Masters of the Reformation: The Emergence of a New Intellectual Climate in Europe

Heiko A. Oberman’s Masters of the Reformation – first published in German under the title Werden und Wertung der Reformation – is a general survey of academic thought and its impact on a wider world from the later Middle Ages to the emergence of Luther and the city Reformation. The book uses the early history of the University of Tübingen to illuminate late fifteenth-century theological developments and the first stirrings of the Reformation.
Oberman shows from the beginning that the University of Tübingen was no ivory tower. Rather, it was a vantage point from which important trends were discerned and vital impulses disseminated. In a second section, he then describes the creation of a distinctive ‘Tübingen school’, actively involved in the territorial policies of Württemberg and wrestling with the major ethical problems of the day. In the third section of the book, convincing links are established between the nominalist tradition and the intellectual context of the south German Reformation. Oberman emphasises the practical application of theology to social and ethical issues, and shows how this prepared the way for the Reformation as a spiritual and material liberation.
This book marks a fresh direction in the historiography of the German Reformation – towards a social history of ideas. Professor Oberman’s judgements are arresting, often provocative, but also provide revelations on many aspects on spiritual thought and life, and their influence on society and religion.