Andrew Pettegree

“Although Martin Luther's theological message was couched as an exhortation to all Christian people, his frame of reference, the human experiences on which he drew and his emotional sympathies, or almost entirely German.”

“In an age that valued prolonged and detailed exposition, complexity, and repetition it was astonishing that Luther should have instinctively discerned the value of brevity.”

“Print, it transpired, was not just an instrument of agitation and change: now it was equally necessary to win the peace.”

“His plain, undecorated, and utilitarian work reeked week of provincialism.”

“Martin Luther was a thoroughly educated man but he wore this lightly. His sermons were littered with only examples and improving tales, drawing equally from the fables of Aesop and the follies of life he observed all around him.”

“It is often the parishioners, the men and women in the pews, who set the tone.”

“A long list of propositions does not necessarily make a coherent argument”

“Because there was no pre-existing patrician elite, those successful in the new book industry could write very swiftly to the top of the social hierarchy.”

“The stranglehold of the departed was much resented by the new generation of aspiring authors. Which is why it is who did make the breakthrough were so admired.”