Ein neues Lied wir haben an

Ein neues Lied wir haben an. Martin Luther* (1483-1546).  This was Luther’s first hymn, written in 1523. It was entitled ‘Eyn new lied von den sween Merterern Christi, zu Brussel von den Sophisten zu Louen verbrant’. It had twelve stanzas (Wackernagel III. 3-4). It was first published in ten stanzas in Eyn Enchiridion (Erfurt, 1524); stanzas 9 and 10 were added in Geystliche gesangk Buchlein (Wittenberg, 1524). In stanza 2 the ‘Merterern Christi’ were named as Johannes [Esch] and Heinrich [Voes], who had been burnt at the stake in Brussels on 30 June 1523. They were Augustinian monks, like Luther, which would have affected him deeply, and this hymn makes them into martyrs for the cause of...

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