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Luther, vol. 1 of 6

Name: Luther, vol. 1 of 6
Author: Hartmann Grisar

by Hartmann Grisar

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Language: en1,237 downloads on Project Gutenberg

Subjects

Luther, Martin, 1483-1546

In: Biographies·History - Modern (1750+)·History - Religious

Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #48995.

About this book

Hartmann Grisar’s first volume of a six‑part series offers a scholarly portrait of Martin Luther, tracing the reformer’s early formation from his monastic novitiate through his Roman pilgrimage and the intellectual climate of Wittenberg. The opening pages lay out a detailed contents list, beginning with Luther’s youth, education, and the crises that led him to the Augustinian order, then moving to his encounters with the Observantines, his disillusioning journey to Rome, and the nascent tensions that would shape his later theology. The work is anchored in meticulous source criticism, presenting emendations, marginal notes, and contemporary commentary that illuminate Luther’s evolving views on grace, justification, and the role of mysticism.

Written in the dense, footnote‑rich style of late‑19th‑century German scholarship, the text reflects the period’s reverence for primary documents and a penchant for exhaustive annotation. Readers who relish rigorous historical analysis, especially those interested in Reformation studies, ecclesiastical history, or the intellectual roots of Protestant thought, will find Grisar’s methodical approach both rewarding and illuminating.

Who appears in Luther, vol. 1 of 6

Martin LutherMiddle‑aged German monk, brown hair, trimmed beard, austere black habit, solemn expression
Luigi CappadeltaLate‑19th‑century Italian scholar, greying hair, moustache, dark frock coat, scholarly demeanor

The opening · free to read

Emendations and Additions

P. 9, line 12 ff. On the habit, cp. Paulus, “Joh. Hoffmeister,” 1891, p. 4.

P. 13, note, read “Oergel.”

P. 14, line 4 from below. For “Augustinian,” read “colleague at the University of Wittenberg.”

P. 27, line 2 from below to p. 28, line 1. Elsewhere he does so quite clearly, cp. “Tischreden” (Veit Dietrich), Weim. ed., 1, p. 61.

P. 29, line 7 from below. It was not actually a papal Bull, but a document in the Pope’s name drawn up by Carvajal, the legate.

P. 30, line 12. Read: “Cochlæus, who knew something of the matter”; line 2 from below, after “told us” add: “In point of fact it is clear that Luther’s journey failed in its purpose, and that the dispute was finally settled only in May, 1512, at the Cologne Chapter”; note 1, last line, omit “his” and add after date “p. 97.”

P. 33, line 11. The account of the incident at the Scala Santa must be corrected in the light of new information. See vol. vi., xlii., 2.

P. 38, line 2 from below. Read: “October 18.”

P. 39, line 21. For “He himself admits, etc.,” read: “Yet he seems to have looked on his removal to Wittenberg as a ‘come down.’” See below, p. 127.

P. 59, line 9 f. For “amazed replies” read “silly letters” (“_litteras stupidas_”).

P. 72, line 18. Read: “_captiosi et contentiosi_.”

P. 148, note 1, line 3. For “Luther” read “Lang.”

P. 169, note 2, line 8. Read “_longissime_.”

P. 178, note 3, line 3. For “1826” read “1864.”

P. 184, line 14. For “Vogel” read “Vopel.”

P. 199, last paragraph. Correct according to vol. vi., xlii., 4.

P. 219, note 5. Add: “That, in the Commentary on Romans Justification is produced by humility, is admitted by Wilh. Braun (‘Evang. Kirchenzeitung,’ 1911, No. 32, col. 506).”