Download The Growth of the Protestant Reformation

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The Protestant Reformation
• In the 1500s, calls for reform unleashed forces
that would shatter Christian unity. The
movement is known as the Protestant
Reformation.
• People who joined the movement for reform
called themselves Protestants, for those who
“protested” papal authority.
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Abuses in the Church
• Beginning in the late Middle Ages, the
Church had become increasingly caught up
in worldly affairs.
– Popes competed with Italian princes for political
power.
– Popes fought long wars to protect the Papal
States against invaders.
– Some clergy promoted the sale of indulgences.
– Popes led lavish lifestyles and spent a great deal
of money on the arts.
– The Church increased fees for services such as
weddings and baptisms to finance worldly
projects.
The Condition of the Church
(ca 1400–1517)
• Signs of Disorder
– Clerical immorality - priests frequently violated their vows of
celibacy. They were also accused of drunkenness, gambling,
and other vices.
– Clerical ignorance - many priests could barely read or write.
They were less educated than most educated laity.
– Clerical absenteeism and pluralism - especially in higher-level
Church officials who were often absent from their sees. Many
held more than one office at a time, and some had bought their
offices.
– Many Italian officials in Rome held benefices in England,
France, or Germany, drawing income there from, but doing
little for their sees.
– Upper levels of the Church hierarchy were dominated by
aristocrats who lived well.
Benefices, Pluralism and Simony
• Under pre-Reformation Cannon Law Benefices came to
mean an income enjoyed — often linked to some land
administered — by a priest in chief of an ecclesiastical
office.
• Over time, the benefice system was abused throughout
Europe. As benefices came to priests due to feudal
patronage and political considerations, priests occasionally
held more than one benefice, called pluralism. This
pluralism quite often resulted in absenteeism, where the
priest would not take care of his benefice.
• Pluralism was often seen as a good investment for a family
that could afford to buy a position (Simony) for a younger
son or other protégé. The position would allow the family
to curry favor in the Church and serve to guarantee a
future for the appointee.
The Condition of the Church (ca
1400–1517)
• Signs of Vitality
– In Holland the Brethren of the Common Life
lived simply, aided the poor, and taught in
local schools.
• An example of pre-reformation church reform
– Church attendance and church donations
remained high.
– Pope Julius II summoned an ecumenical
council to discuss Church reform (1512–
1517).
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• Luther’s Early Years
– Luther was a conscientious friar, but
observance of the religious routine did not
bring him a sense of security in salvation.
– Eventually he concluded that only simple
faith in Christ led to salvation.
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The Teachings of Martin Luther
• Salvation is achieved through faith alone.
– Luther rejected Church doctrine that good deeds were
necessary for salvation.
– Doctrine of Indulgences does not agree in this
• The Bible is the sole source of religious
truth.
– Luther denied other authorities, such as Church
councils or the pope.
• All Christians have equal access to God
through faith and the Bible.
– Luther rejected the idea that priests and Church
officials had special powers.
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• The Ninety-five Theses
– In Luther’s home of Wittenburg in 1517 the Church
was selling indulgences to raise money for the
construction of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome
– By the 1500s common people believed that when
they purchased an indulgence, they were purchasing
from the Church full remission of penalties for sin.
– Luther rejected the notion that good works, such as
donating money to the Church through an
indulgence, could lead to salvation. He was
disturbed that Church friars were misleading the
common people and wrote to his archbishop in
protest.
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• The Ninety-five Theses
– In 1519 Luther challenged the authority of the Pope
(and of a general church council) in public debate.
He was excommunicated.
– Holy Roman Emperor Charles V declared Luther
an outlaw.
• Demanded that he appear before the Diet of Worms
• Duke Frederick of Saxony sheltered him.
– Ulrich Zwingli, a Swiss priest, joined the
Reformation in 1519, denouncing indulgences,
monasticism, Mass and celibacy. Like Luther,
Zwingli insisted the laity should read the Bible.
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• Protestant Thought
– Luther maintained that God’s grace alone, without
any element of individual good works, saved people.
– Luther held that religious authority resided in
Scripture alone, not Scripture in combination with
traditional Church teachings.
– Luther asserted that the Church consisted of the
whole community of believers, not just the clergy.
– Luther emphasized the invisible Church of all
believers, not the visible hierarchy culminating in
the Pope.
– Luther argued that there were only three, not seven,
sacraments - baptism, penance, and the Eucharist.
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• Protestant Thought
– The Catholic Church claimed transubstantiation that is, that the bread and wine of the Eucharist
literally became Christ’s body and blood—but
Luther disagreed.
• Luther argued for consubstantiation - that Christ was really
present in the host in spirit, but that the bread and wine
were not transformed.
