Lay Theology in the Reformation: Popular Pamphleteers in Southwest Germany 1521-1525

This book examines the coming of the Protestant Reformation from the viewpoint of eight common people, who were sufficiently disturbed by the events of 1521–5 to write treatises, letters, dialogues, and sermons, which they published. Their works are lively testimony to the interest of laypeople in the affairs of the church, and their willingness to discuss often complex theological training. These works are among the first documents of lay theology and piety, but they are also propaganda: d...