Western Civilization_ Volume B_ 1300 to 1815 - Jackson J. Spielvogel [105]
The Rise of Lutheranism
At the beginning of 1522, Luther returned to Wittenberg in Electoral Saxony and began to organize a reformed church. While at the Wartburg Castle, Luther’s foremost achievement was his translation of the New Testament into German. Within twelve years, his German New Testament had sold almost 200,000 copies. Lutheranism had wide appeal and spread rapidly but not primarily through the written word, since only 4 to 5 percent of people in Germany were literate. And most of these were in urban areas.
Woodcut: Luther Versus the Pope. In the 1520s, after Luther’s return to Wittenberg, his teachings began to spread rapidly, ending ultimately in a reform movement supported by state authorities. Pamphlets containing picturesque woodcuts were important in the spread of Luther’s ideas. In the woodcut shown here, the crucified Jesus attends Luther’s service on the left, while on the right the pope is at a table selling indulgences.
Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin//© Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY
Instead, the primary means of disseminating Luther’s ideas was the sermon. The preaching of evangelical sermons, based on a return to the original message of the Bible, found favor throughout Germany. In city after city, the arrival of preachers presenting Luther’s teachings was soon followed by a public debate in which the new preachers proved victorious. A reform of the church was then instituted by state authorities.
Also useful to the spread of the Reformation were pamphlets illustrated with vivid woodcuts portraying the pope as a hideous Antichrist and titled with catchy phrases such as “I Wonder Why There Is No Money in the Land” (which, of course, was an attack on papal greed). Luther also insisted on the use of music as a means to teach the Gospel, and his own composition, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” became the battle hymn of the Reformation:
Standing alone are we undone, the Fiend would soon enslave us;
but for us fights a mighty One whom God has sent to save us.
Ask you who is this? Jesus Christ is He, Lord God of Hosts.
There is no other God; He can and will uphold us.
THE SPREAD OF LUTHER’S IDEAS Lutheranism spread to both princely and ecclesiastical states in northern and central Germany as well as to two-thirds of the free imperial cities, especially those of southern Germany, where prosperous burghers, for both religious and secular reasons, became committed to Luther’s cause. Nuremberg, where an active city council led by the dynamic city secretary Lazarus Spengler (SCHPEN-ler) brought a conversion as early as 1525, was the first imperial city to convert to Lutheranism. At its outset, the Reformation in Germany was largely an urban phenomenon. Three-fourths of the early converts to the reform movement were from the clergy, many of them from the upper classes, which made it easier for them to work with the ruling elites in the cities.
A series of crises in the mid-1520s made it apparent, however, that spreading the word of God was not as easy as Luther had originally envisioned—the usual plight of most reformers. Luther experienced dissent within his own ranks in Wittenberg from people such as Andreas Carlstadt (KARL-shtaht), who wished to initiate a more radical reform by abolishing all relics, images, and the Mass. Luther had no sooner dealt with them than he began to face opposition from the Christian humanists. Many had initially supported Luther, believing that he shared their goal of reforming the abuses within the church. But when it became apparent that Luther’s movement threatened the unity of Christendom, the older generation of Christian humanists, including Erasmus, broke with the reformer. A younger