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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 March 2016
The purpose of this paper is to raise a problem of more than antiquarian interest in Reformation literary history. The Unio Dissidentium is a collection of passages from the Bible together with nearly 550 quotations, many of them quite lengthy, from the Fathers. This latter feature gives to the book much of its interest, as well as a place in the patristic revival begun by the classical humanists and brought to a high level of development by the work of such men as Erasmus and Beatus Rhenanus.
So far as can with certainty be stated, the first part of Unio Dissidentium was published by the Antwerp printer, Martin de Keyser, in March 1527. The ten sections into which it is divided contain passages supporting the compiler’s theology on such current theological issues as original sin, infant baptism, predestination, the nature and function of law, grace and merit, faith and works, and human ordinances. Later that same year the same printer published the second part, dealing with the value of the Word of God, penitence, brotherly correction, fasting, prayer, indulgences, the Eucharist, ecclesiastical constitutions, the vocation of all Christians to be priests, kings, and prophets, and antichrist. To the editions printed in and after 1531 a further three sections were added, the first two of which are on expensive funerals and the flight and persecution of Christians, respectively, while the third is the tract of Pseudo-Augustine, De Essentia Divinitatis.
page 237 note 1 Hendreich, C., Pandectae Brandenburgicae, Berlin 1699, 616 Google Scholar, claimed to have found a copy of the first section of Unio Dissidentium,De lapsu Adae et peccato originali, at Halle, Swabia, in a quarto volume, published in 1516. This, however, seems improbable, as Clement, D., Bibliothèque curieuse historique et critique, Hanover 1753, iv, 414 Google Scholar, col. 1,shows.
page 238 note 1 Unio Dissidentium, sig. A3a. (All references by signatures to Unio Dissidentium relate to those of the 1537, Basle, edition, a copy of which is in the Christie Collection of Manchester University Library.)
page 238 note 2 Ibid. sig. A 2b.
page 238 note 3 Ibid. sig. A 5a.
page 238 note 4 Reusch, H., Die Indices Librorum Prohibitorum des sechzehnten Jahrhunderts Tübingen, 1886, 5 Google Scholar, 15, 37, 57, 75. 84, 86, 96, 159, 188, 223, 264, 431, 485, 521.
page 238 note 5 A copy of this 1602 edition is in the University Library, Cambridge. For information about Kalt, see Benzing, J., Buchdruckerlexikon des 16. Jahrhunderts, Frankfurt 1952 100 Google Scholar.
page 239 note 1 Engel, S., Bibliotheca Selecisstima, Berne 1743,1, 25 Google Scholar.
page 239 note 2 Sincerus, T., Neue Sammlung von lauter alten und raren Buchen, Nuremberg 1734, vi, 511 Google Scholar.
page 239 note 3 Foxe, J., Acts (& Monuments, ed. Pratt, , 1877, v, 186 Google Scholar, 189, 216, 421, 681-5.
page 239 note 4 Kronenberg, M. E., ‘Is Martinus Butzer onder het pseudoniem Hermannus Bodius de auteur van de Unio dissidenttum geweest ?’, in Het Boek, xxxiv (1960), I, 1–11 Google Scholar.
page 239 note 5 Reusch, op. cit. 485, 521.
page 240 note 1 Hendreich, op. cit. 616.
page 240 note 2 Lipenius, M., Bibliotheca Realis Theologien, Frankfurt 1685, 11, 735 Google Scholar.
page 240 note 3 The colophon of the 1537, Basle, edition reads: BASILEAE APUD BARTHOLO/ MAEVM, VVESTHEMERVM, / ET NICOLAVM BRY/LINGERUM. / ANNO, / M.D.XXXVII.
page 240 note 4 Benzing, op. cit. 26; see also C. Heckethorn, Printers of Basel in XV and XVI Centuries, 1897, 188-9, and Knaake, J. K. F., Katalog der Sammlung von Reformations schriften, Leipzig 1908, 111, 916 Google Scholar,997,1069.
page 241 note 1 Feuerlein, J. W., Nützliche und Auserlesene Arbeiten der Gelehrten im Reich, Nuremberg 1733, 246-7Google Scholar.
page 241 note 2 Erasmi Epistolae, ed. P. S. Allen, 1922, iv, 591.
page 241 note 3 Ibid. 1924, v, 138.
