confessionalisation

The abdication of Margrave George Friedrich of Baden-Durlach — an act of «political prudence»?

Michael Roth assistant lecturer, Department of History, Heidelberg University (Grabengasse 3–5, aud. 229, Heidelberg, Germany, 69117)
michael.roth@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de

Roth M. The abdication of Margrave George Friedrich of Baden-Durlach — an act of «political prudence»?, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2019, vol. 8, pp. 254–269.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2019-00013

Language: Russian

The study focuses on territories outside the Kurpfalz border. The first decades of the 17th century were in fact very turbulent not only for Kurpfalz, but also for the small duchy of Baden-Durlach: this time was coloured by religious confrontations, and especially the Thirty Years War. The fate of the famous Heidelberg «winter king» and his family prevails in the images of the first years of the war, although other rulers of lands in the south-west of the Empire was also forced to accept the challenge of war. An example is the fate of Margrave George Friedrich, who ruled the Baden-Durlach Margrave and sought, being a strictly Lutheran prince, to influence the outcome of the just begun Thirty Years War. Militarily, during the Battle of Wimpfen, he was as unsuccessful as his Heidelberg associate, however, is a wonderful example of political farsightedness. Having renounced the power given to him in favour of his son, he tried to keep Baden out of the war until the moment when he personally entered into it. The act of princely renunciation of power is unusual in itself, so the author in addition to external circumstances and the process of renunciation, also investigates the issue of theological premises that explain this renunciation, as well as political prudence in the framework of modern political theorizing about the resignation.

Key words: political act, Baden, confessionalization, Protestant union, power, church

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/en/roth-2019-en/

Letters from Sixt Birck to Oswald Miconius of 1532-1536s: introductory article, Russian translation AND commentary

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Zinaida Andreevna Lurie, assistant lecturer, Faculty of foreign languages, St. Petersburg State University (Universitetskaia nab., 7/9, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 199034)
z.lurie@spbu.ru

Lure Z. A. Letters from Sixt Birck to Oswald Miconius of 1532-1536s: introductory article, Russian translation AND commentary // Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2013, vol. 2, pp. 273–294.

DOI: 10.24411/2308-0698-2013-00006

Language: Russian

The author cites the original text and Russian translation of the letters of the German playwright Sixt Birk to the Basel humanist Oswald Miconius written from the collection of the Zurich library. The introductory article introduces the reader to the biography of Birka, which is not well studied. The publication represents three of the four letters of the collection, which date from 1532–1536 (unpublished refers to 1548.). The material of the letters provides an opportunity for extensive generalizations related to the relationship of the intellectual with the urban elite during the confessionalization period. The published correspondence with Oswald Miconius reflects Birk’s attempt to acquire a patron in an intellectual environment. This was especially important for Birk at the beginning of his career, and it became especially relevant due to a personal conflict with one of his students. In 1536, apparently, having failed to completely overcome the conflict, Birk returned to Augsburg, where he probably hoped for a more benevolent attitude.

Key words: Sixt Birck, Oswald Miconius, confessionalisation, Basel, Reformation, theater

Permanent link: http://rcs-almanac.ru/lurie-2013-en-2/

The martyrdom of St. Stephan in Medieval and. Early Modern hagiography

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Zinaida Andreevna Lurie, doctor of History, assistant lecturer, Faculty of foreign languages, St. Petersburg State University (Universitetskaia nab., 7/9, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 199034)
z.lurie@spbu.ru

Lure Z. A. The martyrdom of St. Stephan in Medieval and. Early Modern hagiography, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2013, vol. 2, pp. 185–206.

DOI: 10.24411/2308-0698-2013-00001

Language: Russian

Despite the rather late development of the cult of the first martyr at the end of the 3rd – 4th centuries, it occupied an unusually important role in Christian rhetoric as an imitator of Christ. The article analyzes the references to the first deacon of the apologists and the early fathers of the Church (Clementus, Irenaeus, Augustine, etc.). In the medieval period, the regional traditions of veneration, on the one hand, and, on the other, the widespread presence of his worship in temples as one of the first deacons can’t be led to the single tendency of perception of the image. One of the recurring motives was the opposition of Stephen to the Jewish antagonists. During the Reformation, this antagonism was transferred to the realities of confessional confrontation, but the interest in the martyr was not great and even the influence of the Catholic renewal had a very limited effect on the iconography of Stefan. In turn, for the late Protestantism of the 1560–1590s. it was Stefan who turned out to be an iconic figure. The author examines the reasons for the popularity of the plot, analyzing the conflicts inherent in the book “Acts”, and illustrates the perception of the plot in the Lutheran tradition on the example of the tragedy of Melchior Neukirch in 1592, which completed a series of dramatic adaptations. The writer raised a number of extremely relevant topics for his time: the problem of tyranny and punishment of tyrants “for audacity”, and, equally, developed the concept of an ideal world order, reflected also at the family level. No less significant theologian in the drama was the preaching of Christ.

