Understanding Lutheran Confessionalisation (ULuC)

The project deals with the Lutheran theologian Nikolaus Gallus (1516-1570) and his role in the theological disputes of his time. A few years after the death of the Reformer Martin Luther (1546), profound theological controversies arose within German Lutheranism. They revolved around the question of who would rightly represent Luthers legacy and thus ensure the continuance of the Reformation. The background to these disputes was the religious policy of Emperor Charles V. After his victory over the Protestants in the Schmalkaldic War, he issued the Augsburg Interim (June 1548). With this imperial law , he essentially aimed at a recatholisation of Protestants. In search of a compromise between the emperors demands and the religious needs of his Protestant subjects, Elector Moritz of Saxony appointed the Lutheran theologian Philipp Melanchthon, among others, to draw up the Leipzig Proposal for the Territorial Diet (Leipziger Landtagsvorlage) of December 1548. It made concessions in the field of the so-called freigelassene Mitteldinge or adiaphora (liturgical vestments, rites, ceremonies, etc.) that were not regarded as relevant for salvation. According to the authors of this text, as long as the central substance of Lutheranism was upheld, adiaphora were not worth a dispute with the emperor. Such a yielding attitude provoked the bitter protest of the so-called dedicated Lutherans. In the historical context, which they interpreted as the apocalyptic struggle between Christ and the Antichrist, they rejected any concessions in the field of adiaphora and denounced them as a betrayal of the gospel. They called for resistance and confession of religious truth. The Adiaphoristic Controversy that this triggered was followed by a series of other intra-Lutheran controversies in which Nikolaus Gallus emerged as one of the leading figures. In the project, Nikolaus Gallus will be examined comprehensively for the first time by means of source analysis (previously unexplored correspondence, published writings, sermons, etc.). Based on his biographical stages (Regensburg, Wittenberg, Magdeburg, Regensburg), the following aspects will be examined: 1) his role in the theological debates and coalitions of his time; 2) his activities as Superintendent of Regensburg (1553-1570), especially his extensive personal network and his influence on the religious-political developments in the Austrian lands and their southeastern neighboring countries; 3) characteristics and significance of the dedicated Lutherans within their European context. The project contributes to the history of the Reformation and formation of confessions and to the history of Protestantism in the Habsburg lands. It ideally corresponds to the project Controversia et Confessio led by Irene Dingel in Mainz. The research results will be published as a monograph and individual aspects in essays. Central passages of the archive sources will be made digitally accessible.

No additional funding sources recorded.