Glaube(n) im Disput: Neuere Forschungen zu den altgläubigen Kontroversisten des Reformationszeitalters ed. by Karl-Heinz Braun, Wilbirgis Klaiber, and Christoph Moos

Abstract

Reviewed by: Glaube(n) im Disput: Neuere Forschungen zu den altgläubigen Kontroversisten des Reformationszeitalters ed. by Karl-Heinz Braun, Wilbirgis Klaiber, and Christoph Moos Ralph Keen Glaube(n) im Disput: Neuere Forschungen zu den altgläubigen Kontroversisten des Reformationszeitalters. Edited by Karl-Heinz Braun, Wilbirgis Klaiber, and Christoph Moos. (Münster: Aschendorff Verlag. 2020. Pp. ix, 404. €68,00. ISBN: 9783402116074.) This volume of proceedings from a 2017 conference brings together research on the multifaceted nature of Catholic resistance to the Reformation. Attempts in the first half of the sixteenth century to respond to evangelical challenges sought to emphasize a unity and coherence in a tradition that beneath the surface was varie-gated and contentious. The papers in this volume are the products of close reading in little-known sources, guided by an awareness that “believing is a communicative process” (p. 7). In an introductory essay, Peter Waller describes the evolution of the medieval disputatio from its beginnings in early Scholasticism to its expansion, beyond the academic form, to a mode of engagement with Judaism and Islam as well as a genre within Humanism. Karl-Heinz Braun offers an incisive critique of modern conceptions of terms like “mystical’ or “Augustinian” with a reminder that they were less clear in the sixteenth century than they seem after a half-millennium. Kenneth Appold’s paper on the relationship of disputation and consensus provides valuable nuance to the tension between difference and unity, especially in the 1540s; while Kai Bremer’s close analysis of the debate about the authorities Luther invoked in An den Adel shows how that dispute shaped later controversies, especially the extent to which these involved the authority of the tradition. A section dedicated to contexts includes Axel Gotthard on the political priorities behind protecting the Roman Church and the specific threats to order that the Diets sought to counter, a discussion that raises the question of whether religious dissension leads to political disintegration. The role of the University of Paris in setting (and enforcing) norms for Catholic orthodoxy is ably detailed by Andreas Sohm’s depiction of the tensions among the many colleges and between many of them and the Sorbonne. Sohm’s discussion is followed by Peter Walter on the question of the priority of the theological tradition over the authority of the papacy (and, by implication, hierarchical order) as sources of authority. The section on patronage and professional networks includes Gabriele Jancke on the social relations that sustained Johannes Cochlaeus and his work and that illustrate what she calls Konfliktkultur, a world defined by its affinities and antagonisms. Christoph Moos offers a similar contextualization for Johannes Fabri, bishop of Vienna and the friend and patron of a wide circle of humanists, including Erasmus. These two papers are followed by Markus Wriedt on networks of the learned during this period, defined both in printing affiliations and by geography, with attention to theology (especially the controversial form) as its own community of discourse. Wilbirgis Klaiber’s discussion of the Franciscan Johannes Nas shows us a controversialist’s self-presentation to his readers. Women rarely figure in histories of polemical theology, but Anne Conrad describes the work of nuns and lay [End Page 200] teachers as part of the polemical enterprise, the Orders being their own networks and schools. Just as composers of Protestant pamphlets frequently relied on images, so did the Catholic resistance, though on the larger scale of church décor. Andreas Tacke describes confessionalizing elements in pre-Tridentine church iconography fostered by a patronage system of dukes and bishops. Theoretical perspective is offered by Bent Jörgensen’s discussion of confessional self-fashioning and his depiction of the tension between the “old” and the “new” faithful as reflected in pejorative epithets, many meant to delegitimize the Reformers as unchristian. Defining the old faith was a point of contention within the Church, as Martin Hille demonstrates in his study of the polemical exchange between Georg Nigrinus and Kaspar Franck the Younger about pastoral duties. The definition of the Church is the topic of a comparison by Thomas Dietrich on the ecclesiologies of Luther and Bellarmine. A final essay by Herman Selderhuis on directions for future research...