Religious Motivations Can Only Get You So Far: The Impacts and Limitations of Lutheran Educational Reforms

Education was once reserved strictly for the few, the rich, the Catholic, and the male. Along with reforming many of the theological and political practices of 16th century Europe, the Protestant Reformation also introduced educational reforms that would enhance the literacy of the Germany States, instituted compulsory education laws, and extended said compulsory education to girls. However, these reforms were hindered by that which motivated the reforms in the first place: The reformers’ primary goal was to spread a religion, not to educate a populace. Because of this, the educational reforms mainly impacted only the upper classes and failed to have a meaningful impact on the more common, vernacular schools. Additionally, because the educational reforms were infused with Lutheran ideology, the reforms failed to disseminate outside of the German States and into Catholic-dominated areas. This paper centers around the educational reforms of specifically the Lutheran Reformation, and addresses the work of primarily Martin Luther and his right-hand-man, Philip Melanchthon.