In 2009 the Sixteenth Century Journal published a ‘Fortieth Anniversary Review of Books,’ to whic... more In 2009 the Sixteenth Century Journal published a ‘Fortieth Anniversary Review of Books,’ to which scholars were invited to contribute retrospective reviews of already published books that they had found particularly important. This was my contribution to that undertaking.
This is the text of my review of Erasmianism: Idea and Reality, a collection of papers delivered... more This is the text of my review of Erasmianism: Idea and Reality, a collection of papers delivered at a colloquium held at Amsterdam in 1996. Published in vol. 79/2 (1999) of the Nederlands archief voor kerkgeschiedenis / Dutch Review of Church History, it retains value as a discussion of the much used and often misused term 'Erasmsianism.'
In his Education of a Christian Prince (1516), as well as in other writings, Erasmus provided a t... more In his Education of a Christian Prince (1516), as well as in other writings, Erasmus provided a thoroughly "modern" version of the ancient notion that it is the duty of princes and other secular rulers to establish and maintain true religion. The prinicipal argument was that Christian piety is essential to secure peace and order. In the 1520s, the first generation of German reformers, most of whom had been Erasmian humanists before they became followers of Luther or Zwingli, made effective use of this argument in their effort to justify the establishment, under the aegis of friendly secular rulers, of "true religion" as they had come to understand it. In the 1530s, however, confronted with the argument of some adherents of the Reformation that religious dissents who remained peaceful should be tolerated, and by the claim of irenic Catholics that the path to peace was the Erasmian via media of negotiated compromise, the reformers concluded that dogmatic truth ("the glory of God") was more important than secular peace, and on that basis turned their backs on the Erasmian ideal of tolerance and the "middle way." keywords Desiderius Erasmus, Institutio principis christiani, humanism, Martin Luther, Reformation The first thing one learns in the search for Erasmus's views on the proper relationship between church and state is that he never wrote a treatise on the subject-in large measure, it seems, because he never became involved in a controversy that required him to do so. 1 The nearest thing to such a work is the Institutio principis christiani (1516). 2 Although rightly considered one of the principal texts-along with the Querela pacis (1517), the adage Dulce bellum inexpertis (1515), and other works-in Erasmus's campaign against war, there is more to it than that. The first section of the Institutio, which accounts for nearly half of its content, is entitled "The birth and upbringing of a Christian prince." In it Erasmus describes 1 The following abbreviations are used in the notes below to cite the editions of primary sources listed in the bibliography:
This volume is the rst attempt to bring together in a comparative study all the evidence concerni... more This volume is the rst attempt to bring together in a comparative study all the evidence concerning the development of the ideas of Luther and Melanchthon on the cura religionis of secular magistrates. Besides yielding a more complete historical narrative than has hitherto been available, this approach has made it possible to show (among other things) that Luther's ideas on the subject developed and changed over time in tandem with developments and changes in Melanchthon's ideas and in response to the same historical pressures. Where past studies have tended to emphasize the di ferences in their thinking, this one demonstrates their essential agreement and considers their common worries about the dangers inherent in magisterial responsibility for the church. Readership Those interested in Luther and Melanchthon, the German Reformation, humanism and the Reformation, relations between church and state, church history, and early-modern political thought. For more information see brill.com Order information: Order online at brill.com The Americas: 1 (860) 350 0041 | brillna@turpin-distribution.com Outside the Americas: 44 (0) 1767 604-954 | brill@turpin-distribution.com
It was never published as an article, but it is, I think, a useful summary of an interesting aspe... more It was never published as an article, but it is, I think, a useful summary of an interesting aspect of the struggle of the German reformers to achieve an appropriate system of governance for churches that, having thrown off the authority of the Catholic bishops, depended on the support and protection of secular rulers for their survival. In order not to exceed my allotted time at the meeting in San Antonio, I omitted discussion of certain matters, the knowledge of which on the part of the audience I was able to take for granted. I have used the notes to fill in at least the most important of those gaps.] 1 Bishops: what are they? what are they supposed to do? what options does one have if they don't do it do it? are bishops really necessary? These were questions that confronted the German reformers during the entire period from the posting of the Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 to the proclamation of the Religious Peace of Augsburg in 1555 and even beyond. My interest in Philip Melanchthon's answers to these questions was sparked by the assertion of no less an authority than Heinz Scheible that for Melanchthon "the maintenance of the [existing] episcopal
In 2009 the Sixteenth Century Journal published a ‘Fortieth Anniversary Review of Books,’ to whic... more In 2009 the Sixteenth Century Journal published a ‘Fortieth Anniversary Review of Books,’ to which scholars were invited to contribute retrospective reviews of already published books that they had found particularly important. This was my contribution to that undertaking.
