Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction: The Reformed Augustinians of Lower Germany
- 2 The German Reformed Congregation and its Province of Lower Germany
- 3 The Antwerp Cloister
- 4 The Authorities Respond: Pope and Emperor Seize the Initiative
- 5 Wittenberg’s Influence on the Events in Lower Germany
- 6 Reformation Ideas in the Low Countries
- 7 ‘Summer is at the Door’: The Impact of the Executions on Martin Luther
- 8 The Impact of the Executions in the Low Countries
- 9 The Impact of the Executions in the German-Speaking Lands of the Holy Roman Empire
- 10 The Marian Dimension
- 11 The Reformed Augustinians of Lower Germany and the Dynamics of the Early Reformation
- Bibliography
- About the Author
- Index
1 - Introduction: The Reformed Augustinians of Lower Germany
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2020
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction: The Reformed Augustinians of Lower Germany
- 2 The German Reformed Congregation and its Province of Lower Germany
- 3 The Antwerp Cloister
- 4 The Authorities Respond: Pope and Emperor Seize the Initiative
- 5 Wittenberg’s Influence on the Events in Lower Germany
- 6 Reformation Ideas in the Low Countries
- 7 ‘Summer is at the Door’: The Impact of the Executions on Martin Luther
- 8 The Impact of the Executions in the Low Countries
- 9 The Impact of the Executions in the German-Speaking Lands of the Holy Roman Empire
- 10 The Marian Dimension
- 11 The Reformed Augustinians of Lower Germany and the Dynamics of the Early Reformation
- Bibliography
- About the Author
- Index
Summary
Abstract
The burnings of the Reformed Augustinian friars Hendrik Vos and Johann van den Esschen in Brussels on 1 July 1523 were the first executions of the Protestant Reformation. This chapter challenges the notion that they were peripheral to the key events of the early Reformation. Personal connections and frequent interactions existed between the Reformed Augustinians in the Low Countries (=Lower Germany) and those in Wittenberg, where Martin Luther was a member; the individuals responsible for the executions were intimates of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, and Popes Leo X and Adrian VI. An awareness of these connections raises questions about the importance of this event in the early Reformation and about how that movement functioned in its earliest stages.
Keywords: Martin Luther, Hendrik Vos (Voes), Johann van den Esschen, Emperor Charles V, Pope Adrian VI, Congregation of German Reformed Augustinians, martyrdom
On 1 July 1523, in front of a crowd of spectators, Hendrik Vos and Johann van den Esschen, were burned alive on the Grand Plaza of Brussels for adhering to “Lutheran” beliefs. The executions of these two young friars from the Augustinian cloister in Antwerp were the first of the Protestant Reformation, and the event was publicized throughout Europe, particularly in the German-speaking lands. Well-known in scholarly circles, historians have investigated the executions from a variety of angles and perspectives; despite this, very little is known about origins of the event and the details of its development, and a comprehensive understanding of its overall implications for the early Reformation therefore still eludes us. Most modern scholars seem to have the following vague impressions about the case: first, that the executions were an isolated incident without any noteworthy prehistory; second, that little concrete connection existed between what was happening in Antwerp and Brussels and what was happening in Wittenberg and in the early Reformation more broadly; and third, that the event’s impact, particularly within the empire, was limited to what we might call its potential for propaganda. For these reasons, the case is virtually ignored in general histories of the Reformation.
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- Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2020