The Reformation and Rural Society

The Parishes of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach, 1528 1603
Erscheinungsjahr 2004
ISBN: 978-0-521-48311-7
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 243 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 552 g

Reihe: Cambridge Studies in Early Modern History

What was the effect of the Reformation movement on the parishioners of the German countryside? This book examines the reform movement at the level of its implementation - the rural parish. Investigation of the Reformation and the sixteenth-century parish reveals the strength of tradition and custom in village life and how this parish culture obstructed and frustrated the efforts of the Lutheran reformers. The Reformation was not passively adopted by the rural inhabitants. On the contrary, the parishioners manipulated the reform movement to serve their own ends. Parish documentation reveals that the system of parish rule diffused the disciplinary aims of the church and rendered the pastors impotent. A look at parish beliefs suggests that the nature of parish thought worked to undermine the main tenets of the Lutheran faith, and that the legacy of the Reformation was a dialogue between these two realms of experience.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Dixon, C. Scott

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction; 1. The emergence and reception of the evangelical movement, 1521-1533; 2. The Lutheran church in Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach; 3. The clergyman in context: the extension of the Reformation on the parish; 4. The Reformation and parish morality; 5. The acculturation of the parish mind; Conclusions.