The End of the Middle Ages

Published on Tuesday, 23 February 2016 13:17

The early sixteenth century is a time of great change. Columbus discovered America. English, Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese fleets sail the oceans and the world as it is known is widening. In Torun, Poland, Nikolai Copernicus announced that the earth was not the center of the universe. It is supposedly a planet like Venus, Mars and Jupiter and circles just the same around the sun. But hardly anyone believes in this thesis, which is so obviously contradictory to common sense. In Mainz Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press with movable type and downright triggered a media revolution. More and more people can now read, because books and pamphlets are much cheaper than the documents that were copied by hand. Great sovereign princes organize magnificent jousting tournaments, but the great time of knights is long gone. Now fighting on the battlefields are armies of mercenaries. The Roman Church emerges in an unprecedented magnificence. The great painters, sculptors and architects are in the service of the popes. To finance this luxury so-called letters of indulgence are sold. Slips of paper with the papal seal, which absolve the buyer of his sins and allegedly spare him the agony of limbo. That displeases many believers. In Electoral Saxonian Wittenberg an Augustinian monk tries to prove in 95 theses that the sale of indulgences is an aberration.
And in this very exciting time the Abrafaxe appear unexpectedly. From central German Mansfeld they plunge into a new incredible adventure.

Michael Drachstädt

Michael is the son of a miner from Mansfeld. And that's a problem. As firstborn he shall one day be taking up his father's legacy. But Michael has nothing in mind with mining. His passion is drawing, which is not only disconcerting considering the planning of his professional life.

Katharina of Krahwinckel

The fun-loving Katharina descendes from the family of a Count. Even of her it is required to yield to the family tradition. In her case, however, this means that she must enter a convent after her 15th birthday. And that she absolutely does not like.

Martin Luther

Luther is a monk of the Augustinian Order and recently a professor at the University of Wittenberg, which was founded by Frederick the Wise. As a professor of biblical interpretation he is soon known far beyond the borders of the city and the country. Students from all over Europe come to Wittenberg to listen to him.

Lucas Cranach

Cranach is one of the most famous painters of his time. Even the king of England wanted to lure him to his court. But Cranach followed the call of the Saxon electors and is now court painter of Frederick the Wise. Since he gets more orders than he can paint himself, he operates a large workshop in which journeymen and apprentices support him.

Barbara Cranach

Cranach's wife Barbara is the daughter of the mayor of Gotha. She is a very enterprising woman and has a significant stake in the wealth of Cranach.

Georg Spalatin

As secretary of the Elector of Saxony, Spalatin is one of the most influential men in the Saxon court. He is well-educated and a friend of both Luther and Cranach.

Philipp Melanchthon

Melanchthon is a prodigy. Even at a very young age he was known as one of the most accomplished connoisseurs of the ancient Greek language and, among other things, is summoned on Luther's request as a professor of Greek to the University of Wittenberg. At the time Melanchthon himself is still so young that many students first consider him to be one of their own.

Johann Tetzel

In faraway Rome Pope Leo X. needs money for his impressive new building of St. Peter's Basilica. Therefore, he sells letters of indulgence. This papers with the papal seal promise to redeem the buyer of the torments of purgatory. The Dominican monk Johann Tetzel travels the country to bring exactly these letters among the people and to earn as much money as possible for the church leaders.

Adrian Franz Philipp Theodor Otto Heinrich Günther of Schwarzburg

Adrian comes from the royal dynasty of Schwarzburg. Everyone he encounters experiences this sooner or later. Most earlier. Polite and rich as he is, he lets everyone else know how little they are worth in his eyes.

Frederick the Wise

Frederick is one of the seven electors of the Holy Roman Empire. Under his wise government Electoral Saxony blossoms. The University of Wittenberg soon counts as one of the most influential universities throughout Europe. He is a friend big tournaments and therefore is called "the last knight".