This study had its origin in a dissertation supervised by Susan E. Schreiner, B. A. Gerrish, and Jerald Brauer. It is a pleasure to acknowledge, with deep gratitude, Jerald Brauer's help throughout my stay at Chicago, and a joy to share in this celebration of his work and career.

1. Becker, Hans, “Herzog Georg von Sachsen als kirchlicher und theologischer Schriftsteller,” Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 24 (1927): 161–269.Google Scholar

2. Kötzschke, Rudolph and Kretzschmar, Hellmut, Sächsische Geschichte (Frankfurt-am- Main, 1965), pp. 162–190;Google ScholarBlaschke, Karlheinz, Sachsen im Zeitalter der Reformation (Gütersloh, 1970), pp. 13–33.Google ScholarA thorough study of the political history of Saxony during this period is Woldemar Goerlitz, Staat und Stände unter den Herzögen Albrecht und Georg 1485–1539 (Leipzig, 1928).Google Scholar The reign of Duke Henry received very little attention from contemporaries: see Spangenberg, Cyriacus, Sächssische Chronica (Frankfurt-am-Main, 1585), p. 634;Google ScholarPomarius, Johannes, Chronica der Sachsen und Niedersachsen (Wittenberg, 1588), p. 645.Google Scholar

3. Philip Melanchthon to Erhard Schnepf, 27 April 1539, Corpus Reformatorum, ed. C. G. Bretschneider and H. Bindseil, 28 vols. (Halle/Saale, 1830–1860)Google Scholar (hereafter cited as CR), vol. 3, col. 701 no. 1801; Melanchthon to Veit Dietrich, May 1539, abstract in Melanchthons Briefwechsel: Regesten, ed. Heinz Scheible, vol. 3 (Stuttgart, 1981)Google Scholar (hereafter cited as MBW), no. 2201. The reformation of Henry's territory had the support of Duke John Frederick of the Ernestine line (see MBW 3: 2219). After a few months Melanchthon was able to report to Duke Albert of Prussia that the Gospel had made good progress in Henry's lands (CR 3, 721–722 no. 1821).

4. Brandenburg, Erich, “Herzog Heinrich der Fromme von Sachsen und die Religionsparteien im Reiche (1537–1541),” Neues Archiv für Sächsische Geschichte und Altertumskunde 17 (1896): 242–243;Google Scholar as Karlheinz Blaschke has pointed out, the ius reformandi, or right to impose a single religion “from above”, was assumed by princes during the Reformation without constitutional warrant (“The Reformation and the Rise of the Territorial State,” Luther and the Modern State in Germany, ed. James D. Tracy [ Kirksville, 1986], p. 66).Google Scholar

5. Spahn, Martin, Johannes Cochläus: Ein Lebensbild aus der Zeit der Kirchenspaltung (Berlin, 1898; reprint Nieuwkoop, 1964), p. 275;Google ScholarBaümer, Remigius,Johannes Cochlaeus (1479- 1552): Leben und Werk im Dienst der katholischen Reform (Münster, 1980), p. 46–50.Google Scholar On the situation in Meissen in general, see Lobeck, Albrecht, Das Hochstift Meissen im Zeitalter der Reformation bis zum Tode Herzog Heinrichs 1541 (Vienna, 1971), pp. 90–99;CrossRefGoogle Scholar this account completely supersedes the analysis of this episode in the classic history of Saxony (Bottiger, C. W., Geschichte des Kurstaates und Kövigreiches Sachsen, 2nd ed. [Gotha, 1867], pp. 573–576).Google Scholar The visitation document to which Cochlaeus was responding is reprinted in Die evangelischen Kirchenordnungen des sechszehnten Jahrhunderts, ed. A. L. Richter, vol. 1 (1846; reprint Nieuwkoop, 1967), pp. 306–315.Google Scholar

6. Gretschel, K. C. C., Kirchliche Zustände Leipzigs vor und während der Reformation im Jahre 1539 (Leipzig, 1839), pp. 247–248;Google ScholarSeifert, Friedrich, Die Durchführung der Reformation in Leipzig 1539–1545 (Ph.D. diss., Leipzig, 1881), pp. 4–5Google Scholar (also Beiträge zür sächsischen Kirchengeschichte 1 [1882], pp. 128–129).Google Scholar

