One of the most important books on the Reformation is Brand Luther, written by historian Andrew Pettegree. It explores how Martin Luther became the pre-eminent and defining man of his age and how he was able to spread his version of the Christian religion, paying special attention to the role of printing. This paper will argue that Lutheranism spread because Martin Luther made full use of the printing press, was a direct, concise and incisive communicator, and enjoyed the protection and support of powerful authorities.
In a sort of paradox, the printing press was essential to Luther’s success, but he also helped chart the direction of the printing industry. Luther had only published his first work in 1516 but by the close of 1520, “he was the most prolific living author since the invention of printing seventy years before” (Pettegree, Chapter 5). Luther became such a good client that some of Germany’s best printers, who had been printing indulgences beforehand, went over to his side (Pettegree, Chapter 5). Luther also had a key relationship with Lucas Cranach, who created some of the most important Reformation images, including a portrait of Luther. Cranach imaginatively designed the unique and affordable Flugschriften pamphlets (Pettegree, Chapter 6). Cranach later took on the unprecedented job of printing Luther’s Bible. Although the full edition took years to develop, it was a boon for the industry, as the steady series of partial editions kept the presses rolling with low risk for the printers. Luther’s New Testament quickly sold out in Frankfurt (Pettegree, Chapter 7). Printers printed Luther’s work because they could see that it was popular. Lutheran works easily outsold Catholic ones. As a result of the Reformation’s potency, “between 1520 and 1525 the presses of Germany turned out over seven thousand editions” and simultaneously “the German market may […] have absorbed something close to four million copies” of Reformation works (Pettegree, Chapter 8). Augsburg, Nuremberg, Strasbourg, Leipzig and Basel, along with Erfurt and Wittenberg, “accounted for over 85 percent of the published work of Luther and his colleagues” along with those of local Reformation preachers (Pettegree, Chapter 8). This mattered because most of Germany’s literate population was in the cities. This is how Luther exploited the printing press fully to spread his works like wildfire.
But Luther’s skill in writing and communication also drove the Reformation. Luther’s ninety-five theses criticizing indulgences were unusual due to “the shift in voice, the mix of carefully considered general propositions, and the blisteringly direct utterances placed in the mouth of the laity”. His final point was that using force over rational argument would expose the Church and upset Christians (Pettegree, Chapter 3). In 1520 Luther articulated the Reformation platform in three works: To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, and The Freedom of a Christian Man. To The Christian Nobility called on the German people to reform the Church, and introduced the priesthood of all believers, breaking the laity/clerical distinction. But Luther’s writings on pastoral theology and his close explanation of a healing Gospel also brought him fame with the German public. In The Treatise on Good Works, Luther clearly explained justification by faith leading to the daily search for God and fulfillment of duties. The Freedom of a Christian would develop this further. Luther tailored his writing for the printing trade: Twenty-one of his forty-five writings during the years between 1517-20 were eight pages long or less (Pettegree, Chapter 4). Later at the Diet of Worms, Luther bluntly and directly stated that unless he was “convinced by testimonies of the Holy Scripture of evident reason”, he could not recant (Pettegree, Chapter 5). Much of the audience was impressed with Luther’s conduct. Luther knew that it was his own strong character and the spectacle of his battle with the Church that made him attractive. He translated the whole Bible into the vernacular because new reformers wanted their priests to be able to preach the pure Gospel (Pettegree, Chapter 7). But Luther’s main role was as the “nation’s pastor”, preaching and teaching the Gospel. After 1530, Luther devoted more attention for building a Christian community. Luther and his wife Katharina von Bora became a model of the Protestant family, reflecting “the holy household as church” (Pettegree, Chapter 10). Luther’s job of providing Christian education consisted of writing a catechism and creating schools. He wrote two catechisms and saw great success in his spread of education (Pettegree, Chapter 10). Luther himself set the example for the Reformation through his dissemination of his ideas.
Notwithstanding everything else, Luther would not have lasted long without powerful friends among the authorities in the Holy Roman Empire. Chief among them was Frederick, the Elector of Saxony. When Frederick met the papal legate, he made his refusal to enforce the Exsurge Domine bull against Luther clear. After the Diet of Worms, the elector kidnapped Luther and escorted him to Wartburg Castle (Pettegree, Chapter 5). Luther understood that the state was crucial to the Reformation. Thus, when the Peasant’s Revolt raged, he wrote Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants which strongly denounced the peasants. His pandering to the princes was beneficial, as many of them became Protestants. His Reformation would become “servants of the state, drawing their salaries from state funds and cooperating with state-appointed supervisors and visitors in the management of the church and the lives of their congregations” (Pettegree, Chapter 9). After the death of Frederick in 1525, he was replaced by John, who, unlike his brother, was a staunch Protestant. Representatives of territories who were pro-Protestant fought the enforcement of the Edict of Worms. Spearheaded by John and Philip of Hesse, they eventually founded the Schmalkaldic League in 1531. Luther justified his support of authority in his tract Secular Authority: To What Extent It Should be Obeyed. Here he spelled out the idea of the two kingdoms: the spiritual and the temporal (Pettegree, Chapter 10). Luther, dealing with the real possibility of the princes fighting against the emperor, wrote the Warning to His Dear German People, arguing that if this occured, the Catholics would be to blame. In 1544, Charles, who had been busy with a war against France, finally granted some concessions, allowing the Protestants to have a “general, Christian, free Council in the German nation” in return for finances (Pettegree, Chapter 11). The princes would continue to fight for Protestantism after Luther’s death, eventually forcing the emperor into the 1555 Peace of Augsburg which provided freedom of religion for the territories (Pettegree, Chapter 12). Although Luther started the Reformation, it was the princes who took up its mantle and solidified its success.
Many factors contributed to the success of the Lutheran Reformation, including the existence of the printing press and Luther’s full exploitation of it, his clear, concise writing and communication, and the approval and protection that the authorities gave him. The Reformation spread across Europe in different forms: Lutheranism dominated central/northern Germany and Scandinavia, while Calvinism dominated the Netherlands, Scotland, and parts of France and Switzerland. Anglicanism sprang up in England. Many of these traditions would eventually make their way to North America. The ideas of the Reformation continued to develop, inspiring such luminaries as John Locke and the Founding Fathers of the United States and eventually leading to the development of modern liberal democracy.
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