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
9 - The Impact of the Executions in the German-Speaking Lands of the Holy Roman Empire
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
This chapter argues that the executions of Vos and van den Esschen impacted the German-speaking lands more broadly. The first half addresses the dissemination of news of the burnings via published eyewitness accounts, as well as evidence from personal letters, revealing networks of correspondence that paralleled print as a means of diffusion. The second half of the chapter is devoted to a case study of Ingolstadt, a university city in southern Germany where booksellers and intellectuals employed the executions to demonstrate the corruption of the church. At the same time, opponents of Luther's reform utilized them to condemn aspects of Reformation theology. The case reveals how news of the burnings worked its way into the fabric of the Reformation debates there.
Keywords: University of Ingolstadt, Argula von Grumbach, Martin Reckenhofer, Reformation pamphlets (Flugschriften)
Within the confines of the Low Countries – a comparatively small, urban, and highly interconnected society, and one that was experiencing first-hand the efforts of pope, emperor, and other forces to eradicate the Lutheran heresy – the memories of the German Reformed Augustinians of Lower Germany could be kept alive by word of mouth. If the case of the vander Elst circle is any indication, such recollections continued to circulate, at least within certain groups. But the situation was different in the German-speaking lands of the Holy Roman Empire. Not having witnessed these events directly, any impact on the populace there would necessarily come from printed sources or, in a limited number of cases, via personal contacts. In the wake of the executions of Vos and van den Esschen especially, the German-speaking lands were flooded with accounts of this event. Modern scholarly attempts to evaluate their impact have relied almost entirely on inventorying such publications and analysing their contents. From the numbers of editions and knowledge of their places of publication, much insight has been gained into the dissemination of news regarding the event, despite the fact that a comprehensive list still eludes us. Yet although an analysis of these materials has provided clarity regarding how the executions were portrayed, little work has been done on the reception (and therefore the impact) of this information outside its influence on a few exceptional individuals.
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- Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2020