Sensory Perception, Religious Ritual and Reformation in Germany, 1428-1564
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SENSORY PERCEPTION, RELIGIOUS RITUAL AND REFORMATION IN GERMANY, 1428-1564 BY JACOB M. BAUM DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2013 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee Professor Craig Koslofsky, Chair Professor Megan McLaughlin Associate Professor Carol Symes Professor Bridget Heal, Senior Lecturer, University of St. Andrews ii Abstract This dissertation analyzes religious ritual in fifteenth and sixteenth century Germany. It argues that the history of ritual behavior in this period discloses what can be described as a cultural ‘reformation of the senses.’ Previous histories of religious behavior in this period have approached their subject through the lens of discourse analysis or visual culture. By contrast, this dissertation outlines a phenomenological approach which attends to the dynamic relationships between ritual practice and all five senses. This dissertation shows that in the fifteenth century, rituals of traditional Christianity explicitly appealed to all five senses, building on understandings of perception drawn from late medieval philosophy and everyday practices. The early Protestant Reformation in sixteenth century Germany re-formulated this paradigm by shifting emphasis to the role of vision and hearing in normative ritual practice. While understandings and uses of the senses in the sixteenth century demonstrate many continuities with the fifteenth century in the quotidian realm, the senses of smell, taste and touch were excluded from religious practice, or de-sacralized. This dissertation demonstrates this argument using a variety of source materials. Manuscript and printed prayer books, material culture, images, ego-documents, personal estate inventories, and church inventories demonstrate the sensory diversity of religious practice in late medieval and early modern Germany. Church ordinances, sermons, ecclesiastical visitation reports, court cases, and polemical treatises highlight the continuities and ruptures in the normative practice of religion during this period. This dissertation contributes principally to two fields of study: 1) the historical study of the Protestant Reformation, with emphasis on its origins in the fifteenth century; 2)the historical study of sensory perception in Western European culture, which to date has largely overlooked the German Reformation as a period of significant change. iii Acknowledgements I would not have been able to complete this project without the encouragement, guidance and support of many people. As an undergraduate at Aquinas College, I benefitted tremendously from working with a number of fine scholars on a close basis. Katharina Häusler-Gross taught the first class I ever took there, and was the best teacher of German I could have hoped for: a native speaker who challenged students not only to learn the language, but to move beyond stereotypes and see the beautiful diversity of German culture. All the compliments I received for my accent while living in Germany I owe to her. Also at Aquinas, Jason Duncan supported and encouraged my interest in history as a discipline, while Deb Wickering nurtured an interest in anthropology. Above all, I am deeply grateful to my advisor, Charles Gunnoe, who helped channel my knowledge of German into Reformation history and the history of religion in a variety courses, always offered sage and sober advice at every step along the way inside and outside the classroom, and set the standard of grace in teaching that I one day hope to achieve. His friendship and support through the years have been instrumental to my success. At the University of Illinois, I’ve learned much from both faculty and fellow graduate students. My first graduate course was with Antoinette Burton, who gave me the necessary push to expand my intellectual horizons and take the discipline of history seriously. The friendships I formed with fellow graduate students Dave Bates, Nathan Chio, Andy Eisen, Ian Hartman, Ashley Howard, Anna Kurhajec, and Alonzo Ward were absolutely necessary for survival. Amanda Eisemann, my older academic ‘sibling,’ was always there with helpful advice about negotiating the ever-present ‘next phase’ of coursework, research, and writing. I also greatly benefitted from the stimulating intellectual exchanges facilitated by the Pre-modern Reading Group and the German Colloquium. In particular, Jovita Baber, Michelle Beer, Clare Crowston, iv Kristen Ehrenburger, Peter Fritzsche, Harry Liebersohn, John Lynn, Lance Lubelski, Eric McKinley and John Randolph either provided direct input or raised thought-provoking points which indirectly shaped this project. Also, I can’t neglect mentioning Dana Rabin, who has always been