![Argula von Grumbach](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Argula_von_Grumbach.jpg)
Argula von Grumbach (; 1492 – c. 1554) was a
Bavarian writer and noblewoman who, starting in the early 1520s, became involved in the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
debates going on in Germany. She became the first Protestant woman writer, publishing letters and poems promoting and defending
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
as well as his co-worker
Philip Melanchthon
Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lu ...
and other Protestant groups. She is most known for directly challenging the
University of Ingolstadt
The University of Ingolstadt was founded in 1472 by Louis the Rich, the Duke of Bavaria at the time, and its first Chancellor was the Bishop of Eichstätt. It consisted of five faculties: humanities, sciences, theology, law, and medicine, all o ...
's faculty when she wrote a letter to them speaking out against the arrest of a
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
student. As one of the few women at the time openly speaking out her views, her writings sparked controversy and often became bestsellers, with tens of thousands of copies of her letters and poems circulating within a few years of their publication.
Early life
Argula von Grumbach was born as Argula von Stauff near
Regensburg
Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...
,
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, in 1492. Her family lived in
Ehrenfels castle, which was their
baronial
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...
seat. The von Stauff family were
Freiherren
(; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...
, who were lords with independent jurisdiction only accountable to the Emperor, and they were among the pre-eminent leaders of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
n nobility.
Argula's upbringing was in a political and deeply religious household. Education and attendance at university was highly valued. Argula is thought to have learned to read fluently at a very young age. When she was ten, her father gave her an expensive and beautifully crafted
Koberger Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
in German, despite
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
preachers discouraging it, saying
Scripture
Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...
would “only confuse her.” She became an avid student of the Bible, memorizing much of its contents.
At the age of sixteen, Argula joined the court in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, where she became a
lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...
to
duchess Kunigunde, daughter of the
Emperor Frederick III. The duchess was said to have a strong personality herself, passionate about politics and religion. The court as a whole was interested in spiritual affairs, so it is there that Argula's studies of the Bible could have become a serious endeavor.
Argula's adolescent life was marked by tragedy. Both her parents became ill from
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
and died in 1509. Her father's brother, Hieronymus, became her guardian. He was a leading figure at court but ended up disgraced in a political scandal that led to his execution in 1516. Her outrage at his death most likely prompted her persistent loathing for violence and coercion throughout her life.
Married life
In the same year of her uncle's execution, Argula married Friedrich von Grumbach. The von Grumbach family was not as prestigious as the von Stauffs, but they were still known in German history and Friedrich himself had been appointed to an honorary administrator post in
Dietfurt
Dietfurt is a town in the district of Neumarkt in Bavaria, Germany. The town is situated on the river Altmühl, and is 38 km west of Regensburg, 30 km north of Ingolstadt, and is located 364 meters above sea level.
Overview
Dietfur ...
. He also had several other landholdings throughout Bavaria. Little is known about Friedrich because he remained so much in the shadow of his wife. He is also thought to have had poor health, as he died in 1530.
With him Argula had four children, George, Hans Georg, Gottfried and Apollonia. The only child to survive his parents was Gottfried. It seemed that Argula was the one who made all the arrangements for her children's Protestant educations. Records indicated that Argula took care of many of the financial and business matters of her family even before her husband's death.
Little is known, also, about the relationship between Argula and her husband, although there have been hints through her writings. She refuted others’ suggestions that she was neglecting her duties as a wife in the poem she wrote in 1524, although she also said ‘May God teach me to understand/ How I should act towards my man’, indicating that it could have been a difficult marriage. Friedrich himself was not a
Reformer, remaining in the Old Church. He was put under immense pressure to ‘bring her into line’ during the height of her challenging and letter writing. At one point he was even told he was allowed to disable her so as to prevent her from writing or even strangle her without legal repercussions.
Argula married again in 1533 to Count Burian von Schlick, but he died within two years.
Engagement in the Reformation
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
published his first treatises in 1520 and
Philipp Melancthon
Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lu ...
laid out Luther's teachings in a book. By 1522, Luther had finished his translation of the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
in German. Argula von Grumbach read all these writings, and by that same year she had become a follower of Luther and had begun a correspondence with Luther and other similar-thinking
Protestants
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
. She would later meet Luther face to face in 1530.
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
n authorities had forbidden reception of Lutheran ideas at the time, and the city of
Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Bav ...
enforced that mandate. In 1523, Arsacius Seehofer, the young teacher and former student at the
University of Ingolstadt
The University of Ingolstadt was founded in 1472 by Louis the Rich, the Duke of Bavaria at the time, and its first Chancellor was the Bishop of Eichstätt. It consisted of five faculties: humanities, sciences, theology, law, and medicine, all o ...
