“O povo não me entendeu direito”: Thomas Müntzer e a religião popular no início do século 16

• Autor(a) principal: Barcala, Martin Santos
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da METODISTA
• Texto Completo: http://tede.metodista.br/jspui/handle/tede/2268
• topic: Thomas Müntzer; cultura popular; religião popular; reformas protestantes; mediação cultural; Thomas Müntzer; popular culture; popular religion; Protestant reforms; cultural mediation.; CIENCIAS HUMANAS

This research will focus on the theological reflection of Thomas Müntzer (1489?-1525), especially on the interface of his writings with the popular culture and religiosity of the 16th century. The objective will be to demonstrate that the reflection on Müntzer lies on the boundaries of the cultural context in which he lived. Because it was compressed within the parameters established by the Lutheran and Catholic theological traditions, on the one hand, and by the Marxist historiography, on the other, the biography of Müntzer and his reflection were presented, either as an expression of an insane and diabolical fanaticism or as the incarnation of early revolutionary heroism. As will be seen in the course of this thesis, these extremes disregard the complex relationship between Müntzer and the people – or the “simple man” (der gemeine Mann) – and, in doing so, neglect the borderline characteristic of the thought and practice of the reformer, as well as denying the people their religious dynamism, always conceiving them as tutored, for better or worse, and invariably passive. Often, Müntzer takes a stand in favor of the rights and claims of the “simple man”. However, when referring to them, he uses adjectives that are at least ambiguous, such as “poor, rude people, worthy of compassion and mercy”. In his last correspondence, already a prisoner in the castle of Heldrungen, in Thuringia, the reformer assumes an exasperated tone: “the people did not understand me properly...”. Therefore, it is in these crossing multiple borders movements that Müntzer needs to be heard and understood. Among them, the current research chose the interaction between Müntzer and popular religion. Considering the nature of its object, the research resorted to theoretical references dedicated to the study of popular culture and religion in the Middle Ages and at the beginning of modernity. It will defend the hypothesis that Müntzer embodies the role of the cultural translator who alternates allegiances between official, literate, erudite culture and subaltern, popular, and oral culture. His work condenses not only harbingers of times to come but also resonates with distant past periods. During his brief and eventful life, Müntzer inhabited nearly five dozen cities. He got used to borders in this respect too. To demonstrate the hypothesis raised, the methodology adopted will be an exegetical analysis of Müntzer's textual corpus published in three volumes: the primary historical sources for his biography, that is, the contemporary records of his activities contained in the minutes and reports of the municipal councils and official administrative correspondents, in the case of imperial cities; his correspondence with different social actors and on different topics; and his more properly theological writings, among which his liturgical production in German deserves careful attention, a content very little explored by research on him.(AU)