ABSTRACT
The connection between religion and violence is one of the most fraught scholarly questions today. From the Crusades of the eleventh and twelfth centuries to our contemporary moment of terrorism and the Islamic State, scholars from across the disciplinary spectrum have invested significant energy seeking to understand the complicated relationship between the two phenomena. While it may be tempting to search for a causal link between Calvinism and violence, the situation is actually far more complicated. Braham Scultetus was a court preacher, university professor, and adviser to Elector Frederick. His family came from what is today Lower Silesia. His father was the Schultheiss or mayor of Grünberg (Zielona Gora), hence the Latinized name Scultetus. Scultetus's Silesian background shaped in profound ways his view and understanding of the world around him.
