The Cult of the Virgin Mary in Early Modern Germany: Protestant and Catholic Piety, 1500–1648

by Bridget Heal

• ISBN13: 9780521871037
• ISBN10: 0521871034
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-12-10
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

What happened to the fervent Marian piety of the late Middle Ages during Germany's Reformation and Counter-Reformation? It has been widely assumed that Mary disappeared from Protestant devotional life and subsequently became a figurehead for the Catholic Church's campaign of religious reconquest. This book presents a more finely nuanced account of the Virgin's significance. In many Lutheran territories Marian liturgy and images - from magnificent altarpieces to simple paintings and prints - survived, though their meaning was transformed. In Catholic areas baroque art and piety flourished, but the militant Virgin associated with the Counter-Reformation did not always dominate religious devotion. Traditional manifestations of Marian veneration persisted, despite the post-Tridentine Church's attempts to dictate a uniform style of religious life. This book demonstrates that local context played a key role in shaping Marian piety, and explores the significance of this diversity of Marian practice for women's and men's experiences of religious change.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	p. viii
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
List of abbreviations	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
Transformations in Marian teaching	p. 23
Marian piety in Lutheran Germany	p. 64
Confessional frictions and the status of the Virgin	p. 116
The Counter-Reformation cult	p. 148
Catholic pluralism and Cologne	p. 207
Marian devotion and gender	p. 262
Conclusion	p. 304
Bibliography	p. 308
Index	p. 333
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