Chapter

Third Edition

The West: A Narrative History

The West: A Narrative History, Third EditionFrankforter • Spellman

Reformation, Religious Wars, and National Conflicts

13

Key Question: How should conflicts be managed?

• The Reformation of the 16th century ended the medieval church's virtual monopoly over the practice of Christian faith in western Europe.

• Confronted for the first time with religious pluralism, Europeans reacted violently on all sides.

Key Question: How should conflicts be managed?

• People who killed their neighbors, because of a difference over religion, justified their actions out of their fidelity to God and their understanding of his wishes.

• How does a society sometimes resort to barbarism in the name of its civilizing ideals?

Queen Elizabeth I England's first Queen

Elizabeth (1533–1603) struggled to navigate the currents of an extremely turbulent era. She was

about 47 when she sat for this portrait by the Italian painter Federico Zuccari

(c. 1542–1609).

The Lutheran Reformation

• Humanism had been confined to an intellectually elite segment of society, but the Reformation was a mass movement, aided by the printing press and the subsequent rapid spread of literacy.

• However, it was also the product of the personal religious struggle of Martin Luther (1483–1546).

The Lutheran Reformation

• Luther entered a monastery, was ordained as a priest, and earned a doctorate in theology.

• While lecturing at the University of Wittenberg in Saxony, he had a kind of conversion experience around 1512, a burst of insight prompted by an anguished reading of the letters of Paul in the New Testament.

Luther vs. Indulgences

• Luther concluded that Christians could not earn salvation by doing good works; rather, salvation was a free gift of God, resulting from the faith of the individual.

• Rediscovering what he thought was obvious from the Bible, Luther was outraged by the sale of “indulgences” in his area.

Luther vs. Indulgences

• The sellers of papal indulgences claimed that they could, for a price, provide a Christian with a portion of the infinite “treasury of merit” at the Pope's disposal, and the purchaser could thereby come closer to the goal of salvation.

• Luther proposed 95 debating points and may have nailed a statement listing these points to the door of his Wittenberg church in 1517.

The Sale of Indulgences The printing press made it possible for Protestant Reformers to take their case to the

people, and woodcut prints, such as this one, were major propaganda tools. The

scene represents the practice of the church that first roused Martin Luther to

action. It depicts a richly mounted cardinal

The Political Context

• Unlike other religious reformers, Luther was fortunate to live within a fragmented political system, in which local nobles were jockeying for power against the Emperor.

The Political Context

• While he was condemned by the Pope and the “Diet” (the German equivalent of England's Parliament and France's Estates General) of Worms in 1521, Frederick the Wise of Saxony protected Luther, spiriting him away to a castle where he composed a German translation of the New Testament in 1522.

The Political Context

• Within a decade, nearly 200,000 copies of this translation—made on the printing press invented in 1455—had been sold.

Map 13–1 The Empire of Charles V Charles's empire was the product

of a series of carefully plotted dynastic marriages that made him the heir to lands scattered across

Europe.

The Peasants' Revolt and Luther's Conservatism

• Early in 1525, peasants in Southern Germany seized on Luther's arguments to ground their revolt against their lords and the state, demanding that the Bible be used to prove them wrong.

• Alarmed by the increasing radicalism of the peasants and their leaders, Luther published a pamphlet, “Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants,” advising the German nobles to “smite, slay, and stab” the rebels.

Peasants‘ War This page is a “broad sheet” from the sixteenth century. It lists various monasteries and castles in the Black Forest region that were looted by

rebellious peasants. The woodcut print at the center of the page depicts a peasant armed with a flail, a weapon derived from

a farm implement used for threshing.

The Peasants' Revolt and Luther's Conservatism

• The princes quickly put down the rebellion and killed thousands of peasants.

• Luther's fundamental instincts were conservative: he feared disorder and, as he aged, would grow increasingly intolerant of opposition, lashing out against Jews in a series of pamphlets in 1543.

The Peace of Augsburg

• Lutheranism spread widely, aided by the interests of German nobles and the flood of pamphlets pouring from the presses.

• The Kings of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark make Lutheranism the official religion of their countries, and Lutheran princes in Germany form the Schmalkaldic League.

The Peace of Augsburg

• Emperor Charles V is forced to recognize a truce between Catholics and Lutherans, decreeing in the Peace of Augsburg (1555) that the prince of a territory could determine the religious choice of that territory.

• If one disagreed with his prince's choice, he would have to move and/or find a way to persuade the ruler, or…?

The Swiss Reformation

• An independent reform movement began in Switzerland that was more radical than Luther's.

