragement, Knox accepted this call, and arrived in Frankfurt in September 1554. He soon became embroiled in a conflict about the congregation’s liturgy: one group of English exiles believed that the church should use the English Book of Common Prayer, which Knox had criticized from the outset; another group, amongst whom was Knox, argued for a more Calvinist rite, modeled on that used in Geneva. On 19 March 1555, Knox was dismissed from his post; he returned once again to Geneva.

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Awaiting Knox in Geneva was an invitation to return to Scotland. He arrived in Edinburgh in September 1555 and made the city the base for his preaching of the Reformation in south-east Scotland. The Regent, now Mary of Guise, summoned Knox to appear before her, but changed her mind when riots were threatened. For ten days, Knox preached to large crowds at the Bishop of Dunkeld’s “great lodging” in Edinburgh. During this time he was finally able to marry Marjorie Bowes. Soon afterwards, Knox received an invitation from Geneva to become one of the pastors of the English exile church there. In summer 1556, he set out for Geneva once again, this time accompanied by his wife and his mother-in-law; on 16 December the election of Knox and Christopher Goodman as pastors was confirmed. In Geneva, Knox developed the English-language liturgies which would later form the basis of the Book of Order of the Reformed Church in Scotland. His two sons, Nathaniel and Eleazer, were born, and he wrote his most famous treatise, The First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, in which he argued for the illegitimacy of female rulers such as England’s Queen Mary Tudor, Mary Queen of Scots, and her Regent, Mary of Guise. However, by the time the work was published in the winter of 1558/9, Mary Tudor was dead and the Protestant Queen Elizabeth had ascended to England’s throne. The treatise gave her a life-long dislike of Knox and a deep suspicion of Genevan theology.

“The Lords of the Congregation of Jesus Christ” Knox had used his time in Scotland to sow the seed for a network of “privy kirks” which worshipped according to Reformed practice. Edinburgh’s, led by William Harlaw and John Willock, included several leading merchants amongst its members as well as a number of “common people”. While Edinburgh’s council sought to preserve the religious status quo, the Protestants were becoming more vociferous in their demands. In summer 1556, images of the Trinity, the Virgin Mary and St. Francis were removed from churches and destroyed. In December 1557, a group of Protestant nobles, calling themselves “The Lords of the Congregation of Jesus Christ”, drafted a pledge, or “covenant”, in which they affirmed their adherence to and support for the preaching of the Gospel. Shortly afterwards, the image of St. Giles at the High Kirk was destroyed, and on 1 September 1558 the St. Giles’s Day procession, in which Mary of Guise was participating, was attacked. Across central Scotland, popular Protestant movements sought to remove images from churches, and in Dundee Paul Methven, a baker, preached Reformation theology to large crowds. Knox was exhorted to return to Scotland, and in January 1559 he set out from Geneva. Having been refused permission to travel via England, he took a ship to

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George Wishart and John Knox

St. Giles, where Knox worked as a minister from 1559 till his death 1572

Leith, where he landed in May. He travelled directly to Perth, where a large group of opponents to the Regent had gathered. Knox’s sermon in St. John’s church on 11 May incited Protestant rioters to strip St. John’s of its images and to ransack Perth’s Carthusian monastery and its Black (Dominican) and Grey (Franciscan) friaries. In Edinburgh, the Regent ordered the city council to protect the city’s friaries, but to no avail: on 18 June, a mob attacked Edinburgh’s friaries. On 29 June the Lords of the Congregation took charge of the city and, less than a month later, Mary of Guise agreed to allow Protestant worship and ceded the High Kirk of St. Giles to the Protestants: Knox had already been appointed minister, on 7 July 1559. However, within days the Regent was seeking to re-establish the Mass in Edinburgh by means of a plebiscite; the city council rejected a referendum as a method of determining religious life, but she did manage to reintroduce the Mass in Leith and Holyrood. In October 1559, the Lords of Congregation, now under the leadership of the Earl of Arran, now the Duke of Châtelherault, sought to deprive Mary of Guise of the Regency. But in November, French troops arrived to support Mary of Guise,

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and support for the Reformation in Edinburgh collapsed. Mary of Guise instructed that the Mass should be celebrated in the High Kirk of St. Giles. Knox encouraged Protestants to resist, and Elizabeth sent English troops to support them. Mary of Guise moved her court to Leith, where the French troops were besieged, and Mary herself withdrew to Edinburgh castle, where she too was besieged. She died there of dropsy on 11 June 1560. On 5 July 1560, the Treaty of Edinburgh (sometimes known as the Treaty of Leith) was signed, agreeing that foreign troops  — both French and English  — should withdraw from Scotland and that the Scottish parliament should determine the country’s religion. From 10 July 1560, the Scottish Parliament passed a series of laws which sought to make Scotland a Protestant country: papal authority was declared invalid; Latin mass was forbidden; the Scots Confession was introduced. In January 1561, the Parliament agreed the First Book of Discipline, which laid down an order for Scotland’s national Reformed church, which included procedures for electing ministers and “superintendents”, and for a comprehensive system of church discipline. In 1562, the Book of Common Order was introduced, which defined new, Reformed liturgical rites. At the General Assembly of 1578, which was held in the Magdalen Chapel, in the Cowgate, under the influence of Andrew Melville, the Second Book of Discipline was introduced; this defined a presbyterian order on the Scottish Church. Major conflicts arose around the ordering of the Scottish church: should it be episcopal or presbyterian? And what authority did the monarch exercise? These disagreements would spark a civil war across the British Isles.

Mary, Queen of Scots, and James VI After the death of her husband François II of France on 5 December 1560, the eighteen-year-old Mary Queen of Scots returned to Scotland. She was greeted with enthusiasm, although Knox was cautious. Mary agreed to recognize the Protestant Church in Scotland, so long as she could continue to have Catholic masses said in her court in Holyrood. However, growing tensions between Mary and her court on the one hand, and Knox and the Protestants on the other, were exacerbated by Mary’s attempts to have Knox tried for treason, or to have his preaching banned. A series of murders at court, including that of Mary’s second husband, Darnley, in which her third husband, Bothwell, was implicated, further complicated the situation. In 1568, Mary fled to England, where Elizabeth had her arrested, imprisoned and eventually, in 1587, executed for treason. In Scotland, Mary’s one-year-old son James was proclaimed King. Tensions between the supporters of the young James VI and those of his mother led to ­civil war

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The “Book of Common Order”. Title page of the edition, Edinburgh, 1564

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in Scotland, and in 1571 Knox and his family — he was now married to the much younger Margaret Stewart, with whom he had three daughters — were forced to flee Edinburgh for St. Andrews. They returned in 1572, but Knox was seriously ill. On 9 November he preached the sermon at the institution of his successor as minister at St. Giles, but it was his last sermon, and he died on 24 November. The Reformation in Scotland had been introduced, but the story was far from over. Many of Scotland’s medieval churches and cathedrals were destroyed, and those that were left were reordered. By about 1580, St. Giles’ church had been partitioned into separate preaching halls, each serving a congregation from one part of Edinburgh. The partition walls were removed in 1633 when episcopacy was reintroduced and St. Giles became the cathedral for the new diocese of Edinburgh.

Episcopal or Presbyterian? Political changes also deeply affected the church in Scotland. In 1603, on the death of the English Queen Elizabeth, James VI of Scotland became also James I of England. He moved to Westminster, and thereafter would rarely visit Scotland. The Scottish church was increasingly ruled from England, and successive Stuart kings attempted to bring it under their control. In 1611, three Scottish bishops were consecrated in a move to restore episcopacy in Scotland, albeit according to a different pattern to that in England. In 1617, James VI, speaking at St. Andrews, required the Kirk to observe the festivals of the Christian year such as Christmas and Easter, to administer Episcopal confirmation, to allow private baptisms and private communion for the sick, and to instruct that communion be received kneeling. The General Assembly meeting at Perth in 1618 accepted these requirements  — called the Five Articles of Perth  — but there was wide-spread disobedience, especially with regard to kneeling to receive communion. These moves continued under Charles I, who ascended to the thrones of England and Scotland in 1625. In 1633, the Westminster Parliament confirmed the religious acts passed under James VI/I, and Charles travelled to Scotland for his coronation. This proved provocative: it was held at Holyrood Abbey and not at either of the traditional Scottish coronation sites at Scone or Stirling; the Abbey church was reordered with a platform at the east end on which the communion table had been placed; a tapestry depicting a crucifix was hung on the wall; and the English liturgy was used. Of the Scottish bishops present, half wore the English vestments including rochets and copes, and some “were seen to bow their knee and beck”; the others sat in the body of the congregation in black gowns. Scottish critics interpreted the ordering of the church, the dress of the bishops, and the form of service as papist.

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George Wishart and John Knox

After his coronation, Charles took steps to have a set of canons drafted for the Scottish church, and instructed William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, to prepare a new Scottish liturgy. On 23 July 1637, during the introduction of the new prayer book at Edinburgh’s St. Giles’s Cathedral, Jenny Geddes threw her stool at the preacher and a riot ensued. Dismayed by the king’s failure to observe the constitution of the Scottish church, a group of disaffected ministers and laymen, several of them lawyers, gathered at Greyfriars church in Edinburgh, the first church to be built in the city after the Reformation, and signed the National Covenant. The Covenant swiftly gained Martyr’s Monument in Greyfriars Kirkyard, support across the country. In Novemwhich commemorates the executed ber, the General Assembly of the ScotCovenanters tish Kirk met despite having been dissolved by the King’s representative and condemned Laud’s Prayer Book and the Scottish Canons, voted to abolish episcopacy from the Scottish Church and to declare it unlawful, rejected the Five Articles of Perth, and deposed and excommunicated the Scottish bishops. The Bishops’ Wars ensued, during which Charles I was defeated, but these led to the civil war, the rise of Oliver Cromwell, the execution of the king in 1649, and the establishment of the interregnum or Commonwealth from 1649 until 1660. On the proviso that he would reintroduce presbyterianism to Scotland if he attained the throne, the Scottish nobility supported Charles II; however at the restoration in 1660, Charles restored episcopacy in Scotland as well as England. It was not until after the abdication of James VII/II in 1688 and the so-called bloodless revolution of 1689 that in 1690 the Reformed, Presbyterian Church was finally established as the national Church of Scotland.

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 Dr. Charlotte Methuen is senior lecturer in Church History and head of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Glasgow

Further reading Michael Lynch, Edinburgh and the Reformation, Edinburgh: Donald, 1981 Alec Ryrie, The origins of the Scottish Reformation, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006 Jane E. A. Dawson, Scotland re-formed, 1488–1587, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007 Jane E. A. Dawson, John Knox, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015 Visiting Edinburgh www.visitscotland.com/destinations-maps/edinburgh-lothians www.nms.ac.uk/national-museum-of-scotland www.churchofscotland.org.uk www.edinburghpresbytery.org.uk

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Emden John a Lasco by Klaas-Dieter Voß

Anyone taking a stroll through the streets of Emden today will be surprised at the large number of church buildings, often just a few meters from one another. But the religious diversity of this North Sea port is even greater than may be seen at first glance; there are also many small house churches of various kinds which are hardly recognizable from outside.

Confessional pluralism This great religious diversity dates back to the Reformation period in Emden. Luther’s ideas for church reform quickly spread to the town and to East Frisia. In 1519 the Count of East Frisia, Edzard I (1462–1528), allowed Luther’s writings to be sold and read in his realm. The political and religious situation in Frisia led to the emergence of differing and competing reformational approaches as early as the 1520s; this is known as the proto-denominational phase. Georgius Aportanus (ca. 1495–1530), the Emden preacher who held the first Protestant service in the Great Church in 1520, is considered to have formulated the “reformed” Eucharist theses of 1526 and was also instrumental in the publication of the Confession of East Frisian preachers two years later. This was evidently closely related to the Zurich Reformation, but also to the ideas of the Wittenberg theologian Andreas Karlstadt. However, in the summer of 1529 Count Enno II (1505–40) entrusted two theologians from Bremen with the task of regulating church affairs in East Frisia. The two Lutheran theologians not only preached from East Frisian pulpits but also

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Emden Town Hall, built in 1574–76 by the architect Laurens van Steenwinkel (Amsterdam) and modeled on the old Town Hall in Antwerp. Photo taken before 1895

Title page of the Oldersum Disputation by Ulrich von Dornum, Wittenberg, 1526

drafted a new Lutheran church ordinance, which the Count introduced officially in the same year. Among other provisions, this document suggested the appointment of church inspectors, who were to bear the title of “Superattendent”. However, this ordinance was never put into practice. In the same year, Andreas Karlstadt and Melchior Hoffman arrived in East Frisia and were granted asylum there by Ulrich von Dornum (1465/6–1536). He was an adviser to Count Enno II and initiator of the first Reformation dialogue between Catholics and Reformation theologians, held in 1526 in his fiefdom Oldersum. In May 1530 Melchior Hoffman is reported to have baptized or rebaptized more than 300 adults on their confession of faith in the sacristy of the Great Church, thus founding the Emden Anabaptist church. Emden became the second focal point of Anabaptism in Europe. A theologically distinctive form of Anabaptism developed here, without any connection to the Anabaptist movement in Switzerland, and spread across to the neighboring Netherlands.

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Emden. Colorized town map Frank Hogenberg and Georg Braun, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 2, Cologne, 1576 Below left: the castle of the Count; below middle: the Great Church; below right; the town hall and the Franciscan monastery

After a costly armed conflict with the Catholic Groningerland, a Lutheran ordinance was once again imposed on the county of East Frisia by the victorious Karl van Geldern (1467–1538). This was introduced in 1535, having been written by two theologians from Lüneburg. But like its predecessor, this second Lutheran ordinance failed, being rejected by some of the clergy.

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John a Lasco in East Frisia After the early death of Count Enno II, his widow Countess Anna (1501–75) exercised the regency on behalf of her eldest son, who was under age. Late in 1542 she appointed the Polish humanist and theologian John a Lasco to the position of Superattendent. Such an appointment for a theologian had been foreseen in the first church ordinance of 1529, but never put into practice. As late as 1540 there had been a Catholic provost in Emden. In the Frisian areas of the diocese of Münster, these officials were usually laymen who were responsible for administration of outlying districts. At this time the Great Church of Emden served as a simultaneum, a church in which both Protestant services and the Catholic Mass took place. John a Lasco was given the task of re-organizing the church in East Frisia according to the spirit of Zwingli’s Reformation. He founded bodies such as the Emden Church Council and the Coetus, i. e. the assembly of East Frisian preachers, with the aim of establishing a unified doctrine in East Frisia and resolving the existing controversies. But he also sought dialogue with other believers, for example with the friars from the Franciscan monastery which still existed in Emden at that time. He met with representatives of various Anabaptist groups. At the beginning of 1543 he had a discussion with Menno Simons (1496– 1561), who had found refuge in East Frisia and was at the time the most important representative of the “peaceful” Anabaptists. This was new, the first time in history that someone sought by warrant had been invited to a theological debate by a representative of the official church. They treated each other with respect, even though they had varying opinions. An important subject of discussion was the doctrine of Christs incarnation. While Menno Simons was reluctant to go into this topic in depth, John a Lasco returned to it again and again, because he had found a weak point in his opponent’s argumentation. Later, both of them published polemical pamphlets on this subject. A Lasco also sought dialogue with the Davidjorists, another denomination of Melchiorite Anabaptism. David Joris (1501/2–56) advocated the living spirit instead of dead literalism and saw himself as an apostle, the third David in the history of salvation (after King David and Jesus Christ, the Son of David). The Superattendent managed to persuade Joris’ followers to recognize Scripture as the one true guideline, but nothing could alter David Joris’ sense of mission. In the early days of its existence, the newly created East Frisian Coetus held meetings in different places in East Frisia, with a room in the Emden inn finally becoming its regular location. The Coetus initially consisted of both Reformed and Lutheran theologians. In this case, too, John a Lasco was trying to find a way of mediation between the increasingly divergent religious groups. He wrote the

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John a Lasco. Portrait by an unknown artist after 1555

John a Lasco was born as Jan Łaski in 1499 in Lask, Poland. As a young man he studied in Italy. In 1521 he returned to Poland and was ordained a Catholic priest. He accompanied his brother Hieronymus Łaski on his travels through Europe, met Erasmus of Rotterdam during a stay in Basel and became his pupil. After converting to Protestantism, he lived for a time in Leuven before going to East Frisia as a religious refugee. He died in 1560 in Pinczów, Poland.

Moderatio doctrinae, trying to create a confession of faith that could be acceptable to all sides. Although the Coetus adopted it as the obligatory confession for all preachers and congregations in East Frisia it still did not lead to uniform doctrine and church unity. Even by 1540, the old faith had by no means been overcome. It had some powerful supporters, such as Count Johann von Valkenburg (1506–72), who laid claim to the rule of East Frisia after the death of his brother Enno II. He attacked John a Lasco in many ways. The count’s advisers were suspicious of the growing numbers of religious immigrants coming into East Frisia, and they were inclined to drive them away again for fear of the measures threatened by Emperor Charles V. For this reason John a Lasco followed the example of the Reformation in Cologne and introduced “faith hearings” to make sure that only those who might pose a threat to others should be expelled. Thus he was in favor of granting the Mennonites the right to stay. Through Johann von Valkenburg, the Catholic opponents managed to persuade the Habsburg governor of the Netherlands in Brussels to order the expulsion of John a Lasco. However, he enjoyed the support and protection of the East Frisian countess.

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The Great Church before 1855. Steel engraving of 1861 by Ludwig Rohbock

John a Lasco moves to England John a Lasco was able to remain thanks to support in high places, but only until the Augsburg Interim of 1548. Foreign powers then put so much pressure on the small county that the Superattendent decided to leave East Frisia voluntarily. He had already received an invitation to go to England in order to be active for the Reformation there. In 1549 he travelled to London, and in the following year King Edward VI handed him the royal charter for the newly founded Strangers’ Church, over which he was to preside as Superintendent. In addition to a Dutch church, which was granted the use of a former priory of Augustinians known as Austin Friars, there was also a French congregation for the numerous Walloon and French Protestant refugees. John a Lasco wrote a church ordinance for the refugee communities in London. The Forma ac Ratio is considered his most important work. He drew on different sources in its preparation, but it is likely that most of it was based on elements from the Emden Church, so that this text serves as an indirect source for the unwritten practice of the early stages of the Reformation in East Frisia. The London Order later exercised a great influence on the development of the Reformed Church in the Netherlands.

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This young Free Church in London only existed for a few years at first, because after the king’s early death Mary Tudor acceded to the throne of England in 1553. As a staunch Catholic, she was determined to re-Catholicize the country and to reinstate the old order. Protestants were violently persecuted. Not even the Reformers Martin Bucer and Paul Fagius, who had died in exile in England, were spared. Their remains were exhumed and burned together with their books on the market place in Cambridge.

John a Lasco’s return to East Frisia The Strangers’ Church in London was prohibited from holding services and when the situation worsened considerably, the religious refugees in London, numbering almost 4000, made ready to flee. John a Lasco and 175 other people boarded two Danish merchant ships bound for Copenhagen. In the late autumn of 1553 they set sail from Gravesend. After a stormy crossing, one of the two ships entered the harbor of Elsinore, whilst the other ran aground on the coast of Norway. After both ships had finally reached Copenhagen harbor safely, the refugees were not allowed to stay for long, but were forced to leave Denmark again. Their ships set out for Wismar, where they got stuck in the ice for some time. They then sailed on to Rostock, Lübeck and Hamburg, but at every stop they were refused permission to land. Meanwhile John a Lasco had travelled to East Frisia with Jan Utenhove (1520– 1565) in order to inform the East Frisian Countess Anna about their plight. She was willing to give the refugees a new home. Before the end of the year 1553, a charity had been founded at her behest which was to care for the poor among the Dutch religious refugees. At the end of March 1554 the odyssey of the Danish ships finally came to an end, and the religious refugees reached the port of Emden. Their arrival had been expected and they were received hospitably. In a letter John a Lasco describes how gratifying his reception had been when he landed in Emden at the end of 1553: “Even my closest relations could not have prepared a warmer welcome for me.” This small, yet very elite group was to be followed by many thousands of religious refugees. John a Lasco had brought wealthy cloth and grain merchants with him, but a large number of printers also arrived in the town on the river Ems, which very quickly became an important center of the printing trade in the Netherlands. Around 70 % of the books published in Dutch Reformed territories were printed in Emden.

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The oldest surviving collecting box of the The East Portal of the Great Church with charity for “poor Dutch strangers” dates back the “Scheepken Christi” (Ship of Christ) to 1638 was donated in 1660 by the deacons of “der Vremden Neder Duitschen Armen” (charity for the poor Dutch strangers)

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The refugee churches In the following years Emden expanded rapidly and within a short time became one of the most populous cities in Germany. The increasing prosperity led to the construction of a large number of buildings, which gave Emden a very Dutch appearance. Trade and commerce flourished, and soon there were more ships registered here than in the whole of England. In 1564 the Company of Merchant Adventurers moved its continental headquarters to Emden for a time  — from Antwerp, then the largest trading center in the world. John a Lasco had already left Emden again in 1555 and gone to Frankfurt, where he also took care of religious refugees from England. In Emden new churches had been founded on the arrival of the members of the London Strangers’ Church; in 1554 Countess Anna had allowed those refugees speaking a foreign language to form their own congregations. Apart from the French Reformed church — the first in the German territories — there was also an English and a Scottish church. Many different refugee groups continued to settle in Emden and enrich the town. Besides the many Protestants from France, Wallonia, Brabant, the northern

The Ratsdelft (town hall port) seen from the Town Hall bridge. Photo taken before 1895

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Netherlands and England, there were also Bohemian Brethren and refugees from the Electoral Palatinate who came during the Thirty Years’ War. All of them left their mark in Emden.  Klaas-Dieter Voß is a research associate at the John a Lasco Library in Emden and lecturer at the Institute of Protestant Theology of Oldenburg University

Further reading Andrew Pettegree, Emden and the Dutch revolt. Exile and the development of reformed Protestantism, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992 Dirk W. Rodgers, John à Lasco in England, New York: Peter Lang, 1994 Henning P. Jürgens, Johannes a Lasco in Ostfriesland. Der Werdegang eines europäischen Reformators, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2002 Michael Stephen Springer, Restoring Christ’s church. John a Lasco and the Forma ac ratio, Aldershot et al.: Ashgate, 2007 Klaas-Dieter Voß/Wolfgang Jahn (eds.), Menso Alting und seine Zeit. Glaubensstreit — Freiheit — Bürgerstolz, Oldenburg: Isensee-Verlag, 2012 Visiting Emden www.emden-touristik.de www.jalb.de http://kirchen-emden.de

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Ferrara Renée de France and Olympia Morata by Susanna Peyronel Rambaldi

Ferrara At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Ferrara was the capital of a small state that since the mid-thirteenth century had been ruled by the Dukes of Este (cf. map on p. 428). The territorial lord’s court and the residences of his relatives and of municipal dignitaries constituted the lifeblood of the town’s economy, representing as they did the basic source of income for the approx. thousand servants and the centers of trade and social interaction. The duke based his reputation and authority not only on a political system that personally bound the local oligarchies and nobility to him, but also on his role as patron of the arts. His protégés included poets such as Matteo Maria Boiardo and Ludovico Ariosto, and painters such as Andrea Mantegna and Titian. Through such patronage and support, Ferrara developed into a European center of art and literature during the fifteenth century, and owed its broader reputation in this regard especially to the harmony of its Renaissance architecture and the quality of its university. During the Italian wars, the small state found it difficult to maintain a balance between the various warring factions. Although the Dukes of Este were, on the one hand, vassals of the pope, owing to him their status as rulers, on the other hand they had to be on guard against precisely this liege lord, since the popes were constantly trying to expand the basis of their own worldly power, aiming at regaining ducal territories. Because of his resistance to papal claims, Alfonso I of Este was even accused of having “committed himself to the venerable doctrine of the heretic Martin Luther”. It became even more difficult for Ferrara to pursue an independent political course after the powerful kingdoms north of the Alps

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(the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, France, Spain) appeared on the Italian stage as well. To protect their interests, the Dukes of Este now needed a patron. They decided in favor of France, with whom they had earlier contacts and ties, and hence for a lengthy period supported French interests in the Italian wars. This commitment was solidified in 1528 through the marriage of Ercole II of Este (1508–59) with Renée de France (1510–75). She was the daughter of the French king Louis XII from the house of Valois-Orléans and Anne de Bretagne. This marriage had also become urgent because of the increasingly aggressive influence exerted by the pope and emperor on the situation in Italy. Although the Dukes of Este believed that a French victory in Italy would be extremely advantageous to them, this never came about. The armies of Emperor Charles V maintained the upper hand, and the popes in Rome exploited the presence of Renée and her court in Ferrara as an excuse to cast suspicion on her and spread insidious rumors.

The court of Renée de France As long as a certain measure of freedom of movement remained, the Duchy of Este and its animated capital offered a place where people could still freely criticize the status quo and support the most varied reforms, including humanistic anticlericalism, Erasmian “evangelism”, hope for spiritual reforms, and the prophetic anticipation of a rebirth. Religious discussions on such topics took place not only in monasteries and literary academies, but also in town squares and at the ducal court. The Este family along with the duke himself initially maintained a relatively tolerant attitude toward heterodox religious views, providing they were not expressed publicly. We can better understand the influence of Renée on the religious and cultural life of Ferrara if we first understand the court (maison) of this French princess. François I wanted a court for her that was commensurate with his own royal status and might embody the influence of the French crown on Ferrara. Consequently, Renée’s court was financially independent and consisted of numerous members of the French nobility, both male and female, some of whom were highly educated and had a clear predilection for Protestant ideas. When Renée arrived in Ferrara, Bernardo Tasso, father of the famous writer Torquato Tasso, was the only Italian at her court, where he served as a secretary. Later, however, many other Italians joined the court as well, especially intellectuals (almoners, physicians, secretaries and educators), who were to serve as mediators with Protestant circles in Italy. The maison became a place of refuge not only for persons who had to leave France because of their religious views, but also for Italian dissidents persecuted by the Inquisition. Hence in 1535 the poet Clément Marot came to Ferrara, latter

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to become the duchess’s secretary, as well as Lyon Jamet, whom Ercole engaged as a diplomat; both had had to leave France after having been persecuted by François I. At about the same time, John Calvin may have visited Ferrara, though no unequivocal documentation for the visit has ever surfaced. What has been preserved, however, is the correspondence Calvin and Renée carried on for about thirty years, even after the former French princess returned to France in 1559. From 1536 onward, suspicions mounted against the princess’s court. After a French chorister by the name of Jehannet Bouchefort refused to worship the crucifix during the Good Friday Mass, the inquisitor of Ferrara Renée de France; portrait by Jean Clouet, asked the duke to arrest the guilty perca. 1520 son along with other members of his wife’s court. All were imprisoned, and a legal struggle and complicated diplomatic dispute commenced in which France demanded that Renée’s court be freed from the jurisdiction of the inquisitor, while Rome demanded that the accused be handed over. Although the prisoners were eventually freed through the intervention of the sister of King François I, Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549), the duke soon viewed his wife’s court as a threat to his own authority and as a heavy financial burden on the state. This French presence in Ferrara also disturbed relations with the emperor. The daughters of Renée and Ercole were called Anna, Lucrezia and Eleonora. Growing up within the maison, they were assigned tutors chosen and paid by the duchess herself. The duchess similarly arranged for the education and training of ladies-in-waiting and pages at the court. The Greek scholar Francesco Porto, whom the inquisition considered extremely suspicious because of his religious proclivities, instructed the three sisters in Greek and Latin. Renée purchased books, especially editions of the Bible in French or Italian translation, as well as interpretations of the New Testament by Erasmus, editions of the epistles and the psalms, including the Psaumes de David by Clément Marot and psalm commentaries by Martin Bucer and Konrad Pellikan. All of these books attest to a lively interest in Protestant religious culture.

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The most influential intimate group at the court was that around Michelle de Saubonne, also known as Madame de Soubise, whom Duke Ercole viewed as the real instigator of his wife’s heretical sympathies. One other prominent member of this group was the physician Johan Senft, called Johannes Sinapius, who corresponded with Erasmus and was an admirer of both Melanchthon and Bucer. Ladies attached to the court such as Françoise de Boussiron, who later married Sinapius, the daughters of Madame de Soubise, and the daughters of Renée de France herself constituted an influential group of women who enjoyed a special cultural reputation and distinguished themselves through their intellectual freedom.

Olympia Morata This reputation became even more pronounced when Olympia Morata (1526–55) came to the court. She was the daughter of Fulvio Pellegrino Morato, the tutor of two of the sons of Duke Alfonso I. At court, this young girl, who had been raised according to the ideas of humanism, continued her education alongside Princess Anna, with teachers such as the writer Celio Calcagnini and the physician Sinapio. Olympia, who at fourteen was already composing texts in Latin and Greek, rejected the traditional role of women (“women’s needles and spindles”) and instead recited Cicero’s Paradoxa before learned humanists such as her father’s friend Celio Secondo Curione. Curione, influenced by Erasmus, had become a radical follower of the Reformation and published a satirical pamphlet against the Roman church, the Pasquino in Estasi, which enjoyed extraordinary success throughout Europe. In 1542 — a critical year in Italy for non-Catholics, since it was in that year that the Roman inquisition was founded  — Curione fled to Basel. In 1548 Olympia Morata also had to flee, having lost all support and assistance at court. After her father died, she had fallen into disfavor with Renée, who suspected her of having become involved in dark intrigues. At the same time, the inquisition began its own investigations into Olympia Morata; portrait by an unknown artist the “heresy of Renée de France”. In

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Epitaph for Olympia Morata in the Church of St. Peter, Heidelberg

e­ arly 1550 Olympia married the German physician Andreas Gründler. She moved to Germany with him, where she already enjoyed a reputation as a humanist who was so well read in Latin and Greek literature that she was viewed as a “miracle” of the female sex. She was accepted as a refugee of faith in Germany. Even after she had emigrated, Olympia Morata kept her confessionally undefined religious profile. She will certainly have been sympathetic to Lutheranism but the humanist Celio Secondo Curione remained her most important teacher. After moving to Schweinfurt with her husband in 1550, Olympia had to flee again in 1554. The Holy Roman Empire was shaken by armed conflicts and the Peace of

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Augsburg was not achieved until 25 September 1555. Olympia and her husband finally found refuge in Heidelberg, where she died on 26 October 1555, a bare month after peace came.

The heretical community of Ferrara Renée’s small entourage left the city of Ferrara during the 1540s and established itself in Consandolo villa, one of the ducal family “jewels”. Here the community gradually moved closer to Calvinism. Word had it that even the stable boys were well acquainted with Scripture. A network of individuals gathered around Renée, forming an oppositional community of faith; for years she provided them with money, favors and accommodation in Ferrara. Consandolo offered what were probably the soundest foundations for a Reformation in Italy. This was something Calvin was seeking and he pinned all his hopes in this regard on Renée. As early as 1537 he had written that “far more than normal human beings” she was called to “promote and advance the Kingdom of Christ”. The extent to which the court increasingly became a center of religious renewal can be seen especially in the development of the court chapel, whose func-

The Palazzo San Francesco, where Renée de France lived beginning in 1537. Today this Renaissance building, which bears her name, belongs to the university. Postcard, ca. 1950

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tion was to administer alms and direct the duchess’s various religious activities. The numerous clerics engaged in the court chapel were concerned with enlisting her support on behalf of the monasteries of Ferrara and other charitable institutions, and were also responsible for celebrating mass. Over time, preachers were repeatedly engaged who were extremely suspicious in the eyes of the Catholic Church. One example was Agustino Foliata, a friend of Erasmus, who, we are told, denied both the authority of the pope and free will in sermons he delivered to the duchess’s ladies-in-waiting, also preaching against the clerCelio Secondo Curione; portrait from gy and prayer to the Virgin Mary. Nikolaus Reusner, “Icones”, Strasbourg, 1587 Despite her contacts with Calvin, Renée de France probably never espoused Reformed orthodoxy. Her visitors in Consandolo took different standpoints and cannot be unequivocally attributed to a certain confessional current. Some of them concealed their different beliefs, while others adopted Calvinist convictions or an Anabaptist or anti-Trinitarian stance, for example, Francesco Severi, Pietro Bresciani and the mysterious Tiziano. From 1535, François Richardot, a professor of theology from Tournai, held the position of almoner. Calvin detested him because he was advising the duchess to adopt “Nicodemite” behavior, that is, to conceal her heterodox religious convictions, as did the Pharisee Nicodemus (John 3:2), while continuing to participate in the Catholic Mass. The duchess supported Richardot for several years. Calvin similarly came into conflict with Bolsec, who was almoner in Ferrara until March 1548 and an extremely unpopular figure among Reformers. Calvin urged Renée to acknowledge and accept the calling for which God had destined her, since “it is the duty of Christian rulers to eliminate in their land repulsive idolatry [such as] the abominable Mass”. Ambrogio Cavalli, a former Augustinian hermit, later came to Ferrara under a false name; he had already been condemned in Venice for his “Lutheranism” and recanted. In 1555 Cavalli once more had to stand trial, but before he was hanged

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Ferrara; historical city plan from Pieter van der Aa, “La Galérie Agréable du Monde”, Leiden, 1729 Bottom left: the Palazzo del Corte (no. 2, today the town hall), where Duke Ercole II von Este resided. The cathedral is situated opposite this building, and the castle above. Bottom right: the Palazzo San Francesco, where Renée de France lived from 1537

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and burned to death, he revealed that he had administered, in Renée’s name, a support network for persons of heterodox faith and refugees of faith, thereby demonstrating the considerable extent to which the circle around the duchess had become radicalized over time. Renée also drew from the income of the court chapel in financing other Reformed preachers, such as Agostino Mainardi from Caraglio (near Saluzzo) and Andrea Ghetti from Volterra (Tuscany), so that they, too, might preach at her court. It was probably not until the early 1550s, after the Augustinian monk Giulio Della Rovere had secretly preached at Lent in Ferrara in 1550, that the Eucharist was celebrated at court in an explicitly Reformed fashion with bread and wine. Participants included Renée and her daughters Lucrezia and Eleonora, the ladies-in-waiting Agnes and Madam de Grantry and the latter’s husband, the preacher Dionisio, the wardrobe attendant Loys de Mauray, and the Greek teacher Francesco Porto. In 1553 the noblewoman Isabella Bresegna, wife of the governor of Piacenza, Garcia Manrique Mendoza, joined them along with her tutor and lady friends from Piacenza. Consandolo was probably the only place in Italy where followers of many different religious currents and ideas could be heard and find financial support. Renée had created a refuge for alleged heresies of the sort no other Italian princess or noblewoman was able to imitate. That said, the basic international parameters and circumstances amid which such an institution was possible deteriorated over time, and even the position of Renée was increasingly threatened. Ercole, who had long condoned his wife’s activities, was finally forced to intervene in order to put a stop to them.

Repression The risk of becoming drawn into the suspicions and accusations at court became increasingly acute beginning in the late 1540s. The drama of the baker Fanino Fanini, who, having already renounced Protestantism, had relapsed and been executed in August 1550, shocked the circle around Renée and the duchess herself, who had supported him with alms. The pope used Fanini’s condemnation as an excuse to exert even more pressure. Although the duke resisted, the duchess was accused of Calvinism for the first time, after which the name of the French princess was mentioned with increasing frequency in inquisition documents. Political considerations alone prevented any more serious action being taken against her. It became increasingly difficult for her to escape the oversight of the inquisition, especially after King Henri II of France stepped up the persecution of heterodox believers and asked the Duke of Este to take action against his wife.

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In 1554 Calvin dispatched the pastor François Moral to Ferrara to give support to the princess and her circle. He wrote, “If we disregard the opportunity to help them, the danger becomes greater that we may be too late.” But to no avail. That same year, the first court trial religionis causa began against the daughter of a king and her Ruins of Montargis Castle; postcard, protégés. Ambrogio Cavalli was arrestca. 1915 ed and executed, Francesco Porto and many others forced to flee. ­Henri II sent the Dominican Ory Matthieu to act as inquisitor against Renée; Jesuits joined in the persecution as well. The duchess’s books and compromising correspondence was confiscated, her daughters taken away, and she herself put under arrest in her husband’s palace. Finally, in 1554, under the threat of being burned at the stake, she relented, weeping, and agreed to subject herself to a long confession to a Jesuit, to take communion, and to recant in secret. These events effectively eradicated the conventicle of Consandolo, and Renée, humiliated and placed back under marital oversight, began once more to attend Mass and go to confession — a religious, but also a political event that caused a sensation. After Ercole died in 1559, the princess decided to return to her chateau of Montargis in France, which now became a new place of refuge for Protestants.  Dr. Susanna Peyronel Rambaldi is professor of Modern History at the State University of Milan. Further reading Adriano Prosperi (ed.), Storia di Ferrara, il Rinascimento: situazione e personaggi, Ferrara: Corbo, 2000 Eleonora Belligni, Renata di Francia (1510‒1575). Un’eresia di corte, Torino: UTET libreria, 2011 Visiting Ferrara www.ferrarainfo.com www.castelloestense.it/it www.ucebi.it/le-chiese/97-chiesa-battista-di-ferrara.html

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Geneva John (Jean) Calvin and Théodore de Bèze by Michel Grandjean

In September 1536, a stranger arrived almost by accident at the gates of Geneva, having had to make a considerable detour because of the movements of French and imperial troops. The traveler’s name was John Calvin. He was twenty-seven years old at the time and had just published his first great work in Basel, Christianae religionis institutio (Institutes of the Christian Religion). Although Calvin was only intending to stay a single night in Geneva, he had not anticipated the powers of persuasion of William (Guillaume) Farel, who convinced him — amid the threat of the most horrible maledictions — to remain in Geneva and help establish the Protestant church. From this time on, Geneva would for centuries — and to this day — be associated with the name of John Calvin.

Geneva around 1536 In 1536 Geneva was a town of approximately twelve thousand inhabitants protected by massive fortifications. Although Paris had almost twenty times as many residents, Geneva was still more populous than any other town in Savoy, even than Bern, its powerful ally. When Calvin arrived, the town had just undergone not only a political revolution but also a period of urban reconstruction and religious shift of direction, all at the same time. The political revolution consisted in liberation from the dominion of the House of Savoy. The town was now headed by the Small Council with four annually elected “syndics” as presiding officers, its task being to preserve public order and be responsible for legislation and the administration of justice. Interestingly, Geneva was one of the few European towns that managed both to attain and to

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maintain complete independence in the sixteenth century  — over against both hostile Savoy and allied Bern. As far as urban reconstruction was concerned, the Geneva town council had addressed the issue of public security after 1530 by eliminating outlying districts, that is, all residential buildings located outside the town walls. Estimates suggest that thirteen hundred private citizens lost their houses as a result of this policy. While some remained in Geneva itself or in the few villages dependent on the town, others moved to nearby Savoyard areas. The young Calvin; sixteenth-century The religious shift of direction portrait by an unknown artist con­­­­sisted in the Town Council having forbidden the celebration of the Mass a year before (on 10 August 1535), and the General Council (the assembly of all citizens eligible to vote) having proclaimed the Protestant Reformation on 21 May 1536, that is, shortly before Calvin arrived. In other words, Geneva basically presented itself as a new town still lacking any structure, something Calvin himself articulated shortly before his death in his farewell address to town pastors: “The first time I entered this church, it lacked almost everything. There was preaching, but nothing more. Although people did seek out and even burn graven images, no semblance of a Reformation was associated with such acts.”

Calvin’s Career in Geneva When the town council approved Farel’s proposal to employ Calvin, first as an ordinary preacher, then as pastor, the author of the Institutio was still unknown. The fame of ille Gallus (this Frenchman) quickly grew, however, after the Disputation of Lausanne in October 1536, where his arguments contributed to the victory of the Reformed camp. This was especially the case in Geneva, where he tackled the reorganization of the church without considering in the slightest the reservations expressed by the Geneva town councilors. He wanted all residents to sign a confession of faith. That, and his demand that pastors should have the right to excommunicate their opponents, provoked increasingly hostile reactions from

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the town council and the population at large. Finally, in 1538, both ille Gallus and Farel were expelled from the town, whereupon Calvin settled in Strasbourg. Only three years later, however, an ineffectual city council summoned him back, after recognizing the need to establish a theological and spiritual authority in Geneva. The pastors present in the town were simply not up to it. Calvin relented and returned to Geneva in which he was to remain till the end of this life (1541–64). He had learned from his earlier failures and now gave Geneva the instruments it needed for establishing solid and enduring Reformation structures. The first step was to draw up a church ordinance (Ordonnances ecclésiastiques, 1541) to regu“Les ordonnances ecclésiastiques”; title page late church life, especially in its relaof the expanded edition of 1561 tionships to secular authorities. Then a new catechism was hastily printed in 1542 (Le catéchisme de l’Église de Genève), one that would enjoy numerous reprints and translations. Over the course of the next three centuries, this catechism was to become the text for children of the Reformed churches in Geneva, France and elsewhere.

The Genevan Consistoire On the basis of the church ordinance, Calvin created a unique institution alongside the Compagnie des pasteurs (company of pastors), the Consistoire. This consistory was essentially a presbytery, or local church council, composed of pastors and several laypersons (anciens/elders, who in reality were members of the town council). Its task was to ensure that residents led lives in keeping with the Protestant faith. The Consistoire mediated in quarrels, checked on regular attendance at worship (at least on Sundays) and the Eucharist (four times annually), and reprimanded believers suspected of still clinging to “papist superstition”. It also established regulations governing sexual behavior (pre- and extramarital relations were

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strictly prohibited) and dealt with general marital questions (hindrances, divorce, etc.). Quite independently of confessional boundaries, the Consistoire’s efforts in this regard were the same as those being made by all European Reformers to elevate the morals of the Christian population. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, Francis de Sales (1567–1622), titular bishop of Geneva with his residence in Annecy, explicitly praised this particular institution, while lamenting that it was composed of heretics. And yet what nonsense has been written about the Genevan Consistoire  — particularly since Stefan Zweig’s The right to heresy: Castellio against Calvin from 1936  — according to which it imposed a reign of terror on the town as a kind of “morality Gestapo”. The Consistoire dealt in an unremittingly stern fashion with those who blasphemed God, preferred imbibing at the tavern to attending Sunday worship, or, contrary to all prohibitions, were caught dancing (at the time, dancing was not really comparable to the nineteenth-century society dances in genteel Viennese salons, but were an often coarse form of entertainment that could easily lead to unwanted pregnancies). Yet it had no other sanctions at its disposal than instruction and excommunication. The Consistoire dispensed church discipline that was both pedagogical and repressive, and was designed to make daily life fit better with the profession of faith. Church discipline was the instrument employed in Geneva to subject all citizens to the regulatory power of Christianity. Although almost all churches in Europe were striving to attain this level of authority Geneva was uncompromising in its exercise of disciplinary measures. This is documented  — to cite an extreme, one-time instance  — by the con­ demnation and execution of the Spaniard Miguel Servet, who was everywhere viewed as a blasphemer and public enemy because of his anti-Trinitarian views and rejection of infant baptism. The condemnation was instigated by Calvin himself, and criticized by several of his followers, especially his former pupil Sebastian Castellio, whom Calvin tolerated for only a short time in Geneva. To this day this execution has remained an indelible stain on the legacy of the Geneva Reformation. It would, however, be incorrect to assume that the Calvinist reform program was implemented without problems in the “city of Calvin”. The generation of those Genevan citizens whose ancestors had fought to liberate the city republic from Savoy, in part at the cost of their own lives, was not keen on having a foreigner dictate such laws to them without further ado. One particular lobby group, calling itself “children of Geneva” with symbolic pathos, vehemently defended its freedom over against Calvin and the pastors. The group’s leader was merchant and statesman Ami Perrin, political head of the Geneva town council between 1549 and 1553. Until all four “syndics” came out in favor of Calvin in 1555, the

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Reformer unswervingly opposed these “children of Geneva”. Later he described them “wicked libertines”, irreligious people whose opposition to church discipline and the teachings of the gospel aimed at nothing more than being able to indulge their own immoral inclinations (see Calvin’s introduction to his 1558 commentary on the Psalms, Le Livre des psaumes exposé par Jean Calvin).

Geneva — capital of the Reformation Strictly speaking, we can only speak of “Calvin’s Geneva” between 1555 and the Reformer’s death in 1564. In 1558 a multitude of moral mandates regulated both public and — to the extent possible — private life. Such regulations included the prohibition of games and public baths (where uncovered bodies might prompt improper behavior), repression of drunkenness, opposition to extramarital sexual relations, and demands to reduce expenditures for luxury goods (clothing, food). The year 1559, during which the fifty-year-old Calvin finally received Genevan citizenship, marks the high point of his influence with the official founding of a collège for educating Geneva’s youth, and an academy. The most important goal of the academy was the training of future pastors, and it was soon attracting students

The academy in Geneva; engraving by Pierre Escuyer, 1809–11

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Geneva; colorized city view from Sebastian Münster, “Cosmographey”, Basel, 1567 Bottom left: the Cathedral of St. Peter; bottom right: Geneva’s old coat of arms with the motto “Post tenebras [spero] lucem” (After darkness, [I hope on] light)

from all over Reformed Europe, not only from France, but also from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, England, and to a certain extent even more distant places such as Scotland, Poland and Hungary. This academy, exhibiting an unmistakable profile of Christian humanism, produced numerous distinguished theologians, philologists, and jurists. Its most prominent representative was Théodore de Bèze, a pastor and theologian from Burgundy, and an outstanding Greek scholar. Calvin’s right-hand man, he was the first head of this new educational institution. Between Calvin’s death and the end

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of the sixteenth century, Bèze was the unchallenged authority in Geneva, and one of the protagonists of what has generally been called Reformed orthodoxy. His ­extensive correspondence unequivocally testifies to his intellectual and spiritual connections not only with the churches of Bern, Basel or ­Zurich, but also with the whole of Europe at the time, from England to Hungary, Bohemia or Poland. Of all the towns of Protestant Europe, Geneva was the most frequent but also briefest reception center for immigrants. During the years after 1550, its population almost doubled, primarily because of the persecutions suffered by Reformed church communities in France. According to calculations by Alfred Perrenoud, the town grew from 13,100 inhabitants in 1550 to 21,400 in 1560. Besides France, many refugees came from ­Italy, the Netherlands and England — to escape the rule of Mary Tudor, known as “Bloody Mary” for her persecution of Protestants. But then they left Geneva again. It was not until the eighteenth century that the city’s population again exceeded 20,000. Thanks to their religious beliefs and also to their skill in trades (printing and especially textiles), the refugees contributed consid-

The young Théodore de Bèze; portrait by an unknown artist

Title page of the new English translation of the New Testament by William Whittingham that appeared in Geneva in 1557

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erably to Geneva becoming a bulwark of the Reformation and capable of extending its influence. In fact, during the second half of the sixteenth ­century, Geneva could boast more than twenty printing presses that published an enormous number of Bibles, biblical commentaries, and other theological works. ­Geneva was now no longer a small town, but rather a voice resonating throughout Europe, and well on its way to becoming a myth.

Geneva — holy city or devil’s den? This ascendancy derived from the fact that since the mid-sixteenth century, Geneva’s renown had radiated out far beyond its own walls; for most of Protestant Europe, Geneva was not only the southernmost Reformation town, but also a model to others. The foreword to the newly translated English New Testament of 1557 noted that Geneva was “the patron and mirrour of true religion and godlynes”. The Scot John Knox, who sought refuge in Geneva between 1556 and 1559 and ministered to the English-speaking church community, called Geneva a holy city: “In other places, I confess, Christ is truly preached, but manners and religion so sincerely reformed, I have not yet seen in any other place.” The former Italian bishop Pietro Paulo Vergerio similarly offers an extremely flattering portrait of the town in 1550: “There are seven pastors who preach up to ten times each Sunday, and on other days sometimes two, three, or four times, and I can assure you from my own observation that they discharge their duties with zeal.” Vergerio continues later, in connection with church discipline: “Pastors endeavor to eliminate scandals, avoid discord, and maintain peace and harmony in the entire church.” According to the historian Alain Dufour, we now find ourselves “in the midst of myth formation (…), i. e. on the terrain of imaginative embellishment”. Even though references to Geneva as the “Protestant Rome” only date from the seventeenth century, some earlier authors occasionally compared the small republic to Jerusalem in an attempt to situate it within salvation history. When Duke CharlesEmmanuel of Savoy failed in his attempt to take the town by launching a surprise nocturnal assault in December 1602 (the assault was later referred to as the escalade because the Savoyard soldiers had tried to ‘scale’ the town wall), the Genevans began referring to Psalm 124 as the Escalade Psalm: “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side … when our enemies attacked us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us” (v. 1–3, NRSV). This idealizing image of Geneva did not have to wait long for an opposing view. As early as 1551, the Catholic theological controversialist Artus Désiré denounced the atrocities in Geneva, remarking that rather than altars and images of the saints,

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International Museum of the Reformation (Maison Mallet) and the Cathedral of St. Peter

there was now a “synagogue” containing only benches and, of course, a pulpit from which “sermons of lies” were delivered  — a synagogue in which believers are “scared, pallid, rigid, melancholy, and paler than Jews”. The most famous attack on Geneva comes in 1562 from the pen of the great poet Pierre de Ronsard: “Wretched home of all apostasy, / Stubbornness, pride and heresy.” He compares it further to a cluster of destructive caterpillars that should be exterminated immediately as the source of all the evil under which the Kingdom of France was suffering (Continuation du Discours des misères de ce temps). Holy city or devil’s den? Geneva is dubbed one or the other depending on whether polemicists defend or condemn the Reformation. In these verbal clashes, the figure of Calvin consistently occupies a key position, even during the period when the relationship between the Reformer and his town  — both before and after 1564 — was anything but amicable. Calvin himself would have been the last person ever to refer to Geneva as a “holy city”, speaking instead of its inhabitants as a “deviant people” and not hesitating to dress down his audience as “rabid animals”. Geneva similarly developed an ambivalent recollection of the Reformer. Although people realized that Geneva owed its renown largely to Calvin, they

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The Reformation Wall (Mur des Réformateurs) with (from left to right) William Farel, John Calvin, Théodore de Bèze, John Knox, erected 1909–17

were nonetheless quick to hold him responsible for everything that miscarried in ­Geneva, or for everything that seemed to detract from the joy of living, even when such charges were anachronistic. Still today, journalists occasionally use the metaphor “city of Calvin” to emphasize a negative aspect of Genevan society.  Dr. Michel Grandjean is professor of History of Christianity in the Theology Faculty of Geneva University.

Further reading E. William Monter, Calvin’s Geneva, Huntington/New York: Robert E. Krieger, 1975 Louis Binz, A Brief History of Geneva, Genève: Chancellerie d’État, 1985 Marc Vial, John Calvin. An Introduction to his Theological Thought, Genève: Labor et Fides, 2009 Robert M. Kingdon, with Thomas A. Lambert, Reforming Geneva: Discipline, Faith and Anger in Calvin’s Geneva, Genève: Droz, 2012 Corinne Walker, Histoire de Genève, vol. 2: De la cité de Calvin à la ville française (1530‒ 1813), Neuchâtel: Éditions Alphil/Presses universitaires suisses, 2014 Visiting Geneva https://www.geneve.com/en/ www.musee-reforme.ch/en http://epg.ch

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Hamburg Stephan Kempe, Johannes Bugenhagen and Johannes Aepinus by Rainer Postel

Although the Reformation was a watershed in the history of Hamburg, it took place so gradually that focusing on a single date is difficult.

Hamburg at the beginning of the sixteenth century Around 1500, Hamburg with its approximately fourteen thousand inhabitants was about half as large as Lübeck, the premier Hanseatic city. Economic crises had long intensified social disparities here, and in the fifteenth century prompted several uprisings that were noteworthy in several respects: – They were largely affairs of the middle and upper classes, and not until 1483 of Hamburg’s unpropertied lower class; – The uprisings never carried the day. The city council was never ousted or made subject to checks and balances, with restricted powers; – The unrest invariably ended with the opposing parties agreeing to a “recess” or compromise, which the council, too, respected. Such recesses thus became the foundation, instruments, and symbol of understanding and municipal peace, and eventually a specific constitutional tradition. This was facilitated by the fact that the social order in Hamburg was relatively porous. Even newcomers could work their way up to the office of mayor — assuming they were already part of the merchant upper class, from which the twentyfour-member council drew its new members. The citizenry was organized — according to the four parishes (St. Peter, St. Nicholas, St. Catherine, St. James) — into four separate bodies, with the fully entitled “hereditary” (landowning) citizens and master artisans constituting only a small fraction of the overall pop-

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ulation. “Jurats”, i. e. burgher churchwardens that served for one year, headed these groups; prosperous merchants also got involved in this way on behalf of the community. Whereas the latter tended to organize into the traditional societies of those traveling to Flanders, England and Scania (in Sweden), master artisans had to belong to “offices” (guilds) overseen by the council. Neither the emperor nor the empire as such played any role in daily life. Although the Imperial Diet of 1510 had declared Hamburg an imperial city, the Danish king and Holstein duke continued to insist on their territorial sovereignty, and Hamburg’s territorial status remained unresolved. The influence of the church was all the more visible in the city’s life. The cathedral, the four parish churches, two charity churches, several chapels, Franciscan and Dominican monasteries, and a convent of Beguines shaped the city’s profile. The ecclesiastical head was the Archbishop of Bremen, who since 1511 had been Duke Christopher of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, an utterly unreligious man, lacking theological training and preferring to pursue military and amorous conquests. From the time of its gaining the status of bishopric, Hamburg had retained a cathedral chapter of its own. Since the provost was hardly ever present, the highest ecclesiastical authority lay with the deacon, from 1508 the respected humanist (and historian) Albert Krantz. The chapter  — just under two dozen canons  — enjoyed income privileges and ranked formally ahead of the city council. It was invested with the power of ecclesiastical courts and punishment but was not, in its turn, subject to secular jurisdictional law. The same applied to the roughly 250 clerics in the city. The chapter had considerable landed property in Holstein/Stormarn as well as real estate in town. It also laid claim to income from Hamburg’s parish churches with their tithes and taxes, and to the powers of appointment. Income from these holdings and freedom from taxation made it possible for the canons to lead quite comfortable lives. Church life and secular life were intimately connected. Churches served as places of assembly, pulpits as rostrums where council decrees were read out, and church bells as fire alarms. Images of the saints adorned coins, the city gates, and the portal of the town hall, while a depiction of the Last Judgment adorned the council chamber. Piety among the population at large seemed to increase, something attested not least by the construction associated with the churches. In 1513 St. Peter acquired a new spire; in 1518 St. Nicholas did likewise. New institutions sprang up to promote the Mass and acts of charity, and the sale of indulgences flourished. Approximately a hundred pious brotherhoods venerated patron saints, often related to their craft or trade. Some focused on intercessions for the dead or

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Miniature “Last Judgment” in the council manuscript of the city charter of 1497. Bottom right: three tonsured clerics

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Hamburg; colorized view (1572) from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 1, Cologne, 1593 Bottom left: Church of St. Nicholas; bottom right: Church of St. Peter

provided charity for needy members. The number of saints increased, as did their feast days, pilgrimages, and the cult of relics. At the same time, popular piety exhibited elements of superstition. This receptivity for ideas and notions outside the church also indicated a certain inadequacy on the part of both the church and its clergy. In fact, the latter were the target of sometimes sharp criticism. The council manuscript of the city charter of 1497 includes a portrayal of the Last Judgment on which several clerics descend into hell. The complaints were both numerous and quite concrete: insufficient familiarity with the Bible, inadequate sermons, usury, benefice amassment amid a neglect of ecclesiastical duties, embezzlement, concubines, freedom from taxation and

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rejection of normal civic obligations, independent employment on the part of clerics, abuses and costs associated with their jurisdiction, especially of the ban, along with defects and costs associated with schools. Such complaints had been voiced for decades, and were soon joined by demands for participation in church governance, especially in the appointment of parish priests. Such criticism was an expression not of growing secularization but of genuine piety that found itself directly affected by abuses and an increasingly pronounced worldliness of the church. Although Krantz had clearly recognized these problems, his efforts to improve the situation — visitations, prescripts, and admonitions — came to nothing. Indeed, Krantz’s death in late 1517 marked the end of any attempt at church reform. In the early 1520s, Hamburg’s church was in a sorry state. Visitations attested an extremely sad state of affairs: absent clerics, items of value missing from churches, misappropriated benefices. In 1523 the Dithmar church withdrew from the sovereignty of the ­authoritarian Hamburg cathedral chapter, which meant a significant loss of income for the latter. The chapter rapidly suffered a loss of respect in Hamburg itself, which was reflected in a cessation of offerings, foundations, and interest payments to the church. And a priest at St. Catherine’s even dared to chastise openly and with unmistakable severity the ineptitude, immorality, and indulgence mongering of clerics. The cathedral scholastic Hinrick Banskow symbolized such clerical decadence; Banskow had become enormously wealthy through the sale of indulgences, had managed to come into the possession of lucrative benefices and offices all over northern Germany, and had sired several children with his housekeeper. Banskow had allowed his school in the Nicholas parish to become so dilapidated despite rising school fees that a massive protest broke out in 1522. After two years of wrangling, citizens gained control of the school from him and placed it under secular administration in perpetuity. The scholastic himself retreated to Lübeck, an event that had enormous consequences. As early as September 1522, citizens of the four parishes banded together and resolved that in future they would together oppose any abuse perpetrated by either the ecclesiastical or worldly authorities. Hence they entered into the upcoming disputes with greater self-confidence.

Stephan Kempe (?–1540) and Johannes Bugenhagen (1485–1558) The new teaching and doctrine in Hamburg may be traced to about this time. The name of Martin Luther had come up in connection with the criticism of clerics. The chapter and the Dominicans attacked an itinerant Lutheran preacher who made appearances in private residences. In the autumn of 1522 the Dutch emigrant

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Simon Korver opened a printing shop that within a few months published at least sixteen texts by Luther and his followers in Low German and Dutch. One was On Worldly Authorities (1523) and another a reasonably priced Low German version of the New Testament that Luther had just translated during his stay at the Wartburg (the “September Testament”). For a short time, Hamburg became what amounted to a center of Reformation propaganda in northern Germany. During the spring of 1523, the Franciscan monk Stephan Kempe came to Hamburg to attend to matters related to his order. While there, he preached in the Convent of Mary Magdalene from a Lutheran perspective, attracting a remarkable audience. With his departure imminent in June, citizens persuaded the convent administration to let him to remain — a noteworthy event. For various reasons: – Kempe was the first to preach Protestant doctrine in Hamburg, where he was met with hostility from other clerics and silent tolerance from the council; – For the first time, citizens took the “choice” of a preacher into their own hands, simultaneously demonstrating that their criticism of the church was in fact based on a sincere commitment to it; – The chapter did not react, and seemed overwhelmed by material problems; – The sermon became the most important medium of the new teaching, its focus on the word standing in stark contrast to the old church’s focus on imagery, something confirmed by subsequent developments. During the summer of 1524, the priest of St. Nicholas, Henning ­Kissenbrügge, resigned because of the pressure of church taxes, emphasizing that he had no intention of playing Jesus for the chapter. His congregation appointed the Wittenberg town pastor Johannes Bugenhagen as his successor, who was apparently familiar to students, knew Low German, and was prepared to accept. However, the town council, which was already suppressing the Edict of Worms to keep the peace in the city, thwarted the appointment and kept Kissenbrügge in office. Bugenhagen, disappointed, continued to take a strong interest in developments, and in 1525 wrote for the citizens of Hamburg his circular On the Christian Faith, in which he presented his Protestant theology and which considerably influenced its adoption, not just in Hamburg. In the meantime, the Reformation movement could no longer be stopped. Its advocates came especially from the merchant and business citizenry and included many church wardens, who were not only prosperous but also educated and literate. The town council, concerned now with maintaining calm and security, tried to placate opposing factions. It prohibited any arguing about questions of faith, ordering preachers to follow the rules, and also blunting the anti-Reformation severity of the mandates of the emperor and most recent Hanseatic diet. But these efforts failed. The indebtedness of its financial administration and costly construction plans (a canal connection with Lübeck) encouraged citizens to make

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far-­reaching demands. The chapter itself was to provide compensation for the costs of the most recent ban and parish taxes. Clerics with their wealth, along with the brotherhoods, were to be subject to taxation, and lay patronage secured. Parish clergy were to be chosen by citizens, and Dominican monks, who were viewed as Catholic agitators, expelled. In this catalogue of pent-up complaints and demands, the congregation’s right to choose its pastor was of foremost importance, demonstrating the intimate connection between Reformation and concrete political demands. After Kissenbrügge finally vacated St. Nicholas’ in late 1525, members of Title page of the New Testament printed all the parishes  — against the vehein 1523 by Simon Korver in Low German, ment opposition of the council  — based on Luther’s translation of the New managed to appoint as his successor Testament, which had first appeared in the Lutheran Johann Zegenhagen, who Wittenberg in September 1522 was from Magdeburg. A few months later, the priest at St. James essentially surrendered, insisting he would rather herd swine than continue in the job. Citizens immediately appointed the Lutheran Johann Fritze to fill his position, though now with considerably less council opposition. And in 1527, when Stephan Kempe was called to the parish of St. Catherine, there was no opposition at all. Hence even before the formal adoption of the Reformation, three of the four main churches now had Lutheran pastors. And following Luther’s own lead, each quickly married a former nun. While the chapter seemed to be in disarray, the council now offered no resistance either. Its sermon mandates aimed more at securing general peace and safety in the city than maintaining the old doctrine, and in this regard it could justifiably appeal to the most recent Speyer imperial recess. All the same, increasing tension between old and new clerics, especially concerning the Eucharist, made it necessary for the council to act. Hence in May 1527 it arranged a disputation between ecclesiastical opponents which saw the Lutherans win the day. At the same time, the council tried to calm tempers by expelling an excessively contentious Lutheran chaplain.

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Treasury of the parish of St. Nicholas; frontispiece from the “Gotteskastenordnung” (treasury ordinance) of 1527

These successes encouraged the Protestants. In August 1527 the parish of St. Nicholas set up a treasury on the model of Luther and Bugenhagen. Previous institutions of social welfare had been disorganized and inadequate, following the principle of sanctity by works rather than that of need. What emerged was a fund of charitable offerings specifically for the welfare of the poor and ill; it was overseen by twelve burgher deacons, who in future were also to have a say in choosing pastors and schoolmasters. This “treasury ordinance”, which by year’s end had also been adopted in the other parishes, was eloquent testimony to the cooperative spirit and Christian compassion of the Reformation movement.

The ecclesiastical and political reorganization of Hamburg in 1528/29 The council, in which meanwhile a certain measure of sympathy for the new teaching had emerged, quickly adapted to the situation. The elections in March 1528 saw it  — after vehement disputes  — accept four Lutheran members in place of designated sympathizers of the old faith. These developments confirmed the council’s traditional role of mediator and also secured the conditions for a peaceful continuation of the Reformation and of the emerging discussion about a new constitution. An unyielding council minority, however, had made contact with an opposition group in the Dominican monastery that was committed to the old faith. There were rumors of murky plots involving murder and subversion, albeit without reliable evidence. Such developments merely indicated the charged atmosphere at the time, which was provoked even further by caustic pulpit polemics. The public safety of the city seemed threatened. Hence, on 28 April 1528, the council held a second grand disputation in its hall between clerics from both sides, with the goal of establishing a unified approach to

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preaching and of calming the public. Thousands followed these events with great attention, despite the fact that the council had already predetermined the outcome by declaring the Bible to be the sole guide and standard. And indeed, the Lutheran victory was beyond dispute. The five most stubborn clerics were expelled, while others left voluntarily. In this fashion, the Reformation was adopted step by step, parish by parish, and on the whole without any violence. Whatever was not biblical was done away with: Catholic ceremonies, masses and holy days; monasteries and convents were closed, and steps taken to make it easier for monks to enter secular life or to grant them subsistence; meat could now be sold on Fridays and during Lent. In 1528 St. Peter’s finally also acquired a Lutheran pastor, Johann Boldewan, a friend of Bugenhagen. While the chapter was petitioning the emperor and the imperial High Court with respect to its lost privileges and possessions, the council now appointed Johannes Bugenhagen himself, whom four years earlier it had rejected and who had just provided Brunswick with its church ordinance. After being solemnly welcomed in October, Bugenhagen immediately began work on the Hamburg church ordinance and also an intensive activity as preacher. At the same time, political negotiations with the council commenced concerning citizen participation, as well as various legal and economic questions; twelve deacons and twenty-four sub-deacons represented each parish (altogether 144 representatives). As early as September, they had organized a common “central treasury” to administer the four parish treasuries; the central treasury was put under the administration of twelve “senior elders”, namely, the three “eldest” deacons from each parish. In this capacity, alongside their welfare responsibilities, these deacons effectively constituted the first citywide citizen representation; it subsequently became head of the three “citizen colleges” (twelve senior elders, forty-eight deacons, the “144”). Hamburg thus reorganized itself both ecclesiastically and politically, a development concluded in both areas in the spring of 1529. What was known as the “Long Recess” (16 February) resulted from political negotiations, stipulating in 132 articles adherence to the long-standing tradition of reaching understanding between the various parties within the city. The council insisted on maintaining its right to self-appointment and replenishment and rejected disclosure of its deficit finances and oaths. Yet alongside diverse legal and economic agreements, it also granted the colleges a say in various legal questions, in amendments to the legal code, and in important grain provisioning measures. Above all, however, the colleges  — specifically the senior elders  — became a supervisory body for the council itself, and a mediator between the council and the citizenry. Since the senior elders were socially close to the council, these new participatory rights for

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citizens aimed above all at stabilizing relationships between the various groups within the city — and succeeded in so doing. The Long Recess implemented Bugenhagen’s church ordinance, which was not proclaimed until 23 May, attesting again the interaction between church and civil life. It offered what for Bugenhagen was the typical tripartite organization into school, church, and diaconate. The school ordinance affected first of all the new Latin school in the former Johannine monastery, and also plans for a reading room and library, and detailed curricula. The ecclesiastical sections regulated the appointment of pastors and took into account the new-found significance of the sermon as the focal point of worship. Bugenhagen bowed to local customs by leaving in place the traditional Hamburg festival of St. Cecelia and the tradition of baptizing children wearing their usual clothes. The stipulations concerning diakonia summarized the church social services already introduced, assigning the treasuries the considerable possessions of welfare institutions, brotherhoods, and charitable foundations, further providing salaries for pastors and teachers from a “treasury chest” funded from former church estates and ecclesiastical benefices. The latter never materialized, however, because the chapter’s pending petition for restitution before the imperial High Court had meanwhile thwarted any further claims on church properties. Elderly clerics were permitted to continue enjoying their benefices as annuities. Because the chapter similarly refused to allow the cathedral to be subject to the new order, the council simply closed it down, also stripping a particularly stubborn Catholic mayor of his authority. The Cistercian convent Harvestehude outside the city gates, which provided for daughters of elite families, remained similarly unyielding, and so was demolished by incensed citizens in the spring of 1530. This represents the only violent act during the entire Hamburg Reformation. Indeed, Melanchthon himself praised the overall peaceful course of the Reformation in Hamburg, remarking that “because its citizens are particularly circumspect and prudent, no city in that region was calmer during these turbulent times”.

