Frauen der Reformationszeit: Gelehrt, mutig und glaubensfest [paperback]

Befitting the Reformation Decade that began in 2010, Sonja Domröse portrays the women of the Reformation, their life and work, and their influence on the course of the Reformation in Germany. She writes with great aptitude and lucidity. The early Reformation, by placing great emphasis on the written word, the translation of the Bible into vernacular German and the high estimation of every believer before God (“priesthood of all believers”), strengthened the self-confidence of many women. Not a few felt the call to become active by publishing their own works concerning the goals of the Reformation and striving against the inferior position otherwise assigned to women. This volume presents the biographies of a number of exemplary women and pays tribute to their theological and literary deeds (Elisabeth von Calenberg-Göttingen, Argula von Grumbach, Ursula Weyda, Elisabeth Cruciger, Wibrandis Rosenblatt, Katharina Zell, Olympia Fulvia Morata, Ursula von Münsterberg). It makes clear that some 500 years ago there were the seminal beginnings of the emancipation of women in the Western church and society as a whole. Finally, the author discusses the image of women in Martin Luther’s writings.