Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgments
- Map One South German Imperial Cities ca. 1525
- Map Two Imperial Cities in Upper and Eastern Swabia
- Introduction
- 1 Consultation and the Urban Hierarchy
- 2 Imperial Cities and Collective Politics
- 3 Preachers, Consultation, and the Spread of Urban Reform in Southern Germany
- 4 The Urban Reformation in Donauwörth
- 5 The Urban Reformation in Kaufbeuren
- 6 Negotiation and the Rural Reformation in Eastern Swabia
- 7 Eastern Swabia and the Schmalkaldic War
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
5 - The Urban Reformation in Kaufbeuren
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgments
- Map One South German Imperial Cities ca. 1525
- Map Two Imperial Cities in Upper and Eastern Swabia
- Introduction
- 1 Consultation and the Urban Hierarchy
- 2 Imperial Cities and Collective Politics
- 3 Preachers, Consultation, and the Spread of Urban Reform in Southern Germany
- 4 The Urban Reformation in Donauwörth
- 5 The Urban Reformation in Kaufbeuren
- 6 Negotiation and the Rural Reformation in Eastern Swabia
- 7 Eastern Swabia and the Schmalkaldic War
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
Summary
Roughly one month before Augsburg's council enacted its military alliance with Donauwörth, the city's magistrates involved themselves in spreading Augsburg-style reform to another imperial city in Eastern Swabia. In late July 1545, Augsburg wrote Kempten, Memmingen, and Ulm detailing the lamentable state of affairs in Kaufbeuren. In the twenty years since its failed 1525 attempt to introduce religious reform, Kaufbeuren had become a haven for radical Anabaptist and spiritualist sects. These outlawed movements claimed adherents among the city's common folk and magistrates alike, a realization that moved Augsburg's council to action. In Augsburg's opinion, Kaufbeuren had “fallen prey in matters of religion to poor judgment, false belief, and discord.” The city “stood in real danger of outside forces causing irreparable damage to its freedom, possessions, and goods.” To prevent this, Augsburg proposed a combined embassy to return Kaufbeuren “to the Christian religion as well as peace and unity.” The other cities concurred. Magistrates in Memmingen and Ulm pledged their support for a Four-Cities' delegation to Kaufbeuren. Memmingen even volunteered to send pastors to convert the local population. Kempten was also sympathetic to Augsburg's plan. Located closer to Kaufbeuren than any other city, Kempten's magistrates felt “particular pain and sadness” at their neighbor's decision to tolerate radical sects. Since the situation deteriorated daily, someone had to bring Kaufbeuren's council to reason. Only the combined diplomatic efforts of the four cities could save the souls of “those heretics who have separated themselves from the proper established religion.”
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- Chapter
- Information
- The Negotiated ReformationImperial Cities and the Politics of Urban Reform, 1525–1550, pp. 144 - 178Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009