Paul Kalkoff

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Paul Kalkoff (born August 17, 1858 in Kölleda , † May 11, 1928 in Breslau ) was a German historian of the Reformation. The most important results of his work, generally recognized by research, were the presentation of the Roman trial against Martin Luther (1518) and the redefinition of the role of the Saxon junker Karl von Miltitz , who, contrary to previous opinion, was only a marginal figure in the events of that time was.

biography

Kalkoff was the son of a doctor. His mother Louise Schwarz also came from a family of doctors.

After attending the Schulpforta state school, he studied history in Strasbourg and Berlin . Particularly important influences came from Professors Paul Scheffer-Boichorst , who inspired him to write his dissertation on Wolfger von Passau , and Hermann Baumgarten , who won him over to his later research area, the early years of the Reformation .

In 1882 he received his doctorate and then went to Breslau as a teacher. At the local Magdalene school he worked as a teacher from 1884 to 1924. Subsequently, he was honorary professor of history at the University of Breslau . Because of his services to research into the history of the Reformation, the Evangelical Theological Faculty of the University of Breslau awarded him an honorary doctorate in the year of the Reformation anniversary in 1917 .

In 1925 he became a member of the Academy of Charitable Sciences in Erfurt.

Research and work

His research was limited to the time of the beginning of the Reformation (1517–1523) and the history of German humanism in those years. With philological meticulousness he pursued an intensive source study of this period.

He also made a small but significant contribution to the Pirckheim research.

The situation was different with his interpretation of the sources in relation to Ulrich von Hutten , Erasmus von Rotterdam and the Elector Friedrich the Wise . The Hutt picture he designed was no longer romantically transfigured as that of Daniel Friedrich Strauss , but it was just as blatantly exaggerated in another direction, since he based his explanations on the standard of Evangelical-Lutheran morality.

In presenting the personality of Erasmus, he relied in part on mere rumors about the person of the philosopher.

He also largely distorted the role of Elector Frederick the Wise in the election of emperor, with his thesis that the elector was elected emperor before Charles V , but did not accept the election, met with fierce opposition from other historians . In general, this constitutes a major flaw in his work, namely that he misjudged the value of some sources and, where the sources were too poor, filled in existing gaps with the help of mere guesswork. Nonetheless, he can be described as the most detailed connoisseur of the early Reformation history of his time.

Fonts

  • Letters, dispatches and reports about Luther from the Worms Reichstag in 1521, translated from English, Italian and Spanish and explained by Paul Kalkoff. Max Niemeyer Verlag, Halle 1898
  • The beginnings of the Counter Reformation in the Netherlands. 2 parts, Association for Reformation History, Niemeyer, Halle a. Pp. 1903 and 1904
  • The history of the general conscription in Prussia . Wroclaw Cooperative Book Printing Works, Wroclaw 1913 ( digitized version )
  • Erasmus, Luther and Friedrich the Wise. A Reformation Study. Writings of the Association for Reformation History No. 132, Leipzig 1919

literature

personal data
SURNAME Kalkoff, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Reformation historian
DATE OF BIRTH 17th August 1858
PLACE OF BIRTH Koelleda
DATE OF DEATH May 11, 1928
Place of death Wroclaw