Download A Comparison of the Reformation in England and the Holy Roman

A Comparison of the Reformation in England and the Holy Roman Empire
During the 16th and 17th centuries Europe experienced great changes in church and state.
Leading this change was the religious reformation of major countries and empires, many of
which deviated from Catholicism in favor of Protestant beliefs. Two countries that experienced
large-scale reformations were England and Germany, (the Holy Roman Empire). Even though
the reformations within these two countries were different in many ways, they shared quite a few
similarities. Both England and the Holy Roman Empire had the same major elements of
reformation, though they had different impacts within each country; these constituting principles
of reformation were stability, geographical proximity, motives, and persecution.
With the violent outcries of reformation, stability fluctuated in both England and the Holy
Roman Empire. This stability was affected largely by the division and control of power within
each country. In contrast to the Holy Roman Empire, England became unified under its
monarchy through reformation. When Henry VIII broke ties with the Roman Catholic Church in
the 1530’s he declared himself supreme head of the Church of England, or the Anglican Church.
The entire country was forced to reform as a whole, therefore it became unified under one
monarch who had complete control over church and state. England remained unified throughout
the reformation, while The Holy Roman Empire reformed in pieces. The reformation first began
in Germany with Martin Luther’s 95 Theses. Many people converted to Lutheranism, regardless
of the Emperor’s loyalty to the Catholic Church. By 1555 most parts of Germany were Lutheran,
Switzerland was mixed Catholic and Lutheran, Bohemia was divided by Calvinism,
Lutheranism, and Catholicism, the Netherlands were Calvinist, while France and Spain remained
Catholic. Even within countries such as Germany, where many favored Lutheranism, there were
many who opposed the reformation and the changing ideas of Protestantism. Emperor Charles V
was incapable of unifying his empire, and eventually abdicated and split his throne. He gave
control of Spain to Philip II, and gave central control of the Holy Roman Empire to Ferdinand II.
This further divided the empire, and ended all notions of religious unity. Within the Holy Roman
Empire the reformation had a very decentralizing effect. This was especially true for Germany,
which did not unite for centuries to come.
Another major difference in stability was the way the reformation began in each country.
In England it began with the Monarch and was forced on the people, while in Germany it began
with the protest of the people, who forced the emperor to adjust. This difference also showed in
the power of the monarchy within these countries. Even Elizabeth I, whose gender caused many
to question her rule, maintained a stable rule over England. Her Elizabethan Settlement found a
middle ground between Catholics and Protestants, further unifying the people while maintaining
the monarch’s power. It required that all people be present at Protestant services, but they could
practice a different religion in the privacy of their own homes. Her willingness to sacrifice
religious sentiment for political necessity was the force that kept England together in church and
state. The reformation in the Holy Roman Empire had a very different impact on the balance of
power. In 1555 Charles V met with the Lutheran princes of Germany at the Diet of Augsburg.
They signed a treaty called the Peace of Augsburg, which allowed the princes to choose the
religion for their territory. This greatly weakened the position and control of the Emperor, and
gave power to the princes. While religious reformation had strengthened the power of the
monarch in England, it almost entirely destroyed the emperor’s power in Germany.
Geographical location also played a large role in the reformation of both England and the
Holy Roman Empire. In England geographical isolation made it difficult for foreign forces to
ally with Catholics in the country and stop the Protestant reformation. Philip II of Spain, who had
sided with Mary Tudor against the Protestants, tried to invade England in 1588 during the Reign
of Elizabeth I. He was urged by the Pope to retaliate against the execution of Mary Queen of
Scots, Elizabeth’s Catholic cousin. Philip’s armada was quickly defeated, mainly because of the
weather in the English Channel. This geographical isolation also had a negative impact on the
spread of the reformation from England. When England began to enforce Protestantism on the
Irish they did not find a willing populace. The separation of Ireland from the both Scotland and
England as well as the rest of Europe, meant that they had not experienced the spread of
Protestant ideas nor the abuse of power by the Pope. Ireland readily fought back against England,
making it much more difficult for them to enforce Protestantism. In contrast the Holy Roman
Empire was very close together, without many geographical features to stop the spread of
Protestant ideas. Luther’s ideology spread quickly from Germany to the surrounding areas. This
geographical proximity also made it easy for countries and states alike to create alliances based
on religion. During the religious wars in Switzerland, also known as the Wars of Kappel,
protestant cantons formed alliances with powerful protestant cities like Strasbourg and Konstanz
in nearby France. Catholic cantons formed alliances with Ferdinand of Austria, emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire. For both religions in the Holy Roman Empire allies were close by, unlike
England where the closest allies of the Catholics had to sail all the way from Spain.
