Sam Wellman's Frederick the Wise unlocks German research to make available in English, for the first time, a full-length story of Frederick III of Saxony. The fascinating biographical journey reveals why this noteworthy elector risked his realm of Saxony to protect the fiery monk Martin Luther and the developing reforms of the Church. As one of the most powerful territorial princes of the Holy Roman Empire of his time, Frederick's "humanity and integrity were rare for someone of his elite status," notes Dr. Paul M. Bacon, professor at Dominican University. "Elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony was much more than simply Martin Luther's noble protector." A valuable resource for students of German history and the Reformation period, this book explores questions such as: Why did Frederick decline after being elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire? How and why did he protect Martin Luther? In what ways did Frederick advance the work of humanists such as Celtis and the careers of artists such as Dürer and Cranach? How did he deal with the emperors, popes, and kings of his time? Why was his wife-but not his children-kept 'secret'? Book jacket.

Learn the seen and unseen lives of Frederick the Wise. Frederick was seen. For decades pre-eminent prince in the Holy Roman Empire. Emperors, kings, popes, artists and scholars coveted his favor. He built from the dirt up a grand university/castle/church complex. Altars showcased renowned holy relics and art by masters like Albrecht Durer and Lucas Cranach. Frederick was just. He was everyone's favorite mediator. He defended the unorthodox as well, long before Luther. Frederick was unseen. He was famously secretive. He hid towering ambition. He had three children with a covert 'wife'. He ran a network of spies. He could be vile. He drove all Jews from his realm. He indulged the bizarre. His foul-mouthed jester Claus Narr is legendary. Frederick practiced Christianity but also believed signs and astrology. He collected 'holy relics' he had to know were fakes. He loved one brother and loathed the other. And then came unorthodoxy writ large in Martin Luther who turned the world and Frederick upside down. Learn why this enigmatic prince sacrificed his Catholic showcase and risked his realm to protect Luther. In the past only German scholars grasped Frederick the Wise. Now Dr. Wellman, from frequent trips to Germany and exhaustive use of German sources, reveals the seen and unseen lives of Frederick the Wise to readers of English.

Overwhelmingly, Martin Luther has been treated as the generator of ideas concerning the relationship between God and humankind. The Personal Luther deliberately departs from that church-historiographic tradition. Luther was a voluble and irrepressible divine. Even though he had multiple ancillary interests, such as singing, playing the lute, appreciating the complexities of nature, and observing his children, his preoccupation was, as he quickly saw it, bringing the Word of God to the people. This book is not about Luther’s theology except insofar as any ideational construct is itself an expression of the thinker who frames it. Luther frequently couched his affective utterances within a theological framework. Nor is it a biography; it does not portray a whole life. Rather, it concentrates on several heretofore neglected aspects of the Reformer’s existence and personality. The subjects that appear in this book are meant to demonstrate what such core-taking on a range of mainly unexplored facets of the Reformer’s personality and experience can yield. It will open the way for other secular researchers to explore the seemingly endless interests of this complicated individual. It will also show that perspectives of cultural historians offer the broadest possible evidentiary base within which to analyze a figure of the past.

Bestselling author and Berkeley professor of thirty years Frederick Crews has always considered himself a skeptic. Forty years ago he thought he had found a tradition of thought — Freudian psychoanalytic theory — that had skepticism built into it. He gradually realized, however, that true skepticism is an attitude of continual questioning. The more closely Crews examined the logical structure and institutional history of psychoanalysis, the more clearly he realized that Freud's system of thought lacked empirical rigor. Indeed, he came to see Freudian theory as the very model of a modern pseudoscience. Follies of the Wise contains Crews's best writing of the past fifteen years, including such controversial and widely quoted pieces as "The Unknown Freud" and "The Revenge of the Repressed," essays whose effects still reverberate today. In addition, his topics range from "Intelligent Design" creationism to theosophy, from psychological testing to UFO zaniness, from American Buddhism to the current state of literary criticism. A single theme animates his bracing and witty discussions: the temptation to reach for deep wisdom without attending to the little voice that asks, "Could I, by any chance, be deceiving myself here?"

Luther and the Jews: Putting Right the Lies is a timely and important contribution to the debate about the legacy of the Protestant Reformation. It brings together two topics that sit uncomfortably: the life, ministry, and impact of Martin Luther, and the history of Jewish-Christian relations to which he made a profoundly negative contribution. As a Messianic Jew, Richard Harvey considers Luther and his legacy today, and explains how Messianic Jews have a vital role to play in the much-needed reconciliation not only between Protestants and Catholics, but also between Christians and Jews, in order for Luther's vision of the renewal and restoration of the church to be realized.

Textures of Images presents for the first time a fundamental analysis and synopsis of the printed relic-book genre. The author brings into focus the specific mediality and aesthetics of this kind of printed books between the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period.

This volume marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 with the recognition that the Reformation was not merely about events, ideas, and movements. It was also the story of people. It is the story of their faith, their witness, their way of handling conflict, and the way in which their personal habits-even apart from their words-have left behind a message for us. Martin Luther and the reformers encouraged Christians to study the lives of faithful Christians who had gone before and to learn from them. This, they said, was the proper way to remember the saints. In this volume, the reader is invited to reflect on the saints of the Reformation. Some, like Martin Luther, you may have heard of before. Others, like Ursula von Münsterberg, are little known. But in the lives of all-men and women, royals and commoners, clergy and laypeople-the work of God is evident. Their witness to Christ and His mercy remains a powerful testimony to Christians today.

The first survey to utilise the approaches of the new cultural history in analysing how Reformation Europe came about.

A Sourcebook of Early Modern European History not only provides instructors with primary sources of a manageable length and translated into English, it also offers students a concise explanation of their context and meaning. By covering different areas of early modern life through the lens of contemporaries’ experiences, this book serves as an introduction to the early modern European world in a way that a narrative history of the period cannot. It is divided into six subject areas, each comprising between twelve and fourteen explicated sources: I. The fabric of communities: Social interaction and social control; II. Social spaces: Experiencing and negotiating encounters; III. Propriety, legitimacy, fi delity: Gender, marriage, and the family; IV. Expressions of faith: Offi cial and popular religion; V. Realms intertwined: Religion and politics; and, VI. Defining the religious other: Identities and conflicts. Spanning the period from c. 1450 to c. 1750 and including primary sources from across early modern Europe, from Spain to Transylvania, Italy to Iceland, and the European colonies, this book provides an excellent sense of the diversity and complexity of human experience during this time whilst drawing attention to key themes and events of the period. It is ideal for students of early modern history, and of early modern Europe in particular.

John Frederick the Magnanimous was the elector of Saxony during Martin Luther's mature years (1532-1546), and they worked closely together on many things. After Luther's death, John Frederick shared leadership of the Smalcald League with his cousin, Philip of Hesse.