Book Reviews 159 Philipp Melanchthon Briefwechsel Band t 16: Texte 4530–4790 (Januar–Juni 1547). Bearbeitet von Matthias Dall’Asta, Heidi Hein und Christine Mundhenk. Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart/Bad Cannstatt 2015, 409 s. isbn 9783772825781. €298. Band t 17: Texte 4791–5010 (Juli–Dezember 1547). Bearbeitet von Matthias Dall’Asta, Heidi Hein und Christine Mundhenk. Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart/Bad Cannstatt 2016, 356 s. isbn 9783772825798. €298. These two volumes, the most recent to appear in the edition of Melanchthon’s correspondence prepared by the Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, collect Melanchthon’s correspondence from the year 1547, the year following Luther’s death, during which the Schmalkaldic wars were raging. The edition is made up of two parts: the first “Register” [r] section, comprising eight vol- umes giving German summaries of the texts of the correspondence, a volume of addenda and cross-references, and a further five volumes of indices of places and people (of which the final two are in preparation). The second section, “Texts” [t] will comprise 30 volumes in total, following Melanchthon’s corre- spondence from 1514, when he was a seventeen-year-old student at the Univer- sity of Tübingen, to 1560, the year of his death. In total, Melanchthon’s correspondence includes nearly 9500 texts, written either by him or to him. For the year 1547, the total is over 500. Volume 16 col- lects 272 texts: 243 written by Melanchthon and 29 received by him. Volume 17 is made up of 232 texts, of which 201 were composed by Melanchthon, and 31 addressed to him. The summaries of the texts edited in volumes t16 and t17 can be found in volume r5, but the process of editing has led to the redating—and therefore the reordering—of some of the letters: thus text 4994, dated in r5 “mid December 1547” is now dated 22 December and has become 4999a; 4995 has become 4988a, dated 12 December 1547 and now believed to be addressed to Martin Bucer in Strasbourg rather than Oswald Myconius in Basel; 4999 has become 5000a, and so on. (The reasons for these adjustments are not clear from the apparatus; explanations must be sought in r9, the Addenda volume.) In addition, previously unknown letters continue to be discovered, including 4777a, written to Apollo Wigand in Sondershausen, 12 June 1547, and 4999b, to Francis Dryander in Basel, 22 December 1547, neither of which appear in r5. Each volume includes indices listing Melanchthon’s correspondents, both those the whom he wrote and those from whom he received letters. Not all these texts are letters: the volumes include Melanchthon’s notes to himself [e.g. t16.4580], receipts for payments [e.g. t17.4972], references for students [e.g. t17.4970], and theological judgements, for instance on the admission of a © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi: 10.1163/18712428-09801013Downloaded from Brill.com09/30/2021 10:10:38PM via free access 160 Book Reviews woman accused of adultery to the Lord’s Supper [t16.4539], or on a petition for divorce, in which Melanchthon, Johannes Bugenhagen, Casper Cruciger, and Georg Major pronounced judgment after the Wittenberg Consistory failed to act [t16.4723]. Melanchthon was also asked his opinion on the peace treaty proposed by Moritz of Saxony, writing in January 1547 to the Dukes George and Joachim of Anhalt [t16.4556] and in early February discussing the proposal with Chancellor Gregor Brück in Wittenberg [t16.4581]. Melanchthon’s life in the first half of 1547 was defined by the Schmalkal- dic War. He had left Wittenberg in November 1546 when the University was closed, and until April 1547, he remained in Zerbst, near Magdeburg, whither he had fled. In early May, on receiving the news of the defeat of Elector Johann Friedrich of Saxony at the battle of Mühlberg on 24 April 1547, he fled with his family once again, to Nordhausen, east of Göttingen. From there he travelled via Magdeburg to Braunschweig, and thence, after a brief visit to Wernigerode, to Einbeck and back to Nordhausen which he reached at the end of May. In July he was briefly inWeimar and in Leipzig. In August, leaving his family together with Katharina Luther and her children in Nordhausen, he returned to Wittenberg to negotiate the re-opening of the University under the city’s new ruler Moritz of Saxony, and remained in Wittenberg until Spring 1548. This was a period of shifting allegiances: after his defeat at Mühlberg, Elector Johann Friedrich was stripped of his electoral title, and Moritz, his second cousin, became the Elec- tor. From Summer 1547, electoral Saxony consisted of an expanded Albertine Saxony, and now included Wittenberg, whilst the territories of Ernestine (now ducal) Saxony were much reduced. The new Elector, Moritz, although himself a Lutheran and prepared to defend the Lutheran faith, was viewed by many as a traitor to the cause of the Reformation. Melanchthon’s