page 241 note 4 MS Gemeente-Archief Leiden, Seer. arch. 1253-1575, inv. 388 (Aflezinboek B) f. 10r.
page 242 note 1 Ibid.
page 242 note 2 See Staehelin, E., ‘Die Väterübersetzungen Oekolampads,’ in Schweitzerische Theologische Zeitschrift, XXXIII (1916), 57–91 Google Scholar.
page 242 note 3 Ambrose (ed. Erasmus; pub. Froben 1527), Clement ( pub. Bebel 1526), Jerome (ed. Erasmus; pub. Froben 1526 (2nd ed.)), Cyprian (ed. Erasmus; pub. Froben 1525), Chrysostom (pub. Cratander 1525), Lactantius (pub. Cratander 1524), Cyril (pub. Cratander 1524), Theophylact [Gospels] (ed. Oecolampadius; pub. Cratander 1524), Eusebius (ed. Beatus Rhenanus; pub. Froben 1523), Tertullian (ed. Beatus Rhenanus; pub. Froben 1521), Augustine (ed. Amerbach 1506).
page 242 note 4 Panzer, G. V., Annales Typographici, Nuremberg 1798, VI, 259 Google Scholar.
page 243 note 1 Unio Dissidentium, sig. Tt 3b.
page 243 note 2 Dorner, J. A., Geschichte der protestantischen Theologie besonders in Deutschland, nach ihrer prinzipiellen Bewegung und im Zusammenhang mit dem religiössen, sittlichen und intellektuellen Leben betracht, Munich 1867, 307-11Google Scholar.
page 243 note 3 McNeill, J. J., The History and Character of Calvinism, New York 1944, 80 Google Scholar.
page 243 note 4 Brandt, S., The History of the Reformation in and about the Low Countries, tr. Chamberlayne, J., London 1723, 1, 52-4Google Scholar; Polman, P., L’Élément Historique dans la Controverse religieuse du XVIe Siècle, Grenoble 1932, 54-5Google Scholar, where other references are given.
page 244 note 1 Dorner, op. cit. 302-4.
page 244 note 2 Martin Sucer: Études sur la Correspondance, ed. Pollet, J. V., Paris 1958,1, 16 Google Scholar.
page 244 note 3 Ibid. 10.
page 245 note 1 Dufour, T., Le Secret des Textes: opuscules inéditis de critique et d’histoire, Lausanne 1925, 77 Google Scholar.
page 245 note 2 E.g. Unio Dissidentium, sig. F 1b-F 2b, quoting Augustine, Enchiridion, 98—the theoretical as well as the practical importance of predestination; sig. H 6a, quoting Augustine, De Correptione et Gratia, 14—on the place of election; sig. E 4b, quoting Fulgentius, Ad Monimum, 1—on the identification of predestination with foreknowledge; sig. G 2a, quoting Augustine, Contra duas epistolas Pelagianorum, 11, 9—on the part played by justification, etc.
page 245 note 3 Wendel, F., Calvin, tr. Mairet, P., London 1963, 301 Google Scholar.
page 246 note 1 Unio Dissidentium, sig. Ooc -Oo 8b.
page 246 note 2 Ibid. sig. Pp 3a-Pp 4b, Augustine, quoting, Contra epistolam Parmeniani, 111, 1 Google Scholar; Origen, In Levit., Hom. XV.
page 246 note 3 Ibid. sig. Pp 6a-Pp 6b. ‘. .. ac si aliquos eorum considerantes, evidentiam veritatis, & pulchritudinem pacis non baptismo quem iam sicut regalem characterem tanquam desertores acceperant, sed fidei quae illis defuit & spiritus sancti charitati, & Christi corpori sociamus . . .’
page 246 note 4 E.g. ibid. sig. Pp 7a-Pp 7b. ‘. . . ut videlicet cum esse proximum intelligamus, cui ve lexhibendum est officium misericordiae si indiget, ve lexhibendum] esset si indigeret .. .’, Augustine, , De Doctrina Christiana, 1, 30 Google Scholar.
page 246 note 5 Wendel, op. cit. 51.
page 246 note 6 Unio Dissidentium, sig. Ss 66-Ss8b. Passages from chs. 12,17,18,22, 23, are quoted.
page 247 note 1 Ibid. sig. Tt 3b.
