Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The <jats:italic>Magdeburg Centuries</jats:italic> (1559–74) constituted the first attempt at a comprehensive Lutheran church history. Written as a collaborative project and starting its account in the Apostolic age, the <jats:italic>Centuries</jats:italic> aimed also to describe the theological changes of their own century, although the printed version extended only to the thirteenth century. In its development, the project was closely connected to the so‐called Chancery of God, a propaganda office of strict Lutheran theologians in Magdeburg which worked against the emperor, the Catholic Church and confessional opponents in Wittenberg. Written during a time of political threats, the work was driven by apocalyptic thinking and a certain scepticism about authorities. The search for historical testimonies of religious truth, the critical methods of a humanist education, the deconstruction of myths, and the writing for specific confessional goals intermingled and informed the compilation of excerpts from historical sources. The authors of the <jats:italic>Magdeburg Centuries</jats:italic> used these different techniques according to their needs.</jats:p>