7. Vetter, Paul, “Witzel's Flucht aus dem albertinischen Sachsen,” Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte 13 (1892): 282–310.Google Scholar

8. Luther, , Von weltlicher Obrigkeit, wie weit man ihr Gehorsam schuldig sei (1523),Google Scholar vol. 11 of Martin Luthers Werke: kritische Gesamtausgabe (Wiemar, 1883–1980) (hereafter cited as WA), pp. 251–252;Google Scholar see Skinner, Quentin, The Foundations of Modern Political Thought, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1978), 2:14–15.Google Scholar

9. Stupperich, Robert, Melanchthon, trans. Fischer, R. H. (Philadelphia, 1965), pp. 100–121.Google Scholar

10. Maurer, Wilhelm, Melanchthon-Studien (Gütersloh, 1964), pp. 33–34.Google Scholar Melanchthon's earlier humanistic work has been the subject of much investigation: see Fraenkel, Pierre and Greschat, Martin, Zwanzig Jahre Melanchthonstudium (Geneva, 1967), pp. 14–23;Google Scholar his career after 1530 has received relatively little attention.

11. De ecclesia et autoritate verbi Dei was written in response to a treatise from Julius von Pflug and the bishop of Meissen entitled Ein Christliche Lere (Mainz: F. Behem, 1541); see CR 23,590, and Pflug, , Correspondance, ed. Pollet, J. V., vol. 2 (Leiden, 1973), pp. 78–80;Google Scholar also Lobeck, , Das Hochstift Meissen, pp. 91–95.Google Scholar In this treatise the two Catholic theologians promise to amend the church themselves; Melanchthon, who had seen the booklet, found the proposal lacking (CR 3, 726 no. 1824).

12. CR 3, 772 no. 1848; the oration is printed at CR 11, 431–438 no. 56; the expanded treatise appears at CR 3, 240–258 no. 1520; this edition is reprinted in Melanchthons Werke, ed. Robert Stupperich, 8 vols. (Gütersloh, 1951), 1: 387–410Google Scholar (hereafter cited as “StA I” followed by page and line numbers). For bibliographical data see Keen, Ralph, A Checklist of Melanchthon Imprints through 1560 (St. Louis, 1988), p. 167 no. 90 and pp. 37–38Google Scholar no. 56.

13. See Luther, Vonder Freiheit eines Christenmenschen, WA 7, 37; Calvin, , Institutio 1536,Google Scholar ch. 6 (Calvini Opera, ed. G. Baum, E. Cunitz, E. Reuss, 59 vols. [Brunswick, 1863–1900], vol. 1, cols. 228–248).Google Scholar

14. CR 3, 657 no. 1781.

15. CR 3, 240–241 (SrA 1,388/23–389/5).

16. CR 3, 242–243 (StA 1, 391/3–20); CR 3, 247 (StA 1,396/10–29).

17. CR 3, 242 (SiA 1, 390/9–10): “Nam propter hanc causam Deus ordinavit politias, ut evangelium propagari possit”; CR3,241 (StA 1,389/19–23): “Est ergo haec prima ratio sumpta a necessitate confessionis, de qua nihil dubium est mandatum communicandae doctrinae simpliciter necessarium esse et partem esse confessionis, sicut dicit Christus: ‘Luceat lux vestra, ut glorificetur Pater vester,’ etc.” (paraphrasing Mt. 5:16). This aspect of Melanchthon's political thought has been noticed by Mesnard, Pierre (L'Essor de Ia philosophie politique au XVIe siècle [Paris, 1969], p. 233).Google Scholar

18. CR 3, 242(StA 1,390/19–21).

19. Melanchthon, , Epitome ethices § 13 (Die älteste Fassung von Melanchihons Ethik, ed. Heineck, Hermann [Berlin, 1893], p. 10);Google Scholar also CR 11, 633–635 (reprinted in StA, vol. 3 [ed. Richard Nurnberger, Gutersloh, 1961], pp. 118–120); CR 11,656 (StA 3, 131).