negotiations with him over the reopening of the University, and particularly his long explana- tion of the proper ordering of university and pastorate written on 19 July 1547 [t17.4813] must be read and understood in this context. His uncertainty about the future of the University of Wittenberg is reflected in his reluctance to turn down Elector Joachim ii of Brandenburg’s offer of a post in Frankfurt an der Oder [t17.4826, 4882, 4969]. His correspondence in this period demonstrates Melanchthon’s significance as a key Reformation leader in Germany after Luther’s death in February 1546. He was in contact with leading northern German Reformers, including Johan- nes Bugenhagen and Martin Bucer, but not (at least in 1547) with Johannes Brenz, Heinrich Bullinger, or Jean Calvin. His correspondents included key Reformation rulers, including Elector Johann Friedrich of Saxony, Elector Jo- achim ii of Brandenburg, Duke Albrecht of Prussia, Landgraf Philipp of Hesse, and Duke Ulrich of Württemberg (who, not for the first time, had offered Melanchthon a post at the University of Tübingen). It is evident that he was Church History and Religious CultureDownloaded from 98 Brill.com09/30/2021 (2018) 139–191 10:10:38PM via free access Book Reviews 161 kept well informed about what was happening, not only in the German ter- ritories, but also elsewhere. Thus Melanchthon exchanged letters with King Christian iii of Denmark, in February sending him a report of events in Ger- many [t16.4576, 4577]. Christian must have offered him a post at the University of Copenhagen, for in August Melanchthon thanked him for the offer, explain- ing that he and Georg Major had had to break off an attempted journey to Denmark in Gifhorn for the sake of their children as the roads were too unsafe. He reported that he had now been recalled to the University of Wittenberg [t17.4825]. Christian’s response indicated his understanding for this decision; he sent Melanchthon an annual payment of 50 Thaler, requested copies of Luther’s works and asked for Melanchthon’s prayers for himself, his family, and his kingdom [t17.4903]: a striking witness to the spiritual authority attributed to Melanchthon (who was never ordained). Similarly, Melanchthon’s letters to the Scottish theologian Alexander Ale- sius, a former student at Wittenberg, who in 1547 had returned to Germany after a period in England, show that Melanchthon was informed about English affairs. In March he wrote of Henry viii’s death, commenting that Reforma- tion theology now had a better chance since the king had ordered before his death that it should not be hindered [t16.4659]. A month later, Melanchthon wrote again to Alesius, now in Rochlitz, affirming that the news of Henry viii’s death was “now certain,” intimating the sad news of the death of his daugh- ter Anna 26 February, and confirming that he had recommended the Scot to Duke Albrecht of Prussia; he suggested that Alesius come to Zerbst for a conver- sation [t16.4721]. In September he commented on Reginald Pole’s aspirations to gain power in England [t16.4881, 4883], and in December he reported that the gospel was now being preached in England and that there were reports that the church was being reformed [t17.4980]. Melanchthon responded also to events in Transylvania, where he had heard that an evangelical bishop had been elected; life under the Turks was said to be easier for Protestants than life under the Catholics, he observed [t17.4995]. Many of his letters testify to the support that Melanchthon offered to other Reformers and they also show his involvement in recommending former stu- dents and colleagues for posts. Thus he wrote to the town council of Amberg sending them a doctor, and later a deacon [t17.4960, 4976]; to the Eilenburg council to recommend a teacher [t17.4921]; to Hamburg’s council to advise on the duration of scholarships for theological study [t17.4962]; to representatives of the council in Hildesheim to advise on how the Reformation should deal with Catholic bishops and cathedral chapters [t17.4982]; to Lindau’s council to ask them to help a student who had had to fleeWittenberg to continue his stud- ies elsewhere, in Basel, Tübingen, or Nürnberg, to give him a post [t16.4600]; to Lüneburg’s to gain permission for the recipient of the town’s university Church History and Religious Culture 98 (2018) 139–191Downloaded from Brill.com09/30/2021 10:10:38PM via free access 162 Book Reviews scholarship to take up a post in Jüterbog, whither he had fled during the war [t17.4893]; to the council in Nürnberg to emphasise that taking in refugees from the Universities of Wittenberg and Leipzig “is without doubt pleasing to God” and would be rewarded by grace [t16.4605]; to the town council of Oschatz commending to them a deacon [t17.4843]; and to Zwickau’s council about the damage caused by the war, the need for student scholarships, and the appropriate form and cost of graduation parties [t17.4963].