For the first time, this monograph examines Luther's heirs, the pastors of the next generation. They were responsible for the survival of the Reformation, yet they always remained in the shadows of their great predecessor. How did they obtain their ministries? How did they live? How did they manage to rescue the Lutheran church enterprise despite massive internal quarreling in an epoch marked by perpetual war and crisis?

Wolfgang E.J. Weber, Institut für Europäische Kulturgeschichte, Augsburg.