Women and the Reformation
Paper given by Albrecht Classen
Delivered at the University of Goettingen on 29 June 2016
In 2017, we are celebrating the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s 95 theses, the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Truly a monumental event in western history. But was it only a history initiated and carried by men? Yes, at first sight, if we are thinking of such giants next to Luther as Philipp Melanchthon, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, Martin Bucer, Johannes Bugenhagen, etc.
But no, if we take a second look. In fact, we can identify numberous women who emerged as part of the Protestant Reformation and made their voices heard. This talk introduces some of the major female players from the era of the Protestant Reformation and provides a refreshing counter-balance to a traditional male perspective.
Albrecht Classen is a professor of German Studies at the University of Arizona. He is the editor of the journal Mediaevistik and the online journal Humanities Open Access.