Prayer Literature and the History of Prayer : Material Conditions and Subjectivities

It is often said that there existed a fundamental tension in late medieval Christianity: a tension between internal spirituality and external form, charismatic authority and institutionalized power, or individual liberty and normative discipline (Holl: 1923; Leppin: 2017, 171-188; Melville: 2020, 139-155; Hamm: 2004, 1-49, 153-178, 254-272).The early Protestants tried to resolve this medieval tension, many scholars might add, but whether and to what extent they did so remains a matter of stubborn, subtle debate. Was there a moment when Luther self-consciously moved himself and his followers from "medieval Catholicism" toward internalized ethics and spiritual freedom, as the Leipzig historian of law Rudolf Sohm argued over a century ago; and was this "Reformation breakthrough," as some have called it, born out of time or compromised by confessionalization and Protestant orthodoxy (Sohm: 1912; / Dillenberger Welch: 1988; Stjerna: 2022)? Was this the seed of a liberating modernity, the catalyst of the twentieth century's technocratic, autocratic atrocities and nightmares, or simply the raw material of "the Protestant self," a mode of life flowing from a free and assured conscience? (Hering: 2008, 381) To what extent did medieval spirituality anticipate or begin the trend toward
interiority?

© 2023 by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Robert-Bosch-Breite 10, 37079 Göttingen, Germany, an imprint of the Brill-Group

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.