Name: The World Is Like a Drunken Peasant
Author: Martin Luther

About the Work

This text presents a historical account of Martin Luther and the German Reformation, focusing on the period from the early 1520s through the late 1530s. The work examines Luther’s controversies, his relationships with other reformers, and the political and social consequences of the Reformation movement. The material is organized as a chronological narrative, drawing on letters, treatises, and contemporary accounts to reconstruct events. The book covers Luther’s disputes with King Henry VIII, the reform efforts at Wittenberg during Luther’s absence, the Peasants’ War, Luther’s marriage, the major diets and political assemblies of the period, and the theological controversies that divided the Reformation movement. The author presents both Luther’s achievements and his failures, including his harsh polemics and the internal conflicts among reformers.

Context

The narrative is set against the backdrop of the European Reformation, a period of intense religious, political, and social upheaval. Luther’s movement had attracted both supporters and opponents, and the early 1520s saw the Reformation spreading across German territories while facing resistance from the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire. The text notes that Luther’s response to King Henry VIII’s defense of the seven sacraments resulted in “the loss of England to the German Reformation movement,” indicating the international stakes of these theological disputes.

The political landscape was complicated by the relationship between the emperor, the pope, and the various German princes. The Diet of Speyer in 1529 and the Diet of Augsburg in 1530 were critical moments when the division between Catholic and Protestant estates became formalized. The text records that “The Diet of Speyer inaugurates the actual division of the German nation,” according to the historian Janssen. The Peasants’ War of 1525 represented a social crisis that Luther addressed with contradictory writings, and the aftermath saw Luther and Melanchthon proclaiming unlimited ruler power.

The intellectual context included the humanist movement, which initially sympathized with reform but gradually withdrew. Erasmus, the leading humanist scholar, was drawn into controversy with Luther over the question of free will, with Luther responding to Erasmus’s “On Free Will” with his own “On the Servitude of the Will,” which the text describes as consisting of “grossest abuse of Erasmus.” Many prominent humanists, including Mutianus Rufus, Crotus Rubianus, Beatus Rhenanus, and others, returned to the Old Church as the Reformation developed.

Structure of the Book

The book is organized chronologically, following the development of the Reformation from the early 1520s through the late 1530s. The narrative moves through several major phases: Luther’s controversies with external opponents such as Henry VIII and Erasmus; the internal reform movement at Wittenberg during Luther’s absence at the Wartburg; the social upheaval of the Peasants’ War; Luther’s personal life including his marriage; the political consolidation of the Reformation at the diets of Speyer and Augsburg; and the theological controversies that divided the movement, particularly the Sacramentarian dispute and the Concord of Wittenberg.

The text also addresses the completion of Luther’s German Bible in 1534, the negotiations over a general council, and the scandal surrounding Philip of Hesse’s bigamous marriage. Each section of the book focuses on a particular controversy or development, presenting the events in sequence while drawing on contemporary documents and later historical assessments.

Detailed Section-by-Section Summary

The book opens with Luther’s controversy with King Henry VIII of England. Henry had written a defense of the seven sacraments, and Luther responded with what the text calls “proverbial coarseness and scurrility.” Luther called the king an “impudent liar” and subjected him to “foul abuse” and attribution of “every unworthy motive.” Although Luther later made “tardy and sycophantic apologies,” the damage was done, and England was lost to the German Reformation movement. Luther also issued “Against the falsely called spiritual state of Pope and Bishops” in both Latin and German, containing his most extreme vituperation. In this work, he tauntingly asked whether it is just that souls are slaughtered eternally so “mountebanks” may disport themselves quietly, arguing it were better all bishops murdered and monasteries razed than one soul perish.

The narrative then turns to the reform movement at Wittenberg during Luther’s absence at the Wartburg, from 3 April 1521 to 6 March 1522. Carlstadt led the reform efforts with Melanchthon and the Augustinian Friars. The text notes that conventional history has made Carlstadt a scapegoat for excesses, but recent Protestant scholarship rehabilitates him as a “pathbreaker” who anticipated Luther. Carlstadt’s innovations included 152 theses against indulgences in April 1517, defending priests’ marriage including monks in June 1521, removing church images in July 1521, protesting reservation of the Sacrament and elevation of the Host in May 1521, and inveighing against prayers for the dead and demanding vernacular Mass in March 1521. Carlstadt is described as a “disputatious, puritanical polemist” who was reluctant to act without congregational approval, and Melanchthon prodded him forward, saying “We must begin some time.”

