How did the Protestant Reformation impact life and religious identity in German cities? Who were the leaders of the new movement, and how did they use writing, preaching, and confessional rhetoric to achieve their goals?

This original monograph examines the life of Heinrich Heshusius (1556-97), a controversial Lutheran pastor and superintendent during the late Sixteenth Century in North Germany. Based on intensive rare book and archival research at the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel, Germany, this study explores the wider world of German Lutheranism during the early age of Orthodoxy, including the strategies of leading theologians and the networks of Lutheran clergymen centered in universities such as Rostock, Jena, Königsberg, and Helmstedt.