Johannes Aepinus (1499–1553) The church was now refocused on its original tasks of pastoral care and the mediation of salvation, and its previous hierarchy abolished. The profound crisis of ­ecclesiastical authority, however, enhanced believers’ sensitivity to tensions inside the church, a situation that made later doctrinal disputes flare up quickly. Church institutions were put under council supervision, which also applied to the new superintendent. In 1532 the city’s highest ecclesiastical office was bestowed on Johann Aepinus from Brandenburg, previously the pastor at St. Peter’s. In 1525,

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Stephan Kempe, Johannes Bugenhagen and Johannes Aepinus

he had composed the very first Protestant church ordinance, while still in Stralsund. Aepinus’s authority and reputation in dogmatic questions (Anabaptists, Augsburg Interim, etc.) later positioned Hamburg in a certain church leadership role among north German Hanseatic cities. The restitution petition before the imperial High Court concluded in 1561 with a settlement leaving the chapter in possession of its material properties while granting the council sovereignty in questions of church doctrine. The council’s power was certainly enhanced by the Reformation, with a significant part being played by Lutheran Johannes Aepinus; portrait from Johann teaching on respect for the authorities. Agricola, “Wahrhaffte Bildnis etlicher Yet the citizenry was also strengthgelarten Menner”, Wittenberg, 1562 ened. Their rights of political and ecclesiastical participation through the new colleges endured into the nineteenth century and were even expanded after the deficit finance administration came under civic control in 1563. Yet these developments also reflect the strains that accompanied the Reformation, including the decades-long court case, the costly membership in the Smalkaldic League, and the even more costly Smalkaldic War (1546/47). Nevertheless, while the broader Hanseatic League gradually disintegrated not least as a result of the convulsions of the Reformation period itself — Lübeck’s wars, the Anabaptist Kingdom in Münster, Bremen’s Calvinism, Cologne’s adherence to Catholicism  — Hamburg itself continued to grow and prosper, becoming the destination of Dutch refugees of faith, English merchants and Jewish immigrants. The pragmatic policies of the Hamburg council also eventually rejected outdated Hanseatic principles and turned the effects of the Reformation to the city’s advantage.

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 Dr. Rainer Postel is emeritus professor of Social and Economic History focusing on early modernity at the Helmut Schmidt University / University of the Federal Armed Forces, Hamburg.

Further reading Heinrich Reincke, Hamburg am Vorabend der Reformation. Aus dem Nachlaß hg. von Erich von Lehe, Hamburg: Wittig, 1966 Rainer Postel, “Reformation und Gegenreformation, 1517–1618”, in: Hans-Dieter Loose (ed.), Hamburg. Geschichte der Stadt und ihrer Bewohner, vol. 1, Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe, 1982, pp. 191‒258 Rainer Postel, Die Reformation in Hamburg. 1517–1528, Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlags­ haus Gerd Mohn, 1986 Visiting Hamburg www.hamburg-travel.com/ www.hamburgmuseum.de/en www.kirche-hamburg.de

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Heidelberg Petrus Dathenus and Zacharias Ursinus by Christoph Strohm

At the very beginning of the Reformation an event fraught with consequences occurred in Heidelberg. In late October 1517, Luther sparked a heated debate with his 95 Theses against the sale of indulgences. The theses were quickly reprinted, and in early 1518 Luther found it necessary to expand on them in German and Latin. As Luther was an Augustinian monk, the fierce disputes concerning the theses also had repercussions for the order. Luther was requested to explain his objectives at the next meeting of the chapter of the order’s reformed congregation in Heidelberg. Accordingly, on 26 April 1518, Luther made a memorable appearance in the auditorium of the Faculty of Arts, at today’s University Square. The venue had to be changed because the Augustinian monastery was too small to accommodate the many interested members of the university.

A disputation that excited attention Luther did not disappoint his listeners. He expressed his criticism of the current theology in an unprecedentedly pointed and fundamental way. Starting with the first thesis of his Heidelberg Disputation he uttered a sentence that was sure to cause offense: “The law of God, the most salutary teaching of life, cannot bring people to righteousness, but rather impedes it.” Further, in the second and third thesis: “Much less can human works [...]. Human works always look good and seem to be good, but they are demonstrably mortal sins.” Of course, Luther knew that such speech was nonsense from a moral perspective. His point was to make clear in the strongest terms that, considered theologically, works are only good when they occur out of faith. For Luther, faith meant knowing oneself to be dependent on

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God’s mercy and having trust in God, not oneself. The drama and tragedy of sin are that people are incessantly selffixated and place themselves in God’s position. The essence of sin, which hinders life, is pride, and its opposite is faith that humbly places trust in God. This was a quite different tone from what the late medieval church was used to hearing. Luther’s theses sparked enthusiThis round bronze plaque in the pavement astic agreement among the youngof the University Square marks the place er listeners. The most important latwhere Martin Luther presented his theses er Reformers of southwest Germany for disputation on 26 April 1518 listened to the monk from Wittenberg and were won over to his cause by the Heidelberg Disputation. They were Martin Bucer, who had worked in Strasbourg since 1523, the Württemberg ­Reformers Johannes Brenz (1499–1570) and Erhard Schnepf, as well as Martin Frecht, the Reformer of the imperial city of Ulm.

The halting beginnings of the Reformation However, quite a while passed before Heidelberg and the Electoral Palatinate took part in the Reformation. For a long time, the religious policies of the rulers were marked by a peculiar combination of promotion, prohibition and tolerance. In the 1520s and 1530s, Elector Ludwig did not yet follow reformational policy-making. At the same time, he did not take any steps against the ecclesiastical reforms. His brother, Friedrich II, Elector since 1544, went further in his support of the Reformation. In 1545, he decreed the first church order according to which the Mass was to be held in German, no longer in Latin, and the veneration of saints was restricted. Nonetheless, he continued to try to mediate between the Catholic emperor and Protestant princes. In this same year the emperor prepared for a military solution to the Protestant problem. In 1547 the leaders of the Protestant movement suffered a devastating setback. In the following year, the Augsburg Interim hit them with a religious law that largely reversed the achievements of the Reformation. With this, the efforts to establish the Reformation in the Electoral Palatinate came to an end for a time.

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Heidelberg, colorized view from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 1, Cologne, 1593 Below left: the Castle; below right: the Church of the Holy Spirit

The Reformation Church Order of 1556 under Ottheinrich However, the wind soon changed in favor of the Protestants. The Religious Peace of Augsburg in 1555 allowed the Imperial Estates to opt for the traditional faith or that of the Reformation according to the Augsburg Confession, making it possible to speedily establish the Reformation in the Electoral Palatinate. In 1556, Count Palatine Ottheinrich of the Palatinate-Neuburg side lineage became Prince Elector. Immediately upon his accession to power in the Electoral Palatinate, he undertook a Reformation from above, issuing a Reformation mandate to the officials dated 16 April 1556, ordering them to adjust the teaching and order of the

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church according to Scripture and the Augsburg Confession. This intended to “end false worship” and forbid the “Popish mass” with its Eucharist using only one element. A short time later, Ottheinrich issued a general church order. This set in motion a moderate Lutheran Reformation that clearly distanced itself from undesired Catholic developments and, at the same time, had a relatively tolerant stance toward Anabaptists and other representatives of the left wing of the Reformation. Assimilating to the Upper German Reformation made sense because of the geographical closeness, but it was also in Ottheinrich’s personal interest. In Strasbourg and other cities of southwest Germany, similarly to Basel and Zurich, there was strong engagement in humanistic thinking. This Elector Ottheinrich, “Reformer” of the meant that the intellectual-spiritual Electoral Palatinate. Portrait from the “Thesaurus Picturarum” by Marcus zum dimension of the Christian faith was Lamm emphasized against all tendencies towards superstition. There also was an interest in the moral, life-changing consequences of faith and a fundamental criticism of everything monastic and clerical. The assimilation of the Electoral Palatinate to the Upper German Reformation found its expression in a mandate, dated 14 October 1557, and repeated on 14 December 1557, that abolished images and side altars from churches. At first, only a few monasteries were dissolved, for example, the monastery of Lorsch. Its valuable library was incorporated into that of the Elector and became the foundation of the famous Bibliotheca Palatina. In the following decades, scholars from much of Europe came to Heidelberg to study the books and manuscripts that were stacked in the galleries of the Church of the Holy Spirit (Heiliggeistkirche). In the fall of 1557, on the recommendation of Philipp Melanchthon, the Elector called Tileman Heshusen, who had been expelled from Rostock, to be General Superintendent of the Palatinate. In addition to this office and to the special superintendents subordinate to it, an ecclesiastical council was established to

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manage the Church of the Electoral Palatinate. It played a decisive role in the way the Reformation proceeded to unfold in the Electoral Palatinate and in its transition to Calvinistic-Reformed Protestantism.

Transition to Reformed Protestantism from 1559 to 1576 The death of Ottheinrich on 12 February 1559 ended the old Electoral line of succession. His successor, Friedrich III, descended from the line of PalatinateSimmern and was already 45 years old at the beginning of his reign. Since the mid1540s he had been considered a Lutheran and was raised in the courts of Nancy, Liège and Brussels. Under his predecessors there had already been connections of the Electoral Palatinate with the western European realm, and these were now strengthened. At first Friedrich III seemed to continue the church politics of his predecessors with no major changes, with a clear dissociation from Catholicism and openness to the Upper German Reformation. However, many factors soon led to a turn to Reformed Protestantism, which was initiated by conflicts concerning the doctrine of the Eucharist in Heidelberg’s Church of the Holy Spirit in 1559. Two rather uncompromising protagonists contributed significantly to the escalation of the issue. The young Wilhelm Klebitz, engaged by Ottheinrich in January 1558 as deacon and assistant pastor of the Church of the Holy Spirit, had shown seemingly Zwinglian interpretations of the Eucharist. This was met by extreme opposition from Heshusen. An official ruling could not prevent the exchange of further public insults and the two adversaries had to Elector Friedrich III with his two wives: be removed from office. Ultimately, the left, his first wife, Maria, daughter of the Elector was also able to gain the supMargrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach; port of Melanchthon, who, shortly beright, his second wife, Countess Amalie of fore his death, sent an endorsement of Neuenahr. Drawing from the “Thesaurus Picturarum” by Marcus zum Lamm this course of action.

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These conflicts played a catalytic role in the transition of the Electoral Palatinate to Reformed Protestantism in that Heshusen’s harsh demeanor toward the Elector and others in his entourage provoked a distancing from this kind of legalistic Lutheranism. More important for the transition of the Electoral Palatinate to Reformed Protestantism was the growing presence of Protestants who had been persecuted in western Europe. This led to a sharper distancing from Catholic doctrine. Within a few years numerous theologians, law professors and counselors were able to attain leading positions in the Electoral Palatinate. They were either from western Europe, or had studied there, or had in some way been affected by the persecution Petrus Dathenus. Portrait cut by Aart of Protestants in England, the Spanish Schouman in 1755, using an image from the Netherlands and France. sixteenth century On 22 February 1560 Caspar Ole­ vian, a lawyer and theologian from Trier, matriculated at the university and in the same year became a member of the Electoral Palatinate Church Council. He also took over the leadership of the College of Wisdom (Collegium Sapientiae), which opened in November 1556, and on 8 July 1561 he received the third professorial chair of Dogmatics at the Theological Faculty. Olevian had studied law starting in 1549/50 in Paris and Orleans and from 1556 onward in Bourges; then in March 1558 he had changed to theological studies in Geneva and later Zurich. Through the draft of the Palatine Church Constitution published in November 1563 and other laws, as well as participation in the Church Council, he made a significant contribution to the transition of the Electoral Palatinate to Calvinistic-Reformed Protestantism. The Protestant persecutions in western Europe increasingly affected Palatine politics and life at the court and university in Heidelberg because of the settling of refugee groups in former monasteries. Above all, the preacher Petrus Dathenus (1531/32–88), who had fled from persecution in Flanders, made the former Frankenthal Abbey his home on 3 June 1562, along with approximately sixty families, and quickly became an important theological advisor to the Elector. After

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An impressive witness to the Walloon presence in Heidelberg is the beautiful Renaissance facade of the Knight’s House (“Haus zum Ritter”), commissioned by the textile merchant Carolus Bélier (English: ram) from Tournai in 1592

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Dathenus returned to the Netherlands for a short time in 1566, he was made the Elector’s court chaplain from 1569/70 until the death of the ruler in 1576 and gained decisive influence on confessional politics in the Electoral Palatinate. As early as in 1564 he had been one of the Elector’s closest advisors. Still in the 1560s more refugee communities were settled in the former Cistercian abbey in Schönau, and also in Otterberg and Lambrecht. Dathenus and other western European religious refugees had a significant influence on the Electors with their court in Heidelberg. They were sympathetic to the fate of the persecuted brothers and sisters in faith in their western European homeland. It followed that Heidelberg increasingly developed into a center of a policy-making that tried to oppose the Habsburg-Catholic threat with a strong alliance of the Protestant powers of western Europe and the German Empire, later also including England. The downside of these efforts was the growing alienation from the Lutheran powers. By the early 1560s, those who opposed these developments as prominent followers of Luther had lost their influence and then also their positions. Those following a moderate path, more typical of Melanchthon, were put on the defensive by the dominant orientation toward an intellectual, political and military alliance with the western European brothers in faith. The most important representative of this position was Zacharias Ursinus (1534–83). Originally from Silesia, he was called as Olevian’s successor to the Collegium Sapientiae in the fall of 1561 and after August 1562 held the third lectureship in Dogmatics. Although from fall 1557 to spring 1558 Ursinus had studied in Zurich and had furthered his education with a trip to France and Geneva, his studies with Melanchthon in Wittenberg made the greatest impact on him. His criticism of the orientation of Electoral Palatine politics toward western European conflicts is documented in his letters. In May 1568 Ursinus sent a memorandum to the Elector in which he complained of the unauthorized involvement in the French wars and at the same time criticized the neglect of internal church matters. As professor of Dogmatics, Ursinus was given the task of supporting the desired confessional orientation by formulating a catechism. The Heidelberg Catechism, developed by Ursinus with the cooperation of Olevian and other Electoral Palatine theologians, and printed in 1563, was not only adopted in the Electoral Palatinate, but also quickly disseminated to Protestantism in the Netherlands by Dathenus. It combined Melanchthon’s moderating perspectives with a sharp differentiation from the Catholic doctrine, propagated by the western European religious refugees with their experiences of persecution. Precisely because different elements of Reformed Protestantism could relate to it, the Heidelberg Catechism had a quick and quite extraordinary influence extending far beyond Europe.

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The contents and form were shaped in such a way that the Catechism could not only be used as schoolbook but could also be read as a summary of Christian doctrine. In this way it could serve as a confession providing an orientation to determine true and false interpretations. Furthermore, the Heidelberg Catechism developed into a rewarding source of edification, comfort and prayer. Up until now, the Catechism has carried Heidelberg’s name out into the world, and is still a highly esteemed confessional text in Europe, Asia, Africa and America.

The Heidelberger Catechism. Title page of the third, definitive edition, Heidelberg, 1563

Japanese and Sinhalese translations of the Heidelberg Catechism, title pages

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 Dr. Christoph Strohm is professor of Reformation History and Modern Church History at Heidelberg University.

Further reading Eike Wolgast, Reformierte Konfession und Politik im 16. Jahrhundert. Studien zur Ge­­ schichte der Kurpfalz im Reformationszeitalter, Heidelberg: Winter, 1998 Christoph Strohm et al. (eds.), Heidelberg und die Kurpfalz, Leipzig: Evangelische Verlags­ anstalt, 2013 (Orte der Reformation, Journal 6) Christoph Strohm and Jan Stievermann (eds.), The Heidelberg Catechism: Origins, Characteristics, and Influences: Essays in Reappraisal on the Occasion of its 450th Anniversary, Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2015

Visiting Heidelberg www.heidelberg-marketing.de/en.html www.schloss-heidelberg.de/en/home www.museum-heidelberg.de/pb/,Len/896835.html www.ekihd.de

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Herborn Caspar Olevian by Tobias Sarx

Herborn is a small, tranquil town on the edge of the Westerwald. At first glance, nothing suggests that around 1600 some quite significant, even epochal publications were printed here that then made their way to various centers of European power. Today the house of the Corvin Printing Company (built ca. 1570) is still located alongside the Protestant church, whose history goes back even further, into the Middle Ages. The Hohe Schule, too, formerly a school of higher learning, located in the handsomely restored older part of town, is rather modest in appearance compared to other university edifices of the Reformation period. Yet scholars taught and studied here whose influence extended far beyond Germany and, as in the case of educationist Johann Amos Comenius, is still strong today.

Adoption of the Reformation in Nassau-Dillenburg During the time of the great Reformers Luther, Melanchthon, Zwingli and Calvin, Herborn was part of the county of Nassau-Dillenburg, administered from 1516 by Count Wilhelm the Rich. He developed an early interest in Luther’s teachings and forbade the sale of indulgences in his territory in 1518, only a few months after Luther’s posting up his theses. However, Wilhelm remained reserved about further activities on behalf of the Reformation. He was disinclined to come into conflict with Emperor Charles V, who viewed himself as the guardian of the Catholic Church and as of the Imperial Diet in Worms in 1521 tried to thwart Reformation activities in the German territories. Wilhelm the Rich was similarly present in Worms, albeit not to support Luther and his new teaching, but to settle a conflict over inheritance with the neighboring Landgrave of Hesse. Because Wilhelm was dependent on the

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Herborn; view from Wilhelm Dilich, “Hessische Chronica”, Kassel 1605, after a sketch from between 1570 and 1584

Dillenburg; colorized view from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 6, Cologne, 1618. Detail

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emperor’s favor in this affair, any open commitment to the Protestant cause would have significantly damaged his chances of success in the conflict. Even though in 1529 Wilhelm the Rich appointed as his court chaplain Heilmann Bruchhausen from Crombach, who was inclined toward Lutheran teachings, he initially refrained from officially adopting the Reformation in his territory. It was only in 1530, when still no decision had been made in his favor at the Imperial Diet in Augsburg, that the Nassau-Dillenburg ruler abandoned this reserve. In 1532 a church ordinance based on Reformation principles appeared instructing clerics to base their sermons solely on the Bible and to refrain from mentioning legends of the saints. The Nuremberg Church Ordinance was adopted in 1534 as the next step toward a wholly Protestant church institution (suspending, among other things, celibacy for priests and abolishing the Mass). The Instructions for simple pastors and sextons of 1537 largely completed the preconditions for an ecclesiastical reorganization in Nassau-Dillenburg. Reformational liturgies for baptism, the Eucharist, and worship services were now supplemented by instructions for regular conferences of pastors to promote dialogue on spiritual matters. Important topics, moreover, were now to be discussed at a biannual synod. Organized visitations of the sort already adopted in other Protestant territories were instituted to examine conditions in the various church communities from time to time and correct potential problems. Erasmus Sarcerius, who came to Nassau-Dillenburg in 1538 as court preacher and superintendent, was particularly effective in this regard.

Establishing the Hohe Schule and appointing Caspar Olevian Until 1584, the fundamental initiatives for political and ecclesiastical reform in Nassau-Dillenburg originated not in Herborn itself, but in neighboring Dillenburg. The Dillenburg castle served as the primary residence of the count’s family, which from the 1560s onward became increasingly involved in broader European political developments. This had commenced especially with the first-born son of Wilhelm the Rich, who in 1544 had inherited the principality of Orange from his cousin and afterwards, as William I of Orange, led the Protestant estates against Spain in the Dutch War of Independence. His younger brother Johann VI inherited the hereditary territories of his father after the latter’s death in 1559. When in 1567 William and his army were forced into a defensive posture in the Netherlands, he fled to Dillenburg and turned his brother’s castle into an important base for the Dutch opposition for several years. A little-known fact is that the Dutch royal family descends from Johann VI of Nassau and even today continues to acknowledge that connection with the former county of Nassau-Dillenburg.

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To the extent that logistical and financial support for the Dutch struggle for independence allowed, Johann VI subjected the county of Nassau-Dillenburg to a comprehensive administrative reform after he took office. To do so, however, he needed a considerable number of well-educated officials, and such persons were not easy to recruit during the second half of the sixteenth century. From comparable situations in other German territories, however, Johann VI knew that having one’s own university made it considerably easier to attract sufficient numbers of students and then also to convince them to commit to that territory long-term. The conversion of the Dillenburg Johann VI of Nassau-Dillenburg (1536– count’s family from the Lutheran to 1606) during the last years of his life; lifethe Reformed confession proved to be size portrait ca. 1600 by an unknown artist. Formerly in the possession of the “Hohe a favorable step toward planning and Schule” eventually founding a school of higher learning. Dutch freedom fighters brought Johann VI into contact with the Reformed faith of the Swiss Reformer John Calvin, in which after initial reservations he discovered a logical continuation of the reforms initiated earlier by ­Luther. Among other steps, beginning in 1574 he followed previous Reformed practice by eliminating baptism exorcisms, instituting the use of bread instead of hosts in the Eucharist, and organizing the election of presbyteries in individual church communities. The Heidelberg Catechism was adopted as the binding confession in all church communities in 1581. This confessional change was important for the anticipated establishment of a school of higher learning as it brought the count into contact with Caspar Olevian, whose commitment to the Reformed confession had brought him into disfavor in his previous position in Heidelberg when the latter temporarily became Lutheran. Caspar Olevian was a scholar of European renown and as such an ideal ­drawing card for the envisioned school of higher learning. Even his own previous places of study demonstrated his erudition: three years studying philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris, thereafter four years of legal studies in Orléans and Bourges, at the time the most important center of humanistic jurisprudence. Although Olevian earned

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his Dr. jur. in 1557, a dramatic experience at a river near Bourges brought him to theology. While attempting to save a fellow student from drowning, he suddenly found himself in a dangerous situation that could have cost him his life. In the midst of this danger, he vowed to devote himself to spreading the gospel if he escaped with his life. Much like the young Luther, Olevian ­afterward felt bound by his vow. He journeyed to Geneva to study theology under Calvin, later moving on to Zurich, where he studied under the Reformer Heinrich Bullinger. Since all early modern universities consisted of the four departments of philosophy, theology, jurisprudence and medicine, Olevian’s comprehensive education in three of the four subjects was of incalculable value for Johann VI’s plans to Caspar Olevian (1536–1587) at thirty years establish a university for his own terold; portrait by an unknown artist, 1566. ritory. For the Count of Nassau-Dillen­burg, Caspar Olevian was an attractive candidate for the position of rector of the envisioned university for yet another reason. For more than a decade and a half (1560–76), Olevian had, at the initiative of the Elector Palatine in Heidelberg, served first as a professor of theology at the university, later as court preacher and consistory councilor, and then as a leading figure in the transition of the Electoral Palatinate to the Reformed confession. That is, in the Electoral Palatinate he had contributed to precisely the same process Johann VI was envisioning for NassauDillenburg. The chances of securing Olevian as rector for the planned university were actually quite good in the early 1580s. The renowned theologian had been dismissed in Heidelberg in 1576 after the new elector turned away from the Reformed confession. Theologians there were forced to choose either to do likewise or to leave the territory entirely. Olevian chose to leave the Electoral Palatinate, and had since been working in Berleburg at the court of Ludwig I of Wittgenstein as tutor to the latter’s sons. Ludwig I, however, was already friends with Johann VI and was similarly interested in having a Reformed school of higher learning established in

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the immediate vicinity. Hence it was quite natural to involve Olevian in these plans. Although the theologian was initially skeptical when approached, he quickly recognized that the establishment of such a university would not only educate subsequent generations of academic youth in Nassau-Dillenburg itself, but also serve to strengthen the Reformed faith in Europe as such, which was already being threatened from various quarters. So he declared his willingness to participate. When Olevian took over the pastorate at the Herborn town church in the spring of 1584, suitable space in the neighboring castle was put at his disposal, and with this arrangement Herborn was chosen as the location of the new school. And indeed, when teaching got under way during the summer of 1584, Herborn experienced a significant upswing. The subjects Theology, Philosophy, Law and Medicine quickly acquired reputable scholars as teachers. This was due in large part to Caspar Olevian himself, who managed to persuade his colleagues Johannes Piscator and Wilhelm Zepper to agree to develop a specifically Reformed theological profile for the school. Although he was never formally the rector of the school, leaving this to his friend Piscator (in office from 1584 to 1589) Olevian was the guiding light. He made another good move in 1586 by initiating the appointment of Johannes Althusius, a native of Wittgenstein, who a short time before had received his doctorate in jurisprudence in Basel.

The Hohe Schule Herborn as a Reformed educational institution of European fame Olevian laid the foundation for the unique Reformed profile of the Hohe Schule with his book Gnadenbund Gottes (God’s covenant of grace), which he had finished just before moving to Herborn. One of the most attractive features of Olevian’s theological approach was that he traced all the “articles” of Christian faith back to God’s covenants with human beings (covenants with Noah, Abraham, the “new covenant” in Christ). This approach, however, was more than merely a theological subtlety, for drawing on covenant theology offered Reformed theologians an element of ultimate certainty. As long as they held fast to God, God, too, would remain loyal to the covenant promises. Since the Reformed confession was already a punishable offense in many European territories, such certainty of faith in the face of oppression and persecution was of incalculable value. Another idea of Olevian was to get the Hohe Schule to follow the logical teaching method of Petrus Ramus, i. e. presenting the material according to sound pedagogical principles. The systematic structure of complex scholarly themes was rendered optically visible and more easily accessible by subdividing them conceptually in tabular form. Olevian’ aim here was to encourage philosophical

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The Herborg Academy’s “disputation pews”, built ca. 1610. During disputations, a presiding professor sat in the upper pew, while the respondent defended his theses from the lower pew and his opponent stood opposite him in the first row of pews. Drawing from an eighteenthcentury personal album from Herborn

and theological debate so as to practice it in real life. And indeed, soon after its establishment the Hohe Schule acquired a reputation for offering students excellent vocational preparation. Rather than being an end in itself, academic training was always to focus on combining theory with praxis, or  — put theologically  — on integrating Reformed doctrine into daily life. Olevian hoped that in this way the Reformed confession would prove its merit on the broader European stage and spread further. Picking up on precisely this idea, Wilhelm Zepper, initially a court preacher in Dillenburg and from 1594 active in Herborn, developed the scholarly discipline of Reformed ecclesiastical law in his book Politia ecclesiastica, though now oriented toward practical application. The first edition of the book, published in 1595 by Christoph Corvin, whose press was located next to the Herborn town church, enjoyed considerable success in many Reformed territories in western Europe. Zepper was also widely read among English and North American Puritans. Johannes Althusius, a legal scholar, produced a Politica methodice digesta, inspired by Reformed piety, which was similarly published in Herborn (1603). It represents a genuinely epoch-making contribution to the Reformed theory of the state. Althusius applied the inherent political doctrine of Calvinism to law by developing a model of bottom-up sovereignty by the people, including their

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The house next to the town church, built ca. 1570, where Corvin had his printing shop; Corvin himself had the stair tower added in 1606

supervision of state organs and a right to resistance in the case of an abuse of power. This Reformed profile of Herborn’s Hohe Schule proved to be extremely attractive to the rising generation of scholars, and the number of students quickly exceeded three hundred, reaching about four hundred in the early seventeenth century. Because of this extraordinary increase, the modest edifice of the old Herborn town church proved to be inadequate, and between 1599 and 1609 the Romanesque nave was dismantled and replaced by a more spacious area for preaching with a balcony on either side. The previous Romanesque towers and Gothic choir remained in place. The upper story was expanded and a threestory addition built on the south side to serve the Hohe Schule. Today the town church, the house of the Corvin printing company, and the old town hall, which was similarly altered to become part of the Hohe Schule, still recall the heyday of Herborn as a center of Reformed education and training.

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Entry to the “Kollegium”, the main building of the “Hohe Schule” between 1592 and 1817. Today it houses the Herborn town museum. Next to the portal: a commemorative plaque for Johan Amos Comenius, a Herborn student between 1611 and 1613

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 Dr. Tobias Sarx was on the academic staff at Marburg University from 2007 to 2013. He is now a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany.

Further reading Gerhard Menk, Die Hohe Schule Herborn in ihrer Frühzeit (1584–1660). Ein Beitrag zum Hochschulwesen des deutschen Kalvinismus im Zeitalter der Gegenreformation, Wiesbaden: Historische Kommission für Nassau,1981 Sebastian Schmidt, Glaube — Herrschaft — Disziplin. Konfessionalisierung und Alltagskultur in den Ämtern Siegen und Dillenburg (1538–1683), Paderborn et al., Schöningh, 2005 Robert Scott Clark, Caspar Olevian and the substance of the covenant. The double benefit of Christ, Edinburgh: Rutherford House, 2005 Andreas Mühling, Caspar Olevian 1536–1587. Christ, Kirchenpolitiker und Theologe, Zug: Achius, 2008 Visiting Herborn www.herborn.de/tourism/?L=1 www.herborn.de/kultur/museum/museum-herborn/?L=1 www.evangelische-kirche-herborn.de/

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Hermannstadt/Sibiu Paul Wiener by Daniel Buda

Origin Paul Wiener was presumably born in 1495 in the Slovene town of Kranj (German: Krainburg) or in the city historically often referred to by its German name as Laibach (Slovene: Ljubljana) in the historical region of Upper Carniola (Slovene: Gorenjska). We know almost nothing about his childhood and youth except that he had a brother who lost his life in Hungarian service in 1536 when the Turks besieged Clissa. Recent research documents Wiener’s enrolment at Vienna University on 13 October 1514. In 1520 he became canon, vicar general and episcopal councilor in Laibach. Subsequent important positions included sitting as a member of the clerical estate in the Carniolan provincial parliament, as “collector” with the territorial administration (1530) and serving on several important special commissions associated with Carniolan territorial towns. Around 1536, Wiener, like other Laibach canons, became increasingly sympathetic toward the Reformation. During this same period, he also secretly married, and when this marriage became known, the town council issued an arrest warrant for him, which was, however, never carried out. He remarried after his first wife died. In 1544 the Laibach bishop Urban Textor, who resided in Vienna, vested him with delivering the German sermons in Laibach cathedral, entrusting the Slovene sermons to Primož Truber. It was during this period that Wiener’s friendship and collaboration with Truber began, who is viewed as the Reformer of the Slovenes and founder of the Slovene written language. Wiener also familiarized himself during this period with the writings of the Church Fathers and with those of various Reformers, including Martin Luther.

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Imprisonment in Vienna In 1547, having discovered that both Wiener and Truber had secretly married and had celebrated the Eucharist in both kinds, Bishop Urban Textor ordered their arrest. Wiener’s entire financial assets were confiscated, and he was taken to Laibach castle. Urban Textor journeyed from Vienna to conduct the hearing himself, after which he sent the minutes to King Ferdinand in Augsburg. The result was that Wiener now faced either being burned alive or, should mercy be shown, beheaded. Surprisingly, however, a royal missive arrived in Laibach ordering that Wiener be taken to Vienna, where he was imprisoned in the Franciscan monastery to defend his case before a commission appointed by the king. The commission was chaired by Wiener’s earlier acquaintance and friend Friedrich Nausea, the Bishop of Vienna, and otherwise composed of two bishops and five doctors, including Burkhard de Monte, Wiener’s most resolute opponent. The commission enumerated Wiener’s responses in a brief summarium but Wiener refused to sign it, maintaining that it did not accurately present his statements. Instead, he directed a “petition” to King Ferdinand, who then ordered a new interrogation of the accused concerning his complaints. Wiener refused yet again to sign the confession presented by the commission, sending a new “report” to the king containing a further “explication”. In this report, Wiener now also described his own ill condition for the king, emphasizing how his health had been ruined such that he could now walk only using Index of Cod. Theol. 1144. The first part a cane and was lacking even the bare (“The writing of Herr Paul Wiener as essentials for subsistence, since his fisubmitted to the royal government ‘in causa nancial assets had been frozen. Indeed, fidei’, 1548”) contains Wiener’s detailed confession of faith on 255 folio pages even his “explication”, he argued, had

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not been properly composed, since he had access to none of his books. He requested that the king grant him a different place of residence. Wiener’s “Explication” of 1548 also contained a confession of faith whose text has been preserved in a copy in the Hamburg University Library under the signature Cod. Theol. 1144. It was composed in German with citations from the Church Fathers in Latin. Its twelve articles address the following themes: (1) the pope and the power of the church; (2) the sacraments; (3) transubstantiation; (4) administering holy sacrament of the Eucharist in one or two kinds; (5) the sacrifice of the Mass; (6) penitence and its component parts; (7) confession; (8) justification; (9) invoking and worshiping the saints; (10) purgatory; (11) the marital status of priests; (12) the decision to recant. Throughout this confession of faith, Wiener consistently referred especially to the Bible, stating explicitly that his confession contained not a single article “that was not grounded in Scripture and supported by statements from the old Catholic Fathers”. These “old Catholic fathers” whom Wiener cites include Irenaeus of Lyon, Cyprian, Ambrose, John Chrysostom, Bernard of Clairvaux and even Thomas Aquinas. Although Wiener mentions Luther and Melanchthon only once, he is undoubtedly following the Wittenberg Reformation line.

Hermannstadt Surprisingly, King Ferdinand pardoned Wiener, albeit only on condition that he now immigrate to Transylvania. Wiener arrived in Hermannstadt in 1548, and some scholars have speculated that by liberating Wiener and sending him to Transylvania, King Ferdinand was actually trying to win over the Saxons, who had become Protestant. The Hungarian army had been soundly defeated by the Turks at the battle of Mohács on 29 August 1526, whereupon an ongoing struggle for the Hungarian throne erupted between Ferdinand I of Habsburg and John Zápolya Wojewode of Transylvania. From around 1541, Johann Honterus from Kronstadt (Romanian: Braşov) had spread Reformation doctrines among the Transylvanian Saxons, and toward the end of 1543 the Reformation had been adopted in Hermannstadt on the Kronstadt model. As a result, in 1550 the “National University” (the political organ of selfgovernment representing the rural estates of Transylvanian Saxony) resolved that the Reformation be implemented uniformly within its jurisdiction. The church ordinance agreed in the spring of 1547 was published in Kronstadt — initially in Latin, and shortly afterward in a German translation attributed to Honterus. As early as 1546, Martin Bucer wrote that “all of Transylvania … has become Lutheran, as one calls it, and Protestant”, even though such was not entirely the

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Hermannstadt; engraving by Hans Jakob Schollenberger, from Johannes Tröster, “Das Alt- und Neu-Teutsche Dacia”, Nuremberg, 1666

case. The church ordinance of 1547 was indeed oriented toward the Reformation, but the process of forming a confession was far from concluded, likewise the issues of church leadership. The Reformation, after beginning with Honterus in Kronstadt, now spread to other German towns in Transylvania, though Hermannstadt maintained its position of political leadership in the region. Culturally as well, this town played the most important role. The first printing company in Transylvania, for example, had existed there since 1529, whereas Honterus did not establish a similar press in Kronstadt until 1539. Accordingly, alongside its political leadership, Hermannstadt now also wanted to take the lead in church matters. Not surprisingly, a year after his arrival in Hermannstadt Wiener is listed in the mayoral budget as a preacher. His salary was initially raised from 25 to 80 gilders, then in 1551 by another 151 gilders, doubtless a sign that the Transylvanian Saxons were

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quite satisfied with his sermons. On 11 May 1552, Wiener was elected town prea­cher, and on 6 February 1553, ­superintendent (bishop). The clerical synod that chose Wiener as “superintendent” declared, “He is its visible head, convenes the assembly, maintains order and consecrates preachers through blessing and the laying on of hands.” On 22 March 1553, Wiener ordained Saxon pastors in the Hermannstadt parish church. The criteria they were to fulfill included the following: familiarity with the primary tenets of the Christian faith and especially the catechism; the ability to cite the source passages from Scripture underlying the catechism explanations; the ability to repeat Latin doctrinal statements in their native language; familiarity with the number and order of the books of The Latin church ordinance that appeared the Old and the New Testaments; evin Kronstadt in 1547 idence that they were leading a “godly life”. In 1553 Valentin Wagner gave Wiener a copy of Philipp Melanchthon’s Confessio doctrinae Saxonicarum ecclesiarum, which had appeared that same year in Leipzig, probably so that Wiener could keep up to date with Wittenberg theology. During 1554, Hermannstadt was stricken with the plague. A thousand residents died, including, on 16 August 1554, Bishop Wiener. Mathias Hebler was chosen to succeed him (bishop 1556–71). In the phase of Habsburg rule (1551–56) it was politically opportune to stress church tradition. In 1554 representatives of the Saxon “National University” visited the Catholic bishop in Weissenburg (Romanian: Alba Iulia), urgently demanding that he cease disturbing the Saxons in the exercise and confession of their faith. And yet, in 1555, a full year after Wiener’s death, the Saxons were again paying cathedral fees cathedral fees to Weissenburg. Wiener is remembered in the history of the Protestant church of the Tran­ sylvanian Saxons as its first superintendent (bishop). Although his unexpectedly

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The Hermannstadt town church

early death did not permit him to have much of an impact as bishop, he did manage during his short time in office to establish the Reformation in Transylvania according to the Wittenberg model. Unlike his friend, the Slovene Reformer Primož Truber, who was inclined to follow the Swiss understanding of the Lord’s Supper, Wiener followed Luther’s Eucharistic doctrine of the real presence of the body and blood of Christ, a position his successor, Mathias Hebler, maintained. The fact that Wiener as a Slovene foreigner was able to influence so decisively the fate of the Reformation in Transylvanian Saxony demonstrates the extent to which the Reformation was a European phenomenon, with countless connections extending from east to west and from north to south.

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Commemorative plaque for Paul Wiener, 2009

In 2009 the Evangelical Lutheran congregation in Hermannstadt/Sibiu, together with the Slovene minority in Romania, erected a commemorative plaque on the Saxon-Lutheran Community House at Huet Platz 1 with the following text in Slovene, Romanian and German:

“Paul Wiener, 1495–1554 Friend of the Reformer Primož Truber in Slovenia From 1549 preacher and town pastor in Hermannstadt From 1553 first superintendent of the Evangelical Church of the A[ugsburg] C[onfession] in Transylvania”

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 Dr. Daniel Buda, archpriest of the Romanian Orthodox Church, is professor of Church History in the department of Orthodox theology “Andrei Saguna” of the Lucian-Blaga University in Hermannstadt/Sibiu, and works with the World Council of Churches in Geneva on the staff of the Faith and Order Commission.

Further reading Ludwig Theodor Elze, “Paul Wiener”, in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 42, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, 1897, pp. 420−422 Karl Reinerth, “Humanismus und Reformation bei den Siebenbürger Sachsen”, in: Südostdeutsches Archiv 13 (1970), pp. 71−76 Karl Reinerth, “Das Glaubensbekenntnis Paul Wieners, des ersten evangelischen Bischofs der Siebenbürger Sachsen”, in: Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 67 (1976), pp. 203− 231 Hermann Jekeli, Die Bischöfe der evangelischen Kirche A. B. in Siebenbürgen, part 1: Die Bischöfe der Jahre 1553−1867, mit einem Vorwort von Paul Philippi, Köln/Wien: Böhlau, ²1978, pp. 3−10 Michael Kroner, “Wiener Paul”, in: Walter Myß (ed.), Lexikon der Siebenbürger Sachsen, Innsbruck: Wort-und-Welt-Verlag, 1993, p. 572 Visiting Hermannstadt/Sibiu www.turism.sibiu.ro/index.php/de http://evang.ro/hermannstadt/

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Kronstadt/Bras,ov Johannes Honterus and Valentin Wagner by Andreas Müller

In the city of Kronstadt/Brașov, located in present-day Transylvania (Romania), the Reformation unfolded in a rather unique fashion. As the most important city in the Burzenland (Romanian: Ţara Bârsei) region situated in the southeastern, innermost part of the Carpathian Mountains, Kronstadt’s Reformation experience was shaped by both the political and the specific cultural situation of Transylvania.

A multiethnic region As early as the sixteenth century, Kronstadt represented a kind of carousel of European cultures, with various ethnic groups living in the town and surrounding area. The character of the town itself was shaped by the German-speaking Transylvanian Saxons soon after its founding in the thirteenth century. The suburb of Schei was settled by ethnic Romanians, in particular, who carefully cultivated their own Orthodox traditions. Alongside the Romanians and Transylvanian Saxons, however, Hungarians and Székelys similarly contributed to the region’s character. Greeks, Bulgarians, and several other, smaller ethnic groups also made their presence known in Kronstadt. By and large, these individual ethnic groups tended to cultivate their own languages and cultures, and during the post-Reformation period even their own confessional cultures. Hence the Reformation here played out against a clearly multiethnic regional background. If we are to believe the Reformation booklet of Johannes Honterus, critical queries from Orthodox believers directed to the Catholic Transylvanian Saxons in the region helped to set the Reformation in motion here.

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The “Turkish menace”

The region’s political circumstances provided a second stimulus for the Reformation. In 1526 Ottoman troops had soundly defeated the Hungarian army under King Louis II at Mohács, and in 1538 Hungary, to which Transylvania belonged, was partitioned in the Treaty of Grosswardein/Oradea. Beginning in 1541, Transylvania was clearly a vassal state under Ottoman suzerainty. The Reformation in Transylvania took place, moreover, during the precise period in which the Ottomans enjoyed their grandest successes in what was formerly Hungarian territory, including the conquest of Budapest. Hence while in the Holy Roman Empire the “Turkish menace” was known largely through reports from distant places, in Transylvania, especially following the victorious Ottoman campaigns beginning in 1420, it was a real-life experience (cf. map on p. 126). Traces of this defensive posture can still be found in the numerous fortified churches around Kronstadt. The Reformation offered what might be viewed in this

Kronstadt; engraving by Hans Jakob Schollenberger, from Johannes Tröster, “Das Alt- und Neu-Teutsche Dacia”, Nuremberg, 1666

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Johannes Honterus and Valentin Wagner

context as a more “spiritual” defense. In any event, the Transylvanian Reformers believed that turning away from what they viewed as incorrect religious practices and sharpening their focus on God would provide them with a kind of “spiritual weapon” against this Ottoman superiority.

Johannes Honterus The humanist Johannes Honterus (1498–1549) played the leading role in establishing the Reformation in Kronstadt. As the author of the Reformations­ büch­lein für Kronstadt und das Burzenland (Reformation booklet for Kronstadt and Burzenland), a Kronstadt council member, educationist, and first Protestant pastor in Kronstadt, Honterus set the stage for later religious developments in the region. The spirit of humanism, expressed in resolute commitment to the teachings of Melanchthon, was especially influential in shaping the early stages of the Reformation. Honterus, a native of Kronstadt, studied at Vienna University, an institution strongly influenced by humanism. Beginning in 1527, having earned his master’s degree, he taught in Vienna and then probably also in Kronstadt itself. In 1529, as a follower of the Habsburg Ferdinand I, he had to flee Kronstadt because the rival king, Johannes Zápolya, had meanwhile gained control of the city. Honterus fled first to Regensburg, then to Cracow, and finally by way of Nuremberg and Augsburg on to Basel. There he made the acquaintance of, among others, Sebastian Münster and Johannes Oecolampadius, and enhanced his acquaintance with humanism. In Basel he worked for the first time as a cartographer, publishing not only two celestial maps but also, in 1532, a map of Transylvania that remains famous even today. He returned to Kronstadt in 1533, where he was elected to the “Hundred” and eventually also to the town Johannes Honterus with his motto, “Watch council. In 1539 Honterus established and pray”; woodcut, ca. 1550

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a printing press in Kronstadt with the intention of reforming the school system. In any event, this press quickly began publishing essentially all the teaching materials in Kronstadt.

Introduction of the Reformation Reformation ideas did not take hold in Kronstadt until after Johannes Zápolya died, his widow, Isabella, took over the town administration, and Johannes Fuchs was installed as municipal judge in 1541. Fuchs supported the Reformation in his role as representative of a middle class that was already receptive toward Reformation ideas. Honterus became active behalf of the Reformation from 1542, influenced possibly also by Valentin Wagner (ca. 1510–57), a teacher who had studied in Wittenberg and then brought Reformation ideas back to Kronstadt. In 1542 the municipal administration supported a move to eliminate the earlier Catholic

Title page of Johannes Honterus, “Reformation booklet”, 1543; Wittenberg reprint with a preface by Philipp Melanchthon

Honterus statue by Harro Magnussen in front of the Black Church in Kronstadt, 1898

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Johannes Honterus and Valentin Wagner

The “Black Church” of Kronstadt where Honterus was pastor

Mass and to begin celebrating the Eucharist in both kinds, a situation prompting Honterus to publish the Reformation booklet for Kronstadt and Burzenland in 1543 that took its orientation from, among other sources, the Wittenberg church ordinance of 1533. A provincial parliament in Weissenburg (Romanian: Alba Iulia) provided a broader framework for discussing these initial Reformation impulses among the Saxons. Matthias Ramser from Hermannstadt then asked the Wittenberg Reformers for their opinion of the events in Kronstadt. Luther, Melanchthon and Bugenhagen all voiced strong approval of the measures that had been taken. Afterwards not only Hermannstadt, but also Mediasch (Romanian: Mediaș), Schässburg (Sighișoara), and Bistritz (Bistrita) joined the Reformation. At the same time, a secondary school was established in Kronstadt, the later Honterus Gymnasium, for which Honterus himself provided an ordinance in 1543. This school, opposite the Black Church (so named after the fire of 1689), still remains one of the characteristic edifices in the center of town. In 1544 the city administration shared responsibility for instigating an incident of iconoclasm in Kronstadt, albeit one that Honterus himself, after becoming city

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pastor in April of the same year, in part reversed. Honterus must be viewed as more committed to the town council than to the Burzenland pastoral chapter. He resolutely supported the unity of the Christian and civil communities, precisely the sort of alliance in urban settings that contributed considerably to the successful adoption of the Reformation not only in Kronstadt but in all of Transylvania. Initially, however, the Reformation remained limited to the Saxon “Nation”. Accordingly, in 1547, the Honterus printing company published a Kirchenordnung aller Deutschen in Siebenbürgen (Church ordinance for all Germans in Tran­ sylvania) at the initiative of the Saxon “National University”. This text, to which Valentin Wagner also contributed, provided a document for consolidating the Reformation among the Saxons. The document follows the theology of the Letter to James in highly valuing Christian practice, or rather the works associated with it. It also addressed the misunderstanding that justification by faith alone would not lead to an appropriate lifestyle. This emphasis on striving for a Christian way of life derived from Honterus’ humanistic background. It fitted with the Kronstadt civil community’s interest in a well-organized and well-ordered moral and religious life, not least in times of political instability and threat. Shortly after the adoption of this “church ordinance for all Germans in Transylvania”, and with the death of Honterus in 1549, the Reformation of the Transylvanian Saxons was formally concluded.

Valentin Wagner While monuments such as that by the Berlin sculptor Harro Magnussen (1898) in front of the Black Church kept alive the memory of the Johannes Honterus in the town’s collective consciousness, recollection of the second important Transylvanian Reformer, Valentin Wagner, have faded almost entirely; indeed, his only monument in Kronstadt is a modest street name. Whereas Johannes Honterus set the stage for the Reformation in Kronstadt, Wagner was authoring comprehensive theological essays, especially his 1550 Greek Katichisis. He may be viewed as doing the actual theological work for the Transylvanian Reformation in Kronstadt. From 1540/41 Wagner taught at the newly established Kronstadt secondary school. On 13 April 1542, he enrolled at the university in Wittenberg, where he seems to have remained till at least early 1543 and where he most likely studied under Philipp Melanchthon. Melanchthon’s correspondence seems to indicate that Melanchthon kept track of his pupil even after the latter’s stay in Wittenberg. It was probably during Wagner’s first journey to Wittenberg in 1542 that the plan for a Greek catechism emerged. With this Katichisis of 1550, a 205-page publication

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Johannes Honterus and Valentin Wagner

Title page of Valentin Wagner, “Katichisis”, 1550

Title page of Valentin Wagner, “Praecepta vitae Christianae”, 1554

composed in Greek, Wagner was addressing not only pupils in Kronstadt, but also Greeks within the Ottoman Empire. Intensive connections between Kronstadt and contacts within the Ottoman Empire would have made it quite possible to distribute this Katichisis more broadly. The book represents the first decidedly theological document associated with the Transylvanian Saxon Reformation. This synthetic catechism, strongly oriented toward Melanchthon’s theology, outlines in twenty dialogues the Christian tradition and pagan education and culture, both in a wholly independent fashion. It was published by the Honterus printing company in Kronstadt soon after Wagner accepted an appointment as city pastor, appearing on what is doubtless a symbolic date, 31 October 1550. From 1544 Wagner was headmaster at the Kronstadt secondary school, though now also a member of the town council. On 29 January 1549 he succeeded Honterus as Kronstadt city pastor, and from 1551 Wagner is mentioned with rather surprising frequency as dean of Burzenland. During a second stay in Wittenberg in

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Museum in the Coresi Printing Shop

1554, Wagner became even more closely acquainted with Melanchthon. He earned his master’s degree on 15 February of that same year. The year before, in 1553, he had begun working more frequently as a publisher and by 1555 had taken over the Honterus printing company completely. These Reformation activities notwithstanding, Wagner cannot really be viewed as a “Lutheran” in the sense of the later confessional understanding. His Praecepta vitae Christianae (1554), for example, reflects anything but pure forms of the Lutheran doctrine of justification. In fact, it handles topics such as justification through suffering and martyrdom, or the necessity of keeping the divine laws and of a virtuous life, in a remarkably uncritical fashion. By intimately combining both Christian and pagan assertions in its treatment of natural virtue, the book associated virtue with religious practice and even anchors this notion in soteriology far more strongly than Melanchthon did. These considerations position Wagner closer to the thinking of the later Melanchthon, at least, though also to other humanistic Reformers.

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Johannes Honterus and Valentin Wagner

The Kronstadt Reformation initially had no effect on its Orthodox neighbors, who did not take much notice of Wagner’s catechism. Nevertheless, repeated attempts were made during the Reformation period itself, e. g. through catechisms, to win the Romanian population over to the Reformation. Researchers have hotly debated the activities of the municipal judge Johannes Benkner in March 1559. With the aid of Romanian translations of the catechism, made by the Orthodox deacon and printer Coresi (†1583), he made a great effort to promote Protestant influence among Orthodox inhabitants of the city and to reform the “church of the Wallachians”. The catechism now constituted the instructional material for Orthodox Christians as well, albeit for only a brief period and without any real success with respect to conversions. However, these events provide the first evidence that a catechism was also being used in Orthodox settings. The Reformation protagonists generated new forms of religious instruction within the broader Romanian context and, to that extent, at least in Kronstadt — as the carrousel of cultures mentioned earlier  — the Reformation did influence the Orthodoxy of the Eastern Church. Other publications from the Coresi printing shop contributed in a new way to strengthening Orthodox confessional culture and the Romanian language, as demonstrated still today in a museum located the old Coresi Printing Company in the Schei section of Kronstadt. The impressive publication activity in the Coresi print shop would never have come about without the activities of the Kronstadt Protestants. It is perhaps worth noting that no violence was ever used for the sake of salvation, and there was no coercion to convert  — as far as is known, mission activity took place primarily through distributing literature and through sermons.

Today Visitors to Kronstadt/Brașov today will find very little in the way of eloquent traces from the Reformation itself, a situation deriving especially from the great city fire of 1689, which destroyed a great many books and much archival material. Nonetheless, buildings left standing — the Black Church, other churches and several private buildings  — bear witness to the Reformation period. A commemorative plaque for Johannes Honterus hangs on the north side of the choir in the Black Church, though his grave was probably destroyed during excavations for a heating shaft.

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 Dr. Andreas Müller is professor of Church History and the History of Religion during the first Millennium at Kiel University. Further reading Andreas Müller, Humanistisch geprägte Reformation an der Grenze von östlichem und westlichem Christentum. Valentin Wagners griechischer Katechismus von 1550, Mandelbachthal/Cambridge: Ed. Cicero, 2000 Maja Philippi, Kronstadt. Historische Betrachtungen über eine Stadt in Siebenbürgen. Auf­ sätze und Vorträge, Bukarest/Gundelsheim a. N.: Kriterion Verlag/Arbeitskreis für Siebenburgische Landeskunde, 1996 Ulrich A. Wien, “Die Humanisten Johannes Honterus und Valentin Wagner als Vertreter einer konservativen Stadtreformation in Kronstadt”, in: Volker Leppin and Ulrich A. Wien (eds.), Konfessionsbildung und Konfessionskultur in Siebenbürgen in der Frühen Neuzeit, Stuttgart: Steiner, 2005, pp. 89−104 Visiting Kronstadt/Bras,ov www.romaniatourism.com/brasov.html www.honterusgemeinde.ro www.primascoalaromaneasca.ro/index_en.html

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Leiden Petrus Bloccius and Jan van Hout

by Kees de Wildt

In 1586 the Leiden magistrate commissioned a stone mosaic medallion in the middle of the main street — the Breestraat — right in front of the city’s town hall, to commemorate the decision to pave Leiden’s streets. Its 2014 reconstruction still carries its original message: “Al niet sonder God” (Nothing without God). This confession is not typically Protestant. Leiden’s authorities would have commissioned exactly the same text if the medallion had been laid before the Dutch Revolt. It is a different case with the slate grey stone decorating the facade of Leiden’s town hall above one of its doors since 1578. It commemorates Leiden’s famous relief from the Spanish-Habsburg troops in 1574 and it possibly replaced a statue of Mary. The poem on this stone was written by the Reformed town secretary Jan van Hout. It tells passers-by that it was God who put an end to the devastating siege. The stone must have shocked the Catholic contingent of Leiden’s inhabitants not because of its message, but because it had been part of an altar from the Pieterskerk, possibly even the high altar. Since the church was in use by the Reformed, the altar stone had laid buried underneath its floor for years. It was dug up for this purpose by special order of the magistrate. The violation of the altar slab was a willful act showing definitively that Leiden was no longer a Catholic city. But nor had Leiden become a Reformed city.

Influence of Luther — the Anabaptists The Reformation in the Low Countries began early and soon pervaded all parts of society. Biblical humanism, spread through a well-developed educational system,

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The stone mosaic in front of the town hall

The stone on Leiden’s town hall commemorating the relief from the Spanish-Habsburg troops in 1574

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had prepared the soil. Luther’s ideas circulated quickly via the printing press. In 1519 Erasmus exaggerated when he stated that Luther was read “everywhere” in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, it is telling for Luther’s influence that in the following decades all dissenters were stigmatized as “Lutherans”. The development of the Reformation in Leiden is illustrative for other cities in Holland. As early as 1520 Holland’s most prominent printer, Jan Seversz in Leiden, published books by Luther in Latin and soon in Dutch as well. By ordering that all suspect literature had to be handed in, the magistrate acknowledged that there was a market for such books in Leiden. This measure will have been connected to the visit of the inquisitor in 1522. The appearance in Leiden of Claes van der Elst, one of the many Lutherizing priests, shows that the city magistracy tolerated such reformation minded preachers to a large extent, even sympathized with them and only repressed them as soon as their heretical meetings disturbed public order in the city. The intellectual elite discussed the new Protestant ideas in a lively fashion, while the central government demanded a sharp repression of all heretical views. In 1530 the Leiden magistrate again forbade heretical books and heretical conventicles. From this ordinance it is apparent that besides Protestant ideas, Anabaptists beliefs had then entered the city as well, the differences being often still quite diffuse. Leiden soon became the second most prominent center for the Anabaptists, influencing the region under the leadership of Jan Beukelsz of Leiden, the future king of Anabaptist Münster. In January 1535 several dozen Anabaptists were caught while preparing for the Anabaptist attack on Amsterdam. Most of them were put to death even though some of the Leideners sympathized with them. After the downfall of the Münster kingdom and the death of Jan Beukelsz, some of the Leiden Anabaptists joined the more radical followers of David Joris and Jan van Batenburg, while most followed the more peaceful Menno Simons. In the second half of the century the Leiden Mennonites split into several competing congregations differing in the strictness of maintaining the holiness of their congregations. Though several of them died as martyrs most of the time the Leiden magistrates left them alone, as long as they operated in secrecy.

Petrus Bloccius The Reformation in Holland remained long in the melting-pot. Harsh repression seriously hampered its organization and it lacked an authoritative leader. Not until the end of the 1550s did religious dissent gradually became more specifically Reformed, though there remained non-Calvinist Protestants as well. The group of

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Reformed in Leiden will have been small and only loosely organized. At least there was already a form of a Reformed congregation or circle in Leiden before 1566, grown somehow out of prior Protestant sympathies. Among the Reformed were several members of the gentry, perhaps already the town secretary Jan van Hout, certainly the wealthy burgomaster Willem Jansz van Heemskerk and his friend Petrus Bloccius, a humanist scholar. Bloccius had studied at the universities of Leuven, Cologne and Bologna, and was well versed in the Church Fathers. He was conrector of the city’s Latin school between 1559 and 1561, but had already run a private school for several years. He was connected to the Reformed elsewhere in the northern Netherlands. During his stay in Leiden, he published anti-Catholic works in which he stated that salvation can only be found by faith in Christ. The only sacraments are baptism, with no further ceremony than water and the Word, and the Lord’s Supper celebrated by the breaking of bread sitting around a table. He disliked confessions because he saw German Lutherans using the Augsburg Confession to condemn each other. The only rule should be the prescriptions in the New Testament, “the Reformationbook of the church”. Like Sebastian Castellio, he strongly denounced the killing of heretics. Christ had been banned from the schools and so the Catholic Church had become a source of all heresies, according to Bloccius. His solution was to study the New Testament with his pupils, instead of the classics, so that they would learn to know Christ. Other books should only be read in their spare time. Bloccius was fired as conrector in 1561 because his ideas were considered heretical. However, he was allowed to run a private school. In this way he must have influenced a generation of Leiden youth. Two or three years later the Minorites reported him to the inquisition. Bloccius then left the city in the direction of Wesel, and soon became a Reformed minister elsewhere. Title page of Petrus Bloccius, “Meer dan twee hondert ketteryen”, n.p., 1567.

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Leiden. Colorized city map from: Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 2, Cologne, 1593 (extract) Below left: St. Peter’s Church (Pieterskerk); middle right: Hooglandse Kerk; top left: Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady)

The Reformed The image-breaking that raged through the Low Countries reached Leiden on 25 August 1566. Stimulated by some members of the local gentry and encouraged by the rhetoricians, anti-clerical artisans and the riff-raff of the city ravaged the churches. Though this could not be prevented, part of the inventory was be rescued, for example the famous painting “The Last Judgment” by Lucas of Leiden, now in Museum De Lakenhal. The hedge-preaching started the same day, protected by the gentry, tolerated by the magistrate. Several hundred might have attended. The magistrate sought the

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maintenance of the Catholic Church and a few days later the Mass was resumed. In September the Reformed started to use the Minorite chapel outside the city walls. To restore the quiet in the city, the magistrate concluded an agreement with the Reformed in presence of William of Orange in January 1567. The Reformed promised to live in agreement with the Augsburg Confession or “Calvin’s religion” and to obey the magistrate. Two of its delegates would be present at consistory meetings. On the rumors that the Duke of Alva was coming, the city council had to show Leiden to be a good Catholic city. Therefore the Reformed preaching had to cease and their brand new wooden church had to be demolished. Many of the three hundred members as well as others involved in the troubles fled, among them Jan van Hout, the town secretary. The Reformed who stayed in the city had to keep low profile. But immediately after the city sided with Prince William of Orange in 1572, they resumed preaching. At first only in the least important parish church, the Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady), soon afterwards in the Pieterskerk and then the Hooglandse Kerk as well. The Reformed congregation had three ministers and therefore must have been relatively large. After a short-lived attempt to allow the Mass alongside the Reformed preaching, the Catholic religion was banned and the Reformed church became the only “public church”. Ecclesiastical assets were used to cover the expenses of the city. During the 1573/74 siege, the people of Leiden preferred fighting for God’s honor and their freedom to living under the Spanish yoke in slavery. Not much is known about the Reformed in these months, but when the plague ravaged Leiden’s population the Reformed ministers and a Catholic priest had a heavy pastoral burden. Immediately after the city’s relief on 3 October 1574 the magistracy commanded a thanksgiving service in the Pieterskerk “to praise God for his infinite goodness and grace”. Leiden’s relief proved to be a turning point, not only for the Dutch Revolt, but for the development of the city as well. For its strategic location William of Orange and the States of Holland chose Leiden to found Holland’s first university in 1575, a seminary for both the Reformed church and the republic. This Academy proved a boost for the city’s economy which was then at its lowest ebb, as it attracted important scholars and many students from abroad, making Leiden with its reliable publishers important for the interchange of books and ideas. Both church and city had difficulty with the independence of the University. Its tolerant religious climate was criticized by the church that wanted to influence its appointments. Though the magistracy was involved in the University, to its frustration it had no authority over it. The resulting conflict about the competencies of each can be compared with similar conflicts of the magistracy with the district

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The facade of Leiden University founded in 1575

water board and the consistory. The local government wanted to exert authority over all aspects of the community. In these conflicts the town secretary always played an important role.

Jan van Hout Jan van Hout (1542–1609) had been town secretary since 1564. After his return from exile in 1572, he regained his office and held it until his death. He was present with all important decisions, wrote the letters, and announced the magistracy’s decisions. He played a pivotal role in the city by an accumulation of public offices. He made himself felt in all areas and never made a secret of his opinions. He personified the opinions and prejudices of the Leiden magistracy. In fact nothing could happen in Leiden without Jan van Hout either knowing or willing it. Since 2013 his contribution to the development of the city has been commemorated by a monument in the Pieterskerk.

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Jan van Hout. Engraving of Willem van Swanenburg, 1608

Van Hout was involved in bringing exiled Flemish textile workers from England to Leiden to revive the city’s collapsed cloth industry. The resulting wave of immigrants doubled Leiden’s population between 1574 and 1600. Since most of these immigrants were Reformed, the numbers of the Walloon (French speaking) and Dutch congregations swelled. The many poor textile workers made inroads into the city’s system of poor relief. It was Van Hout who voiced the city’s ideas of reforming poor relief. Begging should be forbidden completely and all institutions of poor relief from the Catholic period integrated into one larger organization — including the Reformed diaco­ nal ministry  — to take care of all the poor in the city.

Conflicting Reformed views of church government Though financially dependent on the magistracy, the Reformed church wanted to stay organizationally independent in conformity with its church order. Referring to the organization of the church in Zurich and Geneva, however, the magistrates thought it only natural to be fully responsible for their church, appointing its ministers and electing its elders and deacons. Therefore the resulting clash was not primarily a collision of libertine magistrates and “a radical Calvinist” consistory. The city’s strict Sabbath and sumptuary ordinances testify otherwise: avoid getting drunk, fornication, dancing and frivolous songs, and “sing Psalms to the glorification of God instead”. The clash between these two Reformed views of church government could develop into a large-scale conflict because a part of the consistory sided with the magistracy. Instead of a fruitful cooperation, a reciprocal climate of suspicion between church and magistrate developed, to the detriment of the church, which took many years to overcome. Van Hout was not only the voice of the magistrate in this conflict; he must also have felt personally assailed, for he stayed away from the

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The Hooglandse kerk

Lord’s Supper for many years. At the end of the 1580s the disputes were settled; church and magistrate had found a mode to invest their energy in a positive way. Other churches existed alongside the Reformed and the Anabaptist congregations. The Walloon church of the French-speaking Leiden citizens formed part of the public church. From the 1580s there was a barely tolerated Lutheran congregation. The Catholics also continued to worship in secrecy. They could do so as long as they did not disturb the municipal peace. Though only the Reformed church had become the public church, a multi-denominational society developed during the sixteenth century in which all had to learn to coexist more or less peacefully.

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Monument for Jan van Hout in the Pieterskerk, 2013

 Kees de Wildt is a PhD Candidate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU)

Further reading Christine Kooi, Liberty and Religion: Church and State in Leiden’s Reformation, 1572– 1620, Leiden: Brill, 2000 Theodoor Herman Lunsingh Scheurleer and Guillaume H. M. Posthumus Meyjes (eds.), Leiden University in the Seventeenth Century: An Exchange of Learning, Leiden: Brill, 1975 Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, Strangers and Pilgrims, Travellers and Sojourners: Leiden and the Foundations of Plymouth Plantation, Plymouth: The General Society of Mayflower, 2009 Karel Bostoen, Hart voor Leiden: Jan van Hout (1542–1609), stadsbestuurder, dichter en vernieuwer, Hilversum: Verloren, 2009 Visiting Leiden www.visitleiden.nl/en www.pieterskerk.com/en www.leidenamericanpilgrimmuseum.org

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Ljubljana/Laibach Primož Truber

by Anton Schindling and Dennis Schmidt

Ljubljana, capital of the independent Republic of Slovenia since 1991, is characterized by a Reformation tradition that is quite unique. In this majority Catholic country, with only an extremely small Protestant minority church, Reformation Day on 31 October is nonetheless a national holiday, and the portrait of Primož Truber adorns the one-euro coin. Whereas a century ago vehement confessional and ideological disputes swirled around the proposed erection of a monument to Primož Truber, today the role of the Protestant translation of the Bible has been accorded a place in the depiction of Slovene church history on the new door (1996) of the Catholic cathedral. Truber (1508?–86) is venerated as the creator of the Slovene written language and viewed as one of the central identification figures of national identity. This is all the more remarkable considering that Truber had to spend approximately half his life away from home, primarily in Protestant localities in south Germany — first in the Protestant imperial towns of Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Kempten, then in the Duchy of Württemberg in Lauffen am Neckar, Bad Urach and especially Derendingen near Tübingen. In the small village of Derendingen, Truber served as a Protestant pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Württemberg. These foreign sojourns notwithstanding, Truber always remained in contact with his homeland, the Duchy of Carniola, always intensely concerned with the fate of the Protestants there.

