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
5 - Wittenberg’s Influence on the Events in 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
Chapter Five shifts the focus to Martin Luther and the Reformed Augustinian leadership in Wittenberg. Traditional historiography insinuates that these men merely observed the tragedy unfolding in the Low Countries from afar and lamented its outcome. But this chapter argues for a more proactive involvement, demonstrating that not only were Luther and his colleagues aware of the events in Lower Germany, they sought to influence them. Moreover, they employed the strategies developed by Staupitz in the 1510s to expand the Congregation's influence, this time in the service of the Reformation. Thus by 1521, Luther and his colleagues were already using the assets of the Augustinian Order under their control to disseminate Reformation ideas.
Keywords: German Congregation of Reformed Augustinians, Jacob Probst, Hendrik van Zutphen, Augustinian Education
Both the emperor and pope understood the threat posed by the Congregation of German Reformed Augustinians, particularly those in the Province of Lower Germany, and because these authorities possessed the necessary influence to proceed against them, they were able to silence the friars there. Despite this, it is clear that the networks the Congregation forged in the first decades of the sixteenth century, along with the tactics employed by Staupitz in his efforts to expand the influence of the group, offered the Congregation's pro-Luther elements an opportunity: they could use those assets in the service of Reformation ideas. Previously, historians appear to have assumed that any actions taken by Congregation members in Lower Germany in support of the Reformation were motivated by individual conscience and personal conviction, not the consequences of any formal or even loosely devised plan. But a closer look at the interaction between the Congregation's hierarchy and their members in the Province of Lower Germany reveals that not only were Wenceslaus Linck, Martin Luther, Johannes Lang, and other key members keenly aware of what was happening in the Low Countries, they were working to control, or at the very least to influence the situation.
Education in the Ways of the Congregation
To understand their actions in support of their ‘Lower German’ brethren, it is important to recognize that these men stood at the top of the Congregation's hierarchy.
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- Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2020