This is the first volume of a projected multi-volume set under the aegis of the Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig covering the reigns of the Saxon electors Frederick the Wise and John the Steadfast. Selected and edited by Armin Kohnle and Manfred Rudersdorf, two distinguished historians of the Reformation, the volume under review takes in the years 1513 to 1517 and it includes 658 individual documents, some synthesised by the editors, some reproduced in part, some reproduced in full. The nature of the material varies, though it tends to sit along the two main axes of correspondence and princely rescripts. Within these two broad fields, however, is an interesting mixture of materials, from letters to and from the elector to a range of orders, commands, interventions, reports, counsels and protocols. The overarching logic behind the selection process was to privilege those documents that shed light on the nature of the Saxon Church, beginning with the years leading up to the Reformation (surveyed in this volume) followed by the period subsequent to the rise of the movement, which will be dealt with in future volumes covering the final years of Frederick's reign and the reign of John. The editors are mindful of the central importance of Saxony in the history of the German Reformation, necessarily so given that this was the homeland of the movement (Ausgangsland); but the volume maintains an effective balance between broader issues and the questions specific to the Saxon setting, which have been reduced to five main themes: the foundation of All Souls in Wittenberg; the problems of ecclesiastical jurisdiction; relations between bishops and chapters; the building up of Frederick's relic collection; and the reform of the monastic orders.

It will come as no surprise to historians to learn that the electors of Saxony were closely involved in the running of the Church in their lands on the eve of the Reformation. Nevertheless, it is still remarkable to see the sheer extent of secular involvement in religious affairs, which primary documents of this kind can provide – not least because Frederick was so willing to exploit his powers (‘hilff, schutz, und schirm’) in the service of a church or a monastery when it touched on the welfare of the land. Much of the documentation is thus concerned with the role of the elector and his officials as patrons, guardians and intercessors, intervening to settle disputes between patrons and parishes, monasteries and towns, bishops and clergy, and abbesses and nuns. Religious matters that occupied the attention of the electors included conflicts relating to property, taxation, beer brewing, water management, escort rights, criminal jurisdiction, legal exemption, patronage, clerical appointment, the repair and rebuilding of churches, the lifting of bans and payments to the bishops. Some of the jurisdictional quarrels, such as those between All Souls in Wittenberg and the bishop of Brandenburg or between the archbishop of Mainz and the princes of Saxony (which required consultation between the two Saxon branches of rule), were not easily resolved and reveal the deep problems of sovereignty that helped to facilitate the rise of the Reformation as a political process. Other matters were more readily dispatched by the elector, as when he personally intervened in the election of a new abbess or sought out new sources of funding for a new chapel or an eternal mass.

Inevitably, historians reading through this material will be looking for signs of the coming Reformation. Luther does not make an appearance in the volume (he is not even in the index), but it is difficult to read these documents without wondering what he was doing at the time. Some of the material does point to the developments to come. The ongoing struggles between secular and spiritual jurisdiction, for instance, clearly give a sense of the antagonism of the two worlds, particularly the lay resentment of the power of the ecclesiastical courts and how this was being exploited by the Church. The involvement of the state in religious affairs is another factor that helps us to understand the onset of evangelical reform. Although Frederick did not yet have the theological justification for the authority that he exercised over the Saxon Church (this would come with the Reformation), in practice his reach and role were similar to that of his Lutheran descendants. And there seems to have been a similar spirit at work. Frederick's attempts to see through the reformaçion of the nunneries seems no less sincere than his later embrace of Luther's reform – though it remains difficult to reconcile his typical late medieval religiosity (evidenced in his efforts to build up his relic collection, which included sending requests as far afield as Venice, Paris and Mantua) with the attacks on works-righteousness proclaimed by Luther. Finally, historians can hardly pass over some names in the documentation without experiencing a sense of déjà-vu. Figures mentioned in the correspondence include Jodocus Trutfetter, Hieronymus Schurff, Johannes Dölsch, Nikolaus von Amsdorf, Gregor Brück, Bartholomäus Bernhardi, Johann von Staupitz, Hans von der Planitz and Andreas Karlstadt, who was the subject of repeated reprimands by the elector. All would have important roles in the Reformation.

In addition to shedding light on the Saxon Church on the eve of Reformation, the material also provides a wealth of information about the social and cultural dimensions of life, from networks of correspondence and styles of writing to the inner workings of the nunneries. The editors have done an excellent job in preparing this volume, providing the reader with an opening contextualisation of the documents and the history as well as short syntheses of each source with archival references. More secondary sources at the foot of the documents would have been welcomed, for this is a history with a rich historiographical tradition. But this minor oversight should not detract from the quality of the scholarship or the value of the collection. Admittedly, there was no Luther, but we can expect to hear more of him in the second volume.