Ljubljana — capital of the Duchy of Carniola

Although the painted epitaph of Primož Truber in the Derendingen Church of St. Gallus presents an idealized portrayal of Ljubljana, today almost nothing in this city recalls the Reformer. The cathedral in which Truber was a canon before his

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conversion to Protestantism was completely replaced in the early eighteenth century by a new Baroque edifice, and the neighboring Spital Church, where he preached as the Protestant superintendent of the Carniolan landed estates, has disappeared entirely. Ljubljana today is a Habsburg city with a fundamentally Counter-Reformation cast, though even this fundamental character can be understood as a consequence of the Reformation. A new Protestant church (1851/52) was built in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries along with the Primož Truber monument (1910), the latter significantly in the new section of town near the train station and National Museum. Ljubljana (German: Laibach) was for centuries the capital of the Duchy The epitaph for Primož Truber in the Derendingen Church of St. Gallus of Carniola and as such also one of the Inner Austrian territories, which also included the duchies of Styria and Carinthia, the largely Italian-speaking harbor town of Triest, and neighboring areas on the Adriatic. The town itself, situated at an altitude of approx. 300 meters on the Ljubljanica River, has Roman roots and an early Christian tradition. Emperor Frederick III and Pope Pius II founded the exempt bishopric in 1461 or 1462. During the late Middle Ages and early modern period, the town’s burgher upper class was largely German-speaking, as were some of the extremely powerful families among the country’s nobility, such as the Auersperg family. By contrast, the rural population in Carniola, as also in southern Styria and parts of Carinthia, was largely Slovene-speaking. The German terms for the language, “windisch” and “slowenisch”, were basically synonymous in the first half of the 19th century. The bishop, the cathedral chapter and the Carniolan landed estates dominated the town of Ljubljana. During the second half of the sixteenth century, the landed gentry were the bearers of the Protestant movement, organizing an institutional structure for the Protestant church, in which Primož Truber served as superintendent from 1562 to 1565, and also founding a Protestant school for themselves in the capital. This establishment of a Protestant church for the upper

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Ljubljana; illustration from Johann Weichard von Valvasor, “Die Ehre deß Hertzogthums Crain”, vol. 3, Laibach, 1689 Below: The cathedral church St. Nicholas (e) and the town hall (c); between them the small, low Spital Church of St. Elizabeth; in the foreground: the Spital Bridge with the Spital Gate

classes, with an institution for higher learning, was characteristic of the Habsburg territories during the reign of Emperor Ferdinand I and his sons, among whom the various lands were divided and distributed in 1564. The Inner Austrian territorial group passed to Karl II (reigned 1564–90), the second eldest son of Ferdinand I, who tried to fortify the Catholic side against the landed estates. Under his son Ferdinand (reigned 1590–1647, from 1619 as Emperor Ferdinand II) the CounterReformation was implemented on a massive scale. The proximity of the border with Turkey in Croatia and West Hungary, where an essentially permanent state of low-level warfare continually challenged Habsburg territorial dominion, put the estates in a relatively strong position. As a result, during various periods they were able to act quite independently of the territorial lord in matters of religious policy. The landed estates were indispensable

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to the country’s defense for both financial and military reasons. And yet among them were resolute Protestants, such as the large land-owner Hans Ungnad von Weissenwolff, Baron von Sonnegg, who like Truber became a refugee of faith and also financially supported the latter’s translation and publication activities in Württemberg.

Primož Truber — from Catholic canon to Lutheran pastor The exact year of birth of the “Slovene Luther” is not known. He seems to have been born between 1507 and 1509 as Primož Malnar in Rašica in the parish Škocjan pri Turjaku/St. Kanzian near Auersperg in Lower Carniola. Between 1520 and 1526, he adopted his mother’s maiden name, Trubar, and changed the spelling to Truber by 1528. His father, a prosperous carpenter and miller, decided that his son would take holy orders. From 1524 Primož Truber became acquainted with Erasmian humanism in Triest as a candidate for the priesthood under Bishop Pietro Bonomo (Buonuomo, bishop 1502–46). Although he enrolled at Vienna University in 1528, he seems to have returned to Triest because of the Turkish threat to the city. Bonomo consecrated him as priest in 1530, and between 1536 and 1540 he delivered Slovene sermons at the Ljubljana cathedral of St. Nicholas. Because his Reformation views brought him into conflict with Bishop Christophorus Rauber (bishop 1494–1536), he withdrew to Bonomo. The next bishop in Ljubljana, however, Franz Kazianer (bishop 1536–43), recalled Truber to the Carniolan capital and created a position of capitular canon for him in 1542. The death of this reform-minded spiritual father, however, changed Truber’s situation yet again. His successor, Urban Textor (bishop 1543–58), was a close associate of the territorial lord King Ferdinand I. He strictly and resolutely implemented Habsburg policies completely hostile to the Reformation in his bishopric. Truber fled to Protestant Nuremberg, clearly demonstrating his resolute commitment to the Reformation cause. In 1548 he received a position in the Church of the Holy Spirit in the imperial town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. From 1553 to 1561, Truber worked as a town pastor at the Church of St. Mang in the imperial town of Kempten, where his church ordinance of 1553 altered the direction of Protestantism in that area toward Lutheranism and away from south German and Zwinglian traditions. It was in Rothenburg and Kempten that Truber began his life’s work, namely, translating and publishing Reformation writings into the Slovene language. He mainly used the Laibach town dialect. After the prelude of his Catechismus in der Windischenn Sprach and the Abecedarium with the catechism of Johannes Brenz in 1550 (most likely published in the free imperial town of Schwäbisch Hall), he set about translating the New Testament and parts

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Primož Truber; portrait from 1578, first published in 1581 in his Slovene translation of the New Testament

Title page of Primož Truber’s “Catechismus in der Windischenn Sprach”, Schwäbisch Hall or Tübingen, 1550

of the Old Testament on the basis of the Luther Bible (the Psalms in 1556, the entire New Testament in 1582). Through these publications Truber created the Slovene written language out of what had hitherto been various dialects, used only in spoken language, and attested at most only in manuscript fragments. As a language creator, he is viewed as the “Slovene Luther”. In 1562 Truber accepted a new appointment in Ljubljana, this time as Protestant superintendent of the landed estates and preacher at the Church of St. Elizabeth. In 1564 he composed a church ordinance largely on the model of the 1559 ordinance of Württemberg. Archduke Karl II, the new ruler of Inner Austria, was unwilling to recognize the validity of this ordninga, and expelled Truber from the country. In Württemberg, ruled at the time by Duke Christoph (1550– 68), Truber found a place where he could continue his activities undisturbed,

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The Protestant Primož Truber Church in Ljubljana (built 1851/52). View from Reformation Park

first briefly in Lauffen am Neckar (1565–67), then permanently as pastor in Derendingen. Between 1558 and 1564, Hans Ungnad, who like Truber had settled in Württemberg, financed the publication of Slovene and Croatian works at the closed monastery in Urach, including those of Truber. During this period, the press in Urach published 37 works in about 31,000 copies, among which a significant number (13 works encompassing 12,750 copies) appeared in Croatian in Glagolitic script. Truber himself continued to work up until his death in 1586 translating fundamental Reformation writings into Slovene. During his lifetime, almost 40 publications appeared with Truber listed as author, translator or editor. In 1584 his Lower Carniolan compatriot and student Georg (Jurij) Dalmatin published the entire Bible in Slovene translation, partly based on the original texts in Hebrew and Greek and partly drawing on the German translation by Luther (published in Wittenberg). Truber died in 1586 in Derendingen, where he was buried at the entrance to the Church of St. Gallus. The university in Tübingen honored him with a solemn funeral at which its leading theologian, Jakob Andreä (1528–90), delivered the eulogy. The

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immediate recollection of the “sacred head of the Slavs” contrasts starkly with the fact that Truber was subsequently largely forgotten; it was eloquently expressed when Martin Crusius, the erudite Tübingen classics professor, compared Truber’s merits to the missionary activity of the apostle Paul.

Counter-Reformation and places of remembrance Almost without exception, the enduring successes of the Counter-Reformation put an end to Truber’s Reformation among the Slovenes in Inner Austria. Up until Joseph II’s Edict of Tolerance in 1781 the Protestant confession survived among Slovene speakers in few places. They were in the area around the upper Mur River (Prekmurje Slovene) belonging to Hungary and at two places associated with clandestine Protestantism in Carinthia (Agoritschach and Seltschach). Thanks to the widespread use of Georg Dalmatin’s translation of the Bible, however, the memory of the literary accomplishments of Truber and his successors remained alive even in the Catholic Church. In 1602 and 1621, the Ljubljana bishop Thomas Chrön (Tomaž Hren/Kren; bishop 1597– 1630), who otherwise loyally followed the instructions of Ferdinand II in having Protestant books confiscated and burned, secured permission from the administration in Graz and from the pope in Rome for Catholic priests to read the forbidden Protestant books. The Bible translated by the Protestant Georg Dalmatin was permitted, though the introduction had to be struck through or torn out. For many years, Primož Truber and his contributions were essentialMonument to Primož Truber in Ljubljana, ly forgotten (an exception: Valvasor’s completed in 1908 by Franc Berneker; Honor of the Carnolian Duchy). During resistance from the Catholic Church the nineteenth century, however, Sloprevented it from being erected until 1910. venes with nationalistic inclinations It stands opposite the Modern Gallery near revived his memory. In Tübingen and the entrance to the Tivoli Park

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Kempten, too, university library holdings and a revival in interest in the Lutheran Kempten church ordinance brought his name to attention again remarkably early. Today commemorative plaques and monuments in Bad Urach, Derendingen, Kempten, Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Tübingen recall the distinguished Slovene Reformation figure in Germany. The Protestant diocesan museum in Carinthian Fresach keeps his memory alive through its displays of original exhibit items. In Slovenia, Truber is remembered outside Ljubljana as well, for example, in his birthplace Rašica in the reconstructed mill of his uncle. In Ljubljana itself, there is a “Reformation Park” behind the Protestant church. Numerous streets have been named after Truber all over Slovenia. Unfortunately, the Church of St. Elizabeth next to the cathedral, Truber’s primary place of work, no longer exists. The Counter-Reformation in the Inner Austrian territories exhibited an extremely pronounced Roman disposition that was promoted by the Jesuits. The founding of theological colleges — in 1596/97 also in Ljubljana — and in 1585 of the University of Graz can be viewed as a conscious creation of alternatives to the Protestant schools for the landed estates. Such Roman inclinations are discernible not least in the edifice that replaced the cathedral church familiar to Truber. The new Ljubljana cathedral (1701–06) was designed by Andrea Pozzo and inspired by Jesuit architecture. In south Germany, however, visible witnesses to Truber’s achievements are preserved to an even greater extent than in his Carniolan home. They demonstrate the central European dimension of his life and work.  Dr. Anton Schindling was professor of Early Modern and Modern European history at Tübingen University until his retirement in 2015. He is now senior professor at the Modern History department.  Dennis Schmidt is doing a PhD in the Modern History department at Tübingen University.

Further reading Rolf-Dieter Kluge (ed.), Ein Leben zwischen Laibach und Tübingen. Primus Truber und seine Zeit. Intentionen, Verlauf und Folgen der Reformation in Württemberg und Innerösterreich, München: Verlag Otto Sagner, 1995 Sönke Lorenz et al., Primus Truber 1508–1586. Der slowenische Reformator und Württemberg, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2011 Zvone Štrubelj, Mut zum Wort. Primož Trubar. 500 Jahre 1508−2008, Klagenfurt: Mohorjeva, 2009 Visiting Ljubljana www.visitljubljana.com www.primus-truber.de/primus-truber

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Lyon Waldes and Pierre Viret by Albert de Lange

From the very outset, sixteenth-century Reformers came under enormous pressure to justify themselves. Both their ecclesiastical and their political opponents accused them of proclaiming a “new” doctrine that would inevitably destroy all established orders and traditions. Although the Reformers were viewed as revolutionaries, they themselves denied such charges, insisting that their intention was not to introduce a “new” doctrine at all, but rather to return to the source, to the “old”, original, pure, true biblical message. Indeed, they argued that it was not Reformers at all, but rather the church of the pope himself that had overlaid and repressed the true gospel with so many “renewals”. Nor did the Reformers view themselves as the first to have undertaken such a return to the Bible, since God had repeatedly called various persons to proclaim the gospel. In fact, there was even a list of them, a Catalogus testium veritatis, to quote the title of the influential book that Matthias Flacius Illyricus published in 1556. Some of these “witnesses to the truth”, especially John Wycliffe, Jan Hus and Girolamo Savonarola, quickly acquired almost canonical significance in Protestant Europe, and for centuries have been viewed as “pre-Reformers”, or “precursors” of the Reformation. Hence it is no accident that Wycliffe and Hus also appear in this book. Readers will frequently come across Waldes from Lyon and the Waldensians in Protestant books of martyrs published after the sixteenth-century. However, this chapter is less about an individual than a group of people who, because of their loyalty to the Bible, were persecuted during the Middle Ages and even during modernity.

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Waldes During the Middle Ages, the inquisition persecuted a scattered group of “heretics” known as “Waldensians”, allegedly followers of a certain Valdesius (also Waldes, Waldo, Vaudès), who lived in Lyon during the second half of the twelfth century. The Waldensians themselves referred to him after ca. 1350 as Petrus Waldus, conveying thereby that not the pope but rather their own founding father was the true successor of the apostle Peter. Flacius Illyricus did much to make Petrus Waldus the accepted form, and it is by this name that Waldes is identified on the famous Reformation monument in Worms, where he sits at Luther’s feet together with Wycliffe, Hus and Savonarola. Several sources provide information about Waldes. According to the Dominican Stephen of Bourbon, Waldes was a rich man from Lyon who, “on hearing the gospels, was anxious to learn what they meant, for he was not well educated”. Thereupon he came to an agreement with two priests to have the gospels translated from Latin into the Franco-Provençal vernacular. Waldes memorized this translation and resolved to “maintain Protestant perfection just as did the apostles. Out of contempt for the world, he sold all his possessions and threw his money to the poor in the filthy street, brazenly claimed the apostolic office by preaching the gospels … in the streets and squares”. He attracted a great many men and ­women around him, “ragged and uneduca­ted laypersons”, whom he dispatched to preach in surrounding villages. Scholars generally date Waldes’ conversion between 1173 and 1176. Because he enjoyed the protection of the Archbishop of Lyon, the Cistercian Guichard of Pontigny, he was able to “Petrus Waldus”, seated at the base of the preach for several years unobstructed Luther monument in Worms, unveiled in as a layperson. Although at the time 1868. The artist, Ernst Rietschl, depicts him Lyon was not really a town of any paras an itinerant preacher with a staff, hip bag, sandals and holding a Bible ticular economic or political impor-

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Lyon, colorized view from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 5, Cologne, 1599 Below a closer view

tance, it was nonetheless an important ecclesiastical center. It belonged not to France, but to the Holy Roman Empire, and was accordingly ruled, even secularly, by the archbishop and cathedral chapter. After Guichard’s death in 1181, however, his successor, Jean Bellesmains, drove Waldes and his followers out of town in 1182 for continuing to preach despite being prohibited to do so (“their teacher, who claims for himself the office of St. Peter”). According to Stephen of Bourbon, Waldes defended himself after the archbishop’s summons with the words, “We must obey God rather than any human authority” (Acts 5:29).

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The monument in Chanforan, erected by the Waldensians in 1932 to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of their joining the Reformation; in the background: Serre

We know neither where Waldes went in 1182 nor when he died, though in all likelihood he lived at least another two decades. He seems in any case to have greatly regretted the Catholic Church’s rejection of his efforts to renew it from the inside through lay preaching.

The Waldensians during the Middle Ages Pope Lucius III excommunicated the Waldensians in 1184 for having “ascribed to themselves the authority to preach … under the semblance of piety … without having received the authority to do so from the Apostolic See or the local bishop”; that is, they were guilty of disobedience. Despite this condemnation and persecution by the inquisition, the Waldensians continued to spread across Europe, where they soon became the most widespread “sect”. Increasingly, however, the Waldensians transformed into an underground anti-­ church. Its itinerant preachers, who also functioned as father confessors, formed its backbone. The Waldensians accused the Catholic Church of betraying the gospel by exercising secular power. They also rejected more recent Catholic doctrines such

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as those concerning purgatory and the validity of indulgences. They believed that eternal salvation was attainable solely by keeping the New Testament commandments, particularly those against swearing oaths and using violence. Persistent persecution dramatically reduced the ranks of the Waldensians after 1395. Around 1500 only three areas of concentration remained, the most important being what are known as the “Waldensian valleys” in the Cottian Alps, which belonged partly to France and partly to the Piedmont. Other areas of concentration included the Luberon (southern France) and several Calabrian villages (southern Italy), both of which resulted from the immigration of Waldensian colonists from the Cottian Alps. Itinerant preachers maintained the various connections within this diaspora, communication being possible through the continued cultivation of the Occitan language.

Joining the Reformation Itinerant Waldensian preachers became acquainted quite early with the Reformation aspirations that had seized Europe after 1517. In 1530 a “synod” in Mérindol in Luberon commissioned two of its preachers (one of whom was Georges Morel) to clarify various questions the Waldensians had concerning the Reformation. They wrote extensive letters to Johannes Oecolampadius in Basel and to Martin Bucer in Strasbourg and also sought both out personally. Bucer’s thorough, critical response to their questions was incorporated into the resolutions the Waldensians issued at their next “synod”; which took place in Chanforan, a tiny village in the Angrogna Valley in the Waldensian valleys. Here they decided that their preachers, rather than being sworn to poverty, itinerancy, and celibacy, would now be able to settle down, marry, and have possessions. William (Guillaume) Farel, at the time representing Bern in Neuchâtel, facilitated this decision to join the Reformation, convincing the Waldensians, moreover, to finance a new French translation of the Bible. Pierre de Vingle, a printer who had been expelled from Lyon in 1532, published this Bible, translated by Pierre-Robert Olivétan, in Neuchâtel in 1535. The resolutions of Chanforan, however, were extremely difficult to put into practice. Several itinerant preachers resisted, and the itinerant preacher Martin Gonin, one of the most important advocates of the Reformation, was arrested in Grenoble in 1536 and executed. But things were to get even worse. In 1545 Waldensians in Luberon were massacred at the order of King François I, prompting the Waldensians in the Cottian Alps and in Calabria to continue their largely underground existence. Ordained, settled pastors could not replace their itinerant preachers.

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A change came in 1555, when several mayors and village councilors from the Waldensian valleys successfully petitioned Calvin and his colleagues to send them pastors. For several years, Geneva did indeed dispatch pastors and teachers to them. Despite the considerable risks, the Waldensians in the valleys and later in Calabria as well decided publicly to join the Reformation and soon began to establish Reformed Calvinist church communities, even though they represented a Coat of arms of the Waldensian Church minority in their Catholic surroundwith the motto “Lux lucet in tenebris” (light shines in the darkness); copper engraving ings. Unfortunately, in May/June 1561 from Jean Léger, “Histoire générale des these activities resulted in a massacre Églises évangéliques”, Leiden, 1669 of the Waldensians in Calabria, which at the time belonged to Spain. At the same time, however, in June 1561, the Duke of Savoy, who was also the ruler in the Piedmont, granted his Waldensian subjects free exercise of their religion in the valleys. This step was made possible by the Waldensians’ decision — despite criticism from Geneva — to take up arms in January 1561 and successfully defend themselves. Hence a small, independent Reformed Calvinist church emerged in the Piedmont that, proud of pre-Reformation past, referred to itself as a Waldensian church and loyally cultivated the memory of Waldes and the medieval Waldensians. This church successfully maintained itself in the Piedmont valleys and exists still today. After 1848 it spread throughout Italy. The Chiesa evangelica valdese continues to describe itself explicitly as a “pre-Reformation church” that is “related” to the churches of the Reformation (thus the preamble to the Leuenberg Agreement of 1973).

Pierre Viret in Lyon During the Middle Ages, the Waldensians were often called the “poor people of Lyon”. In reality, however, after 1183 there were no more Waldensians in Lyon, a situation that did also not change after 1313, when the town fell to the Kingdom of France and the archbishop was forced to relinquish his secular power.

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“Rue Maudicte” can be seen to the left of the Church of St. Nizier on this map of Lyon from 1548–53

The memory of Waldes, however, seems to have been preserved in Lyon. The humanist historian Guillaume Paradin, for example, relates in his Mémoires de l’histoire de Lyon (1573) that Waldes had lived in “rue Vaudran” in the St. Nizier section, and that after his expulsion the residents renamed this street “rue Maudicte” (cursed street). In 1464 the French king granted Lyon the right to hold a trade fair four times annually. This fair helped bring about an economic upturn for the town as well as an increase in its population. Estimates suggest that around 1550 the town had

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­ etween fifty thousand and sevenb ty-five thousand inhabitants, including many foreigners, for example, Italian bankers. Publishing was a major industry in Lyon. The first Protestant preachers began appearing in Lyon as early as the 1520s. Although they could not build on any Waldensian past as was the case in the valleys of the Cottian Alps and Luberon, they did elicit a response among humanists, foreigners, merchants and printers. Some residents became openly Protestant, and ­others sought a middle ground between ­Catholicism and Protestantism. That said, there was nonetheless very little room for free play, since the municipal Pierre Viret; portrait from Théodore de administration feared heresy. As a reBèze, “Icones”, Geneva, 1580 sult, many Protestants ended up being burned at the stake. Such was the case in 1553, when five French students, having been trained as Protestant preachers in Lausanne, were promptly arrested in Lyon on their return home, where they intended to begin evangelizing. Other Protestants, such as the printer Pierre de Vingle, were expelled. Despite these setbacks, an initial, clandestine community emerged in 1546, to be joined by others during the 1550s, due largely to the influence of Calvin. As a broader social spectrum became more receptive to Protestantism in the town, the first Protestant worship services could be celebrated publicly in 1560. That same year, the Huguenots, as the French Reformed were called from 1560, tried — in vain — to take the town by force. The Huguenots were more successful in late April 1562 when, during the First War of Religion, which had begun in March, Lyon Protestants were able to take control of the town. Several days later, troops led by the (at the time still Calvinist) Baron des Adrets entered the town to defend it against a Catholic counterattack. His troops destroyed churches, monasteries, and images, and all Catholic clerics had to leave the town. In May 1562 the Huguenots established the first Protestant rule in Lyon, appointing Pierre Viret, who at the time was living in Geneva, as preacher. Immediately upon his arrival in June 1562, he began reshaping both public and

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Interior of the “Temple du Paradis in Lyon”. The church looks like a theater with the pulpit at the center; there was no altar. Painting attributed to Jean Perrissin, ca. 1565

ecclesiastical life in the town, essentially in an attempt to turn Lyon into a “second Geneva”. In 1564 the famous Temple du Paradis was built, the first new Reformed church in France for which illustrations have been preserved. Reformed rule did not last long in Lyon, however. As a consequence of the Edict of Amboise on 18 March 1563, the Huguenots had to relinquish power, and Catholic clergy could return. Coexistence between the two confessions was difficult in the next few years. Although the National Synod of the Reformed Churches of France was convened in August 1563 in Lyon under Viret’s leadership, the Reformed

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had to surrender increasingly more terrain. Indeed, in August 1565 Viret himself was expelled because he was not a Frenchman. In September 1567, after the Huguenots again tried to retake the town, the Temple du Paradis was torn down and, soon after, Reformed worship was completely forbidden. Lyon now became a bulwark of inflexible Catholicism, as shown in 1572. A week after thousands of Huguenots were murdered in Paris during the Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Eve (23/24 August), hundreds of Protestants were butchered in Lyon as well. One of the victims was the composer Claude Goudimel.

In conclusion Lyon is a town that experienced not one but two failed Reformations. First that of Waldes, who between 1173/1176 and 1182 tried to renew the town’s Catholic Church from the inside through lay preaching. And then Pierre Viret’s attempt between 1562 and 1565 to reform public and church life in Lyon on the Genevan model. Both Reformers met the same fate and were expelled from the town. Yet Lyon has never entirely forgotten them. The map of Lyon now includes a Rue Pierre Valdo, and the exhibition Lyon 1562, capitale protestante devoted considerable attention to Pierre Viret in 2009/10.  Dr. Albert de Lange is a freelance church historian based in Karlsruhe.

Further reading Edward Peters (ed.), Heresy and authority in medieval Europa. Documents in translation, London: Scolar Press, 1980 Peter Biller, The Waldenses 1170–1530. Between a Religious Order and a Church, Aldershot: Ashgate Press, 2001 Carlo Papini, Valdo di Lione e i «poveri nello spirito». Il primo secolo del movimento valdese (1170–1270), Torino: Claudiana, ²2002 Susanna Peyronel (ed.), Giovanni Calvino e la Riforma in Italia. Influenze e conflitti, Torino: Claudiana, 2011 Yves Krumenacker (ed.), Lyon 1562, capitale protestante. Une histoire religieuse de Lyon à la Renaissance, Lyon: Editions Olivétan, 2009 Visiting Lyon www.de.lyon-france.com www.gadagne.musees.lyon.fr www.protestants-lyon.org

Visiting the Waldensian Valleys www.fondazionevaldese.org www.chiesavaldese.org

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Marburg Philipp of Hesse and Adam Krafft by Wolf-Friedrich Schäufele

Marburg, with its picturesque upper city on the castle hillside, tidy half-timber houses, and its largely intact medieval town ensemble, is a popular tourist attraction today. With a university steeped in tradition, the characteristic to and fro of students around town, and a vibrant nightlife of clubs and cinemas, Marburg is also a typical university town. Amid this modern tableau, however, the town’s grand history as an active setting for the Reformation is still quite palpable today. The beginnings of Marburg’s rise to historical significance go back to the arrival of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. Elizabeth settled as a young widow just outside the gates of this modest castle town on the Lahn River, where she founded the famous hospital in which she herself took care of the sick and needy until her early death in 1231. After her canonization, the imposing Church of St. Elizabeth was built over her grave, one of the first churches to be built in the purely Gothic style in Germany, and during the waning Middle Ages pilgrims came from near and far to experience grace and healing at this place. Heinrich I († 1308), Elizabeth’s grandson, ruled in Marburg from 1247 as the first prince of the newly established Landgraviate of Hesse, also making this town on the Lahn River the first Hessian capital. He and the later landgraves of Hesse up to the Reformation are buried in the chancel of the Church of St. Elizabeth.

Landgrave Philipp the Magnanimous (1504–67) In 1504 another descendant of Saint Elizabeth was born in the Marburg castle, Landgrave Philipp the Magnanimous, who was destined to become one of the most important political minds of the Reformation. During his half-century of rule,

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­ esse acquired considerable influence H as a territory and in the process also became one of the premier Protestant powers in the empire. The young prince joined the Reformation in 1524, encouraged by a chance meeting with Philipp Melanchthon on a highway outside Frankfurt and his ensuing correspondence with the Reformer. Hesse having become traditionally allied with the Saxon dynasty of the Wettins through marriage and alliances, Philipp tried to establish a similar alliance with the Protestant Prince Electorate of Saxony. At the imperial diet in Speyer in 1526 the potential of this Hessian-Electoral Saxon alliance first Landgrave Philipp of Hesse; portrait made an unforgettable impression, the attributed to Hans Krell, ca. 1534 two delegations appearing in matching clothing and with the shared identifying insignia VDMIÆ, an abbreviation of the Latin Bible verse Verbum Dei Manet In Æternum (The word of God will stand forever, Isaiah 40:8). During the months following this diet, Hesse and Electoral Saxony engaged in a sweeping introduction of the Reformation, and over the next three decades were the undisputed political leaders of German Protestantism. Philipp of Hesse was a major player in every big plan and campaign during this period, his most important accomplishment being the founding of the League of Schmalkalden, a military-political alliance of Protestant imperial estates under Electoral Saxon and Hessian joint leadership that long enjoyed considerable success in parrying the threats of the Catholic emperor. Although Landgrave Philipp usually resided in Kassel and is also buried there, Marburg remained the intellectual and religious center of Hesse under his rule. The parish church of St. Mary’s in Marburg became the official model for the Reformation renewal of all Hessian parishes. In 1527 St. Mary’s became the home parish of Adam Krafft (1493–1558) from Fulda, Philipp’s previous court preacher. From this home base in Marburg, as senior visitor he indefatigably traveled throughout the various parts of the territory, creating with both energy and skill a new Protestant church institution while also reforming schools and charitable institutions. Among the six superintendents in Hesse from 1531, Krafft was the most respected; his contemporaries called him the Hessian “bishop”. It is

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Marburg; colorized view from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 1, Cologne, 1593 Bottom left: above the bridge the former Dominican monastery, which after 1529 was used as a university building; center left: the Lutheran Church of St. Mary; at the top: the castle Bottom right: the Church of St. Elizabeth

no accident that the annual general synods of the Landgraviate of Hesse met in Marburg, then later in Marburg and Kassel. Landgrave Philipp, who read the Bible as well as general theological works, uniquely embodied the Protestant ideal of a theologically educated and informed lay person. As such, he maintained his freedom regarding the advice of theologians. Philipp was especially careful not to develop ties with Luther alone, to whom he once quipped, “Herr Doctor, you do dispense good advice; but what if we were to choose not to follow that advice? ” He also maintained close ties with Melanchthon, Huldrych Zwingli in Zurich, and Martin Bucer in Strasbourg. In other words, Philipp remained resolutely open-minded in confessional matters. As far as he and his territory were concerned, Philipp kept to the “middle ground between Lutherans

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and Zwinglians”, commending this position in 1534 to Duke Albrecht of Prussia as well. Although Philipp’s sons and grandsons were unable to maintain such confessional breadth, traces of this earlier juxtaposition of the various Reformation positions are still discernible today in the Protestant churches of Hesse. Philipp’s intellectual and theological independence also contributed to that particular episode in his life for which he still seems to be best known, namely, his second (bigamous) marriage, in 1540, to the lady-in-waiting Margarethe von der Saale. Instead of simply living in concubinage as did most of the princes of his time, this devoted reader of the Bible, reconciling his conscience with his passion, found in the biblical stories of the bigamous Adam Krafft; colorized wood engraving, marriages of the Old Testament patrica. 1570 archs what he viewed as a model for his own situation. Why should not he, too, be allowed formally to marry a second woman alongside his first wife, Landgravine Christine? Characteristically, this self-confident prince was even able to secure the secret approval of Luther and Melanchthon. At the same time, Philipp did try to remain discreet. His second wife was not allowed to live at court, and her children did not enjoy the same status as those from his first marriage. Nonetheless the affair soon came to light, and the damage not only to Hesse’s public reputation and esteem, but also to that of the Reformation cause, was considerable  — bigamy being considered a capital crime at the time.

The oldest Protestant university (1527) In 1527 Philipp of Hesse founded a university in Marburg, which is today the oldest of those founded in Reformation times. In 1541 Emperor Charles V granted it an official university privilege. (The Hohe Schule in Silesian Liegnitz, founded in 1526, never attained university status, and under the influence of the spiritualist

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In the middle: the old Dominican Monastery and church (today the University Church). It was used for lectures until its demolition in 1873. What is known today as the “Old University” was built in a neo-Gothic style on its foundations. At the top: the landgraviate castle. Photograph by Ludwig Bickell, ca. 1870

Caspar von Schwenckfeld, who was persecuted as an “enthusiast”, quickly sank into insignificance and had to close down in 1529.) Landgrave Philipp wanted to establish a university in his own territory for the training of future Hessian pastors and officials. At the same time, this act sent a signal in terms of Protestant educational policy. After years during which academic training had lost its prestige in many circles due to the new respect accorded the laity, and to the teachings of radical Reformers like Andreas Karlstadt, the number of university students had drastically fallen. Between 1523 and 1533 even the Faculty of Theology of Wittenberg University had found it necessary to cease conducting academic examinations and conferring degrees. So the founding of a university in Marburg served a beacon for the Reformation commitment to education and the modern model of a successful alliance between Protestantism and erudition. It is no accident that the buildings and income of the town’s former monasteries were (and still are) used for the

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university, notably the Dominican and Franciscan monasteries and the House of Brethren of the Common Life (Kugelhaus). University structures and lesson plans took their orientation from Melanchthon’s university reform in Wittenberg. The first professors of theology were Adam Krafft, the Swabian Lutheran Erhard Schnepf, the ex-Franciscan Frenchman Franz Lambert of Avignon, and the Fleming August Sebastian Nouzenos. Later as well, Philipp of Hesse made a point of having faculty members of different theological persuasions. In order to convince the best and brightest in the landgrave’s territory to study in Marburg, the founding of the university was complemented by an expansion of the whole educational system. A concerted effort was made to establish Latin schools as feeder institutions, and a paedagogium was founded in Marburg as a preparatory school for the university. One unique feature was the Hessian scholarship institution, which after opening in 1529 enabled gifted students without means to study at the university, the cost of their education being covered by Hessian towns; it became the model for what is known today as the Stift in Tübingen, founded in 1536. Although during its early years a number of noteworthy theologians taught at Marburg University, none were genuinely prominent theological figures. In 1605, what had become a resolutely Lutheran university switched to the Reformed confession at the initiative of Landgrave Moritz the Learned of HesseCassel, which constituted a profound caesura in the university’s history. All four Marburg theology professors resigned together and, beginning in 1607, set about establishing a Lutheran counter-university in neighboring Giessen. However, after the Reformed confession established itself in Marburg once and for all in 1653, Marburg University, alongside Heidelberg University and the Hohe Schule in Herborn, became part of the Reformed educational cosmos. This confessional tie was abolished in 1822 in the spirit of the Protestant Union (between Lutherans and Reformed). With the annexation of Hesse-Cassel by Prussia in 1866, the grand era of Marburg theology commenced, lasting well past the mid-twentieth century. Even today, Marburg professors such as the systematic theologian and ethicist Wilhelm Herrmann (1846–1922), the systematic theologian and scholar of religions Rudolf Otto (1869–1937), and the New Testament scholar Rudolf Bultmann (1884– 1976) continue to enjoy worldwide esteem. The university in Marburg currently has approximately twenty-six thousand students in its sixteen faculties, and will celebrate the 500th anniversary of its founding in 2027.

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The Marburg Colloquy (1529) In early October 1529, Marburg became the scene of European Reformation history in the making. Following the most recent Imperial Diet, military action on the part of the emperor had become increasingly probable, and Philipp of Hesse was working feverishly on the diplomatic front to secure his alliances. A major hindrance, however, was the long-drawn-out theological disunity plaguing the broader Reformation camp. One point of contention was the understanding of the Eucharist. Luther and the followers of the Wittenberg Reformation were persuaded that every individual human being, with utter certainty and without any prior action on his or her part, encounters the crucified Christ in the Lord’s Supper. Precisely because Christ himself promised it  — Luther repeatedly came back to the words of institution

The Marburg Colloquy of 1529. Luther insists to Zwingli that the Greek biblical term ἐστί (This is my body), which he has written on the table in chalk, is to be understood literally. Painting by August Noack, 1869

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The final page of the Marburg Articles with the Reformers’ signatures

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“This is my body … this is my blood” (Matt. 26:26-27)  — every person who receives the Eucharist not only receives the bread and wine, but also participates in the crucified human body and blood of the Lord, receiving in faith forgiveness for sins. Luther’s understanding was that God had wholly entered into the material world in Christ, not only binding himself to the elements of bread and wine in the Eucharist, but also surrendering himself to human beings and into their hands. Huldrych Zwingli in Zurich, Johannes Oecolampadius in Basel, and their followers in south Germany were unable to relate to such a notion. God, as Spirit, stands sovereignly over against any and all material existence. And seeing that, after the ascension, Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, he cannot be corporeally present in the Eucharistic bread and wine. In the Lord’s Supper, participants receive nothing more than bread and wine; it has no power to forgive sins. That said, for believers who have already received God’s Spirit beforehand, this bread and wine symbolize the body and blood of Christ — Zwingli understood the words of institution in a figurative sense  — and the risen Christ is present spiritually in the congregation’s collective recollection of Christ’s passion. For the past three years, beginning in 1526, there had been a contentious debate on these questions, carried on in a flurry of polemical treatises and pamphlets. Philipp of Hesse hoped to put an end to these disputes by inviting Luther, Zwingli and Oecolampadius, Melanchthon and Bucer, and many other prominent Reformation theologians to his castle in Marburg. The adversaries were to sit down at the same table and come to a peaceful resolution under his personal direction. Luther and Zwingli met personally for the first and only time in Marburg. The colloquy went on for four days, initially in teams of two, then in plenary, a scene the Darmstadt court painter August Noack impressively dramatized in a historical painting in 1869. To Philipp’s considerable chagrin, the Eucharistic agreement never came about. Luther and Zwingli did, however, agree to refrain from carrying on the dispute publicly. During the following years Philipp of Hesse and Martin Bucer continued negotiations to find a satisfactory settlement on which all parties could agree. The most important fruit of these efforts was the Wittenberg Concord of 1536, in which south German Protestants came to agreement with the Wittenberg theologians. Unfortunately, Bucer’s continued attempts to gain the support of the Swiss representatives were unsuccessful. The question of the Eucharist could not be resolved with sixteenth-century theological models, and it was not until four hundred fifty years later that the different approaches were reconciled in the Leuenberg Agreement of 1973. Back in 1529, however, at the conclusion of the Marburg Colloquy, the landgrave achieved an accord that may well be viewed as a modest sensation. Although Luther had initially accused the Swiss and south German representatives

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of numerous heretical teachings, he now, along with Zwingli and eight other theologians from both sides, signed a document of consensus that he himself had drafted. What is known as the Marburg Articles set out in fourteen points the colloquy participants’ complete theological agreement, emphasizing then in the fifteenth point, concerning the Eucharist, numerous other shared convictions before acknowledging the continuing discord concerning the question of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. Although this confessional paper did not subsequently have much influence, it remains a noteworthy testament to the striving for mutual understanding that inspired Philipp the Magnanimous over the entire course of his life. This has left discernible traces in Marburg.  Dr. Wolf-Friedrich Schäufele is professor of Church History in the department of Protestant Theology at Marburg University.

Further reading Richard Andrew Cahill, Philipp of Hesse and the Reformation, Mainz: Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 2001 Volker Knöppel et al. (eds.), Marburg, Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2013 (Orte der Reformation, Journal 9) Wolf-Friedrich Schäufele, Die Marburger Artikel als Zeugnis der Einheit, Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2012 Visiting Marburg http://alt.marburg.de/en/24695 www.uni.marburg.de/uni-museum www.ekmr.de

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Memmingen Christoph Schappeler by Peter Blickle

Memmingen was one of those south German imperial towns shaped both politically and economically by guilds. In the fifteenth century, the considerable and continually increasing poverty of the town’s weavers created tensions and instability that the town council was increasingly unable to address. The town scribe glosses over this situation in the council minutes by remarking succinctly, “populus threatening to get out of hand; concern that nothing good will come of it.” On the eve of the Reformation, the council in Memmingen had to deal with religious and church tensions as well as the social and economic issues. Eventually the former would lead to factions developing across all social strata.

Christoph Schappeler (1472–1551) One of the key figures in these incipient religious and social conflicts was Christoph Schappeler, a Swiss theologian with university degrees and a strong early interest in social issues. Called to Memmingen from St. Gallen as a preacher in 1513, he remained in close contact during his entire life with the Zurich Reformer Huldrych Zwingli and kept up a social network that included Andreas Karlstadt and Balthasar Hubmaier. In 1516 the council, fearing a “tumult”, found it necessary to reprimand him for his sermons because of his defending the poor against the rich. In 1521 the council did not contradict the charge that the poor were punished more severely than the rich. “It was found,” the minute-taker noted, “that he told us the truth.” The differences between the council and Schappeler intensified with each passing year. His followers, largely upper and middle-class citizens, were humiliating priests of the old faith in public, such insults and revilement finally be-

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coming so prevalent that the bishop of Augsburg decided to intervene and excommunicate Schappeler in February 1524. This step forced the council to take a stand, since such a ban necessarily meant expulsion from the town. It accordingly came out in support of its preacher, partly out of conviction, but partly out of impotence, since Schappeler’s followers  — “not only in our town, but also out in the countryside” — had become so formidable that the council considered an outright revolt inevitable should Schappeler not be ­supported. Christoph Schappeler; portrait by an The clergy and town council felt the unknown artist, ca. 1550 full weight of Schappeler’s politically explosive sermons during the summer of 1524. And at the same time, the peasants in the Memmingen territory and some of the citizenry refused to pay the tithe, a grain excise of 10 percent of the annual yield. This step threatened the existence of the Spital, the ecclesiastical institution for charitable purposes, and thus one of the most important social institutions in town. The council was forced to take decisive action. Isolated arrests and the threat of hefty punishments sufficed to convince those who were resisting. The entire conflict had been sparked by Schappeler’s sermons in which he had called tithing “unbiblical”. Not only in Memmingen but throughout the empire the most popular slogan during the 1520s had become this reference to the “pure gospel” as the very touchstone of the Reformation. The movement thus interpreted sola scriptura as the key part of Martin Luther’s message (i. e. that a person comes to faith through Scripture alone). Despite these developments, the Reformation made swiftly progress in Memmingen. On the eve of the festival of St. Nicholas (5 December 1524), Schappeler administered the Eucharist to believers for the first time in the parish church of St. Martin in both kinds, i. e. as both bread and wine, a step effectively constituting a break with the old church and a departure into a new age. The reaction was swift. At Christmas 1524, the town’s second church, the Church of Our Lady, was the scene of tumultuous riots. The priest of the old faith was allegedly beaten to within an inch of his life inside the church, and the church itself suffered severe iconoclasm at the hands of the congregation. The mayor and town council, fearing a general “uprising”, scheduled a religious colloquy for Epiphany 1525,

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Parish church of St. Martin, famous for its splendid early sixteenth-century choir stalls

hoping that “through the Holy Spirit our almighty God will act among and in those assembled in his name … so that we might together come to the true knowledge of God and afterward live eternally with him”. Invitations to this colloquy at the town hall included all priests, all members of the council and one elected representative from each guild. The council’s goal was doubtless to undergird as broadly as possible what was expected to be a difficult step following the disputation, i. e. through a kind of community decision. The Catholic clergy hesitated, alleging that questions of faith were a matter for the concilium and the universities. In truth, however, they were merely disinclined to enter into an argument whose outcome had more or less already been decided — in all public or semi-public disputations during the 1520s, defenders of the old faith inevitably ended up having to withdraw in defeat. Schappeler had prepared seven theses for the disputation with the title Basis, announcement, and proof briefly and clearly of the delivered and publicly preached

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The oldest view of Memmingen; etching by Georg Wechter, Nuremberg, 1573 Bottom left: Church of Our Lady with the weathercock; bottom right: Church of St. Martin with the grand cross, hexagonal tower and gallery

main articles, as announced and presented to all priests before an honorable and wise council and observers of the imperial town of Memmingen. These articles demanded that (1) auricular confession be abolished and replaced by “one person asking another for forgiveness”; (2) the invocation of Mary and the saints be abolished; (3) tithing be abolished; (4) the sacrificial character of the Mass be replaced by a commemorative celebration of Christ’s redemptive death; (5) purgatory be eliminated from tradition as unbiblical; (6) the altar sacrament must be administered to all believers in both kinds; and (7) equal authority of office be granted to all on the basis of the priesthood of believers, to which all baptized Christians belong. The Catholic clergy remained silent, and the council accordingly decided in favor of Schappeler. Although a reorganization of church institutions was now unavoidable, the council secured four expert opinions before issuing a religious mandate, two each from legal authorities and theologians. Only one presented

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an assessment wholly in favor of Schappeler and his friends, the Ulm preacher Konrad Sam. But this result was sufficient to implement the resolution putting the clergy on equal legal footing (jurisdiction) with normal citizens and with equal obligations (taxes), thus depriving the clergy of their previous privileged status. The Eucharist could now be introduced in both kinds and the church tithe was henceforth requested rather than required, as a social and charitable institution. Initially, however, this switch to the Reformation camp was not permanent, since in the very next summer of 1525, the council, faced with renewed unrest, had to request military assistance from the Swabian League. The latter was an assemblage of princes, nobility, and prelates along with imperial towns whose purpose was to secure territorial peace. On 9 June, the alliance’s troops — 700 foot soldiers and 200 horsemen — entered Memmingen. Prominent followers of the Reformation unable to elude their grasp by fleeing had to expect imprisonment and even execution. Those who still thought they might save the Reformation innovations of the previous January were sorely disappointed, for the previous ecclesiastical circumstances were immediately reestablished, albeit only temporarily.

Peasants’ Revolt Conflicts within the town alone cannot explain these developments. Memmingen was not only one of the first imperial towns in southern Germany to be receptive to the Reformation, it was also receptive to the peasants who in the spring of 1525 banded together everywhere in organizing the largest rebellion in Europe prior to the French Revolution. Indeed, Memmingen became their first organizational center. On 6 March, delegates from all the insurgent Upper Swabian peasants met there, constituting themselves after dramatic negotiations as a “Christian association”. Their meeting place, secured through the mediation of the peasants’ lay preacher and official scribe, Sebastian Lotzer, was the hall of the shopkeepers’ guild, now popularly referred to as “Paulskirche of the Upper Swabians” (a reference to the former church in Frankfurt that hosted the first German parliament in 1848/49). The Christian association drew up a provisional constitution and introduced its political program in Twelve Articles. After being published as a pamphlet, they were rapidly disseminated, creating a sensation throughout the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Going through twenty-eight printings and exerting an influence considerably greater than that of Thomas Müntzer, they became the policy paper of almost all peasant organizations. And indeed, these Twelve Articles set forth a bold program, demanding freedom (abolition of serfdom), the right of village communities to choose their own pastors, fundamental political rights for all communities, and legislation based on Christian standards (“God’s law”).

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In 1525 delegates of the rebellious Upper Swabian peasants met in the hall of the shopkeepers’ guild

Theoretical political tractates at the time referred to this notion as “common government”, which was to replace or at least complement the previous rule by the nobility and prelates. These Twelve Articles also reflect the theology of Christoph Schappeler, who may well have sat alongside the peasants working on the draft in that shopkeeper’s hall. By contrast, Martin Luther viewed the Twelve Articles as the work of “prophets of murder”.

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During the entire month of March, endless discussions and deliberations took place in Memmingen while delegations negotiated with the Swabian League, ultimately all in vain. On 4 April the first battle between peasants and the army of the Swabian League took place at Leipheim near Ulm, after which the bodies of three thousand dead peasants were left lying in the Danube meadows. Battle after battle now followed well into June  — in Württemberg, Alsace, Thuringia, and Franconia  — in the end, some one hundred thousand peasants perished. Luther considered the nobility’s campaign to be quite legitimate, even urging them on in his writings. When the troops of the Swabian Title page of a printing of the “Twelve League finally entered Memmingen Articles”, 1525, depicting the insurgent on 9 June, the most intensive phase of peasants the Peasants’ Revolt was over  — and Christoph Schappeler fled to St. Gallen to avoid execution. His literary estate was probably lost during the ensuing chaos, making it unlikely that a fourth center of the Reformation alongside Wittenberg, Zurich and Geneva (thus Heiko A. Oberman) might be reconstructed. A few days later, the Allgäu peasants surrendered at Kempten. Despite these setbacks, the Reformation could not really be dislodged from the town, and together with many other imperial cities and rulers at the imperial diet in Speyer in 1529, Memmingen, too, “protested” the measures planned to prevent the Reformation from spreading further. At the imperial diet in Augsburg in 1530, Memmingen — together with Strasbourg, Constance, and Lindau — submitted a confessional document of their own, the Tetrapolitana, which unfortunately had no real chance of being appreciated alongside the Confessio Augustana (Augsburg Confession) presented by Luther’s followers. In 1530 at the latest, Zwingli’s theology had been pushed aside in the empire  — a victim of the unavoidable process of accommodation to Wittenberg theology and Luther’s Reformation. For the visitor: linger in the chancel of the Church of St. Martin; then proceed on to Market Square, the scene of so many demonstrations; walk along the town

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brook as far as the shopkeepers’ guild house; and finally past the Spital to the Church of Our Lady. With a little imagination you can perhaps visualize yourself back among those burghers who took to the streets during the 1520s with so much enthusiasm for the proclamation of the “pure gospel”.  Dr. Peter Blickle is emeritus professor of Modern History at Bern University, where he taught from 1980 to 2004.

Further reading Barbara Kroemer, Die Einführung der Reformation in Memmingen, Memmingen: Heimatpflege Memmingen, 1981 Peter Blickle, “Memmingen — ein Zentrum der Reformation”, in: Joachim Jahn and Hans-­ Wolfgang Bayer (eds.), Die Geschichte der Stadt Memmingen, vol. 1, Stuttgart: ­Theiss, 1997, pp. 349–418 Peter Blickle, “Memmingen — a Center of Reformation”, in: Peter Blickle, From the Communal Reformation to the Revolution of Common Man, Leiden: Brill, 1998, pp. 16–79 Visiting Memmingen https://www.memmingen.de/tourismus.html?&L=1 www.stmartin-memmingen.de

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Mühlhausen in Thuringia Thomas Müntzer

by Siegfried Bräuer

Although the extraordinary course of the Reformation in the imperial city of Mühlhausen is generally attributed to the influence of Thomas Müntzer, historical circumstances rarely derive from a single cause. In this particular instance, such causes most likely stem from the situation obtaining there during the late Middle Ages.

Between marking time and setting off During the mid-fifteenth century, the imperial city of Mühlhausen, encompassing approximately 220 square kilometers and eighteen villages, was one of the largest towns in the empire. It was more to be compared to Nuremberg than to Leipzig, which was hardly half as large. After various constitutional conflicts, the town entered a period of largely stable internal peace, with guilds and dynasties enjoying essentially equal representation in the town council. Nonetheless, an oligarchical committee of elders made council decisions. Citizens of the five suburbs and inhabitants of rural localities were not eligible to do so. A tri-city alliance with Nordhausen and Erfurt (1308/09) not only secured protection for almost two centuries, but also promoted economic prosperity. Trade relationships with the Hanseatic League promoted cloth exports, in particular. The town’s ecclesiastical reality, however, was shaped by the two settlements (commendams) of the Teutonic Order by virtue of imperial bequests in the town’s older and newer sections, which were also responsible for constructing the two main churches as Gothic hall churches (St. Blaise, 1270; St. Mary’s, 1317). By the mid-fifteenth century, the economically powerful Teutonic Order had brought nine

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Mühlhausen; city view from Matthäus Merian, “Topographia Superioris Saxoniæ, Thüringiæ, Misniæ et Lusatiæ”, Frankfurt am Main, 1650 To the left: Church of St. Mary (no. 4)

additional town churches and several chapels under its patronage, whereas the municipal council only controlled two chapels. Three monastery churches were added to the parish churches. In the mid-fifteenth century, however, the imperial city’s development started to stagnate, particularly because of economic changes, the reduced importance of the Hanseatic League, and a shift in trade relationships. The Teutonic Order in Thuringia, moreover, had been weakened through mismanagement. It was only through defensive alliances between 1483 and 1490 that Mühlhausen was able to parry the increasing pressure exerted by its neighboring rulers, the Wettins and Hessians. The town’s stagnant development is attested as well by the lack of documentation of humanist influence, only faint traces of influence from Latin schools, and scarce evidence of any foundations supporting preaching. By contrast, a general intensification and individualization of piety in Mühlhausen is attested by sacral art and reports describing a rich tradition of spiritual plays, including the play dealing with the legend of “Frau Jutten” (Spiel von Frau Jutten) by the assistant priest of St. John’s and notary Dietrich Schernberg around 1485. These

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expressions of a yearning for salvation, however, are wholly commensurate with church tradition of the sort also expressed in the local dominance of the Teutonic Order and the disinclination for change.

Municipal conflict and Reformation stirrings With hindsight, the Teutonic Order’s attempt to add a splendid middle tower to the Church of St. Mary almost seems symbolic. Work on the edifice, begun in 1513, had to cease in 1517. Additional, isolated evidence similarly suggests an increasing dissatisfaction with municipal and ecclesiastical circumstances, and this now received additional impetus from the incipient Reformation movement. There can be little doubt that polemical Reformation pamphlets found their way to Mühlhausen through various channels associated with trade and business. Yet for many years the town’s church representatives seem not to have exhibited any particular sympathy for the new, biblically oriented proclamation. Such sympathy

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Mühlhausen in Thuringia

The Allstedt castle complex. To the left: the Kernburg. The late-Gothic hall in which in July 1524 Thomas Müntzer delivered his Sermon to the Princes has been preserved. It is in the “Palas”, the west wing of the Kernburg with its typical stepped gable

was rather to be found in those circles among the citizenry that were more open to conflict in any case. In the suburbs, such groups were particularly keen on effecting changes in the town’s legal landscape. Given that situation, Reformation-minded sermons were more to be expected from outside preachers than from those in Mühlhausen itself. The initial impulse came from the former Cistercian Heinrich Pfeiffer, who had earlier been active on behalf of the Reformation in Eichsfeld but had fled persecution in early 1523 by returning to his hometown Mühlhausen. On 8 February, he used the traditional procession of Mary’s Candlemas to deliver an anticlerical, antimonastic sermon in front of the Church of St. Mary. In his very next sermon that afternoon, this time inside the church, he also severely took the town council and nobility to task. The tremendous positive response to his message forced the council to abandon any idea of retribution. Presumably shortly thereafter, Pfeiffer, meanwhile attached to the Church of St. Nicolas, received support from the preacher at St. James, the former Benedictine Matthäus Hisolidus, who had been influenced by Andreas Karlstadt. Another

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preacher spoke up for him as well. Warnings and admonitions from the episcopal authorities, Duke George of Saxony, and even the emperor himself were unable to curb the residents’ increasing desire for change in both the city and church administrations. These citizens, inspired now by their hope in the Reformation, took further action before Easter. Following traditional protocol for protests, they first elected a committee of eight men to bring their concerns before the council. The next step was a committee to determine the complaints of the citizens in the various town districts and suburbs, and then to formulate appropriate demands to bring before the council. The result was fifty-five demands concerning primarily problems associated with the constitution, the administration of justice and finances. Only two involved church concerns  — the supply of good Protestant preachers freely proclaiming the gospel, and the possibility of leaving monastic orders. An armed crowd finally forced the council to accept most of the demands on 3 July 1523. The “Eight Men” were now recognized as a committee sanctioned by the town constitution. However, these developments did not break the resistance of the council. Not even the Eight Men could prevent the expulsion of Pfeiffer and Hisolidus on 24 August, though Pfeiffer returned to Mühlhausen toward the end of the year after meeting Elector Johann Friedrich of Saxony in Weimar, who then intervened on his behalf. This criticism of traditional church institutions and the anticlerical disposition of broad circles among the citizenry, coupled with the desire for a new proclamation of the gospel, entered a new stage in late 1523. The number of preachers increased, augmented not least by former Franciscans who had left the monastery on the Corn Market. The spiritual leaders of the Teutonic Order had nothing with which to counter the communities’ wishes; in fact, they in part felt threatened themselves, and there were isolated incidents of attacks on church property. Duke Johann, as representative of the emperor, had to mediate between the ecclesiastical plaintiffs and the council. There is no documentation to suggest that, during the period of his expulsion, Pfeiffer had made contact with Thomas Müntzer in Allstedt.

The servant of God from Allstedt and the church of the elect Although Müntzer was certainly not unknown to the citizens of Mühlhausen when he arrived in mid-August 1524, Luther’s warning to the council and community against this “false spirit and prophet” came too late. As earlier in Allstedt, Müntzer described himself as a “servant of God”, as a messenger of God who was to help bring about the anticipated reign of Christ. He had already been active for over a year in this capacity in the Electoral Saxon administrative town of Allstedt, where

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he had reorganized church life. He was the first to introduce complete worship services in German, and had published and distributed his German Protestant Mass. The focus of his proclamation was the personal certainty of faith of every single Christian who, in discipleship to the suffering Christ and through personal experiences of God, should similarly be capable of remaining steadfast in the face of persecution. Increasing pressure from neighboring authorities who supported the old faith, however, along with criticism from Luther and the unwillingness of territorial rulers to identify with Müntzer’s Reformation modTitle page of Thomas Müntzer’s “Deutsch el, prompted him to leave Allstedt Evangelisch Messze“ (German Protestant in early August 1524. In the imperiMass), Allstedt, 1524 al city of Mühlhausen, by contrast, he sensed a new opportunity for bringing about a church of the elect. Yet he quickly recognized that despite the Reformation stirrings in Mühlhausen, the ­central focus was still on criticizing the status quo and changing municipal organization. The city’s two mayors fled with the town insignias to the territory of Duke George of Saxony after a dispute with the Eight Men and amid rising indignation among the citizenry. Now the desire grew for a new and enduring (“eternal”) council according to biblical principles. Müntzer offered to help publicize the old council’s transgressions. With the support of several corporations, guilds and the suburbs, toward the end of September 1524 he and Pfeiffer composed eleven biblically based articles to govern the election of a new town administration. He also made an effort to promote the incipient movement through sermons and to secure its defense by founding an “eternal covenant”. Because rural areas were hardly represented in this process, the council was once more able to assert itself with their help. Both Müntzer and Pfeiffer had to leave the city at the latest in early October. Their initial goal was Nuremberg, where they planned to publish their settling of accounts with both Luther and the Mühlhausen council.

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In October 1524, Müntzer published his “Explicit Exposure of the False Faith”, in which he refers to himself as the one “with the hammer.” Title page. The pamphlet was published in Nuremberg rather than Mühlhausen

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Pfeiffer returned to Mühlhausen before the end of the year and resumed his energetic promotion of change, supported by an increasing number of followers. Acts of violence against monasteries followed, and the council was forced to allow the free proclamation of the word of God, the abolishment of monastic communities and an enhancement of the status of the Eight Men. Müntzer, too, returned in February 1525, convinced that God’s renewal of the world was imminent and that this uprising of the faithful was the chosen instrument of that renewal now that existing authorities had refused to carry it out. The situation escalated. Müntzer was appointed pastor at the Church of St. Mary, and his services, just as earlier in Allstedt, focused on the spiritual preparation of a church of the elect. Although in mid-March the citizenry voted to depose the council and install an “eternal” council to replace it, this move was little more than a compromise; citizens were allowed to join the Eternal Covenant of God, but the council itself maintained its distance. In the meantime, Müntzer’s proclamation of the apocalypse also prompted the citizen’s movement to begin military preparations. Once the Thuringian uprising genuinely commenced in late April, Müntzer, in a rhetorically powerful missive on 26 April, summoned the citizens of both Allstedt and Mansfeld to join this divine movement as disciples of Christ willing to suffer for the cause. His signature as the “servant of God” now included the qualifier Unfortunately, there seem to be no contemporary portraits of Thomas Müntzer. One of the first later fictitious portraits appeared on the title page of Andreas Fabricius, “Der Heylige, Kluge und Gelerte Teuffel” (The holy, clever, and erudite Devil), Eisleben, 1567. The primary figure in the illustration is the devil in the vestments of a cleric, with a false halo, burning torch and book, the symbols of heresy and insurgency according to John 8:44. On his breast, he bears a monk (salvation through works), in his left sleeve a Jesuit and a philosopher (Col. 2:8), in his right sleeve an Anabaptist with a staff, and Müntzer “with his iron Bible”, the sword. Here Müntzer is thus portrayed as an accomplice of the devil himself

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In 2014 a new exhibition was opened in Allstedt Castle: “1523 — Thomas Müntzer. Servant of God.” The exhibition in this hall focuses on Müntzer’s efforts to reform services of worship

“against the godless”. After an initial campaign into places near Mühlhausen, albeit without Müntzer participating, in late April he and Pfeiffer accompanied Mühlhausen citizens and other rebels for an entire week through Eichsfeld, some of whose castles and monasteries had already been plundered and burned by locals. Well-known noble families (von Honstein, von Schwarzburg) joined the Eternal Covenant solely in order to save their property. Earlier in April 1525, insurgents from Frankenhausen had already appealed for help, and on 7 May renewed their appeal in the face of imminent opposition from royal adversaries. After a summons to muster with an admixture of realism and apocalyptic hope, Müntzer set out for Frankenhausen on 11 May with half the Mühlhausen contingent. In Frankenhausen, together with the united insurgents, they were caught up in the disaster brought about by the combined Hessian-Saxon royal militia. After his capture, Müntzer dispatched a farewell letter in which he called on the Mühlhausen contingent to surrender, saying that it had been guided by self-interest rather than by God’s will. On 27 May both Müntzer and Pfeiffer were executed outside Mühlhausen; approximately fifty others from Mühlhausen suffered the same fate.

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Mühlhausen in Thuringia

The Reformation in Mühlhausen on the model envisioned by Müntzer was over, and also, at least for a time, any Reformation preaching. Not only did the town de facto lose its status as an imperial city, it was also punished by the imposition of a considerable fine. The powers of decision now resided alternately with the protecting powers, the Albertine Duchy of Saxony, the Ernestine Electoral Saxony and Hesse. Duke George concentrated his efforts, successfully, on a return to the Roman Church, and in 1548 Mühlhausen’s status as an imperial city was restored. It was only with the support of the Protestant protecting powers that Reformation preaching and thinking gradually regained a foothold. The Reformation was not completely introduced until 1557 and even then only after several false starts.  Dr. Siegfried Bräuer is a retired professor of Church History at Berlin’s Humboldt University.

Further reading Günter Vogler (ed.), Bauernkrieg zwischen Harz und Thüringer Wald, Stuttgart: Steiner, 2008 Hans-Jürgen Goertz, Thomas Müntzer. Revolutionär am Ende der Zeiten, München: Beck, 2015 Siegfried Bräuer and Günter Vogler, Thomas Müntzer. Neu Ordnung machen in der Welt. Eine Biographie. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2016 See also the series of publications by the Thomas Müntzer Society in Mühlhausen (www.thomas-muentzer.de/publikationen.htm) Visiting Allstedt and Mühlhausen www.schloss-allstedt.de www.muehlhausen.de/en/culture-tourism/tourist-information/ www.kirchenkreis-muehlhausen.de

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Münster Bernhard Rothmann, Jan Matthys and Jan van Leiden by Hubertus Lutterbach

Had the Münster Anabaptists’ radical Christian attempts at subversion succeeded in 1534/35, Münster would very likely not exist today as a secular university city with a Roman Catholic bishop’s see and great religious and cultural diversity. Nor would the tower of the Church of St. Lambert display in commemoration the “three iron baskets” in which the vanquished leaders of the Anabaptist uprising were hung up as fodder for wild birds. Münster would instead be sanctified by God’s final return as a place of paradisiac qualities in a form we today can hardly even imagine. Because the story, as is well known, played out to the disadvantage of the Münster Anabaptists, in 2017 both Catholic and Protestant Christians in Münster can celebrate the Reformation anniversary together. Recalling the Reformation upheavals in Münster between 1530 and 1535 is eminently worthwhile particularly because the residents of Münster switched confessions three times during this period. Initially Catholic, they then became Lutheran, afterward Anabaptist, then finally Catholic again. Given these developments, which were quite unique within the empire, our first and most obvious question concerns the nature of the religious and social factors that triggered such a Reformation dynamic. How was the Anabaptist Jan Matthys (1500–34) able to come to power in the first place, and then lose that power so quickly to his successor, Jan van Leiden (1509–36), the later king of the Anabaptist kingdom of Münster?

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Münster — a large city devoted to the old faith in the Holy Roman Empire In the early sixteenth century, approximately 9000 residents lived within the Münster city walls (identical with today’s “Promenade”). At the time, about five percent of other towns in this region had more than 2000 residents, and so Münster was a large city. With its cathedral as bishop’s see and St. Lambert’s as its citizens’ church, it had at its disposal two major churches and sets of premises. The area inside the ring of the medieval walls also included the collegiate and parish churches of St. Servatius, St. Mary, St. Martin, St. Ludger, St. Aegidius and St. James, not to mention numerous organized spiritual communities. The city was said to have more institutions for the poor and charitable foundations within its

Münster; colorized view from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 1, Cologne, 1593 Below, in the middle: the Cathedral of St. Paul; to its right: the Church of St. Lambert

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Bernhard Rothmann, Jan Matthys and Jan van Leiden

walls than any other German city, and so it was known as the “Rome of the North”. Münster was subject to two broad influences in the early sixteenth century. With respect to religion, ­people were increasingly searching for a more inward experience of Christian­ ity. Spiritual life should not, they felt, be exhausted merely in a plethora of performed rituals, but be shaped by inward participation and personal endeavor. People gauged the value of church doctrine primarily by the extent to which they felt it was a source of strength in handling daily life and in sustaining their hope in the afterlife. With respect to its economy, like all other cities in the Holy Roman Empire, Münster, too, had to struggle with the vagaries of inflation and stagnant wagThe three baskets on the Church of St. Lambert es and with the consequences of failed harvests and winter famine. Indeed, at the beginning of the city’s turmoil, Münster — though certainly not Münster alone — was plagued by a painful gap between rich and poor. These material inequities among residents were aggravated by the fact that while taxes increased for both the rich and the poor, clerics, in accordance with medieval custom, remained free of any tax liability. Their special contribution to the welfare of the community was, through prayer and liturgy, to invoke God’s protection for the city. This division of labor between clerics and laypersons had characterized life in Münster as a matter of course ever since the city’s founding in the twelfth century. It was not questioned until citizens in Münster noticed in the 1520s that, contrary to the original agreement, residents of convents and other clerics were engaging in crafts and trades beyond their own needs and then selling the products without paying taxes. And, instead of devoting their free time solely to meritorious spiritual activities before God, they surreptitiously attained a concrete competitive edge over other town residents through illegal animal husbandry, disallowed weaving mills, and, at least for them, forbidden trade in dried grain.

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Münster citizens reacted with profound disappointment. In 1525, led by the guilds of organized artisans, they stormed several monasteries and resolved to exit this system of municipal financial support for clerics, on the one hand, and to disregard the latter’s pious intercessions on behalf of the city, on the other.

