Remembering the Reformation

Five hundred years ago, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted the 95 theses to a church door in Wittenberg. This month we celebrate or remember that event as a starting point of the German Reformation and as a key event in the Reformation across Europe. Stephen Herrin (Rare Books Librarian), writes about this important movement in European history.

The Reformation was a religious movement that profoundly changed the face of Europe and established a religious alternative to the dominant Catholicism that had been in place for centuries. The widespread cultural change brought on by the Reformation affected not only the spirituality and devotional practices of Europe's inhabitants but also reverberated into the fields of politics, music, art and architecture.

The most iconic figure of the Reformation was Martin Luther, a German priest and scholar. Through his studies in theology and history at the University of Wittenberg, he formed ideas that gradually brought his beliefs into conflict with the established Church. One of Luther's key criticisms of the Vatican was the sale of indulgences, a document which could be purchased to ensure the forgiveness of sins. The proceeds, which were used to rebuild St.Peter's Basilica, in Rome prompted Luther to write in Thesis 86: "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is today greater than wealth of the richest Crassus, build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?" Read the entire 95 theses in English here. 

The Reformation and Print Culture 

The Reformation's great success was due in part to the new technology of printing. The printed word was not only important to Luther's development as a thinker but to the Reformation as a movement. The development of the printing press allowed for the rapid dissemination of reformers' ideas in the form of pamphlets and printed books.

A central tenet of the Reformation was the individual study of the Bible rather than reliance on the Church for guidance. This was achieved by translating the Bible into the languages spoken by lay people. Once again, printing was a key means of distributing these new vernacular translations of the Bible to a wider audience. 

The Geneva Bible at Monash

Monash's Special Collections includes a 16th-century copy of the Geneva Bible, one of the early translations of the Bible into English. The Geneva Bible was unique in that it contained illustrations, summaries of the books of the Bible, as well as cross-references and explanatory notes. All these features indicate that it was designed to function as a text for individual study. The Geneva Bible at Monash is heavily annotated, signifying that its owner or successive owners considered this Bible to be a personal possession as well as a tool for study.

Reformation items at Monash Rare Books

The Rare Books Collection aims to collect and make available the history of ideas through print. We hold many representations of the writers Luther would have consulted. The holdings are especially strong in primary source material relating to the Reformation in Great Britain, mainly involving the later developments regarding the Restoration and the Popish Plot.

For more information on Reformation related items in Monash's Special Collections, please contact us at rbinfo@monash.edu.

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