• Zwingli argued that the Eucharist was a memorial of the
Last Supper and nothing more.
• John Calvin believed with Luther in consubstantiation.
The Folly of Indulgences
With one claw in holy water,
another resting on the coins paid
for indulgences, and a third
stretched out for offerings, the
church, in the form of a rapacious
bird, writes out an indulgence
with excrement. The creature’s
head and gaping mouth represent
Hell, with foolish Christians
inside, others being cooked in a
pot above, and a demon delivering
the poplin a three-tiered crown
and holding the keys to
Heaven, symbol of papal
authority.
Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• The Social Impact of Luther’s Beliefs
– Even before Luther city governments in
Germany had been expressing resentment of
clerical privilege and immunities.
– Even before Luther town burghers, disgusted
with the poor quality of priestly teaching, had
endowed preacherships to support good
preachers.
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• The Social Impact of Luther’s Beliefs
– Luther’s writing that “a Christian man is the
most free lord of all” contributed to peasant
unrest in Germany.
– Following crop failures in 1523 and 1524,
Swabian peasants in 1525 listed Grievances
through the Twelve Articles and demanded an
end to death taxes, new rents, and noble
seizure of village common lands.
– Luther initially backed the peasants.
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• Summary of the Twelve Articles of the Peasants in
Swabia, 1525
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The right of each community to choose and depose its own pastor
An end to the small tithes of cattle for lay and ecclesiastical lords.
Release from serfdom.
Free access to fish and game.
Free access to firewood as needed.
An investigation of excessive tenural services.
Strict observance by the lords of the agreements made with their
servants.
New rent assessments, based on equity and justice.
The basing of legal judgments, that is, punishments, on customary law
rather than on constantly appearing arbitrary new laws.
The return of expropriated common fields.
Abolition of the death tax.
The Bible and "divine law" justifies these demands.
Luther’s ideas spread quickly in
northern Germany and Scandinavia.
• Many clergy saw Luther’s reforms as the answer to
Church corruption.
• German princes hoped to throw off the rule of both the
Church and the Holy Roman emperor.
• Germans supported Luther because of feelings of
national loyalty.
• Peasants hoped that Luther would support social and
economic change.
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• The Social Impact of Luther’s Beliefs
– When the peasants turned to violence, however, Luther
egged the lords on as they crushed the rebellions.
– Lutheranism came to exalt the state and subordinate
church to the secular rulers.
– Luther owed his success to the printing press, which
helped him to spread his message, and to his own
rhetorical skill.
– Luther’s claim that all vocations have equal merit, the
Protestant rejection of monasticism and celibacy, the
insistence that all laity (including women) should read
the Bible, and Luther’s acceptance of sexual desire
(within marriage) all contributed to some improvement
in women’s circumstances.
Germany and the Protestant
Reformation
• The Rise of the Habsburg Dynasty
– In 1477 the marriage of Maximilian I of the House
of Habsburg and Mary of Burgundy united the
Austrian Empire with Burgundy and the
Netherlands, making the Habsburgs the strongest
ruling family in the Holy Roman (German) Empire.
– The Habsburg Charles V (1500–1558) inherited
Spain, and Spanish possessions in Italy, Sicily, and
Sardinia, in addition to the lands mentioned above.
– In 1519 Charles was elected Holy Roman Emperor.
He believed that it was his duty to maintain the
unity of Christendom.
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Germany and the Protestant
Reformation
• The Rise of the Habsburg Dynasty
– Many German princes converted to Lutheranism
because it allowed them to seize Church property.
– Charles V focused his attention elsewhere, and he
needed the help of Protestant princes—for example,
to fight off the Turkish attack on Vienna in 1529.
– In the Peace of Augsburg (1555) Charles accepted
the religious status quo in Germany.
• People of Germany became either Lutheran or Catholic
depending on the preference of their prince.
cuius regio eius religio
The Growth of the Protestant
Reformation
• Lutheranism in Sweden, Norway, and
Denmark
– In Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, monarchs
took the lead in initiating the Reformation.
– The sixteenth century saw the establishment of
Lutheranism and the consolidation of the Swedish
monarchy.
– Christian III of Denmark and Norway secularized
church property and set up a Lutheran church.
The Growth of the Protestant
Reformation
• The English Reformation
– The Catholic Church was vigorous in early sixteenth
century England and there was less of a gap between
clergy and educated laypeople than elsewhere in Europe.
– In 1534, in order to legitimize his divorce and subsequent
marriage to Anne Boleyn, English King Henry VIII
convinced Parliament to approve the Act of Supremacy,
making him head of the English Church.
– Later, Henry seized monasteries (because he wanted the
money) and distributed their lands to the upper classes.