20. CR 3, 242 (StA 1, 390/14–34).

21. Epitome ethices § 2 (Heineck, p. 4); Philosophiae moralis epitome, CR 16,21 (StA 3, 157).

22. CR 12, 403 (prop. 17); CR 23, 66; CR 23, 127–128.

23. CR 3,243 (StA 1,391/14–20).

24. See Kisch, Guido, Melanchthons Rechts- und Soziallehre (Berlin, 1967), pp. 116–126.Google Scholar

25. CR 16, 23 (StA 3, 158/13–40); CR 16, 24 (StA 3, 159/15–19); CR 16, 26–27 (StA 3, 162/5–30); CR 16, 28 (StA 3, 163/35–164/8).

26. CR 3, 245 (StA 1, 394/31–32): “Finis societatis humanae proprius et praecipuus est, Ut Deus innotescat”; CR 3, 245–246 (StA 1,394/32–37); CR 3,247 (StA 1,396/10–29).

27. Luther, , Grosser Katechismus §§ 141–166, in Die Bekenntnissschriften der evangelisch lutherischen Kirche (Göttingen, 1986), pp. 596–603.Google Scholar

28. CR 3, 244 (StA 1,392/20–393/2). On the views of the other reformers see Baron, Hans, “Religion and Politics in the German Imperial Cities during the Reformation,” English Historical Review 52 (1937): 422–425;Google ScholarBrandenburg, Erich, Martin Luthers Anschauung vom Staate und der Gesellschaft (Halle, 1901), pp. 21–24.Google Scholar

29. This argument does, however, give Melanchthon an opportunity to employ several New Testament passages in support of controlling improper forms of worship; see CR 3,244–245 (StA 1,393/3–36).

30. CR 3, 245 (StA 1,393/37–394/5).

31. Melanchthon had a distinguished precedent for this attitude: see Markus, R. A., Saeculum: History and Society in the Theology of St. Augustine (Cambridge, 1970), pp. 133–153.Google Scholar

32. The third part of Cochlaeus's fifth “Philippic” is a response to this treatise (Cochlaeus, Johannes, Philippica quinta: in tres libellos Philippi Melanchthonis [Ingolstadt: Alexander Weissenhorn, 1540]).Google Scholar

33. CR 3, 250 (StA 1,399/31–400/11).

34. Schwarzenau, Paul, Der Wandel im theologischen Ansatz bei Melanchthon von 1525–1535 (Gütersloh, 1956), pp. 113–120.Google Scholar

35. See the 1540 version (the “Variata”) of the Augsburg Confession, art. 5 (CR 26, 354 [StA 6, ed. Robert Stupperich, (Gütersloh, 1955), 16/22–27]); the 1535 version of the Loci communes (CR 21, 427–428, 429); also CR 12, 572–576; CR 23, 37.

36. See Melanchthon's definition of virtue at CR 21, 1078–1079.

37. See Haendler, Klaus, Wort und Glaube bei Melanchthon (Gütersloh, 1968),Google Scholar ch. 5; Lieberg, Hellmut, Amt und Ordination bei Luther und Melanchthon (Göttingen, 1962), pp. 307–313.Google Scholar

38. CR 3, 249 (StA I,399/8–12; 398/33–37); see CR 21, 429–430.

39. See von Hofmann, Albert, Politische Geschichte der Deutschen, 6 vols. (Stuttgart, 1923), 3: 615–636,Google Scholar for the importance of these Diets for the Reformation; on Melanchthon's attitude toward princes (and his later loss of confidence in them) see Allen, J. W., A History of Political Thought in the Sixteenth Century (1928; reprint London, 1960), pp. 31–32.Google Scholar

40. CR 16, 440.

41. Huschke, Rolf Bernhard, Melanchthons Lehre vom ordo politicus: Ein Beitrag zum Verhälinis von Glauben und politischem Handeln bei Melanchthon (Gütersloh, 1960), pp. 133–138.Google Scholar

