and tradition have erected the throne of the 'heroes of the Reformation' and their works. The historical investigator who possesses such a foolhardiness is sure to be decried as a Crypto-Catholic."[1] Not a few Protestant historians frankly confess that the whole structure of Reformation history must undergo a change from its very foundation. One of them says: "Too great is the rubbish and garbage which, intentionally or unintentionally, the prevailing theological standpoint concerning the Reformation period has inaugurated."[2] From original documents a picture of the Reformers, very different from the traditional one, has been presented by the "fear-inspiring book of Döllinger" and by "Janssen's crushing examination of the Luther myth which produced a tremendous uproar in Germany."[3] A great deal of "rubbish and garbage" has also hidden the truth in regard to the influence of Luther and the Reformation on education.
It is a fact of no little significance that Luther's first confederates were the radical humanists. In their hatred against scholastic learning and ecclesiastical authority they welcomed Luther's audacious attacks on the Church. Luther himself had tried at an early date to ingratiate himself with the humanistic confederacy.[4] After the example of Luther the younger humanists, these inveterate enemies of all religion, now accustomed themselves to a Biblical style of lan-
