This is the first complete English translation of Ulrich von Hutten's Latin dialogue Arminius and Eobanus Hessus's Latin preface to its posthumous publication (1529). The translations are enhanced by extensive literary analysis in the context of social and political change in sixteenth-century Germany and German literary history. Hutten's literary role is illustrated further by discussion of his dialogue, Inspicientes, or Die Anschauenden, and by comparative analysis of Hutten-related works by Heinrich von Kleist, Die Hermannschlacht (1808), Gottfried Keller, Ufenau (1858), and Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, Huttens letzte Tage (1871). The study draws attention to Hutten's ethnic chauvinism, construed by later generations as German patriotism and used to endorse attitudes and prejudices alien to Hutten's original ideas. The English translations and analyses provide broader access to Hutten's writings and ideas and give insights into the links between late Roman history, society and politics in the Reformation period, and German patriotism of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

An unusual anthology of material in translation, quite unlike the spate of source books and compilations of snippets which continue to pour from the presses. Strauss has assembled 35 documents of widely differing nature in order to illustrate a single topic, the uneasy state of Germany in the 15th and early 16th centuries, the period leading up to, and including, the beginnings of the Lutheran Reformation. It is a complex tale of grievances against the Papacy, social unrest, economic exploitation in various forms, imperial weakness, and wounded national pride. An excellent introduction provides the necessary background; brief headnotes to each selection and useful footnotes give further clarification; the translations are highly readable." -Choice. "Strauss permits humanists, knights, craftsmen, and peasants to proclaim their dissatisfaction in their own earthly words, show the causes, and suggest remedies. His selections from the vast body of 'grievance literature', dating chiefly from about 1490 to about 1525, provide the first genuine review of his age of dissent available to the English reader, while brief introductions place the period and each document in historical context." - Library journal

Many of the leading figures of the Reformation and many of their most able opponents came from among the ranks of the Franciscan Order. This Order became the focus of attack in a pamphlet war waged against it in 1523 by converts to the Reformation. These criticisms were based on arguments by Luther in his Judgement on Monastic Vows, and the pamphlets provided an important channel for these views. Luther’s arguments were also reinforced by criticisms of the mendicant orders drawn from medieval polemical and satirical literature. The campaign of 1523 brought together both Reformation and pre-Reformation anticlerical themes. In this book Geoffrey Dipple looks at the perception of the Franciscan order in the 15th and 16th centuries, placing the attacks firmly in the context of late medieval inter-clerical rivalries. He looks particularly at the anticlerical polemics of one of the primary participants - Johann Eberlin von Günzburg - the most vocal of the Franciscan’s critics.

The Access to History series is the most popular and trusted series for AS and A level history students, combining all the strengths of this well-loved series with features that allow all students access to the content and study skills needed to achieve exam success. Features include: AS questions and exam tips; Definitions of key terms; Summaries of key historical debates. This edition has been thoroughly revised to meet the needs of the 2008 AS specifications for OCR and Edexcel. It examines the background to the German Reformation and the factors which led to it. It then goes on to analyse the ideas and influence of Luther, how his ideas spread within and beyond Germany, and the political and religious context in which these changes took place. Throughout the book key dates, terms and issues are highlighted, and historical interpretations of key debates are outlined. Summary diagrams are included to consolidate knowledge and understanding of the period, and exam-style questions and tips written by examiners for the OCR and Edexcel exam specifications provide the opportunity to develop exam skills.

This book is a volume in the Penn Press Anniversary Collection. To mark its 125th anniversary in 2015, the University of Pennsylvania Press rereleased more than 1,100 titles from Penn Press's distinguished backlist from 1899-1999 that had fallen out of print. Spanning an entire century, the Anniversary Collection offers peer-reviewed scholarship in a wide range of subject areas.