Heinrich Heshusius (1556-97) became a leading church superintendent and polemicist during the early age of Lutheran orthodoxy, and played a major role in the reform and administration of several German cities during the late Reformation. As well as offering an introduction to Heshusius's writings and ideas, this volume explores the wider world of late-sixteenth-century German Lutheranism in which he lived and worked. In particular it looks at the important but inadequately understood network of Lutheran clergymen in North Germany centred around universities such as Rostock, Königsberg, Helmstedt, and Wittenberg, and territories such as Braunschweig-Wolfenbÿttel. The book reveals the complex characteristics of an important (but virtually unknown) Lutheran superintendent and theologian active in the last decades of the sixteenth century, providing a useful resource for the ongoing efforts of scholars hoping to understand the nature of orthodoxy and its importance for early modern Europeans.

Michael J. Halvorson is Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of History at Pacific Lutheran University, USA.

1: Introduction: Pastors and Polemics in Early Lutheran Orthodoxy; 2: Heshusius and the University of Helmstedt Circle; 3: The Psalms Catechism and Lay Indoctrination in Early Orthodoxy; 4: Heshusius and Lutheran Preaching: Catechetical Sermons; 5: Heshusius and Lutheran Preaching: Funeral and Wedding Sermons; 6: Confessional Conflict in Hildesheim: Struggles with Jews, Jesuits, and Rudolf II 1; 7: Conclusion