ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½

OVERVIEW

The lecture asks where the Reformation came from, and how it took hold in the middle years of the sixteenth century, especially in Germany. This involves assessing the contribution of Martin Luther, and thinking about whether the Reformation would have been possible without him (a kind of case-study in the significance of individual agency in history). Many, probably most, scholars do not now think that the Reformation was inevitable, or that the late medieval Catholic Church was failing catastrophically in its mission. This makes accounting for the causes of the Reformation arguably more tricky, but also more interesting!

The seminar focuses on visual images, which were central to the Lutheran Reformation. Luther and his allies made the most of the recently-invented printing press, and of a new generation of brilliant German painters and engravers. Artists helped to disseminate Luther’s image across Europe and to demonise (often literally) the Roman church. Yet Luther and his followers were ambivalent about visual images, which they sometimes associated with luxury and idolatry. We look at an especially vivid image from 1546, the year of Luther’s death.

ESSENTIAL READING

Cohn, Henry J. 'The Long Reformation: Lutheran.' In Beat Kümin (ed.), The European World, 1500-1800: An Introduction to Early Modern History, 4th edn. (2022), pp. 102-112

this is a secondary source, meaning a document or other artefact made by historians after the period under study - this one is a general introduction to the week's topic

(1546) -

this is a primary source, meaning a document or other artefact made in the period under study

Silver, Larry. '.' In David Whitford (ed.), Martin Luther in Context (2018)

this is another secondary source, one that is specific to the primary source for this seminar

PRIMARY-SOURCE QUESTIONS

• what is 'going on' in this busy image? (how many different religious activities can you spot!?)
• what makes this image an effective piece of propaganda?
• what does the image tell us about the Lutheran attitude towards images?
• what do we learn about Reformation art by studying Reformation artists?

GENERAL QUESTIONS

• assess the strengths and weaknesses of Catholicism in Western Europe at the start of the sixteenth century.
• why did Luther’s ideas find such a receptive audience in Germany in the early years of his protest against Rome?
• what was ‘new’ about Martin Luther?
• why did religious reform not remain united, under Luther’s leadership?

* * *

RECOMMENDED READING

Kümin, Beat, and Peter Marshall. ‘Church and People at the Close of the Middle Ages’, in Beat Kümin (ed.), The European World, 1500-1800: An Introduction to Early Modern History, 4th edn. (Taylor and Francis, 2022).

Gregory, Brad, ‘The Radical Reformation’, in P. Marshall (ed.), The Oxford Illustrated History of the Reformation (2015), pp. 115-51.

Roper, Lyndal, ‘Martin Luther’, in P. Marshall (ed.), The Oxford Illustrated History of the Reformation (2015), pp. 42-75.

Kolb, Robert, ‘Martin Luther and the German Nation’ in R. Hsia (ed.), A Companion to the Reformation World (2006) (ebook) pp. 39-55.

Stayer, James M., ‘The German Peasants’ War and the Rural Reformation’, in A Pettegree (ed.), (2000) (ebook), chap. 8, pp. 127-45

R. N. Swanson, ‘The Pre-Reformation Church’, in A. Pettegree, (ed.), (2000), chap 2, pp. 9-30 (ebook)

Truman, Carl, ‘Luther and the Reformation in Germany’, in A. Pettegree, (ed.), (2000), chap 5, pp. 73-96 (ebook)

 

FURTHER READING

Late Medieval Church:

Aston, Margaret, Faith and Fire: Popular and Unpopular Religion, 1350-1600(1985), esp. chap. 6 ()

Brown, Andrew, '', in: Journal of Medieval History42, no. 3 (2016)

Duffy, Eamon, (1992; 2nd edn 2005) (ebook).

Duggan, Lawrence ‘The unresponsiveness of the late medieval Church: a reconsideration’, Sixteenth Century Journal9 (1978)

Moeller, Bernd, ‘Religious life in Germany on the eve of the Reformation’, in G. Strauss (ed.), Pre-Reformation Germany (1972)

Ozment, Steven, (1980) (ebook) chs. 1-5

Rubin, M., and W. Simons, eds, (Cambridge, 2009) (ebook)

Scribner, Bob, 'Ritual and Popular Religion in Catholic Germany at the Time of the Reformation', in Popular Culture and Popular Movements in Reformation Germany (1987), pp. 17-47.

Swanson, R.N., Religion and Devotion in Europe c.1215-c.1515 (1995)

Taylor, Larissa, ‘Society and Piety’, in R. Hsia. (ed.), (2002) (ebook)

Wallace, Peter G., (2003) (ebook), esp. chs 1-2.

 

Luther and the Early Reformation:

S. Bauer, The Art of Disagreeing Badly: Religious Dispute in Early Modern Europe (I-II) (online exhibitions), click

S. Bauer (ed.), , special issue of Renaissance Studies, 35 (2021) no. 1

P. Blickle, The Communal Reformation: The Quest for Salvation in Sixteenth-Century Germany (1992)

E. Cameron, The European Reformation(Oxford, 1991)

S. Dixon, (2002) (ebook)

C.S. Dixon (ed.), The German Reformation: The Essential Readings (1999)

H. Hendrix, ', Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Autumn, 1994)

D. MacCulloch, Reformation: Europe’s House Divided 1490-1700(2003)

P. Marshall, (2009) (ebook)

P. Marshall, 1517: Martin Luther and the Invention of the Reformation (2017)

Matheson (ed.), Reformation Christianity (2006)

A. Pettegree, (2005) (ebook)

A. Pettegree, Brand Luther: 1517, Printing, and the Making of the Reformation (2015)

L. Roper, Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet (2016) (scan of Introduction )

U. Rublack, Reformation Europe (2005)

Ryrie, Alec (ed.), Palgrave Advances in the European Reformations (2006)

R.W. Scribner, For the Sake of Simple Folk: Popular Propaganda for the German Reformation (1994)

Scribner et al. (eds), (1994) (ebook)

Scribner and G. Benecke (eds), The German Peasants War of 1525: New Viewpoints (1979)

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES: 

- links to works by Martin Luther

- collection of primary documents

- an introduction by the Newberry Library

The Papal Ass, by Cranach the Elder (1523) - see also

Historical Association Podcast Series:
'' (2010), featuring talks by Henry Cohn, Beat Kümin, Peter Marshall and Penny Roberts