'Wittenberg' Tagged Posts
The Cleaning Power of Fire
The Cleaning Power of Fire. Luther burns the papal bull; the pope returns the favour and burns Luther’s books. The relationship between Luther and church leaves the realm of academic, theological argumentation and enters the dangerous territory of power politics. If some monk challenges the authority of pope and church, what do you think all those power-hungry princes will do to the finely tuned structure of the Holy Roman Empire? If the pope can’t control a measly German monk, the…
Frederick The Wise, Protector of Luther and Fat Groundhog
Frederick The Wise, Protector of Luther and Fat Groundhog The Holy Roman Empire was always defined by the power struggles between the territorial princes, the emperor and the pope in Rome. One of those princes was Frederick III, who was also called “The Wise”. He was Grand Elector of Saxony and the founder of Wittenberg University where Martin Luther taught. He was the prince who protected the renegade monk when Empire and Papacy wanted Martin Luther dead. Due to his…
A Fugger Loan For A Second Son
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] A Fugger Loan For A Second Son Albert Margrave of Brandenburg has the bluest blood possible. He is as highborn as one can get, but unfortunately he is only a second son. His brother will inherit the title and so Albert needs something else to lord over. Why not go into religion? And because high born people don’t need to study anything Albert buys himself position in upper ranks of the church hierarchy. That was common at the time.…
The Reformation Is The Perfect Storm That Sweeps Away The Middle Ages
The Reformation Is The Perfect Storm That Sweeps Away The Middle Ages The emerging Reformation hits a world that already experience profound change. Europeans discover and start to plunder the Americas. The Ottoman Turks storm the northern shore of the Mediterranean and threaten Western Europe. Warfare changes from swords to guns, cities rise, nobles decline and the new empires are on the horizon. The theological insights of the reformation are the straw that break the Camels back and Germany descends…