1 I 72-15,285 RYAN, Jr., John Patrick, 1944- PHILIP MELANCHTHON AND THE DIPLOMACY OF HUMANISM, 1531-1540. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1971 History, medieval f t V t I\ I University Microfilms, A XEROX Company. Ann Arbor, Michigan © 1972 Jobs Patrick Ryan, Jr. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. PHILIP MELANCHTHDN AND THE DIPLOMACY OF HUMANISM 1531-1540 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy In the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By John P. Ryan, Jr., Ph.D. ****** The Ohio State University 1971 Approved by Apriser Department of History PLEASE NOTE: Some pages have indistinct print Filmed as received. University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company PREFACE The following essay was written during a two-year stay at Friedrich-Karl University, Heidelberg, Germany. The grant which made that study possible came from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (D.A.A.D.), the exchange service of the German Federal Government. The Intermediary agencies in the United States were the Fulbright Commission and the Institute for International Education (I.I.E.). It is fitting that in expressing gratitude to each of these Institutions my first thanks should go to the German people. Among those people 1 wish to mention Professor Heinz Scheible and his staff at the Melanchthon-Fo^schungsstelle at Heidelberg. Their warmth and kindnesses played no little role in whatever small contribution I may have made here. Along with them let me also mention Dr. and Frau Walther Muhlbeyer whose help enabled my wife, Catherine, and me to make a good beginning. When I turn to Professor Harold J. Grimm, I am at a loss to express the sense of gratitude I feel. With patience, tolerance, and an unimaginable depth of understanding and humanity, he has conscientiously fulfilled the role of Doktorvater. I offer in return this small token, the dedication of this essay. il Among the others to whom I wish to offer thanks in closing my graduate education are the members of the faculty of the Ohio State University within both the History and German Departments with whom I have studied and by whom 1 have been examined. Two other individuals have had to bear the burden of my studies and the fury of these final days. These are Mrs. John P. Ryan, Sr. and Mrs. Joseph Manfredi, my typist now and throughout all my higher education, finally, there is Catherine, my companion, inspiration, stylist, and critic. Potsdam, N*Y., October 1971 ill VITA February 24, 1944 B o m - Yonkers, New York 1966 .......... B.A., Fordham University New York, New York 1967 ............ M.A,, The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio 1967-1969 .... Teaching Associate, Department of History The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1968 ....... Fellow, Foundation for Reformation Research 1969-1971 .... Sprachdiplom, Friedrich-Karl Universitaet Heidelberg, Germany 1971 -..... ...... Assistant Professor of History The State University of New York Potsdam, New York FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Renaissance-Reformatlon History Medieval Europe. Professor Franklin Peques Renaissance-Reformatlon. Professor Harold J. Grinin Tudor-Stuart England. Professor R. Clayton Roberts Early Modern Europe. Professor John C. Rule Colonial America. Professor Paul Bowers Medieval German Literature. Professor Wolfgang Flelschhauer iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE ...... ................................. INTRODUCTION .................................. ; . PART I. THE HUMANIST PROGRAM: THE POLICIES OF A HUMANIST DIPLOMACY Chapter I. MELANCHTHON' S PERSONAL SEARCH FOR PEACE. The function of peace; Melanchthon at the Diet of Augsburg; conversations with Cam- peggio; the Reformer's objectives; the Saxon and South German theologians; their differences; early attempts at reconcilia­ tion; Oekolampadius and Zwlngli; the Marburg Colloquy; the efforts of Philip of Hesse; contacts with Bucer; Kassel; the Wittenberg Colloquy; Melanchthon's second thoughts; the Concord; its meaning for Melanchthon's humanist diplomacy II. THE BUILDING OF HUMANIST BRIDGES............ The necessity for broader efforts; Desiderius Erasmus; Melanchthon's first contacts; con­ tinued contacts after Erasmus' debate with Luther; Erasmus misinterprets Melanchthon's friendship; correspondence at Augsburg; the exchange in the 1530's; misunderstanding; the Liebeserklarung; parallel relationships; John Obemburger; Conrad Heresbach; his humanist credentials; Melanchthon and Heres­ bach correspond; humanist class consciousness Chapter Page IXI. THE MAKING OF A HUMANIST FOUNDATION 62 Melanchthon's constant concern for the needs of education; his understanding of contempor­ ary problems; schools and monastic communities; the new barbarism; relationship of ecclesiasti­ cal reformation; the De officio; Melanchthon's rhetorical shift; a plea for the arts; the learned men; support of young scholars; the De officio as the De iure reformandis; objec­ tions to Anabaptism; the importance of the academic scale. PART II. THE REFORMER'S TACTICS: THE FUNCTION OF A HUMANIST DIPLOMACY IV. IN SERVICE TO PRINCES....................... 