The excesses at Wittenberg escalated through late 1521. On 9 October, thirty-nine Augustinian Friars refused private Mass. Zwilling denounced the Mass as devilish, and Justus Jonas stigmatized Masses for the dead. Thirteen friars fled on 12 November, then fifteen more. Mobs led by Zwilling attacked loyal friars, and on 4 December forty students demolished Franciscan altars. Luther visited secretly from 4 to 9 December, expressing gratification: “All I see and hear pleases me immensely.” On 6 January 1522, six resolutions subverting monasticism were adopted, and altars were removed and images burnt. Carlstadt married a fifteen-year-old on 19 January, with Jonas and Lange following. On Christmas Day 1521, Carlstadt preached “evangelical liberty,” derided Confession, railed against fasting, said German Mass without elevation, and gave general Communion invitation. Three Zwickau prophets arrived on 27 December with communistic ideas and subjectivism, impressing Melanchthon.

Luther returned on 3 March 1522 in horseman’s costume, resumed his monastic habit, and preached eight sermons from 9 to 17 March contravening Carlstadt’s innovations—innovations which Luther later adopted. The Lord’s Supper became Mass again in Latin with elevation, though sacrificial allusions were expunged. Popular sentiment favored Carlstadt, and the text notes that the feud showed Luther “in his most repellent form.”

The book then addresses Luther’s controversy with Erasmus. Luther’s “overweening confidence and unbending will” drove him to drag Erasmus into controversy. Erasmus had initially sympathized with reform but retired, seeing the movement as “national rebellion.” His “On Free Will” investigated biblical testimony on free will, finding the subject obscure. Luther replied with “On the Servitude of the Will,” consisting of “grossest abuse of Erasmus.” Erasmus lamented becoming a gladiator against “wild beasts” and characterized Lutheranism as causing sciences to perish, with adherents seeking “money and women.” Many humanists defected from the Reformation, including Mutianus Rufus, Crotus Rubianus, Beatus Rhenanus, Bonifacius Amerbach, Sebastian Brant, and Jacob Wimpheling, who returned to the Old Church. Ulrich Zasius and Christoph Scheurl also abandoned Luther. Sickingen’s raid on Trier on 27 August 1522 failed, and he died at Landstuhl on 30 August 1523. Hutten died in August 1523 at age thirty-five.

The Peasants’ War is presented as having multiple causes, including luxury, greed, commercial extortion, price inflation, guild dissolution, and peasant oppression. Luther’s writings fanned the revolt. His “Exhortation to Peace” contradicted “Against the murderous and robbing rabble of Peasants,” which called princes to slaughter peasants “like mad dogs.” Over 1000 monasteries were destroyed and 100,000 people killed. One commander hanged 40 preachers and executed 11,000.

Luther married Catherine von Bora on 13 June 1525, a Bernardine nun, during the war’s bloodshed. Melanchthon’s Greek letter to Camerarius on 16 June 1525 reflected friends’ feelings about the marriage. The Peasants’ War marked a turning point. Luther and Melanchthon proclaimed unlimited ruler power, demanding submission. Luther said the poor should be “forced and driven, as we force and drive pigs.” The Reformation became “a triumph of the temporal power over the spiritual,” leading to the Diet of Augsburg in 1555 and the axiom Cujus regio, ejus religio.

The Carlstadt Eucharistic controversy is then examined. Carlstadt’s treatises from 26 February and 16 March 1525 rejected literal interpretation of “this is my body,” arguing that “this” refers to Christ’s body present at table, not bread. Zwingli became Carlstadt’s apologist. Luther’s 1527 replies were his most caustic, tracing the “politics of Satan” from primitive heresies to Carlstadt and Oecolampadius.

The book then covers Luther’s shift on the League. After initially shrinking from war and counseling peace, Luther—once peace was established—began “a war in real earnest about the League,” still believing in its existence despite exposure. The Diet of Speyer, held from 21 February to 22 April 1529, was presided over by King Ferdinand as the emperor’s deputy. The decree allowed Lutheran Estates practice and reform of the new religion within their territories but claimed the same rights for Catholics. Melanchthon expressed satisfaction, saying it would “protect us more than the decrees of the earlier Diet” of Speyer in 1526. Five princes on 19 April handed in a protestation that Melanchthon called “a terrible affair.” This protest gave the name to the opposition movement.

Political events included the reconciliation of pope and emperor at Barcelona on 29 June 1529, peace with Francis I at Cambrai on 5 August 1529, and Charles V’s coronation by Clement VII at Bologna on 24 February 1530. In Germany, hostility between Catholics and Protestants was joined by quarrels with Zwinglians, and the Speyer decree was a dead letter.