page 247 note 2 Ibid. sig. Tt 3b-Tt 4b. ‘... Oportet autem nos non omnino deditos esse ventri, sed maxime spiritualium agere curam, & non omnem sollicitudinem incorporalem cibum insumere . . . communicet. . . quod non oporteat operari cibum qui perit, continuum circa cibos studium rejiciens, & ad spiritualia non parum inducens ?...’, Theophylact, In Joann., 6.
page 247 note 3 Traité de l’Amour du Prochain, tr. Strohl, H., Paris 1949, 55 Google Scholar.
page 247 note 4 Martini Buceri Opera Latina, XV, De Regno Christi, ed. Wendel, F., Paris 1955, 88, 109 Google Scholar, 237..
page 247 note 5 Transcribed by Müller, G., Franz Lambert von Avignon und die Reformation in Hessen, Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Hessen und Waldeck 24, 4, Marburg 1958, 160 Google Scholar.
page 247 note 6 The Decades of Henry Bullinger, Parker Society, 1849, 185-6.
page 247 note 7 Calvin: Commentaries, ed. Haroutunian, J. and Smith, L. P., Library of Christian Classics, XXIII (1958), 340 Google Scholar.
page 248 note 1 Unio Dissidentium, sig. CC 5a-CC 5b. ‘. . . Unctos vero non nisi sanctos viros, & satis Deo dignos semper fuisse manifestum est: nec alios quam prophetas, aut sacerdotes, aut reges. Et tam magnum fuit ipsius inctionis mysterium... Ex quo tempore credentes illi, & baptismatis illius sanctificatione purgati,... sed omnes in prophetis & sacerdotibus unguntur & regibus . . .’
page 248 note 2 Ibid. sig. CC 5b-CC 6a. ‘O[mn]es enim quicu[n]q[ue] unguento sacri chrismatis delibuti sunt sacerdotes effecti sunt. . .’
page 248 note 3 Ibid. sig. CC 7b -CC8a. ‘... Spirituales aut[em] hostias opera nostra, eleemosynas, & preces . . .’
page 248 note 4 Ibid. sig. CC 6b. ‘Ideo quia vos reges estis, merito rex noster Christus dominus rex dicitur regum . . . Regum te omnium esse facit, si regnet Christus in te . . .’
page 248 note 5 Ibid. sig. DD 1a-DD 1b.
page 248 note 6 Ibid. sig. DD 1b.
page 248 note 7 Ibid. sig. DD 6a. ‘... Propterea obsecro, ut subinde hue veniatis, & divinae scripturae lectionem diligenter auscultetis, no[n] solum cum hue venitis, sed & domi divina Biblia in manus sumite, & utilitatem in eis positam magno suscipite . . .’, Chrysostom, , In Gen., Hom. XXVIII, 9 Google Scholar.
page 248 note 8 Ibid. sig. DD 3b. ‘Volo enim & precor, omnes vos in doctorum ordine esse: & non solum auditores nostrorum esse dictorum, sed & aliis doctrinam nostram afferre . . .’, Chrysostom, In Gen., Hom. VII.
page 249 note 1 E.g. ibid. sig. Xx 3b. ‘. . . Videte ergo fratres. Panem coelestcm spiritualiter manducate . . .’, Augustine, In Joann., Tract. XXVI.
page 249 note 2 E.g. ibid. sig. Xx 3a. ‘... Hoc promittebatur quibusda[m] signis. Ablata sunt signa promittentia, quia exhibita est veritas promissa . . .’, Augustine, I Quinq., Ps. XXXIX.
page 249 note 3 Ibid. sig. Xx 5b-Xx 66. ‘. . . in sacramento visibiliter sumitur, in ipsa veritate spiritualiter manducetur . . .’, Augustine, De Verb. Ap., Sermo. II.
page 249 note 4 J. Adam, Die exegetischen Schriften Butzers und seine exegetischen Methode, Halle 1900, passim.
page 249 note 5 I am grateful to Prof. Wendel for advice on this point.
page 249 note 6 I.e. those in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
page 250 note 1 Adam, J., ‘Versuch einer Bibliographie Kaspar Hedios,’ in Zeitschrift f.d. Geschichte d. Oberrheins, 70 (1916), 424-9Google Scholar.
page 250 note 2 In saying this, I am supported by Professors Rupp and Wendel.
