In the late summer of 1523, a young woman courageously takes up pen and paper. With firm resolve, she writes a letter to the faculty of the University of Ingolstadt. The woman’s name is Argula von Grumbach; she is 31 years old, comes from a noble family, is educated, and is the mother of four children. Her bold act, with which she sought to support a follower of Luther who had run into trouble, did not go without consequences. Argula von Grumbach has gone down in history as the first woman Protestant theologian from among the laity. Yet for her convictions Argula also had to make great sacrifices.
Nothing like it had ever been seen before. With her letter, a single woman challenges an entire faculty of the University of Ingolstadt! Argula von Grumbach demanded that the professors enter into a public debate with her about her exegesis [interpretation, explanation] of the Holy Scriptures. While the professors rubbed their eyes in disbelief at such audacious presumption, the writer of the letter knew very clearly what she wanted: she wished to make a contribution, using theological arguments, in favour of Arsacius Seehofer, a young follower of Luther who wished to help spread the Reformation. She concludes her letter convincingly with these words: “I have not written to you women’s gossip, but the Word of God, as a member of the congregation.” She set only one condition: that the debate must take place in German, since she does not speak Latin (the official language of the university at the time).
Even reading Luther’s writings was a transgression
What exactly compels Argula von Grumbach to write her bold letter, the first public statement by a woman in favour of the ideas of the Reformation? Until that moment, not a single man had dared to stand up openly for the 18-year-old master Seehofer, who was spreading the ideas of the Reformation at the University of Ingolstadt. A year earlier, the Dukes of Bavaria had already forbidden the adoption of the new faith. Even the reading of Luther’s writings was regarded as a transgression. The young man is made to recant publicly and is sent off to a nearby monastery.
Argula heard of these events, looked into the situation, and was outraged. It was clear to her that the theologians had forced Seehofer to renounce his ideas by threatening violence, because they were unable to gain support for their actions on the basis of the Bible. She wrote: “Nowhere in the Bible do I find that Jesus, or his disciples, or the prophets imprisoned, burned or exiled anyone.” The woman was emboldened by the “priesthood of all the baptised”. And Argula von Grumbach knew the Bible truly outstandingly well. From the age of ten she already had a German-language edition of the Bible. It had been bequeathed to her by her father. Argula read the Bible often, especially after her father’s untimely death. From Martin Luther, Argula gains confirmation that she may trust her own interpretation of the Bible, as well as rely on her own convictions in the personal decisions of conscience. In his earlier writings, Luther called for following the principle of “Sola scriptura”, thereby making the Holy Scriptures the sole criterion in matters of faith. Luther’s assertions about the priesthood of all baptised believers were a personal encouragement to Argula. If a priesthood is not necessary in order to interpret the world in the light of faith, then she, Argula von Grumbach, also has the right to do so.
Argula raises the subject of Jesus and his intense discussions and theological debates with women. As an outstanding expert on the word of the Bible and a theologian, she also knows that the Bible contains feminine designations for God. These are found quite frequently in the Old Testament and also in the New. To her it is self-evident that both men and women are called to defend their faith publicly and to confess faith in Jesus Christ. And so she continues, saying with strong faith: “Even if it should happen that Luther himself renounces his views, God forbid, that would not shake me, for I do not rely on his intellect, or my own, or anyone else’s, but only on the true rock, which is Christ himself.”
Argula von Grumbach’s writings are distributed and read as though they were Luther’s texts
The cover of Argula von Grumbach’s first letter (picture on the left)
The debate with the university lecturers, unfortunately, never takes place. Argula von Grumbach is not even considered worthy of a reply to her letter from Ingolstadt. But the Protestants publish and distribute her tract. Within just two months the tract is published 13 times. In her day, only the works of Martin Luther were as widely distributed.
It sounds like a success story, yet for a daughter of a noble family it meant the formation of a painful rift between the woman and her family. Argula was married to a devout Catholic man from a noble French family, Friedrich von Grumbach, who did not support her views. By the time Argula began to appear in wider society with the ideas of the Reformation, the couple had already been married nine years and had three sons and a daughter. Friedrich von Grumbach held a well-paid position as the steward of Dietfurt, which means that he had an administrative office with special legal rights, like the Dukes of Bavaria. In 1522, the Dukes of Bavaria in turn decided that their subjects were forbidden to adopt Luther’s teaching, read his tracts or discuss their content. In her letter to the University of Ingolstadt, Argula von Grumbach not only disregarded this prohibition but openly defended a supporter of the Reformation.
In 1523, at the same time as the letter to the university, Argula also wrote a second letter — addressed to the ruler of Bavaria, Wilhelm IV. She wished to inform the duke, whom she had known since childhood, about the situation in Ingolstadt, and so she also enclosed a copy of the letter she had sent to the university. This letter was later widely distributed as a manifesto of the Reformation, since its author also speaks of a Christian’s obedience to the authorities.
Wilhelm of Bavaria did not consider Argula worthy of a reply from him. Instead, he immediately removed Argula’s husband from his post, because he had supposedly failed to restrain his wife from writing letters of this kind. Thus Friedrich Grumbach loses his position and the family falls into financial difficulties. Since Friedrich remained faithful to the Catholic faith until his death in 1529, it seems that the marriage too was shaken. Argula wrote of her husband thus: “Unfortunately, he does much to persecute Christ in me.”
Despite the tense situation in the family, a few weeks later Argula writes another letter, this time to the city council of Ingolstadt. She refers to a number of women, followers of the Reformation, in the city, and is not afraid to die for her convictions: “Yes, even if I die, hundreds of women will write against them [those who forbid the Reformation]. For there are many of them, and moreover far more educated and skilled than I.”
Later, Argula writes tracts, all composed within a single year. After 1524, Argula publishes no further document. She had formulated the heart of the matter in her letter to the University of Ingolstadt.
A woman stands alone, Bible in hand, before a great crowd of male theologians from Ingolstadt (on the cover of the letter, above).
A few years ago, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bavaria named a foundation after this courageous supporter of the Reformation — the Argula von Grumbach-Stiftung. The aim of this foundation is to support equality between women and men in the church, as well as to discuss questions of gender in society and the congregation. Thus the courageous woman was recognised several centuries after her work.
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In the chambers of the Wartburg fortress one can listen to the prehistory of the Reformation, the history of the region, the history of its personalities, as well as various events connected with Luther’s life. One can also view Luther’s study. One of the interactive stories offered by the museum is about the journey of Argula von Grumbach, the first Protestant woman living in Bavaria, to Wittenberg to debate with Martin Luther about the role of women in Christianity and God’s calling to service.
The interactive dialogue depicts the story of how, during the course of the Reformation, Argula von Grumbach went to Luther. The woman asserts that nowhere is it written that any special figure of authority has been placed between her and God. When she questions Luther about the role of women, von Grumbach is disappointed by the great reformer’s views: namely, Luther comments that when events were led by Adam there was order, but when a woman began to lead, they turned into chaos. Since the woman was deceived by the serpent, then, when a man speaks, the woman must keep silent. Despite such an assertion, in his newly founded movements Luther allowed women to lead and to preach when men were not present.
Astonished by such un-reformational views of Luther, Argula von Grumbach went to her room to pray to God. Suddenly she heard a voice that said to her:
“You women are in no way inferior to men. Yet several centuries will pass before this becomes visible to all. Luther, at least, is on the way to this truth. Do not give up; keep your spirit high.”