Serpents and Dragons in Early Modern German Religious Culture

我的论文探讨了蛇作为一种文化现象在十六、十七世纪德国不断变化的宗教景观中的意义。蛇和龙（同时代人互换使用的术语）是普遍的象征，在遍布地球仪的文化神话传说中发现。在现代早期的德国，蛇的信仰特别丰富，新教改革者对蛇的叙述，如圣乔治的挪用，揭示了他们如何想象自己的原始民族主义宗教身份。这个项目的第一部分探讨了蛇在现代早期德国文化中的形式，包括它的中世纪起源，以及对改革前基督徒的意义。它借鉴了中世纪晚期和现代德国早期的民间传说，第二部分探讨了改革者如何利用蛇来创造他们的宗教身份，评估了改革材料，如伴随着1522年，1523年，和1534年版本的马丁路德的九月遗嘱与广泛的文化分析框架，而不是狭隘的神学透镜更普遍适用。这将证明蛇不仅仅是圣经中邪恶的象征;由于它们在德国文化心理中的根深蒂固，它们体现了许多其他想法，使新教徒使用它们成为一种多层次的修辞手段。我还将考察蛇的新教化是如何导致在女巫审判中对以前善良的民间信仰的妖魔化的;特别是在图林根、萨克森和北方巴伐利亚的新教地区。论文的最后部分考察了宗教改革之后的蛇：新教和天主教信仰在16世纪之后是如何分歧的，以及科学对话在17世纪是如何改变蛇的形象的。我将比较新教和天主教关于自然科学和人文主义的著作，包括Pierre Boaistuau的作品，以及跨国对话，如自然主义者关于龙是否存在的辩论，这最终会削弱德国神话蛇的文化力量。我刚刚开始在伯明翰大学攻读博士学位，并获得了硕士奖学金。我在攻读历史学本科学位和近代早期历史学硕士学位时所写的论文（我分别获得了第一名和第二名），都是关于罗马教皇在近代早期欧洲的表现。这些研究需要对那个时期有广泛的了解，也磨练了我翻译拉丁语和古德语资料的经验。

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.