42. The principle being, of course, that visible acts of worship have protreptic value for the piety of others.

43. See Keen, , ed., Checklist, pp. 33–34Google Scholar no. 47.

44. Melanchthon's treatise on the church has more in common with Luther's, Von den Konziliis und Kirchen (WA 50, pp. 488–653)Google Scholar, also written in 1539 in response to the situation in Ducal Saxony (on the diptych see Stupperich, , Melanchthon, p. 110)Google Scholar; see also Fraenkel, Pierre, Testimonia patrum: The Function of the Patristic Argument in the Theology of Philip Melanchthon (Geneva, 1961), pp. 55–58.Google Scholar

45. De officio principum is printed in the first volume (pp. 430–441)Google Scholar of Operum Philippi Melancthonis tomi quinque (Basel, 1541)Google Scholar; see the preface to this edition at CR 4, 715–722 no. 2418.

46. The text which has traditionally been taken as the clearest formulation is the section “On Civil Magistracy” in the 1555 version of the Loci communes (CR 21, 984–1015). Skinner, Quentin, Foundations, 2: 65Google Scholar n. 2 considers this passage Melanchthon's definitive statement of political theory. Appearing as it does in a dogmatic context, it is a typical exhortation to the obedience of the subject. The present text complements that one by focusing on the extent of the prince's power over the church, an area not always clearly defined by other reformers.

47. CR 16, 417–452.

48. Epitome ethices § 39, Heineck, p. 31 “Postremo evangelium ipsum est epieikeia quaedam legis divinae, cum approbat recte facientes etiamsi legi non satisfaciant”; see also Kisch, , Melanchthons Rechts- und Soziallehre, pp. 168–172.Google Scholar

49. Epitome ethices § 39, Heineck, pp. 29, 31; compare CR 21, 1090.

50. Indeed, Melanchthon had begun to think about some of the issues treated in De officio principum even before the death of Duke George: see his letter to Johann Brenz, written from Frankfurt on 13 March 1539 (CR 3, 646–647 no. 1781).

51. See CR 16, 18–20; Checklist, pp. 60–61 no. 97. At the end of his life many of them were collected, by either himself or his heirs, into a volume of “useful booklets” (Libelli aliquot utiles Philippi Melanthonis [Wittenberg: Johannes Lufft, 1560]).

52. For Melanchthon's definition of virtue see CR 16, 38–39 (StA 3, 174/30–175/16); see also CR 21, 1078–1079, where virtue is defined as obedience to God as revealed in law.

53. CR 16, 51–55 (StA3, 189/15–192/38).

54. CR 16, 112 (StA 3, 250/15–24); see CR 11, 551; CR 11, 635; Huschke, , Melanchthons Lehre, p. 68.Google Scholar

55. CR 16, 24 (StA 3, 159/12–19); CR 16, 29 (StA 3, 164/16–24).

56. CR 11, 551; compare with Melanchthon's definition ofa magistrate at CR 21, 1087–1088.

57. CR 16, 28(StA 3, 164/3–5); CR 16, 30 (StA 3, 166/2–17).

58. Nicomachean Ethics 6.7, 1 141b2–8.

59. CR 16, 44 (StA 3, 179/31–180/9); Huschke, pp. 81–82.

60. Sohm, Walter, “Die Soziallehren Melanchthons,” Historische Zeitschrift 115 (1916): 71–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

61. CR 16, 71 (StA 3, 209/10–15); CR 16, 73–78 (StA 3, 211/30–216/9).

62. Brandenburg, Erich, Moritz von Sachsen, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1898), 1:11;Google ScholarHecker, Oswald Albert, Religion und Politik in den letzten Lebensjahren Herzog Georgs des Bärtigen von Sachsen (Leipzig, 1912), p. 55.Google Scholar According to the Allgemeine deutsche Biographie (56 vols., 1875–1912; reprint Berlin, 1967–1971, 11: 601–602)Google Scholar, Henry's directors in faith were J ustus Jonas, Jacob Schenk, and Leonhard Beyer: a closer study of the work of all three would be a welcome contribution.

