Medieval Chivalry and the Making of Anabaptist Identity, 1525-1560

Using sermons, theological treatises, polemical pamphlets, allegories, hymns, and studies of material culture, Jacob Randolph sheds light on how and why the popularity of knightly culture of the Late Middle Ages permeated early modern Anabaptist texts and animated the imaginations of Anabaptist communities. This book reveals how the rituals of baptism and martyrdom, the political realities of persecution, the narrative power of song, and the eschatological ambiguities of a world nearing its end were all infused with chivalric energy, revealing a religious landscape that echoed the instability, resiliency, and creativity of the Middle Ages. Scholars of late medieval and early modern culture in Europe, as well as interested nonspecialists, will find Medieval Chivalry and the Making of Anabaptist Identity a welcome aid to understanding the complex, sometimes competing visions of Christianity and culture that energized early modern Anabaptist communities.