Complete Critical Edition of the Works and Letters of Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt
Part 1 (1507–1518)
The life and works of Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt (1486-1541) reflect the fundamental changes in religion and culture during the first half of the 16th century. Educated at the chairs of Thomistic philosophy in Erfurt and Cologne, the young Karlstadt soon integrated Scotistic and humanist elements into his teaching and worked to combine theology and legal methods. Influenced by Luther and impressed by the Augustinian theology of grace, for a time he became the reformer’s closest companion, until differing theological positions and the new the Wittenberg city ordinance caused them to fall out. In the period that followed, Karlstadt attempted farming and lay preaching, and rejecting academic degrees and clerical status, he abandoned his doctorate. After various interludes, he was appointed preacher in Zurich, finally even becoming professor in Basle. Karlstadt developed a theology of his own, which differs significantly from Luther’s doctrine in its theories on grace and the Eucharist.
The aim of the project is to provide an edition of all the writings and letters of Karlstadt. The head of the project is Professor Dr. Thomas Kaufmann, Professor of Church history at the University of Göttingen. Work on the edition is also being conducted in Göttingen, where two other contributors are employed. The first, three-year phase of the project (until 2015) will cover 70 editorial items (treatises, theses, annotations, letters, poems, letters of dedication) from the period between 1507 and 1518, and publish them with commentaries. They comprise Karlstadt’s Thomistic works on epistemology and concept analysis, his struggle for the archdeaconry in Wittenberg, questions of alimentation and patronage (correspondence, encomiastic poems, recommendations), notes about Johannes Tauler, theses concerning a new doctrine of grace, a disputation about theses of Pico della Mirandola, the lectures on Augustine, and writings concerning the conflict with Johannes Eck. The edition is based on TEI-P5. The texts will be published online and in print, making use of the advantages of both publishing formats.
Funded by: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Researcher: Dr. Harald Bollbuck
Phone: +49(0)5331/808-242, Fax: -277