Briefe aus der Frankfurter Zeit 1666-1686

Philipp Jakob Spener's name is closely associated with the beginnings of the pietistic movement in the German Lutheran church. His letters are not only a very important source for research of the early Modern Age, but in the fields of church history, social history, and the history of ideas, too. The 148 letters written in 1684 and 1685 that this volume features are, however, not well known and as yet little researched. They reveal how Spener interacted with friends who split from the church, while the violent repression of the westerly Rhine regions by the French king Louis XIV and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes is also reflected in many letters. And with Spener suffering from a persistent illness at this time, 1685 could thus be seen as a year of crises for him.