The Diet of Augsburg, held from 8 April to 19 November 1530, saw Charles preside in person. Luther, under the ban, stayed at Coburg fortress. Melanchthon, under Luther’s influence, used the Articles of Marburg from 5 October 1529, Schwabach from 16 October 1529, Torgau from 20 March 1530, and the Large Catechism to draw up the Augsburg Confession—the first authoritative Lutheran profession. It has an introduction and two parts: twenty-one articles on doctrine and seven on “abuses.” The whole is irenic but suspiciously vague. Articles on original sin, justification by faith alone, and free will “lack the ring of the true Catholic metal.” The Confession was read publicly on 25 June in German and Latin, submitted to twenty Catholic theologians including Eck, Cochlaeus, Usingen, and Wimpina. The first reply was rejected, and the “Confutation” was read on 3 August after five revisions. Melanchthon’s “Apology” was not accepted by the emperor. The imperial edict condemning the Protestant contention was published on 22 September, allowing reconsideration until 15 April 1532.

The aftermath saw the Recess read to Catholic Estates on 13 October, who formed the Catholic League, and read to Protestants on 11 November, who rejected it and formed the Smalkaldic League on 29 March 1531, excluding Zwinglians. Luther, irritated, published “Warning to his dear German People,” “Glosses on the putative Imperial Edict,” and “Letter against the Assassin at Dresden”—the last called by Kostlin-Kawerau “one of the most savage and violent of his writings.” It attacked Duke George of Saxony, “the most honest and consistent character of his age.” A projected alliance with Francis I met favor, while Henry VIII was approached less successfully. Luther maintained he would rather the king took another queen than permit divorce.

The German Bible was completed and published in six parts in early 1534 after twelve years of intermittent labor. Paul III succeeded Clement VII, who died on 25 September 1534. The pope sent Vergerius as legate, who met Luther at Wittenberg on 7 November 1535, describing him in “holiday attire” with rings and a gold chain. Luther treated the interview as a comedy. Luther drew up the Articles of Smalkald, “a real oppositional record against the Roman Church,” later incorporated in the “Concordienformel.” Melanchthon shrank from signing. During the Smalkaldic Convention, Luther, supposedly near death on 24 February 1537, expressed the epitaph: “Pestis eram vivus, moriens ero mors tua, Papa.” The Protestant Estates refused the council invitation—”the first public and positive renunciation of the papacy.”

The Sacramentarian Controversy continued after Zwingli’s death and Oecolampadius’s death on 24 November 1531. Bucer sought reunion, and the Concord of Wittenberg from 21 to 29 May 1536 resulted. Zwinglians subscribed to Lutheran doctrine of the Lord’s Supper, infant baptism, and absolution—but Thudichum says they did not drop former convictions; they yielded to Luther’s determination and fear of losing Smalkaldic League protection. Luther called it the “poor, wretched Concord.” By 1539 he coupled Nestorius and Zwingli offensively, and the rupture was completed.

The book concludes with the scandal of Philip of Hesse’s double marriage. Philip the Magnanimous, born 23 November 1504, was married before twenty to Christina, daughter of Duke George of Saxony. He was “the most immoral of princelings,” unable to remain faithful three consecutive weeks. His affections turned to Margaret von der Saal, a seventeen-year-old lady-in-waiting. Luther and Melanchthon filed a joint opinion on 10 December 1539: a general law permitting multiple wives could not be handed down, but a dispensation could be granted, and all knowledge should be buried in deadly silence. “What is permitted in the Mosaic law, is not forbidden in the Gospel.” Christina consented, though on her deathbed she confessed her consent was “feloniously wrung from her.” The marriage took place on 4 March 1540 in the presence of Bucer and Melanchthon.

Main Arguments

The book argues that Luther’s personality and actions were marked by extremes—both remarkable achievements and repellent behavior. His response to Henry VIII showed “proverbial coarseness and scurrility,” and his feud with Carlstadt showed him “in his most repellent form.” Yet the text also records his substantial accomplishments, including the German Bible completed after twelve years of labor and the Augsburg Confession as the first authoritative Lutheran profession.

The narrative emphasizes the political consequences of the Reformation. The Peasants’ War marked a turning point after which Luther and Melanchthon proclaimed unlimited ruler power, demanding submission. The Reformation became “a triumph of the temporal power over the spiritual,” leading to the principle Cujus regio, ejus religio at the Diet of Augsburg in 1555. The Diet of Speyer inaugurated “the actual division of the German nation.”

The book also argues that Luther’s relationships with other reformers were often destructive. He dragged Erasmus into controversy despite Erasmus’s initial sympathy with reform. His treatment of Carlstadt, whom recent scholarship rehabilitates as a “pathbreaker,” was harsh and ultimately adopted Carlstadt’s innovations. The Concord of Wittenberg, which Luther himself called the “poor, wretched Concord,” failed to achieve genuine unity, and the rupture with the Zwinglians was completed by 1539.