85 The nature of Melanchthon's services; Melanchthon as diplomat; first official efforts in 1531; awakened French interest in the Reformer; the efforts of inter­ mediaries; Melanchthon's willingness to go to France; reassurances; the refusal of John Frederick; second request and denial; the interest of John Frederick; England's invitation; correspondence with Henry VIII; English diplomacy in Saxony; the decision of the Elector; news of events in England; further contacts; the humanist contribution V. IN CREATING A DIPLOMATIC SERVICE............ H 3 The problem of maintaining contacts; students as occasion of Melanchthon's bridge-building; the personal ambassadors; Melanchthon's obligations; stipends and positions; the kinds of positions; their sources; the role of the Melanchthonian letter; examples; humanist responsibilities to one another; the consensu? gnuHfntum? occasional problems; the fears of Melanch­ thon's opponents vi Chapter Page VI. THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE SCHOOLS............. The "planting" of the Reformation; Melanch­ thon makes his first efforts; the schola private; its significance; the visitations; Eisleben; curriculum; the inaugural ceremonies; Magdeburg; the Nurnberg Upper School; Melanch­ thon attends its opening; his efforts for higher education; Wittenberg; Melanchthon's reform program; the school's problems; the actual reformation of 1536; Tubingen and its importance; the role of Camerarius; Leipzig; the reformation of 1539; Melanchthon's pro­ posals; Camerarius; Frankfurt/Oder and George Sabinus; Rostock; the Melanchthonlan contri­ bution; Marburg; the Reformer's other efforts. BIBLIOGRAPHY 167 ABBREVIATIONS ADB Allgemeine deutache Blographie. 56 Vols. Leipzig, 1875-1912. CR. Corpus Reformatorum. Opera Melanchthon!s. Eds., C. G. Bretschneider and H. E. Bindseil. 28 Vols. Halle and Brunsweig, 1824-1860. EiEa O p u s Epistolarum Des. Era ami Ed., P. S. Allen. Ox£ord: Clarendon, 1947. LB Dr. Mart. Luthers Briefe. Sendschrelben und Bedenken. Ed., tf.M.L. Wette. 5 Vols* Berlin, 1825-1828. Viil PHILIP MELANCHTHON AND THE DIPLOMACY OF HUMANISM 1531- 15^0 I John P. Ryan, Jr., B.A., M.A. I INTRODUCTION Melanchthon was first and foremost a classicist, trained in the finest humanist tradition of his day. It was on this basis that he was called to Wittenberg. Until his death he retained his position as lec­ turer in the classics there. Like so many of his contemporary humanists, his academic interests, his personal piety, and his youthful idealism drew him to the problems of his generation. This mean, naturally, < reform of the Church. But it also meant the reform of public life. The relationship of all estates and of all classes in society was placed in question by the great upheavals of the first half of the sixteenth century. There was a reassertion of authority on the part of local institutions against universal ones. This was Just as true of the secular world as it was of the religious world. Knights, princes, and electors challenged their overlords publicly, just as the reformers of the Church had done within Christendom proper. The peasants and burghers, the very pillars of society, in defense of their own interests, had raised cries and taken up arms in certain cases. The fact that so many of these events had occurred within the comparatively brief period of one decade left many a thoughtful man per- » plexed. Men were caught very much unprepared and unable to deal with so much radical change in so short a time. In their desperation to find answers many individuals took mild comfort in a heightened eschatological 2 hope. Those days were for many educated men the final days of human civilization. Things could not have been worse for them. Even the pope, by traditional belief the Vicar of Christ on earth, had become again for many Europeans the Anti-Christ* t The right of assertion on the part of subjects in both the secular and religious spheres was not the only question which humanists like Melanchthon faced. As educators, he and others tended to see in educa­ tion not only the heart of society's problems, but also a single human hope for the solution of those problems in the future. Most agreed that the educational process had not met the challenges of that generation. It could not keep pace with the "new barbarism," which had settled on the whole of Christian civilization. Its effects could be seen not only