Sigismund Suevus (1526–1596)

The sixth chapter focuses on the continual presence of Catholics and the shared use of formerly Catholic spaces. Sigismund Suevus (1526–1596), a Lutheran preacher from Lauban, engaged in a conflict with the nuns of the Order of Mary Magdalen in Lauban. As town preacher, he denounced the conversion of one of Lauban’s mayors to Catholicism, but he continued to share a church with the nuns and any remaining Catholics. These shared spaces challenge our understanding of confessional markers, as Lutherans continued to have side altars or images of saints in their part of the church. Moreover, the nuns were linked to the Lutheran preachers through daily interactions. Although Suevus rejected Catholicism in his sermons, he also reinterpreted Catholic space in Reformation terms, especially the Holy Sepulchre in Görlitz, a reproduction of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. He advocated a spiritual pilgrimage to this space and used objects connected to travel as allegories of Lutheranism.

Friedrich Fischer (1558–1623)

Chapter 8 centres on the Bautzen preacher Friedrich Fischer (1558–1623) and shows how the changing political and religious landscape of the early seventeenth century led to a repositioning of Lutheranism. A particularly valuable case study, Fischer demonstrates how Lutherans and Catholics constantly influenced each other, and how the complex mix of power resulted in negotiations with a wide range of actors: town councils, Lutheran preachers, Catholic deans, other clerics, representatives of the king of Bohemia, and sometimes even the king himself. The situation in these towns was never stagnant and councillors and clerics negotiated agreements throughout the sixteenth century. Fischer’s sermons show that this kind of continual compromise found its way into what was preached in Lusatia. Depending on the purpose and the audience, individuals like Fischer could criticize Calvinism or Catholicism, change their religious outlook, and leave out elements associated with Lutheranism, while at other times polemicizing against Catholics.

Johann Leisentrit (1527–1586)

The fifth chapter concentrates on later Catholic responses to the increasingly Lutheran environment. The deans of biconfessional Bautzen were particularly important in this process. One, Johann Leisentrit (1527–1586), reveals why Catholics incorporated Lutheran elements into their religiosity. He compromised on communion and baptisms to keep the peace in Bautzen, but he struggled to work with these compromises which he felt were necessary to ensure the survival of Catholicism. Leisentrit never went against the orders of any Catholic superiors, but he included songs by Luther in his hymnbook and did not feature purgatory in his instructions for the dying. These changes suggest that there was competition for souls and Leisentrit hoped to trump the Lutherans by incorporating some of their elements into his works. Later, attacks by other Catholics led Leisentrit to define Lutheranism, alongside other dissenting beliefs, as a heresy. External pressure could lead to a clearer definition of confessional boundaries.

Introduction

This chapter introduces the main themes of the book and shows how the Catholic king of Bohemia engaged with Lutheran Upper Lusatia. It discusses some of the political and legal features of the six town of the Lusatian League, setting the background for the later chapters. This chapter also introduces some of the key historiographical debates on syncretism, religious toleration, the formation of confessional identities and the urban Reformation. The chapter provides a sense of the urban actors present in the towns, including the Slavic minority population of the Sorbs. Finally, the chapter describes the structure of the book as a series of biographical sketches, which illustrate broader developments in the religious history of early modern central Europe.

Conclusion

The conclusion focuses on the ways in which Upper Lusatia advances and challenges broader Reformation narratives, while also highlighting where Lusatia was a unique case. Religiosity meant different things to different people, and the contradictions in the characters of individuals were mirrored in the complexities of the Reformations of Upper Lusatia. Later histories of the Reformation did not always describe the more radical religious groups and the important role of Catholicism in the region, portraying the Reformation in Upper Lusatia as a strictly Lutheran affair instead. This monograph restores some of this complexity to the Upper Lusatian Reformation.