Münster’s swing toward Lutheranism

As a consequence, in 1533 the Münster town council, previously oriented toward the old faith, committed to implementing a Protestant church ordinance. Theologically probably the most important impetus in this development came from the Catholic priest Bernhard Rothmann (1495–1535), whose sermons attracted hosts of listeners precisely because they so accurately reflected the atmosphere of the age. He, too, voted for accepting henceforth what could be found in the Scripture itself, namely, that Christians are concerned solely with faith in the promises of Jesus Christ, in which sense every individual Christian stands immediately before God; mediation of the holy through priests and members of the orders was no longer considered necessary. What in fact happened, contrary to the initial aim, was that Münster’s congregations were charged with electing two preachers, the task of each being to take on authority in interpreting the gospel. A senior schoolteacher was to organize the city’s school system. Two scholars, paid by the council, were charged with presenting a standard interpretation of the Old and New Testaments. Elected deacons were to distribute to the poor the alms collected during worship services. And, last but not least, in 1533 Münster’s citizens for the first time requested that adult baptism be possible for all Christians  — a departure from the previously unquestioned practice of infant baptism that had been in place since the ninthcentury Christianization of Münster. As already indicated, Lutherans did not attain the kind of equality among all Christians that they had found lacking among those of the old faith. Whereas those loyal to Luther were reproaching Catholics for having sundered, through the institution of consecrated priesthood, the equality of all believers as willed by Christ and grounded in baptism, self-critical Lutherans found that even in their own ranks, the fundamentally assumed direct relationship of all Christians with God was already being clearly compromised in daily praxis  — especially by the “professional” preachers who had meanwhile been put in place in the congregations. Following numerous public theological discussions a dispute arose among Münster Lutherans in 1533 concerning the direction to take. On the one side were those who continued to adhere to infant baptism, arguing that because faith is a gift,

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Bernhard Rothmann, Jan Matthys and Jan van Leiden

infant baptism made perfect sense. On the other side were those who viewed adult baptism as the appropriate expression of a resolute commitment to Christianity; they argued that because Christian faith presupposes a personal decision, baptism was impossible without such a decision on the part of the candidate. Without going into the political situation in Münster at the time we may be sure that this conflict among the Lutherans increasingly led to political divisions.

Münster’s path from Anabaptism to Anabaptist kingdom

From the winter of 1534, the majority elected to the town council, hitherto dominated by Lutherans, was in the hands of those Münster residents who advocated an understanding of Christianity requiring all followers of Jesus to accept adult baptism. Henceforth all Münster residents were in fact to be united by a baptism of personal decision. This stipulation meant first, however, that any candidate for baptism had first to become acquainted with Christian teaching and lifestyle. It meant, second  — something viewed as an indispensable prerequisite for adult baptism — that the candidate wholeheartedly agree with both elements, namely, teaching and lifestyle. And third, candidates had to prove themselves through a convincing Christian, peaceable lifestyle. This “Christianity of decision” conformed quite well to the striving in society at large for inwardness and resolute commitment, for clarity and uniformity. At the same time, with their vote in favor of adult baptism, the Münster Anabaptists were implementing a central position of the other Anabaptists movements, which in the sixteenth century constituted approximately one percent of the population of the empire. The political upheavals in Münster resulting from the dominance of the Anabaptists will not be discussed here. They are less important than the concept of equality among town residents that the Anabaptists took as their primary focal point, going back to the primitive Christian community and based on the universally obligatory practice of adult baptism. This breakthrough at the municipal level now also attracted numerous Anabaptists from the neighboring Netherlands. Fissures, however, quickly appeared in this common foundation of adult baptism. First, Anabaptist leaders soon turned to violence, repeatedly killing Christians who did not follow their instructions without qualification. Second, several Münster Anabaptists went quite beyond the universally binding notion of adult baptism in claiming they had received prophecies  — that is, divine revelations as the special expression of deep inward piety. Nonetheless, the Münster Anabaptists’ basically receptive attitude to individual prophecies among their followers made them similarly receptive for Anabaptist movements from the southwest — especially from Strasbourg, where an Anabaptist

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leader by the name of Melchior Hoffman asserted that he had received a prophecy according to which Christ’s Second Coming would take place in Strasbourg in 1533. After this prophecy failed to materialize and the prophet was imprisoned instead, his followers  — including Jan Matthys, a furrier’s son in the Netherlands — transferred the prophecy of Christ’s return to Easter 1534, when Jesus Christ would return once and for all in Münster. Christ’s Second Coming again failed to materialize. Jan Matthys, who was meanwhile operating as the highest-ranking prophet in Münster, was killed at Easter 1534 trying to flee the city during a siege by his adversaries, led by the Münster bishop Jan van Leiden as king; engraving by Franz von Waldeck (in office 1532–59). Christoffel van Sichem, 1608. All portraits of Matthys was possibly trying to set out Jan van Leiden are based on a drawing by to proclaim the message of Christ’s reHeinrich Aldegrever, 1535 turn throughout the world. Jan Matthys’s successor in Münster was the prophet and former tailor Jan Beukelsz van Leiden, whose prophecies had meanwhile prompted Anabaptists to extol him quite early as nothing less than the highest prophet on earth. He proceeded more cautiously than Melchior Hoffman and Jan Matthys by declining to set a specific date for Christ’s return, though he did specify Münster as the point of departure for the world’s salvation. Accordingly, under Jan van Leiden’s leadership the Münster Anabaptists essentially went into what might be called an eschatological stand-by mode. Among other infrastructural measures, they opened up schools for both girls and boys to promote a deeper universal understanding of the Bible; they also optimized the city’s defensive fortifications and organized measures for self-defense to make it as difficult as possible for their adversaries, under the aegis of the bishop, to take the city. Tellingly, and in line with the Old Testament, Jan van Leiden replaced the Münster town council, which had brought the Anabaptists to power in the first place, by a committee of “twelve elders” who were henceforth responsible for all official tasks. A newly composed index of transgressions was based solely on selected biblical imperatives. Newly implemented regulations for clothes and even

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Bernhard Rothmann, Jan Matthys and Jan van Leiden

greetings now applied to daily life. The marriage of several wives to a single husband (polygamy) was based on a prophecy current at the time, as was the inflexible implementation of the general community of goods on the model of the early church in Jerusalem. Jan van Leiden abolished money and decreed the general sharing of goods for all town residents. Transgressions against the Ten Commandment were punishable by death. Jan van Leiden is remembered in history primarily for having himself proclaimed king following prophecies to that effect. And indeed, his instal­ lation of this kingship was ostentatious, including an excruciatingly deTitle page of “Die Ordnung der Widerteuffer tailed pro­­tocol for his court and a royal zu Münster” (Ordinance of the Münster house­hold of 148 persons. Anabaptists) with Jan van Leiden as king, The anticipated imminent return of 1535 Christ, of course, put enormous pressure on the city, now populated solely by Anabaptists, in its preparations to function as a holy place. Among other measures, Jan van Leiden and his followers enacted the following: those  — even from among the leadership  — who did not follow royal decrees were met with the sword. Children born in Münster henceforth received a name personally selected by the king as the “father” of every baptized person. And the names of streets and churches were similarly accommodated to the Anabaptist self-understanding (“King Street”).

The bishop recaptures Münster The bishop entered into extensive political alliances with the goal of liberating Münster from the Anabaptists, and particularly featured his alliance with the landgrave Philipp of Hesse. As early as March 1534, the bishop had already engaged approximately 8000 mercenaries for this purpose, a massive military presence he felt was necessary given the excellent fortifications Münster had put in place to thwart invaders. Not surprisingly, it was only after several attempts that the bishop and his followers finally succeeded in taking the city on 25 June 1535.

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With hindsight we can see that the Anabaptists’ prophetic version of Christianity provided the point of departure for a theocracy recognizing no norms apart from its own. In adopting it, the Münster Anabaptists had abandoned their ideal of the equality of all believers on the basis of adult baptism as in the early church. As a result, the initial openness to a deepening of the religious experience of the sort that was in the air at the time, and which appealed to those of the old faith, as well as Lutherans, was ultimately a gateway to violence, oppression and inequality. Scholars have hitherto paid little attention to the subsequent administraFranz of Waldeck, Bishop of Münster, in tion of the bishop of the old faith after a seventeenth-century portrait from the he recaptured the city, though he clearKnights’ Hall of the Iburg ly ended the episode of Anabaptist rule. When the captured Anabaptist leaders declared that they fully intended to maintain their Anabaptist faith, the bishop had them executed and the bodies publicly displayed in the baskets on the tower of St. Lambert’s Church. The baskets, still hanging there today, recall the religiously inspired violence that held sway here between 1534 and 1535.   Dr. Dr. Hubertus Lutterbach is professor of Christianity and Cultural History as well as administrative director of the Institute for Catholic Theology at Essen University.

Further reading Ralf Klötzer, Die Täuferherrschaft von Münster. Stadtreformation und Welterneuerung, Münster: Aschendorff, 1992 Hubertus Lutterbach, Der Weg in das Täuferreich von Münster. Ein Ringen um die heilige Stadt, Münster: Dialogverlag, 2006 (Arnold Angenendt (ed.), Geschichte des Bistums Münster, vol. 3) Hubertus Lutterbach, Das Täuferreich von Münster. Wurzeln und Merkmale eines reli­giö­ sen Aufbruchs, Münster: Aschendorff, 2008 Visiting Münster www.muenster.de/stadt/tourismus/en/tourist-information.html www.stadt-muenster.de/fileadmin//user_upload/stadt-muenster/45_museum/pdf/Flyer_ Stadtmuseum_Muenster_engl.pdf www.ev-kirchenkreis-muenster.de

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Neuchâtel William (Guillaume) Farel by Grégoire Oguey

As the capital of a modest earldom, Neuchâtel was hardly destined to become even a temporary bridgehead of the Reformation in French-speaking territories. And yet it was here that the restless William Farel settled, and here that the first Protestant Bible was printed in French.

Fertile ground for the Reformation The town of Neuchâtel is dominated by its collegiate church (collégiale), the only parish church in the medieval town center. This Church of Our Lady symbolized especially the power of the territorial rulers, who had it built during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and for whom it now serves as a majestic necropolis. A chapter of twelve canons constituted the majority of the clergy providing ecclesiastical ministries and was simultaneously a source of officials for the canton chancellery. These two institutions, the earldom and chapter, were thus intimately linked. In the fifteenth century, moreover, respected and influential counts such as Philippe de Hochberg (1454–1503), who was both Marshal of Burgundy and provincial governor, established a solid foundation for their territorial power. Unfortunately, his daughter Jeanne, who succeeded him, did not also inherit his talents, and under her rule the earldom’s authority began to totter. After her marriage in 1504 to the French count Louis d’Orléans-Longueville (from a branch of the French royal family), she no longer resided in Neuchâtel, and her affiliation with a dynasty of rulers of royal blood upset the Swiss cantons, which were against the French king Louis XII (reigned 1498–1515). To secure their own borders, these

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cantons occupied the earldom for seventeen years (1512–29), also introducing new administrative structures and strengthening relationships with Swiss towns. The absence of the countess resulted in a weakening of her power. In addition, the cantons were coming closer to the Swiss Confederacy. All this provided fertile soil for the Reformation, which had been well received in Switzerland from the early 1520s. It was in this setting that Farel (1489–1565) arrived in Neuchâtel in December 1529. Since he had not received permission to preach publicly as he wished, he was only able to proclaim his message in private residences. This prohibition, issued after extensive political maneuvering, clearly betrays an element of mistrust toward this disruptive preacher.

Adoption of the new faith After this rather cool initial reception, things developed quite differently on Farel’s return in 1530, despite the ardor and, at least in part, bluntness of his message. Supported by the powerful republic of Bern, which had already long functioned as a kind of political protectorate for the earldom of Neuchâtel, the Reformer finally succeeded in imposing his understanding of faith. During his absence, overzealous soldiers returning from their defense of Geneva against Savoyard troops willfully destroyed imagery and statues in the collegiate church in late October 1530. Despite their questionable motivation, the Reformation process could no longer be checked, and on 4 November 1530, the town’s citizens voted, albeit with but a small majority, to abolish the Mass. Although we might explain these developments with theological or ethical considerations, or even the persuasive power of Farel’s message, they leave two important facts unaddressed. First, the local clergy cannot be viewed, as has often been the case, as having been simply uneducated and decadent, since in the early sixteenth century several Neuchâtel canons demonstrated excellent intellectual talents, and no evidence suggests that they lived particularly dissolute lives. Second, an important political consideration is that although the Reformation brought about a confessional break between Countess Jeanne, who had remained Catholic, and her subjects, she did not think it necessary to leave her French castle in Époisses (Burgundy). The citizens of Neuchâtel quickly realized that the adoption of the new faith enhanced their own authority and autonomy in a quite concrete fashion. Even today, the collegiate church still bears traces of this destruction from the Reformation period. The counts’ tomb, despite being a secular monument, suffered particular damage. Although the statues of the princes themselves were preserved, all figures of grievers (pleurants) on the sarcophagi were destroyed —

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Neuchâtel; illustration from Matthäus Merian, “Topographia Helvetiæ, Rhaetiæ, et Valesiæ”, Frankfurt am Main, 1642 Excerpt: On either side of the bell tower (A) we can recognize the architectural complex of the collegiate church (“collégiale”, to the left) and castle (to the right)

very likely because they were mistaken for depictions of saints. The church treasury was spirited off to France, where over time it completely disappeared, and the statues and illustrative plaques serving as iconic decorations in the side chapels were destroyed or dispersed. The reorganization of the benches in the nave was carried out more peacefully, and a pulpit installed to symbolize the new, higher estimation of the sermon. An inscription in the form of a riddle in the pulpit canopy recalls the introduction of the Reformation. The revival of orthodoxy in the seventeenth century also left its traces. The plaque commemorating the iconoclasm of October 1530 possibly dates from the first centennial in 1630. The tympanum depicting the Virgin Mary was destroyed in 1672 to prevent her religious veneration by “papists”.

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Plaque commemorating the Reformation in the chancel of the collegiate church, probably from the anniversary year 1630

William (Guillaume) Farel — torchbearer of the gospel Farel was one of the first French speakers to become committed to Reformation ideas. Born in 1489 in Gap, he studied liberal arts in Paris, where he came into contact with Jacques Lefèvre (Faber Stapulensis), who would exert a considerable influence on him. During the early 1520s, Farel and Lefèvre belonged to the Meaux circle, a group intent on reforming the church in France. Afterward Farel moved from town to town in eastern France. It was in Basel that his fiery, double-edged character emerged  — as it were like the fiery sword he took as his personal symbol: both forceful and provocative. These traits, however, drew the ire of Erasmus and also resulted in his expulsion from this town on the Rhine River. At the same time, his rhetorical gifts were nonetheless clearly recognized in debates despite his not really being a trained theologian. Indeed, in 1528 Bern conferred on him the French-speaking role in the disputation that led to the adoption of the Reformation in that town, and similarly dispatched Farel as a preacher into the French-speaking Bernese territories. Although Bern was not directly guiding Farel’s activity in Neuchâtel, he did profit considerably, as already mentioned, from such welcome support. Farel was

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wholly committed to spreading the Reformation to French-speaking territories. His choice of Neuchâtel as his “headquarters” for undertaking this task rather than far larger towns such as Lausanne or Geneva can be explained by the influence Bern already had over the citizens of this town. Furthermore it was not a bishop’s see and was located at such a considerable distance from the residence of its rigorously Catholic countess. Neuchâtel was also a gateway to nearby France. In any event, with the resolution of 4 November 1530, Neuchâtel became the first Reformed French-speaking town and a center from which the new faith was disseminated — a status it would, however, eventually yield to Geneva.

William (Guillaume) Farel

William Farel; clay bust ca. 1560 toward the end of his life

A nerve center for reform Geneva was to become the center of Farel’s activity between 1532 and 1536. In 1536, shortly after the town had joined the Reformation, Farel succeeded in persuading Calvin to remain on the shores of Lake Geneva. Farel was absent from Neuchâtel during these years, but appointed a replacement in Antoine Marcourt as first pastor. Marcourt’s time in office coincided with Neuchâtel’s flowering as a nerve center for the new faith, initially only for the capital itself, then for the rest of the earldom, and finally for all the Frenchspeaking territories. In 1533 Marcourt published the Livre des marchands (shopkeepers’ book), whose unassuming title, a ploy to circumvent the censor, in reality concealed a satirical pamphlet directed against the greedy profit-seeking of the Catholic clergy. His most sensational exploit, however, occurred during the night of 18 October 1534, when thousands of copies of a placard — in all likelihood created by Marcourt himself — were distributed in Paris and other French towns and even as far as the private chambers of King François I himself. This placard, which harshly criticized the mass, especially with respect to the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, immediately raised the ire of the Catholic party in France and later served as a pretext for violent and bloody reprisals.

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After 1531 Pierre Olivétan (ca. 1505–38) was also regularly present in Neuchâtel. Olivétan was one of Calvin’s cousins who came to fame for his grand accomplishment, the first complete translation of the Bible into French on the basis of the original Hebrew and Greek texts; remarkably, he took only two years to complete the entire work. Both Marcourt and Olivétan, were, of course, dependent on the services of a publisher and printer to disseminate their works and sermons. In 1535 the printer Pierre de Vingle, initially active in Lyon, was forced to leave Geneva, after which he settled in Serriéres, the same section of Neuchâtel in which four years earlier Farel himself had delivered his first sermon. A paper factory was already located there, and Title page of the Olivétan Bible, printed by Pierre de Vingle in Neuchâtel, 1535 the attached printing press published Marcourt’s Livre des marchands, the placards, as well as Olivétan’s French Bible translation. After the publication of these works, however, de Vingle set out yet again, bringing to an end a brilliant, if brief, episode in the history of Neuchâtel’s printing and publishing industry.

Farel’s Return A fundamental change took place in 1536 with the adoption of the Reformation in Geneva and its spread within the canton of Vaud. Although Neuchâtel lost its status as a center of Reformed faith, it immediately set about retrieving Farel when both he and Calvin were expelled from Geneva in 1538. Since Marcourt had been appointed successor to both preachers in Geneva, Neuchâtel, of course, lost its pastor; it quickly found a new one, however, in the person of William Farel. Although the Reformer, who was too dynamic to settle down, would afterward frequently travel to both France and Germany, he nonetheless maintained his permanent residence in Neuchâtel till his death in 1565. Portraits of Farel

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William (Guillaume) Farel

generally date from the final years of his life and also served as the basis for later iconographic developments in that regard. These years after 1536 witnessed the consolidation and institutionalization of what was in reality still a very young church within an extraordinary context for religious history. In 1536 the entire earldom of Neuchâtel joined the Reformation. Only the small town of Le Landeron and the village of Cressier remained unyielding in continuing to celebrate the Mass; the canton of Solothurn, moreover, successfully supported them in their desire to remain Catholic. More surprising still, the same situation occurred with respect to the Neuchâtel castle chapel, located in the immediate vicinity of the collegiate church, the latter having become Reformed while the chapel remained Catholic. This development was possible because Neuchâtel represented a noteworthy exception to the principle of cuius regio, eius religio. The ruling family remained Catholic until the eighteenth century even though its subjects were Reformed. When it appointed a governor of the old faith, he needed an appropriate place of worship, for which the chapel was reserved.

William Farel watches over the town, over which the light of the Reformation spreads; painting by an unknown artist

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Legacy During the 1530s, Neuchâtel established its Vénérable Classe as a collegiate body in which all pastors were represented. Its task was to oversee both the training of future and the activities of current pastors. Although it was to oversee the administration of the Reformed Church generally, it did not exercise any magisterial office in the narrower sense. This institution in any case remained in place until the end of the ancien régime in 1848, and even today its extraordinarily valuable library remains a testimony to its significance in the history of Neuchâtel, and beyond. The especially applies to such distinguished figures as Johann Friedrich Ostervald (1663–1747) during the eighteenth century, whose ideas, European contacts and new translation of the Bible earned considerable respect. The essentially Calvinist Reformation in Neuchâtel, as also influenced by Farel, had significant consequences for daily life, which was tightly controlled by both the church and secular authorities. Church ordinances were issued for “eradicating vices”; morality was regulated and overseen even into the tiniest details, and drunkenness, gambling, and dancing were similarly to be banned. In public spaces, the Reformation led to the surrender of several smaller chapels and a rather sober neoclassical architecture characterizing newly constructed civil and religious buildings. Certain new monuments are of particular significance, such as the statue of Justice (1545–47), with, at her feet, figures of a magistrate, sultan, emperor and pope. Though the point is clearly to demonstrate the superiority of Justice over against every representative of secular power, the figure of a subordinated pope is of particular significance in a town that had transferred its religious allegiance to the Reformed faith only a short time before. Perhaps the most eloquent and at The pope is subjected to “Justitia”; detail of least the most visible testimony to the the statue on the Fountain of Justice in the center of Neuchâtel Reformation in Neuchâtel is Charles

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Dedication of the statue of William Farel before the collegiate church; lithograph by August Bachelin, 1876

Iguel’s statue of Farel, which was dedicated in front of the collegiate church in 1876. With a resolute countenance and a posture poised for violence, Farel here raises Scripture aloft while treading on the heads of saints. This monument, however, commissioned jointly by the town and ecclesiastical administration, contradicted Farel’s own express desire, which was to have only a modest, discreet stone in the form of a grave slab. This statue also provided a symbol of the cultural struggle that had just broken out at the time and as such it served as a tangible symbol of opposition to the Catholic Church. Today, however, in more secular surroundings and standing at the center of a town in which those who claim no religious affiliation are in the majority and in which Catholics now outnumber Protestants, this statue makes a rather strange and outdated impression. At the same time, it vividly recalls the success of the Reformation, comparable to a history book opened as wide as is the Bible in the hands of the energetic William Farel.

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 Grégoire Oguey is assistant lecturer in Medieval and Renaissance History at Neuchâtel University and a member of the Swiss Institute in Rome. He is also chair of the Swiss Society for the History of the Huguenots.

Further reading Philippe Henry and Jean-Pierre Jelmini (eds.), Histoire du Pays de Neuchâtel, vol. 2: De la Réforme à 1815, Hauterive: G. Attinger, 1991 Jean-Daniel Morerod et al. (eds.), Cinq siècles d’histoire religieuse neuchâteloise. Approche d’une tradition protestante. Actes du colloque de Neuchâtel (22−24 avril 2004), Neuchâtel: Université de Neuchâtel, 2009 Pierre Barthel et al. (eds.), Actes du colloque Guillaume Farel (Neuchâtel 29 septembre — 1er octobre 1980), 2 vols., Genève et al., 1983 (Cahiers de la Revue de théologie et de philosophie, vol. 9/I et 9/II) Visiting Neuchâtel www.neuchateltourisme.ch/en/home.html www.mahn.ch www.eren.ch

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Nuremberg Lazarus Spengler and Andreas Osiander by Berndt Hamm

The Reformation transformed Nuremberg from a late medieval Catholic community into a Lutheran one modeled on the Wittenberg Reformation. This was a profound religious and social change within the metropolis and its surrounding area, including cities and villages. The movement radiated out to the smaller Frankish imperial cities and the neighboring margravian principalities of Ansbach and Kulmbach, which aligned themselves with Nuremberg in matters of religious policy.

Nuremberg — a center of the Holy Roman Empire Nuremberg was a major city of European standing, with 40,000 inhabitants. In terms of its impact on the empire, the Reformation course taken by the city was comparable to that of Zurich and Strasbourg. Around the year 1500, almost 95 percent of German cities had populations of fewer than 2000 residents. Only Cologne approached Nuremberg’s size. The wealthy financial metropolis on the Pegnitz River lay at a crossroads of long-distance trade routes, and its wealth was based on strong craftsmanship, exports and extensive worldwide trade. All of this made the imperial city a leading center for news and communication. It was a preferred venue for imperial assemblies and was distinguished by the repeated presence of the Habsburg emperors Friedrich III and Maximilian I.

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Nuremberg. Colorized view from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 1, Cologne, 1593 Detail p. 303: The town hall, churches of St. Lawrence and St. Sebald. The Augustinian monastery was below St. Sebald’s Church

New media and humanism Nuremberg was also a city of printing, woodcuts and copperplate engravings, of reasonably priced broadsheets and pamphlets with primarily religious contents. Probably 40 percent of Nuremberg’s population could read. In addition, by the end of the fifteenth century, the city had become a center of humanism. Its representatives wanted to shape the entire culture and and the way people lived according to the models of pagan and Christian antiquity. In Nuremberg it was members of the well-situated “respectable class” who disseminated humanism, for example, patricians such as Willibald Pirckheimer, the lawyer and friend of Dürer. Above all, it was educated people, such as the town clerk Lazarus Spengler, the legal advisor Christoph Scheurl and the artist Albrecht Dürer. Members of the clergy pressing for church reform were also included in the group. “Without humanism, no Reformation,” as church historian Bernd Moeller aptly puts it. This was especially true in Nuremberg. In Advent 1516 and in the pre-Easter Lenten period in 1517, Johannes von Staupitz preached in the church of the Augustinian monastery in Nuremberg below St. Sebald’s Church. He led the German congregation of the observant Augustinian Hermits. Staupitz proclaimed an absolutely benevolent God: by

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Lazarus Spengler and Andreas Osiander

becoming human and dying on the cross, the all-merciful God descends to the depths of human sin and misery. Through the power of his Spirit, God draws his chosen into a continuing process of repentance. He fills their hearts with a trusting love of Christ and frees them from a self-satisfied sense of justification by works. The people of Nuremberg were fascinated, as were many members of the

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city’s humanistic group and patrician leaders. Staupitz paved the way for Martin Luther’s success in the imperial city. Luther too was an Augustinian monk. He was Staupitz’s subordinate within the order, his student and his successor to the Wittenberg professorial chair.

The beginnings of the Reformation: the reading and preaching movement As early as in 1518 the humanist-leaning group of Staupitz admirers became followers of Luther. In October 1518, when Luther travelled from Wittenberg to Augsburg to be interviewed by Cardinal Cajetan, he stopped at the Augustinian monastery in Nuremberg on both the journey there and back. This meant that his followers in Nuremberg had the chance to meet him personally twice. The clerk of the city council, Lazarus Spengler, reported on the deep impression made on him by Luther’s fearlessness and trust in God. During table talk in 1531, Luther said with appreciation: “Doctor Lazarus Spengler alone introduced the Gospel to Nuremberg and it is his achievement alone that it has endured there until today” — although he was exaggerating (the title of doctor was not correct, to start with). Spengler wrote articles defending Luther and composed pamphlets promoting the Reformation. Before the first Reformation sermons were preached in Nuremberg’s pulpits, there was already a Lutheran reading movement. Many Reformation writings in German were available on the market in inexpensive printed form. Besides Luther, people were reading Melanchthon, Karlstadt, Hutten and Spengler. Even lay people who did not know Latin learned about the Bible and took part in the disputes, notably the shoemaker and poet Hans Sachs. From the spring of 1522, the preaching from the three main city pulpits followed Luther’s thinking. The churches were full to overflowing. The crowds poured in from the city and countryside. Among the preachers was Andreas Osiander the Elder (previously a Hebrew teacher in the Augustinian monastery), who had a good humanist education and was theologically an independent thinker. He very soon asThe Augustinian Church in Nuremberg sumed the position of the leading city approved for abolition in 1816. Engraving Reformer. In terms of content, Nuremin the “Alt-Nürnberg” series of 1846

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Lazarus Spengler and Andreas Osiander

berg’s early reading and preaching movement formulated clear, radical and memorable alternatives: God’s word against human words! Biblical scripture against human teaching, ceremonies and statutes! The truth of God against human illusion! Christ against the pope as antichrist! The community of Christ versus the Roman hierarchy! Preaching and pastoral care versus clerical exploitation! Belief in undeserved redemption versus relying on one’s own works! Christ’s intercession alone versus appealing to Mary and the saints! The true congregationLazarus Spengler (1479–1534). Drawing by al Mass with the two elements of bread an unknown artist, probably based on a lost and wine versus the sacrificial mass of sketch by Albrecht Dürer, ca. 1518 the priest! Freedom of the conscience versus the prison of idolizing created beings! Trust, liberated by faith, in the unconditional gift of salvation versus all provision for salvation by endowments, gifts, fasting, prayers, alms, pilgrimages, processions and buying indulgences! However, Osiander and his fellow pastors increasingly found themselves dealing with an imperial city council and city council clerk who did not see themselves as simply implementing what the theologians said, but rather as independent-minded lay Christians not wishing to return to “Papism” in the guise of Protestantism. In 1522, the city council adopted a new alms system. Lazarus Spengler formulated the preamble to the document. The support of the needy was no longer regarded as a meritorious means of acquiring salvation, making up for sins, but as the thankful response of believing and loving people. The Reformation-style sermon of 1522 touched off a “popular reform movement” that reached its zenith in Nuremberg in 1523 and 1524 and ended in the spring of 1525. A key, dynamic role in this broad reformation of congregations was played by lay people, i. e., not professional theologians and consecrated persons. At no other time in German history have people from all social classes and occupations participated to such an extent in theological and religious issues, acquired so much knowledge, engaged in such independent thinking, and had such an influence on changing the church as happened in the early years of the Reformation.

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Until the end of May 1524, however, Nuremberg remained  — on the whole — a Catholic city. On Sunday, 5 July 1524, the Nuremberg provosts of the churches of St. Sebald and St. Lawrence introduced the liturgical change that had been tested in the Augustinian Monastery. They eliminated the part where the priest spoke about sacrificing and transubstantiation (the heart of the Catholic Mass). These sections were replaced by a rewritten Eucharistic admonition with the words of institution spoken in German, as were the Gospel and Epistle readings; all other parts of the Mass were still in Latin. In addition, the provosts decided that no more soul-masses would be held in the city churches. This was an open break with the previous religious system of providing for the afterlife. It profoundAndreas Osiander (1498–1552), portrait ly changed the medieval ecclesiastical by Georg Pencz, 1544. Stamp. Pal. II. 374 system of endowment, depriving many © 2015 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana priests of their living. On 12 December 1524, delegates from the southern German Protestant imperial cities — among them Nuremberg, Strasbourg and Ulm — were assembled in Ulm for the Urban Diet; from there they wrote to Emperor Charles V in Spain. Apparently Lazarus Spengler drafted the letter, which may be considered the first public confession of the Reformation at the level of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. In it, the imperial cities proclaimed their obedient loyalty to the emperor and empire. At the same time they confessed that they would cling to and defend the Word and Gospel of Christ “unto the grave”. Neither the emperor, the imperial estates nor the pope would prevent them from doing so. This was their obligation as baptized Christians. In the following years, Nuremberg remained faithful to this decision.

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Lazarus Spengler and Andreas Osiander

Chamber in the historical town hall in Nuremberg, decorated under the guidance of Albrecht Dürer. Scene of the religious colloquy of 1525. The chamber was completely destroyed in 1945. Copper engraving by Johann Adam Delsenbach, ca. 1715

The religious colloquy of 3–14 March 1525 From this point on, the Nuremberg city council took over the leading role in restructuring the city’s church life. To undergird its legitimacy as a religious authority, it organized a religious colloquy in the town hall, like a Council of Nuremberg. The two parties  — i. e. believers in the traditional faith with the mendicant preachers as speakers and the Protestants led by Andreas Osiander — discussed controversial questions of faith and law. By stipulating beforehand that the basis for the discussions and decisions should only be the Bible, thus favoring the reformist side, the Council also extended its ecclesiastical authority to questions of theological doctrine and worship, in a way inconceivable for medieval minds.  

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Organizing the Reformation until 1533 With the new structuring the Council accommodated an anticlerical and anti-monastic feeling in the populace. It ordered that the canon of the Mass be abolished in all church services in the city and insisted on Protestant preaching. Its goal that all monasteries in the city and countryside should disappear was, however, to take longer. Not all monasteries followed the example of the Augustinian monks by dissolving themselves. The Clarissines (Poor Clares) of St. Clare’s and the Domin­ican nuns of St. Catharine’s Church were especially resistant. As “brides of Christ”, they felt committed to lifelong faithfulness to their marriage vows. Caritas Pirckheimer, the abbess of St. Clare’s, invoked Luther’s principle of freedom of conscience, which forbade forcing nuns to change their religious adherence. The city council chose the path of prohibiting intractable monasteries from accepting new novices, just letting them gradually die out over the course of the sixteenth century. The possessions of the churches and monasteries and the capital of endowments were incorporated into the alms box collection. These funds were used not only for the needy, but could also finance the church personnel and schools. The clergy would be integrated into the lay community by taking a civic oath; their tax, economic and legal privileges were revoked. They had to either separate from or marry their mistresses. The bishop’s jurisdiction was no longer valid in Nuremberg. The council gathered all ecclesiastical organizational and leadership authority in its hands. The late medieval striving for authority over the church was accomplished with a speed and completeness that it could not have conceived in 1523. Secular civil and ecclesiastical communities completely came together at this time, particularly since all the Jewish people had been expelled from Nuremberg in 1498/99. No Jewish people returned to the city until well into the nineteenth century. Church services and pastoral care naturally remained the responsibility of the former, now new clergy, as long as they adhered to the new tenets of the Reformation. However, from this point on they were employed and paid as church officials by the city council. In a lengthy and conflict-ridden process, the council had a new ecclesiastical ordinance prepared by its theologians and with the help of the Schwäbisch-Hall Reformer Johannes Brenz. This ordinance defined the doctrinal norm, duties of the clerical office and the various orders of worship. Thanks to Spengler’s religious diplomacy, Nuremberg, together with the Brandenburg margravian principalities Ansbach-Kulmbach, adopted and printed the ordinance of 1533. It served as a model for many other cities and territories.

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Lazarus Spengler and Andreas Osiander

Religious homogeneity After 1525 the Nuremberg Council tried to achieve religious homogeneity in its domain. Against the papal position, it not only wanted all townspeople to commit to accepting Holy Scripture as the only legitimizing principle but, in opposition to the Zwinglians, Anabaptists and Spiritualist, also to follow the Lutheran confessional norm as it developed from 1525 to 1530. In 1527 Lazarus Spengler, against the traditional faithful and “enthusiasts”, wrote what was probably the first creed of the Reformation — a personal, private confession, whose final version Luther sent to be printed in 1535 in Wittenberg as an exemplary testimony of faith. Overall, Luther recommended following the “Nuremberg example” of a political government that provided for unified preaching, as this was the only way the imperial city could maintain its inner cohesion and prosper with God’s blessing. Therefore, after 1525 the Council forbade the printing and distribution of all writings that went against Luther’s teaching of the real presence in the Eucharist and that represented a Zwinglian, southern German understanding of communion as a symbolic act. At the same time, the council often conducted itself very moderately. Some theologians, especially Osiander, and some lawyers demanded harsh punishments for Anabaptists who would not recant, in severe cases even calling for the death penalty, as Imperial Law prescribed. However, the council found it sufficient to imprison or banish stubborn Anabaptists. In eliminating the feast days of saints, the council did not go as far as the preachers wanted. It also denied the clergy the right of church discipline, especially of exclusion from communion. Under no circumstances did it allow a separate ecclesiastical jurisdiction next to that of the political authority. Also concerning the question of art works the Council followed a moderate path. It refused The church ordinance printed in Nuremberg in 1533. Title page to remove religious images from the

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church, as had been done on order of the political authorities in Zurich, Strasbourg and Ulm. Even images with an obvious connection to the traditional veneration of saints escaped destruction; they had mostly been donated by patricians. Their family traditions were evidently more important to the members of the Council than a consistent approach to removing the reminders of old-style worship. The restrained and non-fanatical character of the Nuremberg Reformation was in keeping with the city’s strong interest in schooling inspired by humanist principles and in educational reform. In 1526 a new kind of school was created, the Gymnasium. With Melanchthon’s help, the city was able to recruit excellent humanist scholars for this secondary school. Their intellectual horizons would have been difficult to combine with a narrow-minded confessional stance. Attitudes continued to be influenced by a symbiosis of humanism and the Reformation and the preference for a Lutheranism moderated by Melanchthon. Even after the defeat of the Schmalkaldic League, from which Nuremberg had distanced itself out of traditional loyalty to the emperor, its transformation into a Protestant city, which took place within only a few years, was irreversible.  Dr. Berndt Hamm is professor of Modern Church History at Erlangen-Nürnberg University and currently a research professor. Further reading Gerhard Müller and Gottfried Seebaß (eds.), Andreas Osiander d. Ä., Gesamtausgabe, 10 vols., Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 1975–1997 Berndt Hamm et al. (eds.), Lazarus Spengler, Schriften (bis März 1530), 3 vols., Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 1995, 1999, 2010 Gottfried Seebaß, Das reformatorische Werk des Andreas Osiander, Nürnberg: Verein für Bayerische Kirchengeschichte, 1967 Berndt Hamm, Lazarus Spengler (1479–1534). Der Nürnberger Ratsschreiber im Spannungsfeld von Humanismus und Reformation, Politik und Glaube. Mit einer Edition von Gudrun Litz, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004 Visiting Nuremberg https://www.nuernberg.de/internet/stadtportal_e http://tourismus.nuernberg.de www.nuernberg-evangelisch.de

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Orlamünde Andreas Karlstadt by Thomas Kaufmann

This small Thuringian farming community, with its about 600 residents in the early sixteenth century, acquired significance in Reformation history because of the presence of Andreas Rudolf Bodenstein (1486–1541). In his own day, this Reformer was well known — even famous — under the name of Karlstadt, the town in Franconia where he was born. A professor of theology and colleague of Martin Luther, he was one of the early representatives of the Wittenberg School, whose radical theology of grace, following on from Augustine, the Latin Church Father, began attracting attention in 1517. Animated conversations with Luther had persuaded Karlstadt that Augustine, in his writings against the monastic theologian Pelagius, had indeed denied that any human effort could contribute to a person’s justification. In his younger years, Karlstadt, a cleric unattached to any monastic order and keenly conscious of both status and career, had attained the position of archdeacon, that is, of legally authorized representative of the bishop at Wittenberg’s All Saints collegiate church (Allerheiligenstift, connected to the castle and university), and had also acquired considerable competence in scholastic theology. Influenced by the Augustinian friar Luther, however, Karlstadt broke with that theology and devoted himself wholly to the study of the Church Fathers, the mystic Johannes Tauler, and Scripture. Amid the initial controversies with the Ingolstadt theologian Johannes Eck following the posting of the 95 theses, Luther and Karlstadt operated side by side. And despite the Augustinian friar’s greater renown and incomparably greater charisma, from 1518 to 1521/22 Karlstadt was viewed publicly as the most important representative of Wittenberg theology alongside Luther. He and Luther opposed Eck together at the Leipzig Disputation during the summer of 1519, an event that proved of considerable significance for the emergence of the

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Orlamünde — aerial photograph © Wolfgang Pehlemann

Reformation movement. When in the spring of 1521 Christian II, king of Denmark, was seeking appropriate personnel to implement the Reformation in Copenhagen, he asked Elector Friedrich of Saxony whether the latter might allow him to “borrow” Luther and Karlstadt for a while. Hence it is primarily because of Karlstadt’s role at the beginning of the Reformation that his time in Orlamünde, which lasted only approximately fifteen months (June 1523 to September 1524), is considered relevant in Reformation history. That period deserves scrutiny for another reason, however. In Orlamünde a Reformation model was tried out — one supported by the congregation and for

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which the congregation itself took responsibility — that was ultimately displaced by the model favored by Luther, one of “top-down” Reformation guided by the sovereign territorial lord. The end of Karlstadt’s activities in Orlamünde marks a caesura in Reformation history.

Karlstadt’s benefice in Orlamünde Karlstadt’s original connections in Orlamünde, dating from the period before the outbreak of the dispute on indulgences, were intimately associated with his office as archdeacon. The parish of Orlamünde was in his area of responsibility and supplied the better part of his income. In accordance with pre-Reformation practice, Karlstadt, as senior cleric, rather than personally overseeing the parish, was represented by a moderately compensated locum priest, selected by Wittenberg University. On the whole, the Orlamünde parish was quite lucrative, drawing fees from a number of members of the lower nobility in the area and from the town’s Wilhelmite monastery. In 1515 Karlstadt engaged in a serious dispute with the locum, Nikolaus Suppan, who had collected barely half the anticipated 80 guilders. Karlstadt journeyed to Orlamünde and excommunicated his representative, who appealed for help from the Elector but soon left his position. Several different locums are attested in quick succession over the next few years. Sources make it sufficiently evident that Karlstadt was deeply involved in the contemporary benefice system and, moreover, was quite deft at asserting his own rights as well as those of the All Saints church and chapter. Occasionally  — for example, regarding the appointment of a schoolmaster — this robust theologian and erudite jurist openly flouted the privileges of the Orlamünde town council, which had the right of consent; Karlstadt then simply accepted the ensuing rebuke from Elector Friedrich of Saxony. On the occasion of a similar dispute concerning a pastoral position in Uhlstädt in 1517, Karlstadt seems to have interpreted rather generously his patronage rights as Orlamünde incumbent by orchestrating the appointment of his colleague Simon Pflug from Wittenberg’s All Saints chapter and ignoring the Elector’s nomination rights. The latter, however, reacted by ordering Pflug’s withdrawal and presenting his own candidate to the archiepiscopal administration in Magdeburg. This conflict makes it clear that Karlstadt was bound by the protocol of the ecclesiastical institutions he served; by contrast, he exhibited little affinity for “early-modern state power” of the sort represented by the court of Elector ­Friedrich. During his later activities as a Reformer as well — first in Orlamünde, later in ­Switzerland — Karlstadt, unlike Luther, focused primarily on more immediate local decision-makers and authorities.

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Orlamünde The small town of Orlamünde boasted a certain measure of prosperity in the early sixteenth century; this is at least suggested by the late-Gothic town hall, dedicated in 1502. The resident of the earlier building on this spot was the tax collector, an Electoral Saxon magistrate. On the basis of a sale during the fourteenth century by the count of Orlamünde, the town had passed into the possession of the Wettin family. The most important means of subsistence continued to be agriculture, especially sheep farming and viticulture, also brewing. Conflicts regularly arose between citizens and the landed nobility about pasturelands and contested hunting and fishing rights; these conflicts were dealt with in the courts of the Elector. The trade highway between Nuremberg and Leipzig ran through the valley of the River Saale, providing a considerable income from bridge and highway tolls. By becoming a parish subject to All Saints collegiate church in Wittenberg in 1507, Orlamünde had also become a resource for the newly founded Wittenberg University. Since the eleventh century Orlamünde had had its own St. Mary’s Church, which was replaced by a late-Gothic building around 1500. The five altars at which donations from the Mass were collected similarly dated from this period. Remnants of late medieval altar fixtures from Orlamünde have been preserved, having been stored away locally. That does not suggest “iconoclasm” of the sort notoriously attributed to Karlstadt but rather a removal of imagery by council resolution in accordance with the Wittenberg Reformation ordinance of January 1522, which Karlstadt himself largely composed. The proximity to Jena and the faMid-fifteenth century alabaster Pietà from vorable location along traffic routes Orlamünde by a master craftsman from made it possible for news about the Erfurt. There is no documentary evidence latest Reformation developments to that Mary’s head and torso were destroyed reach the Saale Valley swiftly. As in othin 1523 during Karlstadt’s sojourn in er eastern Thuringian localities, early Orlamünde, as has been repeatedly assumed

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radical Reformation stirrings were also discernible in Orlamünde in 1522/23. For example, in the early summer of 1523 — before Karlstadt’s arrival — the Wilhelmite monastery was stormed.

Karlstadt in Orlamünde in 1523/24 Karlstadt’s relocation to Orlamünde during the second half of June 1523 resulted from a dramatic falling out with Luther. The first cluster of indicators suggesting such a crisis date to the summer of 1520 and are connected with fundamental questions concerning the biblical canon. Luther, starting from an approach to the New Testament based solely on Christ and on the gift of justification, had questioned the canonical validity of the Letter of James, which, he said, advocated justification on the basis of works. Karlstadt reacted with criticism, fearing that any relativizing of the only remaining normative foundation of Reformation Christianity, the Bible, would eventually do incalculable harm to the binding character of doctrine and to the capacity for cogent argumentation over against Catholic opponents. Luther and Karlstadt seem to have conducted this dispute in a lecture hall, thereby drawing students into the disagreement as well. During the ten months Luther was absent from Wittenberg as a result of the Imperial Diet of Worms and his time at the Wartburg (April 1521–February 1522), no documentation attests any direct contact between Luther and Karlstadt  — which may well indicate that their relationship had broken down. During Luther’s absence, however, Karlstadt had gradually assumed an important role in connection with the initial reformational reorganization of Wittenberg church institutions. He not only openly advocated marriage for priests, but in January 1522 was himself the first Wittenberg theologian to enter into matrimony. A wedding portrait (attributed to Lucas Cranach the Elder) of him and his young wife, Anna von Mochau is the first portrait we possess of a married Protestant theologian. At Christmas 1521, Karlstadt presided at the first Wittenberg congregational Eucharist, which had 2000 participants and was administered in both forms. In January 1522, in a pamphlet explaining the Wittenberg congregational ordinance, he advocated that all imagery be removed from church spaces and that begging be abolished. Even though no direct connection has ever been proven between Karlstadt’s argumentation and incidents of iconoclasm within the context of Wittenberg Reformation history, Luther’s later polemic provided a basis for Karlstadt’s tenacious reputation as an insurgent. This essentially slanderous defamation would unfortunately continue to characterize Karlstadt and his memory.

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Probably Karlstadt and his wife, Anna von Mochau; double portrait by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1522

After Luther’s return from the Wartburg, all the actors in the previous “Wittenberg Reformation” subordinated themselves to him  — except Karlstadt. The university immediately subjected him to censorship, which severely limited his publication opportunities. Karlstadt responded by breaking both personally and publicly with his previous academic existence, calling himself “Brother Andreas” and a “new layperson”, renouncing his titles, and declining to participate in doctoral supervisions. This behavior was motivated by a mystical theology that viewed simplicity as the path to God. After looking about for a new setting in which to continue his activities, Karlstadt decided to become the pastor in Orlamünde himself. Supported by the Orlamünde council, he was allowed to serve the parish for at least a year. Neither Wittenberg University nor the All Saints chapter initially raised any objections to Karlstadt’s moving away — probably they were glad to be rid of him.

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Karlstadt seems to have begun preaching only gradually, this activity only being reliably documented from late September 1523. He spent a lot of time farming; his predecessor had allowed the parsonage, fields and vineyards to deteriorate quite badly. Everything suggests that the previously customary fees were no longer being paid and that he had to secure his subsistence through the work of his hands. His publications also gradually recommenced. The printer Michael Buchführer, who had moved from Erfurt to Jena, began in the autumn of 1523 to publish a whole series of his works, including Ursachen das And: Carolstat ein zeyt still geschwigen (Reasons why Andreas Karlstadt fell silent for a time), and the treatise Von dem Priestertum und Opfer Christi (On the Title page of Andreas Karlstadt, “Ursachen priesthood and sacrifice of Christ), in das And: Carolstat ein zeyt still geschwigen”, which Karlstadt took his first, decisive Jena, 1523 step toward denying that the body of Christ was actually present in the elements of the Eucharist. Although the particulars and scope of reformational changes Karlstadt initiated in Orlamünde are not known, he clearly acted with the support of the council and involved the laity by conducting his services in the vernacular. We can in any case assume that the Eucharist was offered in both forms and that baptism, too, was conducted in the local German dialect. It is not known whether Karlstadt, as he advocated in a later pamphlet, was already practicing a postponement of baptism until the age of about six. In the summer of 1524 the question of how to bring about changes in church and society was coming dramatically to a head, not least due to the activities of Thomas Müntzer, Karlstadt’s former student and confidant in Wittenberg, now pastor in Allstedt. In this connection, both Karlstadt and the Orlamünde congregation opposed joining alliances and also the use of physical violence. Karlstadt had a letter to this effect printed in Wittenberg on 22 July 1524.

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Expulsion from Orlamünde At this time, however, dark clouds were already gathering over his Orlamünde Reformation project. Since January 1524 Luther had been endeavoring to persuade the Electoral Saxon administration to check on, or even terminate Karlstadt’s activities in the Saale Valley. Luther suggested banning his publications, complained about the attacks directed at him from Orlamünde, and had his opponent summoned to take up his teaching duties in Wittenberg once again. In May 1524, however, Orlamünde residents elected Karlstadt as their pastor and also communicated this choice to the university and All Saints chapter. In doing so, they were following a procedural proposal Luther had made himself during the summer of 1520 among reform demands in his Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation Concerning the Reform of the Christian Estate. On the instructions of Elector Friedrich, Karlstadt was ordered back to Wittenberg University. The traditional law on clergy appointments was essentially confirmed against the Reformation idea that the congregations could appoint their pastors themselves. On 22 July 1524, before the University senate, Karlstadt relinquished his offices both as archdeacon and as pastor in Orlamünde. Luther’s correspondence with Elector Johann Friedrich in Weimar, in which the Reformer railed at length concerning the dangers being introduced by “enthusiasts”, gave rise to the idea that Luther himself ought to take a journey through the Saale Valley. On 22 August 1524, Luther preached in Jena in connection with this visitation. Immediately afterwards, the two former colleagues had a confrontation in the Black Bear Inn. Karlstadt felt Luther had attacked him by fulminating in his sermon against the “spirit of Allstedt”, and by associating Karlstadt with “sedition and murder” and with attempts to abolish baptism. Luther had apparently also given the impression that those under Karlstadt’s influence were prepared to pursue their goals through violence. Karlstadt retaliated by rejecting outright any connection with Müntzer and the Allstedt League, on good grounds and with reference to the Orlamünde residents’ letter he had just published. Karlstadt responded positively to Luther’s reference to the Eucharist, however, declaring that no one had more clearly represented the apostles’ teaching than he himself. He was, moreover, prepared to demonstrate that with respect to the Eucharist Luther had distorted the gospel and become unfaithful to his own teachings. Here Karlstadt became the first Reformer to charge Luther with contradicting himself  — an accusation that his critics within the Reformation camp were quick to take up. This vehement exchange of words in a public inn left no doubt that the two most important representatives of the early Wittenberg Reformation now held profoundly antagonistic theological positions.

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Luther finally challenged Karlstadt to come out openly against him in publications, underscoring this demand with a peculiar symbolic act, the gift of a golden guilder. Karlstadt, already restricted in his opportunities for literary production, took this as a “sign” that he possessed the “power to write against Doctor Luther”, something he quickly did, and at length. Karlstadt’s writings on the Eucharist, most likely composed while he was still in Orlamünde and published in the autumn of 1524 outside Electoral Saxony, inaugurated the intra-Reformation dispute concerning the Eucharist. On 24 August 1524, two days after the confrontation in Jena, Luther and his traveling companions from the Electoral administration arrived in Orlamünde. From the very first moment, exchanges between the laypersons inspired by Karlstadt, on the one hand, and the Wittenberg doctor, on the other, were vituperative. Luther refused to preach, as the Orlamünde council requested, then complained about a letter the Orlamünde citizens had sent him in which they had addressed him as a Christian “brother”; did not use his doctoral title and accused him of false doctrine. Luther, of course, blamed Karlstadt for the letter, which the Orlamünde citizens denied. The Wittenberg Reformer then insisted that the ensuing discussion take place in the tax assessor’s office rather than in the town hall, presumably in an effort to express his preference for a Reformation under the responsibility of the territorial ruler rather than of the local community. In this discussion, Luther was confronted by a version of lay Christianity that in his view laid claim to the Bible in an exegetically wholly untenable fashion. When Karlstadt suddenly appeared in the assembly, Luther asserted, “You are suspicious, and my enemy.” He was not willing to engage in a personal discussion with Karlstadt. After several more vehement exchanges with the Orlamünde residents, the enraged and disconcerted visitation commission made a harum-scarum departure. A few weeks later, Karlstadt was expelled from the territory. Before he himself left Electoral Saxony, his brother-in-law Gerhard Westerburg, a physician and lay apostle from Cologne, had set out for the south to deliver several of the Wittenberg dissident’s Orlamünde texts to the printer. It was clear, also to the public at large, that the unity of the Reformation was at an end.  Dr. Thomas Kaufmann is professor of Church History at Göttingen University and chair of the Association for Reformation History.

Further reading Herrmann Barge, Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt, 2 vols., Leipzig: Brandstetter, 1905; Nieuwkoop: B. de Graaf, ²1968

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Volkmar Joestel, Ostthüringen und Karlstadt. Soziale Bewegung und Reformation im mittleren Saaletal am Vorabend des Bauernkrieges (1522−1524), Berlin: Schelzky und Jeep, 1996 Hans-Peter Hasse, “Luthers Visitationsreise in Thüringen im August 1524: Jena  — Kahla — Neustadt an der Orla — Orlamünde”, in: Werner Greiling et al. (eds.), Der Altar von Lucas Cranach d. Ä. in Neustadt an der Orla und die Kirchenverhältnisse im Zeitalter der Reformation, Köln et al.: Böhlau, 2014, pp. 169–202 Alejandro Zorzin, “Ein Cranach-Porträt des Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt”, in: Theologische Zeitschrift 70 (2014) issue 1, pp. 4−24 Visiting Orlamünde www.urlaubsland-thueringen.de/staedte/orlamuende.html http://eisenberg.ekmd-online.de/kirchenkreis/pfarraemter-und-gemeinden/region-kahla/ Orlamuende

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by Martin Ohst

Throughout the world, Oxford, a small city about 90 km northwest of London, is synonymous with academic excellence in research and teaching — practiced in remembrance of a brilliant past that is ever-present in living traditions.

The University of Oxford The origins of organized instruction and learning in Oxford probably go back to the eleventh century, though much of this history is still obscure. As had happened somewhat earlier in Paris and Bologna, the various schools, i. e. groups formed freely around masters, became more visible historically when they joined into a universitas as a sort of umbrella organization. Oxford University still consists not of faculties or groups of subjects but of individual colleges, established from the very beginning by secular and ecclesiastical benefactors. Oxford acquired more definitive and enduring connections with university studies on the Continent through the mendicant orders, which emerged during the thirteenth century. The monks of this new type worked in the urban centers as preachers, ministers and inquisitors. Because these tasks required education and training, the orders established houses of study that aspired to play a certain role within universities as well, when there was one nearby, which also led to conflicts. The orders’ sphere of action was the entire Christian world, something they shared, of course, with the papacy, the self-appointed highest power of the entire church with regard to both governance and leadership. Hence throughout the entire late Middle Ages, the mendicant orders profiled the Catholic Church as a specifically papal church.

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Oxford; colorized view from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 2, Cologne, 1593

Such mendicant houses of study arose in Oxford, too. From here two of the most significant thinkers of the late Middle Ages made their way into the world of international church-monastic education: the Franciscans Johannes Duns Scotus († 1308 in Cologne) and William of Occam († 1347 in Munich). Umberto Eco used the latter as a model for William of Baskerville in his novel The Name of the Rose. Teachers and scholars not tied to orders tended to be more sedentary. One of them in Oxford was Thomas Bradwardine († 1349), who wrote In Defense of God against the Pelagians. In this, his main work, he trenchantly and rigorously renewed Augustine’s doctrine that God’s grace and compassion alone determine whether a person attains salvation despite original sin. Here Bradwardine is contesting the customary theology of his age, which understood “from grace alone” as meaning “not without grace”; that is, although a person certainly attains salvation solely through divine grace, human beings must “do” whatever they can

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to make it possible for grace to become efficacious in their lives in the first place. Scholars did little more than debate Bradwardine’s frontal assault. He himself was not interested in altering the structures or behavior of the church  — merely in interpreting those topics or in helping others to understand them better.

Tension between England and the Curia Bradwardine’s most important pupil, John Wycliffe († 1384), took the important step of drawing the practical conclusions implied by Bradwardine’s theoretical theses, and in so doing became the first person to make Oxford a memorable place in church history. To understand this, however, we need to be mindful of two particular constellations.

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First: Through its conquest by the Norman duke William the Conqueror in 1066, England became part of an empire encompassing extensive parts of what is today western France. The French crown’s efforts to weaken this power configuration continued for centuries, ending only in 1558, when Calais, the last English continental bridgehead, was lost. Hence the Hundred Years War, during which Wycliffe lived, represented only a single segment of what were extraordinarily intensive struggles in a much longer series of disputes. Second: In 1170 Thomas Becket in England became perhaps the most famous martyr of the Gregorian church reform. Named after Pope Gregory VII († 1085), it tried to roll back the influence of secular rule in the church and instead turn the church into an independent organism under the leadership of the pope. Yet almost nowhere did such reform remain further removed from implementation than in England itself. The English Church was ruled by the king. He appointed ecclesiastical office holders and cultivated the higher clergy simultaneously as a loyal reserve of leadership for both policy and administration. The Holy See secured the necessary confirmations for a fee, and its permanent representative in the country bore the telling title “collector”. This constant and considerable flow of money to the Curia eventually became a problem because the popes, who were politically dependent on the French king, were viewed as the latter’s partisans and supporters. In this situation, the entire system was increasingly called into question — particularly by the English parliament. In 1351 and 1353, it passed two laws prohibiting any influence from non-English authorities or entities  — hence also from the papal Curia  — on internal English ecclesiastical affairs. Although these laws were not fully implemented until the English Church ended its commitment to Rome under Henry VIII in 1534, parliament immediately used these laws on behalf of its own political agenda, seeking allies that included Duke John of Gaunt, younger brother of the mortally ill heir apparent, Edward of Woodstock (better known as the “Black Prince”). In 1374 John Wycliffe, about forty years old at the time, first entered the light of history when a parliamentary delegation ferried across to Brugge to negotiate with representatives of the Curia. The resulting compromise left parliament’s more radical demands unfulfilled. And Wycliffe now transformed his own theological insights into a church reform program.

The theology of John Wycliffe The foundation of the program to reform the church on which Wycliffe feverishly worked during the final decade of his life was the radical doctrine of divine elective grace as the sole ground for salvation. The only authority for this doctrine and all

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that follows from it is Scripture, in which God has proclaimed the divine will once and for all, and irrevocably. The church has nothing to add here; that is, its task is to listen rather than to teach, and should it attempt more, it must be promptly put in its place. Those in the church wanting to exercise independent authority would need to prove that they are numbered among those whom God has elected for salvation, something no one, however, can do. Indeed, a pope who nonetheless demands unconditional obedience as the price of the salvation of one’s soul is nothing more than a satanic distortion of Jesus Christ, that is: the Antichrist. This is the first breach in the doctrinal and legal authority of the pope and church, an authority that in turn is based on the church’s claim to be the dispenser of God’s salvific gifts as appointed by God in Christ. Here, too, Wycliffe attacked, on the argument that whether human beings are destined for salvation depends solely on whether God has predestined them before all time for such salvation — a situation that neither the individual nor the church as a whole can alter. This insight empties of significance all the things the church believes it can do for human beings, including the Mass and indulgences, and trust in the efficacious intercession of saints. All human beings are confronted with the ominous question of whether they are indeed predestined for salvation. But they are not alone. Human beings can, and should, examine and appraise whether, and to what extent, the way they conduct their lives is commensurate with God’s will as proclaimed in the Bible. The greater the extent to which they shape their lives accordingly, the more confidently can they assume that they belong to the true Church — the number of those predestined for salvation that is utterly indiscernible to the human eye. Human beings nonetheless need help with this, and it is in this context that the earthly, institutional church, despite its ambiguity, has a positive role to play. It must communicate and convey the biblical word of God to people such that they are able to understand it themselves, which means first of all that the Bible must be translatJohn Wycliffe; woodcut from John Bale, ed and distributed in the vernacular, “Illustrium maioris Britanniæ scriptorium”, Wesel, 1549 and preachers sent forth capable of

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communicating to ordinary people in simple language what God requires of them, and to do so while remaining true to mandatory guidelines. Wycliffe identified this communication as the one and only task appropriate to the church  — considering everything else to be superfluous and thus harmful. The secular ruler, namely, the king, should reappropriate for himself all worldly possessions and all secular power that had hitherto devolved to the church. As an institution, the only thing the church needs is soundly educated preachers who through poverty are also trustworthy; indeed, as an institution the church is in reality nothing other than such an association of preachers. The proximity to the original Franciscan approach is unmistakable. We can easily understand how — after an initial sympathy for the mendicant orThe beginning of the Gospel of John in a ders of his age  — Wycliffe eventually late-fourteenth-century Wycliffe Bible; harbored nothing but undiluted hamanuscripts were usually in a small format to make it easier for itinerant preachers to tred for them, for they had long becarry them come rich off contributions from believers and were operating as the most eloquent advocates of the papal church and its self-appropriated salvific power. Taking such a position turned Wycliffe into an outsider within broad circles of the church hierarchy. At the same time, however, he gained political supporters. Following him meant that one could cease all payments to the Curia and use church possessions wholly for secular purposes. But Wycliffe escalated his radicalism yet further. With philosophical and theological arguments, he publicly attacked the legally binding doctrine concerning the transubstantiation of bread and wine through the priestly words of consecration in the Mass. With this attack on the very heart of medieval (and modern) piety in the papal church, however, Wycliffe burst the bounds of what even his sympathizers could tolerate.

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Wycliffe’s influence In 1374 Wycliffe withdrew from Oxford to the parish of Lutterworth. Here, until his death on 31 December 1384, he worked incessantly as a Bible translator and author of polemical and didactic articles with which he formed the movement of “poor priests”. Although church authorities condemned Wycliffe and even unjustly held him responsible for a peasants’ rebellion, he remained personally unscathed. The movement he ignited was nicknamed “Lollards” (mumblers). Their continuing subversive political activities provoked harsh laws against them. As a result, they disappeared from public view, but continued as an underground movement. Geoffrey Chaucer, author of the Canterbury Tales, was very likely a Lollard sympathizer. Otherwise, evidence we have concerning their activities during the following decades comes largely from case files showing that the movement swiftly and enduringly lost all connection with its academic origins. Wycliffe’s ideas exerted a far more discernible influence in faraway Bohemia. When in 1382 the English king Richard II married Anne, sister of the Bohemian king Wenceslaus IV, Bohemian students came to Oxford and took Wycliffe’s writings to Prague, where they contributed to the emergence of the Hussite movement. That is why not only Jan Hus but also Wycliffe was condemned at the Council of Constance in 1415. In 1428, forty years after his death, Wycliffe’s mortal remains in Lutterworth were disinterred and publicly burned. In England itself, however, Wycliffe left a legacy extending beyond merely the circle of Lollards. The English Church managed to loosen its ties with Rome under King Henry VIII and break away more completely under his son Edward VI. Henry’s eldest daughter, Mary Tudor (1553–58) attempted to reverse this development. Under her aegis in 1556, the trial took place in Oxford’s University Church against Thomas Cranmer. This was the very man who had composed the Anglican Church’s Book of Common Prayer and its doctrinal confession (the Forty-Two, later ThirtyNine Articles), thereby enduringly shaping that church’s character. With respect to both liturgical and constitutional matters, Cranmer remained true to the legacy of the early church and the Middle Ages, and in doctrinal matters eliminated “perversions” according to the standard of Reformation ideas. Although Cranmer had already recanted his “heresies”, once he realized he would be sentenced to death for high treason anyway he abjured that earlier recantation. After having been burned at the stake in Oxford and becoming a martyr, he entered the grand legitimizing historical narrative that John Foxe, in his Book of Martyrs (1563), provided for the new ecclesiastical order. This first attained relative stability under Mary’s half-sister, Elizabeth (1558–1603).

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William Tyndale The significance of Foxe’s historical narrative for the emergence of an English national consciousness can hardly be overestimated. Wycliffe and the Lollards play a key role in that narrative. They are the final link in a chain of proof extending back into late antiquity that aims to demonstrate how the Reformation in England, far from being an alien intruder, emerged from indigenous roots, which merely benefited from continental, especially German influences. Foxe demonstrates this notion with particular emphasis in the case of William Tyndale († 1536), whose Bible translation was later consulted by the translators of the King James Bible. In Foxe’s dramatic narrative  — scholars still discuss, time and again, its historical reliability  — Tyndale functions as the connecting link between Wycliffe and the Lollards, humanism and continental Reformation

William Tyndale; portrait in his translation of the New Testament, Antwerp, 1534

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Preparations are made for burning William Tyndale at the stake; engraving from John Foxe, “Book of Martyrs”, 1562

ideas. Tyndale introduced the latter into England, adapting and shaping them in a specifically English fashion. Even as a student in Oxford (1512–15), Tyndale (according to Foxe) was already distinguishing himself through zealous biblical studies informed and enhanced by the renewed discipline of humanism. From Oxford he turned to Cambridge, where he allegedly belonged to that particular intellectual circle that met in the White Horse Inn to discuss Reformation theology. Later, in London, he unsuccessfully offered his services to the bishop as a translator of the Bible into English. Instead, he gained the patronage of a clothier, a man from a circle notoriously receptive to Lollard tendencies. The clothier made it possible for him to cross over to the continent, where he first journeyed to Wittenberg and from there to the Rhine because of the more favorable travel conditions to England. Tyndale began translating the Bible into English and composing Reformation tracts in his mother tongue. Cloth merchants smuggled this forbidden contraband

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into England until a man hired by agents of the English king betrayed Tyndale in Antwerp to the highly active Inquisition in the Spanish Netherlands. Tyndale was burned at the stake in 1536 in Vilvoorde (Brussels). His last words, “Lord! Open the king of England’s eyes!” may seem paradoxical, and yet they were quite consistent for a man who, like Wycliffe before him, steadfastly demanded the incorporation of ecclesiastical institutions into the structures of secular rule, and who thus, according to Foxe, represented the true interests of both the king and the realm against the temporarily blinded monarch.  Dr. Martin Ohst is professor of Historical and Systematic Theology (Protestant) in the Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies at Wuppertal University.

Further reading Anne Hudson, The premature Reformation: Wycliffite texts and Lollard history, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988 Malcolm Lambert, Medieval Heresy. Popular Movements from the Gregorian Reform to the Reformation, Oxford: Blackwell, 21992 Arthur G. Dickens, The English Reformation, London: Collins, 21967 David Daniell, William Tyndale. A Biography, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994 Arne Dembek, William Tyndale (1491–1536). Reformatorische Theologie als kontextuelle Schriftauslegung, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010 Michael Maurer, Kleine Geschichte Englands, Stuttgart: Reclam, 2007 Visiting Oxford www.visitoxfordandoxfordshire.com www.university-church.ox.ac.uk

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Prague Jan Hus by Martin Wernisch

One of the most interesting facts in Bohemian Reformation history is that it commenced so early. No less a personage than Martin Luther contributed to the consensus opinion that Jan Hus (ca. 1370–1415) represents the most prominent personality in that history — a man who died a century before his Saxon admirer himself stepped onto the stage of history. Hence contemporary Reformation witnesses prevent us from separating the “real Reformation” from antecedent medieval reform movements. Although Hus certainly was rooted in the latter, he refocused and redirected them.

