‚Nur bey Leib’: pedagogies of the body in early Reformation Germany

The Protestant Reformation relied largely on oral culture and non-verbal media, such as performances and civic rituals, to spread its message among the illiterate and lower classes, particularly in its first decades. The tradition of carnival plays offered fertile ground for polemics against the Church, but a more articulated sensory pedagogy was needed to stimulate reflection on the new faith and build a feeling of community. This article analyses patterns of a body-centric pedagogy in early Reformation Germany based on images either drawn from early editions of Fastnachtspiele or connected with their authors and neighbouring literary genres.