In the changes and conflicts of sixteenth-century Europe, arguments over theology and religious practice often focused most intently on the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Historians and theologians have examined the controversies from many angles—but a particularly fruitful approach is to consider how these controversies reflected as well as influenced social and political identities, understandings, and commitments. At the dawn of early modern Europe, can we say that theological convictions, expressed symbolically and ritually in worship and sacramental life, were in some sense responsible for political upheavals that began in the sixteenth century? How can we best approach this question, so as to attend to the varieties of forms of religion, reformation, theology, and spirituality, as well as habits of obedience and disobedience of authority manifested in the era of reform?