Henry VIII and Martin Luther: The Second Controversy, 1525-1527

Description

This book presents a modern critical edition of Henry VIII's second published work against Martin Luther. This open letter to Luther, printed at the king's command in December 1526, was in reply to a private letter addressed to him by Luther the previous year. Its particular interest lies in the fact that, unlike his better known Assertion of the Seven Sacraments, published five years before, Henry's open letter was released not only in Latin but also in an official English translation, with a special English preface added by the king for the edification of his subjects. This edition thus enables modern readers to hear what Henry had to say about Luther in his own words, and how he wanted his subjects to regard the German heresiarch. This critical edition is based on a previously unrecognised presentation manuscript which furnishes the earliest surviving text of both letters. In addition, it offers editions and new translations of a range of related texts, including Luther's reply to Henry and further contributions to the burgeoning controversy from several of the most prominent Catholic opponents of Luther in Europe. For Henry's letter, like his earlier book, became for a while a European sensation, reprinted in towns and cities from Cologne to Cracow. This fully annotated edition includes a substantial introduction which for the first time tells the full history of Henry's second controversy with Luther, and which sets that story in the broader context of the lengthy and fractious relationship between the two men from the time of Luther's emergence in 1517 until his death in 1546. RICHARD REX is Professor of Reformation History at the University of Cambridge. Contents Preface Editorial Conventions Abbreviations Introduction Early Editions of Martin Luther’s Letter and Henry VIII’s Response Martin Luther’s Letter to Henry VIII Henry VIII’s Response to Luther’s Lettera Marginalia from the Early Latin Editions Prologue to Pynson’s Edition Epigraph to Pynson’s Edition Henry VIII’s Preface to the English Translation The Archbishop of Mainz’s Letter to Henry VIII Hieronymus Emser’s Preface to his German Translation Martin Luther’s Response to Emser’s Edition (in Cochlaeus’s Latin Translation) Luther’s Response to Henry VIII: Martin Luther’s Response to the Title of the Insulting Text of the King of England Hieronymus Emser’s Confession Peter Quentell’s Preface to his First Editiona Leonard Cox’s Preface to the Cracow Edition (1527) Stanislaus Hosius’s Epigraph to the Cracow Editiona Johannes Eck’s Preface to the Ingolstadt Editiona Duke George of Saxony’s Letter to Henry VIIIa Ortwin Gratius’s Preface to the Second Cologne Edition Johannes Cochlaeus’s Admonition to the Readera Johannes Cochlaeus’s Brief Discussion ofLuther’s Response Ortwin Gratius’s Preface to the Variant Cologne Edition Johannes Cochlaeus’s Preface to the VariantCologne Edition Clement VII’s Preface to the Roman Edition Commendatory Verses in the Roman Edition Johann Fabri’s Preface to his Answer toLuther’s Response Juan Luis Vives’s Letter to Henry VIII Select Bibliography Index of Names, Places, and Topics Index of Biblical Texts and References