ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the role and function of selected Lives of the more important reformers through the survey of Lives written during the Reformation period. The Lives of Luther examined show the peculiar nature of Martin Luther's national appeal and his value as symbol of unified Lutheranism. They are to be situated in the context of nascent nationalism. They corroborate the importance of eschatology and Luther's function as prophet of the last days. Swiss Lives of the reformers in general and Zurich Lives in particular stand in sharp contrast with biographical accounts of Luther in many respects; the one point they share is nascent nationalism or patriotism. The early Lives of John Calvin show that the sharply contrasted image that we have to this day of the reformer as either a saint or a cruel, depraved tyrant goes back to the sixteenth century. Geneva, and Life-writing of Calvin, proved to be the most open to the accusation of hagiography.
