Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/595

 free from errors it is of wonderful clearness and thoroughly idiomatic. Its effect on the German language was enormous; the dialect in which it is written, a Middle German dialect used in the chancery of Upper Saxony, became gradually the norm for both Protestant and Catholic writers, and is thus the basis of the modern literary German. Luther's pamphlets have only historical interest; his catechism and sermons belong to theological literature. His "Tischreden" (Table-Talk) shows the personality of the man. Force and strength of will mark his character and writings. But his firmness often savours of obstinacy, and in dogmatism he yields no tittle to his opponents, while the bluntness, or still better the vulgarity, of his language, gave offence even in an age accustomed to abuse. As a poet he appears in his religious songs, among which "Ein feste Burg" is famous as the battle-hymn of the Reformers. Other writers of

Protestant church hymns were Paulus Speratus (d. 1551), Nikolaus Decius (d. 1541), Nikolaus Herman (d. 1561), and Philipp Nicolai (d. 1608).

As a rule, the German Humanists were indifferent to the Reformation, but Ulrich von Hutten (d. 1523) was a zealous partisan of the movement; his writings are mostly in Latin. One of the bitterest enemies of Luther was Thomas Murner, a Franciscan monk (1475-1537), who in his earlier satires castigated the follies of the age. At first he showed sympathy for the reform movement, but when Catholic doctrine was assailed, he turned, and in a coarse but witty satire "Von dem grossen Lutherischen Narren" (1522), he unsparingly attacked the Reformation and its author.

The best poet of the sixteenth century was the Nuremberg shoemaker Hans Sachs (1494-1576) who, although a follower of Luther, was not primarily a controversialist. He displayed amazing productivity in many fields, mastersong, Spruch, anecdote, fable, and drama. His Shrovetide plays display a genial humour that even today is effective. The spirit of the worthy master's verse is thoroughly didactic, and artistic form is altogether lacking.

Towards the middle of the sixteenth century, the Counter-Reformation set in, and regained much of the ground lost to Protestantism, which had now spent itself as a vital force and was divided by the dissensions between Lutherans and Calvinists. The most prominent polemical writer on the Protestant side was Johann Fischart (d. 1590), much of whose satire is directed against the Jesuits, notably his "Vierhörniges Jesuiterhuetlein" (1580). His most ambitious work is the "Geschichtklitterung," a free version of Rabelais's "Gargantua" (1575). Fischart is not an original writer, and his extravagance of language and love for punning make his work thoroughly unpalatable to a modern reader.

Narrative prose is very prominent in the literature of this period. Collections of anecdotes, such as Jörg Wickram's "Rollwagenbuechlein" (1555) and especially "Schimpf und Ernst" (1522) of Johannes Pauli, a Franciscan monk, were very popular. Translations of French and Spanish romances like the "Amadis of Gaul" were also much in favour. Then there were the "Volksbücher," with their popular stories, among which those connected with Faust and the Wandering Jew have become especially famous. Didactic prose was represented by the historical work of Aegidius Tschudi (d. 1572), Sebastian Frank (d. 1542), and Johannes Thurmayr (known as Aventinus; d. 1534); the collections of proverbs and sayings made by Frank and Johann Agricola (d. 1566) are also to be mentioned in this connexion. In theology Bishop Berthold of Chiemsee represents the Catholic side, with his "Tewtsche Theologey" (1528); the Franciscan, Johann Nas (d. 1590), a Catholic convert, in his "Sechs Centurien Euangelischer Wahrheiten" also champions the old Church. The chief Protestant writer was Johann Arndt (d. 1621), author of the "Vier Bücher vom waren Christenthum," one of the most widely read books of the time. Contemporary with Arndt was the famous shoemaker, Jakob Boehme (d. 1624); a mystical philosopher in whose writings profound thoughts and confused notions are strangely blended.

In the dramatic field there was also much activity. Luther, though opposed to the passion play, had favoured the drama on educational grounds. Nikolaus Manuel, a Swiss (d. 1530), used the dramatic form for satirizing the pope and the Catholic Church. The Biblical drama was in favour, and many of the learned writers of school comedies chose their subjects from the Bible, as for instance, Paul Rebhun (d, 1546) and Sixt Birck (d. 1554). The most prolific dramatist of the period was Hans Sachs, who wrote no less than 208 plays, which in spite of their lack of all higher literary quality, make a promising beginning. Towards the end of the sixteenth century, English strolling players