Ilonka van GÖ¼lpen. Der Deutsche Humanismus und die frÖ¼he Reformations-Propaganda 1520-1526: Das LutherportrÖ¤t im Dienst der Bildpublizistik. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 2002. 517 pp. EUR 78.00 (paper), ISBN 978-3-487-11680-8.

Reviewed by Patrick Hayden-Roy (Nebraska Wesleyan University)
Published on H-German (November, 2005)

This study was produced as a dissertation in Art History at the University of Frankfurt am Main. It presents a broad account of the symbiotic relationship that developed between humanism and the incipient movement for reform that congregated around Luther, as reflected in the outpouring of humanist tracts promoting the putative cause of Luther. In particular the author examines the development of portraits of Luther that accompanied this literature, and how they reflect the sensibilities and purposes of those who wished to publicize the cause of reform. She wants ultimately to provide a viewpoint for observing the evolution of the relationship between humanism and the forces of religious reform. Unfortunately, the work lacks the theoretical clarity and scholarly grounding to bring such a large theme into focus.

While most German academic writing suffers from overly schematic presentation, van Gülpen's text suffers from a lack of clear organization. There is a rough chronological progression to the study, but it is repeatedly interrupted by thematic excursions that often lack a clear context or goal. She begins with a brief introduction that notes the scholarly interest in the theme of Reformation propaganda, especially around the five-hundredth anniversary of Luther's birth, but then claims, by way of justifying her study, that little worth mentioning has been done since then (p. 15), which is by no means the case and reflects a surprising lack of familiarity with English-language scholarship.[1] She then enters her account by providing an overview of the origins of humanism in Italy, the introduction of humanism in Germany, the controversy that broke out around the figure of Johannes Reuchlin, and the background to Luther's early life. It is not until page 108 that the she gets into the primary theme of the study. One of the problems of the work is the repeated excursions into background discussions that take up large sections of the text, and which are often unnecessary given that her audience is most likely familiar with the basic historical outline of the era. Though these sections of the text are often remarkably well written, part of the lack of focus to the work is that the main themes are lost within the expanse of almost 400 pages.

When van Gülpen does finally get into the heart of her theme, the explication suffers from the lack of a clear analytic framework. Ostensibly her focus is on the humanist propaganda that pushed forward the cause of Luther in the period leading up to and following the Diet of Worms, and how that is ultimately reflected in images of Luther produced in this period. However, the connection between humanism and such images needed to be explained with more nuance, since it is not clear that the key to understanding the purpose of these images centrally lies with humanism. Partly the problem is in the use of the term humanism, which can designate figures as disparate as Ulrich von Hutton and Johannes Cochlaeus, as is clear in her study. The matrix of humanist perspectives and literature, the use of images in tracts of the early period of the Reformation, and the various audiences who consumed such literature and images is complicated, and needed a good deal more focus and interpretation. The main evidence for coherence between humanism and the production of images lies in the assumption that there was a coordinated campaign among German humanists, which took its primary shape in the efforts of Spalatin and the court of Frederick the Wise, to promote the case of Luther. While there is no doubt that there was an effort to support Luther, or that Spalatin was instrumental in it, this information does not provide a rigorous basis for establishing a coherent media campaign such as one might find in modern politics, or that humanism represents a sufficient ideological framework for such a campaign. Given the fact that printing as a medium of mass communication was first used in the reform movement set off by Luther, much of what was done with the new medium in support of Luther was improvised and lacked a coherent ideological center. One suspects the study's lack of theoretical acuity stems in part from a lack of familiarity with English-language scholarship. The extensive, and essential, English-language scholarship on humanism and religion, humanism and reform in Germany, and the popular promotion of the Reformation is not cited. Even the use of German-language sources is problematic, since outdated or non-scholarly sources are cited, and the standard Weimar edition of Luther's works is used only erratically. Given the breadth of the study, a full accounting of all the major literature on the themes she raises is unlikely, but the material at the center of the study lacks coherence and adequate support partly because of its insufficient basis in the scholarly literature.[2]

Ultimately the work needed to take a more restricted purview, and place its focus on the images in question, broadening out from the microcosm into the macrocosm only as necessary to elucidate the phenomena at issue. By seeking to paint the broadest background, the author has left everything hazy and vague, and failed to meet the basic scholarly obligation of grounding the work in the most recent scholarship. While much of the writing is admirably clear and direct, the overall scheme and scope of the study are out of focus, and the results of the study are mostly descriptive or derivative, and really not worth the amount of effort it takes to plough through the whole of the work.

Notes

[1]. Among works closely related to the author's theme that have appeared since 1983 are: Miriam Chrisman, Conflicting Visions of Reform: German Lay Propaganda Pamphlets 1519-1530 (Atlantic Hills: Humanities Press, 1996)--see H-German review at http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=1765851994786; Carl C. Christensen, Princes and Propaganda: Electoral Saxon Art of the Reformation (Kirksville: Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, 1992); Mark U. Edwards, Printing, Propaganda and Martin Luther (Berkeley & London: University of California Press, 1994)--see H-German review at http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=6928850276362; Leif Grane, Martinus Noster. Luther in the German Reform Movement 1518-1521 (Mainz: von Zabern, 1994); Robert Kolb, Martin Luther as Prophet, Teacher, Hero: Images of the Reformer 1520-1620 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999); Keith Moxey, _Peasants, Warriors, and Wives: Popular Imagery in the Reformation (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989)--see H-German review at http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=8791118253973. These are only the major studies not taken into consideration by the author. A number of journal articles could be cited in addition.

[2]. In addition to the works listed in note 1, a number of essential recent works on the connections between humanism and religious reform are not accessed: Erika Rummel, The Humanist-Scholastic Debate in the Renaissance and Reformation (Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press, 1995); Erika Rummel, The Confessionalization of Humanism in Reformation Germany (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000); Lewis Spitz, Luther and German Humanism (Aldershot: Variorum, 1996). Further she takes no notice of the essential pre-1983 English-language scholarship on German Humanism and Reformation. In addition it is noteworthy that one of the few English-language sources she does take note of, Robert Scribner's groundbreaking study For the Sake of Simple Folks: Popular Propaganda in the German Reformation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), is cited in the 1981 addition, even though an updated addition with new material was published in 1994. Given that her study so closely spins off of themes first developed by Scribner, and is intended to extend and improve upon his work, this is a significant omission.

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Citation: Patrick Hayden-Roy. Review of van GÖ¼lpen, Ilonka, Der Deutsche Humanismus und die frÖ¼he Reformations-Propaganda 1520-1526: Das LutherportrÖ¤t im Dienst der Bildpublizistik. H-German, H-Net Reviews. November, 2005.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=11257

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