Martin Luther contributed extensively to the sixteenth century debate about women with his writings on women and related subjects such as marriage, the family and sexuality. In this volume, Merry Wiesner-Hanks and Susan Karant-Nunn bring together a vast selection of these works, translating many into English for the first time. They include sermons, lectures, pamphlets, polemic writings, letters and some informal table talk recorded by his followers. The book is arranged into chapters on Biblical women, marriage, sexuality, childbirth and witchcraft, as well as on Luther s relations with his wife and other contemporary women. The editors, both internationally-known scholars on Reformation and women, provide a general introduction to each chapter, and Luther s own colourful words fuel both sides of the debate about whether the Protestant Reformation was beneficial or detrimental to women. This collection will make a wide range of Luther s works accessible to English-speaking scholars, students and general readers.

Katharina von Bora. Defiant and determined, refusing to be intimidated. . . In many ways, it was this astonishing woman (not even her husband, Martin Luther, could stop her) who set the tone of the Reformation movement. In this compelling historical account of a woman who was an indispensable figure of the German Reformation—who was by turns vilified, satirized, idolized, and fictionalized by contemporaries and commentators—you can make her acquaintance and discover how Katharina's voice and personality still echoes among modern women, wives, and mothers who have struggled to be heard while carving out a career of their own. Author and teacher Ruth Tucker beckons you to visit Katie Luther in her sixteenth-century village life: What was it like to be married to the man behind the religious upheaval? How did she deal with the celebrations and heartaches, housing, diet, fashion, childbirth, and child-rearing of daily life in Wittenberg? What role did she play in pushing gender boundaries and shaping the young egalitarianism of the movement? Though very little is known today about Katharina. Though her primary vocation was not even related to ministry, she was by any measure the First Lady of the Reformation, and she still has much to say to Western women and men of today.

This book argues that Martin Luther did not enforce his own strict theological convictions about women and their nature when he personally corresponded with women throughout his daily life. This becomes clear with Luther's interactions with female family members and Reformation women. With these encounters, he did not maintain his theological attitudes and made exceptions to his own theology for such influential women. Luther also did not enforce his theology throughout his pastoral care where he treated both men and women respectfully and equally. His pastoral work shows that he allowed his compassion and empathy to win over his own strict theological convictions about women. It is important to remember that Luther not only wrote about women in the abstract, but also lived both his public and private life among women. However, there have been no comprehensive studies that have examined his theological writings about women and personal encounters with women. For this reason, fundamental aspects of Luther have remained in the dark. As actions speak louder than words, scholars need to include the practical, as well as the theoretical when analyzing his attitudes towards women. This book not only contributes to a more nuanced understanding of Luther's theological views on women, but also how those views compare to his actual social encounters with women. This work highlights the necessity to explore Luther's personal encounters with women, as well as his theology when trying to provide an authentic assessment of the reformer's attitudes towards women.

Women and the Reformation gathers historical materials and personal accounts to provide a comprehensive and accessible look at the status and contributions of women as leaders in the 16th century Protestant world. Explores the new and expanded role as core participants in Christian life that women experienced during the Reformation Examines diverse individual stories from women of the times, ranging from biographical sketches of the ex-nun Katharina von Bora Luther and Queen Jeanne d’Albret, to the prophetess Ursula Jost and the learned Olimpia Fulvia Morata Brings together social history and theology to provide a groundbreaking volume on the theological effects that these women had on Christian life and spirituality Accompanied by a website at www.blackwellpublishing.com/stjerna offering student’s access to the writings by the women featured in the book

A study in the history of exegesis, this text examines Martin Luther's interpretation of the stories of the women of Genesis, evaluating his understanding of male/female relations as well as his appropriation of Christian hagiographical traditions of biblical interpretation.

Their revolutionary marriage was arguably one of the most scandalous and intriguing in history. Yet five centuries later, we still know little about Martin and Katharina Luther's life as husband and wife. Until now. Against all odds, the unlikely union worked, over time blossoming into the most tender of love stories. This unique biography tells the riveting story of two extraordinary people and their extraordinary relationship, offering refreshing insights into Christian history and illuminating the Luthers' profound impact on the institution of marriage, the effects of which still reverberate today. By the time they turn the last page, readers will have a deeper understanding of Luther as a husband and father and will come to love and admire Katharina, a woman who, in spite of her pivotal role, has been largely forgotten by history. Together, this legendary couple experienced joy and grief, triumph and travail. This book brings their private lives and their love story into the spotlight and offers powerful insights into our own twenty-first-century understanding of marriage.

This ebook is a selective guide designed to help scholars and students of Islamic studies find reliable sources of information by directing them to the best available scholarly materials in whatever form or format they appear from books, chapters, and journal articles to online archives, electronic data sets, and blogs. Written by a leading international authority on the subject, the ebook provides bibliographic information supported by direct recommendations about which sources to consult and editorial commentary to make it clear how the cited sources are interrelated related. This ebook is a static version of an article from Oxford Bibliographies Online: Renaissance and Reformation, a dynamic, continuously updated, online resource designed to provide authoritative guidance through scholarship and other materials relevant to the study of European history and culture between the 14th and 17th centuries. Oxford Bibliographies Online covers most subject disciplines within the social science and humanities, for more information visit www.oxfordbibliographies.com.