Reformation und alter Glaube: Zugehörigkeiten der Altgläubigen im Alten Reich und in Frankreich (1517–1540), by Marc Mudrak

Abstract

Marc Mudrak’s study is about the development of ‘old believer’ (Altgläubige) identity in the first decades of the Reformation. Mudrak correctly avoids the anachronism of calling those who rejected the appeal of the evangelical movement ‘Catholics’. While the label ‘old believers’ is awkward to English ears, it reflects sixteenth-century usage, especially in Germany. Of particular importance to writers was the label of ‘old’, which they saw as a positive presentation of traditional religion in opposition to the innovations of the evangelicals, whom they labelled (of course) ‘heretics’. An important strength of this study is Mudrak’s wide secondary reading. He engages deeply with German, French and English historiography, with a particular emphasis on incorporating French theoretical insights. This breadth is refreshing and allows Mudrak to break away from some of the older traditions of German writing about the Reformation. In addition to moving past the anachronistic use of confessional...