How did the Reformation influence political comic strips in Germany and the Netherlands?

The Protestant Reformation significantly influenced the development of early political satire in Germany and the Netherlands by providing a powerful ideological catalyst for the use of printing press technology.1

In 16th-century Germany, the religious schism initiated by Martin Luther transformed the woodcut into a vital instrument of religious propaganda. Professional printmakers produced polemical works that served as early forms of political commentary. For example, Lucas Cranach created biting, often libelous attacks on the papacy inspired by Lutheran theology, while Catholic adversaries like Thomas Murner utilized "fool" satires to mock the Reformers.12

While these early works were not yet "political comic strips" in the modern sense, they established the tradition of using visual satire to influence public opinion during times of religious and political division. This practice of using prints for ideological warfare laid the groundwork for later developments in the Netherlands, where, by the 1680s, artists like Romeyn de Hooghe began producing large-scale, serial political cartoons to challenge the absolutism of Louis XIV.2