Lorenz Heidenreich (1480–1557) and Oswald Pergener (1490s–1546)

The first chapter gives an overview of the Reformation in the six towns and shows how the lack of a political centre led to continual compromise. The size and economic importance varied greatly in the six towns, resulting in different patterns of reform, including Zwinglianism, popular preaching, and convents which survived the Reformation. The chapter asks when religious change turned into ‘the introduction of Lutheranism’, showing that the six towns took individualistic and unique paths towards establishing the Reformation. The biographical focal points for this chapter are Lorenz Heidenreich (1460–1557) and Oswald Pergener (1490s–1546). Heidenreich was a Wittenberg-educated Lutheran preacher, yet there is no indication that any problems existed between him and a group of Zwinglians in the town. The presence of the Zwinglians shows how, especially in the early phase of the Reformation, the towns of the Lusatian League differed significantly in their religious outlook.

Andreas Günther (1502–1570)

The third chapter approaches the continuities and breaks in urban governments of the Lusatian towns through the last Catholic mayor of Kamenz, Andreas Günther (1502–1570). He illustrates that the complexities of the towns meant that Catholics continued to be influential long after the introduction of Lutheranism. Günther was involved in negotiations with the king of Bohemia and retained his position as an important urban actor for his whole life. The chapter draws attention to the distinctive nature of the Lusatian towns, showing how they functioned and how they differed from other urban centres. The emergence of Lutheran preachers as central actors changed the towns, as did political events in Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire. These complexities make Upper Lusatia one of the most fascinating areas in this period.

Johannes Hass (c.1476–1544)

The councillor and chronicler Johannes Hass (c.1476–1544) illustrates how a Catholic perceived early Reformation changes. Hass was not the last proponent of a traditional kind of Catholicism in Görlitz. He incorporated minor elements of Lutheranism into his religiosity while at the same time considering himself to be a Catholic. This chapter explores the early Reformation years as a time of confessional uncertainties: Lutheranism had no clear shape and Catholics had not formulated a unified response to Lutheran challenges. Hass changed his religious outlook: before the Reformation, he wrote about a visible and active God, but with the Reformation, he changed the nature of divine intervention and turned God into a more watchful and passive deity with the Devil taking on a more prominent role. These patterns of change can be linked to the introduction of Lutheranism in Görlitz. Individuals sought to position themselves in a changing world, and Hass was one of them.

Bartholomäus Scultetus (1540–1614)

The fourth chapter centres on the Lutheran mayor Bartholomäus Scultetus (1540–1614) who introduced the Gregorian Calendar to Lusatia and the Bohemian lands. Other Lutheran territories, most notably Saxony, refused to accept the more accurate calendar on religious grounds. Scultetus, however, advocated for the calendar and exchanged letters with Catholic dignitaries, praising the benefits of a calendar reform. He dedicated multiple works to Catholics, was friends with some of them and even included woodcuts of his Catholic friends or their coat of arms in his works. Other examples of this cross-confessional exchange include a monk who was one of the most popular godfathers in Zittau until the 1540s or the peaceful negotiations between Lutheran town councils and Franciscan monks regarding new town schools. Scultetus and other councillors also engaged in the creation of a Reformation memory, but without a clear shape of Lutheranism, these histories did not follow a unified pattern.

Martin Moller (1547–1606)

The seventh chapter shows that toleration and syncretism in Upper Lusatia had limits. The treatment of individuals accused of Calvinism shows that toleration was connected to broader political and religious circumstances. Martin Moller (1547–1606), accused of ‘crypto-Calvinism’ in the 1590s, illustrates how even important clerics could be caught in accusations and face serious problems. But while individuals in other Lusatian towns lost their post because of these accusations, Moller kept his because councillors and school rectors sided with him. Other groups were never tolerated fully, including Anabaptists, followers of the ‘mystic’ Jakob Böhme, and a group of Schwenckfelders in Görlitz. Peaceful coexistence between Lutherans and Catholics therefore never meant toleration of all religious groups in Upper Lusatia.