The theology of Jan Hus During the mid-1380s, Jan Hus moved from the countryside to the Bohemian capital to study at the university in Prague and become a priest. Although his initial motivation was primarily to secure for himself a respected place in society, the subject matter overwhelmed him. He came to recognize communion with God as being not merely a means of entering holy orders, but rather as the goal of his entire search for truth. He recognized God’s truth as something that, while continually remaining beyond the reach of human beings, simultaneously reveals new horizons to them. Scholars today often emphasize the decline and crisis of the late medieval church as the foil to which the Reformation then critically reacted. But this emphasis is one-sided, since opportunities for renewal already existed during the late Middle Ages. The widespread enthusiasm for improving existing circumstances sufficiently demonstrates that there were not only abuses but also increasing

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The Bethlehem Chapel, where Jan Hus preached in Prague

spiritual demands and opportunities for action. Jan Hus was prominent in seizing these opportunities. From the very outset, Hus’s activities and thinking focused on the future. Although critical academic reflection had been cultivated in Prague before he arrived, and a whole array of inspiring preachers had preceded him there as well, Hus was the first to combine both reflection and preaching in so dynamic a fashion. He also increasingly wrote treatises in the vernacular in order to reach his growing number of followers as an author. The content distributed this way took on key significance. Measured against later “Reformation principles”, Hus initially articulated the doctrine of the Bible as the sole standard of faith far more clearly than the “material principle” of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Others had already taught that the Bible was the sole standard of faith and he was able to take up their ideas. John Wycliffe, the English doctor evangelicus, was the primary influence on Hus. This is noteworthy since Hus was demonstrably involved in the quarrel between the Bohemian and German nation at Prague University, though modern nationalism

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Prague; colorized illustration from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum” vol. 1, Cologne, 1593 Bottom left: the castle grounds with the Prague Castle and Cathedral of St. Veit; bottom right: the old part of town with the Charles Bridge and Church of Our Lady before Týn

has arguably overstated the significance of this quarrel. The Christianity of Jan Hus, who preferred “a good German to a bad brother”, was transnational. Hus gratefully adopted lengthy sections from the writings of the Englishman Wycliffe. Since Hus was more concerned with remaining loyal to the message of Christ than with striving for originality, he did not deviate from the medieval custom of appropriating ideas from previous authors. For the same reason, however, he stoutly resisted the currently accepted claim of the hierarchy to resolve doctrinal questions simply through the power of office, ultimately without presenting persuasive arguments. Precisely this stance prompted that hierarchy to counter Hus with brute force, though he did not give in. This dispute was not merely about formal questions concerning procedures for decision-making. In reality the very essence of the gospel itself was at stake, the

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appropriate mediation of salvation in Christ. The fact that the “material principle” of the Reformation initially acquired no fixed contours for Hus does not mean that this principle did not exist. The “Gnesio-Lutheran” Matthias Flacius, who later published Hus’s collected works, never doubted — despite his own rigorous standards — that as an author Hus had defended justification by faith. It suffices to reflect on one particular text by Hus, who considered it so important that he wrote it on the wall of his preaching station in Bethlehem Chapel. In this text, he advocated not only the freedom of the word of God, but free grace, in particular, which is at the disposal of God alone. Here priests can merely stand by God, since human beings must not detract from or haggle with God’s glory. Hus also attacked simony, that is, the sale of ecclesiastical privileges, which he viewed a genuine heresy. In so doing, he picked up on medieval reform traditions. This opposition portended Luther, whose own conflicts were precipitated by the dispute concerning the sale of indulgences, something the Bohemian Reformer had already opposed amid similar circumstances. Hus’s life ended tragically when he was condemned and burned at the stake at the Council of Constance in 1415. This event violently ended his still unfinished theological development. But the tribulation of his trial also cast a white-hot light on the central question that occupied him: how is a person to find a gracious God? Hus himself answered this question in a fashion that was more intuitive than fully articulated, and yet highly practical. He entrusted himself, even in his most extreme affliction and distress, wholly to the compassion of Christ! Luther similarly concluded that ultimately it was more important to maintain the faith that justifies than to confess it in words, even in the face of death. Hus’s martyrdom had a profound effect on Luther.

Utraquists As happened with Luther, Hus was venerated by his followers in Bohemia and Moravia, who unanimously admired his strong personal witness, albeit without insisting on every one of his views. That is, even “Hussites” could differ significantly from Hus himself. During the generally dramatic years of the Bohemian Reformation (1419–36), ideas on how exactly to implement the master’s legacy deviated considerably. As is often the case with martyrs, Hus’s opponents’ efforts to silence the bothersome preacher had precisely the opposite effect. During the following battles, Hus’s followers from virtually every social stratum rose up against ecclesiastical dignitaries and kings and defended their country quite successfully. The initial battle was stopped unnervingly close to the capital itself, and over time they succeeded in dis­placing battles to foreign soil.

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Eventually the Hussites were able to bring about significant social change to both Bohemia and Moravia. At the level of constitutional law, they effected a transition to a constitution of estates with the participation of towns and cities, and Prague at the head. Above all, the Bohemian church was able to acquire independence to an extent quite unique in the Christian West at the time. Alongside its “patron” Jan Hus, this church now acquired a second symbolic figure, Jacob von Mies (ca. 1372–1429), who after Hus’s departure for Constance became the movement’s theological spokesperson. Von Mies had already recognized that administering the sacrament of the Eucharist solely in the form of bread, as was customary at the time, contradicted Christ’s explicit instructions. Celebration of communion in both forms, which essentially meant the lay chalice, was perceived as the real turning point. The new Protestant preaching simultaneously brought about a renewal of church praxis. This version of the Eucharistic celebration in both forms (Latin: sub utraque)  — hence Bottom: the burning of Jan Hus; to his the name Utraquists — commenced in left and right: clerics and representatives several Prague churches during the auof secular power. Top: the martyrdom of tumn of 1414. The recollection of this St. Sebastian. This portrayal of Hus on the right wing of a Hussite altar from development is perhaps most strongly Roudníky from ca. 1480 demonstrates associated with the Church of St. Marthe extent to which Hus had meanwhile tin in the Wall, which today is again become a “saint” in Bohemia being used by Protestants. The same Council that sent Hus to his death rejected the necessity of the lay chalice; while explicitly conceding that the primitive church did administer the sacrament in that way, the Council of Constance nonetheless declared that it had the right to

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prohibit it. The Hussite Utraquists rejected the very notion of such a right and adorned their standards with the symbol of a chalice, which to this today remains the emblem for some churches and groups in Czechia. Prague University published an expert opinion against the Council’s decree, thereby supporting the leader­ ship of the Bohemian church in much The Church of St. Martin in the Wall in the same way later universities in Prague other parts of Europe supported the Reformation. In fact, the consistory of the Utraquist church resided on university property, in Charles College. Wartime circumstances, however, held up this initial positive turn and added to the critical symptoms accompanying the upheaval. The university was also affected in this regard, for when regular academic life faltered, it was no longer able to fully maintain its structure. The three core faculties of Theology, Law, and Medicine were dissolved, and the university was reduced to the basic disciplines of the seven liberal arts. After the Prague and Iglau Compacts of 1433 and 1436 had brought about a tolerable state of peace, the Utraquists had little reason to further develop their church through internal reform. Although they were able to keep their church going, this victory was diluted by the fact that despite their best efforts, their message never gained much influence abroad. They actually could not exist in such isolation in the middle of Europe, so they were forced to make what were sometimes quite restrictive compromises in order to participate again in international structures. Within Bohemia itself, a division into two types of parish continued, those administering the Eucharist in both forms, and those administering it in only one, both types being governed by their own consistories. Surprisingly, perhaps, this division was a positive development in some ways, especially after believers were formally granted the right to choose which part of the national church they wished to join. What emerged was de facto freedom of conscience in a setting that, despite its manifold problems and difficulties, represented a genuine lesson in coexistence. The Utraquist majority, however, came away the poorer insofar as they had to live under Roman Catholic rulers (with the exception of the Hussite king George of Podiebrad, who ruled from 1458 till 1471). The government interpreted the compact terms as narrowly as possible in order to restrict the autonomy of the Utraquist church. In fact, it would have preferred to restrict all “Hussite” peculiarities to the single ceremonial exception of the lay chalice. No administrator

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of the “lower consistory” was ever consecrated as bishop (“lower” because, unlike the Roman Catholic consistory, it was located below the Prague Castle). This lack of an episcopal appointment, however, robbed the Utraquist church of apostolic succession and the right to consecrate priests on its own terms. It comes as no surprise that under such circumstances, many Utraquists were concerned solely with the survival of their church, and the question arose as to whether “those of the chalice” still exhibited a discernible reformational profile at all.

Bohemian Brethren Some contemporaries answered that question critically, and for that reason, citing “need of salvation”, the small group known as the Bohemian Brethren from 1467 positioned themselves outside the laws of the land. They founded a union of brethren (unitas fratrum) with their own holy orders that remained independent of Roman consecration. These Bohemian Brethren, however, were similarly “Protestant” only in a proto-Reformation sense, and their strict church discipline — which to the end they maintained as their most precious characteristic feature — was based not only on their biblicism, but also on monastic models. At the same time, it is noteworthy that around 1500 people were wrestling with the difficult question of salvation through faith not just elsewhere, but especially within the circle of these Bohemian Brethren. Even if the answers to this question proposed by the Bohemian Brethren seemed merely “half-baked” from the perspective of later Lutheran theology, they nonetheless demonstrate how here, too, the soil was being prepared for the seeds of the Reformation.

The Reformation in Bohemia and Moravia The appearance of Martin Luther provided the key stimulus for a new movement in Bohemia and Moravia as well. As time went on, Hus’ heirs integrated themselves into the wider sphere of European Protestantism and also acquired greater visibility on the international scene. That said, this process did not really proceed in a straightforward fashion. The legal framework changed only gradually, and not always for the better. Given the fact that in 1546 the Bohemian estates refused to participate in the Smalkaldic War against their fellow Protestants in Germany, the Habsburg court exploited the Protestant defeat as an opportunity to break the previous political power of the cities. The repeated attempts of the Utraquist “lower consistory” to emancipate itself from state power and to implement changes reflecting internal developments

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were similarly unsuccessful. The government merely intervened with increasing severity in the consistory’s affairs, finally appointing as members persons who represented its interests so poorly that the consistory itself ceased to function as a central agency of the church. Those who were able simply ignored it entirely. Although the university fared a bit better, the government, having dissolved the Theology faculty as an independent entity, prohibited theological courses. The result was that those Protestant students who understood most clearly what was happening pursued their studies in Wittenberg or elsewhere abroad. Following ordination there, they returned and tended to settle in the provinces, where they could count on the protection of the loThe monument to Jan Hus by Ladislav Jan Šaloun, erected in 1915 on the Inner City cal nobility, whereas in Prague, in imRing in Prague; in the background: the mediate proximity to the Prague CasChurch of Our Lady before Týn tle, they were subject to much tighter restrictions. The Bohemian Brethren, in particular, long viewed it almost as imperative that they should leave Prague. An exodus of this sort took place at the very beginning of the unitas fratrum’s existence. A group of them — that had previously assembled near the pulpit of the newly elected archbishop Jan Rokycana in the main Utraquist church near the Prague royal court — decided to withdraw to the countryside so that they might live in seclusion. Gradually, however, even the Brethren came to appreciate the unique opportunities offered by the capital, where they acquired several important members. Natives of Prague became leading bishops of the Bohemian Brethren, for example Luke of Prague (ca. 1460–1528), who, because he only encountered the phenomenon of Martin Luther late in life, was unable to do much with the latter’s theology. Another example was Jan Augusta (1500–72), who maintained extraordinarily cordial relationships with theologians in Wittenberg. The lengthy striving for freedom of conscience finally seemed to attain its goal when the weakened emperor Rudolf II issued his Letter of Majesty in 1609 in order to save the Bohemian crown. This letter finally made it possible for the Utraquist

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Jan Hus (B) at a table with Wycliffe (A), Calvin (H), Luther (E) and Melanchthon (I). Through their efforts the light of the gospel remains lit (cf. Matt. 5:15), despite the efforts of a cardinal, the “lying spirit” (1 Kings 22:22), the pope, and a monk to extinguish it. Engraving by Hugo Allard, ca. 1650

Church to declare and organize itself openly as a Protestant church of the Bohemian Confession, which was based on the Augsburg Confession. Representatives of the Bohemian Brethren (unitas fratrum), having finally attained legal status, were now permitted to take their seats in the common consistory and hold services in certain churches in Prague, including Bethlehem Chapel. This period, however, initially so full of promise and hope, lasted but a short while and ended tragically. In 1618 the Bohemian estates resolved to defend their acquired freedoms through a rebellion  — and because, unlike their precursors, they were defeated, they forfeited all their attainments, both new and old. Not even the subsequent Counter-Reformation, however, was able to erase the legacy of the Bohemian Reformation. Communities committed to this heritage are still living in Prague, now free and with equal rights.

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 Dr. Martin Wernisch is professor in the department of Protestant Theology at the Charles University in Prague, where he heads the section for the History of Reformation Theology.

Further reading Rudolf Říčan, The History of the Unity of Brethren: A Protestant Hussite Church in Bohemia and Moravia, Bethlehem, Pa.: Moravian Church in America, 1992 Jiří Otter, Five Circuits through Prague in the footsteps of the Czech Reformation, Prague: Kalich, 2006 Craig D. Atwood, The Theology of the Czech Brethren from Hus to Comenius, University Park Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2009 Visiting Prague www.prague.eu/en www.czechtourism.com/home www.e-cirkev.cz/en/ http://www.ccsh.cz/view.php?id=336

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Reval/Tallinn and Dorpat/Tartu Hermann Marsow by Matthias Asche

No portraits of Hermann Marsow exist, not even in the form of a romanticizing fantasy from the nineteenth century. Although the place and date of his birth are similarly unknown, he probably came from Riga (Latvian Rīga), at least according to one possible reading of his entry in the register of students enrolled at the Pomeranian university in Greifswald in October 1505: Hermannus Marsow, clericus Rigensis. Hence he seems to have been a cleric from Riga, where during the late fifteenth century there was at least one family by the name of Marsow. Two years later in Greifswald, he earned his only academic degree, the Baccalaureus Artium. Because these documents are the first and, for many years, last verifiable facts about Marsow, we do not know what he did during the next eighteen years. Presumably he spent many years as a lower Catholic cleric, albeit with a university education, possibly also as a member of an order, as some chroniclers suspect. When exactly he accepted the new Reformation teaching is similarly unknown, though it happened before July 1523. Then, eighteen years after concluding his studies in Greifswald, he enrolled at Wittenberg University (“Leucorea”). He studied there only for a short time, before returning to Livonia (see below). Although he was the fifth Livonian to study in Wittenberg he is viewed with some justification as the first one in Livonia to have studied under Luther, and he constantly boasted of being better acquainted with Luther’s writings and goals than any of his ordained brethren. It was indeed true that the first Reformation generation in the three larger Livonian towns of Riga, Reval (Estonian Tallinn), and Dorpat (Estonian Tartu) had hardly any personal connections with Wittenberg and Luther, nor any with Melanchthon. This was an early demonstration of a

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fundamental tendency exhibited by the early Reformation in Livonia. Even though the specifically Lutheran version ultimately asserted itself, with its orientation toward Wittenberg, the first Reformation generation of the 1520s had access to alternative routes towards what was, in some ways, a more radical Reformation.

Livonia at the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity The historical territory of Livonia, encompassing what today are the modern states of Estonia and Latvia, was situated on the periphery of the “Latin” Christianitas that took its orientation from the papal church in Rome. This exposed location on the boundary with the Orthodox Church played a central role in Livonia’s understanding of itself  — as an externally propagated “bulwark” or “outer wall of Christendom” against the allegedly barbaric Russian heretics, who had been expanding since the late Middle Ages. The Reformation unfolded in a politically favorable, if tense climate during a long period of peace lasting almost six decades between 1502 and 1558. The relationship with Russia, however, was not merely one of confrontation. Livonian towns, especially Riga and Reval, had been participating in the lucrative Russian trade since the thirteenth century. After the Grand Duke of Russia closed the Hanseatic office in Novgorod in 1494, thereby acutely disrupting Hanseatic trade, Livonian towns profited from the new political situation as mediators. Relationships with other Hanseatic cities in the southern Baltic region were quite close  — especially with Lübeck as the major Hanseatic port  — as were also intellectual and cultural connections with the universities in Rostock and Greifswald, which had long been the most important. The animated exchange between these cities also made it easier for Reformation writings and writings on church reform in general to make their way to Livonia at the time. Historically, Livonia, rather than being a state in the modern sense, consisted of a loose alliance of five ecclesiastical territories: the branch of the Teutonic Knights that had remained after the Prussian state of the Teutonic Order had turned into a secular duchy after 1525, headed by the Livonian Master of the Order; the princearchbishopric of Riga; and the prince-bishoprics of Dorpat, Oesel-Wiek (Estonian Saaremaa) and Courland (Latvian Kurzeme). All of them were at least formally members of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. These five were joined by the bishop of Reval, who, however, like all Danish bishops — the bishopric Reval was subordinated to the archbishopric of Lund — had no secular area of rule apart from freedom in the cathedral precinct and mount in town. Apart from Riga with 10,000–12,000 residents around 1500, Reval with 7,000–8,000 and Dorpat with 5,000–6,000, Livonia had no other towns with more than 1,000 residents.

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F I N L A N D Gulf of Lake Ladoga

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National borders Order’s limits Parish’s limits Teutonic Order Riga princearchbishopric Courland princebishopric Dorpat prince-bishopric Oesel-Wiek princebishopric

Curonian Lagoon

Riga city territory

The “Livonian Confederation” during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries (Old Livonia)

As was often the case in the Holy Roman Empire, the Reformation in Livonia was initially an urban phenomenon, with the new doctrine making only tentative inroads into thinly populated rural communities. One further peculiarity of the Livonian Reformation was the considerable participation of the non-German  — that is, Estonian, Latvian and Livonian — population, which documentary sources indiscriminately call Undeutsche, literally “un-Germans”. They consistently constituted the majority of the population over against the largely privileged

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German upper class, not only in towns, which had a generally small number of undeutsche preachers in any case, but also, and especially, in the rural countryside. The course of the Reformation in Riga, Reval, and Dorpat was accompanied by a political struggle for autonomy vis-à-vis the urban episcopal lords. The church Reformers’ were massively critical of this type of church rule, in other words, with a prince-bishop holding sway over secular territory. The rivalry between bishops and towns was supplemented by the heated competition for political dominance in Livonia between the Master of the Order and the Riga archbishop as well as between the bishops and their noble vassals. Although the Livonian alliance had already had to withstand severe internal strains in the early sixteenth century, the Russian invasion of the prince-bishopric of Dorpat in 1558 led to the final collapse of the world of the old Livonian states. These brief remarks concerning internal and foreign circumstances are important for understanding the Reformation in Livonia and its ultimate success.

The beginnings of the Reformation in Livonia Luther’s name probably did not become known in Livonia until after the Imperial Diet of Worms in 1521. A Livonian diet of prelates, i. e. an assembly of bishops, resolved in June of that same year to publicize the Edict of Worms. Significantly, the Reformation first emerged in the town of Riga, which had been supplied with Luther’s writings by merchants from other Hanseatic towns. Reformational activity undertaken in Riga by Andreas Knopken and Sylvester Tegetmeyer, neither of whom had studied under Luther, in many respects supplied the Reformation pattern for Reval and Dorpat. That applied especially to the town council’s energetic wresting of church governance in October 1522 from the legitimate ecclesiastical ruler, Archbishop Jasper Linde (in office 1509–24). In all three towns it was advantageous for the continuation of the Reformation that several prominent council members received it so sympathetically. Riga was thus one of the first towns to acquire a municipal system of church governance — at about the same time as Zurich, but even before Strasbourg and Nuremberg and important Reformation territories such as Electoral Saxony, Hesse and Prussia. Shortly after Riga, town councils seized control of church governance in Reval in April 1524 and in Dorpat in February 1525, in both instances, incidentally, against the opposition of the same bishop, Johann Blankenfeld (presiding in Reval 1514–24; in Dorpat 1518–27; earlier in Riga 1524–27), an energetic and resolute defender of the old faith. In Dorpat, Blankenfeld allegedly swore that he would rather lose five or even all ten of his fingers than tolerate a Protestant preacher in his town.

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Hermann Marsow

Reformation in Dorpat What succeeded in Riga (and soon after in Reval) was due to the wait-and-see stance of the Livonian Master of the Order, Wolter von Plettenberg (in office 1494–1535), a follower of the old faith, and the political alliance between the town itself and the Riga knights. This could not immediately be repeated in Dorpat, however, where the town’s autonomy vis-à-vis the episcopal town ruler was much less pronounced. The Dorpat town council thus had to yield to pressure from the bishop in expelling Hermann Marsow in July 1524, who had initially been appointed preacher at the Church of St. Mary (Estonian Maarja kirik). Marsow moved to Reval for the next five years, and therefore the initial Reformation attempt in Dorpat ended at least temporarily in failure. As fate would have it, an even more radical person replaced Marsow in Dorpat in late autumn 1524, namely, the furrier Melchior Hoffman (ca. 1495–1543) from Schwäbisch Hall in southern Germany, who had already been expelled from his first Livonian residence in Wolmar (Latvian Valmiera) for his inflammatory sermons against the ecclesiastical princes and clergy associated with the orders. His popular lay sermons in private residences  — he was never appointed preacher at any of Dorpat’s churches  — quickly generated sympathy among residents, especially among the “Brotherhood of Blackheads”, the guild of unmarried merchant journeymen. The episcopal bailiff’s failed attempt to arrest Hoffman on Epiphany 1525 prompted an incident of iconoclasm directed initially against the two parish churches and monastery churches, then three days later also against the cathedral church (Estonian Toomkirik) and houses of the canons. Although the circumstances in Dorpat were by no means unique — iconTitle page, Melchior Hoffman, “An de oclasm had already taken place on four gelöfigen vorsambling inn Liflant ein korte occasions in Riga (between March and formaninghe”, 1526. After his expulsion, August 1524) and once in Reval (SepHoffman directed this missive to his tember 1524)  — the Dorpat town congregation in Dorpat

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council exploited these incidents as an excuse to seize control of church governance. In February 1525, it appointed the accomplished Riga Reformer Sylvester Tegetmeyer as its first regular Protestant preacher. The second — now successful  — attempt to implement the Reformation in Dorpat followed the model of ­Reval, where the Protestant church institution was similarly consolidated following incidents of iconoclasm. In both towns, the council issued a decree forbidding attendance at Mass in the cathedral as well as any contact with monks and nuns while the towns’ churches were becoming Protestant. Melchior Hoffman’s stay in Dorpat remained but a single episode. After the Dorpat council requested him to present a theological reference from Wittenberg — which Luther did provide for him — he returned briefly to Dorpat during the summer of 1525. Although he was not yet an Anabaptist during these years, his penitential sermons were nonetheless already advocating eschatological teachings concerning the imminence of the Last Judgment and the idea of a congregational church, making it difficult for him to integrate into the emergent Protestant structures of municipal church governance. He thus quickly came into conflict with the council and was expelled.

Reformation in Reval On his arrival in Reval, Hermann Marsow found that the Reformation had already entered an advanced stage. The former Premonstratensian monk Johann Lange from Stade († 1531) had been preaching the gospel at the Church of St. Nicholas (Estonian Niguliste kirik) since 1523, and in April 1524 the council had appointed Zacharias Hasse († 1531) to the Church of St. Olaf (Estonian Oleviste kirik), who previously had been active as a lay preacher in Braunsberg (Polish Braniewo) and Elbing (Polish Elbląg). Marsow was initially employed as a chaplain under Hasse. Although Marsow’s personality remains generally indistinct  — the Reformer of these Livonian towns Dorpat and Reval has not yet found a biographer  — chroniclers consistently describe him as extremely quarrelsome, particularly within the circle of his fellow Protestant clergy, who in his eyes were not rigorous enough in representing Luther’s Wittenberg principles and demands. The first conflict arose when the Reval town council commissioned Lange, Hasse and Marsow with drafting a church ordinance. Although Lange was undoubtedly in charge, Marsow, ever jealous, later claimed to have been the main author. This first, extremely succinct Reval church ordinance was largely free of any direct influence from Wittenberg, patterned simply on the model in Riga. It accordingly introduced the office of senior pastor responsible for overseeing not only the entirety of the town’s clergy, but also moral discipline. “Alms boxes for the

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Reval; view from Matthäus Merian, “Neuwe Archontologia Cosmica”, Frankfurt am Main, 1638 Bottom: Church of St. Olaf (D), (Cistercian Cloister of St. Michael) (E), town hall (F) and Church of St. Nicholas (G)

poor” were also to be installed at both parish churches. Dominican monks from the Monastery of St. Catherine (Estonian Katariina klooster) were to be forbidden from preaching under threat of expulsion, and a similar regulation planned for the Cistercian nuns at the Convent of St. Michael (Estonian Mihkli kirik), which as an institution for unmarried women served vassal families from the nobility. Residents of Reval were to be forbidden from attending Mass in the cathedral church (Estonian Toom kirik), which had remained committed to the old faith. The incidents of iconoclasm had somewhat retarded a swift implementation of these plans for church reorganization. Nevertheless, in mid-September 1524 the Reval town council seized the initiative and implemented substantial parts of the program. This included the installation of “alms boxes for the poor” and Lange’s appointment as senior pastor; in this function, he appointed Marsow as

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pastor at St. Olaf’s and Hasse to the Church of the Holy Spirit (Estonian Pühavaimu kirik). Out of consideration for the protests raised by the Master of the Order and the nobility, the council refrained from taking any steps to expel the Dominicans (this did not take place until January 1525), to restrict members of the Convent of St. Michael, or to violate episcopal possessions. The strict prohibition of contact imposed by the Reval council resulted in these enclaves of the old faith being able to remain in what was otherwise a Protestant town. The convent survived until 1543 as a Catholic institution, the cathedral church and chapter till 1565. Hermann Marsow became increasDorpat was destroyed several times over the ingly dissatisfied with what he viewed course of its history. The Gothic Church of as the slow progress of the ReformaSt. John represents one of the few remnants tion in Reval. He demanded that the of the old Hanseatic city. It is famous for office of senior pastor be abolished in its terra-cotta sculptures. Here Christ is favor of pastors with equal rights, and portrayed as judge of the world especially a more stringent exercise of moral discipline. Marsow did not participate in the phrasing of the first ­Reval worship ordinance of May 1525, which was based on the Riga model. This ordinance not only regulated the appointment of churchwardens and stipulated that worship be conducted in German, but also ceded the secularized Dominican church for use by the Estonian congregation. By contrast, the ordinance’s plan to found schools was not carried out. Marsow in any case carried on particularly acrimonious quarrels with the pastor Johann Osenbrügge († 1553), who after expulsion from Lübeck, which had remained committed to the old faith, had been appointed in 1528 to the Church of St. Nicholas alongside Lange. Like Lange, he was a former Premonstratensian monk from Stade and, moreover, a Wittenberg pupil of Luther from the outset. Osenbrügge was no less argumentative than Marsow, reviling the latter in his own turn as a “servant of the stomach” (after Romans 16:17-18), a nickname that seems to have stuck. In mid-May 1529, Marsow was dismissed for continued insults and expelled.

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Hermann Marsow in Dorpat Hermann Marsow spent the final and longest period of his life back in Dorpat, the period about which, however, the least is known. Here he took over the position of pastor at the Church of St. Mary that had originally been designated for him. The successors of Dorpat’s bishop Johann Blankenfeld were weak regents who, apart from their cathedral freedom, were no longer able to exert any influence over the town. They had silently accepted the compromise following the incidents of iconoclasm, which stipulated that while the cathedral church would remain Catholic, all the town’s parish Riga church ordinance of 1530, which was churches would come under the govadopted in Reval and Dorpat. This edition, ernance of the council, and the monasrevised by Andreas Knopken, appeared in Rostock in 1537 teries remain closed. Marsow participated in the 1533 resolution to adopt the Riga church ordinance for both Reval and Dorpat. Pre­pared by the Königsberg Reformer Johann Briesmann (1488–1549) and published in 1530, it also contained a Low German hymnal. This new ordinance provided a common theological-dogmatic foundation for the three Livonian towns even though it did not yet provide for the appointment of a superintendent for all of Livonia. With respect to sermons in Estonian, the ordinance stipulated that the Church of St. Mary would be reserved exclusively for the German congregation, while on three weekdays at the Church of St. John (Estonian Jaani kirik) sermons for the Undeutsche were finally arranged in the building of the Cistercian Monastery of St. Catherine (Estonian Naistsistertslaste klooster), which was secularized in 1558. And yet Marsow still remained cantankerous and quarrelsome with his Dorpat brethren. Although the Dorpat council had been patient with him for a long time, he was finally dismissed from office in October 1552, dying three years later in Dorpat. Marsow, who had married in Reval, probably left behind several children, including the later headmaster of the Riga cathedral school, Georg Marsow († 1578).

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 Dr. Matthias Asche is professor of Early Modern History at Tübingen University.

Further reading Matthias Asche et al. (eds.), Die baltischen Lande im Zeitalter der Reformation und Kon­ fessionalisierung. Livland, Estland, Ösel, Ingermanland, Kurland und Lettgallen. Stadt, Land und Konfession 1500–1721, 4 vols., Münster: Aschendorff, 2009 Joachim Kuhles, Die Reformation in Livland. Religiöse, politische und ökonomische Wirkungen, Hamburg: Kovač, 2007 Gert von Pistohlkors, Deutsche Geschichte im Osten Europas, vol. 9: Baltische Länder, Berlin: Siedler, 1994 Christoph Schmidt, Auf Felsen gesät. Die Reformation in Polen und Livland, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2000 Visiting Tallinn and Tartu www.visitestonia.com/en?site_preference=normal www.visittallinn.ee/eng www.eelk.ee/english.php

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Riga Andreas Knopken by Ainars Radovics and Ojārs Spārītis

The Reformation reached Riga at a remarkably early date, between 1522 and 1524, that is, soon after the events in Wittenberg. A window of opportunity opened when Archbishop Jasper Linde († 1524) was no longer capable of continuing for health reasons, and Wolter von Plettenberg, the Master of the Livonian Order, had taken a passive, wait-and-see attitude, thereby enabling the town council to engage its support for the Reformation more actively. The triumphal procession of the Reformation had extremely deep political and intellectual roots. When the demands for a fundamental Reformation of the church came to Riga at the turn of the fifteenth to the sixteenth century, with them came the ideas of humanism, especially those of Erasmus of Rotterdam.

Andreas Knopken The most important representative of the Reformation in Riga was Andreas Knopken (born 1468 in Küstrin [Polish: Kostrzyn], died 1539 in Riga). After finishing his studies in Ingolstadt and Frankfurt an der Oder, he worked as a teacher at the Treptow School in Pomerania, whose director was Johannes Bugenhagen, a staunch humanist and close friend of Martin Luther. In 1517 Andreas Knopken moved to Riga, where his brother, the canon Jakob Knopken, was already living and where Andreas Knopken was appointed chaplain at the Church of St. Peter. During this period, he wrote at least three letters to Erasmus of Rotterdam in which he repeatedly raised the question of how to attain true blessedness. Presumably Erasmus answered only his last letter, that of 31 December 1520, which has also been preserved.

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Riga, colorized view from Sebastian Münster, “Cosmographey”, Basel, 1567. The Daugava River flows alongside the town. To the left: the castle of the Teutonic Order. The elongated building in front of the cathedral is the palace of the Archbishop of Livonia

Madonna in the corona and the Livonian Master of the Order Wolter von Plettenberg; sculptures over the portal of the castle of the Teutonic Order in Riga, ca. 1515

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Although Knopken returned to Pomerania to continue his studies and teaching at the Treptow School in 1519, after incidents of iconoclasm in Treptow he returned to Riga in June of that same year with a letter of reference from Philipp Melanchthon, and began preaching the doctrine of the Wittenberg Reformers. He supported the merchants’ guild, the Brotherhood of Blackheads, in both their spiritual and ideological quests and contributed considerably to creating a receptive attitude among them for the new Reformation teachings. Knopken also wrote a commentary to Paul’s letter to the Romans that was published in 1524 and 1525 in Wittenberg and Strasbourg.

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Title page to Andreas Knopken’s commentary to Paul’s letter to the Romans, 1524 or 1525

Title page of Luther’s letter to his Livonian friends in 1523

The ninety-five theses with which Luther heralded the beginning of the Reformation in Wittenberg in 1517 arrived in Riga quickly thereafter. On 20 August 1522, after presentations by Andreas Knopken, the secretary of the Riga town council, Johann Lohmüller, sent Luther a missive beginning with the words, “To the chosen apostle of Christ, our sacred friend”. A year later, Luther sent a response to The chosen, dear friends of God, to all Christians in Riga, Reval and Dorpat in Livonia, my cherished lords and brethren in Christ. The mayor of Riga, Conrad Durkop, similarly sought Luther’s written support. Luther responded in 1524 by sending the Riga town council his commentary to the Psalm 127: The hundredth and twenty-seventh psalm, interpreted, to the Christians in Riga in Livonia. Acting on the advice of the Riga town council, on 12 June 1522, Andreas Knopken held a discussion of twenty-four theses in the Church of St. Peter with Franciscan monks. With the support of several council members — Gotke Durkop, Anton Mutter, Heinrich Uhlenbrock, Paul Dreiling  — the secretary of the town council

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Johann Lohmüller, as well as of the Greater and Lesser Guilds, Andreas Knopken was appointed archdeacon at St. Peter’s on 23 October 1522. This date marks the beginning of the Reformation in Livonia, since hitherto only the cathedral chapter had had the right to appoint pastors and deacons.

Church of St. Peter Andreas Knopken’s final resting place is in the Church of St. Peter in Riga. The depiction of Christ’s resurrection on his grave marker is considered the earReplica illustration of Andreas Knopken’s liest portrayal of this sort in Baltic art. grave marker in the Church of St. Peter; It reflects Martin Luther’s view that a from Johann Christoph Brotze, “Sammlung pictorial illustration of this scene from verschiedener liefländischer Monumente, the life of Christ is permissible as a Prospecte und dergleichen”, 10 vols., visual evocation of his bodily resurmanuscript, 1776–1818, vol. 1, p. 43 rection from the dead. Luther accepted and endorsed the Catholic tradition of iconography concerning the Easter events. The Church of St. Peter in Riga, built in 1209 and remodeled in the fifteenth century after the model of the Church of St. Mary in Rostock, was badly damaged by fire during the Second World War on 29 June 1941, and then gradually rebuilt between 1954 and 1983. The Church of St. Peter was extraordinarily significant in the history of the Reformation in Riga. To highlight this and underscore the role this church played in the life of the congregation of German Balts in Riga prior to their resettlement in 1939, German Balts living in Germany provided donations to help restore the altar and pulpit after Latvia regained its independence in 1990. A copy of the painting Martin Luther, the Reformer by Lucan Cranach the Elder (1532) was procured. The seven-branched bronze candleholder (3.10 meters high by 3.78 meters wide), produced by the master bell-founder Hans Meyer in 1596 at the request of the Riga town council, was again placed before the altar, after only being used for special occasions such as Easter or funeral services. In January 1940, it and other valuable works of art were removed to German-occupied Polish territory but then returned from the cathedral in Włocławek in 2012.

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Church of St. James The chaplain of the Rostock cathedral church, Sylvester Tegetmeyer († 1552 in Riga), a staunch Lutheran, came to Riga during the late autumn of 1522 to ­succeed his deceased brother. The Riga town council took yet another courageous step by appointing him pastor at the Church of St. James. Quite soon, on 30 November 1522, he conducted the first Latvian Advent service, also preaching in Wolmar (Latvian: Valmiera) and in the Riga Church of St. Peter. The first Latvian ­Lutheran congregation was founded in 1525 in the Riga Church of St. James, its first ­pastors being Nicholas Ramm († 1532) and Johannes Eck († 1552; not to be confused with the Catholic theologian by the same name; 1486–1543), both of whom are also well known as authors of the first Latvian hymns. The Latvian Lutheran church community occupied this church only from 1525 till the onset of the Counter-Reformation in 1582; it returned in 1621 and remained until 1922, when the Republic of Latvia and the Vatican concluded a concordat providing for the transfer Church of St. James of the church to the Catholics in 1923.

Iconoclasm Riga’s archbishop, Jasper Linde, followed these events with considerable trepida­ tion and appointed the bishop of Reval and Dorpat, Johannes Blankenfeld, as his coadjutor. In the spring of 1523 he dispatched three Franciscan monks  — Antonius Bomhower, Augustin Umfeld and Burcard Waldis — to Rome to seek an audience with both the pope and Charles V, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. The emperor’s vice-regent, Archduke Ferdinand, gave them written permission to combat the Reformation in all its manifestations. While Antonius Bomhower journeyed back to Riga with this message, the other two emissaries continued their quest to meet with the pope. In 1524, however, the missive fell into the hands of the Riga town council, who promptly arrested the monk. The reprisals planned in this missive so outraged the

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council and the town’s residents that massive disturbances and acts of violence against the Catholic Church resulted. The Franciscan monastery was stormed on 6 March and the furnishings of its Church of St. Catherine destroyed. On March 10 the Brethren of Blackheads laid waste the altar of the Church of St. Peter, and on 15 March an angry mob stormed that same church and the Church of St. James, destroying altars and secondary altars, graves, and sacred relics, and burning images of the saints on the Kubehügel, what today is Esplanade Square. On Easter Sunday, 26 March, the angry mob, led by Tegetmeyer, stormed the cathedral church, drove out the priests, and turned over the entirety of church possessions to the town council. Because the situation had become mortally dangerous for the Catholic monks, they secretly left the town during the early morning hours of 2 April on the council’s advice. On 8 August the mob again stormed the cathedral church and destroyed the interior furnishings.

Burcard Waldis After his return from the Vatican, the archbishop’s second emissary, Burcard Waldis (1490–1556), was similarly arrested. During his imprisonment, however, he converted to the Lutheran confessions and on his release he married and worked as a pewterer. He wrote didactic plays and stories on religious themes, his “Parable of the Lost Son” being performed in the Church of St. Peter as early as 1527. In 1536, however, Waldis was arrested yet again, accused of heresy, and imprisoned in the dungeon at Bauske. During his imprisonment, he translated all one hundred fifty psalms from Hebrew into German and composed melodies for them as well — part of this work can still be found in the hymnals of Finnish and Swedish Lutheran congregations. After his release in 1541, he studied theology at Wittenberg University and served as a pastor of the Lutheran congregation in Abterode in Hesse.

Final adoption of the Reformation After the publication of Luther’s appeal To the Councilors of All Towns in Germany that they Establish and Maintain Christian Schools in Wittenberg in 1524, the town council in Riga took over the property of the archbishop, the cathedral chapter, and the Catholic cloisters, thereafter also founding a municipal library, known as the Bibliotheca Rigensis. Between 1553 and 1891 it was housed over the arcade in the cathedral church; today it is known as the Latvian Academic Library and is considered the oldest scholarly library in the Baltic region. Between 1524 and

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1532 its first librarian was Nikolaus Ramm, one of the first Latvian Lutheran pastors. Alongside various medieval manuscripts such as missals and incunabula and other theological writings, the library also possesses several letters written by Martin Luther. Altogether Luther seems to have sent seventeen handwritten and printed communications to Livonia. In 1525 Duke Albrecht in Prussia dispatched Friedrich von Heydeck to Riga to inform the council that as a result of the secularization of the Teutonic Order, the secular, Protestant Duchy of Prussia had been founded and had taken the latter’s place. The further secularization of the church and its traditional structures of power now moved inexorably forward. To keep up with these swift developments, the Master of the Livonian Order, Wolter von Plettenberg (1499–1535), journeyed to Riga on September 21 from Cesis, his order’s castle in Wenden. In the Riga town hall, he proclaimed to the town its right of free choice regarding confession and accepted the oath of loyalty from the mayor, council members and envoys of the Riga citizenry. In 1526 the town council of Riga appointed a new pastor and superintendent of the cathedral church, Johannes Briesmann (1488–1549). He was a former Franciscan and later student and colleague of Martin Luther. The council quickly commissioned him to compose the worship resource Brief Orders of Service, which was first published in 1530 and then later, in 1537, in an edition revised by Andreas Knopken in Rostock. In its many reprintings, this became a familiar church resource throughout the entire Lutheran north Germany. Briesmann also reorganized the schools at the cathedral church and the Church of St. Peter into Protestant institutions. On the personal recommendation of both Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon, the Dutch humanist Jacobus Battus († 1546), a close friend of Erasmus of Rotterdam, was appointed the first headmaster of the cathedral school. A bronze epitaph for Jacobus Battus was hung on the wall of the cathedral arcade in Riga.

Cathedral Church of St. Mary The cathedral Church of St. Mary is the largest and most impressive sacral edifice in Riga. Construction began in 1211, with significant renovations and expansions taking place in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The waning power of the Catholic archbishops, however, resulted in grievous losses for the church, and repeated incidents of mob violence in robbery and destruction. After the great fire of 1547, the German Lutheran congregation had to replace almost its entire inventory. The chancel retains the original seats of the chancel deacons from 1570 till 1580, an imitation of the earlier stalls of the monks. These seats bear

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Left: Cathedral Church of St. Mary; right: The Reformation window in the cathedral church. Wolter von Plettenberg ceremoniously presents the mayor of Riga with the document granting the right of free choice of confession in 1525

historically and artistically extremely valuable reliefs on the theme “temptation” and “Mary Magdalene” along with luxuriant ornamentation with flower and fruit motifs in a Renaissance style. The models for this ornamentation seem to have been graphic representations early sixteenth-century German masters, including the xylograph Temptation (1535) by Hans Sebald Beham. On the south side of the church’s transversal wing, a gallery for the cathedral school’s choir was added between 1570 and 1580, whose façade was decorated with paintings and reliefs of allegorical representations of music and of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music and musicians.

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The events of the Reformation are depicted in two stained-glass windows from the era of historicism on the north wall of the cathedral church. One depicts Wolter von Plettenberg, the Master of the Livonian Order, ceremoniously presenting Conrad Durkop, the mayor of Riga, with the document granting the right of free choice of confession on 21 September 1525. We can recognize the mayor of Riga, Conrad Durkop, behind him the two preachers Andreas Knopken and Sylvester Tegetmeyer, as well as the Reformers Johannes Briesmann and Jacobus Battus. In the background, the town hall and the House of the Blackheads are discernible along with the towers of St. Peter’s and St. James’s. To the left of the town hall square, Burcard Waldis, pewterer and Reformation writer, stands before his workshop. The painting’s compositional peak is a portrait of Martin Luther. The second stained-glass window is devoted to the ceremonious reception of King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden on 16 September 1621, after he had put to flight the regents of the Polish king and reestablished the rights of the Lutheran faith in Livonia. Both windows were crafted in the workshop of Hans Meyer in Munich in 1884 using designs by the painter Anton Dietrich.

The triple nave interior of the annex to the former Dominican monastery’s Church of St. John, designed by Dutch architect Joris Joriszon Frese using plans by Hans Vredeman de Vries

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One further witness to the Reformation period is unique in European culture, namely, the annex to the former Dominican monastery’s Church of St. John, built by Joris Joriszon Frese between 1587 and 1589 in the style of Dutch Renaissance. With its opulently decorated clinker-brick façade, it represents a paradigm of early Protestant church construction in northern Europe, reflecting at once also an extremely successful fusion of the forms of Italian Renaissance and Dutch architecture.

Annex to the former Dominican monastery’s Church of St. John

 Ainars Radovics has a master’s degree in History and lives in Riga.  Dr. Ojars Sparitis is professor of Art History at the Latvian Academy of Arts in Riga.

Further reading Leonid Arbusow, Die Einführung der Reformation in Liv-, Est- und Kurland, Leipzig: M. Heinsius Nachf., 1921; Reprint, Aalen: Scientia, 1964 Matthias Asche et al. (eds.), Die baltischen Lande im Zeitalter der Reformation und Kon­ fessionalisierung. Livland, Estland, Ösel, Ingermanland, Kurland und Lettgallen. Stadt, Land und Konfession 1500–1721, 4 vols., Münster: Aschendorff, 2009 Gert von Pistohlkors, Deutsche Geschichte im Osten Europas. vol. 9: Baltische Länder, Berlin: Siedler 1994 Visiting Riga www.liveriga.com/en www.latvia.travel/en www.kirche.lv

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Schwäbisch Hall Johannes Brenz by Wolfgang Schöllkopf

Hall and Heller — the town, salt and money Schwäbisch Hall, proudly occupying both sides of the Kocher River, is watched over by the archangel Michael on the magnificent church of the same name. The town’s name first appears with the consecration of the church in 1156. “Hall” is the old word for “salt”, which the Celts once mined here. This “white gold”, contained in the locally available brine, was boiled on the Kocherinsel (Boiler Island). A Hohenstaufen town eventually emerged on this site. The town first came to be known as “Schwäbisch” (Swabian) Hall during the period to be examined more closely here, the late Middle Ages and Reformation. This period enduringly shaped and influenced the town. The addition to the name testifies to political turmoil. Although the town was located in Franconian territory, whose legal venue was Würzburg, at the end of the Hohenstaufen dynasty it wanted to be part of the Swabian imperial district. Hence the town council decided on this unequivocal declaration; the new name was valid until the end of its time as an imperial city (1280–1802), later withdrawn, and then added yet again, hence the present name of “Schwäbisch Hall”. As a Hohenstaufen minting center, the town became rich and even provided the name for a certain coin, the term Heller actually deriving from Hall. In genuine Swabian parlance, however, it refers more precisely not to big money, but to small change, the Pfennig (cf. “penny”), for — look after the pennies (and the pounds will look after themselves …). In any event, from its beginnings in Hall, the Heller found its way not only into many other countries, but also — a circumstance contributing to its fame — into Luther’s translation of the Bible. We read there, for example, that

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Schwäbisch Hall; colorized illustration from Matthäus Merian, “Topographia Sveviae”, Frankfurt am Main, 1643 Bottom: St. Michael’s (D), the Franciscan church (E), the Comburg “Stift” (G) and the Church of St. Catherine (H)

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the two copper coins the poor widow placed into the treasury as her respectable and respected offering were in fact “worth a Heller” (Mark 12:42; NRSV: “penny”).

Free and devout — Hall in the late Middle Ages Culture and art blossomed in the free imperial city of Schwäbisch Hall during the late fifteenth century, with money and spiritual enthusiasm providing inspiration. This typically urban development was favored by the town’s constitution. In 1340 an imperial charter organized the rights of the citizenry into town nobility and guilds. The head of the town council was the Stättmeister, or mayor, and in the early sixteenth century an influential upper class of burghers emerged who resided in grand houses. The imperial city systematically expanded its territory until it ultimately included three towns, twenty-one parish villages, and ninety villages and hamlets with approximately 20,000 inhabitants. The rich piety shaping the town’s day and year and entire course of life found expression in artistic and charitable institutions. The content of such late medieval piety during this time of change was characterized as much by apocalyptic notions of judgment as by portrayals of God’s saving grace. In Hall, too, altars and chapels were erected to ensure the salvation of souls, also monasteries such as the Franciscan monastery of St. James. Churches were enlarged and sumptuously fitted out. A fine example is the main church, St. Michael’s, which while exhibiting clearly ­Romanesque architectural elements from the Hohenstaufen period (e. g. in its tower) was equipped with an expanded Gothic nave and eventually a lofty chancel. Interestingly, this magnificent church with its grand staircase, on which open-air plays are still performed, was at the time still a simple subsidiary church attached to the small village church in Steinbach, which Benedictines from nearby Comburg had established as the original church. This status did not change until 1508, when the town council, as part of municipal emancipation, took over the patronage rights from the Comburg monastery. In the spirit of urban humanism, whose interest in the humanum and its intellectual and spiritual origins had already initiated an educational and cultural movement, as early as 1502 the town council established a preaching ministry at St. Michael’s. That was a job for a predicant (preacher), separate from positions occupied by priests Church of St. Michael

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associated with the Mass, and his primary responsibility was to provide high quality ­sermons. Since only academically trained and rhetorically gifted theologians could be appointed, in towns and cities such positions served as gateways for Reformation stirrings that had already long been felt in the upheavals, transitions, searching ­religious movements, and broader humanistic reorientation of the time.

Lutheran and Swabian — the Reformer Johannes Brenz in Hall In 1522 the council appointed Johannes Brenz (1499–1570) as the fourth predicant at St. Michael’s. (A bit earlier, the first member of what became the influential Bonhoeffer family moved to Hall, namely, the goldsmith Kaspar; this family’s later members included the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer [1906–43].) Brenz was born on St. John’s Day, 24 June 1499, in the free imperial city of Weil (der Stadt), where his father, Martin Hess, called Brenz, worked as a jurist and judge; he along with his wife, Katharina, née Hennig, was inclined to Protestantism quite early on. After attending the Latin school, in 1514 Brenz began studying at Heidelberg University; Philipp Melanchthon had just left Heidelberg for Tübingen, leaving humanistic traces behind him. A year after Luther’s sensational publication of his ninety-five theses, Brenz earned his master’s degree and began his primary theological studies in Heidelberg. Here he quickly had a defining encounter in connection with the Heidelberg Disputation in April 1518. It was here that Martin Luther presented his theses on the theologia crucis to the general chapter of the Augustinians. Brenz found this presentation convincing, and with him an impressive host of later Reformers who were studying in Heidelberg at the time, including Johannes Oecolampadius, who became active in Basel; Erhard Schnepf, in Württemberg; Martin Frecht, in Ulm; Johannes Isenmann, Brenz’s later colleague in Hall; Martin Bucer, in Strasbourg; and Theo­ bald Billican, in Nördlingen. Following his examinations, Johannes Brenz beJohannes Brenz; oil painting by Jonathan came a locum priest and university asSautter (1584) from Brenz’s epitaph in the Collegiate Church (“Stiftskirche”) in Stuttgart sistant whose tasks included preparing

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scholarly editions e. g. of the works of ­Aristotle and Jerome, as well exegetical studies and translations. With this training, and ­scholarly and spiritual formation, and now passionately committed to the ­incipient Reformation, Brenz moved to Hall just as the high chancel in St. Michael’s was finished. The town council exhi­ bited both courage and a remarkable municipal self-confidence with this appointment, since following the Edict of Worms (1521) even followers of Lutheran teachings were now threatened by persecution. Brenz’s personality and convictions were expressed first through his sermons, which took as their theme a new apThe publication (1525) in which Brenz proach to the saints, a new view of the called upon the rulers to treat the peasants charitably church, priests, and monasticism, and the signi­ficance of Christ’s reign over against widespread apocalyptic moods. In 1526 he distributed Holy Communion during worship for the first time in the two forms, bread and wine. The previous year, the revolt of the peasants, now also involving Franconian territory, generated the first crisis in the Reformation movement. Was this newly discovered freedom of the gospel not to have social consequences for the lower, oppressed classes as well? Brenz’s reaction to the Peasants’ War demonstrates his fundamental position within an independent assessment of Luther’s own instructions. Brenz advised the town council to take an unequivocal position while simultaneously dealing charitably with the insurgents, arguing that one should “shear the sheep, not flay them”. This example typifies the position of the student who admired his teacher Luther while independently thinking through the further implications. In his downright Swabian fashion, Brenz did not simply accept out of hand Luther’s more radical position against various groups (peasants, Jews, Turks, the Roman Catholic Church, Anabaptists, women as witches), while not allowing any lack of clarity. An example is found in his Ordinance for the Churches in the Hall Territory of 1526/27, in which he writes that “the only things that count are faith and love, even were one living in the middle of Turkey” — a startling statement to make during this period of heightened conflict between the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Brenz wanted to fight not with bloodshed, but with ink.

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Words and works — the theologian Johannes Brenz The heart of his theology was the Word and its symbols, and at the center holy baptism. Brenz believed liturgy and proclamation belonged together in worship and should be equally esteemed. He advised against holding afternoon worship on Sunday during the time of the afternoon nap! In addition to his exegetical works and sermon editions, Brenz also published a small volume in Hall that came to acquire considerable significance, namely, his catechism. Initially appearing in 1527/28 with the title Frag-Stücke (Question pieces), it was designed to guide a person toward mature Christian faith by means of straightforward questions and answers. Brenz would doubtless not have approved of his texts later becoming ritualized. In any event, this brief summary of the Protestant version of the Christian faith found its way from Hall to many other countries, and today has been published in over 500 editions. Together with his university friend and colleague Johannes Isenmann, his later brother-in-law Michael Gräter, pastor at St. Catherine’s, and the town council, Johannes Brenz set about reorganizing the community in the Protestant spirit. The central focus was on educational institutions, from the German to Latin schools, which were for both boys and girls from all social classes. Brenz’s writings exhibit what at the time was a remarkably high estimation of children as well as an extremely sensitive understanding of pedagogy. The assets of the church could be used solely for tasks associated with the church itself, schools and social services. Brenz wanted to turn the town into a community whose culture emerged naturally from the liturgy of worship and focused on those in need. A premier example of this thinking was the town’s comprehensive ecclesiastical institution for charitable purposes, the Spital, with its care of the poor and ill and its service foundations. Brenz further became engaged on The first printing (1528) of the catechism that Brenz composed for Schwäbisch Hall behalf of better training for the clergy,

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composing expert opinions on various questions, such as the legal foundation of Protestant marriage ceremonies or the wars with the Turks, which he preferred not to interpret as wars of faith lest this further enflame the aggression and violence. Instead, he exhorted the town’s citizens to strive for morality and discipline. Since these writings drew attention beyond Hall as well, Brenz was repeatedly solicited for his expert opinions in other Reformation localities. In 1530 Brenz married Margarete Gräter, widow of a Hall town councilor. After the Reformation was implemented in the neighboring duchy of Württemberg in 1534, Brenz was active as an adviser from the outset, though his Margarete Brenz’s epitaph in St. Michael’s influence did not come fully to bear until later because he was initially viewed as being too Lutheran. He first had to live through the serious crisis that arose ­during the years following Luther’s death in 1546, when Emperor Charles V gained the upper hand in the Schmalkaldic War against the Protestant imperial estates and proscribed all Protestant institutions. Twenty thousand imperial soldiers were stationed in Hall, and the residents plagued by billeting, punitive taxes and pestilence. Because Brenz was in danger for having come out earlier against the ordinances of the Augsburg Interim in one of his expert opinions, he had to flee the town, alarmed by the proverbial note from one of his friends, Domine Brentii, cito, fuge! (“Mister Brenz, quickly, flee!”). Although the council took care of his ­family, he never saw his wife Margarete again, since she died while he was away. During that same period of exile, Brenz got married for the second time, to Katharina Isenmann from Hall, his colleague’s sister.

Mature years and advice — Johannes Brenz in Württemberg After the crisis of the Augsburg Interim had passed and Duke Christoph (1515– 68) had come to power in Württemberg in 1550, the time was right for Johannes Brenz’s appointment as leading pastor at the Stuttgart Stiftskirche. As provost

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(superintendent), Brenz was able to preach regularly, an activity he still considered to be nothing less than the very heartbeat of the church. He organized the duchy as a Protestant community according the model implemented in Hall, where he could now also see the results of his years of hard work. One particular anecdote reflects this loyal service. Sebastian Pfauser, court preacher of the emperor himself, once attended church in Stuttgart so as to finally hear the famous Johannes Brenz. To his surprise, very few people were sitting in the pews, whereupon he asked Brenz about the empty seats. Brenz responded that the fountain that so generously provides water is to be praised even if only few draw from it. Brenz died on 11 September 1570, and was entombed in the Stuttgart Stifts­ kirche. With thirteen surviving children and their descendants, whose genealogical tables contain a great many famous Swabian names, it was not only in a theological sense that Brenz became an early father of the Lutheran Church. Although much of Schwäbisch Hall was destroyed by fire in 1728, traces of Johannes Brenz and his age are still discernible in this first location of his church activity. His name comes first in the enumeration of pastors in the sacristy of the Church of St. Michael; a commemorative plaque can similarly be found there, as well as his first wife’s epitaph. The altars from that period were preserved, since Brenz himself spoke out against iconoclasm. His residence has also been preserved, and the Hällisch-Fränkisches Museum offers a look at the town’s history from this period. The valuable collection of medieval art in the Würth Collection in the Church of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem similarly vividly evokes the period. And finally, even today the splendidly rebuilt and carefully restored older part of the city of Schwäbisch Hall still exudes the spirit of the free imperial city and — in its spirited recollection of this extraordinary preacher and Reformer — also the freedom of the gospel.  Dr. Wolfgang Schöllkopf is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Württemberg and currently the authorized representative for regional church history.

Further reading Isabella Fehle (ed.), Johannes Brenz 1499–1570. Prediger  — Reformator  — Politiker, Schwäbisch Hall: Hällisch-Fränkisches Museum, 1999 St. Michael in Schwäbisch Hall, ed. by Historischen Verein für Württembergisch-Franken et al., Künzelsau: Swiridoff, 2006 Anne-Kathrin Kruse and Frank Zeeb (eds.), Schwäbisch Hall, Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2013 (Orte der Reformation, Journal 10)

Visiting Schwäbisch Hall www.schwaebischhall.de/en www.schwaebischhall.de/en/culture/museums/haellisch-fraenkisches-museum.html www.kunStwuerth.com/en/portal/startseite.php www.kirchenbezirk-schwaebischhall.de

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Seville Dr. Egidio by Mariano Delgado

Tourist brochures often refer to Seville as a “poetic destination” and as the city of alegría (joy). Seville, which in Spanish (Sevilla) rhymes with maravilla (thing of wonder, beauty), attracts visitors from all over the world with its lifestyle, the Semana Santa (holy week), flamenco, and numerous tourist sights, some of which (e. g. the cathedral, its Giralda tower, the Alcázar palace, and the Indian Archives, i. e. the Spanish colonial archives) are part of the Unesco World Heritage collection. With 700,000 inhabitants the fourth largest city in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia, and capital of the region of Andalusia, Seville is also the hometown of many distinguished persons, including the painter Diego Velázquez (1590–1660) and the Protector of the Indians Bartolomé de Las Casas (1484–1566), whom some have called the “most brilliant of all Spaniards”. Seville is also intimately connected with world literature, for it was here that in the early seventeenth century the Mercedarian father Gabriel Téllez (1579–1648), better known as Tirso de Molina, gave birth to the myth of Don Juan. Scholarship similarly assumes that Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) conceived his Don Quixote during his three-months in investigative custody in Seville in 1597/1598. Seville is probably also the only city providing the setting for no fewer than 105 operas, including five that are world famous: Don Juan (Mozart), The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart), The Barber of Seville (Rossini), Fidelio (Beethoven), and, of course, Carmen (Bizet), not to mention The Force of Destiny (Verdi) or The Favorite (Donizetti). These associations recently prompted the Seville tourist industry to begin offering a walking tour that seeks out traces of these operas — as if one might suddenly encounter the real Figaro, Don Juan or Carmen on the next street corner. You will, however, wait in vain for a walking tour to visit sites associated with the “hidden” or crypto-Protestants condemned in Seville during the 1550s, unless

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Commemorative plaque for the auto-da-fé of 1559 in Valladolid

their story succeeds as a literary version that can be adapted for tourist advertising, as was the case in Valladolid, the other stronghold of sixteenth-century Spanish crypto-Protestantism. After the renowned author Miguel Delibes (1920–2010) published his late novel El hereje in 1998 (Eng. The Heretic, 2006), a literary monument to the history of the victims of the Inquisition in that city (Dr. Agustín de Cazalla was among the most prominent), visitors could follow in the footsteps of the novel and trace the course of those “difficult times” through numerous commemorative plaques. The historical novel Memoria de cenizas (Memory of ashes), in which in 2005 the journalist Eva Díaz Pérez traced the history of Seville’s crypto-Protestants, had neither the same literary quality nor the same social resonance as the novel by Delibes. Yet even without such commemorative walking tours, we can still sense today how Protestants fared in Seville, a town whose older part has hardly changed since the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

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The Inquisition of 1559/1560 The crypto-Protestantism of Valladolid (at the time the primary royal residence) and Seville (at the time the largest and economically most important town) was neither purely Lutheran nor purely Reformed, but rather a mixture of Erasmianism, Valdesianism (from Juan de Valdés [ca. 1490–1541], a Spanish sympathizer of Erasmus) and various other kinds of Protestantism. Its common denominator was Biblicism, iconoclasm, anti-clericalism and anti-ritualism, a rejection of works righteousness, ecclesiastical mediation, the cults of relics and saints, and loud praying. What it lacked was the pessimistic-Augustinian anthropology typical of the Reformation. Crypto-Protestantism was discovered more by accident in 1557/1558, when the Inquisition tracked down and arrested a certain Julianillo (Julián Hernández, † 1560) with a large load of books; Julianillo was a distributor of the translation of the New Testament (Geneva, 1556) by Juan Pérez de Pineda (ca. 1500–67) and of other books by Protestant authors. Although this apprehension made it easy to identify the recipients of such “dangerous” imports, it also led to general consternation and dismay, since by all appearances the town seemed to be harboring within its own walls the very problem Europe was attempting to battle. That is, fears arose that things would progress precisely “as they did in Germany” if swift and radical countermeasures were not taken. From the contemplative enclave of his old age in the Monastery of Yuste in the Extremadura, Charles V wrote to his son, King Philip II, who was in Brussels at the time, and to his daughter Joanna in Valladolid, who was regent in her brother’s absence, summoning them to proceed as rigorously and harshly as possible (mucho rigor y recio casTitle page of the translation of the New tigo) against these audacious “scum” Testament by Juan Pérez de Pineda. The (piojosos), to make short work of them publication information “Venecia: Juan (breve remedio) and set an example for Philadelpho” is incorrect; the book was others (ejemplar castigo). published in Geneva in 1556 by Jean Crespin

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Seville; colorized illustration from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 1, Cologne, 1593 Bottom left: the cathedral, the “Casa de Contratación” (House of Trade responsible for relationships with “Las Indias” [America]), and the “Alcázar” (royal palace); bottom right: the harbor and “El Castillo” (the castle), in which Dr. Egidio was incarcerated

Grand Inquisitor Fernando de Valdés (1483–1566) welcomed this hardline approach and went to work. The chronicle recounts that in a large-scale ceremony in Valladolid on 21 May 1559, Trinity Sunday, after a sermon by the Dominican Melchior Cano (1509–60) and in the presence of the infante Don Carlos, eldest son of Philip II, 14 persons were condemned to be burned at the stake, while 16 were reconciled, and on 24 September 1559, in Seville, 19 heretics (one “in effigy”, i. e., with his likeness, in his absence) were burned to death, while 7 got off lightly through reconciliation. After Philip II’s return to Spain, a solemn autoda-fé (sentencing) took place on 8 October 1559, in Valladolid in his presence, with the subsequent execution of 12 persons who were burned at the stake, while 18 others were publicly reconciled. This event was joined by the auto-da-fé on 22 December 1560 in Seville with the burning of 17 persons (3 “in effigy”) and the reconciliation of 37 others. The church historian Marcel Bataillon has aptly remarked that during these difficult times people were burned at the stake who only a few years earlier would have gotten off with a small penitential punishment. The early 1550s, under the influence of the Augsburg Interim, had been relatively peaceful in Spain as well.

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Dr. Egidio

Dr. Egidio Those burnt “in effigy” in Seville on 22 December 1560, included Juan Gil, better known by the Latinized form of his name, Dr. Egidio, who had died in November 1555 (or in early 1556 according to other sources). Others included Constantino Ponce de la Fuente (Dr. Constantino), who had died in 1560 shortly after his arrest, and the already deceased Dr. Francisco de Vargas. All three were graduates of the humanist University of Alcalá. The case of Dr. Egidio, which had played out during the early 1550s, was revised in light of the persecution of crypto-Protestants that transfixed Spain between 1557 and 1562. He was tried anew, now posthumously, in 1559, and after his condemnation as a heretic his remains were disinterred and after an auto-da-fé publicly burned “in effigy”. Juan Gil, or Dr. Egidio, was born around 1500 in Olvés near Zaragoza. From 1525 he studied in Alcalá, the university founded by Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros

The auto-da-fé in Valladolid on 21 May 1559. Engraving by Coenraet Decker, 1701–03

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(1436–1517) and considered a center of Spanish humanism. In 1533 he became canon in Seville, where Alfonso Manrique de Lara (1471–1538), an archbishop and grand inquisitor with sympathy for Erasmus, supported graduates of Alcalá. As canon, Dr. Egidio held the important office of preacher, and it was his reputation as a preacher that prompted Charles V to recommend him for the bishopric of Tortosa in 1549. Soon thereafter, however, he was charged and arrested by the Inquisition. His life now took a completely different turn, and the promotion to bishop was suspended. The arrest of this prominent preacher sent shock waves through Seville society, though Dr. Egidio was treated relatively well and also received a proper trial. During the trial, he was incarcerated first in monastery confinement among the Trinitarians before being transferred to the Inquisition’s own dungeon in the Castillo San Jorge, across the Guadalquivir River in neighboring Triana (today part of Seville). Because he was accused of “Lutheranism” or the “German heresy” he has been viewed as a Spanish proto-Protestant. Serious scholarship, however, is of the opinion that, as explained above, it was sooner a mixture typical of heterodox movements in Spain at the time, namely, of Erasmianism, Valdesianism, and Illuminism, while still remaining not entirely free of “Lutheran” undertones. A theological commission consisting of distinguished theologians such as the Dominicans Domingo de Soto (1494–1560) and Bartolomé Carranza (1503–76) concluded that Dr. Egidio ought solemnly (de vehementi) to recant several of his statements before he could be released after a modest penitential punishment. This recantation took place on 21 August 1552, in a ceremonial act in the Cathedral of Seville. Domingo de Soto read from a pulpit the statements to be recanted, and on the other side of the nave, also standing in a pulpit, Dr. Egidio signaled his willingness to recant. He was then sentenced to a year in prison, which he did not complete, and which he spent under fairly tolerable circumstances; after complaining about the dampness in the Inquisition dungeon San Jorge, he was transferred to the charterhouse near Jerez, south of Seville. In mid-1553 he was reinstated in his office as canon, which he then held until his death in 1555/56. He was, however, no longer permitted to preach. Under the shock created by the Inquisition’s having ferreted out so many crypto-Protestants in 1557/58, which included several of Dr. Egidio’s friends and companions, Grand Inquisitor Valdés referred to Dr. Egidio as the “father of Seville Protestantism”. In 1558 Valdés reported to the pope concerning the numerous “passionate followers and devotees of Dr. Egidio”, from whom they had taken over “the language, fallacies, and false doctrine”. Thus the chronicle of events. A scholarly assessment of the trial is difficult because neither Dr. Egidio’s writings nor the case files are extant. The only documentation is the sentence itself and its refutation. Accusations included ideas considered unequivocally

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Erasmian as well as the advocacy of justification through faith alone and praise of Melanchthon. The first statement of refutation, addressing justification by faith alone, reads as follows:

“I have said that we are justified through faith alone, and in so doing raised strong suspicions that I made this statement in the heretical sense that we are justified only by faith. Therefore I recant this proposition in this sense as heretical and condemned by the holy council, and, having been cast under such strong suspicion by it, foreswear it in a legally binding form by promising I will never again either hold or assert it.”

