Catholic reform in the age of Luther : : Duke George of Saxony and the church, 1488-1525 / / Christoph Volkmar ; translated by Brian McNeil and Bill Ray.

• Superior document: Studies in medieval and reformation traditions, Volume 209
• VerfasserIn: Volkmar, Christoph,
• TeilnehmendeR: McNeil, Brian,; Ray, Bill,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, [2017]; ©2017
• Year of Publication: 2017
• Language: English; German
• Series: Studies in medieval and Reformation traditions ; 209.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (717 pages).

In his portrait of Duke George of Saxony (1471–1539) Christoph Volkmar offers a fresh perspective on the early Reformation in Germany. Long before the Council of Trent, this book traces the origins of Catholic Reform to the very neighborhood of Wittenberg. The Dresden duke, cousin of Frederick the Wise, was one of Luther's most prominent opponents. Not only did he fight the Reformation, he also promoted ideas for renewal of the church. Based on thousands of archival records, many of them considered for the first time, Christoph Volkmar is mapping the church politics of a German prince who used the power of the territorial state to boost Catholic Reform, marking a third way apart from both Luther and Trent. This book was orginally published in German as Reform statt Reformation. Die Kirchenpolitik Herzog Georgs von Sachsen, 1488-1525 .

Table of Contents

Front Matter -- Copyright page -- Preface to the English Edition -- Preface to the German Edition -- Introduction -- A Critical Survey of Scholarship -- George of Saxony’s Church Politics from a New Perspective -- Church Governance and Catholic Reform before the Reformation (1488–ca. 1521) -- Church Politics of German Princes in the Late Medieval Empire -- The Wettin Tradition of Reform -- George of Saxony (1471–1539) as a Reformer of the Church -- Papacy and Council -- The Empire -- Bishops and Cathedral Chapters -- The Ecclesiastical Court System -- The Regular Clergy -- The Lower Clergy -- The Laity -- Printing and the Public before Luther -- Summary and Discussion -- The Clash with the Early Reformation (1517–1525) -- George of Saxony and Martin Luther: A New Look at an Old Enmity -- “The Damned Lutheran Sect”: How George of Saxony Saw the Evangelical Movement1 -- Church Politics against the Reformation in the Empire (1522–1525) -- Outlawing the Reformation -- Territorial Politics against Evangelical Pastors -- Territorial Politics Against Evangelical Monks -- Territorial Politics against Evangelical Subjects -- Preaching -- Printing -- Reform Instead of Reformation -- Church Politics against the Reformation: Successes, Limits, Perspectives -- Conclusion.