Image Number	EngMS347_198.pdf
Reference Number	English MS 347/198
Link to Catalogue	<A href="http://www.librarysearch.manchester.ac.uk/MU_VU1:BLENDED:44MAN_ELGAR_DSgb133raf">Thomas Raffles Collection</a>
Series Title	Miscellaneous Autograph Collection
Parent Work Title	Letter from Martin Luther to Gerhard Vilskamp
Creator	Luther, Martin, 1483-1546
Creator Role	Author
Date Created	1528
Description	Letter from Martin Luther to Gerhard Vilskamp, Rector of the community of Brethren of the Common Life at Herford in Westphalia. Included is a letter of authentication by William Kunzel to the London bookseller John Waller in 1880.
Keyword	Reformation; Martin Luther; Letter
Transcription	Grace and peace in Christ. I have received your most recent letter of consolation, my Gerard, with much pleasure and gratitude. May Christ reward you in eternity. In truth, this temptation was by far the most severe ever, and although it was not unknown to me from my youth, still so troublesome attack as this I had not expected. Nevertheless Christ triumphed, though my life was hanging by a most slender thread. I commend me to your prayers and [those] of your brothers. I have saved others, but I cannot save myself. My blessed Christ, who passed through the depth of despair, death and blasphemy, will enable us to meet in his kingdom. In the meantime we must make sure that we serve Him in word and deed, but it is not in this that we are justified - we are truly useless as servants , but our glory is to live in the world for Christ, forgetting our former evil life. What remains is that Christ is our life and our justification (ah, how hard and unknown to the flesh!), although hidden in God . Now I rejoice that I understand Peter (with you as witness) that we must fullfil the experience of suffering that strikes our brethren in this world, however severe, until the end of this world. Greetings to my Montanus and all the brothers. [Day] of the Circumcision, 1528. Yours Martin Luther
Language Code	lat
Language	Latin
Language Code	eng
Language	English
Subject	Reformation
Subject	Religion
Category of Material	Manuscripts
Sub-Category	Correspondence
Technique Used	Handwriting
Medium	Ink
Support	Paper
Time Period Covered	16th Century CE
People Covered	Luther, Martin, 1483-1546
Current Repository	The University of Manchester Library, U.K.
Provenance	Raffles, Thomas, 1788-1863, former owner
Rights Holder - Image	The University of Manchester Library
Rights holder - Work	The University of Manchester Library
Access Rights	<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/4.0/88x31.png"></a>
Date Captured (yyyy-mm-dd)	2017-05-30
Image Creation Technique	Digital capture by Heritage Imaging, The University of Manchester Library
Date Image Added (yyyy-mm)	2017-09
Educational Notes	The Reformation Exhibition
Metadata Language	eng-GB
Academic Project Lead	Julianne Simpson