supportive and welcoming since my arrival in Illinois. Outside the History Department, I had the good fortune of working with Bruce Rosenstock in the Department of Religion. I’m also especially grateful to Mara Wade in Germanic Languages & Literatures for her enthusiasm and steadfast support from the very earliest stages of this project’s development. While in Germany, I enjoyed the generous support of the Leibniz-Institut für Europäische Geschichte. The Institute provided financial support, housing, a stimulating intellectual climate, as well as the friendly support of a community of fine scholars: special thanks to Luka Ilic, Henning Jürgens, Irene Dingel, Esther Mӧller, and the Library staff. In addition to the Institute, a generous fellowship from the Center for Library and Information Resources in Washington D.C. allowed me to conduct research in Germany for almost two full years. While researching, the staffs at the various archives and libraries I visited were especially helpful. In particular, Christina Sauer, director of the old prints and manuscripts division in the Nuremberg Stadtbibliothek, deserves special thanks. The members of my dissertation committee provided profound scholarly insight and actually made the process of assembling the dissertation a truly pleasurable experience. Carol Symes has seen this dissertation develop from a first-year graduate seminar paper, and has always been more than generous with thoughtful feedback and support at each stage. She has also been an exemplary teacher. Megan McLaughlin was always fully supportive while strengthening this project with probing questions, and pushing me to write a dissertation for both early modernists and medievalists. I’m also very grateful to Bridget Heal, whose work has been v an intellectual touchstone for me since I began this dissertation. It was a privilege to have her join the committee, both for her insightful comments and for the wonderful dynamic she brought to the group. Finally, my greatest thanks go to my adviser Craig Koslofsky. Craig sparked this project early in my first semester of graduate school when he told by about this ‘new thing’ called history of the senses. Since then, he’s always been fully supportive, and sometimes it even seemed like he understood the full significance of the project more fully than I did myself. His ability to break down the complexities of daily life and religion has had a deep impression on me, and his scholarship continues to be the model to which I aspire. Finally, I would also like to thank my family. John and Patty, my mother and father, have always been loving and supportive, and instilled in me the discipline needed to complete this project. While working on this dissertation, I always looked forward to breaking away from it temporarily to spend time with my siblings Mark, Laura and Zach at home. Most importantly I want to thank my partner, Emily, who has been a friend, spouse, and someone I’ve looked up to intellectually since I met. I cherish all the times we’ve had together, am glad we’re not living on separate continents anymore, and look forward to the future with you. Finally, though I can’t really thank her, I’d like to acknowledge my daughter, Frances, who is about to enter the world as I complete this dissertation. This dissertation is for you and your mother. vi Abbreviations BSB = Bayerisches Staatsbibliothek GNM = Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg HAStK = Historisches Archiv der Stadt Kӧln MMB = Mainz Martinus-Bibliothek MSWB = Mainz Stadtbibliothek – Wissenschaftliche Bibliothek MVGN = Mitteilungen des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt Nürnberg NSB = Stadtbibliothek Nürnberg StadtAN = Stadtarchiv Nürnberg StAN = Staatsarchiv Nürnberg vii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: A REFORMATION OF THE SENSES……………………………………..1 CHAPTER 1: THE TASTE PHENOMENOLOGY OF THE EUCHARIST AND ITS REFORMATION………………………………………………………………………………...37 CHAPTER 2: THE (RE)FORMATION OF THE ROSARY: INTERSENSORIAL DEVOTION IN LATE MEDIEVAL GERMANY……………………………………………………...……100 CHAPTER 3: OLFACTION, TRANSITION, REFORMATION: INCENSE IN RITUAL THEORY AND RITUAL PRACTICE…………………………………………………………161 CHAPTER 4: THE FETISH OF THE WORD: THE COHERENCE OF THE SENSUAL IN REFORMATION RITUAL…………………………………………………………………….209 CHAPTER 5: THE WINDOW HYPOTHESIS: ADIAPHORA, IDOLATRY, AND THE SENSUAL THREAT OF CHURCH RITUAL IN REFORMATION NUREMBERG………..281 CONCLUSION: SENSORY DEPTH AND COHERENCE…………………………………...331 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………337 APPENDIX A: REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF LATE MEDIEVAL COOKBOOKS, CA. 1350- 1600……………………………………………………………………………………………..365 APPENDIX B: ANALYSIS OF ROSARY DESCRIPTIONS SAMPLE, 1362-1662………...370 APPENDIX C: IMAGES………………………………………………………………………374