Private Confession and the Lutheranization of Sixteenth-Century Nördlingen

Abstract

This article seeks to contribute to the scholarly literature on confessionalization by showing how private confession served as an important marker of official confessional identity in the German Reformation. The discussion focuses on Nordlingen, a Swabian imperial city that has received very little attention from English-speaking Reformation scholars. The article begins with a discussion of the efforts of Kaspar Loner, the city's senior pastor, to implement private confession in Nordlingen, part of his larger effort to Lutheranize the imperial city. The analysis then turns to examine the Nordlingen city council's opposition to Loner's intended reforms. Finally, the article examines the unexpected series of events that led to the formal adoption of private confession in Nordlingen, and it concludes with a discussion of how this decision both influenced and reflected the confessional stance of the city's lay and clerical leaders.