63. In the Philosophiae moralis epitome the “De officio principum” is the first locus in a series which includes discussions of whether a private citizen may kill a tyrant; whether Constantine was right in fighting his son-in-law Licinius; whether the claim of Boniface VIII that the pope holds both swords was valid; whether Naboth had to yield his vineyard to Ahab; and whether Mars lawfully killed the son of Neptune.

64. CR 16, 22(StA 3, 157/20–24).

65. CR 4, 7–10; CR 4, 162–163; CR 4, 180; CR 4, 316; CR 4, 319; CR 4, 349–350.

66. Marsilius, of Padua, , Defensor Pacis 1.5.4 (ed. Scholz, Richard [Hannover, 1933], p. 22).Google Scholar The Augustinian elements of Marsilius's thought are analyzed in Gewirth, Alan, Marsilius of Padua: The Defender of Peace, 2 vols. (New York, 1951), 1: 37–44.Google Scholar

67. See d'Entrèves, A. P., The Medieval Contribution to Political Thought (Oxford, 1939), pp. 69–75;Google ScholarToscano, Antonio, Marsilio de Padova e Niccolò Machiavelli (Ravenna, 1981), p. 129;Google ScholarSegall, Hermann, Der “Defensor Pacis” des Marsilius von Padua: Grundfragen der Interpretationen (Wiesbaden, 1959), pp. 58–72.Google Scholar On the use of the Defensor by the reformers see Piaia, Gregorio, Marsilio de Padova nella Riforma e nella Contrariforma (Padua, 1977), pp. 79–141.Google Scholar

68. CR 3, 242 (StA 3, 390/14–15); CR 3, 246 (StA 1, 395/5–7); CR 3, 247 (StA 1, 397/15–17).

69. Skinner, , Foundations, vol. 2, p. 71,Google Scholar seems wrong in stating that Melanchthon did not have a strong concept of the church: he had very definite ideas about the nature of the church, among them the fact that it is a political institution. Melanchthon's promotion of Aristotelian studies, and his (posthumous) influence in the organizing of the University of Helmstedt, have been credited with the development of secular absolutism (see Dreitzel, Horst, Protestantischer Aristotelismus und absoluter Staat: Die “Politica” des Henning Arnisaeus (ca. 1575–1636) [Wiesbaden, 1970], pp. 89–96, 193, 217).Google Scholar

70. For Melanchthon's definition of the church as the visible church, see CR 12, 366–367 and CR 12, 619; for the implications of his conception, see Lau, Franz, “Melanchthon und die Ordnung der Kirche,” in Philipp Melanchthon: Forschungsbeiträge zur vierhundertsten Wiederkehr seines Todestages dargeboten in Wittenberg 1960, ed. Elliger, Walter (Göttingen, 1961), pp. 98–115.Google Scholar

71. For the Lutheran model, see Mesnard, pp. 232–235; Moeller, Bernd, Imperial Cities and the Reformation: Three Essays, trans. Midelfort, H. C. E. and Edwards, M. U. (Philadelphia, 1972), pp. 60–68;Google ScholarMüller, Gerhard, “Luther und die evangelischen Fürsten,” in Luther und die politische Welt, ed. Iserloh, Erwin and Muller, Gerhard (Stuttgart, 1984), pp. 65–83;Google Scholar for the Calvinist theory see Institutes (1559), IV.20.9, and Höpfl, Harro, The Christian Polity of John Calvin (Cambridge, 1982), pp. 172–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Despite its similarities with Calvinist theory, Melanchthon's De officio principum does not advocate resistance to bad rulers, as Skinner (2: 202–203) suggests. Skinner not only ignored the historical circumstances of the De officio principum (not necessarily a bad thing), but read the text within the Philosophiae moralis epitome, in which it is followed by a locus on tyrannicide which may have been written several years later.

72. Brandenburg, , “Herzog Heinrich,” pp. 293–299;Google ScholarWartenberg, Günther, Landesherrschaft und Reformation: Moritz von Sachsen und die albertinische Kirchenpolitik bis 1546 (Gütersloh, 1988), pp. 100–101.Google Scholar