• The leaders of these movements (fragmentation happened very quickly) insisted on preserving only what the Bible mandated in Christian belief and practice—though this rigorous approach failed to produce consensus.

The Swiss Reformation

• Zwingli split with Luther over whether the body and blood of Christ were “really” present in the Eucharist, and the Anabaptists rebaptized adults, noting from their reading of the Bible that infants were not baptized.

• Violence resulted on all sides as the adherents to each position insisted that they were right, and all others wrong.

Martin Luther The printing press made leading figures of the

Reformation, such as Martin Luther, the first media stars. This likeness of the reformer is from the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–

1553), painter to the court of Luther's protector, Duke Frederick of Saxony. It may have been executed

about 1529. Oil portraits were sometimes copied in engravings or woodcuts to produce inexpensive

prints for distribution to the masses.

Calvin and the Reform Tradition

• The most widespread and influential form of Protestantism would be that which was espoused by John Calvin, a French lawyer who was inspired by Luther but reacted differently on theological points.

• Calvin and Luther disagreed on the implications of God's bestowing the gift of salvation.

Calvin and the Reform Tradition

• Calvin warned that no one could be certain whether s/he was among God's “elect” (“chosen”), but it seemed reasonable to assume that they would be moralistic and hard-working.

• Reform (Calvinist) congregations sprang up, imposing rigorous discipline, while also persecuting those with whom they disagreed.

The Catholic Reformation

• In the Renaissance and early Reformation period, many Popes had few aspirations beyond living like kings, expanding their territories, and enriching their relatives.

• It was only under Pope Paul III that the church mounted a series offensive against Protestantism, creating a Court of Inquisition to hunt down heresy in 1542 and convening the Council of Trent in 1545.

The Catholic Reformation

• Re-establishing Catholic doctrine, in the face of Protestant criticism, the Council worked closely with the new Society of Jesus (Jesuits), who had been founded by Ignatius Loyola.

MAP 13-2 Religious Diversity in Post-

Reformation Europe By the middle of the sixteenth

century the region that medieval people thought of as Christendom was no longer

united in allegiance to a single church. This affected the policies of the states that

were emerging in many parts of the continent.

England's Ambivalent Reformation

• Prompted by his dynastic interest in a male heir, and by his personal interest in his mistress Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII seizes on a Biblical text to justify his desire to divorce his wife Katherine of Aragon in 1533.

• Although he had attacked Luther—and earned the title “Defender of the Faith” from the Pope as a result—Henry now saw a value in adopting Protestantism.

Henry VIII This portrait of the Tudor monarch who launched the English Reformation is by one of the leading

portrait painters of his generation, Hans Holbein. It depicts the aging king in the elaborate costume favored by royalty in

the era of the Renaissance.

England's Ambivalent Reformation

• Formally divorcing his wife and marrying Anne, Henry forces through an Act of Supremacy, severing ties with the Catholic church and declaring himself the head of England's church.

• The Anglican (English) church does not depart significantly from the Catholic model, and Henry makes only a few concessions to Protestant doctrine.

England's Ambivalent Reformation

• After a series of four further marriages, Henry dies in 1547, leaving as his heir a 9-year-old son, who becomes Edward VI.

English Reformation This colored woodcut depicts the beheading of

prominent Catholics (e.g., Thomas More, John Fisher, and the Countess of

Salisbury) who refused to accept the Act of Supremacy (1534) that severed England’s ties with the papacy and

acknowledged King Henry VIII as the head of the Church of England.

The Tudor Succession

• Edward's Protestant advisors attempt to make the Anglican Church more Protestant, but England's Reformation will be halted abruptly by the accession of Edward's half-sister Mary after his death in 1553.

• Determined to make England Catholic once more, Queen Mary executes some Protestants, drives others into exile, and marries the King of Spain.

The Tudor Succession

• When she dies without an heir in 1558, the throne passes to Elizabeth, Henry's Protestant daughter by Anne Boleyn.

Convergence of Foreign and Domestic Politics

• Queen Elizabeth survives and flourishes in her reign of 45 years by endorsing some Catholic practices and some Protestant ideas.

• Gradually, she eased her country toward a “settlement” of religion, combining Catholic rituals with a partially Protestant theology.

Convergence of Foreign and Domestic Politics

• Extremists on both sides—Catholics who refuse to convert and “Puritans” who wish to “purify” the Church by making it adhere to Calvinist doctrine—are dissatisfied with these compromises.

Philip II and Spain's Golden Age

• Philip II becomes King of Spain, Spain's holdings in the New World, and the Habsburg Netherlands in 1556, but loses the Netherlands in a revolt by Reformed Protestants in the 1570s and 1580s.