Crypto-Protestants in Seville were alerted by the arrest and fate of Dr. Egidio, and especially the events of 1557/1558, so that some emigrated to European territories that were already Protestant. One of these emigrants was Juan Pérez de Pineda, who published his own translation of the New Testament in Geneva in 1556. Others were monks from the Hieronymite Monastery near Seville such as Casiodoro de Reina (ca. 1520–94), who published the first complete Spanish translation of the Bible in Basel in 1569, and Cipriano de Valera (1532–1602), who undertook the first revision of this translation in Amsterdam in 1602. The various revisions of the Reina-Valera Bible have since become the standard Bible of Spanish-speaking Protestants. While serious scholars such as Marcel Bataillon have come to the above conclusion (arrest, fair trial, recantation, and reinstatement as canon), a hagiography of Seville Protestants in general and of Dr. Egidio in particular arose among these Spanish exiles. According to this stylized version, Dr. Egidio was a martyr who actually did not recant in the Seville cathedral, the distance and noise allegedly having prevented him from understanding the statements Domingo de Soto was reading. As a result, his opponents interTitle page of the first complete Spanish preted his head movements as a recantranslation of the Bible, named “Bible of the tation even though he had meant only Bear” because of the title image, published to indicate that he could not underin Basel by Casiodoro de Reina in 1569

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“El Cristo de la clemencia” by the sculptor Juan Martínez Montañés in the Seville cathedral (1603/04)

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stand Soto. That was the approach taken to the “subtle practices of the Holy Inquisition in Spain” as recounted by a work published in Heidelberg in 1567 (first English translation 1568: A Discovery and playne Declaration of sundry subtili practises of the holy inquisition of Spayne). The author was a certain Reginaldus Gonsalvius Montanus, a pseudonym probably concealing no less a person than Casiodoro de Reina himself. Spanish Protestants seem not to have been able to countenance the notion that the first of their kind to be tried by the Inquisition had in fact not wanted to die as a martyr or “obdurate heretic” at all, preferring instead to recant and return to his office and benefice. At any rate, Dr. Egidio did not object to his own release and rehabilitation.

On the trail of Dr. Egidio Be that as it may, we cannot here investigate the history of Seville Protestants in further detail. Where, however, can a visitor to Seville with an interest in religion and culture find traces of this tragic story? The Inquisition castle San Jorge has not existed since the nineteenth century. After a covered market was initially built on its ruins, archaeologists excavated parts of the vault over the cellar and dungeon, where a public museum of the Inquisition was set up, almost in the fashion of a wax museum. The gallery of prominent victims includes Dr. Egidio. Visitors can, of course, seek out the Trinitarian Monastery, in which he spent several months before his trial. The building today, however, dates from the seventeenth century and was constructed in the Baroque style. The best option is to visit the magnificent cathedral itself, which after the Cathedral of St. Peter and the cathedral in Florence is the third-largest historical cathedral in the Catholic Church. Though furnished with valuable works by the foremost artists of the day, it is above all the place where Dr. Egidio spent years as cathedral preacher, interpreting the Word of God. The initial impression the typically Spanish, post-Tridentine accouterments make on Protestants guests may well be that of a temple designed more for the eyes than for the ears, and one that consciously sets different accents than those found in Protestant edifices. Yet here, too, we can find places that invite the visitor to reflect and meditate, and to hear the word. For example, the side altar to the left of the entrance into the sacristy displays El Cristo de la clemencia (Christ of mercy), the masterpiece of the Seville sculptor Juan Martínez Montañés (1568–1649), which portrays the Crucified One prior to the thrust of the lance, just before he bows his head and gives up his spirit (John 19:30). Here, beneath the cross, Protestant visitors can commemorate the tragic events of the sixteenth century with an inward prayer from the heart. Perhaps a Spanish Christian will chance by and, in simple devotion, even be moved

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to tears by the countenance of the Crucified Christ, and prompted to light a candle and whisper a soft prayer. And then the Protestant visitor to Seville can recall Luther’s own words, which may also characterize the Spanish mystics and folk Catholicism despite the cultural superstructure of its Baroque trappings: “The cross alone is our theology.”  Dr. Mariano Delgado is professor of Medieval and Modern Church History and director of the Institute for the Study of Religions and Interreligious Dialogue at Fribourg University.

Further reading Marcel Bataillon, Erasmo y España. Estudios sobre la historia espiritual del siglo XVI, Madrid: Fondo de cultura económica, ³1986 Ernst Hermann Johann Schäfer, Beiträge zur Geschichte des spanischen Protestantismus und der Inquisition im 16. Jahrhundert. Nach den Originalakten in Madrid und Simancas bearbeitet, 3 vols., Aalen: Scientia Verlag, 1969, here vol. 2, pp. 342–353 (The recantation of Dr. Egidio in 1552) Werner Thomas, Los protestantes y la Inquisición en España en tiempos de Reforma y Contrarreforma, Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2001 Visiting Seville www.sevillatourist.com/ www.catedraldesevilla.es http://luteranos.net/ www.iee-es.org/blog

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Speyer Michael Diller by Klaus Bümlein

Those who visit historical Speyer today encounter not only the World Heritage site of the Salian Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St. Stephen, along with witnesses to medieval Judaism, but also important monuments to the Reformation, which maintains its own quite visible presence in the city. The Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, dating from 1717, and the Memorial Church of the Protestation, dedicated in 1904, especially testify to the enduring effects of the Reformation in Speyer. Yet this free imperial city hesitated for many years before finally becoming Lutheran, and even then was unsuccessful in making the Speyer Cathedral accessible for Protestant worship.

Initial stirrings of the Reformation Conflicts between the Speyer town council and the bishop went back many years and even during the early sixteenth century had not yet been settled. A contract from the year 1514 confirmed certain special privileges for the clergy while still making important concessions to the town. Groups of citizens and even some priests were receptive to Reformation ideas at a quite early stage. As early as 1522, the cathedral chapter had to take steps to prevent clerics from reading “Lutheran and other booklets” during choral services. In that same year, a small book of conversations appeared in Speyer in which a peasant insists, “faith in Christ alone brings salvation, not works, and be they ever so lofty and good and holy”. Werner von Goldberg, pastor at St. Martin’s on the outskirts of town, had been dismissed in 1523 after criticizing the system of benefice. By 1525, two printers in Speyer, Johann Eckart and Jacob Schmidt, had published no fewer than seventeen works by

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Luther. And Jakob Beringer, assistant canon at Speyer cathedral, published a New Testament in Strasbourg, parts of which closely followed Luther’s own translation. Despite various sympathies for Reformation ideas, an open, public introduction of the Reformation in Speyer under the guidance of the authorities was out of the question for a long time. Instead, Speyer initially acquired significance as a “city of the Reformation” not through any well-known Reformation figures or its own Reformation ordinances but as a place of assembly for two important Imperial Diets during the 1520s.

The Imperial Diets of 1526 and 1529 The imperial assembly in Speyer in 1526 clearly demonstrated the enhanced power of Luther’s sympathizers. Philipp of Hesse invited the preacher Adam Krafft to his lodgings in order to interpret Scripture in the Protestant understanding. The Saxon delegation included Georg Spalatin and Johann Agricola. VDMIÆ (Verbum Dei Manet In Æternum) was viewed as the identifying feature of those with Protestant sympathies. The final imperial legislative record avoided condemning Lutheran teachings. Every estate, according to the directive, was to “act and speak as it believes can be answered before God and the majesty of the Emperor and

“The Protestation in Speyer”; gallery illustration in the Church of the Holy Trinity, 1824/25

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Speyer, colorized illustration from Sebastian Münster, “Cosmographey”, Basel, 1567 Bottom: Speyer Cathedral

the empire”. From that statement, Protestant rulers and imperial towns concluded they had the right to shape their territories, should they so choose, according to Reformation ideas. The imperial diet of 1529 then turned into a genuinely momentous event in Reformation history. As was the case in 1526, Emperor Charles V was unable to come to Speyer himself. The proposal presented on his behalf by his brother, Duke Ferdinand, demanded the resolute implementation of the Edict of Worms of 1521. A minority of attendees resisted this demand to repress the spread of Lutheran teachings, similarly protesting the anticipated annulment of the

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unanimous final recess (resolution) of 1526 by a majority resolution. Instead, they held fast to the assertion: “Only the Word of God and the holy Gospel of the Old and New Testaments, as contained in the biblical books, shall be preached clearly and purely, and nothing that is against it.” Furthermore, they opposed “any resolution directed against God, Plaque commemorating the Imperial Diet his holy Word, and the salvation and of 1529 on the eastern side of the tavern good conscience of us all” (Expanded “Domhof” in Grosse Himmelsgasse Protestation of 20 April 1529). Participants in this “protestation” included Elector Johann of Saxony, Mar­ grave Georg of Brandenburg, Duke Ernst of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Landgrave Philipp of Hesse, and Prince Wolfgang of Anhalt. Fourteen imperial cities joined as well: Augsburg, Heilbronn, Isny, Kempten, Constance, Lindau, Memmingen, Nördlingen, Nuremberg, St. Gallen, Strasbourg, Ulm, Weissenburg in Franconia and Windsheim. A commemorative plaque near the site of the former council building recalls the Imperial Diet of 1529 and the protestation, from which the enduring designation “Protestants” derives. The Speyer town council, however, was as little interested in protesting as was Elector Ludwig V of the Palatinate or Duke Ludwig II of Palatinate-Zweibrücken. Appealing to the gospel and their own conscience did not, moreover, prevent the protestors from supporting the harsh imperial law against the Anabaptists that was passed in Speyer.

The adoption of the Reformation in 1540 Scholars generally maintain that the Reformation did not officially commence in Speyer until 1540. As early as 1538 the council declared its intention to engage two salaried preachers to teach “in a seemly, modest, and irreproachable manner the path to salvation in Christ, Savior of the world”. Yet it was not until 1540 that the former Augustinian prior Michael Diller (1499–1570) and the Carmelite prior Anton Eberhardt (date of birth and death unknown) received actual commissions to preach “God’s Word in Speyer, and to do so clearly and purely, modestly, quietly and peacefully for the sake of preserving human virtue and salvation”. The cautious wording here betrays how tentative and unstable this resolution still was. During this same year, 1540, the council established a school in the Dominican monastery with Master Johann Mylaeus († 1554) as the first headmaster.

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Michael Diller Michael Diller, who was probably a native of Speyer, can be viewed as the leading Reformation figure in Speyer. He studied in Wittenberg from 1523, and considering that he then rose to the position of prior of his monastery with such a background suggests that the Augustinian hermits were receptive to Reformation preaching. In 1543 Diller began advocating for administering the Eucharistic chalice to laypersons and also condemned the doctrine of the sacrifice of the Mass. Because the council feared imperial sanctions, however, this Protestant preacher had to leave town during the Speyer Imperial Diet of 1544, as well as during the emperor’s two visits in 1541 and 1545. Following the defeat in the Schmalkaldic War of 1547 Speyer, too, had to acquiesce to the Augsburg Interim, and it is most likely that Diller left town then too, never again to return even during his ensuing years as a court preacher and church administrator in Heidelberg.

Consolidation of the Reformation Hence it was only after the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 that the Lutheran Reformation could be gradually consolidated. No one particular person emerged, however, to take it in hand. Diller wrote in December 1555 that Count Palatine Ottheinrich zu Neuburg could not spare him for work on structuring the necessary ordinance, and instead advised that Speyer adopt the Neuburg one, which corresponded to the Württemberg ordinance of 1553. The preachers Jakob Schober and Heinrich Ringelstein presented a draft for reorganizing catechism instruction. Meanwhile, in 1557 the envisioned adoption of the Württemberg church ordinance seems to have proceeded only with some hesitation, with a manuscript from 1557 referring to any complete adoption of the Augsburg Confession as “questionable”. The celebration of Catholic holidays such as Corpus Christi and Assumption was to continue. An extensive expert opinion concerning the Speyer predicants of 1569 was signed by four “servants in the gospel”, Johann Reussenzein, Georgius Ebenreych, Johan Othmar Maylander and Clemens Schubert. Although this document has been viewed as the first distinct Lutheran church ordinance in Speyer, its published form is extant only in a copy dating to 1700. The Augustinian and Dominican churches as well as St. Georg functioned as churches of Lutheran preaching from 1569, though the orders had by no means given up their own claims. In the Dominican church, Protestants acquired the right to use the nave only at specific times. Catholic services in the cathedral were allowed to continue, also in the collegiate churches of All Saints, St. Germanus,

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and St. Guido. Three Catholic convents also continued as before. The presence of the Imperial Chamber of Justice in the town from 1527 was a decisive factor in ensuring the continued presence of a Catholic minority, since the council had no intention of challenging its existence. Although the confessional parity of the court after 1555 guaranteed a certain element of security for Catholics as well, Speyer, with 8000 residents around 1560, was now clearly a majority Lutheran town. Beginning in 1572 and at the insistent initiative of the Palatinate Elector Friedrich III, a minority Reformed congregation was able to establish itself around the Church of St. Aegidius. Its pastors included Johannes Willing and then Quirinus Reuter, a student of Ursinus who was active in Speyer between 1593 and 1598.

Church of the Holy Trinity (1717) Speyer suffered tremendously from the devastation and confusion of the Thirty Years War. Only gradually was any successful reconstruction possible in either a material or spiritual sense. Hardly a generation later, the town was battered anew in the Palatinate War of Succession. At Pentecost 1689, its residents were driven out, and medieval Speyer was reduced to dust and ashes. Because the previous,

Interior of the Church of the Holy Trinity

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largely Lutheran churches could no longer be used for worship, the city fathers, upon their return in 1699, found that new churches would need to be built. The first successful construction was a church for the Reformed congregation in a new location, and the first services were held in this Church of the Holy Spirit in 1702. The new Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, begun in 1701, was intentionally dedicated on the significant date 31 October 1717. Hence two hundred years after Luther posted his famous theses, Speyer was now a predominantly Lutheran town. This Baroque hall church, with its two galleries, was built to accommodate 1500 people. The crucified Christ, flanked by two large angels, is depicted above the altar with its image of the Holy Eucharist. The Baroque organ façade presents itself above this overall tableau. The high-canopied pulpit is situated off to one side. Ceiling paintings portray the entirety of salvation history, from the Holy Trinity to the Last Judgment. Along each of the two galleries we can view illustrations from the Bible, an Old Testament scene being juxtaposed as a type with its New Testament antitype. This wealth of artistic treasures was preserved, and thorough renovation has already begun for the tricentennial celebration in 2017. The Church of the Holy Trinity remained the primary Protestant church in Speyer for almost two centuries, even after the union in 1818 of Lutherans and Reformed in the Bavarian Rhine District. Around 1824 four gallery illustrations were added portraying the events of the protestation of 20 April 1529, and three stations of the church union process of 1818. The former Reformed Church of the Holy Spirit remained in use for early and secondary worship services until 1978.

Memorial Church of the Protestation (1904) The outfitting of the cathedral with the grand fresco by Johann von Schraudolph (1845–52) and the renewal of the western facade were particularly instrumental in awakening the desire among the Protestant majority for a high church of their own, dedicated, moreover, to the memory of the 1529 Imperial Diet with the protestation. The initial concept called for an edifice near, or even replacing, the Church of the Holy Trinity. The nearby Retscher ruins (of a medieval town house) were erroneously thought to be the location of the protestation itself, which is why the association founded in 1857 to promote its construction initially bore the name “Retscher Association”. After 1882 a different plan gained popularity, namely, to locate the church edifice to the southwest, outside the medieval town walls. The association found supporters in several regions of the empire. Emperor Wilhelm II and his wife, Auguste Victoria, covered the cost of the choir-loft windows. Additional significant support came from as far away as Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United States.

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Aerial view of the Memorial Church of the Protestation

After the cornerstone was laid in 1893, the Memorial Church of the Protestation was dedicated in August 1904, its neo-Gothic tower looming over the cathedral towers. The church’s vestibule is consciously conceived as a memorial to the Imperial Diet of 1529. The six protesting rulers surround the central figure of Luther, while the coats-of-arms of the fourteen imperial cities of 1529 hang on the wall. The vestibule windows recall the Palatinate rulers Ludwig II of PalatinateZweibrücken and Ottheinrich.

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Vestibule of the Memorial Church with Luther and the protesting princes and imperial cities

The grand conception of the stained glass windows in the church’s interior juxtaposes various biblical and Reformation themes. Hence in the chancel, the apostles stand next to the Reformers Luther and Melanchthon, with Calvin and Zwingli on the other side. After 1818 the Wittenberg and Swiss Reformers were equally important to the Palatinate United Church, and the grand gallery windows along the central nave display portrayals not only of the posting of Luther’s theses in Wittenberg, but also of the calling of Calvin to Geneva. Although the overall conception of the Memorial Church of the Protestation sent a clearly anti-Catholic message at its dedication in 1904, the relationship between the Catholic and Protestant churches in Speyer, too, underwent a fundamental change over the course of the twentieth century. Catholics in this diocese and cathedral city were long a minority, and today, among fifty thousand residents, their number is approximately the same as that of Protestants. The new synagogue built in 2011, along with the growing number of Muslims, has created a new area for interreligious encounter and practical cooperation. An ecumenical church gathering at Pentecost 2015 issued a public resolution advocating a “code

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of practices” to facilitate ecumenical cooperation in the Speyer diocese and in the Protestant Church of the Palatinate. As a “city of the Reformation” Speyer views itself as being equally committed not only to ecumenical cooperation and the presentation of the town’s Protestant heritage, but also to communicating the liberating power of the gospel.  Dr. Klaus Bümlein, a pastor in the Protestant Church of the Palatinate, was from 1991 to 2005 the director of its education and training department and from 2004 to 2013 chair of the Association for Palatinate Church History. Further reading Wolfgang Eger (ed.), Geschichte der Stadt Speyer, 3 vols., Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, ²1983– 1989 450 Jahre Reformation in Speyer, Speyer: Evangelischer Presseverlag Pfalz, 1990 Hans Ammerich, Kleine Geschichte der Stadt Speyer, Karlsruhe: G. Braun Buchverlag, 2008 Christiane Brodersen et al., Begehbare Bilderbibel, Die Emporenbilder der Dreifaltigkeitskirche in Speyer, Speyer: Kartoffeldruck-Verlag Brodersen, 2011 Hundert Jahre Gedächtniskirche der Protestation zu Speyer, Ubstadt-Weiher: Verlag Regio­ nalkultur, 2004 Visiting Speyer www.speyer.de/sv_speyer/en/Tourism www.dreifaltigkeit-speyer.de www.evpfalz.de/gemeinden_cms/index.php?id=5285

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Stockholm Gustav I Wasa and Olaus Petri

by Tarald Rasmussen

Stockholm Stockholm did not play a particularly important role in the church topography of the later Middle Ages. The archbishop’s see of the Swedish church province was not located in Stockholm but in Uppsala, approximately 70 km north. Uppsala’s university, founded in 1477, had with papal authorization been modeled on Bologna University. The archbishop, who was also chancellor of the university, was the head of six dioceses within this ecclesiastical province: Västerås, Strängnäs, Skara, Linköping, Växsjö and Åbo. Stockholm was not one of them. Yet even lacking a bishop’s see and university, Stockholm had already become an important trading town by the late Middle Ages. Agreements with Lübeck and the Hanseatic League as well as a highly regarded and, for Stockholm itself, extremely favorable letter of privilege from the Swedish Imperial Council (1436) allowed the town to attain the position of largest (around 1500: 6000–7000 inhabitants) and economically most important town in the empire during the later Middle Ages. To that extent, the town was also well situated for its role in the new church topography: as the increasingly obvious capital of Swedish Lutheranism.

Copenhagen These developments in Sweden can be compared to similar ones in Denmark, where at about the same time Copenhagen had become the economically most important city in the Danish empire. During the Reformation, under King Christian III, it

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Stockholm Iceland

University towns (year of foundation)

(1477)

Hólar

Kirkjubœr

Bishop’s see Archbishop’s see

Skálholt

Faroe Islands

Borders of bishopric Border of Teutonic Order in Livonia

ni Bo f o f

Gul

Västerås

k

Hapsal/

1559–1645 part of Kingdom of Denmark

Gotland

Kuressaare

C

Ribe/Ripen

Denmark

Århus

(1477)

Växjö

Duchy Kiel Holstein (1665)

Lund

Rügen

Rostock

Öland

(1668)

Ros- København/ Bornholm Duchy Odense kilde Copenhagen Schleswig Fehmarn Schleswig (1419) Greifswald (1456)

B

Reval/Tallinn

A

L

S

Part of Lund

(1632)

Dorpat/Tartu

Lake Peipus

Livonia Courland

I

Viborg

Finland f of Estonia

Dagö/ Haapsalu bishopric Hiumaa Ösel/ Arensburg/ Saaremaa

Linköping

Skara

Børglum

Kingdom of S E A

ra

Gul

(1576–1592)

T

N O R T H

ger

Åbo/Turku

Uppsala Stockholm

Lake Ladoga

(1640)

Åland Islands

(1477)

Strängnäs

Stavanger Ska

Finland

Kingdom of Sweden

Hamar

Oslo

King

Bergen



th

ay

rw No

of

dom

Part of Stavanger bishopric

Border established by the Treaty of Teusina 1595 (also border with Russian Orthodoxy)

a

Nidaros/ Trondheim

E

Riga

A

(1544) Königsberg (1565)

(1579)

Vilnius/Wilna

Braunsberg

The bishops’ sees in Scandinavia prior to the Reformation along with the universities in the Baltic regions during the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

then attained an unrivalled position as the center of Danish (and Norwegian) Lutheranism. Copenhagen had previously not been a bishop’s see either, the Danish ecclesiastical province being ruled by the seat of the archbishopric in Lund in Schonen (today in Sweden) during the late Middle Ages; the nearest bishop’s see for Copenhagen was in Roskilde. At the same time, Roskilde was (and still is) the burial place of Danish kings and queens just as Uppsala, near Stockholm, had been the burial place for Swedish kings since the twelfth century.

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Gustav I Wasa and Olaus Petri

These structural similarities notwithstanding, one important difference contributed to Copenhagen becoming a more influential Nordic Reformation center than Stockholm during the sixteenth century. The new university founded in the Danish capital in 1479 benefited from the beginnings of Lutheranism and by the 1530s was playing a central role in shaping Copenhagen as a Reformation town. No comparable strategic instrument existed in Stockholm. Over the course of the sixteenth century the new university in Uppsala never really managed to grow and consolidate itself. Swedish theologians and other Swedish scholars preferred to go to Rostock or even Wittenberg for their university education, a situation that did not change until the seventeenth century.

The Stockholm bloodbath of 1520 Let us return from this Nordic comparison to the concrete events in Stockholm. One important starting point for Stockholm’s rise to its status as Sweden’s capital was the “Stockholm bloodbath” of early November 1520, during which King Christian II had a large part of the high Swedish nobility and also a considerable number of Stockholm’s citizens executed on the Stockholm market square. This event took place after a three-day coronation ceremony for the Danish king during which he also had himself crowned Swedish king within the framework of the late medieval Kalmar Union of Nordic countries. With the back-up of the archbishop of Uppsala, Gustav Trolle (1488–1535), who supported the Union, Christian II simply had much of the Swedish national opposition eliminated. These actions also received the indirect support of the pope in Rome, who in 1517 had issued a bull of excommunication against the archbishop’s adversaries; they were thus to be viewed as heretics and dealt with accordingly. Those executed in Stockholm included the two bishops of Strängnäs and Skara. Christian II, however, was not to defend his Swedish crown for very long, since the national opposition retook Stockholm in June 1523 under the leadership of Gustav Wasa (1496–1560), whose father had been decapitated during the bloodbath and whose mother had been taken out of the country as a prisoner. In June 1523, the Imperial Diet elected Gustav Wasa king in the episcopal town of Strängnäs (about 100 km west of Stockholm).

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Gustav I Wasa Gustav Wasa, who ruled as king until 1560, is viewed as a key figure in the consolidation of Sweden as a nation. He introduced the country’s hereditary monarchy, and his coronation day on 6 June is still observed as Sweden’s National Day. He is, however, also remembered as Sweden’s Reformation king, who from the early years of his reign supported and promoted the Lutheran Reformation in the country. Swedish Reformation history is more complicated than that in Denmark insofar as a certain confessional ambivalence prevailed during most of the sixteenth century that that was hardly discernible in Denmark; as a result, the final consolidation of the Reformation in Sweden came about at a relatively late date (Uppsalamøtet, 1593). Nonetheless it is certainly true to say that under Gustav Wasa, the Reformation was able to gain a firm foothold in Sweden quite early on. One key step in this process was the Imperial Diet of 1527, which the king convened in order to consolidate his power. The decisions resulting from this diet were articulated in the Västerås Recess (resolution), which stipulated, first, that the bishops’ castles and palaces were to be transferred to the crown, and, second, that their incomes be restricted. Families of the nobility were now permitted to reclaim property and possessions they had ceded to the church since 1454. This resolution of the Imperial Diet was the beginning of Gustav Wasa’s “reduction”, that is, his systematic dispossession of the old church, which continued over the following years and affected not only collegiate churches and monasteries, but in part also parish churches. This systematic approKing Gustav I Wasa; portrait by an unknown artist, 1557/58 priation of church property constitut-

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ed a clear and, by European standards, extremely early break with Rome. This break was sealed once and for all by Gustav Wasa’s appointment of Laurentius Petri (1499–1573) as new archbishop in Uppsala in 1531, since the pope had not sanctioned the appointment. Laurentius Petri had studied in Wittenberg during the 1520s and married in 1531, the same year he was consecrated as archbishop; hence even while the office of archbishop nominally continued in Sweden, it did so in a clearly “Protestantized” fashion. Gustav Wasa himself, however, was never really an independent advocate of Reformation ideas. His chief concern was to strengthen the Swedish kingdom and free it from foreign rule — whether Danish or Hanseatic. That is, he probably supported the Reformation primarily because it was helpful to him in his disputes with the secular power of the bishops. Although the Västerås Recess firmly stipulated that God’s word was to be preached renlig, that is, in a pure form — an unmistakable reflection of the influence of Reformation ideas — many questions remained open regarding liturgy and doctrine, and the process of settling them dragged on.

Olaus Petri Reformation ideas were already making the rounds in Sweden quite early by way of the country’s close connections with Germany, especially with Rostock and Danzig. The episcopal town of Strängnäs was an early center of Reformation preaching. As early as 1519, the twenty-six-year-old theologian Olaus Petri (1493–1552), the older brother of Laurentius Petri, became secretary to the bishop. Petri had just arrived back from Germany, where between 1516 and 1518 he had studied first in Leipzig, and then (and especially) in Wittenberg. Beginning in 1520, as a consecrated deacon in the Strängnäs cathedral, he was authorized to preach, and immediately began disseminating Lutheran ideas from the pulpit, criticizing the local rosary piety

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Olaus Petri; monument by Theodor Lundberg (1896) before the Storkyrkan

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Stockholm. Colorized views from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Contrafactur und Beschreibung von den vornembsten Stetten der Welt”, vol. 4, Cologne, 1590 Bottom left: the royal castle and grand tower of the Storkyran (Great Church); bottom right: the Storkyrkan again

in Strängnäs, emphasizing the sermon at the cost of the celebration of the Mass, and proclaiming salvation solely by the grace of God. These activities did not go unchallenged. Hans Brask (1464–1538), bishop in the neighboring collegiate church of Linköping, soon charged Petri with heresy. Brask owned his own printing shop and used it especially to publicize his accusations of heresy against Petri. Nonetheless in 1524, at Gustav Wasa’s initiative, Olaus Petri was transferred to the new capital Stockholm, where he reported directly to the king and was appointed preacher in the town’s main church, the “Storkyrkan” (Great Church, also known as the Church of St. Nicholas). The following year, he married the burgher’s daughter Kristina (the same year Luther married), prompting vehement protest from Hans Brask, who protested not only at the marriage itself, but also

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at having the nuptial mass celebrated in Swedish for the first time in Sweden. During the mid-1520s, ­several Reformation followers resided in the great trading city of Stockholm, and the Storkyrkan eventually became their religious center. During this same period, Gustav Wasa promoted the ­Lutheran religion with increasing vigor. In 1526 he ordered that Hans Brask’s anti-Lutheran printing shop be shut down, and in the same year established his own printing shop in Stockholm under his direct control. This shop would later (1541) publish the Gustav Wasa Bible, the first Swedish translation of the Bible. During the Västerås Imperial Diet of 1527, Olaus Petri was invited to represent the Lutheran position in a public theological disputation. His oppoTitle page of the Gustav Wasa Bible, nent was the (more reluctant than Uppsala, 1541 enthusiastic) Dominican Peder Galle (1476–1538) from Uppsala. Olaus Petri had presented questions beforehand that the Dominican was then to answer in the disputation. The power gap here was unmistakable, Olaus Petri’s task being to pose questions in the king’s name, and Peder Galle then having to defend himself against attacks. Shortly after this Imperial Diet, the king had himself crowned in the cathedral of Uppsala, with Olaus Petri delivering the coronation sermon (which has been preserved) in the spirit of Lutheran theology. In his sermon, Petri emphasizes that the king is appointed by God and is charged with the task of securing and preserving God’s order.

Sites commemorating the Reformation The great church in Stockholm, the Storkyrkan, is certainly one of the most important commemorative sites of the Sweden Reformation. Olaus Petri is buried here before the pulpit, and the well-known Vädersolstavlan (the Sun Dogs paint-

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ing) also hangs on the south wall, near the church entrance. This painting captures an event associated with Olaus Petri’s activities in this church. On 20 April 1535, a spectacular celestial sign appeared over Stockholm. Seven suns were simultaneously visible in the heavens for a time. Olaus Petri interpreted this sign as a warning, specifically for the king, who would not cease dispossessing churches in order to pay off his war debts to Lübeck. To commemorate this warning sign, Olaus Petri commissioned a Swedish painter by the name of Urban to render the phenomenon as true to life as possible. Although the original was lost, Queen Christina’s court painter, Jacob Elbfas, made a detailed copy that still hangs in the church today. This copy not only portrays the celestial phenomenon, “Vädersolstavlan” (Sun Dogs painting) in but also offers an extremely early renthe Storkyrkan, 1636 dering of the town and houses during the time of Olaus Petri. The church also contains several interesting commemorative items from Gustav Wasa’s early period. The Reformation king Gustav Wasa found his final resting place in Uppsala cathedral, as did his son Johan III (reigned 1568–92), who was married to the Polish Catholic princess Catherine Jagiellon, and the first archbishop, Laurentius Petri. Beginning in the early seventeenth century, the royal burials were transferred to the church known as Ridderholmskyrkan in Stockholm. Beginning with Gustav II Adolf († 1634), the Swedish military hero from the Thirty Years War, and extending down to Gustav V (†1950), all Swedish regents have been interred here. Although this church originally belonged to Stockholm’s Franciscan monastery, Gustav Wasa’s campaign of “reduction” transferred it to the crown. Another important site commemorating early Lutheranism is St. Gertrud’s, known as the “German church”. From the mid-fourteenth century, German merchants in Stockholm organized themselves in their own guild of St. Gertrud, and in this connection also had their own festival hall. They held their services (in German) in a chapel in the Storkyrkan. Although the crown also appropriated the

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The tomb of Gustav I Wasa and his first two wives in the Wasa choir of Uppsala Cathedral. Crafted by Willem Boy from Mecheln

compound of St. Gertrud during the Reformation, the hall continued to serve as an assembly room, and increasingly as a worship space for Germans and Finns. In 1580 the hall was renovated specifically as a chapel, and the German church we see today was built on the same premises in 1638–42. This new German church and the Ridderholmskyrkan as royal burial site confirmed Stockholm in its role as the Lutheran capital of the Swedish empire. Both were built during a period in which successes in the Thirty Years War elevated Sweden to the status of a Lutheran great power. During the same period, Lutheranism in Sweden was supported by Uppsala University, which reopened in 1593.

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 Dr. Tarald Rasmussen is professor of Church History at Oslo University.

Further reading Ole Peter Grell (ed.), The Scandinavian Reformation. From evangelical movement to institutionalisation of reform, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995 Matthias Asche and Anton Schindling (eds.), Dänemark, Norwegen und Schweden im Zeitalter der Reformation und Konfessionalisierung. Nordische Königreiche und Konfession 1500 bis 1660, Münster: Aschendorff Verlag, 2003 Visiting Stockholm www.visitstockholm.com www.svenskakyrkan.se/default.aspx?id=1207868

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Strasbourg Martin Bucer and Katharina Zell

by Matthieu Arnold

The Reformation breakthrough in Strasbourg in 1529 was largely due to the efforts of one notable person, Martin Bucer (Bucerus, Butzer, 1491–1551). This Free Imperial City was fortunate enough to enjoy the presence of numerous important figures influenced by humanism or Luther’s message who exerted influence on the European stage; they included Johannes (Jean) Sturm, founder and longtime director of the Strasbourg school of higher education (Hohe Schule); Jacob Sturm, an experienced politician who deftly and consistently defended the town’s interests over against the emperor; Wolfgang Capito, former secretary to Archbishop Albrecht von Brandenburg, and his learned colleague Kaspar Hedio; and last but not least John (Jean) Calvin, who from 1538 till 1541 worked as a pastor to the French refugee community and a lecturer at the Hohe Schule, and who during this fruitful Alsatian “exile” wrote several important works. None of the these men, however, shaped the Reformation in Strasbourg as profoundly and enduringly as did the energetic Martin Bucer, the author of numerous extensive works, whose influence extended far beyond the Alsatian capital. After Luther and Melanchthon, Bucer can justifiably be viewed as the “third Reformer” of Germany — so great was the impact of his activities in southwest Germany. His ideas also spread to Switzerland and England. Alongside Martin Bucer, historians have also acknowledged the importance of Katharina Zell, née Schütz. She was not only one of the most significant women writers of the Reformation age but also a woman who put into practice Bucer’s program of love of the neighbor. Katharina Zell, together with Bucer, Capito and the two Sturms, contributed greatly to Strasbourg becoming a genuinely tolerant town during the second quarter of the sixteenth century.

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Strasbourg; colorized town map from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 1, Cologne, 1593 Bottom left: Strasbourg town hall (top right) and Church of St. Thomas (bottom left at the river), where Martin Bucer served; bottom right: the cathedral

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Martin Bucer, theologian of “living for others” and “fanatic of unity” Martin Bucer came from modest circumstances. He joined the Dominicans in Schlettstadt, his place of birth, and continued his university studies in Heidelberg. After reading the works of Erasmus with great enthusiasm, he became a zealous follower of Luther under the influence of the latter’s Heidelberg Disputation of 1518 and also as a result of his personal acquaintance with the Wittenberg Reformer. Despite various, sometimes tense differences of opinion between the two Reformers between 1524 and Luther’s death (understanding of the Eucharist, dialogue Martin Bucer; medallion by Friedrich with those of the old faith), Bucer nevHagenau, Cologne, 1543 er lost his gratitude and respect for ­Luther. Bucer left the Dominican order in 1521, later married, and became a Protestant pastor in Landstuhl in the Palatinate; after a stay in Weissenburg, he fled to Strasbourg in 1523. Unlike some of his colleagues, Bucer had never studied for a doctorate. Yet within a few years he was able to become the most important leader of the Protestant movement in Strasbourg. His most distinguished theological works include his biblical commentaries, especially that on the Gospel of John, the Letter to the Ephesians, the Psalms, and the Letter to the Romans; then also his various tractates, including Das ym selbs niema[n]t, sonder anderen leben soll, und wie der Mensch dahyn kummen moeg (That no one should live for himself, but rather for others, and how a person can achieve that, 1523), Von der wahren Seelsorge (On True Pastoral Care, 1538), and De Regno Christi (On the reign of Christ), which he wrote for the young King Edward VI and which was published after Bucer’s death in England. His thoughts on the four church offices (pastors, doctors, deacons, elders) and on church discipline influenced Calvin. Bucer was passionately engaged in improving the lives both of personal Christians and of the church as a whole, emphasizing in the process — more than did Luther — the effects of the Holy Spirit, which made this new life possible in the first place. The primary question for Bucer was no longer, “How can I find a mer-

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ciful God?” but rather, “How can I, as justified, live out my relationship with God and my fellow human beings?” For Bucer it was no longer a question of the justification of sinners before God and of true faith, but rather of the improvement of human beings and the consequences of the Christian message for the community, and it was for this work of renewal that he was determined to mobilize the authorities. Luther’s distinction between the “two kingdoms” did not exist for him. In 1523, precisely when the Wittenberg Reformer was developing his own understanding of the authorities, Bucer, in That no one should live for himself, but rather for others, emphasized the obligation of the authorities, on the Title page of Martin Bucer, “Das ym selbs example of the kings of Israel, to work niema[n]t, sonder anderen leben soll”, for the glory of God. For one thing they [Strasbourg, 1523] could expel Anabaptists who were refusing to obey city authorities appointed by God. Bucer became resolutely engaged on behalf of unity (being called a “fanatic of unity” as early as the sixteenth century), first among Protestants (Wittenberg Concord, 1536), and later between Protestants and Catholics (religious colloquies of 1540/41). Within the Strasbourg church, he campaigned  — following the example of the Anabaptists  — for more rigorous church discipline. In 1546 he initiated a kind of core congregation (ecclesiola in ecclesia), confessional communities that as small groups within the church focused on genuinely and seriously living their faith. Before his departure for England, however, Bucer had to abandon this project — one the Pietists took up much later — because of the opposition of some colleagues and the Strasbourg town council. Although Bucer was one of those Protestant theologians who indefatigably tried, in the Erasmian spirit, to come to an understanding with those of the old faith, he was not willing to accept the conditions of the Augsburg Interim after the Protestant defeat in 1547. He found it impossible to accept the renewed celebration of the Mass in the churches of Strasbourg after it had been abolished in there in 1529. As a result, he was forced to flee to England in 1549, finding

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refuge in Cambridge. There he died during the night of 28 February/1 March 1551, after having developed plans for a comprehensive English Reformation for King Edward VI. On 2 March he was interred in the chancel of Great St. Mary’s Church in Cambridge.

The victory of the Protestant movement in Strasbourg During the 1520s, Strasbourg was by no means a military power, and fear of military action on the part of the emperor prompted the town council to take a more wait-and-see attitude, although it was already paying Lutheran preachers and supporting them against the bishop. The Reformation’s initial successes came from the people in the pew. In March 1524, parish members at the Church of St. Aurelia, acting on their own initiative, elected Martin Bucer as their new preacher instead of their own incumbent. Bern’s defection to the Protestant camp in January/February 1528 contributed greatly to the ultimate success of the Protestant movement in this Free Imperial City. On 20 February 1529, the council having offered guild representatives a choice, two thirds of them voted to abolish the Mass — until someone could demonstrate to them that it was a work pleasing to God. In April 1529, Strasbourg’s envoys signed the “protestation”, the protest declaration of the Protestant estates at the second Imperial Diet in Speyer. As was the case in other Protestant towns within the empire, new institutions emerged in Strasbourg as well. Strasbourg established its own marital court, the first synod convened in 1533, and in 1538 the Hohe Schule was founded, which would develop into an academy in 1566 and finally a university in 1621.

Katharina Zell: a “Mother of the Church” during the Reformation Age

The curriculum vitae and activities of Katharina Schütz-Zell as a writer demonstrate the new sense of identity women had attained within the Protestant camp, something that developed, amongst other things, thanks to their greater familiarity with the Bible. Katharina was probably born in Strasbourg in early 1498 to the master joiner Jakob Schütz and his wife Elisabeth, née Gerster. She enjoyed a solid education and even as a very young girl was already greatly interested in books, especially religious literature and dialogues. In a later apologetic letter, she wrote, “Since I was ten years old, I have been a church mother … have loved all scholars, visited them often, and conversed with them  — though not about dancing and the joys of this world and carnival, but about the kingdom of God.” She also wrote

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later about the profound religious experience prompted by her early acquaintance with Luther’s writings, remarking that Luther “described our Lord Jesus Christ to charmingly that I thought I was being drawn … away from this earthly world, indeed, out of bitter, grim hell itself, and up into the delightful, sweet kingdom of heaven.” On 3 December 1523, she married Matthäus Zell, preacher at the Strasbourg cathedral, thereby becoming one of the first wives of Protestant pastors. At this time, however, priestly marriage was still something shockingly new, and not surprisingly prompted massive opposition from the Catholic bishop in Strasbourg. In April 1524, Matthäus Zell, husband of Katharina; the Strasbourg bishop invited all the fictitious portrait by Theodor de Bry (?), married Strasbourg priests to Saverne from Jean-Jacques Boissard, “Biblioteca chalcographica”, Frankfurt am Main, 1650. and excommunicated them. Hence in Unfortunately, no contemporary likeness of late August and early September, KathKatharina Zell has come down to us arina wrote Katharina Schütz’s Exculpation of Matthes Zell, her spouse … because of fictitious lies. She sent this “smoking letter” directly to the bishop, defending her marriage against “opprobrium, defamation and lies”. But Katharina did not stop at defending herself against calumny, she proceeded directly to an attack on the Catholic clergy itself, many of whom kept one or more concubines with the bishop’s permission. As did Luther, she described marriage as a divine estate, and its prohibition as a work of the devil himself. Hence her apology specifically for her husband turned into an apology for priestly marriage, and she even quoted the Bible in justifying her own right to put quill to paper:

“Paul says, “women should be silent in the churches” [1 Cor. 14:34], to which I respond: Does he not realize that he also says in Galatians 3, “There is no longer male or female.” And that God says in the prophet Joel, chapter 2, “I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, etc.” And he knows as well that, when Zechariah became mute, Elizabeth blessed Mary, the virgin [Luke 1:20–21; 41–42, NRSV].”

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A year after she married, 150 refugees of faith came to Strasbourg from Kenzingen in south Baden; Katharina housed 80 of them in her parsonage and fed up to 60 people for four weeks. Katharina not only tended to the needs of these refugees, but also wrote a letter of comfort to the women left behind in Kenzingen, published in July 1524 by Wolfgang Köpfel in Strasbourg; a second edition soon followed. Though God may well seem hidden to them now, she wrote to the women of Kenzingen, they should nonetheless be confident in his mercifulness; to comfort her sisters in faith, she drew on a passage from Isaiah (49:15) in which God speaks of himself as a nursing mother: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may Title page, Katharina Zell, “Den leydenden Christglaubigen weybern der gemain zu forget, yet I [God] will not forget you.” Kentzingen”, Strasbourg, 1524 During the Peasants War of 1525, she cared for war refugees who had survived the massacre in Saverne; up to 3000 fled to Strasbourg. Katharina was responsible for finding accommodation among the private citizenry for refugees unable to find a place in the abandoned Franciscan monastery, and for organizing donations among the residents of Strasbourg. In 1529 she took in Huldrych Zwingli and Johannes Oecolampadius on their journey to Marburg. She even became directly involved in the debate concerning the Eucharist in a letter to Luther, albeit unsuccessfully; Luther responded, “You know that love is to surpass and have precedent before all else, excepting God, who is above everything, even love.” In 1534 she published a hymnal for which she supplied a preface. It contained excerpts from the songbook of the Bohemian-Moravian Brethren that had appeared in 1531. When her husband, Matthäus Zell, died in January 1548, Katharina herself seized the opportunity to address the congregation following Bucer’s funeral eulogy. Since her “sermon” caused a bit of displeasure she published another communiqué emphasizing that she had no intention of taking the position of

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preacher or apostle, “but merely just as dear Mary Magdalene became an apostle quite without forethought and was urged by the Lord himself to tell the disciples that Christ had risen.” During the following years, Katharina came into conflict with the “second generation” of Strasbourg Reformers, namely, the followers of Lutheran orthodoxy. She was accused of, among other things, having regularly exchanged letters with the spiritualist Caspar von Schwenckfeld and of having hosted him in her home between 1531 and 1533. In 1557 she published her correspondence with Ludwig Rabus, a young preacher of “orthodoxy” who had branded Zwingli and his followers as heretics. She acknowledged not only her deceased husband’s greatness of mind and religious patience, but also the “poor Anabaptists” whom the authorities were hunting down “just as a hunter drives his dogs after a wild boar and hare”, even though they, “like us”, confess Christ as Lord, and though many among them have confessed redemption “even into affliction, prison, fire, and water”. In 1550 Katharina had to vacate the parsonage for a Catholic priest. In 1558 she published her final work, a letter of comfort with an interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer, and twice more she preached at graveside services for women. She died on 5 September 1562. It was not until 1999, however, that a scholarly edition of her writings appeared, edited by Elsie A. McKee.  Dr. Matthieu Arnold is professor of the History of Christian Modernity in the Faculty of Protestant Theology at Strasbourg University.

Further reading James Kittelson, Towards an established church. Strasbourg from 1500 to the dawn of the seventeenth century, Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 2000 Martin Greschat, Martin Bucer: a reformer and his times, Louisville/London: Westminster/ John Knox Press, 2009 Elsie Anne McKee, Katharina Schütz Zell, 2 vols., Leiden: Brill, 1999 Visiting Strasbourg www.otstrasbourg.fr/en/ www.musees.strasbourg.eu/index.php?page=musees-en www.protestants-strasbourg.fr

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Turku Michael Agricola

by Reijo E. Heinonen

Beginning in the late Middle Ages, Finland regularly sent its most talented students to the best European universities — to Paris, Prague, Erfurt, Leipzig, and later also to Rostock and Greifswald. The small university in Wittenberg owed its growing renown as a center of Reformation thought to Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon, and it was here that Finland’s future Reformer Michael Agricola (1507–57) wanted to pursue his studies when, in the late summer of 1536, he set out from the port town of Turku (Swedish Åbo) with his friend Martinus Teit († 1544). The two students were originally from the village of Pernaja, approximately 80 km east of Helsinki. Perhaps it was there or in their Latin school in Wyborg, or at the latest while studying together in Turku, that they became acquainted with Martin Luther’s central ideas. Agricola’s humanist and theological education was founded on a thorough knowledge of the Bible, as well as initial studies in Greek and a general familiarity with broader humanist views. However, he had three major decisions to make. First, was he to take a path similar to that of Erasmus and cultivate a version of biblically informed humanism, or would Luther’s criticism of the abuses of the Catholic Church shape his life’s work? Second, would the reform Catholicism of his superior, Bishop Martinus Skytte in Turku, continue to guide his later ecclesiastical reforms as well, or would the radical ideas of Petrus Särkilahti, rector of the cathedral school in Turku, gain the upper hand in his development? A third key issue for Agricola was the ecclesiastical policy of the Swedish king Gustav Wasa, who ruled Finland at the time but who wanted to use his authority to abolish the office of bishop with its privileges and political power. Agricola himself, however, had experienced the advantages of a hierarchical ecclesiastical order in Finland

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as secretary and chancellor of Bishop Martinus Skytte. How would his studies in Wittenberg help resolve these discrepancies?

Student in Wittenberg The intimate connection between the university and attempts at church reform had bestowed a certain academic credibility on the German Reformation. Wittenberg University had four professorships: two for New Testament and two for Old Testament. Studies in the classical languages and scriptural exegesis were so important since biblical studies directly shaped the systematic description of church doctrine. It is perhaps no accident that the first systematic presentation of Lutheran doctrine, namely, Melanchthon’s Loci communes, grew out of lectures on the Letter to the Romans. Agricola’s reference to Melanchthon as his “teacher” and to Luther as his “venerable father” suggests that in Wittenberg Agricola pursued his studies particularly in the spirit of biblical humanism. The German Reformer’s trenchant criticism of the Catholic Church remained somewhat alien to Agricola, since in

Plaque commemorating Agricola’s studies in Wittenberg to the left of the Catherine Portal on the wall of the Luther House in Wittenberg

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his own homeland he had never really experienced such abuses. By contrast, he attributed great importance to Luther’s central theological notion concerning justification by faith — sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus and sola scriptura as the ultimate guides for both doctrine and life. Although both Agricola and Martin Teit studied among the theological students in Wittenberg, they took their most important examinations in Philosophy. The books Agricola acquired in Wittenberg attest to his desire for a more universal education. His attainment of a master’s degree on 11 February 1539 brought his studies in Wittenberg to an end. When he and Teit, together with the later superintendent Gustav Normann, embarked on their homeward journey on 1 May 1539, they carried with them a letter of reference from Luther. The German Reformer recommended Agricola to the Swedish Empire as a mature young man, remarking, “Although he is still young, he already exhibits remarkable erudition, intelligence and good morals.”

Teacher in Turku After his return, Agricola was appointed rector at the cathedral school in Turku, ensuring that the most recent theological developments from the very center of the Reformation would be disseminated there. The cathedral school, founded in the thirteenth century, functioned as a training center for future clergy. Students acquired practical experience by serving as assistants in the cathedral services. The subjects at the school were Latin and general theological education. Agricola’s initial compensation included a small St. Bartholomew Prebend, that is, a salary alone. He later received the more generous St. Lawrence Prebend, which included a residence next to the cathedral. It was in this house that he composed his first publications in Finnish, including the ABC-kiria (ABC-book) in 1543 and the Rukouskiria Bibliasta (Biblical book of prayer) in 1544. Agricola later acquired the St. Catherine Prebend residence next door. Agricola petitioned King Gustav Wasa in vain for financial support to publish his Finnish translation of the New Testament. This work, which was central for Lutheran life and doctrine, did not appear until 1548. The translation was based on the Greek and Latin texts of Erasmus of Rotterdam, Luther’s translation of the New Testament, the Swedish New Testament of 1526, and the entire Swedish Bible of 1541. It ended up as a 350-page book with beautiful illustrations that Agricola and his friends had to finance themselves. In central Europe, the educated citizenry of towns and cities were at the forefront in advocating the Reformation. By contrast, in Finland this group never really supported the Reformation in any special way, and as a result considerable

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Castle and cathedral in Turku. From: Anders Fredrik Skjölderbrand, “Voyage pittoresque au Cap Nord”, vol. 1, Stockholm, 1801

Title page of Agricola’s Finnish translation of the New Testament, 1548

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effort had to be expended in training clergy, making the Reformation in Finland largely a matter of theological education. Because the pastor’s role in worship was now different, those trained with a focus on the liturgy of the Mass had to be retrained as preachers. For many members of the clergy, however, the primary attraction of the Reformation was not so much Protestant doctrine as such  — it was the freedom that came with it, including priestly marriage. Indeed, at Luther’s wedding with Katharina von Bora at the Wittenberg town hall in summer 1525, people even danced. We do not know exactly when Michael Agricola

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and Birgitta Olaustohter got married. Their son was born on 11 December 1550 and named Christian († 1586). A bishop of Tallin, he continued his father’s proclamation of Reformation theology.

As Bishop in Turku After the retirement of Bishop Martinus Skytte, Agricola took over as head of the cathedral chapter. Problems arose, however, because of the king’s desire to tie the highest ecclesiastical leaders to himself personally and to call them “ordinaries” instead of “bishops”. Both Agricola and Paulus Juusten were consecrated “Lutheran-style”, i. e. without being anointed with oil. Because Agricola was intent on expressing symbolically his understanding of the role of the church in society, on 16 June 1554 he and the congregation and clergy of the Turku diocese celebrated a “bishop’s mass”. He himself, adorned with a tiara, read the bishop’s mass and ­added a benediction and the Te Deum. Agricola found it difficult to accept two of the king’s decisions. First, a ­royal decree forced Agricola to give up his rectorate of the cathedral school. Second, and probably much to Agricola’s disappointment, the bishop’s see was divided into the dioceses of Turku and Wyborg, possibly an attempt by Gustav Wasa to disempower the bishops. Agricola became bishop of Turku, ­Paulus Juusten of Wyborg. Juusten was responsible for the eastern parts of the country, Agricola for the western parts. The high choir of the cathedral in Turku contains a painting by the Romantic artist R. W. Ekman (1853) portraying Agricola as bishop with the ­tiara handing King Gustav Wasa the Finnish New Testament. Several considerations, however, militate against the historicity of this scene. First, the Finnish New Testament was published in 1548, whereas Agricola was The Turku cathedral prior to the Great Fire not ­appointed “Lutheran bishop” until of 1827. Watercolor by Carl Ludwig Engel, 1554. Second, King Gustav Wasa was 1814

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Agricola hands King Gustav Wasa the Finnish New Testament. Painting by Robert Wilhelm Ekman, 1853

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not interested in continuing the office of bishop in the Catholic form. And third, he had not supported the Finnish translation of the New Testament. This idealized ­painting ignores the historical conflicts between the individuals it portrays. That said, it does provide an occasion for reflecting on Agricola’s own, often tense path.

Visitations on behalf of the diocese Agricola undertook his first visitations in the seven communities near Turku shortly after his consecration as bishop in July 1554. The summer was a favorable season for such a journey, since at least part of it involved traveling to the islands of the archipelago by boat. The bishop’s visits, however, brought about both good and ill. The erudition of this man, who stood at the pinnacle of knowledge of his time, was of great benefit to the pastors, clergy and congregation members. At the same time, however, the cataloguing of property and real estate that his party also engaged in resulted in enormous losses and the impoverishment of the communities in 1557 and 1578 by making it easy for the state to plunder them after Agricola’s death. The final station of the first visitation was the Bridgettine convent in Naantali, viewed as the last bastion of the Catholic faith in Finland. This convent, founded in 1443 on the Ailostenniemi Peninsula, is situated approximately 17 km west of Turku. Today the restored convent church is used for Lutheran worship and for concerts during the international Naantali Music Festival. Although nuns were still being accepted into the convent during Agricola’s time, they no longer received a dowry from their relatives, so that the convent was becoming increasing impoverished. The convent abbess at the time was Birgitta Pedersdotter, sister of the cathedral provost Johannes Petri in Turku. During the convent’s final years, there were still fifteen nuns and six monks. The last nun died in 1591. Agricola made his last visitations in 1555, this time to Pöytyä near Turku, and to Närpes in Ostrobothnia. On 15 August 1555, in Närpes he consecrated the only extant granite church built in the medieval style “to the glory of Mary”, demonstrating, on the one hand, how close to the Catholic Church he still remained, and, on the other, how intent he was on avoiding unnecessary conflict. Nonetheless he could not escape the misery of war. During this visitation he was informed that the Russians had intruded into the area around the Oulujärvi and killed three hundred new settlers.

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Naantali. In the background: the church of the former convent of St. Bridget. Watercolor by Erik Wilhelm Le Moine, ca. 1820

As a peace mediator in Russia These border disputes were prompted by differing interpretations of the Pähkinäsaari peace treaty of 1323. The Russians believed that the Swedish-Finnish settlers had penetrated too far east, which was partly understandable as there was no clearly marked border in the area. Negotiations with Ivan the Terrible began in Moscow during the winter of 1557. Agricola was part of a 100-person peace delegation that included Archbishop Laurentius Petri. Sten Eriksson Leijonhuvud, governor of Smooland, headed the delegation, and the twenty-seven-year-old czar’s counselor conducted the negotiations. The agreement reestablishing peace was finally signed in Novgorod. The sleigh rides over frozen lakes and through the desolate woods, however, had strained Agricola. He died while climbing out of his sled on 9 April 1557, in the fishing village of Kyrönmäki in the district of Uusikirkko, and was interred in the cathedral of Wyborg. No painting or drawing of the Reformer’s face has come down to us, nor is the exact location of his gravesite known. The beautiful pictures and sculptures of Agricola in Turku (Oskari Jauhiainen) and Wyborg (Emil Wikström) are pure figments of the artist’s imagination.

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Conclusion Agricola’s “grand contribution” is found in the elementary Finnish terms he formulated on the basis of his translation work, especially on the New Testament. These terms sometimes reflect the ethos of an entire worldview. The eastern loanwords formulated by Agricola include, for example, the term omatunto, which, unlike its western counterparts (syneidesis, conscientia, samvete) emphasize individual rather than collective consciousness. The Finnish term omatunto refers to a person’s “own recognition”, the corresponding Finno-Ugric-Estonian term means “recognize in feeling oneself”. Just as individuality is important in the Lutheran understanding of faith, this Finnish term encourages individuals to seek moral strength in their inward ­individuality, in both its sinful form as well as in that which experiences mercy. Agricola’s perseverance in developing the incipient elementary vocabulary of the Finnish language and his status as a Lutheran biblical humanist shaped his works such that, when studying them, later generations can still recognize his voice, even though no picture can show us what he looked like.

Michael Agricola. Statue by Oskari Jauhiainen, Turku Cathedral, 1952

Michael Agricola. Bust by Emil Wikström in Wyborg, 1908

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 Dr. Reijo E. Heinonen is professor emeritus of Historical Theology and Religious Education at the theological faculty of Joensuu University (today School of Theology of the University of Eastern Finland) and docent in Church History at Turku University.

Further reading Ole Peter Grell (ed.), The Scandinavian Reformation. From evangelical movement to institutionalization of reform, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995 Erkki Ilmari Kouri, The Reformation in Sweden and Finland, in: E.I. Kouri and Jens E. Olesen (eds.), The Cambridge History of Scandinavia, vol. 2: 1520–1870, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016, pp. 60–88

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Ulm Sebastian Franck and Caspar von Schwenckfeld by Susanne Schenk

Unlike other south German Imperial Cities, Ulm did not really produce one predominant Reformer, providing instead a forum, moderated by the town council, for a multiplicity of voices. Hence during the initial decades of the Reformation, voices could be heard and exert an influence here that had often been silenced elsewhere. Spiritualistic theology and piety enjoyed particular resonance with their emphasis on the spiritual dynamic of the Word as opposed to external ecclesiastical ritual; this same theology would later come to more overt expression in the movement of Pietism, particularly in neighboring Württemberg.

Ulm — city of commerce round about the cathedral Developing out of a royal palatinate or court, during the late Middle Ages the city of Ulm on the Danube blossomed into a commercial center of European stature. It became an intersection of distant trade routes not only by land, but also by water, since from Ulm onward the river was navigable. Around 1500, approximately eighteen thousand people lived within the city walls, surrounded externally by territorial holdings that Ulm, thanks to its wealth, was continually able to expand until its territory was second only to that of Nuremberg. Alongside Strasbourg and Basel, Ulm eventually became one of the three leading towns in the southern German region. This claim to importance was expressed in the edifice the town erected directly at its center, namely, the cathedral, whose steeple, completed in the nineteenth century, is the highest in the world. During the Reformation period, Ulm cathedral was the largest parish church in the Holy Roman Empire. Not only were masses celebrated at fifty-two altars — an almost incredible number — but

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also a sumptuous wealth of religious works of art stimulated devotion and vividly evoked civic piety and the pride of the benefactor families. Because the cathedral was the only parish church, it also constituted the center of people’s religious life. Round about this church dedicated to Mary, thirty-five additional churches and chapels helped shape the town’s profile. In addition to the Spital chapel, the churches of the monasteries and religious orders were especially striking. The western part of town was home to a benefice (commendam) of the TeuThe western Münster Square with the tonic Knights and the foundation of the former Franciscan church, ca. 1875 Augustinian canons (Wengenstift). The Franciscans had originally settled near to the cathedral’s main portal, where the modern city hall (Stadthaus) stands today. In the Dominican monastery, located near the Danube, the mystic Heinrich Seuse lived and worked during the fourteenth century († 1366). The city also boasted a range of religious institutions for women, including two convents that followed the Third Order of St. Francis and, outside of the city gates, the wealthy Söflingen Abbey belonging to the Poor Clare Sisters.

Initial sounding boards of the Reformation: private homes and the Bar­füsser­kirche One of the town’s small humanist circles met at the home of Wolfgang Rychard, the city physician. This was also one of the first places in Ulm where the Reformation message enjoyed a favorable reception. The Wittenberg Reformation movement had inspired Rychard quite early, and he had corresponded with both Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon, distributing Luther’s writings among his own circle of friends, and beyond. The first church in Ulm where Reformation preaching took place was the Barfüsserkirche (a Franciscan church) next to the cathedral. In 1520/21 two Franciscans inspired by Luther’s theology were active as preachers, one after the other. Soon, however, both Johann Eberlin von Günzburg and Heinrich von Kettenbach had to leave town.

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Aerial view of Ulm; “official” town map by the city painter Philipp Renlin (colorized pen drawing, 1597) Bottom left: the cathedral with the Franciscan monastery (left) and town hall by the well (below); bottom right: on the bank of the Danube, left the walled Dominican monastery, with the Spital Church to its immediate right

Those early Reformation stirrings, however, continued to be felt. In 1523 the Ulm town council prescribed that sermons be preached “according to God’s Word”, a phrase clearly open to interpretation. The very next year, four Ulm citizens claiming to be Protestants cited this decree when expressing their dissatisfaction to the council concerning the culture of preaching in town. They demanded just

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West façade of Ulm Cathedral; aquatint etching by Jonas Arnold, 1666

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that  — preaching according to God’s Word. Barely a month later, the Ulm city council appointed the Reformation-minded Konrad Sam (1483–1533) as council preacher, placing the Barfüsserkirche at his disposal.

Reformation preaching resounds in the cathedral Before long, the Barfüsserkirche could no longer accommodate the throng of listeners at these sermons. Hence the town council finally allowed its preacher Konrad Sam to mount the pulpit in the parish church, assigning him to the early service and thereby initiating Protestant preaching in Ulm cathedral. During the initial years, however, such preaching had a decidedly Zwinglian ring, since Konrad Sam patterned his own theology on that of Huldrych Zwingli, with whom he also corresponded. Furthermore, once Wittenberg and Zurich began quarrelling about how the Eucharist was to be understood — and the south German territories were situated between Wittenberg and Zurich in more than a geographic sense — Sam unequivocally positioned himself and his sermons in Ulm on the side of the Zurich Reformer. At the end of the same year in which the city council had invited Sam back to his home town to preach, and promoted him to the cathedral position, Ulm also hosted the Urban Diet of 1524. Participants at this assembly composed a missive to the emperor himself that can arguably be read as the first public Reformation confession at the supranational, imperial level. During the following years the council implemented various changes in Ulm, addressing different Reformation concerns, but the challenge to make a definitive commitment for or against the Reformation did not confront the city until 1530.

The public referendum of 1530 and diversity of opinion in the Ulm Reformation The city’s representatives at the Augsburg Imperial Diet of 1530 were Bernhard Besserer, the mayor, and Daniel Schleicher, a representative of the guilds. Although Konrad Sam had argued in favor of it, they signed neither the confession of the four south German towns (Confessio Tetrapolitana) nor the Augsburg Confession. Yet they returned to Ulm convinced that the city had to commit itself unequivocally either for or against the Reformation; the crisis concerning the religious question at the imperial level made this imperative. In this situation, the Ulm city council resorted to the instrument of public referendum as provided by its constitution. In advance, citizens eligible to vote were admonished concerning the gravity of their

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Ballot list, miller’s guild, November 1531. Five members voted for the referendum, fifty-one rejected it and so voted in favor of the new doctrine

responsibility and the risk to the town’s welfare connected with this ballot, on the one hand, and to the salvation of their souls, on the other. Of the 1865 eligible voters, 1621 ultimately voted against the resolution of the Augsburg Imperial Diet to prohibit Reformation church ordinances, and thus for the Reformation. Following the outcome of this referendum, in 1531 the town council called three leading south German Reformers to Ulm — Martin Bucer, Johannes Oecolam­ padius and Ambrosius Blarer  — and commissioned them with composing and implementing a Reformation church ordinance for the city. The resulting reformational reorganization strikingly altered the community. After the abolition of monasteries, members of religious orders largely disappeared from the city scene. Altars and transportable art works were removed from the cathedral in the center of town and whenever possible returned to the benefactor families. The worship experience henceforth concentrated on the sermon delivered from the pulpit in the huge cathedral nave and on the shared Eucharist at the one central altar. Characteristically, the adoption of the Reformation in Ulm was based not on any positive acceptance of a certain version of the Reformation, but rather on a negative

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Sebastian Franck and Caspar von Schwenckfeld

rejection of the Imperial Diet’s prohibition of reformational reorganization. As a result, even after 1530 the Ulm town council was long able to entertain a multiplicity of opinions concerning the Reformation movement, not least because a variety of such opinions was represented in the council itself, ranging from a traditional commitment to the old faith to Lutheranism, Zwinglianism, southern German varieties, and on to Anabaptist and spiritualist tendencies. This relatively open policy, however, repeatedly led to disputes with the theologians appointed by the council under the leadership of Konrad Sam’s successor, the former Heidelberg professor Martin Frecht (1494–1556). Frecht kept up lively contact with leading south German Reformers, tried to bring about an understanding between the south German and Wittenberg Reformation, and carefully monitored the development of theology and piety in Ulm. During the 1530s, he lodged vehement charges with the town council, especially against the two individuals who had become hugely popular with their spiritualistic teachings, Sebastian Franck (1499–1542) and Caspar von Schwenckfeld (1489–1561).

