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Internet Medieval Sourcebook

Selected Sources: Reformation

• General
• Precursors and Papal Critics
• Protestant Reformation
  • Luther
  • Calvin
  • Radicals
  • England
• Catholic Reformation

• WEB See Modern History Sourcebook:Reformation Page for many more texts on the Protestant and Catholics Reformations.

• Raimon de Cornet (14th cent. troubadour): Poem Criticizing the Avignon Papacy
• Petrarch (1304-1374): Letter Criticizing the Avignon Papacy
• [Geary 36] Marsiglio of Padua (d.1343): Defensor Pacis: Selections from Text, 1324.
• [Tierney 81.3, Geary 36] Marsiglio of Padua (d.1343): Defensor Pacis: Conclusions, 1324; Same Text with Introduction also available, complete, and in a different version from Tierney. [Geary has copyrighted selections from body of the text, chaps. 3 and 13.]
• John XXII: Condemnation of Marsiglio of Padua, 1327.
• [Tierney 81.4] The Condemnation of Wycliffe, 1382 and Wycliffe's Reply, 1384. Also includes John Wycliffe (1324-1384): Condemned Propositions 1382, [Different version from Tierney].
  See also Catholic Encyclopedia: Lollards.
• John Wycliffe (1324-1384): On the Sacrament of Communion [Excerpt from Trialogus]. See also Catholic Encyclopedia: Utraquism.
• [Tierney 82] Dante Alighieri (1265-1321): Divine Comedy: Inferno XIX - Hell: third pit - on Papal Avarice, [different trans. than Tierney's]. See also Catholic Encyclopedia: Dante Alighieri.
• Dante Alighieri (1265-1321): Divine Comedy: Inferno XIX. [Another version]
• Desiderius Erasmus (ca. 1469-1536): The Praise of Folly (Moriae Encomium), 1509 [At this Site][Full text]
• Desiderius Erasmus (ca. 1469-1536): In Praise of Folly, trans. John Wilson, 1688 [Full text] [At CCEL]
  More Erasmus texts are at the Erasmus Text Project [At Sewanee]
• Jan Hus (1372/73-1415): Final Declaration, July 1, 1415 [At this Site]
• Sir (St.) Thomas More (1478-1535): Utopia, 1516 [At this Site][Full text]

• Luther
  • WEB  Project Wittenberg
    Sources on Luther and the Lutheran tradition.
  • WEB  Selected Works of Martin Luther, 1483 - 1546 [At ICLNet]
  • Martin Luther (1483-1546): 95 Theses, 1517
    See also Catholic Encyclopedia: Martin Luther, [Warning - a tendentious article].
  • Martin Luther (1483-1546): Martin Luther: 95 Theses - in Latin, 1517
  • Martin Luther (1483-1546): Letter to Archbishop of Mainz [On Indulgences], 1517.
  • Martin Luther (1483-1546): To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation [At Hanover]
    See also Introduction to this text.
  • Martin Luther (1483-1546): On the Freedom of a Christian, (1483-1546), extracts. [At WSU]
  • Martin Luther (1483-1546): On the Freedom of a Christian, full text,  See also Martin Luther (1483-1546): Von der Freiheit eines Christenmenschen, In German.
  • Martin Luther (1483-1546): The German Mass and Order of Divine Service. [At Hanover]
  • Martin Luther (1483-1546): Luther Before 1517: Letters to Spalatin
    These letters are interesting in showing Luther's atitude towards Rome and towards theology. They also reveal that Luther's hatred of Jews, best seen in his 1543 letter, was not some affectation of old age, but was present very early on.
  • "On The Jews and Their Lies", a treatise by Martin Luther (translated by Martin H. Bertram, Luther's Works, Vol. 47: The Christian In Society IV, ed. by Franklin Sherman (c) 1971 Fortress Press, pages 121-306) has been removed because of copyright objections. We will attempt to provide a new translation of the German text at some point, but meanwhile welcome a translation any scholar wishes to supply.
  • Leo X: Exsurge Domine, June 15 1520. [At Papal Encyclicals]
    The papal Bull which condemned Martin Luther.
• Calvin
  • John Calvin: Letter to the King, [On the Clergy]. See also Catholic Encyclopedia: Calvin, John.
  • John Calvin: The Order of Excommunication and of Public Repentance 1569 [At SWRB]
• Radicals
  • The Schleitheim Confession, adopted by a Swiss Brethren Conference, February 24, 1527 [At Anabaptists.org]
• England
  • Archbishop Thomas Cramner: Letter on Henry VIII's Divorce, 1533.
  • Henry VIII (r.1509-1547): The Act of Supremacy 1534, excerpts [At Then Again]
  • The Suppression of Glastonbury Abbey, 1539. See also Catholic Encyclopedia: Suppression of English Monasteries Under Henry VIII.
  • The Act of Uniformity, 1559, [At Hanover]
  • The Book of Common Prayer, 1662 [At BCP]
    With some texts from the first Book of Common Prayer of 1549 and the second Book of 1552.
  • WEB Oremus: An Anglican Liturgical Library

• The Tridentine Creed of Pius IV, 1564 [At Traditional Catholic.net] [English and Latin]
• St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556): The Spiritual Exercises [excerpts]. The full text is available [At CCEL]. See also Catholic Encyclopedia: Ignatius Loyola, Saint and Catholic Encyclopedia: The Society of Jesus (Jesuits). and Norman O'Neal, S.J.: A Sketch of the Life of St. Ignatius Loyola [At LUC]
• St. Francis Xavier: Letter from India, to the Society of Jesus at Rome, 1543
• St. Francis Xavier: Letter on the Missions,  to St. Ignatius de Loyola, 1549
• St. Francis Xavier: Letter from Japan, to the Society of Jesus at Goa, 1551
• St. Francis Xavier: Letter from Japan, to the Society of Jesus in Europe, 1552
• Hsu Kuang-chi: Memorial to Fra Matteo Ricci, 1617