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The Protestant Reformation By the time of the Reformation, Europe had been officially and primarily Christian for over 1000 years • Official religion of Rome in 391 CE • Christianity officially split into two camps in 1054 • The patriarch of Constantinople never had the administrative authority of the pope (e.g. Russian Orthodox Church break away) In Middle Ages every European state established Christianity as official religion • Rulers were crowned by the Church • Bishops were early on, the ruler’s chief advisor and administrators • The Church taxed a high proportion of people’s income • The state enforced conformity by enforcing attendance and allowing the Church set up separate courts for prosecuting moral offenses • The state would later on put on trial and execute heretics on behalf of the Church Jews were discriminated against in medieval Christendom • In 1295 the Church degreed they wear badges as a mark of humiliation • They were prohibited from appearing in public on Christian holidays • Their practice of usury made Jews even more unpopular • Blamed for the bubonic plague • Forced to live in ghettos • Expelled from England in 1290, France in 1306 and 1394, and the Iberian peninsula in 1490s • Were seen as impossibly disloyal to the state Kings vs The Church • Kings were increasingly uncomfortable with the Church’s claim to have given the kings their power • Kings wanted sole jurisdiction in their lands • Kings resented papal taxation power of their subjects • Kings wanted the power to appoint bishops • Tension grew after the Renaissance The Great Western Schism • In 1309 the French king was able to move the papacy to Avignon • An election of a competing pope in 1378 in Rome created two separate papacies • A third competing pope in 1414 only led to more confusion • Unity was restored in 1417 through a series of Church councils The failure of counciliarism • The success of the councils gave hope that the Church would be democratized • Reform would be possible by giving priests and lay people more voice in Church governance • The new pope, Martin V, rejected the idea that councils could legislate over the pope’s wishes • Martin V and his successors concentrated on reviving and strengthening their power through military might and magnificent display • Popes too often neglected piety and pastoral duties; concentrated on politics and lived lavishly – their reputation as spiritual leaders was diminished Problems of the Church • Shortage of educated and moral priests • Church courts monitored personal behavior and had the potential to split communities apart • The Inquisition bred fear • Church taxes were sent to far away Rome • The Church seemed more concerned with money and worldly affairs and was not focused on its spiritual mission • The Laity felt alienated from the Latin mass Early reform movements From 1100 – 1300 the problems of the Church produced several separate mass movements seeking to change it (e.g. the Hussites). In general, these groups wanted the following: (1) A deemphasis of the hierarchy and the authoritarianism of the Church, (2) an increased role for the laity, (3) A less greedy, less worldly Church, (4) A greater emphasis on Christ’s humility and love for humanity, (5) A translation of Scripture into the vernacular. Martin Luther (1483 – 1546) • A devout priest and professor of theology at the University of Wittenburg • Was obsessed with his own sinfulness • Disgusted by behavior of popes that he witnesses on visit to Rome • Inspired by new Greek translation of the Bible • Decries the practice of selling indulgences October 31, 1517 Luther hangs his 95 Theses Protestantism was never a unified field. But there are fundamental disagreements between Catholics and Protestants on sources of religious truth Catholicism Protestantism • Religious truth is found in 1) Scripture known only by clergy, 2) Church rituals/traditions, 3) papal decisions • God’s will for his people is found only in Scripture and its working out by faith alone The three planks of the Protestant ministry • The Bible should be translated into the vernacular • Reduce the power and prestige of clergy • Eliminate the trappings of The Catholic Church Differing views on salvation Catholics believed that salvation was won through two mutually supportive means • Faith in God and the resurrection of Jesus • The performance of good works, especially the seven sacraments, which forgave sins and produced grace Protestants believed that no human being could merit salvation through his or her own efforts; salvation was entirely up to God. • Faith alone justified a person in God’s eyes • Performing sacraments might be ok, but not a ticket to Heaven • Catholic rituals and veneration of saints and relics was seen as superstitious, distracting, and not grounded in Scripture Reasons for Protestant success • The Catholic Church was slow to react • The printing press • Rising literacy rates • Political support from German princes • Holy Roman Emperor too weak to respond • Why did Luther succeed where so many earlier critics of the Church had failed? • What does the spread of Protestantism say (or not say) about the state of the Catholic religion in early modern Europe?