James M. Stayer

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James M. Stayer (born 1935) is a historian specializing in the German Reformation, particularly the anabaptist movement. He is also a Professor Emeritus at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Stayer received his PhD from Cornell University in 1964. After teaching at Ithaca College, Bridgewater College and Bucknell University, he moved to Canada in 1968 to teach at Queen's University. He would become a Canadian citizen in 1977.

In 1972, Stayer published his first book, Anabaptists and the Sword, which is still considered one of the foremosts texts on the German anabaptist movement. In it, Stayer indicates how the first decade of the Reformation (often referred to as the 'Radical Reformation') saw the anabaptists employ violence as a means towards realizing political and apolitical goals.

Stayer also made a major impact on Reformation studies in 1975 when he co-authored (with Werner O. Packull & Klaus Deppermann) the essay "From Monogenesis to Polygenesis" which countered the argument that the anabaptist movement split after having a unified origin. The new thesis formed by the authors suggested that several concurrent movements formed independently. It also asserted that the term "anabaptist" must be used very carefully, as the movement was not, on the whole, unified, thus seriously impacting how such history has been treated in the ensuing years.

Stayer is also known for outspokenness on political issues and for his critiques of Steven Ozment, a fellow historian of Germany. Although he officially retired in 2000, in part due to health reasons, Stayer still writes frequently and teaches a class at Queen's University on the German Reformation.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Anabaptists and the Sword (1972, 1976)
  • The Anabaptists and Thomas Müntzer (1980) (co-edited with Werner O. Packull)
  • The German Peasants' War and Anabaptist Community of Goods (1991, 1994)
  • Martin Luther, German saviour: German evangelical theological factions and the interpretation of Luther, 1917-1933 (2000)
  • Radikalität und Dissent im 16. Jahrhundert/Radicalism and Dissent in the Sixteenth Century (2002) (co-edited with Hans-Jürgen Goertz)
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