The contribution of courageous women
Alongside Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon 500 years ago, there were several women who carried the Reformation forward. In honor of these women reformers, a stamp has been issued that has been available since the beginning of October at German post offices. The stamp depicts three stylized women’s heads in different colors together with the inscription “Frauen der Reformation” (Women of the Reformation). The stamp has a face value of 3.70 euros, equivalent to the postage for a large international letter sent from Germany.
The stamp honoring the women of the Reformation, designed by Susanne Stefanizen, was presented to the wider public at the Market Church in Hanover, Germany.
Presenting the stamp, Protestant Center for Women and Men director Dr Eske Wollrad explained that the “far-reaching development of the church” that the Reformation represented was made possible “because of the many people who were involved and made it happen, including women.” The Reformation meant that “the gospel found new ways to reach people.” In its early days the Reformation took place in homes and on the streets — that is, in society — and women were involved, Wollrad continues. The discussions [about the Reformation] no longer took place in academic settings or only among the clergy.
The Reformation was made possible “because of the many people who were involved and made it happen, including women.” Protestant Center for Women and Men director Dr Eske Wollrad
Influential noblewomen such as Elisabeth von Calenberg-Göttingen or Elisabeth von Rochlitz had a significant influence on the Reformation, Wollrad said. They had the political power to introduce the Reformation in their territories.
Introducing the stamp and giving an interview to the magazine “postfrisch,” the Rev. Dr Margot Käßmann, who was the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) council’s ambassador for the 2017 anniversary of the Reformation, highlighted some of these women of the Reformation.
She recounted that one of the women who took part in public theological debate was Argula von Grumbach (about whose life and work we have written here). A Franconian baroness, Argula is one of the best-known pamphleteers of the Reformation era and was known far beyond the borders of Franconia. Argula von Grumbach debated with Luther while he was staying at Coburg Castle — when the Imperial Diet was being held in Augsburg in 1530 — Käßmann says. Grumbach also protested against the president of the University of Ingolstadt when he wanted to ban Reformation literature. The reformer then wrote pamphlets. “What a courageous woman!” Käßmann says.
“The women of the Reformation were guided by a fundamental understanding that forgiveness and justification happen actually and really, through the Word of God,” Wollrad said. “But the Word of God is not subject to the authority of an intermediary in the person of a priest; it is revealed through personal Bible study. For this reason the Reformation was also an educational movement for women, encouraging them to engage with theological questions.”
Hanover, Germany / Geneva, 26 October 2020
Source: Lutheran World Federation
Photo: German Federal Ministry of Finance