The German term Schwärmer (from the swarming of bees and meaning “fanatic”; derivatives include schwärmerisch, “fanatical”; Schwärmerei, “fanaticism”) is considered a neologism coined by Martin Luther. Beginning in 1523, he used it with connotations of religious agitation and confusion. It appears to have been inspired by Luther’s 1522 encounter with the “Zwickau prophets…