– Elizabeth I (r. 1558–1603), daughter of Henry VIII,
steered a middle course between Catholicism and the
“Puritans” who wanted a “pure” church free of Catholic
influences.
The Growth of the Protestant
Reformation
• The Establishment of the Church of Scotland
– Scottish nobles tended to support the Reformation,
while the monarchs, King James V and his daughter
Mary (r. 1560–1567), opposed it.
– James Knox, a minister who studied in Geneva with
Calvin, was instrumental in getting the Scottish
Parliament to set up a Calvinist church as the
official state church of Scotland (Presbyterianism).
• Protestantism in Ireland
– Although the English tried to impose their church
on Ireland, the Irish resisted and remained Roman
Catholic.
The Growth of the Protestant
Reformation
• Calvinism
– Much of northern Europe broke with the Roman Church by 1555.
– Calvinism was the most important new form of Protestantism.
– Proceeding from the idea of God’s absolute sovereignty and his
omnipotence, the founder of Calvinism, John Calvin, concluded that
human beings could do nothing to save themselves. God decided at the
beginning of time who would be saved and who would not
(predestination).
– Predestination did not lead to fatalism. Rather, Calvinists, convinced they
were saved, were ready to endure great hardship in the struggle against
evil.
– Calvin and the city government of Geneva attempted to regulate people’s
conduct in order to create a godly city on earth. Card playing, dancing,
and so on were banned.
– The Genevan government (Hated dissent and would not tolerate it)
prosecuted heretics, burning fifty-eight at the stake between 1542 and
1546, including the Spanish heretic Servetus.
– The Calvinist ethic of “the calling” glorified all vocations as pleasing to
God. This doctrine encouraged hard work and vigorous activism.
The most important Protestant reformer to
follow Martin Luther was John Calvin.
• Calvin followed most of the teachings of Martin Luther. He
also preached predestination, the idea that God had long ago
determined who would gain salvation.
– Made Calvinists confident of their salvation
• In 1541, Calvin set up a theocracy in Geneva. A theocracy is a
government run by Church leaders.
– Religion was integrated into the Civil government of Geneva
– The Elect of the Church were individuals chosen for salvation
– The Geneva Consistory severely regulated conduct
• By the late 1500s, Calvinism had taken root in Germany,
France, the Netherlands, England, and Scotland.
• In several of these countries, Calvinists faced opposition and
persecution from other religious groups.
The Growth of the Protestant
Reformation
• The Anabaptists (for-runners of the Quakers)
– Anabaptists believed in adult baptism, religious
tolerance, and separation of church and state. They
shared property and admitted women as ministers.
– Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, and Zwinglians all
recognized the doctrine of separation of church and
state as pointing toward a secular society, and they
persecuted Anabaptists.
– Others wanted use violence to speed up judgment
day.
– Most called for religious tolerance and separation of
Church and state.
APEH 10.1.2013
• Objective: Analyze the causes of the
Reformation by planning an FRQ response.
• Do Now: Get to quiz spot!
• Homework: Multiple Choice Test
Wednesday.
And the FRQ is….
• “The Protestant Reformation was
primarily an economic event.” By
describing and determining the relative
importance of the economic, political and
religious causes of the Protestant
Reformation, defend or refute this
statement.
The Growth of the Protestant
Reformation
• The Reformation in Eastern Europe
– Ethnic factors shaped the Reformation in Eastern Europe.
– In Bohemia, ethnic grievances of the Czech majority fused
with resentment of the Roman church.
– By 1500 most Czechs had adopted the utraqism position.
– During the Counter-Reformation, a Catholic revival was
promoted in Bohemia.
– By 1500 Poland and Lithuania were joined in a dynastic
union.
– Luther’s ideas spread to the Baltic towns and then to the
University of Cracow.
The Growth of the Protestant
Reformation
• The Reformation in Eastern Europe
– King Sigismund I of Poland banned Luther’s teachings,
limiting its success there.
– The Polish szlachta found Calvinism appealing.
– The Counter-Reformation cemented the identification of
Poland with Catholicism.
– Lutheranism reached Hungary via Polish merchants.
• Military defeat at the battle of Mohács by the
Ottomans left Hungary divided into three parts.
– Many Magyar magnates accepted Lutheranism because of the
battle.
– Recognition of Habsburg rule led to a Catholic restoration in
1699.
The Catholic Reformation and the
Counter-Reformation
• The Slowness of Institutional Reform
– Preoccupation with the Habsburg-Valois wars and
resistance to the idea of a council kept the popes
from acting quickly to deal with the Reformation.
• The Council of Trent
– The Council of Trent (1545–1563) reaffirmed the
equal authority of Scripture and of Church
tradition. It reaffirmed also the seven sacraments
and transubstantiation.
