Die Entscheidung deutscher Länder für oder gegen Luther. Studien zu Reformation und Konfessionalisierung im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert. Gesammelte Aufsätze (review)

These thirteen articles—reprinted here with minor changes—focus on Reformation-era Central European history and were originally published by Walter Ziegler between 1980 and 1999. Four (I.1–I.4) are devoted to the general impact of the Reformation on German territories. Four further articles (II.1–II.4) focus on the "Confessionalism Theory" ( Konfessionalisierungsthese). Three additional articles serve as case studies on the impact of the Reformation in Austria (III.1), Brandenburg (III.2), and the Upper Palatinate (III.3), and the remaining two articles (IV.1, IV.2) examine the significance of the Reformation for Roman Catholic monastic orders, especially the Franciscan Observant Order.

In "Territorium und Reformation. Überlegungen und Fragen" (I.2), Ziegler places his general discussion of the Reformation within the context of the following epochs: (1) The Rapid Growth of Protestantism (1530–40); (2) The Uneasy Equilibrium between Roman Catholics and Protestants (1540–60); (3) The Emergence of Protestant and Roman Catholic Confessions (1560–90); (4) The Growth of Confessional Antagonisms (1590–1630); and (5) The Establishment of a Territorial System of Confessionally Diverse, Coexisting German Territories (1630–50). He concludes by noting that although this confessional strife could be regarded as a tragic event, it also resulted in a substantial amount of intellectual and pedagogical activity in the German territories. In this connection, one might note (for example) that in Sweden, where the Lutheran Reformation was introduced with very little continuing resistance, Sweden's only university—in Uppsala—was closed with the advent of the Reformation and did not reopen until near the end of the sixteenth century.

In "Kritisches zur Konfessionalisierungthese" (II.3), Ziegler traces the history of the "Confessionalism Theory" that, according to its adherents, posits how distinct Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Calvinist confessions emerged during the Reformation and created new ecclesiastical and academic institutions within the context of emerging state governments. Ziegler criticizes the theory as one that neglects the central importance that Christians in this period placed on the search for universally valid truth; it also ignores the dominant continuity existing within the Roman Catholic Church through the medieval and early-modern periods. Citing the work of the German historian Volker Press, he notes that the political landscape of many German regions and localities during this period was so complex that it is impossible to effectively distinguish between distinct religious confessions in many cases (p. 183).The complex political and confessional conditions in Regensburg during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (p. 210) also serve to illustrate this point.

Although some of the articles in this collection are devoted to general issues and theories, others have more specific foci. For example, in "Klosteraufhebung im Zeitalter der Reformation in der Mark Brandenberg" (III.2), Zeigler provides a highly useful table of seventy-seven monasteries located in Electoral Brandenburg, listing their locations; the order or congregation and the diocese to which they belonged (in 1517); the (approximate) year of their establishment; and a short description of their fates, beginning in the 1540s. These monasteries were secularized, fell into ruin, or were transformed into Protestant monasteries, depending on their religious order or congregation, legal status, financial situation, and specific circumstances (including historical development and traditions).

Ziegler concludes this volume with a select bibliography of relevant scholarly literature that has appeared since the original publication of the collection's articles, as well as a list of its twenty-eight (well-chosen) illustrations. An extensive index of places is followed by an index of individuals. Also included is a complete list of the author's publications (spanning the years 1968 through 2007).

Ziegler's collection will remain valuable for many years to come, as it includes well-documented, specialized studies and well-researched...