King Sigismund of Poland and Martin Luther - The Reformation before Confessionalization (Broché)

The Polish monarchy had an important,but long overlooked, impact on the rise of Lutheranism. Here, in the first book published in English for over a century on the early Reformation in the Kingdom of Poland, Natalia Nowakowska recovers this important history from the obscurity to which it was long relegated by the politics of modem nationalism. This multi-prize-winning book offers a new account of how Lutheranism shook the Polish monarchy of King Sigismund I (1506-48), in urban revolts, peasant risings, noble defections, and princely convenions.
Nowakowska asks why King Sigismund I did not persecute his Lutheran subjects, embracing instead a striking policy of religious toleration.The book argues that King Sigismund and his counsellors did not perceive Lutheranism as a dangerous Other - but as a variant of Catholicism,within an already highly diverse late medieval church, in which social unity was more important than doctrinal uniformity.The book proposes a major new interpretation of religious change in sixteenth-century Europe, which will be important reading for all those interested in the Reformation and Counter Reformation.