The Protestant Reformation (1450-1565)

Key Concepts• End of Religious Unity and Universality in

the West• Attack on the medieval church—its

institutions, doctrine, practices and personnel

• Not the first attempt at reform, but very unique

• Word “Protestant” is first used for dissenting German princes who met at the Diet of Speyer in 1529

Causes of the Reformation• 1. Crises of the 14th & 15th

centuries hurt the prestige of the Church and clergy• Avignon Papacy• Great Schism• People were becoming tired of

being dependent on the Church and the constraints it enforced

• 2. Corruption in the Catholic Church• Simony-sale of church offices• Pluralism—an official holding

more than one office at a time• Absenteeism—an official not

fulfilling the duties of an office, but still receiving payment and privileges

CausesCorruption cont’d

• Nepotism—favoring family members in the appointment of church offices

• Moral decline of the Papacy

• Pope Alexander VI had affairs and children out of wedlock

• 20% of all priests in Trent kept concubines in early 16th century

• Rodrigo Borgia

• Clerical Ignorance—many priests were illiterate

• Sale of indulgences-pay money to the Church to absolve one’s sins

Causes• 3. Renaissance humanism

• Better educated people were more critical of the church

• Growing individualism meant people chafed under the power of the Church

• 4. Political Circumstances were favorable

• New Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V was young and trying to control a vast realm. He also faced attacks from France and Ottoman Turks during the critical early years of Luther’s protest

• 5. Reformers emphasized piety and a personal relationship with God.

• John Wyclif & the Lollards—England• Stressed Bible was sole authority and a

personal communion with God

Causes• John Hus—Czech

• Similar ideas to Wyclif• Burned at the stake for his views

• Erasmus—In Praise of Folly• criticized the corruption of the Church and

hypocrisy of the clergy

• 6. Printing Press• Invention of movable type was

invented in 1450 by Johann Gutenberg• Helped spread ideas before Catholics

could squash them• Intensified intellectual criticism of the

Church• Protestant ideals appealed to the urban and the

literate

The Emergence of Protestantism in Europe

Germany • Luther troubled by the

sale of indulgences• Dominican friar Tetzel

was selling indulgences in Wittenberg in 1517

• Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517• What were some of

Luther’s complaint?• Luther slowly but surely is

drawn into a heated debate

Germany• Pope paid little attention

to Luther at first• Thought it was a

disagreement between Augustinian & Dominican monks

• Luther refused to stop his crusade• Was protected by Frederick

III of Saxony• Wanted to reform the

church, not create a new one

• But in defending his views, Luther gradually came to the point that he had no other choice than to create a new church

Germany

• 1520 Luther published his theology of reform• Pope Leo X excommunicated him & Luther

burned the bull that excommunicated him• 1521 Diet of Worms

• HRE Charles V convened this meeting of leaders of the empire and demanded that Luther recant

• Luther refused: “Here I stand, I can do no other.”• Edict of Worms—Luther is outlawed as a heretic

• Luther taken to Frederick’s castle where he was protected

• Translated the Bible into vernacular• Married a former nun

3 Key Ideas of Luther’s Theology

1. How is a person saved?• “Justification by faith alone”-salvation could be

achieved through belief in God, rejected good works as the means to achieve salvation

2. Where does religious authority reside?• The Bible is the sole authority, not the Church,

nor the Pope. People could read and interpret the Bible on their own

3. What is the Church?• Priesthood of all believers who were spiritually

equal, not a hierarchical Church structure

Protestant Propaganda

The Spread of the Reformation

Why did the Reformation Spread?

• 1. The Emperor was distracted fighting the Ottoman Turks and France

• 2. Luther’s stand against the Church emboldened other reformers to break with the Church

• 3. Rulers protected reformers

• 4. The printing press spread ideas quickly and the Church was unable to stop them

Zwingli-Zurich• Very urban,

cosmopolitan setting• Reformer Ulrich

Zwingli “Memorialist” view of the Mass

• Zwingli also opposed purgatory, clerical celibacy, intercession of the saints, and salvation by works

• The death of Zwingli

Calvin-Geneva (French-speaking)• John Calvin’s leadership

in Geneva from 1541-1564

• Geneva became the model Protestant training center

• Stress on order and rigorous adherence to God’s law

• A “Quasi-theocracy”

• Very austere religion practiced in Geneva

• Self-discipline and the “Protestant Work Ethic”

(1) Background• More of a scholar than

Luther• More of a systematic

thinker than Luther• Calvin’s **Institutes

of the Christian Religion (1536)**

• Early legal training• Clear-cut moral

directives for living• Relied on Scripture

primarily for his ideas

(2) Teaching• Predestination

• The Elect• The right of rebellion

--English Civil War• Divine calling to all

sorts of vocations• The “invisibility” of

the True Church• Government serves

the Church

Henry VIII-England• Henry VIII’s marriage to

Catherine of Aragon

• Henry seeks an annulment

• Henry creates the Church of England and establishes his own supremacy over it

• A “political reformation” only at first

• The six wives of Henry VIII

B. England (cont)• The brief reign of Edward

VI• The rule of “Bloody”

Mary• Return of the Marian

exiles to England from Geneva-- “Puritans”

• Queen Elizabeth I-The Elizabethen Religious Settlement

• The attack of the Spanish Armada in 1588-- “The Protestant Wind”

Radical Reformers-the Anabaptists

• Desire to return to the primitive, first-century Church

• High standard of morality valued and pursued

• Bitterly persecuted by both Catholics and other Protestants

• Ardent missionaries who were harassed for their zeal

(2) Teaching• Free will—all can be

saved• Adult, “believer” baptism• Social and economic

equality• Pacifism• Separation of Church and

State• Stressed role of the Holy

Spirit in the life of the believer— “inner light” (Quakers)

• Simplicity of life and millenarianism—living in the last days

France• King Francis I was

initially sympathetic to Luther as long as his ideas stayed in Germany

• Protestantism made illegal in France in 1534

• Persecution of the Huguenots—French Protestants

• St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre-1572

• King Henry and the Edict of Nantes (1598)

Other Parts of Western Europe• No Protestant inroads into

Spain or Italy

• Protestantism succeeded only where it was urban and supported initially by the nobility

• After 1540, no new Protestant territories outside of the Netherlands

• Most powerful European nations were Catholic

• Protestants were feuding with each other

The Counter Reformation• Reformation shaped the

form and rapidity of the Catholic response

• Council of Trent (1545-1563)

• The Society of Jesus (“Jesuits”)—1534 --Ignatius Loyola

• The Inquisition• The Index• Renewed religious

emotionalism--Baroque Art

• Religious warfare

Impact of the Reformation• Germany was politically

weakened and fragmented• Christian Church was

splintered in the West• 100 Years of Religious

Warfare• Right of Rebellion

introduced by both Jesuits and Calvinists

• Pope’s power increased• Furthered societal

individualism and secularism

• Growing doubt and religious skepticism

Impact of Reformation (cont)• Political stability valued

over religious truth• Calvinism boosted the

commercial revolution• Witch craze swept Europe

in the 1600’s--Between 1561-1670, 3000 people in Germany, 9000 people in Switzerland and 1000 people in England were executed as witches

• Possible reasons for this witchcraft craze