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GÁBOR ITTZÉS university as Humanistic in character, and distinguished it from the Reformation renewal proper. In the former regard, Wittenberg was no trend-setter, but rather followed the example of other leading institutions such as Vienna, Ingolstadt, Erfurt, Heidelberg, Tübingen and Leipzig." It is important to note at this point that Melanchthon himself was brought to the Saxon capital by this first wave of university reform. When he announced his Aristotelian programme upon arrival, it perfectly blended in with changes already afoot at Wittenberg. Luther was also well impressed with his new colleague’s inaugural speech and saw in him an ally. He by no means perceived Melanchthon’s proposal as hostile to or compromising his own efforts. In fact, whatever his commitment to educational reform within his own institution, he had not yet publicly articulated a vision. That he did for the first time in the 1520 treatise To the Christian Nobility, where the twenty-fifth reform proposal called for a renewal of higher education.** There he advocated an almost complete rejection of Aristotle, whom he called a ‘damned, conceited, rascally heathen [...] sent [...] as a plague upon us for our sins.’ Indeed, here we are in many ways at the height of Luther’s critique of the late medieval ecclesiastical system. Melanchthon also came under his senior colleague’s sway and temporarily abandoned his plan to renew the study of the Philosopher. His critique of Aristotle was at times no less sharp than Luther’s.5° The stakes were much higher in these tumultuous years than mere educational reform at home. Luther was travelling throughout Germany, debating or being interrogated. The indulgence controversy propelled him to international fame, and as he was forced to work out the implications of his initial position, his attack widened to include the very foundations of late medieval theology and church authority. Yet the push for reform also continued. As students flocked to the Saxon university,*! their interest in traditional courses slackened. 47 SCHEIBLE, Heinz, Die Reform von Schule und Universitat in der Reformationszeit, Lutherjahrbuch 66 (1999) 237-262, here 259-260. LUTHER, Martin, An Open Letter to the Christian Nobility ofthe German Nation: Concerning the Reform of the Christian Estate, in C.M. Jacobs (trans.), The Works of Martin Luther: With Introduction and Notes, repr. of the Philadelphia Edition, 6 vols., Grand Rapids, Baker, 1982, vol. 2, 87-164, here 146-153. His famous letter to Jodocus Trutfetter (c.1460-1519) on 9 May 1518 is considered a private expression in this context (WA Br 1:170, No. 74). ® LUTHER, To the Christian Nobility, 146. 50 SCHEIBLE, Aristoteles, 141-142 and evidence cited therein. The number of matriculations rose rapidly from 242 in 1517 to 579 in 1520. Surely, it was sharply reduced thereafter and reached as low as 73 in 1527. TREU, Martin, Die Leucorea zwischen Tradition und Erneureung: Erwägungen zur frühen Geschichte der Universität Wittenberg, in H. Lück (ed.), Martin Luther, 31-51, here 48. Nevertheless, new student enrolment continued unbroken to be the highest among all German universities until the mid-1570s, at 48 + 24 +
