‘Dr Liar’ meets "The Devil Himself": Martin Luther and Thomas Müntzer
Guest Speaker Emeritus Regius Professor Lyndal Roper FAHA FBA
The University of Queensland's School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry in partnership with the Australian Academy of the Humanities and the Holberg Prize invites you to join us for a special lecture, with guest speaker, Emeritus Regius Professor Lyndal Roper FAHA FBA, the Holberg Prize winner for 2026.
Lyndal Roper is the first Australian to be awarded the Holberg Prize, the Humanities’ equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Her lecture will explore Martin Luther and Thomas Müntzer, or rather, ‘Dr Liar’ meets "The Devil Himself".
These brilliant insults each threw at the other express the theological differences of the two men: Thomas Müntzer fought on the peasants’ side at the Battle of Frankenhausen; Luther blamed Müntzer for the entire Peasants’ War. The two men’s enmity was legendary.
And yet they were remarkably similar.
Their enmity also had an afterlife: The Communist East German regime made Thomas Müntzer its hero, naming streets after him, even putting his image on the 5-Mark note. So how was he celebrated in 2025, the 500th anniversary of the Peasants’ War?
Please RSVP by Wednesday 16 September 2026 to secure your seat for this remarkable lecture.
Refreshments to be provided at Level 3 HPI Foyer (outside of E318) after the lecture.
For event enquiries, please contact engagement@hass.uq.edu.au.