Robin B. Barnes F'09

ACLS Fellowship Program 2009
Professor
Department: History
Davidson College
Astrology and Reformation

This project addresses basic but largely neglected connections between the flowering of Renaissance astrology—both the learned art and the popular obsession—and the culture of the German Reformation. Combining extensive primary evidence with insights from numerous specialized studies, this study presents a major new synthesis, arguing for the integral role of astrological symbolism in preparing the ground for the religious movement sparked by Martin Luther, as well as in shaping the distinctive characteristics of German evangelical culture in its first century (c. 1520-1620). The work thus shows how apparently contradictory currents were combined in a distinctive early-modern confessional world view.