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The untold story of how the Dutch conquered the European book market and became the world's greatest bibliophiles
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The extraordinary history of news and its dissemination, from medieval pilgrim tales to the birth of the newspaper
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Throughout the 16th century, political and intellectual developments in Britain and the Netherlands were intertwined, with a constant exchange of books, ideas, people and religious thought. This study explores the ramifications of these links.
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When Martin Luther posted his "theses" on the door of the Wittenberg church in 1517, protesting corrupt practices, he was virtually unknown. Within months, his ideas spread across Germany, then all of Europe; within years, their author was not just famous, but infamous, responsib...le for catalyzing the violent wave of religious reform that would come to be known as the Protestant Reformation and engulfing Europe in decades of bloody war. Luther came of age with the printing press, and the path to glory of neither one was obvious to the casual observer of the time. Printing was, and is, a risky business-the questions were how to know how much to print and how to get there before the competition. Pettegree illustrates Luther's great gifts not simply as a theologian, but as a communicator, indeed, as the world's first mass-media figure, its first brand. He recognized in printing the power of pamphlets, written in the colloquial German of everyday people, to win the battle of ideas. But that wasn't enough-not just words, but the medium itself was the message. Fatefully, Luther had a partner in the form of artist and businessman Lucas Cranach, who together with Wittenberg's printers created the distinctive look of Luther's pamphlets. Together, Luther and Cranach created a product that spread like wildfire-it was both incredibly successful and widely imitated. Soon Germany was overwhelmed by a blizzard of pamphlets, with Wittenberg at its heart; the Reformation itself would blaze on for more than a hundred years. Publishing in advance of the Reformation's 500th anniversary, Brand Luther fuses the history of religion, of printing, and of capitalism-the literal marketplace of ideas-into one enthralling story, revolutionizing our understanding of one of the pivotal figures and eras in human history.
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A study of the role of the German town of Emden in the European Reformation of the 16th century, examining the significant part it played for Dutch Protestants, as a training centre and a major source of propaganda. It also provides a reconstruction of the output of Emden's print...ing presses.
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This volume comprises 13 essays exploring penitential teachings and practises from the late-15th to the early-17th centuries in Western Europe and its colonies. Together the essays reveal that, in this period, penitence was an increasingly important force shaping the individual a...nd society.
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The evangelical challenge of the 16th century was one of the seminal events of the last half millennium. In the course of a single century of religious discord, an integrated society of believers with shared values and common social and intellectual assumptions evolved into a con...tinent divided by fundamental differences of belief, mentality, and religious practice. These divisions cut across existing hierarchies, national boundaries and social class. Few aspects of 16th century life were left untouched; the impact of the Reformation disputes would be enduring, shaping critical aspects of modern European society and reaching out, with the European conquests, to Asia and the Americas. In the past two decades, study of the Reformation has continued to develop and evolve. The dissolution of the European post-war settlement in 1989 has permitted, in particular, the rediscovery of cultural and political points of contact across areas of central Europe previously obscured by the divisions of the late 20th century. It is now gradually emerging that the Reformation was in many respects more successful looking eastward, than west. This collection reflects both the classic building blocks of Reformation history, such as the writings of Luther and Calvin, and also the new historiography which has emerged in recent years. The material is organized so as to explore the thematic complexities of this all-encompassing movement, whilst giving due weight to developments in different parts of Europe including France, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, England and Scotland.
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A collection of major articles representing some of the best historical research by some of the world's most distinguished historians.
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A short-title catalogue of various books published in the French language before 1601. It is based on twelve years of investigations in libraries in France and other countries.
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A lucid introduction to the Reformation as a pan-European phenomenon.
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