El Escorial The greatest monument from Spain's Golden Age

is the huge palace-monastery complex that Philip II erected in

honor of St. Lawrence, El Escorial. The structure reflects the wealth,

power, and ardent faith of its builder.

Philip II and Spain's Golden Age

• He is also humiliated by Elizabeth's England in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.

Mary, Queen of Scots This portrait is the work

of Nicholas Hilliard (1547–1619), the leading painter of miniatures at

the court of Elizabeth I. A number of prominent

figures from the Elizabethan age,

including the queen herself, had likenesses

drafted by Hilliard.

Philip II and Spain's Golden Age

• After his death in 1598, Spain enters a long period of gradual decline, with the enormous bullion pouring in from the Americas used up in costly and unsuccessful wars.

The Maids of Honor This painting by Diego Velazques is one of the greatest masterworks of the baroque period. Baroque artists reveled in complexity and exuberant demonstrations of technical proficiency. Velazques designed this painting so as to make its subject ambiguous. At first the picture seems to focus on the princess and her attendants. But off to one side the painter

himself appears working at his easel and looking out at something beyond her. Over his shoulder is a mirror reflecting what he sees, King Philip IV and his second wife. Viewers are left to puzzle out

for themselves the message that Velazques intended.

France's Wars of Religion

• Violence between France's Catholics and Protestants is exacerbated by the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 1572.

• The slaughter, begun during the wedding ceremony of the Protestant Henry of Navarre to the Catholic princess Margaret, results in a general massacre of 70,000 Protestants.

France's Wars of Religion

• When he succeeds to the throne, with the death of the final Valois king, this Henry (Henry IV Bourbon) decides to convert to Catholicism on the rationale that “Paris is worth a mass.”

• He issues the Edict of Nantes, declaring France a Catholic country while recognizing the religious rights of the Huguenots, French Protestants.

The Final Religious Upheavals

• The Thirty Years' War breaks out in 1618 with the “Defenestration of Prague,” and the German states quickly choose sides in a general conflict—not allowing their religious preferences to stand in the way of political interests.

• The war passes through three phases, and, by its end, roughly 40% of Germany's population has been killed in battles, massacres, plague, and famine.

Treaty of Westphalia The Thirty Years War was a generation-long conflict that

devastated Germany and left it a divided country. But the Treaty of Westphalia that concluded hostilities was an occasion for

resolving other conflicts as well. On January 30, 1648, the Spanish and the Dutch (depicted here) concluded the

The Final Religious Upheavals

• The Peace of Westphalia concludes the war in 1648, ensuring that Germany would remain an impotent collection of hundreds of tiny states.

MAP 13-3 Europe After the Peace of Westphalia The Treaty of Westphalia redrew the map of

Europe. France and Sweden acquired additional territory. The United

Provinces and the Swiss cantons were recognized as independent

William Shakespeare This portrait of William Shakespeare is

from an engraving that was made for a 1623 edition of his work.

England's Civil War

• In a treatise printed in 1598, James VI of Scotland, the designated heir of Elizabeth I of England, insists that God has appointed kings and that kings are accountable only to God.

• When he takes the throne in 1603, James (now James I) attempts to avoid calling a Parliament and to reassert monarchic power.

England's Civil War

• He “authorizes” a new translation of the Bible, but drives radical Puritans to the Netherlands, and then to the New World.

• His son Charles I intensifies this trend, prompting a rebellion by the Parliament's leaders in 1642 and his execution in 1649.

England's Civil War

• The English Civil War will end with the return of King Charles II from exile in 1660, but Britain's kings will moderate their claims to absolute authority and concede Parliament a role in government.

Leaders of the Reformations and the Wars of Religion

Leaders of the Reformations and the Wars of Religion

Oliver Cromwell This unfinished miniature is a likeness of the

enigmatic Puritan leader, Oliver Cromwell. He allegedly had a

religious experience in his youth that convinced him that he was one of

God's elect—a man destined to serve God in unique ways. His confidence

in his calling may explain the forceful means he often employed to impose

his will on others.

Cromwell Dissolves the Rump Parliament Oliver Cromwell found that it was easier to overthrow a monarchy than to establish a republic in its place. He first

tried reducing the size of England‘s Parliament. But when infighting among

different groups frustrated efforts to create a workable government and state church,

Key Question Revisited

• Religious convictions, both sincere and opportunistic, provided moral justification for decisions to shed blood.

• What prompts a “war of religion”?• How do people justify brutality and

murder in the name of religion?• Do all means, no matter what the cost,

seem justified when “the Truth” is at stake?