The Negotiated Reformation
Imperial Cities and the Politics of Urban Reform, 1525–1550

This book explains the spread and survival of urban reform during the sixteenth century, arguing that systems of communication between cities fundamentally shaped the Reformation's development.

Christopher W. Close (Author)

9780521760201, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 September 2009

298 pages, 2 maps
22.9 x 15.5 x 2.5 cm, 0.61 kg

'Close has identified an important aspect of the political and religious culture of sixteenth-century Germany by emphasizing the negotiated character of the Reformation … the political context presented here should not be ignored …' The Journal of Central European History

Utilizing evidence from numerous imperial cities, this book offers an explanation for the spread and survival of urban reform during the sixteenth century. By analyzing the operation of regional political constellations, it reveals a common process of negotiation that shaped the Reformation in the Holy Roman Empire. It reevaluates traditional models of reform that leave unexplored the religious implications of flexible systems of communication and support among cities. Such networks influenced urban reform in fundamental ways, affecting how Protestant preachers moved from city to city, as well as what versions of the Reformation city councils introduced. This fusion of religion and politics meant that with local variations, negotiation within a regional framework sat at the heart of urban reform. The Negotiated Reformation therefore explains not only how the Reformation spread to almost every imperial city in southern Germany, but also how it survived imperial attempts to repress religious reform.

Introduction
1. Consultation and the urban hierarchy
2. Imperial cities and collective politics
3. Preachers, consultation, and the spread of urban reform in southern Germany
4. The urban reformation in Donauworth
5. The urban reformation in Kaufbeuren
6. Negotiation and the rural reformation in eastern Swabia
7. Eastern Swabia and the Schmalkaldic War
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], European history [HBJD]