Andreas Karlstadt
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Andreas Rudolph Bodenstein von Karlstadt (1486 – December 24, 1541), better known as Andreas Karlstadt, was a Christian theologian during the Protestant Reformation. He was born in 1486 in Karlstadt, Bavaria.
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[edit] Education
Karlstadt received his doctorate of theology in 1510 from the University of Wittenberg. Previously, Karlstadt had been educated at the University of Erfurt and in Cologne. In the same year in which Karlstadt received his doctorate he became archdeacon and the chair of the theology department. In 1511 he became chancellor of Wittenberg university. In 1512 he awarded Martin Luther his doctorate.From 1515-16, he studied in Rome, where he obtained the double degree in canon and civil law (utriusque juris) at the Sapienza university.
[edit] Reformation
Before 1515, Karlstadt was a proponent of a modified scholasticism. He was a "secular" cleric with no official ties to any monastic order. His beliefs were challenged during his stay in Rome, where he saw large-scale corruption in the Catholic Church, and in a document dated September 16, 1516 he wrote a series of 151 theses. (These should not be confused with Luther's 95 theses (1517) that attacked indulgences.)
In 1519, Johann Eck challenged Karlstadt to the Debate at Leipzig' There Eck debated with Luther as well as Karlstadt.
On June 15, 1520 Pope Leo X issued the papal bull Exsurge Domine that threatened Luther and Karlstadt with excommunication,and condemned several of their theses. Both reformers remained steadfast, and excommunication followed in 1521 in the papal bull Decet Romanum pontificem.
After the Diet of Worms (January-May, 1521), and while Luther was hiding at Wartburg Castle, Karlstadt worked toward reform in Wittenberg. On Christmas Day 1521, he performed the first reformed communion service. He did not elevate the elements of communion, wore secular clothing during the service, and purged all references to sacrifice from the traditional mass. He shouted rather than whispered the words of institution in German instead of Latin, rejected oral confession, and let the communicants take both bread and wine with their own hands during the Communion.
In early January of 1522 the Wittenberg city council authorized the removal of imagery from churches and affirmed the changes introduced by Karlstadt on Christmas. On January 19th, Karlstadt married Anna von Mochau, the fifteen year old daughter of a poor nobleman. On January 20, the imperial government and the pope ordered Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony to reverse the changes. Frederick had most of the mass reverted, including the specific point that the Eucharist revert to its Catholic form.
[edit] Relationship with Luther
In early March, Luther returned from Wartburg. From March 9-16, Luther gave eight sermons in which he stressed much of the same theology as Karlstadt, but urged caution. This was a major turning point between Karlstadt and Luther. Karlstadt reasserted his earlier mystical leanings, started wearing peasants' clothing, asked to be called Brother Andreas, and became disenchanted with the academic lifestyle. In fact, he renounced his three doctoral degrees, "gave excellent but infrequent lectures."
In May 1523, Karlstadt was invited by the Orlamünde parish to be a pastor. He took the opportunity at once. Here he instituted all of his radical reforms, and became the model of a congregationalist reformation. Church music and art was no longer allowed, clerical matrimony was preached, and infant baptism was rejected. Perhaps most importantly, In Orlamünde Karlstadt denied the physicsl but not the physical presence of Christ in the communion service.
From spring 1524 Luther started to campaign against Karlstadt, denying his right to publish and preach without Luther's authorisation. In June, Karlstadt resigned as archdeacon. In July, Luther published the Letter to the Saxon Princes, in which he argued that Thomas Muentzer and Karlstadt agreed, and were both dangerous sectarians with revolutionary tendencies.
On August 22nd, 1524, Luther preached in Jena. Karlstadt hid in the crowd during Luther’s preaching, and wrote to Luther asking to see him. This led to the well known confrontation at the Black Bear Inn in a conversation recorded by a Martin Reinhart and published within a month. There were a number of misunderstandings between the two men. For example, Luther said that he was convinced that Karlstadt had revolutionary tendencies, despite the fact that Karlstadt had all along rejected violence in the name of religion, and rejected Thomas Muentzer's invitation to join the League of the Elect. Karlstadt's answer was published in 1524 in Wiottenberg, and is still extant. This makes clear that Karlstadt continued to reject the violence rhat led to the Peasant War. Another defamation was Luther's accusation that Karlstadt was not authorized to preach at the city church in Wittenberg during Luther’s stay at Wartburg. The conversation ended when Luther gave Karlstadt a guilder and told him to write against him. In September 1524 Karlstadt was exiled from Saxony by the Wise and George, Duke of Saxony.
[edit] The Peasant War
When the Peasant War broke out, Karlstadt was threatened and wrote to Luther and asked for assistance. Luther took him in, and Karlstadt lived secretly in Luther's house for eight weeks. However, he had to sign a pseudo retraction, entitled “Apology by Dr. Andreas Karlstadt Regarding the False Charge of Insurrection Which has Unjustly Been Made Against Him,” contained a preface written by Luther. In March 1526, Luther's wife became godmother to one of Karlstadt's children. Karlstadt lived as a peasant near Wittenberg until 1529, when he retracted his pseudoretraction. He had not been allowed to preach or publish.
[edit] Death and legacy
Fleeing Saxony, Karlstadt preached in various towns and cities, including two stints in Zurich. In 1534 he went to Basel to become a preacher and professor. He remained in Basel until he died of the plague in 1541.
During Karlstadt's lifetime he published about 90 writings in about 213 editions. Between the years 1518-1525, 125 editions of his works were published in Germany, more than any other writer save Luther.
[edit] Writings
- On the Removal of Images [Vom Abtun der Bilder], (1522)
- On Baptism [Vom dem Tauff]
- Letter from the community of Orlamünde to the people of Allstedt, (1524)
[edit] References
- Andreas Carlstadt: The Reformation Goes Radical, by John L. Hoh, Jr.
- Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1950.
- Furcha, E.J. (Ed.) The Essential Carlstadt. Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press, 1995.
- Leroux, Neil R. 2003. Karlstadt’s christag predig: Prophetic rhetoric in an “evangelical”
- mass. Church History: 102-137.
- Sider, Ronald J. (Ed.) Karlstadt’s Battle With Luther. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978.
[edit] External links
- Karlstadt, Andreas Rudolff-Bodenstein von (1486-1541) in Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
