Revisiting Humanism and the Urban Reformation

It is generally accepted that humanism paved the way for the success of the Reformation, but German humanism was not a uniform movement in the decade before the Reformation. An analysis of the correspondence of German humanists and future reformers suggests that there were several distinct groups. T...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Burnett, Amy Nelson 1957- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: The Johns Hopkins University Press 2021
In: Lutheran quarterly
Year: 2021, Volume: 35, Issue: 4, Pages: 373-400
IxTheo Classification:KAF Church history 1300-1500; late Middle Ages
KAG Church history 1500-1648; Reformation; humanism; Renaissance
KBB German language area
KDD Protestant Church
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Summary:It is generally accepted that humanism paved the way for the success of the Reformation, but German humanism was not a uniform movement in the decade before the Reformation. An analysis of the correspondence of German humanists and future reformers suggests that there were several distinct groups. The first was centered around Gotha/Erfurt and included both Wittenberg and Nuremberg, while the second was associated with Vienna. In southern Germany there were close connections but also some distinctions between the Upper Rhine circle, which stretched from Basel to Heidelberg, and the humanist circles found in the imperial cities of southeastern Germany. There was no direct epistolary contact between the Erfurt and Upper Rhine groups, and humanists in the lower Rhine did not participate in this correspondence network. Humanists in each of these areas responded differently to the early evangelical message. Most of those in Erfurt became Luther's supporters, but the Viennese circle showed little interest in religious issues and remained loyal to Rome. In the Upper Rhine, Luther's message combined with the prior concern for educational and religious reform associated with Erasmus to produce a Reformation in the south that differed from Wittenberg, while Catholic humanism was strongest along the lower Rhine.
ISSN:2470-5616
Contains:Enthalten in: Lutheran quarterly
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1353/lut.2021.0093