Serpents and Dragons in Early Modern German Religious Culture

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My thesis explores the significance of the serpent as a cultural phenomenon in the changing religious landscape of sixteenth and seventeenth century Germany. Serpents and dragons (terms used interchangeably by contemporaries) are universal symbols, found in legends that permeate cultural mythologies across the globe. The appropriation of serpent-based narratives like that of St. George by Protestant reformers in early modern Germany, a place particularly rich in serpentine beliefs, reveals much of how they imagined their proto-nationalistic religious identity.The first part of this project explores the forms the serpent took in early modern German culture, including its medieval origins, and meaning for pre-Reformation Christians. It draws upon the folklore of late medieval and early modern Germany through texts like Heldenbucher (Hero-books), monastic manuscripts, and medieval art and architecture.The second section examines how reformers utilised serpents to create their religious identity, evaluating Reformation materials like the images that accompanied the 1522, 1523, and 1534 editions of Martin Luther's September testament with a wide cultural analytic framework, rather than the narrow theological lens more commonly applied. This will demonstrate how serpents were more than just biblical symbols of evil; they embodied a host of other ideas due to their entrenchment in the German cultural psyche, making their employment by Protestants a multi-layered rhetorical device. I will also examine how the Protestantisation of serpents led to the demonization of previously benign folkloric beliefs in witch trials; particularly in the Protestant regions of Thuringia, Saxony, and Northern Bavaria.The final part of the thesis examines serpents beyond the Reformation: how Protestant and Catholic belief diverged after the sixteenth century, and how scientific dialogue would transform the image of the serpent over the seventeenth century. I will compare Protestant and Catholic writings on natural science and humanism, including works by Pierre Boaistuau, and transnational dialogues like the naturalist debate on the existence of dragons, which would ultimately diminish the cultural power of the German mythical serpents.I have just started my PhD at the University of Birmingham where I was awarded a scholarship for my MA. The dissertations I undertook for my Undergraduate degree in History and my Master's degree in Early Modern History, for which I received a first and a distinction respectively, were concerned with representations of the papacy in early modern Europe. These studies required extensive knowledge of the period, and honed my experience in translating Latin and Old German sources.