, was arrested for Protestant views and forced to recant his beliefs on the Bible. The incident would have occurred quietly, but Argula, outraged over it, wrote what was to become her best-known epistle, a letter to the faculty of the university objecting to Seehofer's arrest and exile. The letter urged the university to follow
Scripture
Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...
, not
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
traditions and to explain what heresy Seehofer was guilty of. It also said she had decided to speak out even though she was a woman because no one else would. An excerpt from her letter as follows:
In the long letter she cited over 80 Scriptures with which she made logical comparisons to the behaviour of the university theologians, to argue her case that they were wrong.
Her letter, which was turned into a booklet, provoked a huge reaction, greatly angering the theologians and became nearly an overnight sensation. She was subjected to insults regarding her writing skills, sexual behavior, and gender. It went through fourteen editions in two months, and became a bestseller. Argula wrote more letters and copies of the first one to other significant figures, including when Duke Wilhelm was to argue her case.
In the early 16th century, the printing press was a new technology, not yet controlled by the State, leading to an
information revolution
The term information revolution describes current economic, social and technological trends beyond the Industrial Revolution.
Many competing terms have been proposed that focus on different aspects of this societal development.
The British polymat ...
, in which printers were spreading ideas that were disturbing to the establishment, faster than it could be controlled. If something sold well, like early Protestant writings, many printers would create their own editions, spreading often-subversive ideas like wildfire. Something similar was happening with science, for example
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic Church, Catholic cano ...
' book on a sun-centered model of the universe. Comparable upheavals had occurred after the return of literacy and literature from the
Latin translations of the 12th century
Latin translations of the 12th century were spurred by a major search by European scholars for new learning unavailable in western Europe at the time; their search led them to areas of southern Europe, particularly in central Spain and Sicily, w ...
, kicking off the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
, as well as the dawn of literacy in
Classical Greece
Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years (the 5th and 4th centuries BC) in Ancient Greece,The "Classical Age" is "the modern designation of the period from about 500 B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C." ( Thomas R. Marti ...
and the modern internet era.
Unable to control the spread of her ideas, theologians wanted Argula punished, and her husband lost his position at Dietfurt over the controversy. Argula was also called by many offensive epithets by her critics, especially through the sermons of Professor Hauer, who described her as a “shameless whore” and a “female desperado.”
Argula wrote poems in response to the slander of her, including when a poem apparently written by an Ingoldstadt, accusing her of being a neglectful wife and mother. Her retort was the last of her published works, although she continued corresponding with Luther and other Reformers. She also used her extensive knowledge of scripture to support her arguments.
Argula was highly controversial, shunned by some of her own family, but she also had admirers for her writings. She was praised by the Anabaptist preacher
Balthasar Hubmaier
Balthasar Hubmaier (1480 – 10 March 1528; la , Pacimontanus) was an influential German Anabaptist leader. He was one of the most well-known and respected Anabaptist theologians of the Reformation.
Early life and education
He was born in Frie ...
in nearby
Regensburg
Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...
, who wrote that she "knows more of the divine Word than all of the red hats" — canon lawyers and cardinals — "ever saw or could conceive of" and compared her to heroic women in the Bible.
Although her challenges to the university were largely ignored, and her efforts to promote her Protestant beliefs unsuccessful, Argula was undeterred, continuing writing pamphlets until that final incident. She engaged in other exceptional activities in this cause, like travelling alone to
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
— which was unheard of for women at that time — to encourage German princes to accept
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
principles.
Death
Argula von Grumbach was reported in a local chronicle to have died in 1554, but there was some evidence from correspondence of the Munich City Council indicated that she could have been alive as late as 1563.
Veneration
In 2022, Argula was officially added to the
Episcopal Church liturgical calendar with a feast day on 14 July.
References
This article is based on Matheson, Peter. "Argula von Grumbach." Edinburgh, T&T Clark, 1995 and Lualdi, Katharine J. "Sources of Making the West." Boston, Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. See also Matheson's ''The Imaginative World of the Reformation'', chapter 5.
External links
"Argula von Grumbach: Courageous Debater, Theologian, Female Voice in the Reformation ... A Woman on the Family Tree""You Wouldn't Want to Argue with Argula"article at Glimpses of Christian History
Argula Von Grumbach: A Woman's Voice in the Reformation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grumbach, Argula Von
1492 births
1550s deaths
People from Regensburg (district)
German Lutherans
German women poets
16th-century German writers
16th-century German women writers
16th-century German women
German ladies-in-waiting
People of the Protestant Reformation
German Protestant Reformers
Anglican saints