The spiritualistic spokespersons of the Ulm Reformation: Sebastian Franck and Caspar von Schwenckfeld During the years following the referendum, Ulm managed to attract two Refor­ mation fellow travelers who because of their theological orientation were already distinctly excluded from the Reformation camp. These two — the south German Sebastian Franck, and the Silesian nobleman Caspar von Schwenckfeld  — had joined the Reformation movement quite early on and independently of each other. They soon distanced themselves from the Wittenberg Reformation once they began, each in his own way, to explore the signs of mysticism in Luther’s early theology. Both were initially able to settle in Strasbourg, where they must have become personally acquainted in 1531. In that same year, however, Franck was first arrested, then expelled; three years later, Schwenckfeld, too, had to leave town because of theological disagreements. The two were then welcomed in Ulm. Franck, who earned his living for a time as a soap manufacturer, became a citizen in 1534; the same year Schwenckfeld was invited to Ulm by no less a personage than the mayor, Bernhard Besserer. Franck took advantage of the commercial opportunities in Ulm first through his soap business, then by establishing his own printing shop. Here he published part of his voluminous and remarkably multifaceted literary work, which, as demonstrated by the number of editions, enjoyed considerable popularity. Franck distinguished himself especially as an editor of the texts of others, both earlier and contemporary authors, which he translated into German and assembled in

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Title page of Sebastian Franck’s satirical piece “Des grossen Nothelffers unnd Weltheiligen Sant Gelts” ([Praise] of the great helper in need and worldly saint: Saint Money)

Caspar von Schwenckfeld, 66 years old (1556); engraving by an unknown artist

excerpts. Diverging statements now became available juxtaposed in German, demonstrating Franck’s assertion that truth in fact cannot be fixed and articulated once and for all in words. For him, truth was accessible solely through the inner word of the spirit, and only to each individual separately — it was thus ultimately inexpressible. On the basis of this position, Franck rejected any and all disputes of faith and advocated instead a “non-partisan Christianity”. During the 1520s, Schwenckfeld had contributed considerably to the spread of the Reformation in Silesia. Within intra-Reformation debates on the Eucharist he had emphasized the spiritual nourishment of the soul, with many then assuming that he was on Zwingli’s side. This led to his expulsion from Silesia in 1529 and quite possibly created a warm reception for him in Ulm. After all, the voice of Konrad Sam, the most prominent Zwingli supporter in town, had just fallen silent (in 1533). A circle of followers committed to spiritual exchange quickly formed around the Silesian at the house of Mayor Bernhard Besserer, with whom he was residing. This situation clearly distinguished Schwenckfeld from Franck, who rejected every form of faith community. Unlike Franck, Schwenckfeld thought it possible

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and indeed even important to communicate one’s inner knowledge of Christ to others. In Ulm, as in other places he visited from there, Schwenckfeld found open doors at the manors of the nobility as well as at the homes of normal burghers; women were especially attracted to Schwenckfeld’s focus on the interior events of faith. A sizeable number of circles of like-minded people then emerged in southern Germany who kept in contact through a comprehensive network of correspondence. The attention accorded Schwenckfeld and the conflict surrounding him can be seen in the fact that in 1535, Duke Ulrich of Württemberg arranged a colloquy in Tübingen to effect reconciliation between this spiritualistic theologian and south German Reformers. Although in the Tübingen Concord both sides agreed to avoid mutual condemnation in the future, this agreement was violated the very next year, when Schwenckfeld vehemently criticized the Wittenberg Concord. In this regard, however, he was quite accurately expressing the opinion of many Ulm residents, who saw their own understanding of the Eucharist betrayed in this compromise with the Wittenberg representatives. The conflict flared up again in Ulm. Martin Frecht appeared repeatedly before the town council trying to convince its members of the utterly untenable nature of Schwenckfeld’s teaching. It was only after Frecht and the other Ulm preachers threatened to resign from office that in 1539, Schwenckfeld, following Franck, now also had to leave town. Franck settled in Basel as a printer, while Schwenckfeld spent the following years in various places among his followers in south Germany. Even after the departure of these two spokespersons, spiritualistic ideas and piety lived on in Ulm. Pastors could now be found in the rural area around Ulm whose sermons and worship praxis clearly exhibited spiritualistic Stela for Agathe Streicher, located in influences, and with a certain preachthe New Center, near the entrance to er at the early service, such spiritualthe underground carpark in front of the istic preaching even found its way into tree. Here archaeologists discovered the the cathedral for a time. In the meanfoundations of Agathe Streicher’s house, time, the house of the Streicher family where Caspar von Schwenckfeld is also said to have died became the center of the Schwenckfeld

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community in the town, a group now including not only regular citizens, but also maidservants. It was here that Schwenckfeld died: refusing to accept his expulsion, he had returned repeatedly to Ulm. A commemorative plaque can be found today at the location of the former Streicher house. The spiritualistic community lived on in Ulm, first under the guidance of Katharina Streicher, then under that of her sister. Agathe Streicher, the official town physician in Ulm, was in demand far beyond Ulm not only for medical care — she also played a central role in the transregional network of Schwenckfeld followers. It was not until after her death in 1581 that Ludwig Rabus, the Lutheran superintendent in Ulm, managed to convince the town council to take more severe measures and expel the whole Schwenckfeld group.

Conclusion: cathedral echoes of the concert of voices At the first grand Reformation centennial in 1617, Ulm erected its second — now genuinely Lutheran  — parish church at the location of the former Dominican monastery. This was Trinity Church (today: Haus der Begegnung, a Protestant center for encounter, discussion and learning). The Imperial City wanted to celebrate its Reformation in the wake of Martin Luther. To this day, the chapels grouped around the chancel in the cathedral recall the multiplicity of voices that characterized the initial decades of the Reformation in Ulm. Whereas the Neithart Chapel is named after the Ulm council family that remained committed to the old faith, the Besserer Chapel bears the name of the family that for years promoted the voice of spiritualism in Ulm. And finally, the Sam Chapel resonates with the Zwinglian overtones of the first Reformation sermon in the cathedral.  Dr. Susanne Schenk is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Württemberg and is currently working on a postdoctoral study of the Reformation in Ulm.

For further reading Hans Eugen Specker and Gebhard Weig (eds.), Die Einführung der Reformation in Ulm, Ulm: Kohlhammer, 1981 Theodor Keim, Die Reformation der Reichsstadt Ulm. Ein Beitrag zur schwäbischen und deutschen Reformationsgeschichte, Stuttgart: Belser, 1851 Caroline Gritschke, Via media. Spiritualistische Lebenswelten und Konfessionalisierung. Das süddeutsche Schwenckfeldertum im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert, Berlin: AkademieVerlag, 2006 Visiting Ulm www.tourismus.ulm.de/web/en/index.php www.ulm.de/start.3080.htm www.kirchenbezirk-ulm.de

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Venice Bartolomeo Fonzio and Baldassarre Altieri by Federica Ambrosini

The Republic around 1520 When the Reformation began to spread south of the Alps, the Republic of Venice was a second-rate power on the international scene, but still had a leading role in long-distance commerce and in European intellectual and cultural life. In the eastern Mediterranean, it ruled over an overseas empire including Cyprus and Crete, Istria and Dalmatia; the mainland Dominion, the terraferma, comprised the region at present called Veneto, most of Friuli and part of eastern Lombardy, with the important cities of Bergamo, Brescia and Crema. The Republic was a cosmopolitan state. Venice (the Dominante, as it was usually called) was crowded with artisans, businessmen, intellectuals, churchmen from everywhere; from 1228 a building near Rialto, the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, was the lodging of German merchants. In nearby Padua, the university attracted students from all over Europe. But the whole Venetian Dominion, for geographic and historical reasons, was a land of encounters and exchanges, unceasingly crossed, as it was, by a heterogeneous population of travelers. Goods travelled with them and, in addition to goods, books and ideas of all sorts, also those dealing with religion.

The reception of the Reformation in Venice Although Venice boasted that it was as Catholic as Rome, and even more so, it had a centuries-old tradition of conflicts with the Apostolic See, mostly caused by strife about control of territories and spheres of competence. A strong streak of

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Venice COUNT Y OF T YROL

Bis hop r i c of Bre s s a none

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CARINTHIA BISHOPR IC OF T REN T

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Presence of single Protestants

Border of the Holy Roman Empire

Northeast Italy in the 16th century

anticlericalism ran through all ranks of Venetian society, especially through many families of the ruling class of the Republic, the patriciate. Many Venetians were readers of Erasmus and professed an austere piety, much nearer to the teaching of Paul and Augustine than to flamboyant popular Catholic devotion. There was a widespread yearning for a radical renewal that might lead the Roman Church closer to the gospel. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the spiritual climate in Venice was therefore open to a quick reception of the Reformation: the message of Martin Luther, to begin with, whose writings met with great success on the lagoons from 1520, later on the message of the Swiss Reformation and that of the radical currents of the Reformation, above all Anabaptism. The Venetian church establishment became alarmed: in 1524 owners and readers of heterodox literature were excommunicated and in the same year, and again in 1527, writings by Luther and other Reformers were burnt in public. In spite of these measures, forbidden books kept circulating and being discussed within small groups of sympathizers with the new doctrines. Sometimes, these groups took the shape of real communities of believers — in some contemporary sources they are referred to as ecclesiæ — which slowly began to build a clandestine network. In the 1520s and 30s, in Venice

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Bartolomeo Fonzio and Baldassarre Altieri

Venice. Colorized city view from: Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 1, Cologne, 1593 Below left: The Rialto bridge and the Fondaco dei Tedeschi (No. XXV); below right: St. Mark’s Basilica

and in its Dominion, as well as elsewhere in Italy, the pulpit was widely used by preachers sympathetic to Protestantism, most of them friars, as an opportunity for evangelization.

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The inner courtyard of the “Fondaco dei Tedeschi” with merchants, carriers and bail-binders. Copper engraving by Raphael Custos, 1616

Bartolomeo Fonzio and the early phase of Venetian “Lutheranism” Among these preachers, the Minorite friar Bartolomeo Fonzio (born ca. 1502 in Venice  — died there in 1562) soon became renowned as a “Lutheran”. His preaching was particularly appreciated by the Germans of the Fondaco. Having taken refuge beyond the Alps, Fonzio settled in Augsburg, from where, in the years 1531/32, he kept up a correspondence with Martin Bucer and with Girolamo Marcello, a nobleman belonging to a Venetian ecclesia. In his letters to Marcello, Fonzio described in detail the complex religious situation in Augsburg, making no secret of his aversion for doctrinal disputes, especially those concerning the Eucharist, of his hope of reconciliation among the vari-

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Bartolomeo Fonzio and Baldassarre Altieri

ous currents of the Reformation, and of his own sympathies for Zwinglianism. It was either Marcello or another Venetian nobleman who commissioned Fonzio with an Italian translation of Luther’s Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation. This very free translation, abounding in interpolations meant for an Italian and especially a Venetian public, was published anonymously in Strasburg in 1533 and soon became a best-seller in Venice: the papal nuncio, Girolamo Aleandro, complained that even common people were reading the book, which aroused among them no less enthusiasm than poems of chivalry. Early in 1534 Fonzio was back in Venice, meeting his friends of the ecclesia and supplying them with heterodox literature. Between 1537 and 1538 he was tried for heresy in Rome, with no results.

Fonzio’s Italian translation of Luther’s “Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation”, Strasbourg, 1533. Title page

Baldassarre Altieri and the crisis of the 1540s The widespread adhesion to Protestant doctrines by Venetian subjects fostered not only in Reformers such as Melanchthon, but also in many Italian sympathizers the hope that the Reformation might put down deep roots in the Republic. In 1542 Bernardino Ochino, the former general of the Capuchins and now a refugee in Geneva, urged Venice, where he had been a very popular preacher, to become the “Gate of the Reformation” for Italy. Among those who believed this dream could come true, Baldassarre Altieri (born ca. 1500 in L’Aquila — died 1550 in Bergamo) played a prime religious and political role. In 1542/43, Altieri — who lived in Venice as secretary to Edmund Harwell, the English diplomatic representative to the Republic  — had an exchange of letters with Luther. The Italian wrote to the German Reformer in the name of the ecclesiæ of Venice, Vicenza and Treviso, which were torn by internal disputes and required a definite answer to the question of the Eucharist (in his reply, Luther warned the ecclesiæ against the doctrines of the Swiss Reformers); he also asked Luther to do

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his best to make the Schmalkaldian League intervene in favor of Venice’s persecuted Protestants. The Venetian Senate acknowledged Altieri as representative to Venice of the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse. But with the defeat of the League (1547), this frail diplomatic edifice fell to pieces, and in 1549 Altieri had to leave Venice. In the meantime, Pope Paul III had reorganized the Inquisition, making it dependent on the Roman Congregation of the Holy Office (1542). The Republic of Venice allowed the tribunal to be introduced in its Dominion, while succeeding, in the following years, in imposing the presence, beside the ecclesiastical judges, of three lay magistrates (Deputati or Savi all’Eresia) in those trials which took place in the Dominante, and of the representatives of Venetian government on the mainland. With the Council of Trento, opened in 1545, the boundary between orthodoxy and heresy was soon definitely established. Clandestine circulation of heterodox writings, though, kept increasing in Venice and in its Dominion, which led Giovanni Della Casa, papal nuncio in Venice, to commission a Catalogue of forbidden books which was published in 1549. In the same year Bishop Pier Paolo Vergerio of Capodistria took refuge beyond the Alps, having in 1545 appealed in vain to the newly elected doge, Francesco Donà, urging him to promote a reformation of the Church in Venice. In the Republic of Venice he was not the only bishop who, in the 1540s, was won to the cause of the Reformation. One of these was Vettor Soranzo, a Venetian nobleman and bishop of Bergamo, where he cautiously tried to build a Protestant “church”; he was twice brought to trial and it was only thanks to his death, in 1558, that he was spared a very hard sentence. Another was Andrea Zantani, who never set foot in his Cypriot diocese of Limassol, preferring to live in the town of Conegliano, on the Venetian mainland, where he propagated heterodox doctrines. Prosecuted for heresy in Rome, he took advantage of the riots following the death of Paul IV in 1559 to escape and reach Protestant countries north of the Alps.

Bartolomeo Fonzio as a clandestine heterodox leader The last phase of Bartolomeo Fonzio’s life is closely connected with the develop­ ment of Venetian heterodoxy in the 1550s. It now being clear that no religious Nonconformism would be tolerated any longer, dissenters gave up public debate and organized themselves in networks of clandestine conventicles. Between Venetian and Lombard territories, such networks found a promoter and a spiritual leader in Fonzio. In the Venetian terraferma, in Padova and Cittadella, the former Minorite was also active as a schoolteacher, a profession much beloved by those sympathizing with Protestants for the opportunities it offered for evangelization.

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Bartolomeo Fonzio and Baldassarre Altieri

In the Venetian Republic, heterodoxy was  — and would be to the end  — very heterogeneous from a theological point of view. Most dissenters, though all commonly labelled “lutherani”, were followers of the Swiss, rather than of the Lutheran, Reformation. But many, especially from the lower classes, enthusiastically joined the Anabaptist movement. This reached its climax in 1550, when an Anabaptist “synod”, that sanctioned the triumph of the anti-Trinitarian wing of the movement, was secretly organized in Venice. And it was towards Anabaptism, or at least towards the radical Reformation, that Bartolomeo Fonzio tended in those years. Denounced to the Inquisition of Venice as the author of heretical writings, he was arrested in Cittadella at the end of May 1558, and imprisoned in Venice. The trial dragged on for four years and ended with the former Minorite being sentenced to death. Fonzio considered abjuring, as many Venetian friends of high social standing were urging him to do, but at last he accepted the sentence. He was executed on 4 August, after succeeding in putting his writings in a safe place; they mark him out as one of the most important figures of Italian religious dissent.

Inquisitorial repression Bartolomeo Fonzio was put to death by drowning in the lagoon, the usual way of executing heretics in Venice where, according to a rough estimate, about twenty death sentences for heresy were carried out. Most defendants abjured and got off with prison sentences, fines, or simply with some spiritual penance. Torture was usually resorted to in order to discover other heretics, the “accomplices”. We are well acquainted with Venetian inquisitorial procedures thanks to the survival of several archives of Holy Office tribunals in the Republic, especially those of Venice and of Udine. These sources supply us also with detailed information about organized religious dissent in the territories of the Republic. Of vital importance for the survival of the movement were links with “brothers” and “sisters” living in other Italian regions, and with cities and lands north of the Alps: Geneva first of all, and also Lyon, Heidelberg and the Grisons. Some of the conventicles were composed mainly or exclusively of artisans, some of members of the upper classes: professional people above all, such as notaries, lawyers, physicians. In some territories of the Venetian Dominion (notably in Vicenza and in the Friuli), members of the local nobility were deeply involved in the heterodox movement. This was not the case with the patriciate of the Dominante, whose role as ruling class made its members much more careful. Although they usually kept themselves in the background, therefore leaving few traces in archival sources, women, too, took part, passionately at times, in Protestant-type and Anabaptist conventicles.

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Yet from 1555, when the uncompromising persecutor of heresy Gian Pietro Carafa ascended to the papal throne as Pope Paul IV, in Venice as in all Catholic countries life became more and more difficult for religious dissenters. Their only defense was resort to Nicodemite tactics, unsafe and nerve-racking as they were. Control over reading-matter and individual behavior became stricter and stricter, and even the confessional became a means of denunciation; Venetian political authorities were now much more willing to cooperate with the Inquisition than they had been in the past. The repressive campaign was crowned with success: by the end of the sixteenth century, Venetian networks of dissent had been dismantled, the last death sentence for heresy being carried out in 1588. From then on, the Holy Office would deal almost exclusively with crimes such as sorcery and magic arts, or with a religious dissent of a materialistic or atheistic kind.

Do any traces of “Lutheran” Venice survive nowadays? As an underground movement, Venetian “Lutheranism” has left little or no traces in the city. But the Fondaco dei Tedeschi (German warehouse) still stands near Rialto Bridge, overlooking the Grand Canal. There, German Protestant merchants were tacitly allowed to worship, provided they kept to themselves and refrained from evangelizing; even so, secret meetings with Venetian “Lutherans” did sometimes take place in the Fondaco. At present, the building can be seen only from the outside. It is being restored and should be open to the public at the end of 2016. Places connected with inquisitorial repression are St. Theodore’s Chapel and the Pozzi. In St. Theodore’s Chapel, the Holy Office held its sessions, but nothing is left in this fifteenth-century building  — incorporated in the area of St. Mark’s Basilica, and as a rule not open to visitors — to remind us of inquisitorial activity. The Pozzi (pits), so called because they were dark, cramped and damp, were the prisons of the Council of Ten in the Doge’s Palace, often used to keep in custody prisoners of the Inquisition; some of them left us memoirs of their ordeal. A visit to the Pozzi is part of the “Secret ItinerDrowning of someone sentenced to death ary” tour in the Doge’s Palace. in the Canale dei Marani. Drawing by Francesco Galimberti, engraved by Giovanni de Pian, 1797

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The Lutheran Church, Left of the Altar: a painting of Christ. Right: the small portrait of Luther by Cranach

Contemporary “Protestant” Venice Nowadays Venice contains the following churches with Reformation roots: Firstly, the Lutheran Church. Opened in 1813, it is located in an eighteenthcentury building, former seat of a Catholic brotherhood in Campo Santi Apostoli, a few minutes from Rialto. It houses several valuable works of art, among them a Christ attributed to Titian, originally painted for the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, and a portrait of Luther by Cranach. Secondly, the Waldensian Church (since 1977: Waldensian and Methodist). It was opened in 1867, the year after the Veneto was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy; since 1868 it has been located in Palazzo Cavagnis, in Sestiere Castello, not far from St. Mark’s Square. Thirdly, the Anglican Church. It was opened in 1892, in a former warehouse in Campo San Vio, near the Accademia.

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 Dr. Federica Ambrosini was until 2014 professor of Modern History and History of the Republic of Venice at the History Department of Padua University. Further reading Paul F. Grendler, The Roman Inquisition and the Venetian Press, 1540–1605, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1977 John Martin, Venice’s Hidden Enemies. Italian Heretics in a Renaissance City, Berkeley et al.: University of California Press, 1993 Federica Ambrosini, Storie di patrizi e di eresia nella Venezia del ’500, Milano: Franco Angeli, 1999 Cecilia Cristellon and Silvana Seidel Menchi, Religious life, in: Eric R. Dursteler (ed.), A Companion to Venetian History, 1400–1797, Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2013, pp. 379–419 Visiting Venice www.visit-venice-italy.com/address-tourist-board-venice-italy.htm https://veneziavaldese.wordpress.com www.chiesavaldese.org/aria_cms.php?page=171 www.stgeorgesvenice.com www.kirche-venedig.de/english

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Viborg Hans Tausen

by Rasmus H.C. Dreyer and Anna Vind

The Reformation of Denmark began in Jutland, in the early 1520s, or more specifically, in the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, which from 1460 were connected to the Kingdom of Denmark by the same rulers. From there it spread to the larger towns of both Southern and Northern Jutland. The rapid advance of the Protestant Reformation in Viborg, the main city of the Jutland province, became especially important. Reform in this principal city was crucial to the further advancement of the Reformation movement, and when Malmø, the main commercial centre of the eastern province of Scania, was reformed at the same time according to Protestant principles, the king, council of the Realm, government and church were all forced to take the movement seriously. Despite the explicit condemnation of Lutheran teaching and heresy in the coronation charter of King Frederik I in 1523, practical politics had to change. Apparently under the influence of the first Diet of Speyer (1526), three years later the king began issuing letters of protection for the Protestant preachers, thereby departing from the coronation charter and official government policy. The letters constituted, as it were, a moratorium on the enforcement of the law. This was to the advantage of the two main Viborg Reformers: Hans Tausen and Jørgen Jensen Sadolin, of whom Hans Tausen was the more important.

Hans Tausen Hans Tausen is usually described by church historians as “the Danish Luther”, and even nowadays the epithet is widespread, extending to German and English accounts of the Danish Reformation. During the Luther anniversary in the Ger-

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man Democratic Republic in 1983, a stained-glass window with this Danish Luther was even put up in the Castle Church in Wittenberg. However, contemporary research shows that Tausen’s theology and actions are closer to a reformed humanist point of view that is more typical of the Danish Reformation in general than to a genuinely Wittenberg, Lutheran stance. Hans Tausen was born in 1494 or 1498, probably on the island of Funen. The sources tell us nothing about his early years. It has been argued that his family was of the lesser nobility, a suggestion which indeed fits neatly with his admission to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem at Antvorskov in Zealand, Hans Tausen. The oldest copy (1579) of a one of the richest and most influential portrait made after his death monasteries in Denmark at the beginning of the fifteenth century. Tausen acquired a master’s degree at the University of Rostock in 1519, and lectured there the following year on a pseudo-Aristotelian text. Later he studied theology at Copenhagen University, in all likelihood under the learned humanist Poul Helgesen (Paulus Helie), who later became one of the most stubborn adversaries of the Danish reformers. Tausen travelled abroad once more and studied in Leuven in 1522. A year later he enrolled at Wittenberg University and stayed there for a year or two. Unfortunately we have no sources giving us any details of his stay in Wittenberg. Nothing however indicates that his order opposed his studies, and a couple of years later he appeared as a preacher in the Hospitallers’ Commandery in Viborg. Presumably he brought ideas of reform from Saxony to Denmark, because the Reformation events increased rapidly after his arrival around 1525. In December 1525 rumors were rife in Haderslev, Schleswig, that the citizens of Viborg had banished their bishop, the nobleman Jørgen Friis, and had joined the Lutherans. We may assume that at this point Hans Tausen was becoming known for his Protestant preaching. And if we dare believe his excessively laudatory epitaph in Ribe Cathedral from around 1570, he was warned by one of his fellow monks of an imminent intervention against his Protestant sermons in the Johannite Chapel. One day, when he had finished his sermon, he told the

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Viborg. Map from: Peder Hansen Resen, “Atlas Danicus dicatus augustissimo Monarchae Christiano V”, Copenhagen, 1677 Below: Cathedral church (No. 28), Franciscan Church (No. 34), Hospital (No. 35) and St. John’s Church (No. 49)

congregation that if they appreciated his preaching they should now help him to a more secure place. Backed by the King, the magistrate decreed protection for him and shortly afterwards he was allowed to use the Church of Saint John for his Protestant services. Things went fast. This modest church was soon too small for the growing number of worshippers, and the congregation had to assemble in the church yard. The more legendary narratives say that when he preached in the churchyard, Tausen stood on the doorstep or upon a big, white gravestone. After

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In the early nineteenth century the white grave stone attained an almost sacrosanct importance during the Danish commemorations of the Reformation. In 1836 during the 300th anniversary of the official Danish reformation the stone was brought back to Viborg from exile in a nearby village churchyard. The stone was placed at the site of the altar of the Franciscan Abbey Church demolished in 1812 and, together with a monument to an imagined Hans Tausen in bas-relief by the sculptor H.E. Freund, it formed the first Danish reformation memorial. At the 475th celebration of the Viborg Reformation in 2005, the white gravestone was restored and for preservation reasons enclosed in a glass case with a statue of Hans Tausen on top as part of a new monument made by the contemporary Danish Artist Bjørn Nørgaard

the expulsion of the Franciscans in 1527/28, the Protestants and Hans Tausen took over their large abbey church in the middle of the town, right next to the cathedral. The Viborg Reformation went ahead without serious opposition from Rome. The four bishops of Jutland gathered in Viborg in 1527, when even the peasants in the diocese began making demands and withholding tithes. The clerics decided to write a letter to Johann Cochläus and Johann Eck, trying to convince them to assist in Denmark, “because here there is a shortage of knowledge”. Indeed, they wrote, “Everybody asks for your opinion, primarily the Danish nation, subsequently … Norway and Sweden; everywhere the Christian faith is at risk of collapse, because

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you are not here.” The Jutland bishops felt that they could not defeat the “desperate madness” of the heretical Lutherans: we at least know of Cochläus that he never accepted the invitation. He had consulted the learned Erasmus, who had alerted him to the savage nature of the people of Denmark.

Tract against Jens Andersen Beldenak, 1529 The bishop of Funen took action on his own account. Jens Andersen Beldenak was the only commoner among the Danish bishops, yet also one of the few learned prelates. He held a doctor’s degree in Canon Law from Bologna, and his admonitory letter to the citizens of Viborg and Aalborg, which he published around 1528, reveals a relatively full knowledge of the German events and the teaching of Martin Luther. Likewise it shows that Beldenak himself probably had a humanistic view of Scripture. In other words he tried to accommodate the biblical views of the Protestants. At the same time he exhorted the citizenry to be faithful to the church in the shape of the doctrines of the councils of the Realm, and “not what every runaway monk proclaims and promotes”. The letter eschews legal and theological threats, and thus reflects not only the existing royal concessions of “tolerance” towards the Protestant movement, but also Beldenak’s own reform theology. Hans Tausen was, however, unmoved by this. After having issued his first series of smaller publications in 1528 — an adapted translation of Nicolai Hermann’s pamphlet Eyn Mandat Jhesu Christi, a Danish edition of Taufbüchlein and an original Danish vesper — Tausen turned on Beldenak’s warning letter and published the tract A short answer to the letter of the Bishop of Odense who advises them not to be influenced by the Protestant teaching, which God now by his remarkable grace has sent us. In the tract Tausen reproduces the bishop’s letter of ca.1528 in order to comment on it point by point. The first main theme dealt with is the temporal power of the church: “You have not learned about this from the Holy Spirit in Scripture”, Tausen writes, because “here it says something completely different”. Thus he refuses to call Beldenak “Bishop by the grace of God” as long as “you adhere to your own papist law”. Tausen goes on to list four articles, which, he writes, are taught by the Protestants in Viborg and are identical with the Word of Christ. Every article is followed by references to Scripture. 1) The first one says that the Pope teaches that heaven is merited through deeds, but “thereto we say” that heaven is merited by no one, but is given gratis for the sake of Christ and his merits. 2) The Pope and the clergy should not enjoy freedom from tax or obedience to worldly authority, and “thereto we say” that “men of the church are neither more nor less to Christian people than slaves and servants”. 3) Thirdly, the Pope has obliged the common

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Hans Tausen’s tract against Beldenak, Viborg, 1529. Title page

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Christian to observe certain rules for food, clothing and feast-days, but “thereto we say … Christ has made all these things free, just as Christ freed us by his blood”. 4) The Pope calls himself the head of the church and holds the keys of the kingdom, but “thereto we say … because God did not command him to do this”, he must be “the right and true Antichrist”, just as Paul, John and others prophesied. An additional series of more briefly formulated issues follows, undoubtedly also to be classified as part of the Viborg articles. 5) the Word of Christ is set up against indulgences and human works; 6) every Christian has a right to receive the blood of Christ, that is communion in both kinds; 7) no forced celibacy shall be taught — Hans Tausen was one of the first Danish pastors to marry — and lastly 8) readers are encouraged to correct heretics rather than burn them at the stake. The general theological distinction in the tract is the distance between the human word (i. e. “the lies of the Pope”, “the anti-Christian law”) and “the law of God”. This distinction, with the particular emphasis on the law, and more rarely on law and gospel or divine grace, is characteristic of the more humanistic, reformed theology which we often find among Danish Reformers. But A short answer differs from other written fruits of the Danish Reformation in its many references to Luther. Nevertheless, these seem primarily to be occasioned by the bishop’s attack on Tausen. Beldenak asserted that Luther had stirred up unrest (a hint at the Peasants’ War) and Tausen answered by use of an overall  — and somewhat superficial  — interpretation of Luther simply because that was the ground to be defended. Looking into Tausen’s oeuvre in general it seems that he had no profound understanding of Luther’s work — except for the writings he had translated himself.

Implementing the Reformation in Viborg 1529 Tausen’s writings, and tracts and translations of both German and Swedish reformation handbooks made by other Viborg Protestants, moved the Reformation on. Bishop Friis had tried to summon Tausen, but the citizens protected him and literally blocked the city by stretching wires across the streets. Reform of the church service soon followed, and Tausen installed “suitable, learned and skilled persons” as Protestant pastors in Viborg. This was how he later explained himself when he was accused of having taken upon himself episcopal powers. In 1529 the Reformation of Viborg went as far as demolishing twelve of the city’s churches — maybe inspired by Luther’s advice in his Address to the Christian Nobility or perhaps even some of Karlstadt’s writings. An infuriated Bishop Friis, who had taken up residence outside the city, wrote to the king for advice on these matters, but with no result. King Frederik I decided to approve the Viborgers’ decision.

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Statue of Hans Tausen on the south side of Ribe cathedral

Within a month the citizens had pulled down the twelve churches. They left only the cathedral (not the present edifice; the old Cathedral burned down in 1726 and its Baroque replacement was completely rebuilt in Romanesque style in the 1860s and 1870s). Likewise the Abbey Churches of the Dominicans and the Franciscans were retained, both put into use as parish churches. Jørgen Jensen Sadolin did not, as far as we know, study in Wittenberg or abroad. However, he published several writings of Luther, Bugenhagen and Melan­­chthon

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(far more than did Hans Tausen) in Danish translation, such as the Small Catechism and Confessio Augustana. Sadolin and Tausen became the first Protestant pastors at the old abbey churches. Shortly afterwards the majority in the chapter at the Cathedral changed in favor of the Protestant party. Accordingly a Protestant sermon was now to be preached in the Cathedral every day at 5 and 8 am, and prayers with Danish hymns were to be performed in the morning, at midday and in the evening. On Sundays the citizens were to attend service in one of the two new parish churches, after which the cathedral was to hold a Protestant Mass followed by a youth service.

Jørgen Jensen Sadolin Nevertheless, both Sadolin and Tausen moved from Viborg in 1529, since the ­Reformation there was nearly completed. Hans Tausen was transferred to Copen­ hagen, the new arena for the Reformation movement. Jørgen Jensen Sadolin ­travelled to Odense on Funen and there reformed the Diocese of Funen on the ­basis of Luther’s catechism. However, he did so within the established church, that is, as a kind of Protestant suffragan bishop, coadjutor in verbo as it was called, to the bishop Knud Gyldenstjerne, who was officially still loyal to the Pope. Gyldenstjerne’s predecessor, the non-aristocratic bishop Beldenak, was forced out of office, and condemned as a liar in 1530, losing his honor. He spent his last days in Lübeck in 1537. In the same year, Jørgen Jensen Sadolin took over the diocese of as the first Lutheran superintendent. Hans Tausen continued his work as city preacher in Copenhagen, and after the official introduction of the Reformation by the king in 1536/37) also became a lecturer in Hebrew at the reopened, now Lutheran university. At the same time he was Protestant lector at the cathedral chapter in Roskilde. In 1542 he became superintendent in Ripen, where he died on St. Martin’s Jørgen Jensen Sadolin’s tombstone. Copper Day, on 11 November 1561. engraving, 1751

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 Pastor Rasmus H. C. Dreyer is chair of the Danish Church History Society.  Dr Anna Vind is professor of Church History at Copenhagen University.

Further reading Marie Christensen, Hans Tausen. Fra Birkende til Ribe, Kopenhagen: G. E. C. Gads Forlag, 1942 Martin Schwarz Lausten, Die Reformation in Dänemark, Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlags­ haus, 2008 Rasmus H.C. Dreyer, “An Apologia for Luther: The myth of the Danish Luther: Danish Reformer Hans Tausen and ‘A short answer’ (1528/29)”, in: Peter Opitz (ed.), The Myth of the Reformation, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2013, pp. 211–232 Visiting Viborg www.visitviborg.com/ln-int/viborg/holiday-viborg www.viborgdomkirke.dk

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Vienna Paul Speratus by Rudolf Leeb

On 12 January 1522, Paul Speratus, who was only passing through Vienna at the time, delivered a sermon from the pulpit of St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Its content created a considerable stir in town. The university, which also exercised the right of Inquisition, reacted swiftly and harshly, immediately initiating legal proceedings. After Speratus failed to appear at the scheduled hearing despite two summonses, he was banned and excommunicated on 20 January. To our knowledge, this was the first Protestant sermon to be delivered in Vienna.

Humanism and anticlericalism Paul Speratus, however, was not the first to introduce Reformation ideas to the grand trading center with its royal court. Luther’s new ideas had become known there prior to his arrival, and the overall atmosphere in Vienna was in fact quite conducive to the reception of Reformation doctrines. The city had been an internationally known center of humanism since the late fifteenth century (Luther had reported on the fateful Imperial Diet in Worms to the Viennese humanist Johannes Cuspinian in about 1521). Vienna had already provided the setting for vehement discussions and disputes about papal privileges and ecclesiastical abuses. Protests against the indulgence campaigns of 1490 and 1516 are documented, as are attacks against the dominant mendicant order in the town. University theologians had been subject to increased hostility, and expressions of early-modern anticlericalism were rife. The themes Speratus addressed in his sermon had struck a sensitive nerve in the ongoing discussions in town.

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Paul Speratus (1484–1551) The cleric and distinguished theologian Paul Speratus was on a journey with his partner (or wife) Anna Fuchs, with whom he had been living since 1517. He had earlier been a priest in Salzburg, then in Dinkelsbühl, and finally in Augsburg cathedral, where he had become a follower of the Reformation. In November 1521 he secretly left Augsburg and returned to Salzburg, where he received an appointment in Ofen (Budapest). His route to Ofen took him through Vienna. Even in Augsburg, his connection with Anna Fuchs had prompted attacks, and in Vienna, too, this alliance provoked criticism. His sermon in St. Stephen’s, where he had been granted permission to preach, served to justify his attitude toward celibacy. The content of his remarkable and theologically carefully considered sermon has been preserved, since Speratus himself published it (albeit only in a form

Title page of Speratus’s sermon of 12 January 1522, which he published in Königsberg in 1524

Paul Speratus as bishop of Pomesania; engraving by an unknown sixteenthcentury artist

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Vienna; colorized illustration from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 1, Cologne, 1593 Bottom: Hofburg Palace and St. Stephen’s Cathedral

reconstructed from memory two-and-a-half years later), as were also the charges raised by the University of Vienna along with Speratus’ response. According to these publications, Speratus’ sermon was composed in an unequivocally anticlerical tone. He presents genuine Reformation arguments in proclaiming the universal priesthood of all believers and in attacking and rejecting celibacy and monastic vows. The sensation caused by his sermon in St. Stephen's is not at all surprising given the criticism of the church and the anticlerical mood in Vienna at the time, as well as the accusation that Speratus had transgressed against his own vow of celibacy. Indeed, Speratus himself even alludes to the vigorous “underground Reformation” in the city, asking rhetorically, “and how

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Paul Speratus, “Salvation for us has come!” from “Etlich Cristlich lider Lobgesang un[d] Psalm”, Wittenberg, 1524

many hundreds of Viennese residents do you think have to steal the word of God secretly?” By his own admission, Speratus knew of numerous like-minded persons in town who sympathized with him. No wonder the university theologians reacted with such haste. Although imprisoned following their swift verdict and excommunication, Speratus was soon free again. After beginning work as a pastor in Iglau in Moravia, he was again accused of heresy. This time, the initial sentence following his trial in Olmütz was that he be burned at the stake; intervention by friends, however, enabled him to get off with only twelve weeks in prison. Speratus himself repeatedly emphasized that any preaching of the gospel would be accompanied by the cross and persecution. Indeed, it was probably in the dungeon at Olmütz that he wrote his well-known hymn “Salvation for us has come!” (abbreviated in the hymnal Evangelisches Gesangbuch as no. 342), published in the famous Achtliederbuch in 1524 together with two other hymns from his hand and four from Luther (and one anonymous hymn). At the time, Speratus was staying with Luther in Wittenberg, where during that same year and on Luther’s recommendation he received an appointment as court preacher for

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Albrecht of Brandenburg in Königsberg, East Prussia. Finally, in 1529, he became Lutheran Bishop of Pomesania in Marienwerder, where this eminent Reformer worked incessantly until his death in 1551.

Anti-Reformation measures As with many other preachers expelled from Habsburg territories during the early years of the Reformation, Paul Speratus’s main career unfolded somewhere else than in Vienna or Ofen. Even though his own activities in Vienna were due more to chance and remained a unique episode, during the ensuing years the early Reformation continued to unsettle not only Vienna, but other Austrian localities as well. Until the general prohibition of 1523, Reformation pamphlets by Luther, Karlstadt and Melanchthon were reprinted in Johannes Singriener’s printing shop. The Habsburg territorial and city ruler tried in vain to suppress the influx of Reformation ideas. Things came to a dramatic head in the autumn of 1524. At a convention in Regensburg, the territorial rulers of Bavaria, Salzburg and the hereditary Habsburg lands had just implemented the Edict of Worms of 1521 prohibiting the Reformation, thereby taking the first incisive political steps against the incursion of the Reformation in their territories. A whole series of clerics and laypersons were immediately arrested and tried in Vienna, several of whom had previously expressed extremely polemical opinions in their sermons about church abuses. The most prominent among them were the priest Johann Peregrin, who charged the clergy with, among other things, having led simple believers around by a nose-ring like swine, and the cleric Johann Vaesel, who maintained that priests and theologians of the old faith were behaving like Caiaphas, Pilate and Herod. These prisoners even included the highly respected and devout citizen Caspar Tauber, a remarkably welleducated lay theologian who had been publicly active. In his case, the Catholic authorities were especially keen on obtaining a public recantation that might weaken the increasingly vigorous Reformation stirrings in Commemorative plaque for Balthasar Vienna. Every prisoner except Caspar Hubmaier on the remnants of the wall of Stuben Gate on Dr. Karl Lueger Square Tauber, however, recanted in the face

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of impending death sentences as heretics; Tauber alone remained steadfast, dying a martyr’s death on 17 September 1524. The atmosphere in Vienna was volatile, his martyrdom triggering a vehement reaction and flurry of activity in the market for German-language Reformation pamphlets. Luther, as in all comparable cases, was profoundly upset on hearing of Tauber’s martyrdom. Tauber was henceforth reckoned among the most prominent martyrs of the Reformation. Many Anabaptists were also executed in Vienna during the next few years, the most prominent being their leader and theologian Balthasar Hubmaier, who was burned at the stake before Stuben Gate on 10 March 1528. In his publication Concerning Heretics and Those Who Burn Them, Hubmaier had previously elab­ orated on the idea of religious tolerance propagated by Luther (heresy was not to be combated with the sword). All these repressive measures, however, were unable to prevent the almost silent adoption of the Reformation among the Viennese population during the ensuing years.

Spread of the Reformation During the following decades, Vienna thus became characterized by political tension regarding the confessional issue. The population and town council were overwhelmingly Protestant, and documents significantly provide only tenuous information about the Catholic minority. Facing this situation stood the territorial lord, who persisted in his Catholicism and did not allow any public Protestant worship within his city walls. This situation was complicated by yet another political constellation. Vienna was not only the residence of the territorial ruler, but also the capital of the state of Lower Austria. It provincial parliament, which met in the state house (Landhaus) on Herrengasse in Vienna, was — from a religious policy perspective — wholly dominated by Lutheranism. At the time, Habsburg states were generally looking to attain greater political autonomy over against their Catholic Habsburg rulers, autonomy that would, of course, also extend to religious matters. With this goal in mind, the states were exerting increasing pressure. In the case of the Lower Austrian provincial parliament, Emperor Maximilian II finally had to acquiesce in 1574, thereafter finally allowing public Protestant worship in Vienna. These services were held in the assembly hall of the state house. The state engaged a rigorously Lutheran team of pastors, who in some cases took little account of political circumstances.

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Protestants “Leaving town” for Hernals Castle; engraving from Matthäus Merian, “Topographia provinciarium austriacarum, Austriæ, Styriæ, Carinthiæ, Carniolæ, Tyrolis”, Frankfurt am Main, 1649

Counter-Reformation With the beginning of the Counter-Reformation in 1578, this “state-house ministry” was prohibited within four years. Prior to and following this prohibition — and this is one of the peculiarities of Reformation history in Vienna — Protestant members of the population, when not simply making do with devotional services in private homes, had to “leave town” to attend services of worship. The previous practice of occasionally smuggling Lutheran preachers into town was not only inadequate, but had also become excessively risky. Target destinations of Protestant Viennese citizens were generally the castles and parish churches of Lutheran nobles in areas surrounding Vienna. Alongside Vösendorf, Inzersdorf, and what was known as the Court at St. Ulrich, the primary destination was the parish church at Castle Hernals, which the

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Interior of the Reformed parish church at Dorotheergasse 16 with the Communion table and pulpit on four pillars

powerful Jörger family and the Lower Austrian provincial parliament expanded into a Reformation center for Vienna capable of accommodating all needs — and located just outside the city gates. Alongside the pastors themselves, who were visibly proud to occupy the office of preacher for the imperial residential city, the famous composer Andreas Rauch was also active here as a cantor. In 1649, after the Counter-Reformation had already emerged victorious in the Habsburg territories, Matthäus Merian and his geographer Martin Zeiller commemorated this in an engraving of Castle Hernals, portraying the way Viennese Protestants had to “leave town” for worship in the Hernals parish church. The Battle of White Mountain on 8 November 1620, at the beginning of the Thirty Years War, sealed the political fate of the Reformation not only for the kingdom of Bohemia, but also for the Danube countries. During the following period, all Protestant preachers and schoolmasters were expelled and the population de jure confronted with the alternative of either converting or emi­ grating. In Vienna, Catholic members had already regularly dominated the town council, as the Habsburg ruler simply no longer appointed Lutherans to this office. Civil and professional liberties were bound to the Catholic confession. Only very few privileged persons were now able to remain Protestant in Vienna, for example,

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The Lutheran parish church at Dorotheergasse 18

diplomats and internationally active foreign merchants who resided in Vienna. These persons were even able to attend Protestant services in the embassy chapels of Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands. The inevitable “unofficial” Protestants (such as craftsmen and visitors) in the city were not, however, allowed to practice their faith publicly, but at most in domestic situations. It was not until Emperor Joseph II issued the Patent of Toleration in 1781 that Protestants were again permitted to establish their own congregations. The two church communities founded at the same time (Lutheran and Reformed) constituted the core of Vienna’s Protestant diocese today. The two “houses of prayer” (constructing buildings with exteriors that looked like churches was not yet permitted) were erected in the inner city on Dorotheer Gasse, where they still stand today.

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 Dr. Rudolf Leeb is professor of Church History, Christian Archaeology, and Church Art in the Faculty of Protestant Theology at Vienna University.

Further reading Martin Brecht, “Erinnerungen an Paul Speratus (1484–1551), ein enger Anhänger Martin Luthers in den Anfängen der Reformation”, in: Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 94 (2003), pp. 105–133 Rudolf Leeb, “Der Streit um den wahren Glauben”, in: Rudolf Leeb et al., Geschichte des Christentums in Österreich, Wien: Ueberreuter, 2003, pp. 145–280 Grete Mecenseffy and Hermann Rassl, Die evangelischen Kirchen Wiens, Wien: Zsolnay, 1980 Visiting Vienna https://www.wien.info/en/travel-info/tourist-info www.evang-wien.at www.stadtkirche.at www.reformiertestadtkirche.at

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Witmarsum Menno Simons by Klaas-Dieter Voß

Catholic priest Menno Simons was born in 1496 in the village of Witmarsum, not far from the coast of the North Sea in what is today the Dutch province of Frisia. He most likely grew up in rural, agricultural surroundings during an extremely unsettled period in Frisia west of the Lauwer River. During the Middle Ages, the Frisians were subordinated directly only to the emperor and were largely autonomous. No feudal order existed. The appointment of Albrecht of Saxony as governor in 1498 provoked considerable unrest and conditions resembling those of civil war. Numerous floods in the early sixteenth century broke dikes and brought poverty and inflation to the countryside, resulting in famine, illness and death. Such were the times and conditions in which Menno Simons grew up, though we cannot really say much more about his childhood and youth, nor even about where he received his theological training. He later maintained that he was in fact theologically uneducated and possessed only scant knowledge of ancient languages, but ultimately these assertions merely cloaked an element of modesty and a conscious renunciation of even the hint of any claim to authority. We do know that Bishop Johannes Heetsveld consecrated him a priest in Utrecht on 26 March 1524. That same year, he was appointed locum priest in Pingjum, a community close to his birthplace and the area from which his father’s side of the family originally came. In his autobiography Uitgang uit het Pausdom (Separation from the Papacy, 1554), he describes how his initial reverence for the tradition of the Catholic Church prevented him from even reading the Bible, so fearful was he of being seduced into

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Witmarsum; drawing by Jan Bulthuis, from “Vaderlandsche gezigten”, vol. 2, Amsterdam, 1793. The church in which Menno Simons was active as a priest was replaced in 1633 by the cupola church depicted here; the still visible tower was torn down in 1819

false faith. Two years later, however, he was repeatedly beset by doubts concerning the correctness of the Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist, according to which the priest’s consecration truly transformed the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. It was not least Martin Luther’s writings that prompted him to read the New Testament more intensively, and he quickly made a name for himself as a proclaimer of the Word. He was already being viewed as a Protestant preacher while remaining in the bosom of the church of the old faith. Shortly before he became a priest in his home parish of Witmarsum, an event took place in Leeuwarden that would create a caesura in his life. A garment-maker from Emden by the name of Sicke Freriks was publicly beheaded on the market square because of his faith. His corpse was woven onto a wheel and his head affixed to the top of a stake as a deterrent for all to see. This incident aroused profound

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indignation among many people, for it was the first time anyone in Frisia had been executed for religious reasons. Sicke Freriks, in accepting confessional baptism in Emden, had been baptized a second time. By engaging in Anabaptist mission activities a bit later in the area around Leeuwarden, he put himself at considerable risk, since the territory had been under Habsburg rule since 1524. Just as everywhere else in the Empire, the Anabaptist mandate issued at the Imperial Diet in Speyer in 1529 (with the approval of the Protestant estates) was in force; its basis was the sixth-century Codex Iustinianus, In 1826 Willem Barteld van der Kooi which allowed the death penalty to be painted this portrait of Menno Simons for imposed even without prior trial by a the Mennonite congregation in Witmarsum; clerical Inquisition. it appears twice on the engraving by Dirk Sluyter (cf. p. 460) Deeply troubled by these events, Menno Simons sought advice from his supervising priest, studied the Church Fathers, read the works of Luther, Bucer and Bullinger. He eventually concluded that each of these authors followed his own interpretation, and that infant baptism as practiced by the church was not in accordance with Scripture. Nonetheless, he persisted in his service to this church. With increasing concern he followed developments within the Anabaptist movement, culminating in the establishment of a New Jerusalem in Münster in 1534. Once the town came under siege, Bernhard Rothmann, spokesperson of the Münster Anabaptists, addressed a missive to Anabaptists in the Netherlands, Van de Wrake (On Vengeance), summoning them to liberate the embattled town from its dire straits by providing help from outside. One result of this summons was the occupation of the Bloemkamp monastery near Franeker by three hundred Anabaptists. The Frisian governor Georg Schenk von Tautenburg besieged the monastery and finally retook it. Many people died; still others were tried and subsequently executed. The dead included members of the church in Witmarsum as well as Peter Simons, one of Menno Simons’s brothers.

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Anabaptist preacher In May 1535 Menno Simons composed a polemic against the false teachings of the Münster Anabaptists and finally resigned his priestly office. After the demise of what was known as the Anabaptist Kingdom, however, he began preaching Anabaptist doctrine publicly. He had himself baptized by Obbe Philips, elder of the Anabaptist community in Frisia, and that same year married Geertruydt Hoyer. The Obbites, to whom he now belonged, had unequivocally distanced themselves from the revolutionary and violent Anabaptist movement. The ensuing persecution put Simons’s life in constant danger and rendered it extremely unsettled; he constantly went into hiding at various places to elude his pursuers. His flight left behind a trail of blood and persecution. The brothers

Exterior and interior views of the “Menno Simons’ church” just outside Witmarsum, which was torn down in 1878 (cf. p. 461). The edifice was originally a residential dwelling in which Anabaptists met after Menno Simons had left the Catholic Church. This illustration by Herman Thepass, engraved by Dirk Sluyter, appeared in Zaandam in 1828

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Hermann and Geeryt Janszoon from Witmarsum, for example, had to answer in court on 28 October 1536 for having provided shelter for Menno Simons. Four years later, Peter Jans, who had been baptized in East Frisian Oldersum in 1536, was executed, and in 1539 Tjard Reynerts from Pingjum was broken on the wheel for having offered Menno Simons refuge. Yet Menno Simons was able to live in Oldersum quite unchallenged for a lengthy period; his children were born there. In 1537 he was elected elder in Groningen, and approximately two years later became the leading intellectual of the Anabaptist movement with the publication of arguably his most important work, Dat Fundament des Christelycken leers (The Foundation of Christian Doctrine). This work addresses the most important foundational principles of Mennonite Anabaptism, including confessional baptism; the Lord’s Supper as a commemorative meal; rejection of swearing oaths, violence and high offices; and how to lead a life pleasing to God.

Monument for Menno Simons in Witmarsum at the earlier site of the “Menno Simons’ church” (see bottom left and p. 460); unveiled in 1879. In 2008 a partial steel reconstruction of the earlier meeting place was erected here

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In late 1542, however, the search was on in the Netherlands for Menno Simons. He was able to stay with friends again in East Frisia, the East Frisian superintendent John a Lasco even inviting him to a theological colloquy — the first time in history the official representative of a regional church had extended such an invitation to an Anabaptist who was being sought with an arrest warrant and whose behavior was considered criminal in the Netherlands. One of the colloquy themes was the incarnation of Christ. Menno Simons defended the variant of the Monophysite doctrine going back to Melchior Hoffman, which explained the origin of Christ’s human nature not by his lineage from Mary, but rather by the miraculous activity of the Holy Spirit in Mary. Title page of Menno Simons’s most That summer the East Frisian counimportant work, “Dat Fundament des tess Anna von Oldenburg, under presChristelycken leers”, 1539 sure from Emperor Charles V, issued an edict against Anabaptists. So Menno Simons left for Cologne, where Archbishop Hermann von Wied had initiated a church reform. When circumstances there also changed and the Cologne “reform work” collapsed in 1546, Menno Simons proceeded on to the Baltic coast, where he took part in a disputation in Lübeck on infant baptism. Disagreements within the ranks of his own movement increasingly burdened him. The Anabaptist convention in Emden of 1547 once more addressed the themes of Christ’s incarnation, infant baptism, and the avoidance of banned spouses. Disputes with the Antitrinitarian Adam Pastor finally became irreconcilable, resulting in a ban being pronounced on the latter in Goch a bit later. Menno Simons must have spent time in Leeuwarden in April 1549, since six weeks later Claes Janszoon Brongers was executed for having shown him hospitality. That same summer, he journeyed to West Prussia with Dirk Philips to settle a dispute among Anabaptists living there. His preaching took him as far as the East Baltic territories. In 1551, back in Emden, he appointed Leenaert Bouwens as elder of the congregation.

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“Menno cottage” in Fresenburg near Bad Oldesloe; Menno Simons himself is said to have planted the linden tree in front of the house

Menno Simons spent the winter of 1553 in Wismar. When two ships with Reformed refugees from England sailed into port there, the Wismar Anabaptists saw to the needs of those on board. At the initiative of the Reformed preacher Hermes Backerel, a theological colloquy convened on Christmas Day. A second took place on 6 February, 1554, with the Ghent-born preacher Marten Micron, who had proclaimed God’s word in the Dutch refugee church in London. The theme of these gatherings was again Christ’s incarnation and baptism; a third colloquy ultimately ended in an unpleasant quarrel. Menno Simons spent his final years, beginning in 1554, near Bad Oldesloe. Count Bartholomäus von Ahlefeld granted the Anabaptists asylum on his estate Fresenburg for an annual token fee of one Taler per family. Despite the protests of the local population, the Anabaptist villages of Wegnitz, Pulverbek, Wüstenfelde, and Kiebitzburg emerged not far from Poggensee, which belonged to the estate. Here Menno Simons was even able to establish his own printing press and publish revised editions of many of his works. In 1557 he tried one last time to mediate in

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a dispute concerning the ban when the Emden resident Zwantje Rutgers refused to avoid contact with her apostate husband. Menno Simons died on 31 January 1561, in his house in Wüstenfelde, his neighbors burying him the next day in his own cabbage patch (some distance away). Because the place was completely razed during the Thirty Years War, his exact burial site can no longer be determined. Behind what is known as the “Menno Kate” (cottage), in which his printing press was allegedly located, visitors can find a commemorative stone with the inscription, “Here Menno Simons lived, taught, and died in humility, devout and poor.”

Theology Scholars long considered Menno Simons’s theology to be insufficiently thought through and more disconnected than genuinely coherent. One reason for this assessment was that for a long time his works were not readily accessible. For example, the edition of his Fundament that he revised after 1554, when published in his Opera Omnia Theologica of 1681 alongside other early works, inevitably raised the suspicion that Simons was a thinker who contradicted himself. It was not until the 1960s that Irvin B. Horst provided considerably better conditions for scholarly assessment of primary sources by publishing a bibliography (1962) carefully documenting Menno Simons’ works. Five years later, Hendrik Meihuizen edited a translation of the Fundament of 1539, thereby making that early edition accessible again after a lapse of centuries. The ulterior motive for these efforts was not least the discussion of the heart of Mennonite theology initiated by the 1936 dissertation of Cornelius Krahn, a discussion that has lost neither its vigor nor its relevance today. Menno Simons’s primary focus was probably his resolute defense of the unrestricted authority of Christ and the personal responsibility each person has before God. Menno Simons successfully shielded himself against the doctrinal authority both of the Catholic Church and of Protestant preachers, and not least against any claims of authority he himself might be tempted to raise. Throughout his life he often found himself confronted by abuses of authority, and therefore he was intent on liberating people from their faith in authorities. In his autobiography mentioned above, he uses an example from his own life to emphasize that a cleric must not possess more authority or expertise in matters of faith than a layperson. By retracing the development of his own insights, he demonstrates how a person’s own reflection alone, coupled with an intensive study of the Bible, can protect him or her from false doctrine and the abuse of authority. Hence we consistently find on the title pages of his writings a quote from 1 Cor. 3:11 “For no one can

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lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.” This quote, however, is not intended as an edifying statement, but rather as a confession that calls into question not only all authority, but also any revelation that claims independence from the word. Mennonites thus recognize no human statutes or dogmas. What is important is the independently answerable confession of each individual Christian. This latter position also explains how so many different Mennonite denominations developed over the course of later history, and also the strong, independent nature of individual congregations and their members.

Menno Simons

The commemorative stone for Menno Simons in Fresenburg near Bad Oldesloe

 Klaas-Dieter Voß is a research associate at the John a Lasco Library in Emden and lecturer at the Institute of Protestant Theology of Oldenburg University.

Further reading Walter Klaassen et al., No other foundation. Commemorative essays on Menno Simons, North Newton, KS: Bethel College, 1962 Gerald R. Brunk, Menno Simons a reappraisal. Essays in honor of Irvin B. Horst on the 450th anniversary of the Fundamentboek, Harrisonburg, VA: Eastern Mennonite College, 1992

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Sjouke Voolstra, Menno Simons. His image and message, North Newton, KS: Bethel College, 1996 Piet Visser and Mary S. Sprunger, Menno Simons. Places, portraits and progeny, Krommenie: Knijnenberg /Harrisonburg, VA: Eastern Mennonite College, 1996. Samme Zijlstra, Om de ware gemeente en de oude gronden. Geschiedenis van de dopersen in de Nederlanden 1531–1675, Hilversum: Verloren, 2000 Visiting Witmarsum www.toeristeninformatie.nl/Provincie/3/WITMARSUM.html www.gemeenten.doopsgezind.nl

Visiting Bad Oldesloe www.badoldesloe.de/Homepage_Stadt_OD/HPContent_Wirtschaft_Stadtmarketing/ wissenswertes_zahlen.php http://e.menno-kate.de/ www.mennoniten.de/start.html

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Wittenberg Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon by Johannes Schilling

A lost publication with the title Wahrhaftige Contrafet der Churfürstl.[ichen] Stadt Wittenberg im Jahr MDXLV contains the following verses, signed by “MARTINUS LUTHER, Doctor” (WA 35,594): Wittenberg, this small, poor town, is now a place of great renown. From her, God's saving Word does shine, producing souls for heaven so fine. So that she’ll be called a gem — related to Jerusalem — God make her grateful for this thriving. May she always keep on striving, do justice to her name and then be blessed for evermore. Amen

This was Luther’s view of Wittenberg at the end of his life: a New Jerusalem in which the gospel had recently fallen on fertile ground - and to which he, Martin Luther, had witnessed, as a preacher and prophet who had rediscovered the gospel message.

The town of Wittenberg The Reformation originated in Wittenberg — what was thought, discovered and propagated here changed the world. This small town at the edge of the civilized world — in termino civilitatis, as Luther once remarked — became the center of

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Wittenberg, by Lucas Cranach the Younger (workshop), ca. 1558 Bottom left: the castle, the Castle Church behind it; bottom right: the “Collegium” (university building), Philipp Melanchthon’s residence, and the Augustinian monastery where Luther lived with his family

the civilized world, the point of departure for a new religious culture that would radiate out into every sphere of life: individual and social, personal-religious and ecclesiastical, domestic and public, both in communities and in society at large. It was from Wittenberg that the Reformation began its path out into the world, a path that was to determine the course of history and indeed in grand strokes has done so. But a specific locality or town does not alone make history. The preconditions, of course, were certainly not unfavorable. Wittenberg’s geographical location facil-

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Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon

itated outreach since this town on the Elbe River was already connected with various European economic and commercial centers by important trade and commercial routes. The town was the residence of noble rulers, first of the Ascanian dynasty, who died out in 1422, then of their heirs, the Wettins. The fortress-like fortifications in the western part of town were expanded into a castle during the fifteenth century. A parish church, the All Saints church (the Castle Church) and collegiate foundation (Allerheiligenstift), The seal of Wittenberg University depicts and several monasteries (AugustiniElector Friedrich III, the Wise, who founded ans and Franciscans) stood ready to it in 1502. The Latin circumscription reads: minister to the spiritual needs of the “Wittenberg began to teach under my protection” town’s residents. Ernestine Saxony’s court mainly resided in Wittenberg, following the Leipzig division of the Wettin territories in 1485. And it had one of the most significant rulers around in 1500. Elector Friedrich III (ruled 1486–1525), or Friedrich the Wise, as he was later called, was, by virtue of his office, able to play an active role in the political decision-making of the Holy Roman Empire, and this he certainly did. Moreover, he adorned Wittenberg castle with works of the most outstanding artists in the entire empire; Albrecht Dürer and Matthias Grünewald, and of course Lucas Cranach the Elder, whose activities shaped Wittenberg not merely artistically. What the town and territory lacked following the territorial partition was a university, which Friedrich the Wise founded in 1502. With the “Leucorea”, Electoral Saxony now had its own university, as did its Albertine sister territory in Leipzig (1409) or — as new institutions — Württemberg in Tübingen (1477) and Mainz with its archiepiscopal school of higher learning (Hochschule, 1477). Electoral Brandenburg followed in 1506 with Frankfurt an der Oder, and the landgraviate of Hesse in 1527 with Marburg. The humanist Andreas Meinhardi (ca. 1470–1525/26) composed a prospectus for the new university as a kind of panegyric to generate interest in the Leucorea (Greek: “white mountain”, Witten-berg). In it, he extolled the town’s natural surroundings as well as its points of interest, particularly the church of the Allerheiligenstift (in which lectures took place). Nowhere, Meinhardi insisted,

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could one live better as a student than in Wittenberg, nowhere find more estimable authorities, and nowhere have access to such distinguished professors — in short, a student could make no better choice than to study in Wittenberg. And indeed, success came quickly. In the founding year alone, 416 students matriculated, and in the following years regularly more than 200. Altogether, between 1535 and 1545 more than 4,700 students enrolled in Wittenberg, making it the most popular university in the entire empire in this decade. Its fame spread far and wide, especially to Scandinavia and southeast Europe. The heart of the Reformation, however, was not a matter of favorable geography or political power, or even of an excellent university. The most important element was the spiritual momentum that enabled people to ask questions again about the truth of Christianity and its capacity to shape their lives. Such momentum arose from the interpretation of Scripture, which was at the root of the Reformation. It was not the criticism of contemporary ecclesiastical abuses, nor any particular political constellations, nor even the insights of humanism that gave rise to the Reformation. And yet without such criticism of the church in that age, without the support of the authorities, and certainly without humanism, the university and the continually expanding public base, this root could not have grown, nor could the Reformation have taken shape, spread and ultimately changed the world. And especially not without the two theologians who both independently and together represented Wittenberg Reformation theology, Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon.

Martin Luther (1483–1546) Luther came to Wittenberg from Erfurt in 1508 as Martin Luder. He settled in Wittenberg and remained there the rest of his life, the town being known even long after his death as “Luther’s town”. And since 1938, the town’s full official name has been Lutherstadt (Luther’s town) Wittenberg. In Wittenberg, in the monastery and university, in the church and at home, Luther engaged in broad, incessant activities, as provincial vicar of his order, professor of biblical exegesis, dean of the theological faculty, preacher at St. Mary’s city church, and as a husband and father. Here he lectured, presided over disputations, examined candidates for the baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral degrees, preached in the parish church and in the “Black Monastery” (the former Augustinian monastery building, now called Lutherhaus), wrote letters till he could write no more, authored works that the printer essentially published out from under his quill, and — after the preceding translation of the New Testament during the winter 1521/22 at the Wartburg — translated the entire Old Testament

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with his Wittenberg colleagues, an undertaking that would occupy him for decades, even into the final year of his life. Although Luther’s final journey took him to his home county of Mansfeld, the cortège returned by way of Halle and Bitterfeld to Wittenberg, where he was interred in the Castle Church after a solemn funeral service. In 1547 Emperor Charles V stood, reportedly showing due respect, before the grave of the man who had been such a fateful part of his life. Martin Luder began as the successor of his teacher and spiritual mentor, Johannes von Staupitz. By earning a theological doctorate in Wittenberg on 18/19 October 1512 he fulfilled the requirement for accepting a professoLuther in his monk’s habit and doctor’s cap; rial appointment. This doctoral degree painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1520 remained important to him during his entire life, since it identified him as a properly qualified teacher of theology. Beginning in this capacity in 1513, Luther held lecture courses up to the very end of his life, largely on the books of the Old Testament. Indeed, he began his lecturing career with an interpretation of the entire Book of Psalms, developing simultaneously the principles of his interpretation of Scripture. His extant preparatory notes reveal his exhaustive acquaintance with theological tradition and his skill as an innovative interpreter of the Psalter. As with all the books of the Old Testament, he read the psalms from the perspective of the New Testament, that is, from the perspective of the incarnation of God in Jesus of Nazareth. Between 1515 and the Diet of Worms in 1521, he then also interpreted the New Testament epistles to the Romans, Galatians and Hebrews, before returning to the Psalter; unlike in the earlier lectures, however, this time he was unable to work all the way through it. In addition to his official duties as a university professor, Luther was also ­occupied with the situation of believers in the area, especially the question of penitence and its correct understanding. The church’s trading in indulgences and the self-understanding of the church implied by such practices became an increasing problem for him. Luther encountered this issue directly through the relic col-

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lection that Friedrich the Wise had assembled at the Wittenberg Aller­ heiligenstift and which was associated with the granting of indulgence. In 1509/10 the Wittenberg Heiltumsbuch, a catalog of those relics, already listed a grand total of 5005 individual items. Only one other collection could compete with such a remarkable number, namely, that in Halle assembled by Albrecht of Brandenburg. Hence a kind of competition arose between the Wettins and Hohenzollern concerning who possessed the largest collection of relics and thus the highest level of indulgence. In 1517 the archbishop of Mainz engaged in the sale of indulgences as part of his obligations to the Curia and the Fugger banking firm. Although the archbishop was not permitted to The Witttenberg “Heiltumsbuch” (Book of do so in Electoral Saxony, news of the relics). In 1509 Friedrich III transferred practice reached Luther from neighhis relic collection to the newly built boring Brandenburg prompting him Castle Church. In the same year, the “Heiltumsbuch” appeared, for which Lucas to take issue with it. On 31 October Cranach the Elder provided woodcuts 1517, ­Luther wrote a letter to Archillustrating the collection’s reliquaries, i. e. bishop Albrecht of Mainz, decrying the containers in which the relics themselves the false understanding of penitence were kept. The booklet was intended to such a practice imposed on believpromote pilgrimages to Wittenberg ers, and enclosed his theses concerning indulgences, the “95 Theses” that had been nailed to the door of the churches in Wittenberg on that day, the eve of All Saints Day. This “nailing of the theses”, especially in the graphic language of the nineteenth century, came to be viewed as the beginning of the Reformation. And indeed, Luther himself viewed that day as special; ten years later he celebrated the “striking down of indulgences”. And in his letter to the archbishop on that day “Martin Luder” now signed himself “Martinus Luther”, the name he would henceforth use. Through this new understanding of Protestant freedom, eleutheria, “Luder” had become “Luther”, remaining thus the rest of Luther’s life. He never used the earlier form of his name again.