This is the text of my review of Erasmianism: Idea and Reality, a collection of papers delivered... more This is the text of my review of Erasmianism: Idea and Reality, a collection of papers delivered at a colloquium held at Amsterdam in 1996. Published in vol. 79/2 (1999) of the Nederlands archief voor kerkgeschiedenis / Dutch Review of Church History, it retains value as a discussion of the much used and often misused term 'Erasmsianism.'
In his Education of a Christian Prince (1516), as well as in other writings, Erasmus provided a t... more In his Education of a Christian Prince (1516), as well as in other writings, Erasmus provided a thoroughly "modern" version of the ancient notion that it is the duty of princes and other secular rulers to establish and maintain true religion. The prinicipal argument was that Christian piety is essential to secure peace and order. In the 1520s, the first generation of German reformers, most of whom had been Erasmian humanists before they became followers of Luther or Zwingli, made effective use of this argument in their effort to justify the establishment, under the aegis of friendly secular rulers, of "true religion" as they had come to understand it. In the 1530s, however, confronted with the argument of some adherents of the Reformation that religious dissents who remained peaceful should be tolerated, and by the claim of irenic Catholics that the path to peace was the Erasmian via media of negotiated compromise, the reformers concluded that dogmatic truth ("the glory of God") was more important than secular peace, and on that basis turned their backs on the Erasmian ideal of tolerance and the "middle way." keywords Desiderius Erasmus, Institutio principis christiani, humanism, Martin Luther, Reformation The first thing one learns in the search for Erasmus's views on the proper relationship between church and state is that he never wrote a treatise on the subject-in large measure, it seems, because he never became involved in a controversy that required him to do so. 1 The nearest thing to such a work is the Institutio principis christiani (1516). 2 Although rightly considered one of the principal texts-along with the Querela pacis (1517), the adage Dulce bellum inexpertis (1515), and other works-in Erasmus's campaign against war, there is more to it than that. The first section of the Institutio, which accounts for nearly half of its content, is entitled "The birth and upbringing of a Christian prince." In it Erasmus describes 1 The following abbreviations are used in the notes below to cite the editions of primary sources listed in the bibliography:
This volume is the rst attempt to bring together in a comparative study all the evidence concerni... more This volume is the rst attempt to bring together in a comparative study all the evidence concerning the development of the ideas of Luther and Melanchthon on the cura religionis of secular magistrates. Besides yielding a more complete historical narrative than has hitherto been available, this approach has made it possible to show (among other things) that Luther's ideas on the subject developed and changed over time in tandem with developments and changes in Melanchthon's ideas and in response to the same historical pressures. Where past studies have tended to emphasize the di ferences in their thinking, this one demonstrates their essential agreement and considers their common worries about the dangers inherent in magisterial responsibility for the church. Readership Those interested in Luther and Melanchthon, the German Reformation, humanism and the Reformation, relations between church and state, church history, and early-modern political thought. For more information see brill.com Order information: Order online at brill.com The Americas: 1 (860) 350 0041 | brillna@turpin-distribution.com Outside the Americas: 44 (0) 1767 604-954 | brill@turpin-distribution.com
It was never published as an article, but it is, I think, a useful summary of an interesting aspe... more It was never published as an article, but it is, I think, a useful summary of an interesting aspect of the struggle of the German reformers to achieve an appropriate system of governance for churches that, having thrown off the authority of the Catholic bishops, depended on the support and protection of secular rulers for their survival. In order not to exceed my allotted time at the meeting in San Antonio, I omitted discussion of certain matters, the knowledge of which on the part of the audience I was able to take for granted. I have used the notes to fill in at least the most important of those gaps.] 1 Bishops: what are they? what are they supposed to do? what options does one have if they don't do it do it? are bishops really necessary? These were questions that confronted the German reformers during the entire period from the posting of the Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 to the proclamation of the Religious Peace of Augsburg in 1555 and even beyond. My interest in Philip Melanchthon's answers to these questions was sparked by the assertion of no less an authority than Heinz Scheible that for Melanchthon "the maintenance of the [existing] episcopal
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