– The Council required bishops to reside in their own
dioceses, ended pluralism and simony, and forbade
the sale of indulgences.
– The Council ordered that for a marriage to be valid
the vows had to be exchanged publicly.
The Catholic Reformation and the
Counter-Reformation
• New Religious Orders
– The new order of Ursuline nuns fought heresy with
religious education for girls.
– Ignatius of Loyola founded the Jesuit order to fight
the Reformation, again largely through education.
• The Congregation of the Holy Office
– In 1542 Pope Paul III created the Sacred
Congregation of the Holy Office to manage the
Roman Inquisition’s battle against heresy.
– The Inquisition was a committee of six cardinals
with authority to investigate, judge, and punish
heretics. They had authority to execute.
The Catholic Reformation and the
Counter-Reformation
• The Reformations: Revolution or
Continuity?
– Protestant historians stress that the
Reformation was a radical break with the
past, as the Church fragmented.
– Catholic historians stress continuity, noting
the reform efforts underway in the Church
well before the Protestant Reformation that
continued after it had taken hold.
Causes and Effects of the Protestant
Reformation
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Immediate Effects
Long-Term Effects
•Peasants’ Revolt
•Religious wars in Europe
•Founding of Lutheran,
Calvinist, Anglican,
Presbyterian, and other
Protestant churches
•Catholic Reformation
•Weakening of Holy
Roman Empire
•Jewish migration to
Eastern Europe
•Luther calls for Jews to
be expelled from
Christian lands
•Increased anti-semitism
•Strengthening of the
Inquisition
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Politics, Religion, and War
• A New Kind of Warfare
– The Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559)
between France and Spain made Spain
dominant in Italy. It ended an age of dynastic
warfare and began an age of religious and
political warfare.
– Warfare in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries differed from medieval warfare.
• Armies were larger and more expensive
• Gunpowder weakened the notion that war was
ennobling.
• People did not realize that the medieval ideal of a
pan-European society ruled by one emperor and
one pope was dead.
Politics, Religion, and War
• The Origins of Difficulties in France (1515–1559)
– Depopulation caused by the Hundred Years’ War and
plague meant the end of serfdom in France (due to
labor shortages).
– Inflation sapped noble income from land.
– To pay for the Habsburg-Valois wars, French King
Francis I sold government offices, creating a taxexempt “nobility of the robe.”
– In the Concordat of Bologna with the Pope, Francis
gained power to appoint bishops and abbots in
France, a source of offices for patronage
appointments (and one reason France remained
officially Catholic).
– Protestantism, however, continued to make rapid
gains in France in the sixteenth century.
Politics, Religion, and War
• Religious Riots and Civil War in France (1559–
1598)
– French monarchs in the second half of the sixteenth
century were weak.
– During this period almost half of the French nobility was
Calvinist. Being Calvinist was a way of demonstrating
independence from central power.
– Commoner Catholics and Calvinists wrought horrific
violence against one another.
– In the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572, Catholics
in Paris killed thousands of “Huguenots” (French
Calvinists).
– Civil War followed, and ended only in 1598 when King
Henry IV converted to Catholicism and issued the Edict
of Nantes, protecting Huguenots but limiting their right to
proselytize.
Politics, Religion, and War
• The Netherlands under Charles V
– Late sixteenth-century international politics
centered on the Netherlands.
– Emperor Charles V inherited the seventeen
provinces that make up present day Belgium
and Holland.
– The Netherlands was a center of commercial
activity.
– As elsewhere, corruption in the Roman church
led to calls for reform.
– In 1556 Charles V divided his realm between
his brother Ferdinand and his son Philip.
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Politics, Religion, and War
• The Revolt of the Netherlands (1566–1587)
– By the 1560s Calvinism had made rapid progress among
wealthy Netherlands merchants.
– Phillip II of Spain (one of two successors to Emperor Charles
V) appointed his half-sister Margaret regent of the
Netherlands in 1559.
– Margaret brought the Inquisition into the area to crush
Protestantism, and raised taxes.
– In August 1566 Calvinists rioted, destroying churches and
libraries.
– Philip sent troops to crush the rebellion and civil war raged for
ten years (1568–1578).
– Ultimately the areas the Spanish managed to hold became
Belgium, and the areas that declared independence in 1581
became the Netherlands (or Holland).
– As the Spanish invaded the Netherlands after 1581, England
aided the Protestant government there.
Politics, Religion, and War
• Philip II and the Spanish Armada
– Philip II of Spain was determined to crush heresy.
– In 1587 Philip, at the urging of the Pope, prepared a
great fleet to attack England.
– In 1588 this “Spanish Armada” was defeated by the
English fleet and bad weather, preventing Philip from
forcing northern Europe back into the Catholic
church.