L’educazione dell’‘uomo comune’: utopie formative e Sozialdisziplinierung nei testi programmatici del Bauernkrieg (1524-1526)

Educating the ‘common man’ : formative utopianism and Sozialdisziplinierung in Bauernkrieg manifestos (1524-1526) In early modern Germany, the Reformation unprecedently put forward the theme of popular education, but the cultural identity of the ‘common man’ (gemeiner Mann) that Luther and other reformers wished to educate still needs to be clarified. Moreover, the voice of the ‘common man’ himself is seldom heard. The manifestos of the Bauernkrieg give us a filtered but noteworthy access to the ideas of the gemeiner Mann on how he should be educated, and help to understand the different roles that insurgents and Luther envisaged for educated members of the lower classes in a remote and utopian future of social justice.