Key Concepts

The text presents several key concepts central to the Reformation disputes. The controversy over the Lord’s Supper is examined through Carlstadt’s rejection of the literal interpretation of “this is my body,” arguing that “this” refers to Christ’s body present at table, not bread. Zwingli became Carlstadt’s apologist, and Luther’s replies traced the “politics of Satan” from primitive heresies to his opponents.

The concept of evangelical liberty is introduced through Carlstadt’s Christmas Day 1521 preaching, which derided Confession, railed against fasting, and gave general Communion invitation. The Augsburg Confession is described as having an introduction and two parts: twenty-one articles on doctrine and seven on “abuses,” with articles on original sin, justification by faith alone, and free will that “lack the ring of the true Catholic metal.”

The principle of Cujus regio, ejus religio emerges from the political development of the Reformation, meaning that the religion of the ruler determines the religion of the territory. The Articles of Smalkald are described as “a real oppositional record against the Roman Church,” and the Protestant Estates’ refusal of the council invitation was “the first public and positive renunciation of the papacy.”

Themes

A central theme is the tension between Luther’s religious convictions and his personal conduct. The text repeatedly notes his harsh polemics—against Henry VIII, Erasmus, Carlstadt, and Duke George of Saxony—while also recording his substantial theological and literary achievements. His writings during the Peasants’ War are particularly contradictory, with his “Exhortation to Peace” contradicting “Against the murderous and robbing rabble of Peasants,” which called princes to slaughter peasants “like mad dogs.”

The theme of political power and religious reform is prominent. The Reformation became “a triumph of the temporal power over the spiritual,” with Luther and Melanchthon proclaiming unlimited ruler power and demanding submission. Luther’s statement that the poor should be “forced and driven, as we force and drive pigs” illustrates the authoritarian turn after the Peasants’ War.

The theme of division within the Reformation movement is also significant. The book traces conflicts between Luther and Carlstadt, Luther and Erasmus, Luther and Zwingli, and the internal disputes over the Lord’s Supper. The Concord of Wittenberg failed to achieve genuine unity, and the rupture with the Zwinglians was completed by 1539. The humanist defections represent another division, as many prominent humanists returned to the Old Church.

The theme of moral failure is embodied in the account of Philip of Hesse’s double marriage. Luther and Melanchthon’s joint opinion granted a dispensation for bigamy while demanding that “all knowledge should be buried in deadly silence.” Christina’s deathbed confession that her consent was “feloniously wrung from her” reveals the human cost of this arrangement.

The Author’s Conclusions

The book concludes that Luther’s Reformation was marked by both triumph and tragedy. The movement achieved lasting institutional form through the Augsburg Confession and the Smalkaldic League, and the German Bible represented a monumental literary achievement. However, the political consequences included the triumph of temporal power over spiritual, and the internal divisions among reformers were never healed. The Concord of Wittenberg was a “poor, wretched Concord” that did not resolve the Sacramentarian controversy.

Luther’s personal conduct is presented as frequently repellent—his abuse of Henry VIII, Erasmus, and Carlstadt, his savage attack on Duke George of Saxony, and his role in the Philip of Hesse affair. Yet the text also acknowledges his genuine achievements and the ways in which later scholarship has rehabilitated figures like Carlstadt as “pathbreakers” who anticipated Luther. The book ends with the Philip of Hesse scandal, suggesting that the Reformation’s moral authority was compromised by its leaders’ willingness to accommodate princely immorality while demanding submission from the poor and the oppressed.

Significance

The book provides a critical account of Luther and the Reformation that challenges hagiographic treatments. It documents the loss of England to the German Reformation movement due to Luther’s abuse of Henry VIII, the excesses at Wittenberg during Luther’s absence, and the authoritarian turn after the Peasants’ War. The text draws on recent Protestant scholarship that rehabilitates Carlstadt as a “pathbreaker,” suggesting that conventional history made him a scapegoat for excesses.

The narrative also illuminates the political significance of the Reformation, from the Diet of Speyer’s inauguration of “the actual division of the German nation” to the Diet of Augsburg’s Confession and the formation of the Catholic and Smalkaldic Leagues. The principle of Cujus regio, ejus religio codified at the Diet of Augsburg in 1555 represents the lasting political settlement of the Reformation era. The book’s account of the Philip of Hesse affair reveals the moral compromises that accompanied the movement’s political alliances, and its treatment of the Concord of Wittenberg shows the limits of theological reconciliation. The work stands as a sober assessment of a movement whose leaders were capable of both extraordinary achievement and profound failure.