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The original wooden door of the Castle Church burned in 1760 during the Seven Years War, when King Friedrich the Great of Prussia attacked the town. In 1856, with Wittenberg now under Prussian rule, a new bronze door was cast containing the text of the ninety-five theses. In the arch, Luther and Melanchthon are depicted at the foot of the cross; in the background is Wittenberg

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In addition to his lecturing activity, Luther now increasingly worked on his own writings. He had begun his literary activity by translating the seven penitential psalms (1517). After writing pastoral guides for leading a Christian life, he now — prompted not least by resistance from the institutionalized church  — began composing foundational tractates addressing the nature of the Christian religion itself and the consequences for both church and society. His primary reformational works of 1520 focus on the entirety of Christian faith. He formulated his reform program as an Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation Concerning the Reform of the Christian Estate, while the Latin document De captivitate Babylonica ecclesiæ (Babylonian captivity of the church) focused on his criticism of the Roman Church and its sacraments. Finally, he summarized his growing new understanding of Christian life in On the Freedom of a Christian, a treatise which deals with freedom as a theological issue for the first time in the history of Christian theology. After the Diet of Worms and his forced stay at the Wartburg, Luther returned to Wittenberg in 1522, reassembled the supporters who had begun to drift apart, and began a sustained build-up of both the community and church. He made liturgical reforms, reorganized institutions providing for the poor, and introduced new hymns for use by congregations, who now, by their baptism, were authorized and called to proclaim the gospel. Around the turn of the year 1523/24, Luther entered a period during which he was enormously productive in composing hymns. He began by translating psalms to be sung as hymns. In 1524 the first Wittenberg collection for choristers appeared and in 1529 the first congregational hymn book. Johann Walter, the “original cantor of the Reformation”, provided invaluable musical advice and was a co-creator of the Protestant hymn. Protestant chorales and the resultant musical compositions have since become an inseparable part of Protestant culture. The relationship between the church and the temporal authorities similarly needed readjustment, and Luther took a strong position in the conflicts that erupted between the authorities and their subjects in the Peasants’ War. The distinction between spiritual and temporal governance confronted the relationship between church and the authorities with new challenges and responsibilities. In the face of what he viewed as the terrible ignorance on the part of many ordinary Christians concerning their own faith, Luther was from the outset keen on providing baptized Christians with fundamental knowledge of the primary tenets of their faith. This undertaking amounted to nothing less than a Christianization of Christians, who were now to know and understand what it was they believed. After lengthy preparation in sermons, these attempts found their final expression in two catechisms that appeared in 1529 and contained the Ten Commandments, the (Apostolic) Confession of Faith, the Lord’s Prayer, as well as the two sacraments of

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Baptism and the Eucharist along with various smaller texts (prayers, etc.). The Large Catechism addressed pastors, the Small Catechism the heads of households and members of congregations. As the most widely read book in the Lutheran Church, the latter has not lost its significance nor yet exhausted its potential influence. In 1530 the Protestant estates were summoned to answer to the emperor and empire at an imperial diet in Augsburg. Luther, on whom an imperial ban had been imposed in 1521 and who had since been confined to Electoral Saxony, could follow and accompany the negotiations only from Coburg. The Augsburg Confession, the Confessio Augustana, composed largely by Melanchthon, became, and has remained, the fundamental confession of Lutheran churches. Colorized title page of the German edition After 1530 Luther once again of the Augsburg Confession and its apology, translated by Justus Jonas, Erfurt 1532. The occupied himself with his official portraits at the bottom of the page depict duties and tasks. In the meantime, Luther and Friedrich the Wise however, tensions had developed among the Wittenberg theologians themselves, resulting in some cases even in breakups. As he grew older, Luther was now tiring of the town; in 1544 he even considered leaving. It was, however, still a place of support that kept him grounded and from which he was still able to exert a measure of influence. It was also clear that he would be returning to Wittenberg after his last journey, not merely for the sake of his wife and children, but also because the territorial authorities wanted him to be buried in Wittenberg — the man of God, as he was viewed, was to be laid to final rest in Wittenberg and thus remain part of both the town and territory. A memorial was donated for following generations at the funeral service in Wittenberg’s Castle Church. Johannes Bugenhagen, who was the city pastor and Luther’s long-standing confidant and confessor, delivered the funeral oration; Philipp Melanchthon, Luther’s younger colleague and apprenticed Reformation successor, gave the academic commemorative address.

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Philipp Melanchthon (1497–1560) Philipp Melanchthon was half a generation younger than Luther. Having arrived in Wittenberg in 1518, his presence promptly brought new luster to both the university and town, and his inaugural lecture on the reorganization of university studies quickly attracted the attention of the academic world. The Gotha superintendent Friedrich Myconius remarked in his history of the Reformation (1541):

“Wittenberg had hitherto been but a poor, shabby town, small, old and ugly, with squat wooden houses, more like an old village than a proper town. But at this time, people from all over the world came there to hear, see, and some also to study at the university. The commendable Elector Duke Friedrich, with the help of Johannes Reuchlin in Pforzheim, brought in Philipp Melanchthon from Tübingen, born in Bretten, who arrived in Wittenberg in 1518, only twenty-one years old at the time and yet so learned in all scholarly fields that the entire world could not but be astonished.”

This twenty-one-year-old was the most gifted mind of his generation. In his new location — one that, compared to his Electoral Palatinate origins in Bretten, was situated much farther to the north — he quickly outgrew his position as professor of Greek in the Arts Faculty, eventually becoming alongside Luther the most influential thinker and shaper of the Wittenberg Reformation. Melanchthon published textbooks on almost every scholarly discipline associated with the artes. He wrote not only on grammar and rhetoric, but also on history, a subject on which in his inaugural lecture he bestowed his imprimatur as a legitimate university discipline. Not only did students from a variety of countries come to study in Wittenberg, for example, from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Transylvania, and Croatia — they also lived with Melanchthon in a household community, as the escutcheons in the professor’s house testify. He helped students with curriculum decisions, worked through various scholarly materials with them, and held Sunday services in his own house in Latin for those who, lacking any knowledge of German, could not have followed the services in the town church. His books were read everywhere, reprinted and disseminated, in Augsburg and Hagenau, Marburg and Königsberg; indeed, his books were read because of their excellent content even in circles of those still committed to the old faith, though sometimes only after his name had been deleted. Melanchthon became known as Europe’s teacher through his lectures, books, and especially through his extensive correspondence. In 1529 Luther described his relationship with Melanchthon as follows, in his preface to the latter’s interpretation of the Letter to the Colossians:

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Philipp Melanchthon; copper engraving by Albrecht Dürer, 1526



Title page of the first edition of Philipp Melanchthon, “Loci communes”, Wittenberg, 1521

“I can honestly say that I prefer Master Philipp’s books to my own, and prefer to see them in place of my own both in Latin and German. Because I myself was born to fight with mobs and devils and to maintain my place on the field of battle, many of my books are stormy and bellicose. My job is to eradicate lumps and stumps, hew away thorns and hedges, fill in puddles, and be the crude lumberjack who clears away and prepares the road. Then Master Philipp comes along refined and quiet, vigorously tilling and planting and watering and using precisely the gifts God has so richly bestowed upon him.” (WA 30 II, 68 f.)

After 1530 the two Reformers were portrayed together in double portraits from the Cranach workshop as a vivid expression of the commonality of the Wittenberg Reformation. Melanchthon had already summarized early Reformation theology in 1521 in his Loci communes, which may be viewed as an initial Protestant systematic theology. In the Augsburg Confession he then presented a further synthetic summary, and in the years around 1540 articulated the Wittenberg position in the religious colloquies that the emperor had initiated in the hope of

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reestablishing church unity. Although these negotiations worked out important points of agreement between representatives of the Roman Church and Protestants, they foundered on objections from the Roman Curia and also from Luther, who in his Schmalkaldic Articles, for example, turned out to be more unmistakably antiRoman than was the younger humanist from the Electoral Palatinate. For Wittenberg, Melanchthon’s significance derived especially from his university activities. The founding of the Leucorea had elevated the town above the status of a mere place of residence of an Elector, and in Luther and Melanchthon the university acquired two academic teachers who would enjoy public renown far beyond Wittenberg itself. Although the university’s curriculum ordinance had been initially patterned on that in Tübingen, success depended not just on the grand names of illustrious teachers, but also on the efficacy of the courses offered by the university. Melanchthon had introduced a reform program early on in his inaugural lecture and during the following years implemented a far-reaching and comprehensive reform of studies in Wittenberg. Although the biblical languages Hebrew and Greek had already acquired hitherto unimagined significance as independent disciplines by the time he served as university rector in 1523/24, the influence of humanism similarly came to bear in other disciplines, along with the principle that language proficiency was indispensable for any course of study. The Theology faculty received new statutes in 1533 that were revised again in 1545, and in that same year Melanchthon also composed new statutes for the Arts faculty. Melanchthon became the diplomat of the Wittenberg Reformation both voluntarily and involuntarily; in this capacity, he took countless journeys and was incessantly keeping up with correspondence. His conviction that “we are born for mutual exchange in dialogue” sometimes made excessive demands on him. After Luther’s death in 1546, the task became increasingly difficult. The defeat of the Ernestine Elector Johann Friedrich in the Schmalkaldic War the following year (1547) was a grievous blow for both the territory and the town, with the electoral status passing to Albertine relatives and Johann Friedrich himself going into exile in Weimar. Theological divisions now also followed  — what had still been held together during Luther’s lifetime now became increasingly frayed. The founding of a university in Jena in 1548 (imperial privilege bestowed in 1558) confronted the university of Wittenberg with serious, ongoing and painful competition, also manifest in two competing editions of Luther’s complete works. A considerable portion of the Wittenberg university library ended up in Jena, where the volumes are still preserved today and have been made accessible again over the past few years as the Bibliotheca Electoralis. But who represented Luther’s authentic heritage? Wittenberg or Jena? Melanchthon’s pupils, the “Philippists” or the “Gnesio-Lutherans”, who viewed themselves as the true keepers of Luther’s

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To the left: in 1536/37 the Prince Elector had this stately residence built for Philipp Melanchthon in Wittenberg; to the right: the new (2012) museum attached to the Melanchthon house

heritage? It would be another generation before these combative, even mutually hostile theologians were able to come closer and reach an agreement in the Formula of Concord of 1577, which, however, not all Lutheran estates signed. Despite numerous offers from elsewhere, Melanchthon remained faithful to Wittenberg. In 1536 the Elector had a stately home built for him on Collegien Street to replace a Bude, or simple loam house. Still gracing the town today, it was the first house in Germany built specifically for a university professor, with all modern conveniences available. After 1556 the house was even supplied with fresh “piped water”! Melanchthon represented Wittenberg, provided theological orientation, and was at the disposal of his church with respect to both doctrine and organization — even when he found the rabies theologorum (rage of theologians) increasingly annoying and hard to deal with. His literary production, covering numerous disciplines in the faculties of Philosophy and Arts, from textbooks for Greek grammar to Rhetoric and Universal History, made him into a polymath of a kind unprecedented before and rare since. He continued to work on his theological writings by revising Loci theologici, translating them into German as Heubtartickel Christlicher Lere, and finally by collecting together his doctrinal works in Corpus doctrinae christianae. After

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Melanchthon’s death, his lifelong friend Joachim Camerarius created a memorial for him with the first biography, appearing in 1566. When Melanchthon died on 19 April 1560 in his house on Collegien Street in Wittenberg, the greatest era in the town’s history came to an end. Its effects have echoed down the years and will doubtless be felt in the future, too.

Epilogue During the ensuing centuries Wittenberg University certainly had occasion to boast of distinguished professors, and not merely in the faculty of Theology. However, in 1760 the town was built up to become a military fortress during the Seven Years War, which proved to be a fateful, even disastrous decision. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Wittenberg along with its old Electoral district (created in 1499 by Friedrich the Wise) fell to Prussia, and two years later the Prussian king decreed the amalgamation of the Leucorea with Halle University. The Protestant Preachers Seminary in Wittenberg, which opened in 1817, still testifies to the academic glory of past days. Protestant theology as scriptural exegesis continues to occupy theologians in Wittenberg and will do so in the future as well — as a living legacy of the Reformation.  Dr. Dr. Johannes Schilling is professor of Church History at Kiel University and president of the Luther Society.

Further reading Helmar Junghans, Martin Luther und Wittenberg, München/Berlin: Koehler und Amelang, 1996 Annina Ligniez, Das Wittenbergische Zion. Konstruktion der Heilsgeschichte in frühneuzeitlichen Jubelpredigten, Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2012 Silvio Reichelt, Der Erlebnisraum Lutherstadt Wittenberg. Genese, Entwicklung und Bestand eines protestantischen Erinnerungsortes, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2013 Stephan Dorgerloh et al. (eds.), Wittenberg, Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2012 (Orte der Reformation, Journal 4)

Visiting Wittenberg www.lutherstadt-wittenberg.de/en/ www.martinluther.de/index.php?lang=en&Itemid=130 www.stadtkirchengemeinde-wittenberg.de/index.php/en

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Worms Martin Luther, Hans Denck and Ludwig Hätzer by Ulrich Oelschläger

Worms became one of the most important towns associated with the Reformation through Martin Luther’s historical appearance at the Imperial Diet in Worms in 1521. Although Luther spent only ten days in Worms, those days were decisive for the subsequent course of the Reformation. Having been excommunicated, however, he could neither appear nor speak in public, let alone preach in any church in Worms. During the early sixteenth century, the “free city” of Worms had approximately seven thousand inhabitants. Precisely this status as a “free city”, which the town had gained through struggles against the bishop of Worms during the late Middle Ages, provided a favorable setting for its early reception of the Reformation. Most of the inhabitants were members of guilds, around 500 were members of the clergy, and about 250 were Jews.

The Imperial Diet of 1521 Beginning in January 1521, almost fourteen thousand visitors began descending on Worms in connection with the Imperial Diet. Because the sheer numbers far exceeded expectations, however, precautionary measures taken earlier to provide for them proved woefully inadequate. Foodstuffs became expensive, living space tight, and quarrels erupted over lodging and the firewood stored on the banks of the Rhine River. The papal envoy, Nuncio Hieronymus Aleander, reported at length in dispatches to Rome concerning various aggravations, especially in connection with his search for lodgings. At every step, he encountered hostility toward the Roman Curia.

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Worms; colorized illustration from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, “Civitates orbis terrarum”, vol. 1, Cologne, 1593

He characterized the general mood in rather bleak terms: “Ninety percent of the Germans raise the battle cry ‘Luther!’ and the remainder shout out at least ‘Death to the Roman court!’” Aleander’s unpopularity contrasted with Luther’s popularity. Printers, whose very existence in Worms Aleander deplored, were doing a brisk business with pamphlets and flyers. On 2 April, Luther had set out on his journey on a twowheeled wagon with three horses that the Wittenberg town council had put at his disposal; the Imperial Herald Kaspar Sturm accompanied him. A huge crowd was waiting as Luther entered Worms from the north through Martin’s Gate on Tuesday morning, 16 April. Because the monk had been excommunicated, he could not now lodge with his Augustinian brethren in their monastery, so he stayed at the Johanniterhof, where he had to share a room with two other men. For the next ten days, visitors lined up to see him.

Luther’s hearing Those conducting the hearing intentionally chose the Bischofshof, the bishop’s residence, as the site of Luther’s interrogation in order to remove the “Luther affair” from the negotiations more narrowly associated with the Imperial Diet, which were taking place in the Bürgerhof (town hall) and the house Zur Münze.

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This 1971 bronze relief by Gustav Nonnenmacher depicts the Church of St. Stephan and the “Bischofshof” (bishop’s residence), both of which the French destroyed in 1689

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Luther before the Imperial Diet; engraving after a painting by Ludwig Seekatz in the Church of the Holy Trinity, which was destroyed by fire in 1945

At 4:00 p.m. on April 17, Luther, wearing his monk’s habit, was picked up from his lodgings and, to avoid causing a stir, taken to the hearing in the Bischofshof along backstreets and finally escorted into an “open hall” before Emperor Charles V and the Prince Electors. Six doctores of the University of Wittenberg were present to offer support. At the door, the Landsknecht leader Georg von Frundsberg reportedly said to him, “Good monk, you have a difficult path ahead.” On behalf of the emperor, Johannes von der Ecken, head of the ecclesiastical court of the archbishop of Trier, conducted the hearing. After admonishing Luther only to respond to questions, he asked him whether he had genuinely authored the approximately twenty books and writings published under his name and whether he was willing to recant all or some of them. In his response, Luther acknowledged his authorship of the writings, pointing out at the same time, however, that the matter of recanting was not quite so simple, since it concerned grand issues — such as eternal life. Luther had expected an invitation to a disputation, but the emperor insisted on a straightforward recantation, prompting Luther to request time to think about things. In a response, von der Ecken made Luther aware of the consequences of refusing to recant and informed him that the emperor had granted him a postponement till the next day.

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On 18 April, Luther was again fetched at 4:00 p.m. and taken to the Bischofshof by the same backstreet detour. Because the emperor was still occupied elsewhere, however, Luther had to wait two hours before appearing before the emperor anew in a hall illuminated by torchlight. Johannes von der Ecken again asked him whether he would now recant his writings. The Reformer began answering extemporaneously in German before being asked to switch to Latin. When von der Ecken again called on him to recant, Luther responded:

“Unless scriptural witnesses or clear reasons refute me — for I do not accept the authority of the pope and councils, since it is clear they have frequently erred and contradicted themselves — then I am bound by the scriptural passages I have cited. And as long as my conscience is captive to the word of God, I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is unsafe and a threat to salvation. God help me. Amen. ”

Luther was later also said to have uttered the words, “Here I stand; I can do no other.” Luther’s appeal to conscience was subsequently often associated with the notion of freedom of conscience of the sort developed during the Enlightenment. This appeal to a conscience bound to God’s word, however, is at most a single step on the path toward freedom of conscience as understood in certain national constitutions today.

The Edict of Worms The emperor promptly broke off negotiations, and the hall became agitated. Luther was accompanied out by his followers and is alleged to have raised his arms and cried out, “I’m through with it!” In a written statement the following day, the emperor invoked his own line of ancestry in the old faith. Over against a millennium-and-a-half of such church tradition, he maintained, a solitary monk could not possibly be in the right. Charles V would not be dissuaded from imposing the outlawry of the Empire on Luther, and ­accordingly the Edict of Worms was proclaimed on 8 May.

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The Edict of Worms was printed several times in 1521. The title page of the edition published by Hans Knappe the Elder in Erfurt depicts Charles V in his imperial garb

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Up till Luther’s departure on 26 April, Richard von Greiffenklau, archbishop of Trier, tried to defuse the situation together with his counselors. Several conversations in the Johanniterhof as well as in the archbishop’s own lodgings — the last being held the day prior to Luther’s departure  — led nowhere. There was also a certain fear of a civil commotion in town. Luther finally departed on 26 April. On the return journey, what had now become a small group of travelers was ambushed near Altenstein Castle. Elector Friedrich of Saxony had staged the ambush and had Luther spirited away, to be concealed in the Wartburg. Although the Edict of Worms is dated 8 May 1521, it was not published until 26 May, after many of the participants at the Imperial Diet had already departed. In fact, the emperor was never quite able to implement the edict’s strict stipulations, not even in Worms itself. An energetic Anabaptist group emerged in the town, and the final battle of the Peasants War took place in 1525 just outside the town gates in Pfeddersheim.

The Prophets of Worms The most important witness to Anabaptist activities in Worms is a partial, preLutheran translation of the Bible known as the “Prophets of Worms”, Alle Propheten nach Hebraischer sprach verteutscht, published in 1527 by Peter Schöffer the Younger, who had set up a printing shop in Worms after arriving from Mainz in 1518. Remaining active in Worms for eleven years, in 1529 he also printed the “Worms Bible”, the first complete German translation of the Bible during the Reformation period, assembled from those parts of the Luther translation that had already appeared and supplemented by those of the Zurich Bible. The spiritual fathers of the translation of the prophets were Hans Denck and Ludwig Hätzer. The latter’s motto, “O, Lord, redeem the captives”, graces not only all of his own books but this edition of the “prophets of Worms” as well. These two figures, Denck and Hätzer, were active on the periphery of the early Anabaptist movement that also had a presence in Worms. Even at their arrival in Worms, however, both men had already had turbulent lives. Hans Denck, who was born around 1500 in Heybach (Haibach in Lower Franconia), studied from 1517 to 1519 in Ingolstadt, where he was influenced by humanism. From 1523, at the recommendation of the Basel Reformer Johannes Oecolampadius, he worked as a headmaster in Nuremberg. Early on, he became a critic of the Lutheran Reformation, which in his view did too little to promote the inner transformation of believers, and was hence expelled in 1525. He journeyed to St. Gallen, where he became acquainted with Anabaptism. He then baptized Hans Hut, that is, repeated the baptism that had already been performed on him

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Martin Luther, Hans Denck and Ludwig Hätzer

as an infant; although this act qualified him essentially as an Anabaptist, in reality he could sooner be described as a spiritualist who combined humanist and mystical influences. Denck, who was highly educated, also advocated an understanding of tolerance that was quite in advance of his own age. From Augsburg he went to Strasbourg, and from Strasbourg to Worms in January 1527. Here, too, however, problems arose that prevented him from remaining, and he was expelled during the summer of 1527. Denck continued his itinerant life through southern Germany and Switzerland but died of pestilence in November that same year in Basel. He did not even make it to his thirtieth birthday; at the end of his life he renounced Title page of the “Prophets of Worms” Anabaptism, though not spiritualism. of 1527: “All the prophets of the Hebrew Ludwig Hätzer’s life was no less language rendered in German. O, Lord, eventful. He was born around 1500 redeem the captives. MD.XXVII” in Bischofszell in Switzerland, and he, too, had received a solid humanist education. By 1523 he was living in Zurich in the same milieu as Zwingli. Hätzer was more radical than Denck, however, and in 1523 published a piece challenging the presence of imagery in churches, citing the Old Testament prohibition in support of his position. When disagreements arose in Zurich concerning infant baptism, he was expelled in 1525. After encountering Hans Denck in Augsburg and Strasbourg, he and Denck became friends and began working together, both moving to Worms after their expulsion from Strasbourg. Their paths parted, however, when they had to leave Worms. Hätzer’s path took him further through southern Germany, and it 1529 he was tried, convicted and beheaded in Constance on charges of fornication and bigamy; source documents make it difficult to determine whether and to what extent those charges were based on facts. In any case, such procedures made it easy to get rid of undesirable deviants. The most impressive accomplishment of Denck and Hätzer was almost certainly the translation of the prophets published in Worms. The two arrived in Worms in January 1527, and the printed edition already appeared in two formats on 13 April.

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The work these two men put in during their three months in Worms was truly formidable. In the preface, Hätzer remarked that he and Denck had “spared neither the utmost diligence nor the most rigorous work of the understanding, nor neglected any reading, nor indeed shied away from anything” in order to bring the translation to fruition. The translation, which linguistically followed south German conventions, was in any case an excellent piece of work, something Luther, too, could not but acknowledge. He wrote in his Open Letter on Translation:

“Therefore I hold that no false Christian or sectary can translate correctly, as is clearly the case, for instance, in the Worms edition of the prophets. Great labor was employed in its preparation, and my German was closely followed; but Jews had a hand in it as well, with little reverence for Christ — though in and of itself, there was certainly skill and industry enough.”

That is, Jews allegedly participated in producing the translation, which troubled Luther. Whether “Jews had a hand in it as well” has still not been finally established. Although some evidence suggests that Hätzer and Denck did have contact with the Jewish community in Worms, it is not reliably documented. In all likelihood they used rabbinic biblical commentaries. Zwingli used the Worms translation of the Prophets a source for his Zurich Bible; he even included the translation of the Book of Daniel almost word-for-word.

The confessionally divided town Luther’s appearance in 1521 may have provided an additional impulse for Worms to accept the Reformation as early as it did. The ensuing period was turbulent, however, and not just because of the presence of Anabaptists. Because the Catholic bishop maintained his residence in the town as well, conflicts were unavoidable. The town remained confessionally mixed, even after the Peace of Augsburg of 1555. Reformed believers, however, have been living in the town since the seventeenth century and have had their own church since 1744. In 1816 Worms, together with the part of Rhine Hesse on the western bank of the Rhine, became part of the Grand Duchy of Hesse. In 1822 Lutherans and Reformed within the grand duchy joined to form a united Protestant church. Over time, confessional numbers in Worms have consolidated into two thirds Protestant and one third Catholic.

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The Luther monument by the artist Ernst Rietschel, dedicated in 1868. From left to right: Friedrich the Wise, Augsburg (sitting), Reuchlin, Savonarola (sitting), Luther, Hus (sitting), Melanchthon, Magdeburg (sitting), and Philipp of Hesse

The Church of the Holy Trinity, built in 1709, was the main Lutheran church in Worms

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Today Worms is known all over the world for its Luther monument, the largest commemorative Reformation arrangement in the world. Designed by the Dresden artist Ernst Rietschel, it was dedicated on 25 June 1868, in the presence of the Prussian king and later German emperor Wilhelm I. Luther stands at center on a high pedestal. At his feet, four pioneers of the Reformation are seated: Peter Waldo (Waldes of Lyon), John Wycliffe, Jan Hus and Girolamo Savonarola. Worldly power and the power of the Spirit are represented in the figures on the four corner posts: Prince Elector Friedrich the Wise, Landgrave Philipp of Hesse, Johannes Reuchlin, and Philipp Melanchthon. The figures of three women, seated between these four men, represent “Speyer (protesting)”, the “Augsburg Peace” and “Magdeburg (mourning)”. The commemorative culture of Worms focuses not only on its Jewish heritage and the Nibelung tradition, but also on the central role Worms played in the history of the Reformation, including its attempt to secure a unity of confession in the otherwise failed sixteenth-century religious dialogues.  Dr. Ulrich Oelschläger was a senior master at Frankenthal grammar school and has since 2010 been president of the Synod of the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau. He is also the spokesperson on Luther of the city of Worms.

Further reading Paul Kalkoff, Die Depeschen des Nuntius Aleander vom Wormser Reichstage 1521, Halle: Verein für Reformationsgeschichte, 1886 Otto Kammer et al., Auf den Spuren Luthers und der Reformation in Worms, Worms: Worms-Verlag, 2012 Fritz Reuter (ed.), Der Reichstag zu Worms von 1521. Reichspolitik und Luthersache, Worms: Stadtarchiv, 1971 Ulrich Oelschläger, “Die Wormser Propheten von 1527. Eine vorlutherische Teilübersetzung der Bibel”, in: Ebernburghefte 42. Folge (2008), pp. 19‒50 Volker Jung and Ulrich Oelschläger (eds.), Worms, Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2015 (Orte der Reformation, Journal 25)

Visiting Worms www.worms.de/de/tourismus/tourist-info/broschueren.php#anchor_f43671fe_brochuresin-English www.rheinhessen-evangelisch.de/die-dekanate/dekanat-worms-wonnegau

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Zurich Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger by Judith Engeler and Peter Opitz

Zurich During the late Middle Ages, Zurich was a prosperous town of approximately five thousand inhabitants. Its economy was based on artisans organized in guilds and since they focused on the open marketplace, commerce was also flourishing. The town’s commercially acquired wealth enabled it to acquire subject territory in the surrounding area whose population was approximately ten times that of the town itself. Despite the town’s rather modest number of inhabitants its regional political significance increased so much that in 1510 it took over from Lucerne as Vorort, i. e. leader of the Old Confederation of Swiss cantons. Confederation diets were held in Zurich no fewer than twenty-four times between 1517 and 1519. And because mercenary alliances were negotiated there, this town on the Limmat River gradually became a center of foreign diplomacy. Its general character was enlivened not only by the many artisans, craftsmen, guild members, merchants and clergy members, but now also by its numerous foreign visitors. In 1515 Markus Röist, the mayor, led the retreat of Confederation troops after their defeat by France in the battle of Marignano. Gradually, however, in both the town and the countryside, opposition was growing against the practice of mercenary services in general. It was financially lucrative for the ruling class which got paid on a regular basis (“pensions”) for delivering young warriors for different armies. However, business with mercenaries was leading to corruption and moral degeneration.

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Zurich, colorized illustration from Sebastian Münster, “Cosmographey”, Basel, 1567

Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531) In 1518, with Zurich vacillating between loyalty to Rome and its disinclination to continue the mercenary business, the position of people’s priest at the Grossmünster (great minster) became vacant. The canons selected thirty-four-year-old Huldrych Zwingli, who during his years in Glarus had taken a position against the mercenary alliance with France and had also drawn attention to himself with sermons against all kinds of mercenary practice, and the pension system as a whole. Zwingli began his office on 1 January 1519 in a programmatic fashion by breaking with the late medieval preaching tradition. Instead he interpreted the Gospel of Matthew consecutively verse by verse, in this way presenting the “gospel” of Christ. During this early period, Zwingli was already viewing himself as a “prophetic” interpreter of the divine word, and this self-understanding only increased when he fell ill with pestilence in September 1519. After this existential crisis, the people’s priest resolved to devote his entire life to proclamation as an “instrument of God”.

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Although few sources document Zwingli’s spiritual and theological development as a Reformer up till 1522, that period had probably been shaped by his realization in 1516 that the Bible alone (not together with ecclesiastical tradition) is to be the standard for the Christian life, and Christ alone (not together with the saints) the source of all salvation. Zwingli’s theological adaptation and consolidation of this initial insight was nourished and stimulated by material from Augustine and other Church Fathers, by fundamental theological ideas from Erasmus, and, beginning in 1518, also by Zwingli’s own independent selection and study of Luther’s early writings, all the while critically checking back with the Bible, which he studied intensively. With growing support, if not entirely without conflict, Zwingli used these early years in Zurich to prepare the ground for a renewal of society according to the standard of the divine Word. During the spring of 1522, a number of transgressions against the church’s fasting commandment were committed, presumably prompted by Zwingli’s ser­­ mons. The “eating of sausage” at the home of the printer Christoph Froschauer created a public stir, since although the eating of eggs and meat was prohibited

Title page of Huldrych Zwingli, “Von erkiesen und freyheit der speisen” (On Freedom of Choice in the Selection of Food), Augsburg, 1522

Huldrych Zwingli; posthumous portrait (oil on parchment) by Hans Asper

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during times of fasting, the company on this occasion consumed sliced smoked sausage in Zwingli’s presence. In defense of those who thus broke the fast, the people’s priest delivered a sermon on the free choice of foods, which he then immediately published as a statement on the Christian’s freedom from all spiritual directives of a human origin. The general outcry was so great that the town council, quite against the will of the bishop, convened a disputation for late January 1523 at which Zwingli was to render a public account of his teachings. However, the decision in his favor had already been made with the announcement, since the council had stipulated that the disputation was to be based on Scripture. In the debate before two hundred council members and four hundred members of the clergy, Zwingli emerged victorious over the older doctrine. As for the council, by resolving that henceforth Zwingli and with him all others who proclaimed the gospel would preach solely on the basis of the Bible, it identified itself as a specifically Christian entity that thereby assumed powers of decision concerning the town’s religious affairs. Having summarized his doctrine for the disputation in sixty-seven articles, Zwingli now adapted them for publication in book form, Auslegung und Begründung der Schlussreden (Interpretation and justification of the concluding discourses). In October 1523 there was a second disputation. Within two years of it, the veneration of saints and the Mass had been abolished, and cultic images removed,  — everything with the approval of the town council. One particularly significant innovation was the reorganization of worship with a Reformed Lord’s Supper according to Zwingli’s liturgy at Easter 1525. Life in the town itself also changed. Monasteries were abolished; on 30 November 1524 the abbess at the Fraumünster, Katharina von Zimmern, consigned her institution to the town council. Its possessions were used for outfitting schools and for social welfare, which was reflected in the new alms ordinance of January 1525. While forbidding begging it established a kitchen for feeding the poor, known as the Mushafen (soup pot). A theology school (Lektorium) was established for articulating and disseminating Protestant doctrine, and later renamed Prophezei. Each weekday except Friday, beginning in June 1525, scholars of the biblical languages debated publicly about interpretations of the Bible in the cathedral chancel, concluding with a sermon in German. The Prophezei eventually turned into the Zurich Hohe Schule, an institution of higher learning which served as the model for numerous Reformed academies. Then, in the nineteenth century, it grew to become the city’s university. This institution also in 1531 produced the first complete translation of the Bible into German during the Reformation.

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Title page (colorized by hand) of the first edition of the Zurich Bible of 1531 with woodcuts by Hans Holbein, published by Christoph Froschauer in Zurich

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Intra-Protestant conflicts Zwingli’s entire career in Zurich was dogged by conflict. One particular problem among the Protestants was the Anabaptist movement, which was still quite heterogeneous and in part associated with rebellious peasants. Because the town council regarded this movement as a threat to political order, it opposed it with increasing severity. Eventually it even drowned in the Limmat River one of Zwingli’s own earlier comrades-in-arms, the Anabaptist Felix Manz, albeit not on any “religious” charge of “heresy”, but for perjury and persistent disobedience toward the authorities. Zwingli himself viewed Anabaptism as a form of “tumult”. Increasing disagreements soon also emerged with the Wittenberg Reformation. The Zurich people’s priest was pursuing a different line of thought than the former monk in Wittenberg on a key doctrinal point, namely, the Eucharist. In Zwingli’s view, Luther had not distanced himself sufficiently from the Roman Catholic understanding of the sacrament. Zwingli believed that in the Eucharist, the congregation was celebrating a commemoration of Christ’s one-time sacrifice and the presence of Christ in spirit, whereas Luther, more focused on the individual forgiveness of sins, emphasized the corporeal presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharistic elements. Not even the Marburg colloquy organized by Philipp of Hesse in 1529 could prevent a break. Though the two Reformers did not differ in any appreciable way concerning other fundamental Reformation doctrines, Luther nonetheless rejected Zwingli’s offer of “reconciled diversity”.

Zwingli’s death

Zurich’s position with regard to foreign affairs became increasingly difficult. The fact that various cantons such as St. Gallen, Schaffhausen, Bern, and Basel had joined the Reformation aggravated the confessional divisions within the Confederation. Catholic cantons such as Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug, Lucerne, and the towns of Freiburg and Solothurn all concluded an accord with King Ferdinand of Austria, hitherto the traditional archenemy of the Confederation, against the new faith; Protestants entered into a similar alliance. There were repeated incidents, especially in areas of “common governance” by several Confederation cantons. The Confederation encountered completely new political situations, which earlier treaties could not resolve. An example: the majority of the population of a region governed by several cantons had joined the Reformation and looked to Zurich as its legal protector power, while at the same time the current governor mandated

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by an “interior” Catholic canton appealed for support in repressing “Zwinglian heresy” from his own canton. When various incidents such as the execution of Protestants as heretics made the possibility of military confrontation increasingly likely, Zwingli himself started planning a military campaign. After the first confrontation between the Catholic and Protestant cantons had ended peacefully in 1529, things turned out quite differently in the “Second” War of Kappel in 1531. Zurich troops, taken by surprise and outnumbered, were defeated, and Zwingli died on the battlefield near Kappel (now Kappel am Albis) on 11 October 1531.

Heinrich Bullinger (1504–75) In 1531 the Zurich town council chose Heinrich Bullinger as Zwingli’s successor, a twenty-seven-year-old who had had to leave his hometown of Bremgarten. Bullinger entered office as antistes (first pastor) under extremely adverse circumstances. On the one hand, Zurich was burdened by a disadvantageous peace imposed by the five Catholic cantons, and, on the other, the relationship between church and state was in need of rebalancing. The town council no longer wanted pastors to raise political issues in the pulpit. Bullinger, however, managed to secure a forum for critical dialogue between pastors and the authorities by establishing a system of oral presentations of issues (Fürträge). The “watchman” office of church oversight was secured insofar as the antistes was henceforth allowed to present grievances and biblically based criticism directly to the council. This institution, a rarity in church history, made it possible for church and state to engage in critical exchange without the one or other party functioning in a paternalistic role. Bullinger succeeded in consolidating the Reformation both in Zurich and in the Confederation. A new church ordinance was adopted in autumn of 1532, remaining unchanged for almost three hundred years. A synod comprising all pastors and church teachers, as well as council representatives, was established as the highest church body. It met twice yearly and, with the mayor in office and senior pastor presiding, it primarily addressed issues concerning the selection of pastors and supervision of their administration. The institutional continuation of the Reformation in Zurich was thereby guaranteed. Bullinger also helped to shape the Confederation itself, respecting the Second Kappel Treaty and its principle of cuius regio, eius religio (whose realm, his religion), and continuing as friend and adviser to his like-minded colleagues and students in “Reformed” cantons. He was also politically active, however, contributing to the confession of the Reformed “Swiss” cantons (Confessio Helvetica prior, 1536) and composing the Confessio Helvetica posterior (1566),

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Title page of the first batch of Heinrich Bullinger’ sermons, “Sermonum Decades duæ”, Zurich, 1549. Bullinger’s “Decades of Sermons” appeared between 1549 and 1552, first in Latin, then they were quickly translated into German (with the title “Hausbuch”), English, Dutch and French. They were particularly influential in the Netherlands, eastern Europe, and England, where for a time they were compulsory reading for pastors alongside the Bible

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Heinrich Bullinger; portrait by Hans Asper, 1559

a theological apology of the Heidelberg Catechism. This “private confession”, which Bullinger sent to Friedrich III of the Palatinate at his request, was not only accepted by Protestant cantons within the Confederation itself, but also enjoyed widespread dissemination throughout Europe, for example, in France, Scotland and Hungary.

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As early as 1549, Zurich and Geneva, the latter represented by the Reformer John Calvin, reached an agreement concerning the question of the Eucharist, the Consensus Tigurinus, a cornerstone of the unity of the global “Reformed” movement. Bullinger’s work, however, focused on the sermon. He had already devoted himself to biblical interpretation as a young monastery teacher in Kappel, and now, continued this activity as antistes, also preaching several times a week. Indeed, during his lengthy career he eventually interpreted almost the whole of Scripture, and most of the New Testament several times. Bullinger’s numerous catechetical writings similarly served the edification of the church, and his Decades, fifty comprehensive doctrinal and prepared sermons, were used all over Europe. Bullinger was also quite successful as a pastoral counselor. His countless writings include a Protestant guide to counseling the sick and dying (Unterweisung der Kranken) and also his thoughts on Christian marriage that enjoyed multiple printings (Der christliche Ehestand). Bullinger himself had been married since 1529. Bullinger’s copious correspondence similarly attests the extensive pastoral influence he exerted throughout Europe. The approximately 12,000 letters to and from the Reformer add up to the sum of the correspondences of Luther, Zwingli, Calvin and Erasmus put together. The network of this immense correspondence extends from Italy to England and from France to Belarus, and at once demonstrates how Bullinger exerted a defining influence on the entirety of European Protestantism even though he never left the geographical confines of the Confederation during his office as antistes. He died in 1575. Huldrych Zwingli and his successor, Heinrich Bullinger, at once preservers and innovators, shaped the fate of the Zurich church for almost sixty years. Bullinger (and Calvin) built on Zwingli’s overall body of thought, which was initially strongly focused on the Swiss Confederation, and developed it further so that it eventually spread throughout Europe.  Judith Engeler, MA, studied theology in Zurich and is currently a doctoral student at Zurich University.  Dr. Peter Opitz is professor of Church and Dogmatic History at Zurich University and head of the Institute for Swiss Reformation History.

Further reading Gottfried W. Locher, Die Zwinglische Reformation im Rahmen der Europäischen Kirchen­ geschichte, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1979 Peter Opitz, Ulrich Zwingli. Prophet, Ketzer, Pionier des Protestantismus, Zürich: TVZ, 2015 Fritz Büsser, Heinrich Bullinger. Leben, Werk und Wirkung, 2 vols., Zürich: TVZ, 2004 Visiting Zurich www.zuerich.ch/content/zh/en/index.html www.zh.ref.ch

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It was not possible in every case to find the rights-holders of the illustrations. Justified claims will, of course, be settled in the context of the usual agreements. P. 27 Photo: Hannes Hulstaert P. 29 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: A 330 A Folio RES::5, p. 27a P. 30 Henri-Arnaud-Haus ÖtisheimSchönenberg P. 33 Photo: Hannes Hulstaert P. 37 Photo: Andreas Link P. 39 Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg i. Br., Historische Sammlungen: J. 4763,h, p. 0995 P. 40 Staats- und Stadtbibliothek Augsburg: 4 Cod S 92, after p. 60 P. 43 Portrait: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek: Res/Art. 1411 a P. 43 Title page: Staats- und Stadtbibliothek Augsburg: 4 Aug 930 P. 44 Photo: Andreas Link P. 45 Photo: Andreas Link P. 49 Portrait: Courtesy National Gallery of Art Washington P. 49 Title page: Universitäts-und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf: BIBLTH-1A-83(2) P. 51 Kunstmuseum Basel, Birmann-Fonds mit baselstädtischen Beiträgen, 1903. Photo: Kunstmuseum Basel, Martin P. Bühler P. 52 Andreas Hindemann, Evangelischreformierte Kirche Basel-Stadt

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P. 54 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: A 330 A Folio RES::2, p. 40a P. 55 Andreas Hindemann, Evangelischreformierte Kirche Basel-Stadt P. 58 Philippe Chareyre P. 59 Portrait Margarete: www.unimannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/ beze.html P. 59 Portrait Roussel. Photo: Philippe Chareyre P. 61 Gorse, Pierre- 1870 Château d’Henri IV à Pau, Bibliothèque municipale de Toulouse. Photo: Gaston Boussières. P. 63 Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, Estampes et photographie: Reserve NA-22 (13)-BTE P. 65 Philippe Chareyre (2 ×) P. 68 Roland Gerber, Die geistlichen Niederlassungen, in: Berns grosse Zeit. Das 15. Jahrhundert neu entdeckt, hg. von Ellen J. Beer et al., Bern 22003 (Schulverlag; Stämpfli Verlag), pp. 62-74, here p. 64 P. 69 Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg i. Br., Historische Sammlungen: J. 4763,h, p. 0662 P. 70 Schweizer Nationalbibliothek, GS-GUGE-LORY-B-25, www.helvetic archives.ch/detail.aspx?ID=742863

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P. 72 Medal: Stadtbibliothek Winterthur, Münzkabinett: Md 1810 P. 72 Portrait: Manuel (Deutsch), Niklaus. Selbstbildnis, 1520. Mixed technique on parchment on canvas, 34,4 × 28,5 cm. Kunstmuseum Bern P. 74 Zentralbibliothek Zürich: Ms. B 316, f. 316r P. 75 Universität Bern, Bibliothek Münstergasse, Signatur: MUE Laut Q 52:1 P. 78 Photo: Jarek Ciuruś von Jar.Ciurus (Eigenes Werk) [CC BY-SA 3.0 pl (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/3.0/pl/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons P. 79 Bayerische Staatsbibliothek: 2 Mapp. 38-3/4#4 P. 80 Location : Wroclaw (Breslau), Muz. Narodowe. Photo: © ARTOTHEK P. 82 Private P. 85 Title page: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin — Preußischer Kulturbesitz: Eo 6050 P. 85 Portrait: private P. 88 Staatliche Bibliothek Regensburg: 999/2 Hist.pol. 619 (18/19 P. 89 Photo: Thomas Rebel P. 91 Melanchthonhaus Bretten P. 93 Photo: Thomas Rebel P. 94 Staats- und Stadtbibliothek Augsburg: 4 Th H 1778 P. 98 Photo: Charlotte Methuen P. 99 Photo: Reggie Thomson P. 100 National Portrait Gallery: 535 P. 101 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: A 330 A Folio RES::2, p. 1a P. 105 Engraving: Private P. 105 Plaque: Photo: Charlotte Methuen P. 108 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: A 330 A Folio RES::2, p. 41a P. 109 Landesmuseum Württemberg Stuttgart. Photo: H. Zwietasch P. 110 Photo: Oliver Hanser P. 112 Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München: 4 H.ref. 89 P. 115 Stadt Konstanz

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P. 118 Christian III.: The Museum of National History on Frederiksborg Castle. Photo: Hans Petersen P. 118 Bugenhagen: Evangelisches Prediger­ seminar Lutherstadt Wittenberg P. 119 Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München: 2 Mapp. 38-3/4#4 P. 121 Photo: Anders Toftgaard P. 123 Photo: Anders Toftgaard P. 126 PerfectPage Karlsruhe P. 127 Reformiertes Kollegium Debrecen: TtREK R 2908 P. 128 Photo: Teofil Kovacs P. 129 Photo: János Barcza P. 131 Photo: János Barcza (2 ×) P. 133 Photo: János Barcza P. 134 Photo: János Barcza P. 136 Bayerische Staatsbibliothek: 2 Mapp. 38-3/4#3 P. 138 Wishart: Scottish National Portrait Gallery: PG 580 P. 138 Knox: www.uni-mannheim.de/ mateo/camenaref/beze/beze1/jpg/ s224.html P. 141 By Carlos Delgado (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creative commons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons P. 143 The forme of prayers, Title page: By permission of the President and Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Oxford: phi. B. 1.1. P. 145 Photo: Private P. 148 Photo: Johannes a Lasco Bibliothek Emden P. 148 Title page: Niedersächsischen Landesarchiv - Standort Aurich: Rep. 135 Nr. 145 P. 149: Johannes a Lasco Bibliothek Emden P. 151 Johannes a Lasco Bibliothek Emden P. 152 Johannes a Lasco Bibliothek Emden P. 154 (3 ×) Johannes a Lasco Bibliothek Emden P. 155 Johannes a Lasco Bibliothek Emden P. 159 bpk/RMN – Grand Palais/RenéGabriel Ojéda P. 160 Universitätsarchiv Heidelberg: UAH Dia II 00102

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P. 161 Photo: Renate J.Deckers-Matzko P. 162 Henri-Arnaud-Haus ÖtisheimSchönenberg P. 163 Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel : Portr. I 2876 (A 4193) P. 164 Universitätsbibliothek Bern – Zentralbibliothek: ZB Ryh 3808 : 49 P. 166 Henri-Arnaud-Haus ÖtisheimSchönenberg P. 168: Bibliothèque de Genève P. 169 Bibliothèque de Genève: GLN-500, e-rara-578 P. 171 Bibliothèque de Genève P. 172 Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg i. Br., Historische Sammlungen: J. 4763,h, p. 0248 P. 173 Portrait: Bibliothèque de Genève P. 173 Title page: Musée historique de la Réformation Genève: O4g (557) P. 175 Musée international de la Réforme (MIR) Genève P. 176 Photo: Davide Rosso P. 179 Staatsarchiv Hamburg: Bestand 111-1 Senat, Cl. VII Lit. La Nr. 2 Vol. 1c, http://diglib.hab.de/mss/ed000058 P. 180 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: A 330 A Folio RES::1, p. 24a P. 183 Staats-und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg: Scrin 175f P. 184 Staatsarchiv Hamburg: Bestand 512-3 St. Nikolaikirche, XIII 1; Gottes­ kastenordnung von St. Nikolai, 1527 P. 187 Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München: Res/Art. 1409 f P. 190 Photo: Albert de Lange P. 191 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: A 330 A Folio RES::1, p. 34a P. 192 Universitäts-und Landesbibliothek Darmstadt: HS-1971, Bd. 4, fol. 56r P. 193 Universitäts-und Landesbibliothek Darmstadt: HS-1971, Bd. 4, fol. 242r P. 194 Private P. 195 Photo: Albert de Lange P. 197 Heidelberger Katechismus, 3th edition: Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: Q 7188-4 B RES P 197 Title pages: Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg (2 ×)

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P. 200 Herborn: Digitalisat der Universitätsund Landesbibliothek Halle, urn:nbn:de:gbv:3:1-665824-p0148-7 P. 200 Dillenburg: Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: A 330 A Folio RES::6, p. 12a P. 202 Property of (Protestant) Theologisches Seminar, Schloss Herborn. Photo: Bettina Keul (Fotostudio Herborn) P. 203 Stadtbibliothek/Stadtarchiv Trier. Photo: Anja Runkel. Signature: Portrait Caspar Olevian P. 205 Disputation pews: Photo: Jens Trocha P. 205 Drawing: 2 April 1751, entry in family register of J. H. Achenbach, p. 255. Stadtarchiv Siegen. Photo: Stadtarchiv Siegen P. 206 Photo: Bettina Keul (Fotostudio Herborn) P. 207 Photo: Bettina Keul (Fotostudio Herborn) P. 210 Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg: Cod. theol. 1144 P. 212 Landeskreis für Siebenbürgische Landeskunde e. V., Heidelberg P. 213 Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel: J 228.8 Helmst. (4) P. 214 Photo: Otto Schemmel P. 215 Photo: Daniel Buda P. 218 Landeskreis für Siebenbürgische Landeskunde e.V., Heidelberg P. 219 https://commons.wikimedia.org/ wiki/File:Johannes-Honterus.jpg P. 220 Title page: Johannes a Lasco Bibliothek Emden: Theol. 8° 0219 M P. 220 Statue: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Photo von Pudelek (Marcin Szala) – photo P. 221 Mihai Raducanu (Eigenes Werk) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creative commons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. https://www.facebook.com/ MihaiRaducanuPhotographer/ P. 223 Katichisis: Muzeul Național Brukenthal Sibiu, Romania

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P. 223 Praecepta: Archiv und Bibliothek der Honterusgemeinde, Braşov-Kronstadt P. 224 Photo: Andreas Müller P. 228 Photo: Willem de Wildt (2 ×) P. 230 Universiteitsbibliotheek Gent, http://lib.ugent.be/catalog/ bkt01:000311494 P. 231 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: A 330 A Folio RES::2, p. 25a P. 233 Photo: Willem de Wildt P. 234 By Willem van Swanenburgh (Gravure door Swanenburgh, 1608) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons P. 235 Photo: Willem de Wildt P. 236 Bic (Wikimedia Commons) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/3.0) or Attribution], via Wikimedia Commons P. 238 Photo: Peter Neumann. Ownership: private P. 239 Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart P. 241 Portrait: National- und Universitäts­ bibliothek Llubljana. http://www. dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:DOCP23ZYWWR/? P. 241 Title page: Österreichische National­ bibliothek Wien: 18.Z.44 Alt Rara P. 242 Photo: Marjan Smerke P. 243 Photo: Marjan Smerke P. 246 Photo: Rudolf Uhrig P. 247 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: A 330 A Folio RES::5, p. 19a P. 248 Photo: Albert de Lange P. 250 Henri-Arnaud-Haus ÖtisheimSchönenberg P. 251 City map: Archives municipales de Lyon: 2 S ATLAS 3 pl. 12. Photo: Gilles Bernasconi P. 252 Portrait: www.uni-mannheim.de/ mateo/camenaref/beze/beze1/jpg/ s142.html P. 253 Bibliothèque de Genève P. 256 Hessische Hausstiftung Museum Schloss Fasanerie, Eichenzell bei Fulda P. 257 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: A 330 A Folio RES::1, p. 26a

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P. 258 Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Darmstadt P. 259 Bildarchiv Photo Marburg. Photo: Ludwig Bickell P. 261 Bildarchiv Photo Marburg P. 262 Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg P. 266 St. Galler Stadtbibliothek Vadiana P. 267 Photo: Andreas Marx (2 ×) P. 268 Stadt Memmingen P. 270 Andreas Marx P. 271 Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staatsund Universitätsbibliothek Dresden: Hist.Germ.B.178,48. Photo: Deutsche Photothek  P. 274/275 Universitäts- und Landes­ bibliothek Düsseldorf, http:// urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:1-4298 P. 276 Burg & Schloss Allsted P. 278 Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, Halle (Saale): Pon Vg 646 QK b., http://digitale. bibliothek.uni-halle.de/urn/ urn:nbn:de:gbv:3:1-120114 P. 279 bpk/Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin — Preußischer Kulturbesitz: CU 4677 P. 280 Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, Halle (Saale): AB 155723 (5), http://nbn-resolving.de/ urn:nbn:de:gbv:3:1-301663 P. 281 Burg & Schloss Allsted. Photo: René Grusche P. 284 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: A 330 A Folio RES::1, p. 22a P. 285 Photo: Rüdiger Wölk, Münster, Germany P. 288 Courtesy National Gallery of Art Washington P. 289 Staats- und Stadtbibliothek Augsburg: 4 Gs 1734 P. 290 Staatliches Baumanagement Osnabrück-Emsland P. 293 Musée d’art et d’histoire de Neuchâtel: H 1117 P. 294 Photo: Private P. 295 Musée d’art et d’histoire de Neuchâtel: A 2087 P. 296 Società di Studi Valdesi, Torre Pellice. Photo: Landesbildstelle Baden

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P. 297 Bibliothèque publique et universitaire de Neuchâtel: PO NE 1/22 P. 298 Musée d’art et d’histoire de Neuchâtel: AA 1997.52.D P. 299 Musée d’art et d’histoire de Neuchâtel: H 781 P. 302/303 Universitätsbibliothek Heidel­ berg: A 330 A Folio RES::1, p. 31a P. 304 https://upload.wikimedia.org/ wikipedia/commons/2/2a/ Alt-N%C3%BCrnberg_ Augustinerkirche_Engraving_bei_ Gottlieb_B%C3%A4umler_1846.jpg P. 305 Stockholm Nationalmuseum, Graphische Sammlung: NMH 1856/1863 P. 306 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana: Stamp.Pal. II 374. Riprodotta per concessione della Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, ogni diritto riservato P. 307 Stadtarchiv Nürnberg: A 7/II Nr. 125 P. 309 Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München: Res/2 Conc. 28#Beibd.1 P. 312 Photo: Wolfgang Pehlemann P. 314 Thüringer Museum Eisenach. Leih­ gabe der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirchgemeinde Orlamünde P. 316 Courtesy National Gallery of Art Washington (2 x) P. 317 Universitätsbibliothek Würzburg: Th.dp.q.1013 P. 322/323 Universitätsbibliothek Heidel­ berg: A 330 A Folio RES::2, p. 2a P. 325 Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, Halle (Saale): Nn161 P. 326 By permission of University of Glasgow Library, Special Collections: MS Hunter 191 (T.8.21) P. 328 © The British Library Board: C. 23.a.5 P. 329 Private P. 332 By http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Wikipedista_diskuse:Kf [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons P. 333 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: A 330 A Folio RES::1, p. 29a P. 335 Photo: Husitské muzeum v Táboře 2015, Zdeněk Prchlík

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P. 336 Photo: Gerhard Frey-Reininghaus P. 338 Photo: Björn Steinz P. 339 https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/ collection/RP-P-OB-78.422 P. 343 From: Matthias Asche et al. (Hg.), Die Baltischen Lande im Zeitalter der Reformation und Konfessionalisierung. Livland, Estland, Ösel, Ingermanland, Kurland und Lettgallen. Stadt, Land und Konfession 1500–1721, Bd. 1, Münster (Aschendorff Verlag) 2009 (Katholisches Leben und Kirchenreform im Zeitalter der Glaubensspaltung 69), Karte 3 [p. 21] P. 345 Zentralbibliothek Zürich: III O 85,7 P. 347 Badische Landesbibliothek Karlsruhe: 98B 76219 RH P. 348 Source=own work |Date=07.Aug 2007 |Author=User:Hendrixeesti |Permission=own work, all rights released (public domain) P. 349 bpk / Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin — Preußischer Kulturbesitz: Sign. Dr 16118 P. 352 View: Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg i. Br., Historische Sammlungen: J. 4763,h, p. 1260 P. 352 Sculptures: Photo: Ojārs Spārītis P. 353 Title page Knopken: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München: Hom. 224 P. 353 Title page Luther: Staatliche Bibliothek Regensburg: 999/4Theol. syst.758 (142) P. 354 Academic Library of he University of Latvia/Latvijas Akadēmiskās bibliotēkas dokumentu krājums: Johann Christoph Brotze, Collection: bm 01 043 a. P. 355 Photo: Janis Knakis P. 358 Cathedral: Photo: Ainars Radovics P. 358 Reformation window: Photo: Janis Knakis P. 359 Photo: Vitolds Masnovskis P. 360 Photo: Vitolds Masnovskis P. 362 Stadtarchiv Schwäbisch Hall P. 363 Photo: Jürgen Weller P. 364 Photo: H. Zwietasch, Landesmuseum Württemberg Stuttgart

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P. 365 Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart: Theol.qt.K.65 P. 366 Landeskirchliches Archiv Stuttgart P. 367 Photo: Jürgen Weller P. 370 Photo: Jesús Ángel González Redondo P. 371 Private P. 372 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: A 330 A Folio RES::5, p. 7a P. 373 Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, http:// hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001. COLLECT.442669 P. 375 Universitätsbibliothek Basel: FB I 1 P. 376 Photo: Ernesto Vigne, 2013 P. 380 Bauverein Dreifaltigkeitskirche Speyer e.V. Photo: Klaus Landry P. 381 Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg i. Br., Historische Sammlungen: J. 4763,h, p. 0806 P. 382 Photo: Klaus Landry P. 384 Bauverein Dreifaltigkeitskirche Speyer e.V. Photo: Klaus Landry P. 386 Evangelische Kirche der Pfalz. Photo: Klaus Landry P. 387 Evangelische Kirche der Pfalz. Photo: Klaus Landry P. 390 From: Matthias Asche und Anton Schindling (Hg.), Dänemark, Norwegen und Schweden im Zeitalter der Reformation und Konfessionalisierung. Nordische Königreiche und Konfession 1500 bis 1660, Münster (Aschendorff Verlag) 2003 (Katholisches Leben und Kirchenreform im Zeitalter der Glaubensspaltung 62), p. 23, Karte 1 P. 392 Nationalmuseum Stockholm: Grh 467 P. 393 By Bengt Oberger (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creative commons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons P. 394  Bayerische Staatsbibliothek 2 Mapp. 38-3/4#4 P. 395 Universitätsbibliothek Rostock, Ab­­ teilung Sondersammlungen: Fb-104 P. 396 City Museum of Stockholm P. 397 By Sven Rosborn (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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P. 400 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: A 330 A Folio RES::1, p. 33a P. 401 Staatliche Münzsammlung München. Photo: Nicolai Kästner P. 402 Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München: Res/4 Mor. 582,2 P. 404 Private P. 405 Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München: 4 Asc. 965 h P. 408 Stiftung Luthergedenkstätten in Sachsen-Anhalt P. 410 City view: Turku City Art Collection. Photo: Martti Puhakka / The Museum Centre of Turku P. 410 Title page: National Library of Finland. HYK Kansalliskokoelma Rv.Raamatut, http://s1.doria.fi/helmi/ bk/rv/fem19980090/1548korj.jpg P. 411 Digital collection of Finnish National Library. HYK Käsikirjoitukset Ms.Fol.12: 506, http://s1.doria .fi/helmi/ms/fem19990021/ tuomiokirkko.jpg P. 412 From: Helena Sederholm (Hg.), Pinx maalaustaide Suomessa, Vol. 1: Suuria kertomuksia, Helsinke (Weilin & Göös) 2001 P. 414 Turku City Art Collection. Photo: Mikko Kyynäräinen/The Museum Centre of Turku P. 415 Statue: The Museum Centre of Turku: Photographic archive. Photo: KameraAitta P. 415 Bust: Wyborg 07: A.Savin. Eigenes Werk. Lizenziert unter CC BY-SA 3.0 über Wikimedia Commons P. 418 Stadtarchiv Ulm: G7/2.1. Nr. 4012 P. 419 Ulmer Museum, Ulm. Photo: Wolfgang Adler, Stadtarchiv Ulm P. 420 Stadtarchiv Ulm: F 3/1 Ans. 440 P. 422 Stadtarchiv Ulm: A [8993/I], fol. 30r–31v P. 424 Title page: Ratschulbibliothek Zwickau: Sign. S 16.9.34(5) P. 424 Portrait: Stadtarchiv Ulm: F 4 Nr. 365/1 P. 425 Stadtarchiv Ulm: G7/3.4. Photo: Alexander Jennewein

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P. 428 From: Salvatore Caponetto, La Riforma protestante nell’Italia del Cinquecento, Torino (Claudiana Editrice) 1997², p. 174 P. 429 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: A 330 A Folio RES::1, p. 29a P. 430 Kunstsammlungen und Museen Augsburg: G12973 P. 431 Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München: H.ref. 244 bp P. 434 From: Stefan Oswald, Die Inquisition, die Lebenden und die Toten. Venedigs deutsche Protestanten, Sigmaringen (Thorbecke) 1989 P. 435 Comunità Evangelica Luterana di Venezia P. 438 The Museum of National History on Frederiksborg Castle P. 439 The Royal Library, Kopenhagen: The Map Collection P. 440 Photo: Kurt Nielsen  P. 442 The Royal Library Kopenhagen: LN 263 4° P. 444 von Arnoldius (Eigenes Werk) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creative commons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons P. 445 The Royal Library Kopenhagen P. 448 Title page: Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel: J 206.4° Helmst. (27) P. 448 Portrait : Bibliothèque Nationale de France, département Musique : Est. Speratus P.001 P. 449 Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: A 330 A Folio RES::1, p. 41a P. 450 Landesbibliothek Coburg: Rara 57,223 P. 451 Photo Ewald Judt P. 453 Staatliche Bibliothek Regensburg: Signatur: 999/2 Hist. pol. 619 (28) P. 454 Bwag (Eigenes Werk) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons P. 455 Bwag (Eigenes Werk) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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P. 458 repository.tudelft.nl/view/MMP/ uuid:574bca2d-ab7e-4e2a-a82d88110d4da2d7/ P. 459 Photo: Private P. 460 Universiteit van Amsterdam, Bijzondere Collecties: Prent G 93b P. 461 Color photo: René & Peter van der Krogt, http://standbeelden. vanderkrogt.net P. 461 Postcard: Private P. 462 Universiteit van Amsterdam, Bijzondere Collecties: OTM: Ned. Inc. 139 (1) P. 463 Hochgeladen von UM. CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons P. 465 Photo: Private P. 468 Stiftung Luthergedenkstätten in Sachsen-Anhalt P. 469 Zentrale Kustodie der Martin-LutherUniversität Halle-Wittenberg P. 471 Stiftung Luthergedenkstätten in Sachsen-Anhalt P. 472 Stiftung Luthergedenkstätten in Sachsen-Anhalt P. 473 Studio Kirsch Wittenberg P. 475 Melanchthonhaus Bretten P. 477 Portrait: Courtesy National Gallery of Art Washington P. 477 Title page: Melanchthonhaus Bretten P. 479 Stiftung Luthergedenkstätten in Sachsen-Anhalt. Photo: Hagen Immel P. 482/483 Universitätsbibliothek Heidel­­ berg: A 330 A Folio RES::1, p. 34a P. 483 Photo: Schäfer & Bonk P. 484 Stadtarchiv Worms P. 485 Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig: Kirchg. 996/2 P. 487 Stadtbibliothek Worms P. 489 Photo: Rudolf Uhrig (2 ×) P. 492 Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg i. Br., Historische Sammlungen: J. 4763,h, p. 0646 P. 493 Title page: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München: 4 Mor. 573 P. 493 Portrait: Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Geschenk der Erben von Baron

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Photo credits

Friedrich von Sulzer-Wart, 1868. © Schweizerisches Institut für Kunstwissenschaft Zürich, Jean-Pierre Kuhn P. 495 By permission of the Grossmünster

Zürich, http://dx.doi.org/10.3931/ e-rara-7469 P. 498 Zentralbibliothek Zürich: 5.104,3 P. 499 Zentralbibliothek Zürich, Graphische Sammlung und Photoarchiv

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Speyer Michael Diller

Worms Martin Luther, Hans Denck, Ludwig Hätzer

Bretten Philipp Melanchthon

FINLAND

Heidelberg Petrus Dathenus, Zacharias Ursinus

Turku Michael Agricola Stockholm Gustav I. Wasa, Olaus Petri

Nuremberg Andreas Osiander, Lazarus Spengler Schwäbisch Hall Johannes Brenz

Augsburg Wolfgang Musculus

GERMANY

SWITZERLAND

Constance Ambrosius, Margarete, Thomas Blarer

Reval/Tallinn, Dorpat/Tartu Hermann Marsow

Riga Andreas Knopken

Leiden Petrus Bloccius, Jan van Hout

Memmingen Christoph Schappeler Zurich Huldrych Zwingli, Heinrich Bullinger

Bern Berchtold Haller, Niklaus Manuel

Hamburg Stephan Kempe, Johannes Bugenhagen, Johannes Aepinus

Emden John a Lasco

Cambridge Thomas Cranmer

Basel Erasmus of Rotterdam, Johannes Oecolampadius

L AT V I A

DENMARK

Witmarsum Menno Simons

G R E AT B R I TA I N

Ulm Sebastian Franck, Caspar von Schwenckfeld

ESTONIA Copenhagen Johannes Bugenhagen

Edinburgh George Wishart, John Knox

Strasbourg Martin Bucer, Katharina Zell

Neuchâtel William Farel

SWEDEN

Viborg Hans Tausen

Oxford William Tyndale, John Wycliffe

NETHERLANDS BELGIUM

Wittenberg Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon

Marburg Philipp of Hesse, Adam Krafft

Breslau/ Wrocław Johann Hess, Zacharias Ursinus

GERMANY

Münster Bernhard Rothmann, Jan Matthys, Jan van Leiden

Prague Jan Hus

CZECH REPUBLIC

Antwerp Jacob Propst, William of Orange, Philip Marnix of St. Aldegonde

FRANCE

POLAND

Herborn Caspar Olevian

Mühlhausen Thomas Müntzer

SWITZERLAND

Béarn Marguerite de Navarre, Gérard Roussel, Jeanne d’Albret

Orlamünde Andreas Karlstadt Venice Bartolomeo Fonzio, Baldassarre Altieri

AUSTRIA

Debrecen Márton Kálmáncsehi Sánta, Péter Melius Juhász

Vienna Paul Speratus

HUNGARY

SLOVENIA

ROMANIA

Lyon Waldes, Pierre Viret Geneva John Calvin, Théodore de Béze Ferrara Olympia Morata, Renée de France

SPAIN Seville Dr. Egidio

Karte_Vorsatz.indd 1

Ljubljana/Laibach Primozˇ Truber

Hermannstadt/Sibiu Paul Wiener Kronstadt/Bras,ov Johannes Honterus, Valentin Wagner

I T A LY

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