While there where many differences between the reformations in England and the Holy
Roman Empire, there were also many similarities, especially in motive and persecution. Wealth
and power were popular motives of reformation. Prior to the reformation in England the Roman
Catholic Church owned much of the land and wealth. It also exerted power over the monarch at
the time, Henry VIII. By 1527 Henry VIII of England had decided that he wanted a divorce from
his wife, Catherine of Aragon. To do this he had to appeal to Pope Clement VII, who was under
the influence of Charles V (Catherine’s nephew) at the time. The Pope refused the divorce, and
Henry decided to break from the Roman Catholic Church once and for all. He created the
Anglican Church, of which he was the supreme head, and divorced his wife. In taking the land
back from the church he increased his wealth by 50%, which (from 1535 to 1539), under the
advice of his chief minister Thomas Cromwell, led him to dissolve all monasteries and convents
in England for their wealth as well. In the Holy Roman Empire it was also power and
independence from the Catholic Church that led people to convert to Protestantism. Many of the
Nobles in Germany began to accept Lutheran ideas, simply because it was a challenge to the
Pope and to the emperor. They succeeded in their pursuit of power when Emperor Charles V
signed the Peace of Augsburg, giving them full religious authority over their states. Other
German rulers were swayed to adopting Protestant ideas because they would legally be able to
confiscate fertile farmland, wealthy monasteries, and shrines. Another Parallel theme of
reformation in England and the Holy Roman Empire was the back and forth of Catholicism and
Protestantism in each country. England experienced this with its monarchs when Mary Tudor, a
stout Catholic, came to the throne. She tried to force England back into Catholicism, even
gaining the nickname ‘Bloody Mary’ because she burned 300 Protestants at the stake. Once
Mary died and Elizabeth I came into power, England was in religious turmoil. Elizabeth
converted England to Protestantism once again, but was lenient in allowing Catholics to worship
in their homes. In the Holy Roman Empire religion changed with the princes, and sometimes
even by the efforts of the Catholic reformation. Bohemia was largely ruled by Germans, and
many nobles adopted Lutheranism in opposition to the emperor. However, quite a few cities
reconverted back to Catholicism after the Catholic reformation began promoting spiritual revival.
Another element of the reformation that appeared in both England and the Holy Roman
Empire was religious persecution and revolts. In England Henry VIII enforced Protestantism on
the people, even though there were many who opposed him. Many of those who opposed him
were executed, including Thomas Moore, king’s chancellor and author of Utopia. In 1536
peasants in the North who opposed Henry’s change in religion rebelled in what became known
as the Pilgrimage of Grace. They agreed to a truce, but the peasant leaders were captured and
executed. The Holy Roman Empire also experienced religious persecution, especially in Geneva.
This was a Calvinist (Protestant) city reformed by John Calvin himself, and it quickly became
the model of a Christian society. Judicial authority was placed in the Genevan Consistory, who
arrested, tried, and executed heretics. From 1542 to 1546 alone, seventy-six people were
banished for heresy and fifty-eight were executed. The Holy Roman Empire also experienced
peasant revolts, the most prevalent example being the German Peasants’ War in 1525. Peasants,
backed by the ideas of radical reformers, called for a social change. At first they were supported
by Luther, who did not want a rebellion, but when they turned to violence he encouraged nobles
to “smite, slay, and stab” the poisonous rebels in his tract Against the Murderous, Thieving
Hordes of the Peasants. Nobles quickly squashed the rebellion, killing somewhere around
75,000 peasants. In England and Germany revolts sprang from religious change and reformation,
but were very short-lived. Religious persecution became a common companion of reformation,
and continued throughout the history of Europe.
While there were many differences between the reformations in England and the Holy
Roman Empire, there were also quite a few similarities. These nations had the same major
elements of reformation, though they created different consequences within each country. The
major elements of reformation were stability, geographical proximity, motives, and persecution.
Before the reformation Europe had been united in Christianity under one church, the Roman
Catholic Church. All throughout the Renaissance Popes exerted power over church and state, and
the abuse of religious power is largely what began the call for reform and ended religious unity.
From the reformation forward, Europe would never again be united under the same faith.