Argula von Grumbach (1492-1554/7) (e-book) (used book) | bookbook.eu

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At a time when women were expected to stick to their household duties, according to Peter Matheson, Argula von Grumbach burst through every barrier.

Matheson offers here a biography of the Reformation's first woman writer. Argula von Grumbach's first pamphlet in 1523 was reprinted all over Germany. Thousands of copies of her eight pamphlets appeared. Through her writing, von Grumbach defied her Bavarian princes (and her husband), denounced censorship, argued for an educated church and society, and developed her own understanding of faith and Scripture. She even intervened in the Imperial Diets at Nuremberg and Augsburg.

Drawing for the first time on her correspondence, the author shows how von Grumbach paid dearly for her outspokenness but remained undaunted. Though some saw her as a she-devil and others as a harbinger of a new age, Matheson shows von Grumbach as a woman engaged in the life of the villages where she lived, as one motivated by the dreams she had for her children.

In a time of sweeping change and risking everything for the light and truth she was given, Argula von Grumbach showed what the vision and determination of one person could achieve.

"With his world-class expertise of this period, his judicious balance, and his sparkling prose style, Matheson strikes me as Argula's ideal biographer. Unless additional Argula writings come to light, it is hard to imagine a biography that will supersede this one."
--Denis Janz, Loyola University New Orleans

"Argula von Grumbach comes to life, nearly five hundred years after her dramatic entrance on the early Reformation scene. . . . It is a fascinating story, from the tournament world of high German nobility to the practical daily tasks of a strong and savvy woman determined to keep her family and villagers safe, fed, and properly educated in the faith."
--Elsie McKee, Princeton Theological Seminary

"Matheson once again enlists his sharp scholarly rigor and exceptional narrative skill to explore the life and writings of this remarkable female contemporary of Martin Luther. Argula von Grumbach comes to life in these pages, revealing a world where women were supposed to remain silent but did not always do so. Thanks to Matheson's account, scholars, students, and general readers alike can enter the world of the German Reformation, seen through a woman's eyes. The result surprises and inspires."
--Camilla Russell, University of Newcastle, Australia

Peter Matheson is a Fellow in the Department of Theology and Religion at Otago University in New Zealand. He has authored several books in Renaissance and Reformation studies, with a particular focus on radical movements and women's history, including The Imaginative World of the Reformation.