Serpents and Dragons in Early Modern German Religious Culture

德国现代早期宗教文化中的蛇和龙

• 批准号: 2252840
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Birmingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2019 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2252840
• 关键词: Serpents; Dragons; Early; Modern; German

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.

我的论文探讨了蛇作为一种文化现象在十六世纪德国不断变化的宗教景观中的重要性。蛇和龙（同时代人互换使用的术语）是普遍的象征，在渗透到全球文化神话的传说中都可以找到。德国是一个蛇形信仰特别丰富的地方，现代早期的新教改革者对像圣乔治这样基于蛇的叙事的挪用，很大程度上揭示了他们如何想象自己的原始民族主义宗教身份。该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，以及对宗教改革前基督徒的意义。它通过 Heldenbucher（英雄书籍）、修道院手稿以及中世纪艺术和建筑等文本借鉴了中世纪晚期和现代早期德国的民间传说。第二部分探讨了宗教改革者如何利用蛇来创造他们的宗教身份，通过广泛的文化分析来评估宗教改革材料，例如 1522 年、1523 年和 1534 年马丁·路德九月遗嘱所附带的图像。 框架，而不是更常用的狭隘神学视角。这将证明蛇不仅仅是圣经中邪恶的象征；它也是邪恶的象征。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思想，使新教徒对它们的使用成为一种多层次的修辞手段。我还将研究蛇的新教化如何导致以前善良的民俗信仰在女巫审判中被妖魔化；特别是在图林根州、萨克森州和北巴伐利亚州的新教地区。论文的最后部分研究了宗教改革之后的蛇：新教和天主教信仰在十六世纪之后如何分歧，以及科学对话将如何改变十七世​​纪的蛇形象。我将比较新教和天主教关于自然科学和人文主义的著作，包括皮埃尔·博艾斯托的作品，以及跨国对话，例如自然主义者关于龙存在的辩论，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，在那里我获得了硕士学位奖学金。我为历史学本科学位和早期现代历史硕士学位所撰写的论文（分别获得一等奖和优异奖）涉及罗马教廷在早期现代欧洲的表现。这些研究需要对那个时期的广泛了解，并磨练了我翻译拉丁语和古德语资料的经验。