Usage of the Sainthood in the Reformation Controversy: Sants and Witnesses of Truth in Matthias Flacius Illyricus
Usage of the Sainthood in the Reformation Controversy: Sants and Witnesses of Truth in Matthias Flacius Illyricus

Summary/Abstract: This article aims to present the preliminary results of ongoing research into Lutheran attitudes towards the veneration of the saints. As a personality with a different background from other reformers, in particular his Istrian and Venetian provenance, Flacius is a particularly interesting case in this respect. The preaching of his two model reformers for whom condemnation for the veneration of the saints was among its principal tenets, together with the ambiguous situation in Venice, where apparent benevolence towards Protestantism went hand in hand with an abundance of picturesque practices of a cultic nature, formed a basis for his views and arguments; while his interest in proto-Reformation movements deepened his insight into the topic. The way German polemic and satirical literature influenced Flacius remains a topic for future investigation and further research within the broader context of the Reformation and beyond is bound to result in additional discoveries of interest.

• Details
• Contents