Conflicting Visions of Reform

Cultural, historical and textual analysis of 300 propaganda pamphlets written by 166 German laymen and women reveals that each social class heard the Reformation message differently. The writers enthusiastically interpreted the Bible for themselves, finding justification for social and economic changes which suited the aims of their own class. The new ideology deepened the existing divisions in rural and urban society. The book presents, for the first time, a comprehensive selection of 166 lay authors. Knights, rural civil servants, technicians, patricians, lawyers and artisans describe the existing social order, their new beliefs and their hopes for change. They are eloquent and immensely human.