Key words: Stephan, hagiography, Reformation, Counterreformation, confessionalisation, Melchior Neukirch, theater, drama

Permanent link: http://rcs-almanac.ru/lurie-2013-en/

The formation of the confessional borders between Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Protestant duchies in the 16th century

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Dmitriy Ivanovich Weber PhD in history, assistant, Institute of Philosophy, Saint-Petersburg State University (Mendeleevskaya linia, dom 5, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 199034), d.veber@spbu.ru, weber-deutsch@yandex.ru

Weber D. I. The formation of the confessional borders between Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Protestant duchies in the 16^thcentury, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2015, vol. 4, pp. 298–313.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2015-00015

Language: Russian

The article discusses the phenomenon of confessional change of borders between Poland, Grand Duchy of Lithuania on the one hand and Protestant duchies on the other. The focus is on the formation of the Duchy of Courland and Semigalia as a result of the secularization of the Teutonic Order’s possessions in Prussia and Livonia. In the first half of the 16th century there were not only political, but also religious changes in the Baltics that were associated with the spread of Protestantism in the region. The new confessional borders were made between protestant duchies and Catholic Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
This process is considered through the Borderland theory. It including two types theories — boundary theory and border theory. Border theory focuses on the border as the “demarcation line” both politically and socially. In contrast with it the boundary theory, formed in the movement of cultural studies not so much physical as mental and cultural characteristics of borderlands. However, boundary-studies refers to the existence of certain cultural differences surrounding regions. One of the used approaches in this article was the concept so-called “Kulturtranfer”. This allows to consider the impact of the role of the preachers of the Holy Roman Empire in the spread of Protestantism in the Baltic region.

Key words: Order, Kettler, confessionalisation, Reformation, secularization

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/weber-2015-en/

Lutheran preaching and drama: an attempt at a comparative typology

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Zinaida Andreevna Lurie PhD-student, Institute of History, Saint-Petersburg State University (Mendeleevskaya linia, dom 5, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 199034), z.lurie@spbu.ru; zlourie@gmail.com

Lurie Z. A. Lutheran preaching and drama: an attempt at a comparative typology , Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2015, vol. 4, pp. 234–249.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2015-00011

Language: Russian

The article deals with formal and thematic peculiarities of the Lutheran sermon in its evolution as a prototype of other didactic genres. Biblical drama that appeared soon after the Reformation as independent and prevailing type of dramatic works was in many aspect a rhetorical genre. That allows to make a consistent comparison between sermon and drama in the early Lutheran tradition. The author shows that thematically both literature genres were aimed at preaching of Law and Gospel. Ethical, political and social problems (ordo ecclesiasticus, ordo politiciis, ordo oeconomicus) composed an important part of confession didactic, especially, in Melanchton interpretation. However, they were valuable only in the light of Apocalyptical consciousness. All loci that were typical for the Lutheran sermon and, for example, were named by Melanchton in the Augsburg confession of 1531, also appear in dramatic works. Speaking of formal features, logic and structure, biblical drama seem to be orientated as well on the rhetorical model of Melanchton (epitrepticum, paraeneticum and genus didascalicum) that fit the homiletical aims. All this make possible with more certainty to speak about Biblical drama as a part of phenomenological confessional model, reflected mainly in Luther Biblical translation and commentary.

Key words: Melanchthon, Luther, confessionalisation, the Bible, Sixt Birck, Joachim Greff, Paul Rebhun, Tomas Naogeorgus, preaching, sermons, drama, theater

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/lurie-2015-en/

Secular and spiritual power in the early Lutheran orthodoxy: Polykarp Leyser the Elder (1552–1610)

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Andrey Yur’evich Prokopiev Doctor in History, professor, Institute of History, Saint-Petersburg State University (Mendeleevskaya linia, 5, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 199034), prokopiev65@mail.ru

Prokopiev A. Yu. Secular and spiritual power in the early Lutheran Orthodoxy: Polykarp Leyser the Elder (1552–1610), Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2016, vol. 5, pp. 198–233.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2016-00010

Language: Russian

One the major trends in the literature of the early Lutheran Orthodoxy is the problem of correlation of spiritual and secular powers. The topic was quite actual within the background of developing of confessional societies in Germany in the second half of the 16^t^h century. Constructing new structures Lutheran Church required theoretical understanding of relations between the clergy’ and the princes’ power. The Duchy of Württemberg is a particularly vivid example, because many representatives of the Württemberg parsonage successfully made career in other Protestant lands. Polycarp Leiser the Elder, who played a major role in the establishment of the Lutheran Church in the Electorate of Saxony, was a typical representative of the early orthodoxy. The article carefully studies his sermons preached mainly in commemoration of the court’s noubles, and a summary of the preacher’s ideas is made. In his sermons Leiser constantly emphasized the idea of autonomous co-existence of the spiritual and secular powers that was qrounded on the unity of secular and spiritual elite. His political views typical for the Orthodoxes influenced on the Lutheran theology of the pietism era.

Key words: confessionalisation, Württemberg, Saxony, Tübingen, Dresden, Lutheran Orthodoxy

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/prokopiev-a-yu-2016-en/