Talk:Beerwolf

Vlad the Impaler

I've removed

Lurid histories of Vlad the Impaler were popular in Germany at the time of Luther, who was familiar with the terror of his rule. However, during the debate Luther did not specifically say he was referring to Vlad the Impaler.

because it seems original research that verges on tendentiousness. I recognize that it will be find to hard a source, because these sorts of claims are inherently speculation, but the one article I found that did speculate suggested that Luther's doctrine was instead induced by the threat of war against Emperor Charles V. Is there a secondary source suggesting the Vlad may have been the inspiration for the Beerwolf? Bernanke's Crossbow (talk) 19:32, 26 November 2019 (UTC)

I was paraphrasing the sources I cited in the article. The immediate context is definitely Emperor Charles V; the idea presented is that should he make war against his own subjects he would be acting as a beerwolf rather than as a legitimate ruler. The reference to a beerwolf and discussion of Charles the V and/or pope is not disputed by anyone, including which also find a connection with Vlad the Impaler. Luther himself was a longtime advocate against making war with Charles V; by raising the bar required for legitimate resistance with the beerwolf concept, Luther managed to forestall it. War did break out after Luther's death, and was justified with the beerwolf concept. Other (Reformed) Protestants that had lower bars to justify resistance did not necessarily employ Luther's beerwolf concept; they had their own formulations. Luther considered petty tyrants to be legitimate governmental authorities that could not be morally resisted; the beerwolf was a category worse than a petty tyrant--the distinction being that a beerwolf ruler is satanic.

The more general context is whatever people thought about werewolves were during Luther's time. The Dracula mythology already had its roots during this era with the illustrated Vlad the Impaler histories/fictions. Luther mentioned Vlad the Impaler outside of the context of the political Beerwolf concept; so he evidently was familiar with Vlad the Impaler. This is not speculative but rather predictable. As such a straightforward reading of Luther's use of the term Beerwolf will interpret it as a political insinuation. Luther left it at the insinuation level and did not directly name Vlad the Impaler. As for sources on this topic, I recommend Whitford, David, Tyranny and Resistance: The Magdeburg Confession and the Lutheran Tradition. Online sources include this one in German and one, two, and three in English.--Epiphyllumlover (talk) 22:41, 26 September 2020 (UTC)

References