The principality of Mansfeld county, Martin Luther's homeland, though small in population and area, played a vital role in the Lutheran Reformation, perhaps because of good political leadership, certainly because of good ecclesiastical leadership. This volume offers studies of aspects of the careers and thought of two of its outstanding theologians, whose work took on significance far beyond Mansfeld's borders. Six essays on Erasmus Sarcerius (1501–59), superintendent of the county's churches from 1553 to 1559, focus largely on his organisational activities before, during and after his service in the county (particularly Christian Peters's rehearsal of his activities as reformer in Nassau-Dillenberg), his pedagogical work, especially in his catechism (Ute Gause) and his textbook on pastoral care, which expressed the Wittenberg concern for comforting consciences and influenced organisational theory across the Lutheran spectrum of the period (Herman Selderhuis). Eleven essays investigate facets of the work of Cyriakus Spangenberg (1528–1604), whose contributions to historical writing as well as to the Church command the attention of this volume. Five authors pursue elements of his chronicles and his Adelsspiegel. Three topics involve his preaching, including his funeral sermons (Cornelia Niekus Moore). Two deal with his involvement in theological controversy regarding original sin, the Flacian controversy. The first traces the effect his support for Matthias Flacius' disciples who worked in Austria had on Lutheran church life there (Rudolf Leeb). The other assesses the impact Spangenberg's support for Flacius' doctrine of original sin as the substance of the sinner had on the leadership and the laity in Mansfeld; Robert Christman shows how lay people defended Spangenberg's teaching in the face of legal pressure and harassment from the secular authorities after their pastor was forcibly ousted from the county. Given the paucity of secondary literature on Sarcerius and Spangenberg, it is unfortunate that some authors overlooked English-language studies of them. Mansfeld is an ideal laboratory for the analysis of the Reformation as a geographical or territorial phenomenon, as Günter Wartenberg suggests in his introduction to the volume and his study of Sarcerius' activities in the country. These essays have laid a good foundation for further examination of the many-faceted careers of these two men and of their colleagues, such as Hieronymus Mencel. Both Spangenberg and Sarcerius contributed significantly to biblical exegesis; both were involved in the struggle to define Lutheran teaching in the disputes of the period. Their respective theological methods reflect the varied impact of Melanchthon's instruction upon his students. Their role as formulators of Lutheran ethics should prove interesting. Research on these and other facets of their lives will prove profitable. This volume enriches our understanding of the Lutheran late Reformation and invites more work on its subjects.